coffin? Both Shi Yitong and I were stunned. Neither of us paid attention to the coffin last night because we were worried about Grandpa's condition. But thinking about it this way...
No. Really do not have. It was very quiet last night, and the coffin lay quietly in the yard without making any sound.
"No..." I murmured.
"That's it." Mr. Wen narrowed his eyes and smiled, "I have perfectly solved your troubles."
"What did you say?" Shi Yitong was furious, and he was about to rush forward and fight Mr. Wen to the death. But at this moment, Shi Yitong's grandmother walked out of the house with trembling steps.
There were still tears on her face, and she was completely stunned the moment she saw Mr. Wen. She yelled "Ouch" and trotted all the way to us, her eyes fixed on Mr. Wen, her lips trembling, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Mr. Wen... Are you Mr. Wen?"
I was taken aback, but Shi Yitong was even more surprised than me. He no longer knew what expression to put on.
"Grandma? You, do you know him?"
Shi Yitong's grandmother didn't answer, but bent her knees and was about to kneel down to Mr. Wen. Fortunately, Mr. Wen caught her in time and made her stand up.
"Get up, I can't stand your kneeling." Mr. Wen said in a low voice.
Grandma Shi was so excited that she couldn't even speak, and it took a long time to adjust her state, "Why is Mr. here? No, no, are you back?"
Mr. Wen smiled, "Yes, I'm back."
"Then, the person you're waiting for..."
"Don't worry, I've found it." Mr. Wen smiled.
After hearing this answer, Grandma Shi breathed a sigh of relief as if she had let go of a big rock in her heart, and said in relief, "So that's how it is, that's how it is...Okay, that's good."
Shi Yitong and I watched the conversation between Grandma Shi and Mr. Wen, and we were all at a loss. Shi Yitong's anger just now must have been overwhelmed by his stomach full of inexplicable reasons.
"Grandma, do you know this person?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Grandma Shi patted Shi Yitong on the head with annoyance, "This is Lord Wen, the number one priest in Yan City, hurry up and say hello to Lord Wen!"
"No, my lord didn't dare to be a long time ago." Mr. Wen said with a smile, "Now I'm just a shopkeeper with nothing to do. I occasionally accept some commissions and do my best."
Grandma Shi first smiled, then sighed, and said regretfully, "Since you've all come, it means... your fate is really over."
Mr. Wen nodded, "Yes."
Shi Yitong seemed to be unable to stand it any longer, and asked aloud, "What's going on! What's the fate? My lord! My grandfather passed away, and no one will tell me what's going on?"
"Shi Yitong." Mr. Wen turned to look at my friend, "Your name is Shi Yitong, right?"
Shi Yitong nodded blankly.
"Have you ever wondered why the coffin always rings in the middle of the night whenever the coffin is about to be sold?"
"Uh..." Shi Yitong was puzzled, but still answered bravely, "Grandpa said that because the coffin picks people, each coffin will choose the dead person who will lie in it."
"That's right." Mr. Wen whispered and walked to the middle of the yard. The culprit this time—the nanmu coffin was lying under the willow tree with the lid wide open. Shi Yitong and I worked hard to move here at the request of Mr. Wen.
Mr. Wen walked to the coffin and stroked the high-grade wood and decorative wood carvings. "The coffin is the destination of the body after death. When the funeral person makes the coffin, the coffin has already decided its owner. The poor use paulownia coffins; the common people use fir coffins; the high-status and the rich Or use a nanmu coffin... Your grandfather must have known what kind of coffin will lie in what kind of person. But he has worked hard and used expensive materials to build such a coffin. Have you ever considered that this is a coffin? why?"
Mr. Wen's light words made Shi Yitong's eyes widen. He seemed to have understood something, bit his lips tightly and said nothing.
"This coffin, your grandfather didn't intend to sell it from the very beginning." Mr. Wen stroked the coffin board and said in a low voice.
I looked at Mr. Wen in surprise, "You mean, Shi Yitong's grandfather... did he know that he was going to die?"
Mr. Wen laughed, "There is no one in this world who does not know that he will die. Everything rises and falls, and every creature will eventually die. This is God's will, and it is a fate beyond my control. As for you that night What you saw, Gu Yu."
"ah?"
"That thing is called the coffin ghost, and it is a little monster parasitic in the coffin." Mr. Wen said, "They will neither hurt you nor try to escape from the coffin. They are the soul of the coffin, and they are the souls of the dead Returning to the west, they will guard the body of the dead left on this shore until the body turns into mud and dissipates. The coffin knocked in the middle of the night is neither a scary sound nor an ominous omen. It is the wailing of the coffin ghosts."
"Sigh... Ming?" I murmured.
"Yes. It was their sighs, a dirge for the dying."
"Then... So, Shi Yitong's grandfather died of natural causes?"
Mr. Wen nodded slightly, "He also knows that his lifespan is coming to an end, so he said that to you before he died."
talk? I tried my best to recall what Grandpa Shi had told us. Then quickly remembered.
"The name of the person is Jinyi... Tian, the definition of Tian Ming..."
It turns out that the sentence is "human life is over, destiny is fixed".
"Then since you already knew all this, why did you ask us to do such a series of useless work?" I couldn't help asking, "Just tell me no from the beginning!"
"That's not useless work." Mr. Wen smiled, looking at the coffin in the yard, "The coffin that has been placed in a damp place for too long should of course be exposed to the sun before use to avoid water accumulation or wood decay. Let you find it The eight strong men are the coffin bearers of the "Eight Immortals" who are indispensable for burial. As for the two bells for you, they are necessary for calling back the soul of the dead. In this way, no matter how far your friend's grandfather is lost on the other side , as long as you hear the sound of this bell, you will always know where home is."