I asked He Fang.
"Why did you cut off that woman's hand?"
He Fang took a long time to speak.
"You can come to my house tomorrow. I'll be in my vegetable cellar. Of course, you have to come between nine and eleven. No other time will do. You'll understand then."
He Dana glanced at me.
"Then go!"
He Dana released He Fang.
"Why?"
"You'll know the answer tomorrow. Actually, I want to know, too. He Fang had good character and skills at the crematorium, but she disappeared all of a sudden. This is a very strange thing. Her husband would go there to make trouble for no reason, but she was actually in her family's vegetable cellar. Don't you think this is strange?"
I was confused. What was confusing was why He Fang was cutting that woman's hand. This was really a bit strange.
In the morning, when I went to work, Han Xue asked me what I did yesterday
I said I would go to He Dana's place because he was sick and needed his care.
When we were refining that day, Mao Gang came in without making any sound. When I turned around, I was startled, and Han Xue was also startled.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I'm not afraid of affecting your work."
"What's up?"
"Master Ke, come to my office when you're done."
Mao left as soon as he finished speaking, not very happy.
After work that day, I went to Mao Gang's office. He was smoking and thinking about something.
I sat down and asked what was going on.
"It's a private burning. Please help me. Don't talk about it or anything else."
I know about private burning, but I have never done it. Master Yun Zheng has done it. They burned corpses secretly. There must be a reason for private burning. There must be something behind it, but you cannot burn it yourself. If you burn yourself, you cannot go to heaven. Only a refiner can do it, and it is a very complicated task.
"I think you should find someone else. I have never done it."
"You know someone did it, your master, but your master is dead, so there's nothing we can do. Only you can do it, and he must have taught you."
Yes, Master Yunzheng taught me. When he taught me, he told me that it would be useful. Although this kind of private burning is rare in a hundred years, I might encounter it. I am an extremely yin person, and I am afraid there is nothing that I can't encounter. I admit this. There is nothing that I can't encounter.
"The reward is very generous, one thousand yuan."
In that era, one thousand yuan a year was almost equivalent to 100,000 yuan today. I was tempted. With one thousand yuan, I wanted to buy my father a new watch, a new bicycle, and a TV. Everyone has a TV now.
I promised that I would achieve all these goals.
"Tomorrow, you take a rest. Come to the site in the morning and I'll send a car to take you there. You just prepare everything."
I went back to the office and opened my master's cabinet, where there was another makeup box, which was used for private burning, and two sets of clothes.
Han Xue asked me what I was doing
"It's a private burning. You come with me tomorrow. Be at the end of the crematorium at six in the morning. Don't come inside."
Han Xue looked at me blankly.
"What is a private burning?"
"You will know when the time comes. You will wear this suit tomorrow."
"Black?"
"Yes, don't talk when the time comes. Just watch. Don't say a word. You have to learn it. Maybe you can meet him again in the future."
I was unsure whether there would be any problems or troubles. I recalled several times what Master Yunzheng had taught me and felt that there would be no problem. However, I was extremely nervous. It was like the first day I came to the crematorium and saw the master put the deceased into the furnace. It felt like I was being burned.
I didn't sleep well last night, so it seems I won't be able to go to He Fang's place today.
At six o'clock, when I arrived at the intersection of the crematorium, I saw Han Xue was already there, dressed in black. It looked a bit strange, because I was also dressed in black.
The car came and we got in. The driver looked at me and said.
"Master Ke, are you going to do something big?"
"Um."
I threw him a box of cigarettes and he smiled and said.
"I keep my mouth shut."
He drives a truck for transporting people in the factory. He has been doing the job for a long time and earns a lot of money, but he keeps his mouth shut.
The factory drove for more than an hour to a village, and the car stopped at the entrance of the village.
"Go along the village road, and go to the house at the end. Someone will pick you up there. I'll pick you up again in three hours."
The driver drove away and I carried my makeup box and walked towards the village. This village was no different from other villages, and I couldn't see anything wrong.
We walked along the village road to the end and saw a man standing at the door of a house. He waved at us when he saw us, but he didn't set up a mourning tent.
When we entered the yard, a black bag was handed to us. I looked at Hanxue and let her take it.
Enter a house and lock the door.
"Hanxue, you just stand in the west corner and watch. Don't say anything until it's done. Then you pack up your makeup box."
Han Xue nodded. I lit a cigarette, finished smoking, walked to the window, and took a look at the backyard. The firewood was all piled up. I pushed open the window, picked up the body, put it on the table by the window, and then jumped out of the window.
"Don't move. You can see it if you stand there."
I told Hanxue not to move, that was a positioning, safe.
I carried the corpse out of the window. The deceased must go out through the window when leaving the house. This is a rule of private burning. If you go out through the door, you cannot go to heaven. The door leads to the underworld, and the window leads to heaven. Only if you have wings can you fly out through the window.
I carried the body to the woodpile and asked the family members to leave.
I pulled open the shroud and was shocked. This person had been soaked in water and was deformed. He had been soaked for more than seven days. He had not entered into the body in seven days. There were rules to follow, so he had to be cremated privately. There were too many rules and it was troublesome. Only in this way could he go to heaven and pass through the gates of hell. Otherwise, he could not go anywhere and would be entangled in this house for years. Many disasters would follow, such as burning, getting sick, and so on.
I took out my makeup box and put on some private makeup. Of course, it was heavy makeup, with some black on the forehead, yellow on the cheeks, and an inch-long dot on the mouth.
When finished, leave an opening in the east corner, use a small shovel to dig a ditch into the shape of a path, then pour oil on it and light a fire on the back side facing the path.
After the fire started, it took half an hour to add firewood, oil, and turn it over. Turning it over was the most troublesome. This is different from the furnace in the crematorium. If it is not turned over properly, the firewood will go out, and then you have to light another firewood. That would be very unlucky. This is only for the family members, and for me too. Although the family members have left here, they will be watching from a place where they can see it.
I use a hook to turn the body over, and the strength of my hands must be just right. I turn corpses every day, and it's as easy as turning a pancake. Once the two hooks are aligned, the body turns over at once. It's not heavy, and the firewood doesn't fall. It's just right, and the firewood becomes more vigorous and soars into the sky.
I turned the body over and after a few minutes it sat up and started to twitch. I used a retractor to pull it down and then used a knife to cut the tendons. It was a long knife and when a person is burned, the tendons will be pulled up. I had to find the spot accurately and cut it in one go. It was like a person relaxing. It was very smooth. I was worried that I wouldn't succeed.
That's it. After two turns, two and a half hours, the fire was out. I put on gloves and picked up the bones, from head to toe, and put them in a small coffin, which was half a coffin. If it was an urn, it wouldn't fit. For a private cremation, all the bones must be intact, so a half coffin, a small coffin, is needed.
After all this was done, the family members entered the yard and I glanced at Han Xue.
The cold snow is coming through the window.
"Go through the door."
Han Xue was stunned for a moment, came over from the door and started packing her makeup box.
"Take off your clothes and put them in your makeup box."
The makeup box has two compartments for black clothes.
I also took off my black clothes, and the family member took my hand and said.
"Master Ke, thank you, it's amazing, it's amazing, I gave you 500 yuan as a reward from my hometown."
Master Yunzheng said that if the cooking is satisfactory, he will reward you with money. If it is not good, he will have to return 500 gold coins. If it fails, all the money will be returned. It will be considered lucky if you are not beaten.
I didn't say anything else and walked out of the village with Hanxue. Hanxue's forehead was covered in sweat, and he probably had never seen this formation before.
In fact, I got wet several times, from lighting the fire, turning over, picking up the bones, for fear that something might go wrong. The biggest problem was turning over to put out the fire.
I gave Hanxue five hundred yuan, but she didn't want it.
"Now that you are here, don't like the profit. I'll take one thousand and you take five hundred. Go back and buy something with me, and then have dinner."
We went back and bought a watch, a bicycle, and a TV for father, spending a total of more than 700 yuan, and then had dinner with Han Xue.
Han Xue asked me that day why I couldn’t go through the window
"If you go, you will go with the dead."
I didn’t explain any further. The most regrettable thing is that I didn’t have the opportunity to roast it privately with Master Yunzheng. I wanted to see if the roasting method was the same as mine.
I feel a sense of accomplishment for this private cremation. The family members are happy and the deceased is at peace. This is the purpose.
That day, when I returned home, my father brought Xiaozhe back with him and asked me where the money came from. I told my father.
He didn't say anything.
"Don't waste this money in the future. Xiaozhe is growing up. Let him go to college and don't let him become a refiner in the future."
My being a refiner is a pain in my father's heart.
The next day, I went to He Fang's house and pushed He Dana.
The door to the yard was not locked.
When you enter the yard, there is a cover. It should be a vegetable cellar, no problem.
I opened it and looked down. There was a light but I couldn't see inside.
"Go down."
He Dana asked me to go down, so I went down and saw He Fang. I was stunned and leaned against the ladder without moving. I could not imagine that it would be like this.
He Dana asked me from above what I saw.
"Come down on your own if you can."
What did He Dana scold me for
He Fang was right in front of me, with a chain piercing her collarbone. The other one was on a big rock, almost dying.
"how so?"
"I don't want to die, save me."
I was at a loss for what to do. What should I do
I thought about it for a long time, went upstairs and told them the situation.
"We will leave immediately. The man will be back soon. Then we will go to the police station."
The police came and sent He Fang to the hospital. The man happened to come back and was taken away with him.
I was sweating. Isn't it too much for a man to do this? He Fang disappeared and was actually at home. It had been so many years and she was there. She was not dead. No, she was half dead. If she wasn't a makeup artist and knew something and could have kept half of her body alive by borrowing the help of a ghost, I'm afraid everything would be over.
I went to see He Fang. She lived alone in a room and she asked me to close the door.
"Master Ke, I know you are a good person. I will die in three days. I borrowed half of a ghost. The ghost needs to leave the body. I can't always do that. I have one request after I die, which is to return the woman's hand. This hand is hanging in the corner of the empty vegetable cellar. It is the hand that catches ghosts. I have no choice but to borrow it. Otherwise, I would not be alive until now."
"Why did he do this to you?"
"Maybe this is punishment. I accepted it. I was with another man. I was caught and I accepted my fate. Now I have a thing. I have a child with that man. He was strangled to death by this man, but I didn't let him die. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Please help me. He is in a family home, a friend of mine."
I'm so confused, what should I do
"Master Ke, my request is a bit too much. Please help me raise him. No matter what he is, I don't want him to die. This is the reason why I insist on living. I will protect you."
When He Fang told me that address, I was shocked.
After leaving the hospital that day, I went to He Fang's house, went in, took out the hanging hand, and then sent it to the cemetery, fulfilling the woman's wish. I shook my head.
Go get the child and then I will raise him? I just can't accept it. I am a good person, a kind person, but what's going on
I went to see He Dana and told him about this.
"Well, you're in trouble now, but I can help you. I'll raise the child."
"You still keep this style?"
"I'm hiring someone, don't worry about it, I'm saving you."
I am a little surprised that He Dana is so kind, or maybe He Dana himself is a kind person. (To be continued)