White Bone Monkey King

Looking at the panicked craftsmen and seeing more and more residents surrounding him, Jin An knew that work would definitely not start today.

So he discussed it with the old Taoist priest and gave everyone two days off, and would start work again the day after tomorrow.

"I can understand everyone's concerns. In this way, the villagers will give us two days to investigate the truth. Regardless of whether the investigation has any results, we will give the villagers a satisfactory explanation."

"And the wages for the two days of vacation will be paid correctly. Old Dao, go to Juyunlou to buy some rice wine and roast chicken, and distribute a jar of rice wine and a portion of roast chicken to everyone. We can't let everyone work in vain today. go back."

Jin An's last words were addressed to the old Taoist priest.

The masons and carpenters present saw Jin An being so polite and respectful to the workers. This was the first time they had met their courtesy and corporal customers. These days, the social status of craftsmen was only one step higher than that of merchants, and ranked below farmers, while Taoist priests The social status of a monk is much higher than that of several classes. That's why it is said that in the era of strict class status, it is as rare to meet a customer like Jin'an as the smoke from the ancestor's grave. The customer does not find various reasons to withhold wages. It is rare to be conscientious about paying wages on time. What's more, it's the first time in 10 or 20 years that people take paid vacations and get paid for nothing, and it's the first time they've been doing part-time work.

Because of this, these master craftsmen were flattered and stood there at a loss for a while. Although they had only been working for two days, they already respected Jin An and the old Taoist priest from the bottom of their hearts, and regarded them as good people.

This is called "You respect others one foot, and others respect you one foot."

After calming down the mood of the master craftsmen and watching everyone leave Yong'anfang with wine jars and roasted chickens, the old Taoist priest turned to look at Jin An: "Little brother, what are you going to do about the coffin shop?"

Jin An raised his head and glanced at the dark plaque painted with black paint on the door frame of the coffin shop, with a stern look on his face: "I will come to the coffin shop tonight to keep vigil. I want to see if it is a man or a ghost who is causing trouble."

The old Taoist priests also clamored to keep vigil.

Next, the two of them didn't go anywhere. They searched the coffin shop inside and out, but couldn't find any clues. As night fell, every house closed its doors, and Jiangzhou Mansion, which had been bustling for a day, gradually fell into silence.

Except for the places with hooked railings and tiles, painted boats and willow lanes, red lanterns are as bright as day at night.

"Tuk!——"

"Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!——"

"It's the fourth watch of the ugly season, it's freezing cold!"

"clang--"

Two watchmen, one holding a lantern and a clapper, the other holding a gong, beat the clock in rhythms of one fast and three slow. They passed Yongle Square with their voices hoisted. Accompanied by a few barks of dogs and the cries of babies from wild cats, the watchmen's voices gradually became louder. Walking further and further away.

After about a cup of tea, the sound of barking dogs sounded again in the calm night, and the footsteps of a group of night watchmen entered Yongle Square, and also disappeared quickly.

Yongle Square has been peaceful since then, everything is quiet, and the barking dogs and wild cats have also disappeared.

The patter--

At night, the spring rain started falling again, and the slanting wind blew the drizzle gently on the window paper and door frame. It was like the sound of a body lying outside the window, peering into the room to see if anyone was asleep.

"Little brother, is it raining outside again?" In the coffin shop, the old Taoist priest, whose head was getting sleepy and his eyelids were fighting, heard the sound of drizzle hitting the door, and he raised his head drowsily.

"Yeah." Jin An nodded.

He sat by the candlelight, holding the "Secret Tradition of the Five Internal Organs" in his hand, and continued to study every sentence in it, gaining new insights every time he read it again.

"Sure enough, it's raining. No wonder I feel a little pain in my knees." The old Taoist yawned, stretched out his hand to rub his old cold legs, and took a look at the old plaques on the coffin pavilion placed in the house. Everything calm.

"It's already the fourth day of the morning, and this plaque hasn't flown away on its own. Could it be that someone really played a prank and secretly hung it up at night?" The old Taoist priest thought so sleepily that his eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and his mind was in a state of turmoil.

Thanks to both of them being talented and bold masters, the front hall of this floor is filled with incense, candles, paper figurines, wordless spiritual tablets and other objects for the underworld. In the attic, half of the body of several coffins is hanging in the air. There are black coffins, white coffins, red coffins, and yellow coffins. They are clearly divided into three or sixty-nine equal parts before life and three or sixty-nine equal parts after death.

I don’t know what the previous owner of this coffin shop was thinking. The space on this floor is so large that it’s not a good place to put the coffin. It has to be placed above the head. Isn’t it true that the dead person will crush the living person?

The old Taoist priest murmured vaguely, "Lift the coffin to make a fortune," and then continued to doze off.

As a result, the old Taoist priest just muttered "raise the coffin to make a fortune", knock!

knock!

knock!

In the quiet night, there was a sound of fingers knocking on the door. The sound was very sudden, as if it was ringing in his ears. The old Taoist priest was so startled that he sat up straight, and his sleepiness disappeared immediately.

knock!

knock!

The knock on the door rang again, and this time both of them confirmed that the knock came from outside the coffin shop.

It's curfew time now, and no one should go out at this time, except for funerals, childbirth, illness...

"who?"

But after waiting for a while, not only was there no answer at the door, but they kept knocking on the door.

Then, footsteps sounded in the coffin shop. Jin An opened the door and saw an old woman with a stooped body and dry cheeks standing outside the door. She was dressed in ordinary clothes and had gray hair. She was about sixty years old and looked like she was... Very bad, kept coughing.

"I heard someone said there are coffins for sale here. Boss, I would like to order a coffin." The old woman came alone and looked very thin standing in the cold rain.

Jin An stepped aside, invited people into the store, then pointed to the half-exposure of the coffin hanging above his head, and asked: "What kind of coffin do you want to order? I have black coffins for people who have not yet reached the end of their lifespan, and some There are red coffins for funerals and funerals, white coffins for unmarried people, and yellow coffins made of pine wood that are affordable.”

"I want to be black..."

The old woman kept coughing, her body was stooped and thin, and her hair was gray. She hesitated and then changed her mind and said, "Let's order a red coffin. I hope that the funeral will drive away the bad luck and bring good fortune to my son and daughter-in-law."

"Okay." Jin An asked the old Taoist priest to write down the address and agreed with the old woman to deliver the goods to her door tomorrow.

After ordering the coffin, the old woman sighed and said: "Boss, do you have dog beating sticks for sale here? When I deliver the coffin tomorrow, I will bring a dog beating stick with me in the coffin. I heard that there are many hungry wild dogs with green eyes outside the city. They like it. Digging out graves and digging coffins.”

Jin An nodded: "Okay, when the new store opens and you are the first customer, I can give you a dog beating stick for free."

"Thank you, thank you." The old woman looked grateful and thanked Jin An and the old Taoist priest repeatedly. Then, she left the money and left.

"Old man, wherever do you live, let me see her off for you." Seeing that the old woman was hunched over and having difficulty walking, the old Taoist priest wanted to help her see her off, but the old woman thanked her and declined, saying that her home was nearby and there was no need to see her off.

Her hunched body slowly disappeared into the dark night in the rainy night. When she came, she was alone and no one saw her off. When she left, she was alone and no one saw her off.

At this time, the rain was still falling in the sky, and the coffin shop was clean, with not even a muddy footprint on the ground. Jin An and the old Taoist priest stood in the coffin shop, thoughtfully.