the last priest

Some people say that courage is innate, and some people say it is developed, but at least I don’t know how to be afraid since I was a child.The road to Laofenshan is not very easy to walk, it is yellow mud, and we drilled through the tea forests as high as tombstones.In addition to the chirping of insects, the cemetery at night is more composed of owls squatting on old chestnut trees.

Cha Wenbin held a basket in one hand and led me in the other. I asked him where the graves were and who was lying in them. I knew this place too well.

At that time, my grandfather hadn't been buried with the tomb of ***, and the tomb of *** was located below, while my grandfather's was on top. ***In front of the tomb is a row of plum trees, all of which are old trees that were planted by some generation. Those trees are too old to bear fruit.Because of these things, during the summer vacation, I would touch this cemetery to pick plums and eat them. Although there are few fruits, they are all big and sweet without exception.

Grandpa's grave was calculated by Zha Wenbin back then, and before it was time for joint burial, he had to lie alone in the loess for seven years before he could be buried with grandma, otherwise he would not be able to protect his descendants.At the junction of a bamboo grove and a tea field is my grandfather’s grave. It was built with a turning head and there is no pit. The coffin was only padded with bricks at the four corners. The coffin itself is not made of clay.

Surrounding this hanging coffin, the exterior is built with bricks, the top is covered with black slate, and the exterior walls are painted with lime.Not all people can be buried in the ground immediately after death. If the time of death does not match the horoscope, the bones must be lifted from the ground and a few years of fake lifespan will be given. It is the Taoist priests who will inform the master.

Zha Wenbin is also familiar with this place. He was the one who arranged for the burial of my grandfather. There is a lonely grave a little above the grandfather's grave. The thatch is blown by the wind. Young tiger's.

His grave was poured with cement, in the shape of a half-moon bag. At that time, the country did not require cremation, so his coffin was buried in the ground, because he was a half-old child, and the family did not ask anyone to make one. For the ritual, I found a place and buried it according to local customs.

There were no fewer than twenty or thirty burial buns along the way, no matter which one of the burial buns had some remains of incense candles and firecrackers in front of them, but this one was barren, and it seemed that no one had taken care of it.

Cha Wenbin put down his things, taught me to stand aside, and took a grass knife by himself, which is the kind of machete used in rural areas to kill pigweed and cut weeds.

The moon that night was so round that the entire tea field was so white that it didn't need to be lit up at all.Cha Wenbin bent down like an old farmer and cut off the weeds on the grave.After clearing for a long time, the grave bag fully revealed its original appearance. Cha Wenbin touched the cracked cement and sighed: "My child, don't blame the family for not coming, they are too." Afraid to see sad."

This tiger was drowned, that is to say, he died by accident, but anyone who died in this way is the easiest to miss the world, because he still has too many things that he has not had time to experience, how can he be willing to leave this world?

Zha Wenbin set out those vegetable bowls again, then lit incense candles in front of the grave, and then shouted to me: "Xiao Yi, come here."

I kneeled in front of the grave according to his instructions. At that time, my understanding of the action of kneeling was far from what it is now. I did what the adults told me to do. My mother often made me kneel when I made mistakes. .

He knelt down obediently, burned the paper money, and still recited the words he taught me: "Huzi, we are here to see you. You should eat more and drink more. The person you are looking for has entrusted me Come to see you, if you have any other requirements, just tell me in your dream, and I will satisfy you." It's almost the same, and it's all words to please this tiger. This kind of ceremony is called in the mouth of Taoist priests: " "Send", that is, the meaning of fulfilling a wish.

Usually it is said that someone is approached by so-and-so, it is usually because that person has a certain wish that has not been fulfilled, as long as the wish of the wronged soul is satisfied, he will usually leave on his own.Not all Taoist priests kill ghosts directly with their swords and big seals. More often than not, they are willing to adopt this method of negotiation. Killing is never a good thing after all.

When all the paper money I brought was burned, Cha Wenbin patted me on the head and said I could go home.When he was cleaning up those bowls and chopsticks, I asked a question that I found strange: "Uncle, you said that these bowls are covered with paper dust and look dirty, how can the tiger eat them?"

Cha Wenbin smiled "puchi", maybe he was amused by my childish words, maybe it was really too long for him to relax.He didn't answer me this question, maybe he didn't need to answer it, but I still have my original doubts about this question.

In the moonlight, he carried me on his back, and then rode on his neck, just like a father and his son, we laughed and went home.

"Uncle, where's your tadpole, is it still there?" I asked while riding on his neck.As for that golden tadpole, I always wanted to keep it for myself, but it was almost his most precious thing.

Cha Wenbin shook me on the shoulder and said, "Well, it's still there. You can go and see it after the holiday."

But later, this little agreement was not fulfilled.

That night, Dad really had a dream.

Huzi came to look for him, the young man dripping with water, his arms still stretched upwards as they had just emerged from the water.He said that his house often leaked, and the water was everywhere in it, which made him very uncomfortable.

Abba told Cha Wenbin about the dream, and they went to Huzi's house the next day.

Huzi's family is in the next village, and we are not in the same production team. His parents are also honest farmers.Abba and Cha Wenbin didn't go around the barriers, so they told the story, which made Huzi's mother cry out to her son with tears in her eyes.In fact, it's no wonder Huzi's mother. The two couples really wanted to burn incense and burn paper for their son, but there was an old lady in their family who refused to do so.At that time, our village had already started to have certain religious beliefs, and Huzi's grandma, Douda, who could not read a word, joined a group of people.As for the true meaning of religion, no one knows how much the old lady understands, but she has memorized some of the regulations in the religion. The religion she believes in does not advocate burning paper money for incense, so this tiger spends half a cent on festivals and festivals. No money was received.

This kind of conflict caused by rural beliefs was not uncommon at the time. The missionaries had good intentions, but for a group of older rural people whose educational level was generally below elementary school, they could understand too little.

In the end, regardless of his mother's objections, Huzi's father planned to find someone to repair the tomb again. Cha Wenbin suggested that it is best to find a foreman to open a shop and collect the corpse. He said that Huzi's coffin must be filled with water. It will still be cold down there.Originally, Huzi's father wanted to ask the Taoist priest to help open the coffin, but Cha Wenbin politely refused. He said it was not a big deal, as long as he picked an auspicious day, it would be the same for anyone. It was one of the few times that Cha Wenbin refused.I found out later that the situation of Cha Wenbin's youngest son was not optimistic at that time.

However, Cha Wenbin still gave advice to Huzi's family. He suggested that Huzi's father move the grave away and move it back to their family's ancestral cemetery. He said that Huzi would be lonely if he stayed there alone, so he had to return to the ancestral grave. That's the right way.

These words made Huzi's father feel very guilty, yes, whose child can float outside alone.Sometimes it's not that the relatives don't want to, but the relatives don't want to think about it.

Huzi's grave was opened within a few days. According to the coffin-opener, the coffin was indeed full of water, and my father also went to see the scene that day.He said that when the tiger was fished out of the coffin, it was the same as when he was fished out of the reservoir. It was still in the same posture. The flesh did not rot, but it was soaked for too long and it was completely out of shape.

After Hu Zi was buried, Abba dreamed of him once. Hu Zi, who was wearing new clothes, was dry. He bowed to Dad and backed away until he disappeared.The itching on Dad's body has been healed since then, and all the lumps disappeared almost overnight, and there has been no recurrence until now.