The pallbearers accompanying Zhang Cheng saw Zhang’s father open his eyes. One of them let out a roar and dropped his corner of the coffin, attempting to flee. Fortunately, Zhang Cheng was quick-handed and grabbed the other corner, preventing the body from falling to the ground.
He then cursed at the fleeing man, “You son of a bitch, where do you think you’re running to? Get your ass back here, now.”
I, who was scattering paper money ahead, turned around upon hearing the words “opened his eyes” and saw the pallbearer rushing towards me. I kicked him, sending him back to the front of the coffin.
Zhang Cheng suddenly lifted his hands, grabbing the man and shouting, “Damn it, you forgot the rules of carrying a coffin! A relocated corpse cannot touch the ground. Do you want your whole family to die?”
The man’s face first flushed red at Zhang Cheng’s scolding, then turned deathly pale. He then resumed carrying his corner, enduring a couple of kicks from Zhang Cheng.
Whether it was a new burial or the relocation of an old corpse, the coffin could not touch the ground during transit. Once the coffin touched the ground, the spirits would become angry, as the coffin touching the ground signified arrival.
However, upon realizing they had been deceived, immense resentment would arise, making it incredibly difficult to lift the coffin again without paying a price.
This was why, once the coffin was lifted, it could not be lowered. As the saying goes, fallen leaves return to their roots; once the coffin touches the ground, it takes ‘root,’ making it hard to lift again.
Zhang’s father’s eyes were wide open, seemingly unwilling. His eyes were completely blackened, looking like two gaping holes, eerily captivating. Over an inch of white hair had grown on his face.
Seeing this, my first reaction was that the corpse had become animated. I instinctively took out a soul-镇符 (zhenhun fu - soul-鎮 talisman) and placed it directly on Zhang’s father’s forehead.
As soon as the soul-鎮符 was placed on his head, a wisp of white smoke rose.
*Bang—*
A flame emitting a faint green glow ignited out of nowhere, burning the soul-鎮符 clean.
“Such strong Yin energy.”
I inwardly cursed, realizing the gravity of the situation. This Yin energy could ignite a yellow talisman made with cinnabar mixed with Yang blood. This was even more potent than the Yin energy of Old Huang’s daughter-in-law. If this wasn’t handled properly, everyone present could be doomed.
Seeing his father showing signs of reanimation, Zhang Dabiao also began to panic. He shifted the stretcher he was carrying from his right hand to his left, and his Pishandao (劈山刀 - mountain-splitting saber) appeared in his hand.
However, remembering it was his father, he hesitated to draw his saber, looking at me anxiously and saying, “Qing Yun, what do we do now? Hurry and think of a way, otherwise, it’ll be difficult to handle once it fully reanimates.” Su Dan Novel Network.
I waved my hand at Zhang Dabiao, telling him to remain calm. If the corpse were truly going to reanimate, it would have done so when we opened the coffin, not at the moment it was lifted from it.
Furthermore, while a solitary place could preserve a corpse, it would not cause reanimation. When I examined the coffin earlier, I had looked at his facial bones; they were peaceful, showing no signs of reanimation. It was impossible for him to reanimate.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have allowed them to carry the corpse directly after opening the coffin. But now that the corpse had changed after leaving the coffin, there must be a reason.
I circled the body and noticed that Zhang’s father’s right hand was somehow resting on the edge of the coffin. It looked like a casual placement, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t resting on the coffin at all. His four fingers were interlocked, gripping the coffin tightly.
I tried to move his arm back to its original position but found it impossible, as if it were welded to the coffin.
Zhang Cheng swallowed and whispered, “Brother Song, Old Master Zhang doesn’t want to move. Why don’t we just put him back in his original spot?”
The other two pallbearers nodded frantically and added, “Corpse hooks coffin, family rejoices; people don’t leave, don’t force. If forced, heads will roll… The old master doesn’t want to leave, so we can’t force him!”
I looked up at Zhang Cheng and the others. I knew the pallbearer’s song, but that applied to auspicious burial sites. A blessed land that prospers descendants would naturally not be left, but this was a solitary place, a place meant to sever the Zhang family’s lineage. Although I didn’t understand why he was buried here, I knew the old master wouldn’t stand by and watch his family’s incense go out!
Zhang Cheng’s face showed difficulty. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could, Zhang Dabiao interrupted, “Old Zhang, I know what you mean. You must help me this one time. You don’t want to see me have no descendants, do you?”
Zhang Cheng looked at Zhang Dabiao, thought for a moment, and gritted his teeth, saying, “Alright! As soon as there’s any trouble, I’ll lead my men away immediately.”
Zhang Dabiao nodded in agreement.
While they were talking, I wasn’t idle. My gaze shifted to the bottom of the coffin. Although the body hadn’t decomposed over ten years, the yellow cloth at the bottom of the coffin had severely rotted, revealing the black base color.
The center of the coffin was the most severely rotted, with a patch of off-white color mixed in, appearing extremely out of place.
I picked up a branch from the side and used it to push aside the yellow cloth, revealing a square foot of something white with a yellowish tinge.
“Burial item?” I looked at Zhang Dabiao.
Zhang Dabiao glanced at the coffin and stated definitively, “Impossible. I personally arranged the bottom of the coffin back then. Besides the yellow base cloth, there was nothing else inside. Moreover, my father specifically warned me before he passed not to include any burial items. How could I make such a mistake?” He spoke quickly and urgently, almost as if he were swearing an oath.
This was because he knew that burial items were not for everyone. Certain special Yin burial sites could not have burial items placed within them, as it would cause the deceased to linger in the mortal world, forever wandering near the tomb.
“Lend me your saber, I need to pry it out and see what it is.”
Zhang Dabiao shook his head and said, “You won’t be able to lift the saber. Use the Zanxin Ding instead.” He then handed me the black-seeded, reddish Zanxin Ding.
As soon as I held it, a warm current flowed from the Zanxin Ding. I inwardly thought it was a good treasure and proceeded to poke at the white cloth.
After several attempts, I managed to dislodge it from the bottom of the coffin. Under the lamplight, I saw that it was neither gold nor jade. It looked like cloth, but also not like cloth. I couldn’t quite identify it. Just as I was about to bring it closer for a better look,
Zhang Dabiao suddenly let out a loud cry, startling me. The white cloth fell back into the coffin.
“Don’t touch it!”
Zhang Cheng and the other two pallbearers were also greatly startled by his shout, nearly dropping the corpse.
“What are you doing? Making such a fuss, you nearly scared the pee out of me,” Zhang Cheng said to Zhang Dabiao with a hint of annoyance.
I also looked at him, puzzled, and asked, “Do you know what this is?”
Zhang Dabiao nodded, his face contorted, and said, “It’s a fox pelt that has gone old and hairy.”
“Fox pelt?”
I used the Zanxin Ding to lift the fox pelt from the coffin again. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed animal fur, with some root hairs still attached. If one didn’t look closely, it would be hard to tell.
The entire outer surface was incredibly smooth, resembling human skin, but with much larger pores.
At this moment, a wind suddenly picked up around us, accompanied by a faint ‘yingying’ sound. The sound seemed to come from both near and far, like someone crying.
“Qing Yun, come and carry my corner. I’m going to kill those beasts.”