My last name is Chen. I’m forty years old. I’m not like those women who use rouge and powder to maintain my looks. I just work hard and make a living by selling my labor.
The people I am familiar with all have grandchildren running around, so I was upgraded from Old Chen to Old Chen Tou.
Although it sounds strange, I got familiar with it over time.
As I get older, I have more health problems. I don’t have a wife at home and no children to take care of. I become lazy and have no energy.
Later, he used his connections to work as a night watchman in Renjia Town. It was such an easy life. Every day he hummed a little tune, beat the gong twice in Renjia Town, and got paid happily.
Life is stable and comfortable. Occasionally, I can have a drink and go to the Yihongyuan in Renjia Town to have fun and learn from Mr. Cao.
According to the storyteller, this is called the legacy of Wei Wu.
Hehe, this scholar's brain is really useful.
Thinking of his happy life in the past, Old Man Chen couldn't help but reveal a happy smile. Then there was a bang and he covered his head and screamed strangely.
"Dad, you hit me on the head again!"
"Hmph, be serious!"
A white-haired old man looked at his son with disdain, then walked back into the house tremblingly.
Old man Chen sighed helplessly and sat down on the ground, thinking back to when he was a carefree night watchman.
Unexpectedly, he encountered ghosts again and again in Renjia Town, which scared him.
Hurry up and find friends and move to another place to avoid the bad luck of Renjia Town.
Later he thought about going to Macheng, where the economy was developed and he heard people said he could easily pick up money there, and more importantly, there were many people there.
Aren’t there fewer ghosts if there are more people
Old Chen went there, and a few days later, he saw something strange again in the middle of the night. He saw a huge pig's head. He couldn't see its appearance clearly, but the silly cry of the pig scared him.
The shadow looks like a person, a person who can scream like a pig, hiss!
Old Chen ran fast and returned to Renjia Town. He was terrified and wanted to make some money again, so he became a night watchman again. But he ran into a ghost again...
well!
Old Chen couldn't help but sigh to the sky. They both had the same surname, Chen, but why was the one the storyteller in the teahouse talking about was called Chen Ping'an? That one was called a demonic life.
This is called a demon life, or to be more precise, a ghost life. Comparing yourself to others, it's really infuriating!
Just as Old Chen was sighing, an iron rod flew out of the house and hit him in front of him with a dull bang, which scared him so much that he shivered.
Old Man Chen came out and looked at him expressionlessly, his brows furrowed, and he scolded him directly, "What are you still sitting here for? Go and prepare something!"
Old Chen nodded quickly, but couldn't help wiping away a slight sadness in his heart. After all, he couldn't withstand the beatings of society and ran back to inherit the family property.
He didn't want to inherit the family business and ran away secretly, which made his father furious and he threatened to cut off all ties with him.
If he couldn't make it out there, he wouldn't have come back to inherit the family business!
Are you not cool outside? Are you not comfortable outside
I could go to brothels when I had nothing to do, but now that I’m back home, I have to save money.
Want to live at home, but also go to brothels, haha, Old Chen shuddered when he looked at the iron rod on the ground.
In front of his father, he seemed to be a child of seven or eight years old.
Old Chen has suffered before. His father is already old, does he still want to fight back
Depressed, he walked to the yard with his head down, where a large group of roosters were handsomely showing off their red combs.
He tilted his head and seemed to be looking at Old Chen in front of him with disdain.
There was a loud bang and the yard was in chaos. Old Chen came to Dad with an iron rod in one hand and a rooster in the other.
The old man didn't say much. He took the rooster from his hand, picked up the knife beside him, and with a flick of his hand, the rooster's head fell off in an instant, and blood gushed out.
There was a chopping board in front of him, and on it was a small jade bowl. Dad stretched out his hand, and the chicken blood fell steadily into the bowl.
He looked solemn, bent down with his head lowered, and muttered something softly to the bowl of chicken blood.
Old Chen didn't know what he was reading. He stood aside seriously and observed carefully. This was actually his future job, the family business passed down from six generations of ancestors.
Corpse retriever.
Occupations in the world are divided into the upper three classes and the lower nine classes, and corpse retrievers are one of the lowest classes.
But if there is inheritance, then you can make a living.
Sometimes it’s good to just be alive and not think too much. This is the experience that Lao Chen has gained after more than ten years of working outside.
He stood there silently, waiting for his father to perform the prayer ceremony.
It is not easy to be a corpse retriever, and it is not easy to cross the Yangtze River. Just like tomb robbery, each industry has its own rules.
Old Man Chen muttered a few more words before slowly nodding his head. He placed his hands in the basin beside him and washed them quietly for a few times, then wiped them clean with a towel.
Then he solemnly came to the box beside him.
The box contained his ancestral treasures, and Old Chen looked at them quietly. Although he had seen them countless times when he was young, there were still many tricks to learn if he really wanted to inherit this craft.
The box was very long and slender. Old Man Chen had to work hard to open it. He solemnly took out his old friend, the magic weapon of the corpse collector -
Corpse-fishing stick.
It is 10 meters long, made entirely of jasper with a faint hint of yellow and black. Both ends of the corpse-fishing stick are covered with black marks that vaguely resemble claw marks.
"Let's go!"
With the corpse-fishing stick in his hand, Old Man Chen seemed like a different person, and his whole temperament became different.
If he was just an ordinary old farmer before, now he has the aura of a leader.
He was carrying the corpse-fishing stick in front, and Old Chen followed behind with the bowl of chicken blood. There was no one else after that.
Retrieving corpses is unlucky and very unpleasant to the eyes. It is really hard to look at a corpse that has been soaking in water for a long time.
No matter the smell or the appearance, it can dissuade 99% of people from coming to watch out of boredom.
Even the family members didn't come. It's not that they are cold-blooded. The Yangtze River is too big, and it is not easy to fish out a body.
You never know, someone is waiting there, and it may take three or four days to get the money, or you may get the wrong person, which will only bring bad reputation and cause you to be scolded.
You have to endure being scolded. After losing your loved ones, even the kindest and most open-minded person will not be able to stay rational for a day or two.
The two walked one after the other, and Old Man Chen spoke slowly, "The one we rescued today was a girl. She was married to the next village, and she got bullied by her mother-in-law. She jumped into the river out of frustration."
"Her husband is also a kind man. Otherwise, she would have become a wandering ghost. He spent a lot of money to fish her out and buried her in a good feng shui place."
Old Chen nodded, without asking why they were arguing or how his mother-in-law was doing.
That's all nonsense. It's someone else's family affair and it's not your turn to interfere. If you say a few more words and accuse someone of being an adulterer, that would be really interesting.
Old Chen has seen a lot, and after so many years of working outside, he has come to understand one thing more and more, and that is to be careful in what you say and do.
You never know, one day you might die just because of this mouth.
The two stopped talking, and the atmosphere on the road was very depressing. This was also the rule for corpse lifters, they were not allowed to speak loudly, or laugh or curse at will.
It’s not that they are afraid of disturbing the ghosts and gods, as they are not yet capable of doing that. The main thing they are afraid of is the family of the person who just died.
There is a funeral in someone's family and they ask you to retrieve the body, but you go there with a smile on your face. What will people think
He was so hot-tempered that he slapped you twice, and you didn't dare to say a word.
Fortunately, because his business is not well-known, his home is in a remote area, very close to the Yangtze River.
Not long after they walked, the two slowly boarded a boat. The boat was also very regular, with pointed ends like an arrow.
It is very different from ordinary ships. There are patterns carved on the bow and stern. There is a tiger head on the bow and a dragon tail on the stern.
The dragon and the tiger are both auspicious signs. The tiger represents murderousness, so carving it on the bow of a ship can ward off evil.
As for the dragon, needless to say, it is carved on the stern of the ship to prevent some strange creatures from following.
The Yangtze River is very deep, so it is inevitable that there are some water monkeys, water ghosts, water monsters and so on.
The sun is shining brightly in the sky at this time. It is already autumn, but it doesn't feel hot.
Corpse lifters like this kind of environment the most, firstly because the sun is out and they can see far away, making it easier to sail.
Second, you come to the river in the middle of the night and the wind is howling. Let alone fishing out the body or looking for the dead person, you even dare not sleep.
Old Man Chen stood at the bow of the boat, gazing into the distance. Old Man Chen behind him handed the chicken blood to him. Old Man Chen nodded slowly, bent down and slowly sprinkled the chicken blood into the water.
If you want to make a living on the Yangtze River, you must first say hello to the water god of the Yangtze River.
Whether you are fishing or sailing, you must offer sacrifices in advance.
Why not bring the chicken here and kill it
It’s just a token of your appreciation. A chicken is quite expensive. Just keep the meat for yourself.
The Yangtze River God is a magnanimous person and will not care about these things.
After completing the preparations, Old Man Chen and Old Man Chen began to row the boat on the Yangtze River. After exploring for a while, they were lucky and found it from a distance.
After rowing the boat over, Old Chen finally saw the woman's body clearly. It was swollen from being soaked in the river water and she had no clothes on. He guessed she had been washed away by the Yangtze River long ago.
It was such a horrible sight that it made him feel nauseous and he couldn't bear to look at it.
Old Man Chen was already used to it. He stretched out the long corpse-fishing stick in his hand and fished skillfully and attentively.
The corpse was getting closer and closer, but Old Man Chen still didn't dare to relax. Suddenly, Old Man Chen touched Old Man Chen strangely.
Old Man Chen was so frightened that he trembled. The boat swayed back and forth on the long street. He turned around and glared at me, "Asshole! Why are you touching me?"
Don’t you know that scaring people can kill them
Old Chen swallowed his saliva, pointed to his ears, listened carefully, and heard faint crying sounds.
It's so annoying to hear such crying, but where does this crying sound come from
Old Man Chen's hair stood on end instantly because a hand had touched his ankle at some point and it was extremely cold.
Finished!
…
"Hey, Master, you don't know how much the uncle has gone overboard recently!"
Just as Russell was complaining to Uncle Jiu about Simu's recent behavior, he turned his head thoughtfully and slowly pointed a finger into the air.
"Great Wilderness Prisoner Heaven Finger!"
A huge finger appeared in the sky, crossing the Yangtze River like a mountain pressing down on one's head, sweeping across the sky and pressing down heavily.
The huge roar mixed with the faint wailing sound did not dissipate for a long time.
Russell used his fingers to pick at his ears. "Master, where were we talking about just now?"