Chapter 32
Chapter 32
The burly men respectfully cupped their hands to Master Cao.
“Coffin-Bearer Cao, it’s almost time. Shouldn’t we leave to carry the coffin for the Duan family north of town?”
Oh… so they were allies after all?
Master Cao nodded with a smile. “Not bad, Big Bull. You’ve brought everything–the dragon rope and phoenix pole. Then I’ll only need the dragon spine and flood-dragon brace. Come meet my young brother.”
He reached beside him to pull me forward, but grasped empty air.
Turning, he found me beside a new coffin at the back, walking awkwardly toward the entrance.
“Huh? Xiao Wu, you were standing right beside me. How did you get so far away in an instant?”
Embarrassed, I scratched my head and answered honestly. “Those big brothers looked so fierce that I thought they had come to cause trouble. I was looking for a chance to run.”
Master Cao and the men froze, then burst out laughing!
Their leader, Big Bull, laughed hardest, clutching his stomach. But I could tell it was friendly laughter, not mockery.
Afterward, Big Bull even praised me for being candid and saying exactly what I thought.
Master Cao took a large staff and had me carry the shoulder pole he had recently used to chase the female ghost. Then we set off with the men.
It was deep night, and the streets were silent.
There was not even a ghost of a person!
A few stray cats and dogs rummaged through trash. When we passed, they bared their teeth.
Big Bull and the others bared theirs right back, frightening the animals into flight.
Master Cao explained that years of assisting with coffins had filled the men with baleful force and vigorous yang fire. Their presence alone could intimidate yin creatures such as stray cats.
Along the way, he introduced me to coffin-bearers’ jargon, rules, and taboos.
The dragon spine, for example, was the central beam that lifted the coffin–the most important and strongest component. Every other tool revolved around it.
Two crossbeams called flood-dragon braces helped the smaller flood dragon balance the coffin beside the great dragon.
The phoenix pole was the shoulder pole carried by each bearer. The dragon rope was the hemp rope wrapped around Big Bull and the others’ waists, used to bind and secure the dragon spine and braces.
The bereaved family provided the braces, while coffin bearers brought everything else, since tools worn in through long use handled better.
I also suspected that some contained secret craftsmanship and special abilities!
Master Cao’s phoenix pole, for instance, could beat ghosts. It was no ordinary shoulder pole but something akin to a ritual implement…
There were many more rules, too numerous and complicated to recount. I committed them all to memory.
We soon left town and headed north.
The Duan family, whose coffin we would carry, was among Lianghe Town’s best-known wealthy households.
Back in the mid-to-late 1980s, they had entered the orchard business.
They leased neighboring farmers’ fields into one vast tract. Orchards belonging to the Duans stretched across more than a dozen hills near town.
They reportedly owned homes in the county seat and even the provincial capital!
My parents had always doted on me and kept me fed and clothed, but buying a home even in Lianghe Town was unimaginable, never mind the county or provincial capital.
The current patriarch, Duan Ren, was over sixty. His wife had died long ago, leaving him three sons and a daughter.
The two eldest sons were married; the third son and youngest daughter were not.
Duan Ren was a traditional patriarch who wanted the entire extended family beneath one roof.
He bought a large tract at the foot of a mountain north of town and built an enormous four-story villa, almost a small estate.
The townspeople called it Duan Family Manor.
Although Master Cao made the decisions for coffin-bearing jobs around Lianghe Town, Big Bull and his companions usually dealt with clients. As we walked, Big Bull explained the situation.
“Tonight’s coffin is for the Duan family’s youngest daughter. Three days ago, she accidentally drowned by the river. Boss Duan is devastated and held her wake at home. He hired Yuan Fei, a famous folk Taoist master, to perform the rites and choose an auspicious feng shui burial site for tonight.”
“When Mr. Yuan performed the rites the day before yesterday, I was there. Everything went smoothly, with no accidents. Miss Duan really seems to have drowned accidentally, so carrying this coffin should be simple.”
Another honest-looking man nicknamed Ergou nodded eagerly.
“Boss Duan is generous too. He offered us eight thousand yuan to carry and bury his daughter’s coffin–far more than usual.”
Eight thousand!
The sum stunned me.
My head buzzed.
This was 1999!
Even in the capital, television news said an average urban worker earned only eight thousand yuan a year, never mind a little place like Lianghe Town.
That much just to carry one coffin? The money came too easily!
Even divided among Big Bull’s four men and Master Cao, it was an enormous sum.
But while I marveled, Master Cao frowned with concern.
“Boss Duan was born and raised here. He knows local customs and prices. Carrying an ordinary coffin costs a thousand. A difficult one might pay two or three thousand. Eight is too much. It makes me uneasy.”
“Everyone knows how much Boss Duan adored his youngest daughter,” Big Bull replied. “Maybe he’s paying more because he wants us to send her off properly.”
He had seen Miss Duan’s corpse and the mourning hall and noticed nothing wrong.
Master Cao nodded. “Maybe I’m overthinking it. Boss Duan is a rich man. Perhaps he’s simply generous.”
Beyond the stone arch bridge north of town lay the outskirts. We followed a winding concrete road uphill, passing old single-story homes. Many dated to the Republican era yet remained occupied.
After several bends, the view opened.
In the hazy moonlight, I saw an open field at a mountain’s foot and a four-story villa built against the slope. It was the only illuminated place nearby.
“That’s Duan Family Manor. We’re almost there.”
Big Bull pointed to a narrower concrete lane branching from the road. “Those used to be fields. Boss Duan paid to connect his home to the main road. His family owns a car.”
In those days, families with cars were exceedingly rare!
For some reason, my first look at Duan Family Manor gave me the vague sense that its feng shui was strange.
But I could not identify the problem.
Perhaps I had studied for only two months, or perhaps darkness concealed the surrounding mountains, river, and terrain.
At the manor, the outer iron gate stood open. A red-lacquered coffin rested in the center of the broad courtyard.
Its lid remained open. An altar before it held incense, candles, spirit money, and other offerings.
White cloth hung under the eaves and along the walls. Duan relatives moved about, apparently helping, but scarcely spoke. Oppressive silence filled the mourning hall.
A man in a square cap and brown hemp robe spoke with a dignified elderly gentleman outside the villa.
The exhausted, gray-haired elder had to be Boss Duan.
Three younger men of different ages stood nearby, likely his sons.
Boss Duan noticed us and cupped his hands. “Master Cao, we’ll be troubling you tonight.”
“Not at all, Boss Duan!”
After returning the salute, Master Cao looked at the hemp-robed Taoist. “Everything ready, Mr. Yuan?”
So this was Yuan Fei, the famous local folk Taoist master.
“Rest assured, Master Cao. Everything has gone smoothly. Carry Miss Duan’s coffin out the main gate and take the western trail straight up the mountain. The Golden Phoenix Spreading Its Wings site I chose lies halfway up Wangjia Ridge.”
“Good.”
Old Cao nodded, apparently considering him reliable.
Golden Phoenix Spreading Its Wings?
I had read only twenty or thirty pages of Master’s copy of The Book of Burial, but they happened to mention this feng shui formation for graves. I remembered the basics.
“It really is a fine formation. A drowned soul is water-yin, and a woman’s yin energy is stronger still. The spreading golden phoenix evokes a female phoenix flying toward the sun, balancing yin and yang. It also overlooks the Chuan River and completes the feng shui cycle. A good place.”
Master’s teachings were naturally profound.
That Mr. Yuan made the same choice showed that he had genuine skill and deserved his reputation.
“Then rest for a while, Master Cao and Mr. Yuan. When the time comes, we’ll seal the coffin and send my daughter on her way.”
Boss Duan’s eyes reddened again. No parent should have to bury a child.
Just then–
“Mraow!”
A wild cat’s shrill, sinister cry came from somewhere in the courtyard.
My eyelid twitched.
With so many people watching, how had a stray cat entered?!
Before I could react, a black shadow shot from the grass like lightning, streaked over the crowd, and landed on the head of the open coffin with a thud.
A gaunt black cat crouched there, its eyes sinister.
My heart jumped.
Old Cao and Mr. Yuan cried out together.
“Stop that black cat! Don’t let it jump into the coffin, or it’ll startle the corpse!”