Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 69 ancestor worship
Yu started dreaming again.

But just like his usual behavior when he was dreaming, Yu did not immediately realize that he was in a dream.

He just saw himself appearing at the bank of the Zhang River, feeling the wind and waves brought by the rolling waves, and then he couldn't help feeling a little urge to urinate.

then,

Yu started to take off his pants.

"Asshole, what do you want to do!"

Behind him, a familiar voice roared, then pounced on Yu, interrupting his movements.

"Stop it!"

Yu jumped forward twice after being ambushed, and was about to go and see angrily to find out who dared to use such despicable means to deal with him, who was highly valued by Ye Ling.

"what?"

"father?"

After seeing who was coming, Yu's anger disappeared instantly.

He knelt down in front of his old father with excitement and said with tears in his eyes, "I have been waiting for you to appear in my dreams and meet you again. I have also gone to the temple in the city and prayed to He Bo for this, but it has never come true!"

"Is it because I didn't take good care of you and caused you to die of illness that your father is unhappy with his son?"

Xi stroked her son's hair and sighed, "How could I be mad at you?"

"Your filial piety towards me is recognized by ghosts and gods. How many elderly people in this world are as blessed as me?"

"It's just that there is a difference between life and death. How can the dead keep pestering the living, or the living keep guarding the dead?"

"I learned from the underworld that you had moved to Ye County and were highly valued by the county magistrate. I was very happy and naturally no longer had to worry about you."

Xi looked at his son with eyes full of love.

Yu cried even harder and wanted to put his strong body into the arms of his thin old father.

"Alright, alright, stop crying like a little girl!"

"Sandu is more sensible than you!"

Xi patted his son on the back and asked him to stand up.

Yu asked his old father, "Are you okay in the underworld?"

"return……"

Xi wanted to say that he had the blessing of ghosts and gods and was very happy, but then he remembered He Bo's instructions, so he said, "There is still something missing."

Xi counted on his fingers, "There are no farming tools, no straw mats to sleep on, no drinking water, no food..."

Yu exclaimed, "So much is missing? Is there nothing in the underworld?"

I was happy to think of the "Tongdi" built in the underworld, and felt that it should be given a proper name, "There is still a house to live in."

Yu couldn't help but say, "If it's just a place to shelter from the wind and rain, then we can live in a cave!"

There's nothing there anyway.

Thinking of this, Yu felt heartbroken for the suffering his old father was going through in the underworld.

"Don't panic, I'm here to ask you for help, right?"

Xi said to his son, "Your filial piety can move the gods of heaven and earth."

"The ghosts and gods appreciate people who respect their parents and ancestors, so they allow you to send some things to the underworld as offerings to your ancestors."

So, Yu asked anxiously, "What should I do to send the things to my father?"

under?

Do I have to find a crack in the ground to crawl into?

"This is not difficult!" Xi said to his son, "Those wooden boards that were burned in front of the temple and carried people's prayers will become scrolls and appear on the desks of ghosts and gods."

"As long as you have a sincere heart, chant my name, and burn some items, I will receive them in the underworld."

sincerity,

It is the purest part of human thought.

As the saying goes, "sincerity is the key to spirituality", so whether or not things from the human world can be manifested in the underworld is a big deal, whether one is sincere or not.

As for burning by name,

It is better to mark it in advance to avoid sending the wrong ghost and causing unnecessary trouble.

Yu listened quietly to his father's explanation of the procedures to be followed, and then patted his chest and said, "Okay, I'll get all the straw mats and hoes from home and burn them for you!"

finished,

He ran towards the direction of Ye County, and was then washed up from the Zhang River again.

Xi was still laughing at his silly son, "Hee, like a big dog that fell into the water!"

"How could you forget? This is just a dream!"

The fisherman, dripping wet, lay on the shore and laughed, "Ah, I forgot again!"

"I was so happy that I couldn't help forgetting it!"

But since he was already wet, the accumulated water that had not been discharged just now could be discharged at this time.

He lowered his head and tried to pull at his belt again.

Xi rushed forward and kicked him, "You little bastard, you do stupid things every day!"

"Get out of here quickly!"

"Remember, just burn the things made of grass and bamboo, don't burn anything else!"

"what!"

The fisherman's movement was interrupted again and he rolled into the river.

The fisherman who couldn't swim was dancing his arms and legs in the rolling Zhang River, and then he felt someone slap him in the face.

"It's the middle of the night, are you going crazy?"

The wife was innocently woken up by her husband's dancing in the middle of his sleep and was very angry. She slapped Yu but still felt it was not enough, so she pinched the soft flesh on his waist.

Yu finally came to his senses.

He ignored the pain and just said blankly, "I'm going to burn something!"

After saying that, he got up from the straw mat and ran to the small courtyard outside the house.

"Ok?"

His wife followed him out yawning, worried that he had really gone crazy.

result,

Before she went out, she heard the sound of water running.

Looking again, Yu was standing in the corner of the courtyard, nourishing the flowers and plants growing by the wall.

"So he was holding it in!"

The wife suddenly realized.

Then he went back calmly and fell asleep again.

When the sun rises, Yu starts looking for craftsmen in the city who are good at weaving grass into bamboo.

"What are you looking for?" "The shoes and mats at home are not torn, and the bamboo basket is enough."

"To be burned for my father."

Yu excitedly explained, "I dreamed of him last night. The gods must have sensed my filial piety, so they allowed us to meet!"

"My father said there is nothing in the underworld and asked me to help burn it, just like worshipping gods in a temple!"

The wife was also delighted, "So that's how it is!"

"Then hurry up and I'll go to the temple to thank He Bo for his gift!"

then,

The couple went their separate ways, each doing their own thing.

As Yu inquired and explained, the villagers in the city gradually heard about this matter.

"The underworld is empty, and the dead ghosts are looking for things from the living. Is this true?" Some people are skeptical.

As for the matter of visions and apparitions,

There is no doubt about it.

After all, their Ye County is the promised land protected by the River God, so "seeing ghosts" is just a common thing.

"That's right!" Someone else said, "If there is everything in the underworld, then why do we need a letter to the underworld?"

In a family that has some savings and follows rules, once someone dies, they must prepare this document and give it to Tu Bo, specifying the reward for guiding the ghost, so that the gods can take the ghost to the underworld.

This shows that

Even local people have to ask people for things, let alone ghosts?
Then someone exclaimed, "Then my ancestors must have suffered for a long time in the underworld?"

At this time, most people who paid attention to sacrifices were nobles.

Common people live in fear of death and have little knowledge, so they can only try their best to make people live comfortably while alive and have a place to be buried when they die.

As for regular sacrifices and tomb sweeping?

At least in Ye County, such a custom has not yet flourished.

"How many things do we need to prepare for the ancestor worship?"

Someone was concerned about the life of his ancestors in the underworld, so he ran over to ask Yu.

But I couldn't help but worry——

If this sacrifice had to be performed with the same specifications as when a noble person offered sacrifice to their own ancestral temple, or when everyone offered sacrifice to ghosts and gods, then I would not be able to afford it and could only ask my ancestors to continue to suffer.

The pragmatic instinct in the Chinese blood makes the villagers pay more attention to their own lives in this world even after witnessing the appearance of ghosts and gods.

People will definitely die.

But everyone hopes that they won’t die now.

“You don’t need too many things, just burn them with straw or bamboo, draw a circle on the ground, and chant the names of your ancestors.”

So the man breathed a sigh of relief and began to think about the reason himself.

To light a fire,
That's definitely not gold or iron.
Gold and iron cannot be burned.

Drawing a circle may be to prevent other ghosts from competing for the offerings.

After all, this is the way the world is.

If someone were to hold treasure and shout in the street, many people would gather around to watch the fun.

"I see!"

The man turned around and left, determined to ask a craftsman to weave some grass hoes, shovels and other tools for him.

If you are more particular, you can weave it with bamboo.

Wood carving is time-consuming and laborious, and cannot keep up with this sudden trend.

When the sun sets,
The cool autumn breeze blows,
Many people ran to Yu's house, lay on the earthen wall of his house, and watched Yu deliver things to his dead father.

Heiwa is the grandson.

In his right hand he held a long stick, carrying a piece of clothing that his grandfather had worn when he was alive, and in his left hand he held a wooden plaque with Xi's name written on it.

Yu, his wife and daughter knelt on the ground with a circle drawn in front of them.

Then the fisherman took out the flint, struck it, produced sparks, and started a fire.

As for Heiwa, he followed his parents' instructions, concentrated his energy into his Dantian, and shouted words to "summon the soul."

"Oh, the sound is so loud, don't scare the ghosts away!" Someone was shocked and couldn't help but raise his hand to touch his ears.

"Why should I be afraid of my own grandson? I see that Heiwa is so loud and powerful now, he will definitely have a bright future!"

"Stop making noise, it's starting to burn!"

After the dry grass that was used as kindling was burning, Yu seriously picked up the various small "tools" that he had prepared long ago and threw them into the fire.

While throwing, say:
"On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Xi's descendants, Yu, present a hoe to their ancestor Xi."

The flames burned brightly within the circle,

Wisps of white smoke rose and disappeared into the rapidly approaching night.

The clouds were blown away by the wind, revealing a round moon.

"It's so beautiful!" A child held his face to admire the moon, and then asked his parents, "Can our deceased ancestors see today's moon just like us?"

"Okay, everyone will die, but the moon never changes." The parents touched the child's head.

The child said, "But the moon is in the sky, and our ancestors are buried underground, so how can we see them?"

"When I get back, I'm going to weave a big moon out of straw and give it to my ancestors to see!"

The child sucked his fingers, looked at Yu and his wife and children who were cooking seriously, and expressed his great goal.

……

Yu burned a sacrifice for his old father in the world of the living.
Xi was in the underworld and indeed received these things!
"It appeared directly in my house. It's amazing!"

Xi took out the things he had received and showed them to He Bo who came to observe the situation.

"Of course I should. After all, if you specifically ask for it, then of course we have to deliver it to your door!"

At present, there are more rooms than ghosts in the underworld, so each ghost enjoys the treatment of having his own door and his own house. There is also a sign hanging at the gate with the ghost's name on it.

"Can it be used?" He Bo asked again.

"Let me try!"

Xi picked up the hoe, his face showing unconcealable joy.

Although the straw hoe was indeed iron and heavy after it manifested in the underworld, it was ultimately not strong enough. There was rust on the surface of the hoe, and the handle felt a little rough to the touch.

But it is iron after all.

When Xi was alive, he never had an iron tool of his own!
And it really works!
He Bo looked at Xi wielding a hoe and happily clearing the land in the underworld.

Then he remembered that no crops could be grown in the underworld.

Although Xi often lamented how soft the underworld was and how easy it was to cultivate, the rules of the underworld were like this—

How can a dead person create life?

(End of this chapter)