Chapter 12 Section 12

Chu Haiyang looked around. There were medical posters on the adobe wall, a coir raincoat, a bamboo hat, and a walking stick in the corner. There were not many furniture in the room, but there were piles of books. A very old radio, hundreds of letters were randomly piled up on the corner of the table, and the envelope was written neatly and neatly in italics: "Received by Cheng Jingjun, Hongxing Commune, Yun County, Yunnan Province". Pointing to the books, the doctor explained: "During the 'Cultural Revolution', middle schools in the county burned books, and I snatched some back." Holding the radio in his arms, he smiled slightly and said, "Father's relic."

Xia Mingruo finally asked, "Why don't you go back?" In 1976 and 1977, the educated youth began to return to the city one after another.In 1978, a nationwide employment policy for educated youth returning to urban areas was introduced. Now half of 1979 has passed, could it be that the barefoot doctor has not received the notice to return to the city? "Because I'm not an educated youth," the doctor smiled, "I escaped." He suddenly stood up and greeted outside the gate loudly: "Old Mr. Ling, why are you here!" Ma Guotou answered from a distance, and came with a smile, holding sheep bones, grass stalks, and...eggs for divination?

Ma Guotou walked leisurely, the doctor stood up and gave up his seat, Ma Guotou waved his hand, meaning no, you eat yours. He walked over to the bed to look at the leopard. The leopard was lying upright. When he heard the sound, he opened his eyes, and when he saw him, he closed them in fright. The old man smiled cunningly, moved a small stool to guard the head of the bed, but saw something moving in the torn blanket on the inner bed, so he stretched out his hand to remove it, it didn't matter once it was removed, Xia Mingruo felt sad from it. "Old Huang!" He even threw away his job, "Why did you run into another man's bed?"

Lao Huang scratched his liver and scratched his heart and explained: "Meow meow! Meow meow!" Xia Mingruo supported his head and burst into tears: "Don't say anything, don't say anything...I know, your heart is no longer with me, I can't keep you..." Lao Huang's cat eyes widened: "Meow!" Xia Mingruo frowned, stroked his chest, bit his lips, and sniffed his nose: "I'm fine...I figured it out...Follow Dr. Cheng well, be sensible, live as a couple, give in to each other, take a step back..." Chu Haiyang slapped the table: "I can't beat you to death!!"

Xia Mingruo and Lao Huang ran away hugging each other. "Your cat?" The barefoot doctor said after packing up the dishes. "It's been with me for two days, and it's in the canteen of the township government. I said something to go back to Yongcui Mountain, and it followed me all the way." "Didn't it scare you? This is a cat spirit." Chu Haiyang asked, "For a long time, the old Xia family has insisted on cultivating many high-level monsters." "Persistence." The doctor praised, Xia Mingruo's face was radiant, and he was immediately in high spirits.

Just as he was talking, the leopard suddenly started humming. The doctor rushed to see him, and he wailed, "I'm back! Back! Back! Back!!" The doctor became nervous: "What's wrong? Is it painful? Is it itchy? Still have a burning sensation?!" Leopard said: "Long hair." "..." said the doctor, "nonsense." "Dude! Dude!" Leopard grabbed him and said, "Take care of me! Show me what's wrong with this! I'm scared to death! Look at this old Yi man again! The eyes are like searchlights, if I don’t die, I will be watched dead by him, if you really can’t, get him away!”

"All right, all right," the doctor fooled, and at this time another person rushed in, sweating profusely on his face, and a burst of Yi language, the doctor was shocked and said, "Really?!" The man stomped his feet. "Go! Go!" The doctor hurriedly took the medicine box, "Xiao Chen, you also go to help!" Leopard raised half of his body and said, "Huh? You don't care about me!" "Something has happened," the doctor rummaged through the cupboard to find medicines, "Butang's cow has dystocia!" The leopard burst into tears: "You don't care about me if the cow has dystocia?"

The doctor said solemnly: "One dead body and two lives. Xiao Chen! Let's go!" "Hey!" Xiao Chen agreed, walked a few steps and then turned around to explain, "This is also the only veterinarian in Shiqi Village in our two townships." "I can tell." Chu Haiyang nodded. Xia Mingruo and Lao Huang turned around again like glue, and stood behind Ma Guotou.Ma Guotou began to throw the divined sheep shoulder bones one after another, thinking for a long time every time he threw it, with no expression on his face. The leopard looked more and more startled, and kept looking at Xia Mingruo, who knew that neither the person nor the cat had any sympathy, as if you were dead and we were digging a hole, and laughed with shaking feet.

"Ahem..." Ma Guotou choked on his cigarette, "Turn it over." Leopard pointed at himself: "?" Horse pot head nodded. The leopard turned over and knelt down for him: "Old man! Grandpa! I know that I am wicked! The ancestor of your family in the pot, we want to steal her treasure! But I also have a truth, Mao The chairman testifies! I haven’t touched that jar with a single finger! Your old man is a discerning person, please spare my life!” The horse pot's head sank, and the leopard immediately lay flat on its belly.Chu Haiyang and Xia Mingruo surrounded curiously, Ma Guotou motioned for them to help hold down the leopard's hands and feet.

Ma Guotou said, "Don't open your eyes." "Don't open it, if you open it, you will die." Ma Guotou stood up, slowly rolled up his sleeves, and gently tapped the egg in his hand - it looked cooked - on the edge of the bed to peel it off. shell. Chu Haiyang and Xia Mingruo looked at each other, and then looked at him intently. He wrapped the egg in the palm of his hand, and then put his hand on the leopard's belly, moving in a circle while chanting.The leopard was extremely nervous, sweat beads on his forehead were as big as soybeans, and formed a stream on his neck.

"What are you afraid of? It doesn't hurt, and it doesn't itch." The old man said slowly, with weak hands, rubbed for about a quarter of an hour, and then suddenly withdrew his hands. Leopard was startled and wanted to get up. "Don't open your eyes!" Ma Guotou snapped. The leopard straightened up again immediately. Ma Guotou smiled, and spread out his palms to Chu Haiyang and the others. The egg was still in the palm, but the egg whites were densely covered with worm eyes! Even Xia Mingruo was taken a step back by being so foolish and bold. Ma Guotou threw the eggs into the fire stove in the middle of the room, only to hear a soft muffled sound, and a cloud of white ash rose from the fire. Alright, Ma Guotou smiled and mouthed to Xia Mingruo.But the leopard didn't know it was okay, and still held the dead body upright. Chu Haiyang murmured and said, "Uncle Ling..." Uncle Ling said, "Shh—go out and talk about it." There are chickens and dogs in the stockade, and the houses of the villagers are built according to the mountain. Looking up, the thatched roofs on the hillside are connected together in the shade of green trees.It happened to be in the afternoon, and most of the young and middle-aged laborers were working in the fields. Only the elderly Yi women were hunched over and turning over the dried beef, and the bare-bottomed dolls were chasing and laughing. "Little Ah Hei!" Xia Mingruo grabbed one and hugged it, "Why are you so dark?" The little friend blinked his dark eyes and looked at the perverted brother. Chu Haiyang said: "You are not allowed to molest boys." He wanted to pick it up with his hands, Xia Mingruo hid it with a smile, Chu Haiyang said, "Give me the child, don't rub the medicine on him." Only then did Xia Mingruo wake up and put the child down.The child didn't seem to be three years old yet, he fell after walking crookedly for a few steps, Xia Mingruo went to help him, but accidentally knocked down a wooden post behind his house. The wooden stake is wedge-shaped, on which a ferocious animal face is outlined with a few strokes of black charcoal. Xia Mingruo froze for a moment, stuck out his tongue, Chu Haiyang quickly inserted the stake back to its original place, and patted Xia Mingruo on the head again.Xia Mingruo covered his head and looked at the horse pot head, only to see that the old man was not aware of it and was still walking in front of him at a leisurely pace, so he shrank his neck and followed. It's been a long way, and it's two or three miles after leaving the village, until it reaches a big river.This river is a tributary of the Lancang River. The water flow is wide and gentle. Both sides are covered with dense jungles. The mountain breeze is clear and the air is filled with the sweetness of plants.Chu Haiyang and Xia Mingruo took a deep breath at the same time, feeling happy all of a sudden. Ma Guotou did not stop, his son was standing on the river beach, holding the sapphire bone jar in his hand. The old man took the jar and said to his son, "Let's go." His son smiled at Chu Haiyang and Xia Mingruo, picked up the farm tools, and gradually walked away along the forest path. The old man squatted down with a long sigh, spread out a clean white cloth by his feet, then reached into the sapphire pot with his dry hand, took out a gray bone, and slowly scrubbed it in the clear river water. Xia Mingruo watched quietly while holding his breath, Chu Haiyang whispered: "Bone washing." Bone washing is a custom of many ethnic minorities, and each ethnic group performs it differently. Take the Liuerzi Miao, a branch of the Miao nationality recorded in the history books as an example, often within one or two years after the death, family members pay homage, open the coffin, and take out the bones to wash.After cleaning, wrap it in a white cloth and bury it again. After three years, take it out again and wash it as before.How many times this bone-washing ceremony should be repeated, some books say it is three times, and some books say it is seven times, it has not yet been determined.But if the family members are sick, they will think that it is caused by the unclean bones of the ancestors, so they will take the bones again for cleaning. This is how the name "washing bone seedlings" came from. The Yi nationality, like the Miao nationality, has a mysterious origin and many branches, some are called "Axi", some are called "Nasu", some are called "Sani", and there are also "Taliu" and "Huayao".According to the pronunciation, it is guessed that it should be called "Pusu". The horse pot head was very attentive. After each one was scrubbed, it was carefully placed on the white cloth, and then the next one was taken. It was difficult for Chu Haiyang to open his mouth, so Ma Guotou took the initiative to say: "It has been washed for three thousand years, and it will continue to be washed." Chu Haiyang looked at him. The horse pot head held up a long bone and said, "It's all inside, it can't be washed off, and it can't be burned." Chu Haiyang nodded. This means that some kind of poison—the possibility of Gu—is hidden deep inside these bones, causing the bones to remain unbroken and rotten for thousands of years. Many methods such as washing cannot expel it. The only way is to use fire, but it is absolutely impossible for these people to burn the bones of their ancestors. There is a word called "maggots attached to bones", and Chu Haiyang can only understand its horror now that it is in front of his eyes. Xia Mingruo said: "The leopard didn't touch the empress's ossuary." Ma Guotou raised his head and said, "There is more than just the empress in the cave." The two immediately understood: there were still martyrs in the cave, and the leopard's first foot down the cave was on the martyrs.Maggots attached to the bones, since the empress has them, how could the martyr not have them. But since they went to the tomb together, why was it only the leopard who got the trick? After Ma Guotou had finished washing the bones, he tied the bones with a white cloth and put them back into the sapphire urn, and gestured to Chu Haiyang to go back.Chu Haiyang pulled Xia Mingruo and followed silently, knowing in his heart that what he saw today might be the top secret of the Pusu clan. Ma Guotou became talkative, especially when he returned to his home, he asked with great interest: "Where is your academy of science?" "In Beijing." Chu Haiyang replied with a smile. "Oh—" Ma Guotou suddenly realized, "Chairman Mao sent it!" Chu Haiyang said vaguely, "Mmm, yes." "How is Chairman Mao, old man?" Chu Haiyang didn't even thump: "Okay, you're in good spirits, you can eat three bowls of rice for one meal." "Ho!" Ma Guotou laughed heartily, "Good! Good spirits! Chairman Mao is good!" "Uncle Ling," Xia Mingruo asked with a smile, "Why do you think we are nice?" Ma Guotou held back for a long time, unable to express himself, and only reported his personal name: "Li Changsheng." "Ah?!" Xia Mingruo opened his mouth wide, his jaw was about to dislocate. Who is Li Changsheng?Isn't Li Changsheng the old man with diarrhea who couldn't come after eating snails? Xia Mingruo and Chu Haiyang looked at each other, and finally Chu Haiyang slapped his head: "Oh, that's right. I mentioned it to Master Ling!" Xia Mingruo asked: "Did you mention our old man?" "It was mentioned on the way." Chu Haiyang said, "He asked why we came, and I told him it was for archaeology; he asked who sent us to do archaeology, and I said, it was our teacher, Li Changsheng; he asked again What does Li Chang look like, I say he is short and fat, with no hair." "Yes, that's him." Ma Guotou rummaged through the room and brought an old photo.