There is a trick

Chapter 80: Stiff Lion (13)

There are many funeral supplies stored in each room of Tiekan Charity Home.

Most of these coffins were donated to the charity cemetery by the officials, businessmen and local wealthy people who planned and built the cemetery after it was built, and were used for temporary burial of corpses.

Over the years, the surface of many coffins has become mottled with wood lacquer, and unpleasant odors waft from the inside.

Even in a charity cemetery, it is impossible to bury too many corpses on a normal day. After all, the corpses will eventually decay. If dozens of coffins in the charity cemetery were filled with corpses, it would become the source of plague in a few days. Add in the evil thoughts - a charity cemetery might become a haunted place.

Tiekan Charity Memorial Center will take at least three days and at most seven days to collect the bodies. If no one claims the body, it will be transported out of the cemetery and temporarily buried.

When his family comes one day, they can take back the remains and transport them to his hometown for burial.

At this time, there were also several coffins parked in the main hall of Tiekan Charity Home.

In front of the walls on both sides of the main hall, seven or eight corpses with their faces covered with black cloth bags were standing against the wall. Most of them were wearing Qing Dynasty official clothes without patches. Waves of spice scent mixed with the very faint corpse stench wafted from these corpses and lingered in the hall.

Zhou Chang followed the short man into the main hall and was led by the short man to find a place to sit down.

Those who had previously gathered in the yard to watch the lion fight now filed into the main hall.

They gathered in twos and threes, talking to each other in low voices.

The small main room immediately became noisy.

The short man sat opposite Zhou Chang. He patted the box that Zhou Chang had placed on the ground. Inside the box was the black lion nicknamed "Evil Zhang Liao".

“When you return home, you only need to feed the lion with mindfulness once every seven days, and it will be able to take care of its own life.

As I said, placing it in the house can protect the peace of the home, and taking it when traveling can prevent the intrusion of evil spirits.

Since you can accept this deal, you will definitely not lose money." The short man said sternly.

His serious and old-fashioned expression makes it easy for people to think that he is an honest and reliable person, and then believe everything he says.

However, if the buyer could really make a lot of money from this deal, why didn't anyone else in the yard bid for it?

Others were mostly traveling caravanners, peddling merchants, and even corpse drivers like the dwarf. As experts, couldn't they see that they would make a fortune if they could take on this business?
But they chose not to take action, and gave the opportunity to Zhou Chang, the newcomer.

This doesn't make sense.

Zhou Chang didn't believe the short man's words at all.

He looked at the dwarf with a gentle expression and said, "Just now, this 'Evil Zhang Liao' fought with the flower lion for dozens of rounds. Its bravery is obvious to all.

I bought it back, but not just to put it in my home as a rare toy to admire - I still hope that it can be like before, as long as it is used properly, it can still be vigorous and fight against ghosts and gods - I wonder if the current 'Evil Zhang Liao' can do it?"

This black lion is not a living creature, but it has life.

It is not a living thing, but it is a life - this was completely unimaginable in the world that Zhou Chang lived in before.

But in today's world where the atmosphere is so diverse, the thoughts of all kinds of people gathered together, which is enough to give things that are not living things a life.

Although this is rare, it is not impossible.

Since the black lion was still alive, why did the dwarf and his corpse-driving team eventually sell it?
The reason is simply that its greatest value has been squeezed out, and continuing to keep it will cause the corpse-driving team to 'lose money'.

For example, the old lions in the circus and the fighting dogs that have lost several fights in a row are sold by their owners because their greatest value has been squeezed out by their owners. And what is the greatest value of things like the "black lion" in the corpse-driving team?

Zhou Chang had already had some guesses from a previous lion fight - wearing this lion skin, the corpse driver could be truly fierce and powerful, and drive away ghosts and gods!
The black lion was in the hands of the corpse driver, and could no longer be driven like a ghost as before!
Therefore, Zhou Changhui asked this question to the short man.

His question also hit the nail on the head.

The dwarf frowned upon hearing this and shook his head, saying, "The black lion was badly injured. Its 'Fire Star' has been extinguished by the evil spirit of the corpse, just like a person whose spine has been broken. It is impossible for it to become a ghost or god like before and be driven by people."

"Fire Star?" Zhou Chang's eyes moved slightly.

"The 'lion' in our corpse-driving team is actually called 'Taishi', which is very different from the southern style lion dance.

"Tai Shi" was originally a kind of drama for worshipping ghosts and gods, in which some people were born with the ability to communicate with ghosts and gods.

When the synaesthesia occurs, one grabs a handful of incense and chews it in big mouthfuls. His body is stiff and his joints cannot bend. When he dances the Taishi dance, he jumps like a zombie, which is weird and terrifying.

These people separated this method from the "Tai Shi" and studied it, thus forming the "Zhuang Shi" .

People outside say that what we corpse drivers can do is "raising zombies", but in fact, a more correct term should be "raising stiff lions".

The 'lions' used for the zombie lions are the most valuable ones 'born' in Baizhifang, Beijing.

This Baizhifang was originally a gathering place for paper-making workshops. Later, firecrackers, explosives and paper-made items were made here. Later, several workshops came together to make "Taishi". For a Taishi to be born, wood, rattan, leather, cloth, lacquer and other materials are indispensable.

But the most critical hurdle in the birth of Taishi is "overcoming the fire".

The Taishi is fierce and ferocious in nature. Without a fierce and ferocious nature, it is not possible to match the evil power of Xiangqi. If you want to give a Taishi a fierce and ferocious nature, you need to "pass the firecrackers". The so-called "firecrackers" are firecrackers and explosives.

'Huo Kuixing' refers to the silver sparks that scatter when explosives explode.

Those tiny silver sparks were the most intense. If they touched a person's body, they would at best cause burns and scars, and at worst, all the clothes would be set on fire.

Once the 'fire' contained in it was restrained by the lion, the lion gained a temper and turned from a dead thing into a living thing. "The dwarf spoke frankly and poured out everything he knew, "Our corpse-driving team encountered a disaster before.

The Fire Star that hated Zhang Liao was dispersed by eighty to ninety percent in that disaster.

It is not easy to stay alive nowadays."

The short man looked regretful.

He must have had deep feelings for the 'evil Zhang Liao'.

It is possible that he was once the corpse driver who drove the black lion.

"Will lighting firecrackers again fail to restore the Fire Star of the lion?" Zhou Chang asked, looking at the box on the ground.

The short man smiled bitterly and said, "Once the Fire Star is formed, it will either fall off on its own one day or be extinguished by the evil spirit. It is impossible to replenish it in other ways. For example, a person has only one soul in his body. If the soul in the body escapes, is it possible to get another soul to match this body?"

"Who knows." Zhou Chang smiled and said.

"Then you should try more..." The dwarf supported his knees with both hands and was about to stand up. "If you can give the black lion a new soul one day and make it regain its power, please let me know. I am willing to give you a generous gift."

Zhou Chang stroked the bone ring with his fingers, looked down at the box, and suddenly asked, "Have you taken the generous gift with you?"

(End of this chapter)