In the early 1950s, there were some sparsely populated small villages at the junction of Hanzhong area in Shaanxi and Guangyuan in Sichuan. The villages were not far apart from each other. Most of them were ten or eight miles apart. Each village had only a dozen or twenty households.
people.
Zhangxiang Village has a relatively larger population than the surrounding villages, with nearly 30 households, and every household has a buffalo. The terrain here combines the flatness of the Hanzhong area with the abundant rain in the Sichuan Basin, and is almost everywhere.
What farmers consider to be good rice fields is that the surrounding villages all rely on rice cultivation for a living, and every household has dozens of acres of rice fields.
Even in the years when there were severe natural disasters, the rice fields in this area did not suffer much loss of production, and compared with villages in other areas, they lived a relatively prosperous life.
"Daniu, you said Li Jun's father left suddenly when he was fine? Who is willing to help during this busy farming season?"
"Li Jun has already been released and said that he would be given two taels of food stamps a day to help manage the wine and meat. There must be people from other villages helping him! Hey, his father is also a poor man."
Two young men leading a buffalo in the paddy field chatted about things in the village.
Li Jun was not very popular in the village. He was idle and fond of drinking. He got drunk all day long. When he ran out of money to drink, he would ask his father for it. If he didn't give it, he would yell. A child without a mother might as well die.
Li Jun's mother died unexpectedly when he was very young, and his father insisted on being both father and mother to raise him up. Because his mother was missing, his father doted on him a little too much. What requirements did he have when he was growing up?
He tried his best to be satisfied and never let Li Jun do the farm work at home. Fortunately, the old man was hardworking and capable, and he also knew some knowledge about herbal medicine. He just relied on one buffalo and dozens of acres of paddy fields to live a better and better life.
But just two days ago, the old man returned from the fields, drank two ounces of soju, fell asleep, and never woke up. Li Jun panicked. Faced with the sudden bad news, he was caught off guard and looked for help everywhere.
Because of the busy farming schedule, every household had to go to the fields to plant rice. Secondly, most people in the village probably didn’t want to see him, and no one was willing to help him. Finally, the aunt who lived next door couldn’t stand it anymore and reminded him to quickly find a carpenter to make a coffin.
, ask a Feng Shui master to choose a cemetery and let a craftsman build the tomb.
No one knows what method Li Jun used or where he found the Feng Shui master and craftsman. Anyway, the next day, a few strangers came to the village. After performing a ritual at Li Jun’s house, they took Li Jun out to see.
The location of the cemetery has been decided.
In the end, the location of the cemetery was chosen at the foot of a remote low mountain, surrounded by a small forest. The craftsmen used nearby materials to polish the stones, and it took a day to build the tomb. They used the remaining gravel scraps to pave a flat ground.
Carve your name, date of birth and death on a large piece of bluestone and it becomes a tombstone.
The coffin was pulled back on an ox cart from the carpenter in the next village, and the thick coffin panels were painted black.
Li Jun simply set up a few tables of wine, and after the family and friends finished eating, the sky was about to set. Mr. Feng Shui shouted that the time had come, and urged several of Li Jun's peers to prepare for the coffin to be buried.
A group of people were dressed in sackcloth, with Li Jun walking at the front, carrying a mourning stick given to him by Mr. Feng Shui. After howling several times, tears could not come out. Mr. Feng Shui shouted, "Lift the coffin!" and six of his peers carried it.
He put the coffin on his shoulders, lifted it up and walked towards the cemetery step by step.
When we arrived at the cemetery, the sky had completely darkened. The night sky was filled with stars. Mr. Feng Shui walked around the gravel path of the tomb, silently recited incantations, waved a peach wood sword for a while, and sprinkled a few drops into the tomb.
He took the paper money and turned around to look at everyone.
"A and B in the east belong to the Qinglong, which transforms into rain and cultivates rich grains. The wealth and Ding are prosperous and rich, and the children and grandchildren show honor for generations. The red bird and Ding in the south have more wealth and longevity, and the harmonious house is filled with pearls and jade. The grains are sown in the spring and autumn and the fields are fertile. The white tiger in the West belongs to Geng.
Xin, turned into gold and ten thousand buckets of spring. The grains were harvested and Ding Dajin came, and the family was blessed with fortune and fortune. In the north, Ren and Gui were called Xuanwu, and wealth was rolling in."
He recited another paragraph, but this one was better understood by everyone than the previous one. Finally, he sprinkled a handful of white powder on the candle inserted on the tombstone, and suddenly the flames shot into the sky.
"Get into the coffin and untie the rope!"
The young filial sons who carried the coffin didn't know what to do. The Feng Shui master in Taoist robes directed them to send the old man's coffin into the tomb. The accompanying craftsmen seemed to be more active than the filial sons like Li Jun.
He untied the ropes tied to the coffin bars in three strokes, five divided by two.
Behind is the filial son’s funeral. Li Jun holds a handful of soil in his hand and throws it into the tomb. After covering the coffin, the craftsmen began to use shovels to fill the soil. After a while, a new grave bag was filled. The tombstone was placed, and the relatives
After kowtowing goodbye, the group returned to the village.
Strangely enough, Mr. Feng Shui and the craftsmen left the village overnight after dinner, and Li Jun refused to stay no matter how hard he tried.
There were a few strange things in this. The first thing was that Li Jun didn’t say a word about where the Feng Shui master found him from. Later, when Li Jun was drunk, he said something in a daze, Mr. Feng Shui and the craftsmen.
He didn't find it deliberately, but met him on the way to the next village to find a carpenter to make a coffin. It seemed more like he was here to handle Li Jun's affairs. Not only did he not spend any money, but he also gave Li Jun a sum of money. Everyone
Just think that Li Jun was drunk and bragging. How can there be such a thing?
Another thing is that rural people are very particular. When an elderly person dies in the family, a filial son usually wears mourning clothes and respectfully sets up in the mourning hall to keep vigil. However, the first seven years of his life will not be buried. Firstly, this custom has been around since ancient times. Secondly, it is easy for others to
Talking about unfilial piety. The neighbor's aunt also asked Li Jun why he had to be buried on the fourth day and couldn't wait a few days? Li Jun just replied that Mr. Feng Shui said that the hot weather now is not suitable for keeping the body for too long.
, the fourth day is the most auspicious day.
Another thing is that on the day when the craftsmen were repairing the tomb, the soil dug out became increasingly moist. Some relatives and friends asked whether such moist soil was not suitable for placing coffins. Even if the wood is painted, it will become moldy and rot in a short time.
Well. Mr. Feng Shui said that water means wealth, and the wealth of his descendants will get better and better in the future. Li Jun couldn't help but nodded in agreement. Seeing Li Jun's attitude, everyone said nothing more.
In the days that followed, the village returned to its normal life. During the busy farming season, every household woke up early and stayed late at night. No one noticed that Li Jun never appeared in the village again after his father was buried.
A strange thing happened in the village. Da Niu woke up one morning and found chicken feathers everywhere in his yard. A big rooster and several hens raised at home were bitten to death by some animals. The death was extremely cruel, and the neck was bitten.
A gash was opened, and the blood was sucked out alive.
Later, this kind of thing happened one after another in the village. Many domestic chickens and ducks died inexplicably. The people in the village once suspected that wolves from the nearby mountains broke into the village at night, and spontaneously organized a wolf hunting team. Several people
Young and strong men hold lanterns and sticks on the roadside at the entrance of the village at night.
However, the situation did not improve, and chickens and ducks were still killed every night. Several people in the wolf hunting team did not hear any movement in the village in the middle of the night. So the team had to add some more people. Even after adding more people,
Several intersections in the village were guarded, but chickens and ducks still died every night. Within ten days, all the chickens and ducks in the village had died.
The real anger of the villagers started when the big buffalo in the aunt's house next door to Li Jun died. When the aunt woke up in the morning, she saw that the cow pen had been drained of blood, leaving only a skinny buffalo, and flies were buzzing around the body.
He screamed and fainted on the spot.
In this era of farming, the buffalo is the life of farmers. It represents productivity and labor force. Farming and farming are all dependent on the family's buffalo. The buffalo that they worked hard to raise for several years died in such a bizarre way.
, which means that the harvest of dozens of acres of paddy fields in the family will be gone for a year. It is difficult for anyone to accept it. Let alone fainting, I guess they will be looking for a short life.
The villagers brainstormed and remembered that Daniu had a distant relative who worked in a forestry and had a shotgun at home. He lived in the next village, so they decided to send Daniu to invite him to help clean up the wild beasts that were harming the village.