Daomu Biji extra1 part12

I don't know much about what happened afterwards because Uncle Three and Cao Er Daozi practically rushed in. The scene was chaotic, and Biao Gong was so angry that he was almost vomiting blood (TN note: it's one of those Chinese sayings that's an exaggeration. The vomiting of blood as a result of extreme anger, hatred or sadness is frequently seen in Chinese dramas, he's not actually puking blood). Uncle Two took everything in and then told me to help my father back first, warning me not to cause any trouble.

When I saw that things were completely out of control, I immediately ran away. As soon as I left, I saw a mess outside the ancestral hall and knew that they had already had a fight.

There was such an uproar about this matter that it wasn't until the morning of the third day that I saw Uncle Three again. He had a head wound that was wrapped in gauze, and he squatted on the threshold to eat breakfast. I grabbed my share and squatted down next to him to ask what had happened afterwards.

While eating sticky rice cakes and drinking rice congee, Uncle Three scolded, saying that he was too fucking unlucky. He didn't expect the coffin to have nothing, causing him and Cao Er Daozi to pointlessly beat each other's heads open. Damn it, he was really one of their own and not easy to kill, otherwise how could he take this loss.

I told Uncle Three he was too greedy going after his ancestors' grave, not even giving his own family a pass.

Uncle Three scolded: “You don't know shit, I'm not fighting to give your father some face! Damn it, if it weren't for me walking sideways in the village like this, you think your father could still act as the patriarch? Besides, your Uncle Three has already seen Cao Er Daozi's money-losing goods, and I'm not happy with this situation. I don't care about him in terms of family status, the bastard. Our family didn't kick him out, but he still fucking came to argue with us! Telling me I can't even bury the ancestral grave. If he wants to bury it, he can only bury it beside the toilet!”

When Uncle Three cursed twice, Uncle Two's voice came from the house, scolding him in turn: “You're not fooling your nephew. Why do you still act like that when it comes to your eldest brother? Don't you know that he's terrified of such scenes?" After saying this, Uncle Two carried out a bamboo chair. He lived like those immortals you read about in novels: he got up early and ate less. He had already finished his Tai Chi exercises long ago and now came to sit in a chair and feed chickens beside us.

Uncle Three lost his temper at Uncle Two and muttered, “In my profession, I just can't suffer losses in front of others. What if the coffin had something really good? I really thought that there was something hidden under the chaos of war. I didn't think it was a pile of stinking snails."

Knowing that Uncle Two was knowledgeable, I asked him, “Uncle Two, you read a lot of books. Have you heard of this before?”

Uncle Two put away the rice bran, thought for a moment, and said, “Now that you mention it, this really wasn't the first time. I remember that a tomb was found in Fenghuang Mountain, Hangzhou that belonged to a eunuch in the Southern Song Dynasty. There was a pool with live fish in it that was colorful. It was said that the pool was also closed off. Later, someone ate one of the fish and died suddenly." He frowned and was so anxious that the chickens squawked, “But that was in the tomb, so maybe there was a reason. But that's not the case with this coffin.”

I looked at Uncle Three and asked him if he had also encountered such things in the tombs but he shook his head too: “There's no reason why such things often happen; this kind of thing is God playing around. Don't think about it too much, just act like you don't know. There are many things we encounter in the tombs, and if we all stop to think about it, then those like your Uncle Three will become philosophers." He said, alluding to the fact that he believed Uncle Two thought too much.

I asked: “Then what happened to the coffin?”

Uncle Three sighed. He had also left early and got his head beaten by Cao Er Daozi. All he knew was that the corpse belonged to a nameless woman, and we couldn't move it until we knew who it is. The corpse's pose was also very inappropriate, and he suspected that it was sealed in the coffin and killed by accident.

“They were killed?”

“Probably forced into the coffin, sealed in, and then drowned. At that time this kind of thing was more common. What Biao Gong said may be right: it may be a maid or a concubine." Uncle Three sighed, “Who cares, after all these years, who knows what's going on?”

“Then the key now is how to deal with it?”

“The coffin was cleared, lime was spread inside, the body was put back in, all the snails were picked out, and the Taoist priest was invited to do the ritual.” Uncle Three took a hard bite of the rice cake. "Biao Gong said that if he really couldn't find out anything, then he would bury it intact, as if he didn't know about it.”

Uncle Two ignored him and fed the chickens while angrily asking, “What about the snails? Didn't Biao Gong ask you to bring them back?"

“Fuck, he wants to cook them and kill the old bastard.” Uncle Three said. "We dumped them all into the stream yesterday, which made me sick.”

“Hey, how can they do this?!” I was disgusted and asked, “Who dared go into that black water and touch the snails?”

“The Taoist priest said to release them, so what else could we fucking do?” Uncle Three scolded.

At this time, a man rushed into the courtyard, ran to me and hurriedly asked, “Where's your father?”

My dad had been overstimulated and never recovered, but before I could answer, Uncle Three kicked the guy and cried, “Hei Pi, what's the matter?”

“Biao Gong asked for Wu Xie's father to immediately come to the stream. Shit, there seems to be something in it."

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Chapter end