My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly moved over. It was not far away before, and the porcelain bowl was white. I used a flashlight to light it in the dark, and it was a bit reflective. After getting closer, I realized that it was a very ordinary white porcelain bowl. The style is quite old, and people rarely use it nowadays. It was not an ancient relic, and there was a layer of black stuff on the bottom of the bowl, a bit like the grease left over from dishes such as braised pork.
Seeing that Qin Yiheng had a normal expression, I guessed that the thing was not dangerous. I hesitated for a while, but still didn't dare to reach out to touch it. I just patted him with my hand and pointed at the bowl, and asked him what was going on with my eyes.
Qin Yiheng suppressed his voice and said: "This bowl must have been left by the person who set off the firecrackers. Don't act rashly before I see it. The blood in the bowl should have dried up." After finishing speaking, he asked me, "Dare you?" Don’t you dare knock it?” He actually took out a small wooden stick from his bag and handed it to me.
Is this fucking experimenting on me again? I wanted to start scolding a little bit, and waved my hand to let him come by himself. He smiled, and really tapped the edge of the bowl twice with a wooden stick, and then there were two crisp sounds. Qin Yiheng frowned after hearing this, as if he was not reconciled, he knocked hard twice, and the bowl still responded with two crisp sounds.
I didn't hear anything wrong next to me. According to what Qin Yiheng said, the bowl contained blood. Could it be that this bowl was used to feed some kind of ghost? Thinking about it this way, I was still a little scared, raised my chin towards the bowl, and asked him what was going on with my eyes.
Qin Yiheng glanced at me, pulled me to the other side of the dirt road, and told me that this bowl is called a mound in their jargon, and this mound is what was used to weigh the scale in the past. With the progress of the times, now I basically use electronic scales, so I rarely see it anymore. In alchemy, the so-called mound is also used as a heavy object to press things, but what it presses is a shadow.
In ancient times, many families did not enshrine ancestors or gods. They all had their own dedicated offerings, collectively called family gods. This family god is said to be full of strange things, with different origins. For example, some people’s owners were in distress and were saved by some animals, or some spiritual bones were dug up when the house was built and the grave was dug up. It is said that there are some even more outrageous things. Worship as a home god. From the perspective of these families who worship family gods, this is different from worshiping ancestors. Although it is only right for ancestors to protect their descendants, they are mortals after all, so they may be weaker in ability, and those public gods are probably too busy , even if it is effective, it may take several generations of sincere worship. The house gods are different, they appear in time and have practical effects. Once the incense is placed today and the offerings are placed, the wish may be fulfilled tomorrow, so these families are more willing to believe in the blessings of the house gods.
I guess he was afraid that I wouldn't understand, so he spoke very plainly, which sounded like cross talk.
I asked: "Worshiping gods, the ancients still studied cost-effectiveness and so on? According to you, the house god is so powerful and so easy to manifest, so who still works? If one person worships at home, doesn't he have everything? "
But he waved his hand at me, telling me not to interrupt, and continued: "It's not as exaggerated as you said, let's not say that the house god is hard to come by, but the ability itself is very limited. The so-called efficacy is only in comparison. In other words, at best, it is to send a baby, send a rain, or bless the daughter of the family to give birth smoothly. The people who worship are not asking for much, and according to my personal analysis, it is very likely that the things they asked for come true. It is not the credit of the family god , but they were destined. The family gods only calculated the results through fate, knew the results in advance, and showed them. I guess they are no better than two good fortune tellers. But the people who worship the family gods must not realize this, so the belief It is very blind, and this blindness has prompted the emergence of such things as mounds.
"It stands to reason that house gods do not belong exclusively to this family, and those who enshrine them naturally know this in their hearts, but for their own self-interest, they hope to keep these efficacious house gods, and the result is derived from this thing. According to legend, in Put an ever-burning lamp right in front of the god's seat, and use a mound to hold down the shadow of the god's seat, so that the family god can be tied at home and cannot leave. There is no record of who invented this alchemy first, but it is still circulating today, which shows that it is still effective. Later, there are many branches based on this alchemy. For example, some big families also use mound pressure The shadow of living in a wealth storage house, it is said that this can ensure that the family does not leak wealth; in other places, a mound is used to press a woman's head covering when she gets married, which is said to prevent women from cheating, etc. The earliest stag blood was put in this bowl On the first and fifteenth day of each month, blood should be added, and then gradually I didn’t pay so much attention, as long as it was blood.
"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has evolved into literally taking the same sound, and simply replacing it with real weights. I don't know if this replacement will be effective. Anyway, looking at it now, I am afraid that those who use weights are deceived by charlatans. means, otherwise what appeared here would not be such a bowl."
After listening to it, I was still at a loss. Although this place is not in the wilderness, at least it can be called sparsely populated, right? Let's not talk about whether there is a god, even if there is a god, shouldn't the family god be kept at home? Where is the house here? Thinking of this, my heart suddenly trembled. Damn, this person's home is not right under our feet, right
Thinking about it this way, I almost cried out: "The co-author is a corpse in a tomb enshrining the family god?!"
Qin Yiheng hurriedly persuaded me not to worry, and explained: "This mound is not necessarily intended to suppress some house god. Looking at it now, I am afraid that the purpose of the person who put the mound is very simple. The reason why the mound can hold the house god is because it is heavy enough. This weight is not a physical weight, but a name in metaphysics. It is the same as saying that this person is heavy. Just because it is heavy enough, it is difficult for those gods and ghosts to move it. Putting it here, it will be a person. Good signage, those who set off firecrackers may be worried that they won't be able to get out."
Can't get out? This place is not a labyrinth or a primeval forest, why can't I get out? I illuminated the road ahead with my flashlight, and the light of the flashlight was swallowed up by the darkness at the end of the road, and my heart grew more and more frightened. Qin Yiheng also seemed to hesitate for a while before telling me to continue on my way, saying that we have been delayed for some time, and we have to go faster next time.
Continuing on the road, I still struggled to walk. With such an increase in speed, I was always worried that I would step on potholes and hurt my feet, which made me even more tired. Gritting his teeth and walking a few hundred meters, Qin Yiheng pointed to me with a flashlight. There was another large white porcelain bowl on the side of the road. It seemed that this thing was really a signpost.
I forgot to pay attention to the time, I don't know how long I chased, and my body was extremely tired. From time to time, the sound of firecrackers can still be heard in front. Listening to the movement, there seem to be fewer and fewer firecrackers being set off. However, the distance shortened, and the sound of firecrackers exploding became louder and louder.
We both turned off the lights. The moonlight that night was not bad, at least it was not so dark that we lost our way. At first, our eyes hadn't adapted to the darkness, so our speed suddenly slowed down. Only then did I have the opportunity to ask Qin Yiheng what was the secret of knocking on the bowl with a wooden stick just now.
Qin Yiheng explained to me: "First of all, this porcelain bowl has always been a commonly used object in metaphysics and alchemy. First, it is easier to find, and the bowl is usually of a moderate size, and it is easier to use; second, because the bowl will touch grains, so The stability is relatively high. The so-called stability does not mean that the bowl is flat and not easy to fall, but that the bowl is stronger than other utensils in the use of alchemy. This prevents the utensils used in the process of alchemy layout from cracking. Get yourself into trouble. It is worth mentioning that in many film and television dramas, many poor families will be photographed offering incense to their deceased relatives, and they will put a bowl filled with sand or rice in front of the spiritual tablet. This is a big taboo. It is clear that it is to recruit lonely souls and wild ghosts into the house. Even if the family is poor and cannot afford an incense burner, it is impossible to use a rice bowl; Not only is this taboo in metaphysics, it also sounds unlucky. Doesn’t this imply giving up one’s job? It’s the same as in many rural areas where two families have feuds and no matter how much they fight, they can’t smash the cauldron of each other’s family.”
It is precisely because many rounds in alchemy are related to bowls, so he didn't see what it was for a while. Generally, these bowls placed on the side of the road are turned upside down, and a talisman is pressed in the bowl. It is usually because the family members are seriously ill, or because of something wrong, they have hired a knowledgeable person to set up such a situation and want to pass it on. For those who are curious or accidentally flip the bowl away. But just now, the bowl was just in place, just in case, he still tapped it a few times with a mahogany stick, fearing that there was something at the bottom of the bowl. Needless to say, this mahogany stick psychically wards off evil spirits, if you knock the bowl with it, if there is a mystery, the sound must be wrong. He knocked a few times just now, and the sound was normal, but the vibration of the stick was very special. He knocked a few more times before confirming that it was a mound.
We walked faster and faster while talking, firstly because our eyes got used to the light; secondly, we slowed down and recovered some energy. We are already relatively close to each other, and we dare not run with great fanfare, so we can only walk quickly. After walking for more than ten minutes, I saw two similar large white porcelain bowls in the middle, and several firecrackers were fired intermittently in front of it, and the flames could already be seen. I don't know if it's a psychological effect, but I can even see a few looming black shadows next to the firecrackers.
I'm very surprised that this group of people didn't have a bright light, and the co-authors have been moving forward in the dark. No wonder they are walking so slowly. I asked Qin Yiheng: "I thought we turned off the flashlight before, but they were telling us that we were in the dark, and we are all in the dark together. How can this be close?"
Qin Yiheng pursed his lips and thought for a while, then looked around, and said: "We just need to take a rough look, and we don't need to get too close. The main thing is to follow closely and see what they want to do." The peachwood stick from before was handed over to me, and I was told to turn off my phone.
I immediately became depressed, which made me self-mutilate at a critical moment! Qin Yiheng asked me to put the stick in his pocket. Now he doesn't feel any resentment at all. This group of people are all living people, and there should be some knowledgeable people in the team. The only reason why I put the stick in peach wood is that the little devil passing by will startle me. Yang Qi, accidentally sneezed to expose himself, and told me to lower my body a little bit, then moved forward again.
Experienced people should know that this posture is not as good as climbing. I almost lost my breath when I walked. Fortunately, this area has reached the third phase, and there are many piles on the ground left by the foundation, and occasionally they can hide behind to catch their breath. After walking for another ten minutes, Qin Yiheng told me to stop behind a pile. I poked my head out and looked, and I could already see the outlines of those people. Although it was not clear, I could roughly see their movements. It didn't matter, I was so scared that I almost peed my pants. I quickly turned my head and asked Qin Yiheng: "They are all living people? How the hell do they look like this!"