My name is Liu Huanghe. I'm a little behind 70 years old. I live by the Yellow River. Because I lack water in my life, my father gave me this name.
As for me, I've been on the internet for many years. Because of my ancestral sideline, I like to read ghost stories on the internet. Ghost hunters, Maoshan Taoists, and so on. They were quite interesting. Some of the stories were magical, and the characters in the stories were also well written. However, there was one thing. Many of those stories were exaggerated. I don't know about Taoists, but I know all too well about people who exorcise evil spirits and catch ghosts. My family has been doing this for several generations. Actually, exorcism and catching ghosts are not as magical as the books say. We exorcists and catching ghosts are not that good either.
We are also ordinary people. We have been nameless in the crowd for our entire lives. Every day, we have to worry about daily necessities, exorcism, and catching ghosts. These are all side jobs that can't be eaten. Sometimes, because of some rules and customs, we can't collect money. We just ask for some incense and burn some paper when we go home. Most of the time, we are volunteers. At most, we can just drink and drink.
In my grandmother's words, helping others is equivalent to accumulating Yin virtue for yourself and the entire family. Accepting other people's money will damage Yin virtue, and helping others is equivalent to not helping yourself.
Actually, I've wanted to write about my ancestors and myself for a long time. In the past, my grandmother had always suppressed me. She didn't let me write. My grandmother passed away in February this year at the age of 96. Now, there's no one to suppress her. Sigh…
At this moment, great-great-grandfather felt that it was strange. He tried to trick him in his heart, but the boat had already rowed to the old man's side, so he had to ask. However, before he could speak, the old man spoke first.
The old man's eyes were red and he sounded like he was about to cry. The old man bowed and said," Lord Blessing, Lord Blessing, please help me. I beg you, I beg you…"
Hearing the old man say this, my great-great-grandfather was a little stunned. He asked the old man," Big Ye, do you want to cross the river?”"Da" is the dialect here, which means big uncle.
The old man said with a sad face,"Hey, cross the river, cross the river with my child."”A ball meant together. The old man meant to cross the river with his son.
When great-great-grandfather heard this, he looked around the riverbank. There was no one else on the riverbank except for the old man. He felt very strange and asked the old man," Big Ye, where are your children? Why are you the only one?"”
The old man started to cry. As he cried, he said,"My son is dead. He was beheaded by Fu Tai. I'm here to collect his corpse. I want to transport my son back to my hometown.”
In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, the political situation was in turmoil. There were internal and external troubles. Russia was eyeing them covetously. The Emperor forcibly seized rent and the people were in dire straits. Many anti-Qing organizations appeared all over the country, such as the Green Lotus Sect, the Heaven and Earth Society, the Bang Bang Society, and the God Worshipping Society (Taiping Heavenly Kingdom). Of course, these are not things that my great-great-grandfather could understand. He only knew how to sail a boat on the river every day to earn a living.
Later on, my great-great-grandfather heard from the old man that his son was suspected of being a member of the Club. After a trial by the three halls of Weihui Manor, he was sentenced to death. My great-great-grandfather didn't know what the Bang Bang Society was, but he knew that the old man's son had been beheaded by the head of the chief and died unjustly.
His great-great-grandfather was soft-hearted and agreed to send the father and son across the river. The old man thanked him profusely and said that his son's body was placed in a small manor five miles away. He asked my great-great-grandfather to wait for them by the shore for an hour. He would go back and find someone to carry his son's body over.
My great-great-grandfather is too honest. Just because he made a promise to the old man first, he won't accept other people's business. He just parked the boat on the shore and waited foolishly.
He waited from noon until the sky turned dark. During this period, he did not receive any business. He waited for nothing, which meant that he had waited for nothing for an entire afternoon. Just as my great-great-grandfather estimated that the old man wouldn't be able to come today and was about to pack up, the old man led a few people and carried a large coffin. They arrived late at dusk.
His great-great-grandfather's heart skipped a beat when he saw the big coffin. He had thought that the old man's son's body was wrapped in a straw mat, but he did not expect it to be placed in the coffin.
Carrying a coffin on a boat was a big taboo when traveling on the river. It would offend the Dragon King. Speaking of which, the Dragon King was underwater and did not like being pressed down by a coffin. He would definitely be angry and lift the coffin into the water. Especially this kind of coffin that has been used to bury the dead. We call it a solid coffin here. Things that are " solid " are usually " heavy " when placed in the river. It's a bad omen and very unlucky. In addition, it's already late, and it's very dangerous to sail on the Yellow River at night. My great-great-grandfather had the intention to turn down this business.
When the old man saw that my great-great-grandfather was about to back out, he immediately knelt down in front of my great-great-grandfather with a thud and begged my great-great-grandfather with snot and tears. The old man said that the weather was too hot, and his son's corpse had already rotted. If he didn't send it home early to be buried, it would rot on the road.
The older generation all paid attention to returning to their roots. No matter where they were when they were alive, they must be buried back in their hometown after death. This was called returning to their hometown. If the corpse rotted on the road, the person's soul would become a lonely ghost, forever wandering in a foreign country.
When his great-great-grandfather saw an old man older than his father kneeling down and begging him, his heart softened. In the end, he gritted his teeth and said to the old man,"Fine, I'll help you two today!”To help, it could be understood as "conveniently". Great-great-grandfather had said it quite easily," I'll help you send it back," but in fact, he was taking the risk of breaking the taboo.
Since ancient times, no one knew what happened in the Yellow River, especially those who relied on the Yellow River to make a living. Everyone had great reverence for this mother river. For his great-great-grandfather to do this, he must have had a mental struggle at that time.
His great-great-grandfather first asked the old man and the others to carry the coffin onto the boat. He was not in a hurry to let the old man board the boat. He carried the coffin and rowed the boat to the deep water area. He stopped at an area where the water flow was slower. Then, he took out the three-animal tribute, incense, and incense burner from the cabin. Tribute of the three animals was also a sacrifice. The three animals were pigs, cows, and sheep. The sacrifices were pig heads, cow heads, and sheep heads. Of course, they were not so generous. They did not have the money to sacrifice these hard goods to the river. Instead, they used steamed buns. The pig's head was painted with two pig ears and a pig's nose on the steamed bun with chicken blood, the cow's head was painted with two crescent-shaped horns, and the sheep's head was painted with two spiral horns.
Tributes of three animals were a necessity on our ships in the past. Every ship, big or small, had them. Some large merchant ships even carried live tributes of three animals. It was mainly for safety reasons. If they encountered storms on the river, they would throw the tributes of three animals into the river to sacrifice to the Dragon King and pray for his blessing. I don't know if it will work.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。