Chapter 4: Fixing the Soul

  "The bronze basin is for summoning souls, if you take it, a corpse will surely rise."

  The footsteps got closer, and the male voice spoke coldly again.

  Then, the man holding me let out a loud yell like a pig being slaughtered and released me. I took a deep breath, turned around, and saw a tall man in black clothes holding my father with one hand, his back to me.

  Is that the person who pulled me into the pond?

  Her father's head wasn't small, he could actually lift her father up with one hand, it seemed like a practiced move. At this time, I couldn't confront him and ask why he was swimming in that pond, or pretending to be a ghost and pulling me down. If he wanted me dead, all he had to do was move his little finger.

  I rubbed my nose and forced a smile: "Thanks for saving my life, hero."

  "Don't touch anything at the funeral, every arrangement has its own significance and value." He turned his head around, I was shocked, how could a man with a face as beautiful as a peach blossom and a natural smile have such a cold personality? He looked at me for a few seconds, then said, "The customs of fixing the soul in different places are different, some use roosters, some use black cats, Jiangyin village worships the Goddess of Grain, so we should use copper bowls.----You've followed your grandmother for over ten years, how could you not even know this basic knowledge?"

  I scratched my hair and smiled foolishly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

  Within seven days after a person's death, the soul has not completely gone or dispersed. Some unfinished wishes in life will be stubbornly returned to complete, but even if the soul returns to the flesh, it is only a walking corpse and cannot eat, drink, or sleep like normal people. Therefore, when a person dies, during the funeral rites, things are used to fix the yin soul to prevent it from rushing back into the flesh.

  So far, I have never seen a "person" who can really bring people back from the dead.

  Many of the "back from the dead" stories circulating online are mostly rumors, and if they really did come back to life, it's likely that there were still signs of life and they hadn't actually died.

  The man slammed the old man against the door and quickly picked up a rope, tying him up tightly. After finishing, he wrote a few words in mid-air. I knew they were talismans and spells, but usually my grandmother would use cinnabar to write talismans. Why didn't he use anything? Can air be used as a seal too? It's really strange.

  Grandma walked in from outside the door, with Niu Niu following behind her.

  "Yinhe, are you okay?" Niu Niu asked me. I shook my head and said it was nothing.

  My grandmother slapped my forehead with a loud smack, shouting: "You little scamp! I thought you were sleeping in your room, when did you sneak out here?! If it weren't for Niuniu knocking on the door, you'd be dead and nobody would know!" My face turned red as I hung my head in shame, not daring to make a sound. Grandma placed her left hand on top of her right hand, bowing to the man with an ancient gesture, "Thank you so much, Mr. Bai."

  The young man nodded to his grandmother and held her hand: "No need for courtesy."

  I secretly curled my lip, is this white boss from ancient times? Why does he speak so elegantly? Thinking about it, I found it interesting and was about to chat with Yaoyao. Turning around, I saw Yaoyao repeatedly opening and closing the coffin lid, so I hurried over to help. Just now, being held back by Yaoyao's dad, I only saw Yaoyao's mom's face, but now through the gap, I saw her entire corpse, and I was stunned.

  Her clothes were all tattered and stained with blood, which extended all the way down to her lower body. I looked down into the coffin and saw that she wasn't wearing any pants, and her private parts were as bald as her head, covered in black scabs. It seemed like someone had forcibly ripped off all her pubic hair.

  Is it your dad's doing?

  Too scary!

  I covered the coffin lid, comforted Niu Niu for a few words, and knelt down with her in front of the coffin. My grandmother and Old White didn't say anything, each found a chair to sit on one side, quietly keeping vigil.

  The sky gradually brightened and the rooster crowed again.

  Mr. Bai stood up first, then helped Grandma up and said in a warm tone: "The sky is already bright, the Yin has been sent away, and there's no big deal." Grandma patted Mr. Bai's hand: "Child, thank you for your hard work." Mr. Bai nodded slightly, as if responding. ---- I watched all this, and put aside my intention to tell Grandma about what happened by the pond.

  Grandma is so polite to Old White, if I told her he pulled my leg in the water yesterday and tried to drag me underwater, she definitely wouldn't believe me. She might even scold me, saying I'm being naughty.

  I gently pushed Yu Yu with my arm, she let out a yawn, turned her head to look at me and said: "Yin He, you go home, I'm fine." Afraid that I wouldn't believe her, she opened her mouth and laughed loudly for several times. "I really am fine, don't worry about me. Life and death are predetermined, I understand. Besides... this is all my mom's own doing, can't blame anyone else."

  I wasn't feeling much at first, but after she said that, I suddenly felt a lump in my throat and started crying on her shoulder.

  The pain of losing loved ones can only be understood by those who have experienced it.

  I'm lucky enough not to have experienced such pain yet, but seeing Niu Niu pretending to be calm and chatting with me, the sourness in my heart surged higher and higher.

  I cried for a while, and my grandma patted my shoulder: "Little Buddha, stop crying, go back to the house and rest for a bit. This afternoon, you'll go with Old White to Grandma's house, and then you can cry." I looked up, gazing at Old White through tearful eyes, but he just gave me a faint glance before turning around and walking out of the house. My grandma pushed me forward, indicating that I should follow him. I was very reluctant, but had no choice, so I said goodbye to Niu Niu and went back to my room.

  Lying on the bed for a while, I didn't feel sleepy, so I went to my grandmother's room. My grandmother wasn't sleeping either, she was chatting with Old White. When she saw me coming, she stopped talking. I didn't think much and asked my grandmother if Niu Ma's ghost was that scary? Did it need her to stay up all night? My grandmother waved her hand and said, "Old White drew Niu Ma's face just like when she was alive, which resolved Niu Ma's resentment. Otherwise, Niu Niu would have definitely died last night." This is what they call a "ghost wedding" to resolve the resentment of the dead. However, just resolving Niu Ma's resentment wasn't enough, there was still a small one in Niu Ma's belly, already two months old.

  I was startled.

  Your mom is two months pregnant, can't tell at all.

  Why are people so afraid of the fetus's soul? It's like this - once a fetus takes shape, it has a soul, and this soul is both extremely pure and extreme. They yearn to be born, yearn to see the world, but if this desire is shattered, they will become very vicious and make their "mother" restless. The most direct way is to make their "mother" unable to have children forever in the future.

  Either can't get pregnant or habitual abortion.

  Habitual abortion is not necessarily caused by the mother's physical quality, and many young mothers who have had a miscarriage or an abortion may have a deep understanding of this concept.

  Grandma said that Auntie had been having an affair with the village chief for some time, and Uncle had always known about it but didn't have the courage to catch them in the act. A few days ago, a rumor spread from somewhere that Auntie was pregnant with the village chief's child, and Uncle immediately became anxious, fearing that Auntie would run away with the village chief. So, he took advantage of yesterday's opportunity when Auntie went to meet the village chief secretly and brought his tools along. Originally, it was just meant to scare Auntie a bit, but she repeatedly mocked Uncle, saying he had no skills, only knew how to farm, and couldn't earn any money. Uncle couldn't take the provocation and directly beat Auntie unconscious in the cornfield, using a wooden stick to poke into her lower body, stirring the fetus in her womb into a bloody pulp. By the time the village chief arrived with others, Auntie had already stopped breathing, and Uncle was tearing out all her hair, stuffing it into his mouth.

  That scene automatically filled in by my brain was truly terrifying.

  Yesterday I went to the cornfield with Daddy, originally I smelled the stench of yin soul on Mom's body, wanted to save Mom's life, unfortunately things didn't go as planned.

  I asked my grandma, "Where is the village head?" Grandma said, "The village head is paralyzed in half of his body and lies on the bed, unable to move."

  I sighed and didn't ask again.

  Adults have done something wrong and will eventually be punished, but the ones who suffer are always the children. From today on, Niu Niu is a child without a mother's love.

  The world has only good mothers, children without mothers are like withered grass.

  My mother gave birth to me and left me with my grandmother, leaving with my father. Fortunately, she didn't abandon me in the wilderness or sell me out, from this point of view, she still loves me.

  My grandmother asked me if I was sleepy, and if I wanted to take a nap. I said no, so she went to the incense room and got several yellow talismans for me to bring to my grandma's house. She said these could help temporarily ward off the paper fetus ghost that's been bothering her. Every night at midnight, burn one of them, and when burning, light an incense stick. Lighting an incense stick is used to summon yin souls; if you're inviting a god, you need to light three sticks - don't get it wrong.

  I held the runes in my hand and counted them, there were only three.

  "Is it just going to prolong her life for three more days?" I asked.

  My grandmother glared at me: "What's with the 'she, she, her'? She's your own grandmother." I smiled awkwardly, and my grandmother continued, "I'm not very clear about your grandmother's birth eight characters. After you arrive, remember to ask and fill them in on the talisman. First, suppress it for three days. During these three days, I'll go over there to take a look and see if I can find your grandmother's green lamp. If successful, add two years to her life. Alas, her fate shouldn't have been cut off."

  I nodded and said I knew.