in-depth science

Chinese people's nostalgia for their hometown seems to be an emotion engraved in their bones. This is what they say about "a golden nest and a silver nest are not comparable to the doghouse at home", and what's more, it is a wanderer who died in a foreign land. The fallen leaves must return to their roots and be buried in the tombs of their ancestors; the elderly must go to immortals in other places, and filial sons and grandsons must also return to their hometowns after funerals. This is a tradition that has existed since ancient times.

There is but one thing that has to be mentioned. Those who are forced to leave their hometowns are mostly because their hometowns are too poor. There are even many mountainous areas with no access except for the dangerous roads. It is a big inconvenience, not to mention that in ancient times, it was not as good as it is now. There were no planes and cars to help, and it could only be transported by manpower alone. After a long time, a special skill gradually developed, that is, corpse driving.

However, according to the exorcist himself, exorcising corpses has existed since the time of the Yellow Emperor thousands of years ago.It is said that Chi You led his troops to battle and fought against the enemy by the Yellow River. After a fierce battle, the blood of the casualties dyed the Yellow River red. Chi You couldn't bear to leave the dead soldiers behind, so he stood among the corpses of the soldiers with his army master and shouted: "Brothers who have died, this is not a place for you to live and live. You are mourning for your death in vain. Your parents in your hometown look forward to your return, and your beautiful wife and young son look forward to your return to your hometown. Your soul should not hesitate. Urgent as a law, get up! "

As soon as the words fell, all the corpses that had been lying on the ground stood up and followed Chi You in a regular manner. In this way, Chi You brought the dead soldiers back to their hometown.The method used by the exorcists in the future is exactly the same way that they first use a spell to order the corpse to go away spontaneously, and then bring it back to its homeland so that the family can be buried safely.

I won't go into the origin of this here, but I just want to mention the method of expelling corpses. In addition to casting spells, two people must walk together to exorcise corpses. One person walks at the end with clear water, and the corpse to be chased is in the middle. The water bowl must not be damaged and the cloth flags must not be skewed along the way, so that the corpse can follow the movement of the person leading the way.

In modern society, many people have questioned this ancient and mysterious art of exorcising corpses. After all, completely dead corpses can move and jump, and can move forward and stop according to the exorcist's instructions. This is simply a fantasy It is generally unbelievable, and in addition, in recent years, the exorcist group has gradually declined, and it is difficult for ordinary people to find their traces, so the mystery in it is becoming more and more untestable.

It's just that there is never a shortage of curious people in this world. Although curiosity killed cats, once this person becomes curious about something, he can't control his actions. Lezheng Li is one of these curious cats one.

To talk about Lezheng Li, we must first say a few words about the Lezheng family. Qing’an Town is a wealthy town in the south, and the Lezheng family can be regarded as a well-known local clan. Officials, during the period of the Republic of China, they were also a big player who stomped their feet, and Qing'an Town was shaken three times. Although it was attacked and censored during the Cultural Revolution because of its poor composition, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, let alone Qing'an The folks in the town are simple and honest, and the rioting movement is not as strong as his. After the rehabilitation, Le Zhengli's grandfather came forward to take care of the family business, and slowly supported Le Zheng's family. The town can be regarded as a wealthy family.

Mr. Lezheng has two sons and two daughters. Lezheng Li's father, Lezheng Song, is the third son. He has an older brother, Le Zhengheng, a second sister, Le Zhengan, and a younger sister, Le Zhengxi.And Lezheng carp is the youngest child in the younger generation, the most favored. On the day of his birth, Lezheng's mother dreamed that a giant black python came with a golden scale koi in its mouth, and the koi jumped into her stomach and disappeared. The giant python immediately disappeared without a trace, and Lezheng carp was born that night. A few days later, the old man wrote the word "carp" stroke by stroke on the genealogy tree, and went to the gold shop in the town to make a delicate one. With the longevity lock in the shape of a golden carp, Lezheng carp has become the youngest baby in the Lezheng family since then.

Lezheng Li has been very lively and active since he was a child, and there is no mud in Qing'an Town that he has not played with.Probably it was destined somewhere, this child was born with carp in his name, and his water quality is also first-class. There is a river at the head of Qing'an Town, and in summer he would be buried in the water all day long. People's skin will wrinkle after soaking in water for a long time, but he doesn't. His skin is still white and tender, which is really gratifying to look at.People in the town said, isn't the young master of the Lezheng family just a little carp; when Lezheng's mother hugged him, she would gently touch her son's little nose: "Little carp, you are my mother's favorite little carp!" carp."

Day after day and year after year like this, Lezheng Li gradually grew to be eight or nine years old.This summer, the sun was so hot that the river was warm even at night. Lezheng carp hid under the old willow tree on the river bank and dozed off. He was not afraid of drowning himself. This little guy could get into the water even if he could walk. Facing this Qing'an River, there is an inexplicable sense of attachment, as if it was wrapped in the mother's amniotic fluid when it was still a fetus. How can a baby be afraid of the mother's amniotic fluid?

But maybe it was because he had been arguing with his playmates for too long in the afternoon, so he dozed off and fell asleep late, and when he woke up, it was already dusk, and the gorgeous fire clouds in the sky fell on the water, as if even the river followed him It burned up.

Lezheng Li stretched his waist, straightened up and took off the small gown hanging on the old willow tree. Just as he was about to put on his clothes, he suddenly saw a group of people staggering towards the bank of the river not far away. The man was about forty or fifty years old, wearing a blue-gray cloth, holding a white cloth banner in his hand, leading the footsteps of the people behind him with a solemn expression.

Le Zhengli asked curiously: Who is this?Why have you never seen such a dress before?Could it be some novel way to play?Thinking of this, he threw his clothes back on the willow tree, pinched his nose and dived into the water, and after swimming to the other side of the river, he poked his head out quietly to see what happened.

As you get closer, you can see it more clearly. There are eight people in that group. Apart from the middle-aged man at the head, there are two young people and four old people behind. The painted face on the stage was like a big opera singer, with his hands hanging by his sides, bouncing and following the middle-aged man in front, his movements were indescribably stiff and weird, Lezheng Li couldn't help but shuddered, and saw that there was still something on the tail. A young man about the same age as himself, also in blue-gray civilian clothes, held a bowl of things in his hand.Lezheng Li wanted to see what was on his head, but the young man suddenly looked up, his eyes were extremely black and cold, like lumps of ink frozen in ice water As if stiff, Lezheng Li couldn't help being startled, his heart jumped into his throat, but the boy withdrew his eyes and looked straight ahead, as if he had never seen Lezheng Li at all.

Across a section of road by the river bank, Lezheng Li vaguely heard the young man chanting, "No one sees you when you walk, and no one knows when you sit." Standing by the old willow tree, he hurriedly stood up, took his clothes and put them on. During this time, he felt that pair of black and cold eyes were staring at him. He was terrified, but he didn't dare to look back, and ran home.

On the other side of the river bank, the middle-aged man walking in front suddenly spoke and said in a deep voice, "Ran Yi, concentrate."

The young man walking at the end looked back without saying a word, and left the figure of that little boy out of his mind.

The author has something to say:

[Remarks] "It is said that Chi You led the troops to the expedition,... Chi You brought the dead soldiers back to their hometown." Excerpted from the entry of "Hushing corpses" in Baidu Encyclopedia, with some changes.