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墨書 Inktalez
At two o'clock in the morning, the strong wind outside made the trees rustle, occasionally accompanied by lightning. Through the window of the funeral parlor, you could see the twisted and eerie shapes of the trees outside. The funeral parlor was an abandoned factory, and it was said that the stretch of land leading to the Yangtze River was a mass grave, so the area was also known as the old street.
The economic development of the town is a few kilometers away from the old street, so there are very few people living on the old street at the moment. People have all moved to the more lively economic development zone, and there are also very few people living near the abandoned factory. The liveliest scene is the large trucks working by the Yangtze River, hauling sand.
The four of us are keeping vigil at the funeral parlor - father, mother, me, and my cousin. Two other cousins have gone to sleep in the car.
To be honest, even though she is my step-grandmother, my father, mother, and sister are all sleeping on the sofa, and I am alone playing on my phone. Even though I have my period, I can't touch incense, paper money, or even go near the Taoist priests. So, during these days at home, my responsibility is to collect money and write down the names of those who contributed. I will have to return the favor in the future.
The lightning outside is still flashing, thankfully there is no thunder. Otherwise, for someone like me who is afraid of thunder, staying in this atmosphere would be unbearable. As long as I ensure that the incense in front of my step-grandmother's coffin, the candles, and the incense in front of the Taoist altar next to it remain lit, it will be enough.
I was quietly browsing Weibo, feeling drowsy, when suddenly I heard a noise coming from where the wreaths were placed. It startled me, and as I listened intently, I checked the time on my phone and saw that it was three o'clock, the time when the Yin energy is the strongest. I carefully observed everything around me, and then I heard the noise again. When I turned to look at the wreaths, I saw that it was actually a stray cat looking for food.
I was so scared that I felt cold sweat coming out. My father also woke up when he heard the noise, and I said to him, "There's fur."
Father picked up the drink bottle cap at his feet and threw it at the cat. I couldn't understand why and said, "It's just hungry and looking for food. Why would you hit it?"
Father angrily replied, "You don't understand anything. And don't tell ghost stories at the funeral parlor at night. It's not proper."
I pursed my lips and decided to ask again tomorrow.
My father woke up and was adding incense and candles. I was dozing off, about to fall asleep, when suddenly I saw a dark figure next to the table, standing by the candle.
As soon as I saw it, I immediately lost my sleepiness and tears fell. I told my father what I saw, and he said, "Don't talk nonsense, you are exaggerating again."
I said, "I really didn't, I really saw a black mass with a shadow standing next to the candle." My mother and sister woke up too, and I told them. They all said I was seeing things and that there was nothing there. I was probably just scared.
I stayed on the side quietly pondering whether there really was something, or if I had just mistaken it. I tried to doze off a few times and then casually looked, but I never saw anything again.
I swayed to look at the coffin, and saw the black gauze on the portrait of my grandmother on the coffin, just like what I had seen just now.
I was stunned at the time, but I also understood that it was not appropriate to talk about these things so late at night. So I held back until around 6 o'clock. Other relatives also arrived, and I clearly told my father that I saw a shadow standing next to the candle that looked just like Hei Ling.
At this point, my father quietly said, "Do you understand why I had to hit the cat yesterday?"
I'm confused and asking, why?
Do you understand what the consequences would be if a cat jumped on or onto your grandmother's coffin?
I was stunned at the time. I had read in novels that if a cat jumps on a coffin, it will undergo a corpse transformation. But novels are just novels. How can you be sure it's true? I asked my father in return.
My father said, "If it really jumps and causes some consequences, can you bear the responsibility?"
I always feel like there's more to my father's words. I immediately searched on Baidu for "cat jumping on a corpse." It means that when a person dies and is placed in a temple or funeral parlor, if a cat approaches the body, it will have an effect on the corpse. If the cat jumps over the coffin, the body inside will come out to look for loved ones. The loved ones must immediately cover the body with their own clothes for the body to calm down. When I read that, I broke out in a cold sweat.
If the coffin was jumped on by a cat yesterday, I don't know what will happen. The consequences are not something we can bear.
Just like China's feudal superstitions and traditional culture, they are connected. No one can prove that they are all false, but no one can prove that they are all true.
Just like myself, I hold a skeptical attitude towards supernatural phenomena. I say I believe because I haven't clearly seen these things myself, but I also say I don't believe because there are many things that science cannot explain.
China is a very mysterious country, and only time can provide the answers to these things, right?
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