Chapter 13: Kong Ming Lanterns
When we arrived at the nearest county town, it was already past nine o'clock at night. The city is the city, with the mountains in the head is completely two worlds, although this county is only a small county without fame, but here at night is still brilliant, everywhere red wine, which makes me a person in the mountains for two years, a moment as if it were a world away.
Back to the county, we went straight down to the pavilion, probably because of that horrible bloody scene that happened on the national highway, although all a hungry hungry, but everyone has no appetite.
At the dinner table, the old man said they will go back to Beijing tomorrow, asked me where I am going?
I said that for the time being I have not thought about where to go, where to go to count it! I just want to do more good deeds to be able to safely survive the next year's calamity.
I didn't lie to them, now I really haven't thought about where to go, what to do, I just take a step and see what happens.
After they learned about my situation, they asked me if I was willing to go back to Beijing with them.
I said: "What can I do in Beijing? I'm not going to go grave robbing with you guys."
"Who said to let you go grave robbing, what I mean is, I and Fatty have an antique store in Beijing, the area is quite big, why don't I let out a piece of land from the store, so that you can open a Taoist Church or something." The old man said.
"Is this OK" Hearing this, I have no bottom in my heart.
The old man said: "Not brother here bragging, ~ a ~ this ~ read ~ novel. As long as you have the ability, I'm afraid that the people who ask for your help will have to line up."
Fatty also extremely agree with old Hu's idea, he said: "Old Hu is right, your ability we have seen some, as long as you want to do nothing can not be done. In Beijing, there are a lot of fake magicians, they can make a living, not to mention that you have real skills!"
I thought about it, what Fatty and the others said was very reasonable, and I really don't have any better plans now, so I nodded and agreed. Followed them back to Beijing, I am also happy to do so, just a companion along the way is not.
But what I didn't expect was that this decision made Old Hu and the others escape a disaster, while I was plunged into a quagmire!
At night, when we drove out of the county, it was already time. Fog on the road, the old Hu do not dare to drive fast, may be here at night temperature difference is greater, I always feel cold, want to sleep but cold can not sleep.
In the drowsiness, the old Hu suddenly shook me awake, frowned and asked me: "brother, you say this evening I encountered the evil things, is not really dissolved ah?"
I nodded: "It was dissolved, if it wasn't dissolved, you were the one who ran over someone on the national highway this evening!"
Old Hu nodded, and then contemplated for a while, and then wondered: "But not right ah, you said the evening of the evil things dissolved, but why I now appear again evening that kind of evil feeling?"
"Ah? You see the road again with broken hands and feet of those things?" I panicked in my heart, sleepy, and hurriedly sat up.
And the fat man sleeping in the back row also immediately sat up, shocked: "I say old Hu, you can not scare me fat man ah, I can not withstand two such a shock!"
Old Hu shook his head and said, "No, this time I didn't see those broken limbs and arms, but it's the same as in the evening, I can't see any other vehicles on the road. Although this is the middle of the night, but such a big road, how will there be one or two passing vehicles, right?"
"What, your eyes can't see vehicles again? Immortal a board board," Fatty shocked, then hastily put his head out the window to look at it, and then laughed: "Old Hu, the original you will also be afraid of time ah, but you do not need to be too much fuss, because there is indeed no other vehicles outside."
My first reaction was also to look towards the outside of the car, Fatty was right, it was pitch black outside the car except for our headlights. I also said, "Maybe you're overthinking it because you're in shock today. Everything is normal outside, so don't worry about driving!"
Although listening to us say so, but the old Hu but not the slightest relaxation, still frowning tightly, he said: "No, I just feel strange, this look at the road a car can not be seen, but look at the sky, is to see the sky hanging two moon, I am more and more feel that my eyes are not again by the ghosts to be obsessed ah? And this road, according to theory to the provincial capital direction to open, go is the national highway, the road will only open more and more big, but you see this road, than we will be out of the county road is small, but also biased, as if to open into the mountains of the road like."
Old Hu said, while pointing to the sky and both sides of the road.
Hear him say so, I dare not be too casual, hastily to look around, the results found that the old man said really right. Under the light of the headlights, the road is indeed smaller than the national highway around the county, only to see that one side of the road is full of dense forests, while the other side is a desolate meadow.
I began to drum in my heart, did I really hit evil again? Or did I take the wrong road?
When I thought of this, I looked up to the sky along the top of the windshield to see if there were really two moons hanging in the sky as Old Hu had said.
But when I looked up to the sky, I was shocked, wow, this is too much bullshit, because I saw the sky is not hanging two moons, but three moons!
At that moment, I asked Old Hu to stop the car, seeing my panicked look, the two of them also guessed that something was wrong, so they asked me in a panic if I also found something?
I nodded my head and said, "Something's really wrong, heck I actually saw three moons in the sky."
"What, three? Why did I only see two?" This time it was Old Hu himself who was surprised.
Fatty immediately stuck his head out of the window and looked towards the sky, then shouted, "There are really three moons, one curved and two round. Immortals, what's going on here!"
"Brother, do you think we've run into a ghost again?" Old Hu asked me in a panic.
I was also puzzled, today is the seventh day of the lunar calendar, according to reason the moon cannot be full at this time. So right away I said, "There must be something wrong here, those two round ones won't be the moon!"
"It's not the moon, what would it be? From the county town out, those two round moon has been in the sky above our heads." The old man said.
"What? Then why didn't you say so earlier!" At that moment, I also no longer talk to them more, directly jumped out of the car, and then looked toward the two moons above our heads.
Stepping out of the car window, without the windshield separating them, the line of sight was much better. Then I immediately saw it clearly and shouted, "Where the hell is the moon, it's clearly two peacock lanterns!"
"Peacock lanterns?" Old Hu and Fatty were greatly puzzled when they heard my words. Fatty said: "Today is not the Lantern Festival, who has nothing to do to play blindly ah, this is the middle of the night even scary ah!"
I said: "This is said to be a lantern, but put aside at this time may be the attraction of the soul of the road lamps!"
"What, inviting souls to attract street lamps?" Old Hu two people immediately lost their voices in fear, full of panic!
I nodded, this Kongming lantern since ancient times is by no means related to wishing, praying for luck, on the contrary is the opposite.
Kongming lanterns, said to be invented by Mr. Zhuge, military use, this is the official story. In fact, the earlier Buddhist festival of Bon, the half of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which is what we call the Ghost Festival, releases river lanterns. River lanterns are candles lit in bowls, or tied paper boats, and the saying is that the rivers on earth and the rivers in the underworld are all connected, and releasing river lanterns can supernaturalize the dead souls.
Taoists, on the other hand, put the sky lanterns, that is, Kongming lanterns, for the dead souls to lead the way, in some rural areas, and now there is still this custom. And in folklore there is also a saying, is to send away their own or their own family on the sick, sick ghosts and other bad things, will borrow this Kongming lantern to send, so extreme inauspicious. Because this thing is related to Yin these things, you put a, unsuccessful, but also continue to put, must let the light fly away, it burns after falling, if it falls in which yard or house, then it is very very bad luck a thing, this family to be bad luck, equal to that disease disease ghosts and other things sent to that person's home.
Now the two Kongming lanterns that have been following us floating in the air, I'm sure it must be used to attract spirits to lead the way. In the maoshan art that the road between the yang and the netherworld is extremely dark, and is two different worlds, generally can not be in and out of the netherworld ghosts can not go up to the yang, the yang of the living can not go down to the netherworld, of course, unless you are dead.
Whenever the 15th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar when the ghost festival, the ghost door is wide open, the descendants of the yang world miss their deceased relatives, and the ghosts of the netherworld also miss their loved ones in the yang world, so there will be used specifically for the yin and yang two worlds to light up the yellow springs road to the guiding lamp. Whether it is a Buddhist river lanterns, or Taoist lanterns, the purpose is to make the deceased loved ones, under the guidance of the lamp, can find the way home.
