The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 468 I, Shen Le, changed my career to become an undertaker? !

"Can you change back?"

"Can you guys...change back into one for me to see?"

Shen Le circled around the two tigers, trying to communicate with them.

Methods include but are not limited to speaking directly, extending mental power to try to establish a connection, pressing a hand on it, and inputting heat into the clay sculpture.

The hot current surged in all directions, from the tip of the tiger's whiskers to the long black and yellow hair at the tip of its tail.

Shen Le exerted all his strength to output the heat for a long time, and felt that the clay sculpture received it very smoothly, almost greedily devouring the power he gave out——

However, it only swallows and does not spit out, and does not give any feedback. Is the heat flow enough, should it be more, should it change its nature, anyway, there is no information at all.

As for how to repair it next, whether to repair it and then transform it, or to transform it first and then repair it, the male and female tigers just ignored it.

Shen Le had no choice but to take care of them. After thinking for a while, he took out two boxes and sorted the mud that fell from the tigress carefully.

Then, they carefully repaired the clay sculptures one by one, filling in the cracks where needed, patching up the defects where needed, and coloring them...

By the way, most of these clay sculptures are animals, all kinds of animals. As Shen Le was working on them, he started to feel a little unconfident:

This sheep is missing a horn. What should a horn look like? Is it straight or curved? Or spiral? How long is it? What color is it? Does it have edges?

This looks like a bug monster, but does it have eighteen legs or twenty-four? Or more?
This duck, um, should be a duck demon, what color are the collar, sleeves, and the tail behind the lapel?

It felt like it was related to its original species. However, Shen Le was not sure what kind of duck it was, what color its neck, chest, abdomen, wings, and tail were...

He took samples, did Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction scans, and performed all kinds of tests.

Unfortunately, the colors of the duck demon are too bright, and the colors of some parts, especially the chest, abdomen and tail feathers, are too complicated.

Shen Le struggled for a long time but couldn't figure it out. He looked through the animal encyclopedia again and found that the mallard duck was divided into male, female, young, semi-adult, normal, and mating...

If you are not a professional in zoology, forestry, or other related fields, you will die just looking for it with just an incomplete map!

It is impossible to figure out such complicated things by yourself. Fortunately, Shen Le has an entire university behind him, and this entire university can also connect with the entire academic community.

Although Shen Le grumbled and complained about the heavy workload, he still took great pains to take photos and scan the statues that had been mostly restored one by one, and then worked hard to hand-paint them, and sent his fellow apprentices to look up information:
"Please help me check what these animals are supposed to look like!"

Alas, these statues, though they have no intelligence, can carry you through thousands of miles;
It is said to be intelligent, but it does not answer you when you ask it questions.

At least tell me what color you are originally! If you can't see your own body, tell me what color your partner is!
Shen Le sighed, and while working, he dispersed his mental energy to sort out the power lines of these clay sculptures, trying hard to restore their intelligence as soon as possible.

After working hard for half a month, I have only completed half of the animal statues. I still have to look up information for the remaining half and cannot start working on it casually.

Shen Le moved forward step by step until he came in front of the clay sculpture of the ghost. He stretched out his hand to touch it, and immediately frowned:

This……

This is too miserable...

What his fingertips touched was a statue of a headless ghost. The left leg was bent, the right leg was straight, the left elbow was bent in front of the chest, and the right arm was swung back, as if it was swinging a big knife and was about to chop off the enemy's head;

However, his head had already tilted down and fell on his chest, with only a layer of skin half broken off. As soon as Shen Le touched it, a clamor of noise from all directions surged up:
"kill!"

"kill!"

"Kill--"

"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"

"what--"

"Xiaowuzi! Hold on!!!"

"Get away!!!"

Roars, roars, and the horrifying sounds of bones and flesh being chopped, trampled, and stabbed.

The most terrifying thing was that a violent snapping sound seemed to ring right next to my ears. After the snapping sound, there was a sound that sounded a bit like silk tearing, and a bit like the sound of wind, floating up...

Over and over again.

again and again.

Shen Le listened in a daze. After hearing it for the third time, he subconsciously raised his hand and touched his neck:

Is this the sound of a neck being cut and blood spurting out?

I don’t know how high the blood from such a heroic warrior’s neck would spray when he fought the enemy until the last moment.

Is it possible that not a single drop of blood was shed in this world, but all of it was sprayed onto the big flag, dyeing it bright red?
He touched his neck, the front, the back, and then the carotid arteries on both sides. After a long time, he came to his senses with a start, and held the head of the decapitated ghost with both hands:
"Do you want me to help you? I'll help you lift this head up and put it back?"

The headless ghost stood silently without saying a word. Shen Le stretched out his hand to lift it again and again, but the clay head and the clay body were connected as one, and unless he cut it off, he couldn't lift it at all.

Shen Le sighed helplessly:
"It seems that I can't help you... Alas, the war back then must have been so tragic that I can't even clean up your remains..."

If there was any spare time, the martyr's head and body should be connected properly, sewed up with needle and thread, and buried properly!
It was hanging crookedly like this, unable to move. I guess they didn't have time to tidy it up when they buried it, and maybe they just buried it in the wilderness...

It is hard to say whether it is possible to cut off or twist the head and then put it back on the neck. At the very least, it violates the principle of restoring cultural relics and restoring them to their original state.

Shen Le couldn't make his own decision, so he could only let a stream of heat flow from his palms, seeping back and forth on the clay sculpture of the headless ghost, as a token of his appreciation.

Just as I was about to let go, a bell rang behind me, going straight into my heart:

"when--"

The shrine began to work again. I don't know if it was to comfort, or to save souls, or something else. I also don't know if it was only for the headless ghosts, or to benefit the entire team.

As the bell rang, the terrible noise in my ears gradually calmed down;

The bell rang twice, and the horrifying sound of beheading and blood spurting from the neck could no longer be heard;

The bell rang three times, and there was a creaking sound in front of him. The headless clay statue slowly, slowly raised its hands, held its head, lifted it up little by little, and pressed it against its neck...

Shen Le: ???
Can you do this?

Can you fix your own brain?

So you still want to put your head back, right?

Then, I'll help you!
He closed his eyes slightly and breathed in and out repeatedly. In his Dantian, the golden round bead spun faster and faster, and the hot current surged.

The headless clay sculpture paused for a moment, and then raised its arms, raised them, and raised them again. When its elbows were above its shoulders, the head was about to fall toward its neck, but it got stuck and stopped moving...

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Are you out of strength?"

"Or is it that you are not spiritual enough?"

"Move! Move! Move! Move!!!"

Shen Le was so anxious that he almost jumped up and down. But the emperor didn't worry about the eunuchs. Even if the eunuchs died of anxiety, they couldn't continue the emperor's heirs.

The headless clay sculpture was stuck in the middle of its movement, unable to move, neither up nor down. Shen Le tried his best to use his Qi and input heat into it, but to no avail...

"What's going on? You can't bear it anymore? Or are you satisfied? Or do you think it's enough at this point? You can't ask me to light a stick of incense for you, right?"

Shen Le circled around the clay sculpture. After three circles, he ran to the shrine, pressed the shrine with one hand and the lotus seat of the Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara with the other, trying to input heat.

He meditated for a full half day, from morning to lunch time. This Buddhist shrine was like a bottomless pit, desperately absorbing the heat flow from Shen Le, but refusing to give any feedback.

What about ringing the bell a few more times, helping to recite the Buddhist scriptures again, or spreading a piece of Buddha's light to comfort these clay sculptures...

Sorry, it doesn't exist. I don't know if it's tired, hungry, lacking strength, or just doesn't feel it's necessary, so it doesn't work...

Shen Le had no other way to deal with it. He knocked it, shook it, and even put his hands together and bowed in front of the shrine, asking the women in Luoqun to come over and help bow. He had tried every possible method, but it was useless.

This shrine doesn't even come with an instruction manual! The women in skirts gathered around, talking at once and offering suggestions, but they knew very little about shrines, and apart from "we'll help you chant the sutras together", they couldn't come up with any good ideas...

Professional matters really need to be done by professionals. When it comes to burning incense, Shen Le feels that his skills are still a little lacking, so he needs to consult an expert.

He simply opened his phone and called the monk Nengqian:

"Master, I have something to trouble you..."

Young monk Nengqian arrived very quickly. Shen Le estimated that he should be at Yuantong Zen Temple at the end of Nanhua Street. If there was anything, he could be there in a few steps.

He held a Buddhist rosary in one hand and walked from the head of the clay sculpture line to the tail, then from the tail to the head, chanting "Amitabha" over and over again. After walking through the line, he sighed:

"The heroic spirit of heaven and earth remains awe-inspiring for thousands of years... These heroic souls have not haunted the human world for hundreds of years, and there is no question of saving them. All I can do is to make them feel better..."

He sat cross-legged in front of the headless ghost, closed his eyes, and muttered. Shen Le was caught off guard and didn't even have time to pass a cushion over -

Then again, there are no futons in his studio, only a variety of chair cushions, pillows and back cushions, so that he can sit or lie down wherever he wants.

He carefully pulled a cushion over and tried to put it under the monk's buttocks, but failed. The monk Nengqian was twisting his beads and reciting scriptures, and he had already entered a state of meditation...

Shen Le listened for a long time but couldn't figure out what scripture he was reciting, whether it was the Guanyin Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, or some other sutra.

Not to mention the scriptures, he couldn't even tell whether it was Chinese or Sanskrit. The only thing he could feel was that the headless ghost seemed to have become a little more spiritual.

However, it seems that there is still a long way to go before we can continue to hold our head up and put it on our neck?

"Okay... let me help you..."

Shen Le sighed deeply. The clay sculpture could move by itself, raise its arms, and move its head - in other words, its shape was very different from when it was first repaired.

In other words, all that stuff about restoring the old to its original state, preserving the original form of cultural relics as much as possible, and retaining traces of the past can be thrown to the dogs.

He can repair it however he wants!
Shen Le touched a stack of thin paper, carefully wrapped the head of the headless ghost, then wrapped it again with thin cotton cloth, and then summoned a woman in a skirt to help hold the head.

I took out a scalpel, held my breath, and cut along the connection between the clay head, palm, and body, separating them bit by bit:
"You better hold it steady! Hold it steady! Don't drop your head!
——By the way, Headless Ghost, if you know what is happening in your afterlife, please loosen your grip a little to make it easier for me to separate…"

From a scalpel to a thin skewer, from the skewer to a thin needle, and finally, from a thin needle to silk thread.

Shen Le used his mental power to hold the silk thread in place and cut it carefully along the connection between the palm and the head of the clay sculpture, one stroke at a time.

He was sweating from his forehead to his back, and then all over. He finally felt a lightness in his body, and the whole mud head was quietly suspended:

"Alright! It's cut off!!!"

Cutting it off is just the first step. Shen Le held the mud in his hands and examined it carefully:
Especially the part where the palm and head of the clay sculpture are connected, to see if it is cut, and whether the facial paint of the clay sculpture head is left on the palm.

Fortunately, this headless ghost seemed to be aware of his situation in the afterlife. Well, maybe it can’t even be called “the afterlife”, because his face was not left in his hands.

Shen Le held the clay head and placed it on the headless ghost's neck, loosening his grip slightly. Uh, it was not stable, and the connection was not smooth. It seemed that he needed to work harder:
Fortunately, Shen Le was already very experienced in this kind of thing. He first prepared a lump of coarse mud, mixed it with jute, and made it have enough friction and stickiness;
Spray water on the neck and the severed head of the decapitated ghost to moisten the mud layer and allow the soil and the plant fibers inside to absorb moisture;
Apply a thick layer on the decapitated ghost's neck to give it enough thickness, and then plant the ghost's head on it.

When he let go, the ghost's head had indeed stopped shaking. Shen Le used a bamboo stick to scrape off the coarse mud that had overflowed from the side of his neck, then applied fine mud and smoothed it out carefully:
"long!!!"

At a command, mental power penetrated into the ghost's head, body, and the newly applied mud layer, and plant fibers began to grow rapidly.

Upwards, downwards, to the sides, intertwined...

Back and forth, growing continuously, and finally merging into one, fixing the clay head tightly on the neck.

Although there are no muscles, no spine, no cervical vertebrae, and no tendons, these plant fibers have replaced the functions of skeletal muscles:
Not only can it fix the head, but it also provides a channel for spiritual power to penetrate the whole body and circulate up and down. In the spiritual eyes, the spiritual light of the headless ghost's body shines more evenly?
"Congeal!"

Shen Le shouted again. His control over the earth and the water started working at the same time.

The newly attached mud dries quickly and merges with the original mud.

At this point, except for a circle of mud in the middle of the neck that was not covered with paint, the entire head basically looked like it had not been chopped off.

"Is this okay? After applying the base layer and a circle of paint, everything will be fine, right? Let me see, should I use pink or flesh-colored paint..."

Shen Le leaned over to study it carefully. Suddenly, a voice came from behind and interrupted leisurely:
"None of that, just a circle of red will do."

"???"

Shen Le turned his head suddenly and almost twisted his neck. On the floor, the young monk Nengqian opened his eyes and smiled at him:
“Paint it with a blood-red circle to represent that this head has been chopped off. It doesn’t have to be painted to look like it has never been hurt—leaving a mark is good for it.”

Shen Le stared at the little monk closely. The little monk had a faint smile on his face, and his expression was calm and compassionate. While he was talking, he tilted his head slightly, his eyes were empty, as if he was listening to the words of a headless ghost...

You're not really listening, are you?
Shen Le was skeptical. However, in line with the restoration principle of "preserving past traces as much as possible", he still mixed cinnabar and carefully smeared it around the joint of the decapitated ghost's neck.

After applying, I stood up straight, stretched, moved my arms and legs, and turned my head to look:
Huh?
Hey hey hey!
Why did you put your arms down?
Put your arms down and talk to me first!

Look at the mud all over the floor. If you had told me earlier, I could have put a piece of paper over it so that I wouldn't have patched it in the wrong place.
Fortunately, the repair was effective. The headless ghost not only lowered his arms, but his expression also became calm, no longer looking angry and ready to fight anyone at any time.

It looks like, if we connect its head, it will probably be able to be liberated?

Considering that he was a heroic spirit who died in battle, Shen Le had no choice but to roll up his sleeves and continue to work hard. The sound of chanting beside him made him a little sleepy, so he had to concentrate his mental energy on the headless ghost.

He stood, squatted, knelt, and even lay down, up and down, and finally finished repairing it. He sighed:

"Oh, it's finally healed..."

"Amitabha, thank you for your hard work." Behind him, the young monk Nengqian sincerely chanted the Buddha's name. Shen Le got up quickly:
"It's not hard, it's not hard, thank you for your hard work today. Ah - it's dinner time, you haven't eaten yet? Come on, come on, I'll treat you -"

He dragged the little monk out and started talking on the phone as he walked:

"Madam, please prepare a vegetarian meal. I am inviting Master Nengqian to dinner today—"

"No! No need!" The little monk struggled violently:

"I'm a monk! I observe the precepts! I don't eat after noon!!!"

A low chuckle came from the other end of the phone. Shen Le let go of his hand with regret.

Alas, let’s not talk about those fake monks who punch in at work every day, change into monk robes after get off work and go out to play. Real monks really have to observe the precepts.

He had followed his boss to Tiantai Guoqing Temple to do a project. They worked until 12:30 noon and were hungry, so they went to the dining hall to find something to eat:
The main door of the dining hall was tightly closed, with four large characters clearly written on the door:

Do not eat after noon.

Yes, the monks had nothing to eat, and neither did the pilgrims. In the end, they all climbed down the mountain on an empty stomach and filled their stomachs at a restaurant at the foot of the mountain...

This is the case for temples that receive ordinary people, and it is also the case for monks who practice cultivation. Shen Le let go of his hand and sighed regretfully:
"How can I do that... Then, I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow?"

"No need to treat me." Master Nengqian said in a cheerful voice, looking very happy:

"Next time you have such a job to help the dead, just ask me to come. No - there is no need for a next time. You have so many clay sculptures here. You can fix them and let me chant the sutras on the side!!!"

Shen Le: ???
Is chanting still a good job for you?
Does chanting sutras for these clay sculptures, no, for these ghosts, help you gain experience, increase your merits, and increase your magical powers?
"That's okay..."

He saw the young monk off and turned back to study the row of clay sculptures of ghosts in front of him.

Among the ghosts, about half are the souls of heroes who died in battle, with their heads cut off, or their arms and legs broken off, or with a big hole in their chests, or with a big hole in their stomachs:

Shen Le searched the house for a while and finally found three incense sticks from a corner. He inserted them into the incense burner, lit them, and bowed three times to the clay sculptures.

The smoke curled up straight up, and it didn't seem to be absorbed by the heroic spirit at all. Shen Le had no idea whether the incense was useful or not.
He simply rolled up his sleeves, reattached the broken heads, covered the broken arms and legs with mud, and glued the arms and legs tucked under the armpits and tied around the waist back to their original places.
The stomach was broken and the intestines were flowing out. The broken-belly ghost with intestines wrapped around the waist was more troublesome. The only way was to remove the intestines bit by bit, spray water bit by bit, soften them, stuff them into the abdominal cavity, and then paste the abdominal cavity:

"Is that all right? This should be all right, right? It's said that during abdominal surgery, the intestines will automatically return to their original position after being inserted, and there's no need for the doctor to stroke the intestines—

There's no need for me to connect your intestines, right? There are no internal organs in a mud belly, so I don't have a place to connect your intestines!"

He carefully sorted out the clay sculptures one by one. After repairing the heroic spirits that died in battle, he then repaired the clay sculptures of ghosts that died of various other causes:
If you see a hanged man with a long white cloth hanging around his neck and his tongue sticking out, press the tongue back, cut the white cloth and fold it up;

If you encounter a burnt ghost whose body is black and carbonized, and whose fingers are contracted like chicken claws, you can stretch out the fingers, apply a layer of fine powder and paint on the body, and at least make it look like a human being;
If you encounter a drowned ghost with a swollen body, there is no good way to deal with it. You can't just cut off the soil -

Shen Le thought about it, and cleaned out all the sand, soil, mud and algae from the drowned ghost's mouth, nose and nail crevices, then sprayed some water on it to try to drain out the moisture.

A starving ghost with a pale face, skinny body and a bloated belly. Would you stuff a few grains of rice into its mouth and then apply some dirt on its yellow and skinny cheeks and chest?
Wait, how come I, a cultural relic restoration expert, switched to being a mortician? !
　Thanks to @起只我独仙 for the 10000 Qidian coins

　　Thanks to @我和路易６６是两头之交 for the 100 starting coins reward

　　
　
(End of this chapter)