Chapter 68: My Mom Said
Nan Yuanman: “?”
The little girl got angry, her two tiny eyebrows standing up: “Which irresponsible person told you that! Tell me! I’ll smash him with a coffin!”
The prerequisite for having no taboos is that a certain family firmly doesn’t believe in these things, being firm materialists.
But when she was in the hospital, she heard what Yao Xianglu’s father said, that her mother often went to fortune tellers for fortune telling, she believes in these things, so how could it be considered having no taboos?
Yao Xianglu shrank her neck and hesitantly spoke: “This… my mom said…”
Nan Yuanman: “……”
She clenched her fists in anger and punched the air on the spot: “You, her, you’re really infuriating me.”
“The day after a person passes away and is buried has particular rules, not only calculating the day, but also the lunar month, the hour, mainly based on the family eldest grandson’s fate, and also avoiding days that clash with Tai Sui, and so on.”
“If the burial day happens to clash with Tai Sui, it will bring disaster to future generations, and the zodiac signs of the people present at the burial time also have particular rules!”
She angrily pointed at Yao Xianglu: “You didn’t calculate the day and buried her so carelessly, no wonder she’s tormenting your whole family from below!”
No wonder her mother suffered the most serious harm, almost losing her life!
Nan Yuanman spoke irritably: “It’s also thanks to you having merit on you, otherwise, at the speed of this ghost energy erosion, your family of three would have been killed long ago.”
Yao Xianglu was stunned. She was still young, and family matters were generally handled by her parents. She never knew that after a person dies, burial requires so many rules. Her mind went blank from the scolding: “Then, what should I do?”
Nan Yuanman: “Dig up the grave, exhume the coffin, hold a wake for three days, perform religious rites for three days to sincerely apologize, then recalculate a good day for burial, and burn a lot of paper money.”
She held out her small hand: “You’ll have to find a ritual master separately for these. I’m too young and can’t perform religious rites yet.”
Performing religious rites requires enormous physical energy, and she really was willing but unable.
Upon hearing this, Yao Xianglu panicked and subconsciously said: “I, I don’t know any ritual master!”
Nan Yuanman: “……”
Did she know one?!
Seeing Yao Xianglu’s bewildered look, Nan Yuanman sighed heavily like a little adult, her meaty little hand calculating for a moment.
She raised her hand pointing to the southeast direction: “After you return to the village today, go southeast, and you’ll meet a ritual master fated with you. Then ask him to come back and perform religious rites for you.”
Yao Xianglu gratefully said: “Okay, thank you, thank you Yuanman.”
She felt around her body, pulled five hundred yuan from her back pocket, and awkwardly handed the money to her: “I only have five hundred left, all for you, as the reward.”
Nan Yuanman only took one bill: “I’ll just take one hundred, since I haven’t really helped you with anything.”
“How not! If you hadn’t pointed it out, I still wouldn’t know there was a problem with the family grave.” Yao Xianglu hurriedly stuffed all the money in her hand into Nan Yuanman’s pocket, not giving her a chance to refuse.
Nan Yuanman pursed her lips, looked at her for a moment, took out a Dirt Removal Talisman from her shoulder bag and handed it to her: “Here, for you. Carry it with you, get more sun these two days, and once the ritual master finishes the religious rites, your luck will recover.”
Yao Xianglu was deeply moved: “Thank you, Yuanman.”
After a whole day of fussing, the sky gradually darkened. Nan Yuanman and Yao Xianglu didn’t stay longer and hurried down the mountain.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, the sun had fully set, and the village bus had stopped running, so the two had to stay overnight in the countryside.
After settling Nan Yuanman at home, Yao Xianglu followed her instructions and headed southeast.
After walking a stretch, Yao Xianglu was surprised to find that the house near the village end, which had been abandoned a year ago, had been rebuilt at some point. The gate was tightly closed, with no sound from inside, looking like no one lived there.
But…
Yao Xianglu stepped back a bit and looked up, seeing black smoke rising faintly from the chimney of the house, confirming someone lived inside.
“Eh? Xianglu, why are you standing there dumbly?” A familiar kindly voice suddenly came from behind Yao Xianglu.
Yao Xianglu turned and saw it was Li Dashen from the neighboring house. Li Dashen carried a bamboo basket with some wild vegetables inside, probably just back from digging them.
Li Dashen curiously glanced at Yao Xianglu, then nodded slightly toward that house: “Do you know the people in that house?”
Yao Xianglu shook her head: “No, I just got back today. I didn’t even know when this house appeared. Wasn’t it abandoned here a year ago?”
She had worked in S City for a long time, and even when home, she stayed inside playing games, not very aware of changes in the village.
“Well, it’s normal you don’t know them, we don’t either.” Li Dashen pulled her along, mysteriously saying: “This family appeared suddenly a year ago. They said a particularly wealthy old woman wanted to retire to the countryside, bought this land, and rebuilt a house.”
“We didn’t notice when that old woman arrived. Once here, she stayed inside, didn’t go out. If not for the occasional coughing from inside and the smoke from the chimney, we’d think that old woman had died inside!”
Li Dashen couldn’t help warning her as she spoke: “Let me tell you, this house is very eerie. Don’t linger in front of their door.”
“Some village children were playing shuttlecock nearby before, and the shuttlecock fell into her yard. They knocked but no one answered, so they climbed over the wall.”
“Just as they climbed to the top of the wall, they saw the old woman with a long face standing below, glaring at them fiercely, scaring the child so much he screamed, and got a high fever that night!”
“After that, they were inexplicably unlucky. Dazhuang almost drowned falling into water!”
Yao Xianglu felt chills down her spine the more she heard, especially since her family issues weren’t resolved yet. She hurriedly pulled Li Dashen farther away: “Why didn’t my mom tell me about this?”
“Well, what’s the use telling you young people? You wouldn’t understand. Later your mom went to a fortune teller, and it was fine!” Li Dashen gossiped a few more things with her, and upon learning she was looking for a ritual master, her eyes lit up: “I know!”
“Old Zhang! He lives at the village end! Come on, I’ll take you to him!” Li Dashen didn’t hesitate and pulled Yao Xianglu striding forward.
Yao Xianglu tried to keep up, and just before leaving, she inexplicably looked back.
She suddenly saw that the tightly closed door had opened at some point, and an eye was peering through the door crack at her.
Yao Xianglu: “!!!”
She jolted in fright and quickened her steps.
At this moment, behind the door, the old woman with graying hair, wearing a black qipao and looking exceptionally elegant, stared at Yao Xianglu’s back, slowly closing the door.
She wore a necklace around her neck woven from red rope, with a dark black bead hanging at the end.
The bead moved slightly with her motion.
The old woman’s turbid eyes brightened slightly. She raised her hand, gently stroking the bead, her voice hoarse but infinitely gentle: “Cub awake? Hungry? Mommy made food, can feed you right away…”
Amid her soft coaxing, a faint golden mist gradually drifted out from the bead, slowly gathering into a dazed adult man…
