Chapter 14: Entering the Cycle of Rebirth (2)

  "This card I'll take care of, we don't have many people, can only split up to act, if found suitable then contact by phone, I will transfer the money," Tian Qi agreed to this matter, Chen Yu gave him a bank card, the card had one million, Fatzi looked at his eyes shining, said he would manage the account, Tian Qi naturally couldn't agree.

  This matter is different from others. Director Chen has recently suffered so many changes, and since he decided to hold this ceremony, his family must have already settled down. The amount of money needed for this is not a small sum, and I'm afraid that after the ceremony is completed, he will be left with very little. Director Chen gave him the card, which is the greatest trust, if he also wants to take advantage of this little profit, then Wu Tianqi is not human.

  "Cut it out, you guys are so stupid from studying and don't know how to be flexible!" Fatso didn't get his way and couldn't save face, so he made an excuse for himself.

  Tian Qi didn't bother to attend the meeting and started assigning tasks instead.

  The ceremony is divided into six steps.

  First step: find the address, Chen Yu is in charge of this, which is also the most difficult part.

  The second step is to use an ancient 'jade' pendant or 'jade' bangle. As the saying goes, "raising jade, jade raises people." When worn on a person's body for a long time, the jade will connect with the person's vital energy, and a red line like blood vessels will appear in the jade. The longer it is worn, the longer the red line becomes, until it eventually forms a complete circle. This jade must be worn by the same person for an extended period before it can be considered complete. If the quality of the jade itself is high, then its value is priceless. This ritual requires such a jade, fortunately, there are no special requirements for the material of the jade itself, otherwise, one million might not even be enough.

  The third step: the eldest son wears mourning clothes at home when an elderly person passes away. It is rare for people to live until they are sixty years old, and even rarer for them to reach a very advanced age. Such elderly people are called long-lived persons. When rural elderly people pass away and are buried, their relatives will wear hemp and mourning clothes to bid farewell to the elderly person, and the eldest son's mourning clothes are the most solemn and essential items in the ritual.

  Fourth step: A 9-meter-wide and 9-meter-long Bagua diagram and eight trigrams flag. The eight trigrams were originally drawn by Fu Xi, representing the eight trigrams. Qian represents heaven, Kun represents earth, Xun represents wind, Zhen represents thunder, Kan represents water, Li represents fire, Gen represents mountain, Dui represents marsh, symbolizing all things in the universe and the harmony of heaven and earth.

  Fifth step: half a catty of blood from a newborn girl.

  The sixth step: ten robust men and ten suitable 'girls', the men are in charge of cutting down trees, and the 'girls' are in charge of burying springs.

  These rituals seem not very difficult to prepare, but it's not easy to gather everything in a short time. The three of them discussed and decided that Tian Qi would be responsible for collecting the things needed for the second and third steps. Qiu Shen is not good at socializing, but he is meticulous and will be responsible for preparing the things needed for the fourth step. Pangzi has more connections and will be responsible for preparing the things needed for the sixth and seventh steps.

  After dividing it up, the three of them began to take action.

  Tian Qi first made a phone call home. He had spent a few years in the countryside when he was young, and his father had been a chef in the city before the whole family moved into the city. It would be relatively easier to find 'Yu' Pei and Xiao Yi in the countryside.

  "Now the countryside has also changed a lot, many of the old customs are gone. You can still find jade pendants, but it's hard to find filial piety clothes." Wu Dad said on the phone, he hasn't been back for a long time since the elderly passed away.

  "Let Tianqi go find Mr. Zhao, he's still there," said Mother when Father answered the phone on speaker while he was at home.

  Mr. Zhao is the person Tian Qi is about to set out to find.

  After taking a three-hour train and a two-hour car ride, Tianqi arrived in Zhaojiatun before dark. As the name of the town suggests, most people here are surnamed Zhao, and Tianqi's family is considered outsiders.

  The sky had already darkened, and Tianqi found an inn in the town to stay for the night, planning to look for Mr. Zhao tomorrow. As for this place, Tianqi was actually not very familiar with it, his childhood memories were also very vague, and he didn't have any friends here, only remembering that when he was young, most of the houses here were made of earth, but now there were many large tile-roofed houses, and some wealthy families had even built two-story small buildings.

  He simply ate a little in a small restaurant and returned to his room. Although the place has made great progress, it is still a remote rural area after all. As soon as the sky darkens, the streets are basically deserted. Only one or two KTVs were still lit up, but Tian Qi was naturally not interested, especially since he was alone now.

  Lying in bed, it's still early, Tian Qi can't sleep, so he calls Pangzi and Qiu Shen separately. Qiu Shen has roughly selected three houses for the gossip and array flags, but hasn't decided which one to choose yet, he wants to take a closer look. Pangzi is the same as himself, there's no substantial progress yet.

  When people are busy, they don't think about anything. Once they're idle, especially at night, they start to think wildly. As for choosing this path, Tian Qi has no regrets, but he can't help thinking that if he had chosen the path his parents and teachers hoped for, what kind of state would he be in now?

  The night was getting deeper, Tian Qi didn't go to take a bath, just simply washed up, because this inn had a public bathroom, although the number of people who checked in today didn't seem like many. However, judging from the voices and languages, there were several people who weren't good eggs. Ordinary folks wouldn't stay at such an inn. On the contrary, some people from the underworld often patronized it, and listening to their conversations, a few even had long-term rentals here.

  The hotel has food and accommodation, and you don't need to clean up after yourself. It's also very easy to get around.

  I have 100,000 cash on me and a lot more in my card. If I get targeted, it's no small matter. Losing money can be earned back, but losing one's life is the end of everything. This was what Tianqi emphasized to Fatso before he left.

  A few points asleep Tianqi didn't go to see the time, but he soon fell asleep and dreamed of Yingying, his mentor's 'daughter', the one he liked. Yingying looked at him with her blue eyes, came to the bedside, leaned over and stroked Tianqi's face. This was something that the two had not experienced in reality, if they followed their mentor's arrangement and stayed in school to teach, it would have been very possible for them to have reached this step already.

  Her hands were cool to the touch, her face was a bit pale, and her hair was still wet...

  "Ah!" Tian Qi suddenly opened his eyes, and the scene in front of him gave him a fright that made him jump out of bed.

  It wasn't a dream just now, there was a female ghost crouching beside his 'bed', her whole body wet and pale without any blood color, her eyes not beautiful blue eyes, but bulging eyeballs.

  Tian Qi quickly calmed down, this kind of 'female' ghost he wasn't seeing for the first time, it's just that the beautiful Yan Yan in his dream suddenly changed into this 'ugly' appearance, making him hard to accept for a moment.

  The next day, Tian Qi settled his bill early and left the hotel, but he didn't go to see Mr. Zhao directly, instead he went to the police station.

  It took two hours to finish the transcription, which was a favor asked by that female ghost last night. Five years ago, she came alone to this place as a volunteer teacher at an elementary school and stayed in this hotel for one night, only to be robbed and murdered. The mountains are high and the emperor is far away, now the murderer is still on the loose, while her body was dismembered and fed to dogs, not even leaving any ashes behind.

  Tian Qi couldn't have known the truth just because he saw a female ghost at the police station, so it took more than two hours to explain. Fortunately, the ID card of that woman was still with a suspect and hadn't been burned, so following the trail should lead to the discovery.

  When Tian Qi found Mr. Zhao, it was already past three o'clock in the afternoon.

  "You've done a good deed." These were Mr. Zhao's first words when he saw Tian Qi.

  "What? What are you talking about?" Tian Qi felt surprised, could this Mr. Zhao be referring to that female substitute teacher?

  "The man who ruined that girl has confessed," said Mr. Zhao with a slap on his pipe.

  Gao Ren was so shocked that he couldn't say a word. What kind of ability would allow someone to know these things, and yet no one else was present when it happened?

  "There's nothing surprising about it, having lived for so many years, I just have a slight understanding of divination techniques."

  This Mr. Zhao is also a stubborn person, he used to be the head of a village, his words carried weight in the village, but after falling ill, he stepped down and now his son is the village head. Rural life has improved compared to before, the old man is formidable and the son is not bad either, they've built a two-story building.

  Mr. Zhao's wife passed away early, his son built a house and wanted his father to live in it to enjoy the blessings. However, this old man refused to go and insisted on living in this old earth house. Fortunately, his son's building is not far from the earth house, and his daughter-in-law is also filial, so it's convenient for her to take care of him usually.

  The ceiling was too low, and after stepping over the threshold into the earthen house, he couldn't stand up straight. A feeling of oppression made him very uncomfortable, but sitting down helped a lot.

  "Old master, you are familiar with this village, I have come to ask for your help," Tian Qi bought a lot of supplements and several good cigarettes, but the bright colors were out of place with the earth house.

  "I know what you've come for, this matter I can help you with, don't worry, just that 'jade' pendant you'll have to get yourself," Mr. Zhao raised his head and put the tobacco pouch aside.

  Because Mr. Zhao had been half-bowing his head and smoking just now, Tian Qi only saw a head full of white hair but didn't see his face clearly. Now that he sees him clearly, Tian Qi can't help but secretly marvel at how this old man is over 80 years old, yet doesn't look like an elderly farmer at all. What a refined and elegant demeanor, especially those bright and spirited eyes!

  "He's no ordinary person!" Tian Qi exclaimed in his heart.

  "Do you know where 'Yu' Pinyin is?" Tian Qi listened very seriously to what Mr. Zhao said just now, and he noticed that the old man was talking about taking 'Yu' Pinyin.

  "In the tomb circle at the east end of the village, you must go tonight."

  The village cemetery, this is rural slang, that is, the graveyard. The rural graveyard is not like the urban cemetery, planned very neatly and managed by a special person. Like Zhaojiatun, generally, people from one family will be buried together after death. Those with higher status now have a monument erected, while ordinary ones are just a mound of earth.

  "If I go alone, can I..."

  "No way, you must go alone, no one can follow you," the old man guessed Tianqi's thoughts.

  It's impossible to say that Tian Qi is not afraid, he has seen many ghosts before, but going to the cemetery alone at night is still unbearable for him, even if he won't encounter evil spirits, each tomb will come out with a ghost, which is enough for him.

  But this old man is no ordinary person. Since he said it's not going to work, he will definitely not disobey himself, otherwise something unexpected might happen.