The young woman's name was Fang Min. According to her, the strange thing happened to an old man with the surname Yuan.
Old Master Yuan died coincidentally on his seventieth birthday. Everything was normal at the funeral. Fang Min had learned some things since she entered this line of work. She directed her family members to help Old Master Yuan bathe and change his clothes, and then arranged for Old Master Yuan's seven-year-old grandson to wave a willow branch and a white paper banner to summon the spirit. Everything seemed to be in order, but when it was time for the relatives to help Old Master put on the shroud, Old Master Yuan's body was stiff and he could not put it on no matter how hard he tried.
Funerals were also time-sensitive. Seeing that they couldn't make it in time, the family members all came to ask Fang Min what to do. But Fang Min didn't know any of this and couldn't say anything.
In the end, the old man's eldest son was afraid of being late and embarrassing himself, so he knelt in front of the old man's bed, kowtowed a few times, and apologized to his father. Then, he went up and moved the old man's body, preparing to force the shroud on it.
However, this move made things worse. The shroud was barely put on, but the old man's whole body was stiff in a sitting position. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't move it back. Now, even the coffin couldn't be put on.
The family was completely panicked. They sat next to the body and stared at each other, not knowing what to do.
In the end, it was the neighbor, an old man in his eighties who gave the idea of asking the old man's eldest son to buy a vat and put the old man's body in it. It was called "vat burial".
At that time, the group of people thought that it was strange, but seeing a pair of guests waiting outside, they had no choice but to do it.
The effect of the vat was unexpectedly good. After the body was put in, the front, back, left, and right fit.
The family members were all overjoyed and quickly found something to seal the vat.
However, when they were sealing the vat, the grandson, who was standing next to them holding the spirit-summoning banner, suddenly said, "Why did grandpa open his eyes?"
This scared everyone half to death. They looked up and saw that the old man's body really opened his eyes!
When people opened their eyes after death, they died with their eyes open. After everyone came to their senses, they looked at each other and didn't know what to do.
A group of people came to ask Fang Min, but she hesitated for a long time. In the end, she could only come up with an idea to force the old man's eyes down.
The eldest son followed his instructions and walked forward. However, even after pressing on the old man's eyes for a long time, he still couldn't close them.
In the end, he gritted his teeth and simply found a piece of cloth to cover the old man's eyes. Then, he hurriedly sealed the mouth of the vat. A few filial sons carried the vat and rushed all the way to the cemetery.
After the previous twists and turns, there was no longer a sad atmosphere at this time of the funeral. The process in the middle was reduced as much as possible. After hurriedly burying the old man, the family members finally let out a sigh of relief and returned home with the guests.
On the way home, the grandson of the old master suddenly asked, "Why is my grandfather following us?"
The group of people exploded again. They looked back for a long time but found nothing. Old Master Yuan's eldest son slapped the back of his youngest grandson's head, telling him to shut up and stop talking nonsense.
The grandson held his head and shut his mouth, feeling wronged. However, he kept looking back as if there was really something following them.
When everyone returned home, Fang Min took the money and left in a hurry. Later, she heard that the family had been suffering from bad luck ever since the funeral, especially the eldest son. Half a month after the funeral, he fell while working at the construction site and became paralyzed in the lower half of his body.
At that time, she believed that it was retribution because they didn't handle the funeral well.
Even she was scared for a long time. However, she didn't find anything wrong, so she gradually relaxed.
After listening to her story, the surrounding people all sighed in admiration. Some said that the child could open his Heaven's Eye and see ghosts, while others said that the eldest son was unfilial and deserved to suffer.
I lay there and sighed.
In this matter, the eldest son was obviously in the wrong, but Fang Min was the one who made the biggest mistake.
As the host of the funeral, she was in charge of everything at the funeral. Not only did she have to manage the ceremony, but she also had to manage everything.
Although the eldest son was unfilial, he had made the wrong choice in a hurry. If Fang Min had given him some advice, the tragedies that followed could have been avoided.
First of all, Fang Min had made a mistake when she had arranged for the family to bathe and change clothes for the old man. She couldn't use ordinary water to wash the body because it contained too much Yang energy, and the deceased belonged to the Yin attribute. After the Yang energy washed the body, it could easily stimulate the Yin energy in the old man's body. That was why Old Master Yuan's body became stiff after his death.
Since Yang water couldn't be used, Yin water was needed. The so-called Yin water was the water that was bought from the netherworld with Yin money. For example, burning incense, burning paper, and other methods of worship were used. That was Yin water.
Using Yin water to wash the body could temporarily calm the Yin energy in the deceased's body and soften the body. Moreover, part of the Yin energy in the body could be released.
As for the vase burial, it was even more ridiculous.
The vase burial was a burial technique used by some virtuous monks in Buddhism after they passed away. Its purpose was to lock the good karma and good karma of the monks in the vase. After years of accumulation, it would slowly form the Golden Body of Buddhism.
I guessed this family had heard about this kind of thing somewhere and had done it without thinking. I didn't know how to evaluate it.
The virtuous monks of Buddhism had done good deeds all their lives. Only then could they endure this kind of burial technique. How could ordinary people have such good karma?
Just like how people with a shallow destiny couldn't endure good Fengshui, ordinary people couldn't endure this kind of burial technique.
The old man's body had already accumulated a lot of Yin Qi. Now that he was buried in a vat, the Yin Qi could not be released. In the end, a Yin Gathering Array was formed in the old man's grave, causing the Yin Qi to accumulate more and more.
When the old man died with grievances, those with a bit of knowledge would ask their children and grandchildren to come and kowtow to comfort him. Slowly, the resentment in the old man's heart would dissipate.
Although she had done a lot of wrong things before, these people were still the old master's descendants. If she had kowtowed a few times, the matter might have been resolved. However, Fang Min had actually asked someone to press down the old master's eyes!
It was ridiculous.
In essence, it was Fang Min's fault. Coupled with the fact that the old man's descendants weren't filial, they had led to this bitter result.
The only strange thing was that the old man's spirit had only punished his children and grandchildren. He didn't want to trouble Fang Min. I had to admit that the old man was kind-hearted.
Otherwise, Fang Min wouldn't have the chance to sit here and tell stories to the others.
After the group chatted for a while, it was lunchtime. They went to eat, and when they came back, Fang Min didn't sit next to my bed, but sat on the opposite bed. It was the first time I raised my head to see her face.
I was bewildered. It wasn't because this woman was beautiful, but from her face, I was afraid something bad was going to happen to her soon.
Her Life Palace was dark, which meant that her life was in danger. Moreover, there was a wisp of Yin energy in her Life Palace. I was afraid it had something to do with the ghosts. If Yin energy could stay in her Life Palace, it meant that some ghosts had their eyes on her.
From the story she had told me, I was sure it was related to the old man.
I didn't want to poke my nose into other people's business. I wanted to pay the price for this. However, after pondering for a while, I couldn't bear it.
Although this matter was Fang Min's fault, if one were to really look into it, it was because of the current society. How many people still knew about the business of serving guests through simple means?
Why did Fang Min switch from being a wedding host to this kind of job?
It wasn't because other people didn't care about funerals, but because they didn't have this kind of awareness. They didn't know that their ancestors had passed down this kind of job to them.
Fang Min didn't understand it either. She only considered this kind of job. She didn't know what kind of responsibility she had to shoulder in the culture she had inherited.
With that thought, I got out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed. I told Fang Min my thoughts.
After I finished, Fang Min was bewildered. After a long time, she asked me skeptically, "Are you telling the truth?"
Before I could answer, a few men who were listening to the gossip burst out laughing. They said to Fang Min, "Don't listen to his nonsense. Who cares about Yang water and Yin water these days?
Even my five-year-old nephew knows that we should believe in science and not be superstitious.
We're old. How can we believe this kind of made-up story? "
After they said that, they looked at me with hostility. I was bewildered. Then, I understood that they considered me a competitor who wanted to pursue Fang Min.
I gave a wry smile. I didn't want to argue with them. I wrote my phone number on a piece of paper and put it on the table. Then, I got up and went to the connecting compartment to smoke.