False evidence

Chapter 103 Farewell
The monkey sighed, "Hey, can you two stop being so mushy? Can't you finish what's right in front of you first, before you talk about anything else?"

My face flushed, and I quickly said, "When the Shao family held their second banquet, Old Master Bai privately approached my grandfather again, saying that what happened the night before basically confirmed that it must have been the seventh day after Shao Hanzi's death. Shao Hanzi's spirit returned that night, and because of the curse, he brought evil spirits home. My grandfather and Old Master Bai worked together to drive away the evil spirits and break the curse, but Shao Hanzi's spirit couldn't go to where it should go. So, to completely resolve the Shao family's matter, we need to find a way to send Shao Hanzi away and perform a ritual to help him pass on to the afterlife."

"Save it?" The monkey waved its hand. "Didn't you say you were going to seal the evil things in the bottle? Why did you change your mind?"

I said, "I wasn't the one who said I wanted to seal the bottle. I thought that person really wanted to help me, but later I found out that he seemed to be lying to me. My intuition tells me that if I do what he says, the result will definitely not be what we want."

"Lie to you? Why would he lie to you?" Pidan looked at me strangely.

That's because, of all the people present, only she noticed that I hadn't actually dialed the phone.

I said, "I'll explain this to you later. There's no time to think of any other solutions now. We can only rely on guesswork."

I told Monkey and Pidan that I was also present the night that Old Master Bai performed the ritual to help Shao Hanzi pass on. Now, let's completely abandon the method taught by that person and follow Old Master Bai's method.

The monkey said worriedly, "We don't understand these things. Can we really succeed by just copying what we see?"

“I think it’s a good idea.” Pidan glanced at me and muttered under his breath, “Anyway, he’s both a god and a ghost.”

Yan Fengwei wasn't bragging; he prepared double everything except for the spirit tablet, the Five Emperors Coins, and the peach wood short sword.

I first moved the incense burner, which was originally placed at the door, to the front of the memorial tablet.

Then take out a bundle of candles, light four of them, and place them in the four corners of the room. Then, starting from the tiled roof on the table, use a measuring tape to measure the distance and place the remaining candles in two straight lines at the doorway.

The monkey finally couldn't help but ask, "I saw the old woman with these candles a long time ago, but shouldn't candles be placed outside the door?"

"On the seventh night after their death, candles are placed outside the door to light the way for the deceased and to welcome them home. Now we are not welcoming them, but sending them off."

As I explained, I took out some millet and sprinkled it between the two rows of candles.

Yan Fengwei shouted from outside, "Brother, now that things have come to this, you can do whatever you want. But... could you go downstairs and get me two warm coats? It gets cold at night, and while I'm fine, your sister-in-law is frail, and I'm worried she won't be able to handle it!"

"no!"

I took the terracotta basin, went up to the terrace, and placed it under the eaves by the main entrance. I walked over to Yan Fengwei and Meng Zhen and took their lanterns.

Yan Fengwei pulled Meng Zhen to her feet and asked me, "The plan has changed? We don't have to starve outside anymore?"

"You don't need to take the lanterns; you two will stay outside."

I glanced at Meng Zhen, hesitated for a moment, then gestured to Yan Fengwei with my lip: "Give her the raincoat, and you stand in the rain and get soaked."

Yan Fengwei stared at me blankly for a moment, then gritted his teeth and nodded: "Okay, I'll do whatever you say. As long as my wife is alright!"

He wrapped the raincoat around Meng Zhen's body, zipped it up for her, and walked outside the eaves with his fists clenched.

"After you get wet, go back to where you were and stay there without moving."

Back inside, both Pidan and Monkey came up to me at the same time. Pidan whispered to me, "Were you deliberately messing with Baldy?"

I said, "The night we performed the ritual for Shao Hanzi, my grandfather made all the close relatives of the Shao family take off their cotton-padded coats, go to the courtyard, and pat snow on their heads. I asked him a similar question at the time. He scolded me and said, 'You can joke about anything, but you can't do this kind of thing carelessly.'"

The monkey nodded and said, "That's what my grandma said too. I remember she said that the reason why relatives keep vigil for the deceased and wear mourning clothes is partly out of respect for the deceased; but the most important reason is that wearing plain mourning clothes can, to some extent, block the yang energy of the living."

"Well, if ghosts really exist, they're the ghosts that people become after they die. Returning home on the seventh day after death is because the deceased can't let go and wants to see their home and loved ones one last time. My grandfather told me: 'The deceased's soul returns on the seventh day to settle their attachments. But if those attachments are too strong, they might try to contact those close to them in life. The living and the dead are separated, and the living and the dead are on different paths. Perhaps the deceased only misses their loved ones, but most living people can't bear it. If a living person is exposed to too much yin energy, they might fall seriously ill, or even die.'" The latter part was my grandfather's exact words. At the time, I only vaguely understood, and as I grew older, I just considered it superstition.

However, in order to save his life, he dared not disbelieve it now.

Grandpa explained to me that the spirits of the deceased who return on the seventh day after death are in a semi-conscious, semi-confused state. They have the instinct to distinguish between close and distant relatives, but are more easily attracted by the yang energy of their loved ones.

The master made Shao Hanzi's family wear only thin clothes and beat their heads with snow, in order to weaken their yang energy and prevent the evil spirits from approaching.

After I finished speaking, Pidan looked somewhat somber.

I coughed and said, "I remember that night, Old Master Bai specially asked someone to paint two pictures and put them on the two courtyard gates. The pictures showed a boy and a girl, each carrying a red lantern in one hand and firecrackers in the other."

The monkey couldn't help but ask, "What's the significance of this? It's still a funeral, how can you put up such a picture?"

I hesitated for a moment and said, "I didn't ask why at the time, but I remember that not long after the paintings were put up, someone discovered that the faces of the two children in the paintings had been torn. But many people can testify that no one has ever touched the two paintings."

"And then?" Pidan looked up at me.

"Later, my grandfather simply made two red lanterns on the spot, and picked a little girl from our relatives, giving each of us a lantern, and asked us to stand at the door in place of the child in the painting."

I handed a lantern to Pidan, winked at her, and slowly walked to the door, turning around to face her.

Pidan rolled his eyes, walked to the right, and squinted at me, looking like he was saying, "Let's see what tricks you can pull."

The monkey, realizing what was happening, asked somewhat bewilderedly, "That's it? Nothing else? What am I supposed to do?"

“Your task is to watch the incense burner.” I pointed to the earthenware pot outside the door while holding the lantern: “And burn paper money.”

The monkey looked embarrassed and said, shaking its hand, "Why do you insist on making me do this? How about we switch?"

"Are you a boy?" I lowered my eyes and glanced sideways between his legs.

The monkey was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing: "You're still that kind of..."

As time passed, everyone inside and outside the house gradually quieted down.

The monkey would check its watch every now and then, but spent most of its time staring at the incense in the burner.

Pidan leaned against the wall with his eyes lowered, as if he was lost in thought.

After a long while, Yan Fengwei outside finally couldn't help but ask, "Sanqi! Are we really going to stay like this until dawn?"

I glanced at the digital clock on the wall, recalling that night again, and said cautiously, "Just wait until dawn."

Feeling the chill seeping in from outside, I asked Pidan, "Are you cold?"

Pidan looked at me suddenly and shook his head slightly.

I turned to the monkey: "Brother Monkey, that's enough, let's burn the paper money."

(End of this chapter)