Liu Xiaojing never told me what Zheng Qing wanted the thousand-year-old finger bone for.
The next day at work, I cremated Zheng Qing. No matter what, the dead are the most important, so I cremated him seriously. Everything seemed to be over and the master would come back, that’s what I thought.
It is unknown whether Liu Xiaojing can completely assimilate her own body in three years.
Du Ran wrote to me and told me about the past.
I went over there, Du Ran told me.
"Today is Wuchang's last day. If Yunzheng doesn't come out, we'll probably meet him in the coffin path. That would be terrible. I've figured out a way. I'll go there after nine o'clock."
At around nine o'clock in the evening, I followed Du Ran into the crematorium carrying half a bag of white lime. The old man at the door always had a principle: whenever crematorium staff came in, he would not ask what they were doing or look at them. He would just open the door for them and then go into the room and stay there.
Du Ran asked me to spread white lime in front of the door of the old morgue, all the way to a distance of about ten meters, and then the two of us hid at the window of the office and watched.
"When Wuchang comes, I will go over and you don't move. No matter what happens, just watch."
I didn’t know what Du Ran would do. My hair stood on end and my scalp felt numb.
It was almost eleven o'clock in the middle of the night. Du Ran suddenly stood up, and there were footprints in the opposite direction on the white lime.
"Come on, I'll go over."
Du Ran went out, ran a few steps, and the footprints stopped. He stood there, said something, and finally took out something. Suddenly Du Ran fell down, and the footprints started moving again and entered the morgue with the coffin. I was stunned, completely stunned at this moment.
I reacted and ran out, but Du Ran was no longer breathing. I shouted and was about to pick up Du Ran when I heard the door behind me open. I turned around and saw Master Yun Zheng coming out.
"Master..."
Master Yunzheng ran over, picked up Du Ran and ran. When we arrived at the hospital, it was too late. Du Ran was dead. Master Yunzheng knelt on the ground with his face covered. I hugged Master Yunzheng.
"Okay, go prepare the mourning shed. I'll take my master to the crematorium."
I didn't expect this to happen. It happened in a flash. Du Ran was gone just like that. What did Wuchang do? What did he give Wuchang
The mourning shed was set up and everything was ready. At dawn, the master arrived.
"Okay, keep vigil, I'll notify people."
I didn't expect that Du Ran had so many friends. It was unexpected that an old refiner would have so many friends. Refiners usually leave in a quiet manner, which was something I didn't expect. The master was busy and didn't talk to me. I just sat there, looking at the eternal lamp.
Three days later, the body was cremated. It was the master who did it and I watched from the side.
I could see the master's grief. After Du Ran died, the master fell seriously ill and his health was not as good as before. Yun Bai gave birth to a child, a son named Ke Mingzhe. With this son, the master seemed to be in much better condition.
That day, when he came to my place to drink, he suddenly mentioned the day Du Ran died and asked me what happened. This was something I didn't expect.
I told the master what happened that day. He listened with his head down without saying anything. After I finished speaking, he asked.
"Did you see what it was?"
I shook my head.
"It's too dark, too dark, I can't see clearly."
The master didn't ask any other questions.
"Master, what were you doing in the coffin path?"
The master closed his eyes and shook his head, then opened his eyes and handed me something, a small bag. When he opened it, there were small black grains inside, the same size as millet.
"What?"
"Don't ask. Just pry open a piece of the floorboards in the corner and leave it there. Don't move it."
"Master, I want to know all this."
The master was drinking and took a long time to speak.
"The God of Death came to catch you. I couldn't take the coffin path. I walked with your shadow. The God of Death couldn't see you. If you hide for seven days, the God of Death will have no way to save you. Although you have hidden for seven days, you can only live for two or three years. The small black grains are longevity grains from the underworld. Put them in the corner of the house and everything will be fine. I knew that on the way back, the God of Death and I would take the same road. I didn't know how it happened. Unexpectedly, my master saved me. He should have given the God of Death the bone powder that blinded his eyes. The God of Death took it and couldn't see me. The God of Death got angry and took my master away."
I was stunned. I had never expected that Wuchang would come to find me.
"Why me?"
"You owed me a life in your previous life. This is a matter of retribution. So, you don't know the law of karma."
I didn't want to ask any more questions. After the master left, Yun Bai seemed to be a little abnormal.
"Why do I always smell a dead body?"
"Where is that? You are too sensitive. Do you have a cold?"
"No, there is."
I didn't expect that this was the beginning of my misfortune. I had never smelled the smell of a dead body before. There was only a little smell when someone was burned to death. Maybe I was used to this smell.
Yunbai no longer slept in the same bed with me. Instead, she hugged her son and didn't let me get close to her. She had a gloomy face all day long and said that I smelled like a dead person and asked me to leave the crematorium.
I told Master Yunzheng about it, and he said with a frown.
"It will be fine after a while."
I thought so too, but I didn't expect that it would not get better, but get worse.
I don't know why this happened. I want to change jobs, but where can I go? I think I still can't leave the crematorium. My master doesn't agree. I can't do Yunbai's work. I can only live like this.
It was a happy thing to play with my son every day, but later, she even didn't let me touch my son, saying that the smell of a dead person on her body would be passed on to her son. I could only watch my son play from a distance.
This made me very painful. I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to go home every day. I would rather stay in the crematorium. At that time, I had very few friends in the refining industry. Knowing that I was a cremator, they didn't want to pay attention to me. Unless someone died in my family, they would come to find me, and then they would never see me again. When you looked for them, they always said they had something to do. I understood that, so I was lonely.
I dared to hold my son only when Yunbai was not at home, but she could smell it when she came back. I was puzzled. No matter how well I washed and how much soap I used, using soap was a luxury at that time. But I used it in order to hold my son, and it still didn't work.
I had no place to use my energy, and then this opportunity came up. At first, I didn't dare to do it, didn't want to do it, and wasn't willing to do it. But I had too much free time, and my heart was too empty. When I got home, my son wouldn't let me hug him, and my wife gave me a cold face. I felt that home was cold.
I met a makeup artist in the dressing room who came in with me. Since we were not in the same department, we just nodded to each other when we met.
That day, I was riding my master's bike to buy wine for the farm, and I bumped into her. I was scared when I bumped into her, so I helped her up. She patted the dirt off her body and said.
"It's okay, let's go, Comrade Xiao Zuo."
I didn't leave, but she did. She smiled at me. I stared at her as she left. She was Ge Zhu from our place, and she was also the most beautiful girl there. There were many people chasing after her, including many from outside. They didn't care whether to put on makeup for a dead person or not, which showed how beautiful she was.
I didn't expect that such a collision would cause such trouble.
It was the end of the year and the manager organized a party. It was the first time and it was held at the Dali Hotel. It was very lively. Just like that, Ge Zhu and I became familiar with each other and became friends.
I invited Ge Zhu to dinner, and she actually agreed. Everyone knows that she is a proud swan. There are many people who want to get close to her, but no one can.
I didn't expect that she would take me to her house that day. It was an old house, very old, but you could see that it was also quite imposing, an old Manchu-style house.
"This is what my grandfather left me. My parents live somewhere else and I live here alone. You are the first man to enter my room."
I went in and saw old furniture, glowing a dark red light, which looked hundreds of years old. The house was clean and beautiful, and actually had two entrances and four rooms.
"The last one is the one I live in. I won't let you in. I'll take you to a room."
Ge Zhu took me into a room and I was stunned. The room was filled with paintings. There was also a painting on the easel, a half-painted picture of the sea.
"Can you draw?"
"Yes, that's what I majored in."
"Then how did you get to the crematorium?"
"I want to paint something different from other people. That place can give me inspiration, different inspiration. Look at the paintings I created. They say they are shocked. They are things that can penetrate the soul. That's what I want."
I look at these paintings. Although I don’t understand them, each one of them makes my soul move. They are indeed good things.
Ge Zhu picked up a painting, rolled it up, wrapped it in newspaper, and handed it to me.
"It's for you. This is the first time I give a painting to someone."
"Thank you."
I was a little shocked.
That day I framed the painting, took it home and hung it up. Yun Bai took a look at it and said.
"Take it away. It smells like a dead person."
I stood there in a daze. I was angry that day and scolded Yun Bai, but she didn't say a word and just let me scold her.
That day I slammed the door and walked out. I didn't know where to go, so I went to the crematorium, lived in the office, and hung the paintings in the office. It was my first time living in a crematorium, and I felt uneasy because there were always some strange phenomena in the crematorium at night. But I didn't see any of them that night, even though I went to bed in the middle of the night.
The next day, I saw Ge Zhu. We smiled at each other but didn't say anything.
When I entered the refining room, Zhao Tie had already started working. I sat on the side smoking, my mind was in a mess, Ge Zhu.
After get off work, I invited Ge Zhu to dinner to thank her for the painting she gave me. I liked it very much. She asked me if Yun Bai liked it. Everyone knows that Master Yun Zheng has a daughter named Yun Bai. They are also Bai Yun, and they also know to marry Yun Bai.
"Oh, I do."
I didn't tell the truth because I felt that it would be too disrespectful to others. Ge Zhu just smiled gently, and that meant a lot. I felt that she felt that I was lying.
That day we actually watched a movie for the first time. During the movie, Ge Zhu actually reached out and held my hand. I didn't even know what the movie was about that day.
I didn't know what Ge Zhu meant, but I couldn't do that because I had a wife and a son, and I didn't want to do that. After that, I intentionally or unintentionally stayed away from Ge Zhu, but she always came to see me, either to have dinner or to go out and play. Anyway, I felt very happy with her and found a warm feeling. Going home was cold, and apart from watching my son play, I really didn't want to go back to that home.
My master also asked me about this, and I said I had handled it and didn't want to make him worry about it anymore.
Ge Zhu and I stayed together until spring came. That day she took me to where she lived and showed me another painting. She took it out of a box. It was not big, only the size of two fingernails. Upon closer inspection, the painting was so delicate. It was a beautiful girl, pure, beautiful, and otherworldly.
"How about it?"
“It’s perfect.”
Ge Zhu didn't say much, just smiled, put the painting away, and then we chatted.
After I got home, I couldn't forget the girl in the painting. One day, the mother of one of my classmates passed away. When they were storing the ashes, I went into the urn and found a place. When I came out, I saw a photo of a girl on the urn. I was stunned. The painting by Ge Zhu, the size of a fingernail, was of this girl. I broke out in a sweat. What did it mean? This girl died
My legs are shaking. (To be continued)