Chapter 8 Chapter Four Water Ghost

I have heard the brain say that the water is pouring, but who is this Yellow River water ghost? A fellow villager next to me explained in a low voice that the Yellow River water ghost is a person who specializes in restraining water pouring on the Yellow River. He behaves strangely and mysteriously. He lives alone by the Yellow River. He raised a black dog since he was a child. There is a big penny in the courtyard. An octagonal mirror is tied to it. These are objects to ward off evil spirits. On the banks of the Old Yellow River, there are still many sayings about water ghosts. It is said that after the Yellow River water ghost returns home, the first thing to do is to call the black dog, and then look in the mirror in the yard. If there is no difference, then go back to the house to cook and sleep.If the black dog kept barking and there was blood in the mirror, he would turn around and walk around the Yellow River to get rid of the dark things on his body before returning.

Some people say that water ghosts have washed their eyes with a special potion since they were young, and they have watched the water of the Yellow River for decades. There are lightning bolts in their eyes, which can penetrate the muddy river water, and they can see the water under the water at a glance. Some people say that this water ghost has raised a black dog since he was a child, and the black dog grew up eating the floating corpses of the Yellow River, so he can not avoid ghosts and gods and is invincible. But these are mostly legends, not enough to be believed. The captain frowned when he heard what Old Hegong said.At that time, the whole country was destroying the four olds and criticizing feudal superstition. If the Yellow River water ghost was really invited, wouldn't it be a publicity of feudal superstition!

Later, he thought of a compromise.I am neither a member of the Gongmen family nor a local, so it is convenient for me to invite the Yellow River Water Ghost.If the higher authorities pursue it in the future, he can easily evade it, and just say that he was petitioning for the people at that time.The captain asked me to talk to the old water ghost, let him strive for meritorious service, turn feudal superstition into revolutionary will, and strive to be a person who is beneficial to the people! I gladly accepted the order, gave the monkey a wink, and the two went straight to the old water ghost.

After liberation, superstitions were broken all over the country. The penny standing in the courtyard of the old water ghost was broken into several pieces, and the mirror was smashed to pieces. A black and thin old man sat on a stone and looked at the Yellow River absently. , lying next to a skinny black dog. The old man is a typical old man of the Yellow River, his eyes are as cloudy as the water of the Yellow River, his hair is as rusty as sand, and his skin is bronze-colored, as if he grew directly from the soil. We stammered and explained why we came, but the old man sat there like a piece of wood, without even looking at us, and then waved his hand to let us leave.The two of us went back sadly.As soon as they arrived at the work shed, they heard the news that in the middle of the afternoon, two more people went mad and ran into the Yellow River, and they couldn't be stopped.

Those two people were also the ones who participated in the coffin sinking last night. Things are getting weirder and weirder. The people who participated in the coffin sinking last night peed their pants in fright, and went to the captain one after another.Some lied that their daughter-in-law was giving birth at home, and some lied that they were rushing back to attend the funeral. Anyway, no matter what, they would never stay by the Yellow River, and they had to die at home instead of outside. The captain had no choice but to let them go home first, and closed the door to discuss with the three of us.

Monkey also participated in the sinking of the coffin. Seeing more and more dead people, he became more and more nervous, not knowing what to do. I am also very anxious. If I can solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Yellow River, I guess my father can also be found. I thought and thought, and suddenly remembered Professor Xie's conjecture that night, saying that the black coffin might contain some radioactive substances, which affected the human brain, and that's why people died inexplicably.The captain didn't quite understand what radioactive substances were, but this statement had something to do with science anyway, and it was better than saying that the King of the Yellow River cannibalized people.

He asked someone to invite Professor Xie politely, and humbly asked him what to do.Professor Xie was also taken aback when he heard that the person was missing. After pondering for a while, he said that according to the ancient books, those of them who were stained with the black coffin had been summoned by spirits, which could only be resolved by opening the black coffin. The captain stood up suddenly, and said, "What?! It was so easy to ask this black coffin grandfather to go, and you still want him to come back?" Professor Xie said that he also underestimated the power of the black coffin.He originally thought that this black crystal ghost meteor was just a strange stone that could emit radio waves. Once he stayed away from this stone, people would be fine, but now it seems that this black coffin is not that simple.Maybe there are other strange things in the black coffin besides Guiyun, and you have to open the black coffin to find out.

The captain said that the black coffin was pushed into the Yellow River. At that time, the wind was strong and the water was strong. I don't know where the coffin went. Where can I find it now? Professor Xie wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he still didn't say anything. Huang Xiaoli asked him, what would be the worst case if the black coffin could not be found? Professor Xie hesitated for a moment, and said, according to ancient books, anyone who touches the black coffin will probably disappear into the Yellow River. The monkey opened its mouth wide, let out a cry, and sat on the ground in frustration.

The Yellow River is full of water, and the Zhenhe iron cattle weighing tens of thousands of catties can be washed away by the Yellow River for dozens of miles. After the black coffin is submerged in the water, where can we find it? Professor Xie suggested at this time that there is a famous Yellow River water ghost nearby. It is said that he has been crossing the Yellow River for decades, and his eyes can peep through the turbid Yellow River to see things underwater. If we can get his help, we will be able to Find the black coffin that sank to the bottom of the river. I was dejected and told Professor Xie that Monkey and I went to him with our things today. Baba talked for a long time, but he didn't even look at us and drove us out.

Professor Xie pondered, saying that when he was not defeated, he searched for the legend of the old Yellow River on the beach of the Yellow River, visited him specially, and talked about the folk customs of the Yellow River with the old water ghost. People are still among the people.He finally pondered: "This old boatman must be very difficult to recruit, but if he knows about that matter, he may be willing to help you. Well, I will go to see him with you in the afternoon and see if he will help you with this. .” The monkey excitedly held Professor Xie's hand tightly, thanked him endlessly, and repeatedly said that he would rely on Professor Xie for the rest of his life. Professor Xie just smiled lightly and didn't say anything. He just told me to remember to bring those jade pendants to go there .

With Professor Xie's introduction, the old man's attitude became much better. He invited us into the house, but he still didn't say a word about the search for the black coffin. Professor Xie asked me to take out those jade pendants, put them on the table, and let the old boatman see if this was a clogged orifice. The old boatman raised his head slowly, only glanced at it, but suddenly became nervous, and asked me: "My son, where did you get these things?" I don't dare to tell everything about the last time, I just casually said that I accidentally entered a cave by the Yellow River, and I picked up something in a large vat there.As soon as I finished speaking, the old boatman asked me, was the cliff I entered at that time in the shape of a human face? What he said reminded me that when I sat on the mulberry tree and looked up, the tall rocky cliff looked like a strange human face, and I nodded repeatedly, saying yes, yes, like a dead face. Professor Xie also said: "I have heard for a long time that there is a mountain with a strange face hidden in the ancient Yellow River road in Sanmenxia. It is said that there is a three-eyed stone man in that cave. I have always wanted to visit, but I can't find the way. It's about the chain." The old boatman kept looking at the jade pendants, and then asked me, did I see any dead people where I picked up the jade pendants? I shook my head and said, "No." The old boatman asked, "Really?" I said, "Hey, you old man, why did I lie to you? Could it be that I hid the dead at home?" The old boatman just nodded and sat there slumped, without saying anything. Huang Xiaoli asked at this time: What is this plug of seven orifices? Professor Xie explained: "The jade pendants you took were originally seven orifices plugs in ancient times. When princes and nobles were buried, they had to use some jade pendants to seal their ears, eyes, nostrils, and one mouth. They were the seven orifices. You all understand this, right?" We nod. Professor Xie said, "But you have one more jade pendant." I still don't understand: "One more?" Professor Xie nodded and said, "Although you only have four jade pendants here, one of them has the wrong size and shape. It neither seals eyes, nor seals ears, nor seals nose or mouth." Huang Xiaoli asked, "What is that?" At this time, the old boatman said sullenly: "Sky Eye." We were stunned for a moment. This day's eye refers to the third eye on the forehead of a person. In mythology, Erlang God Yang Jian has three eyes. It is also said that Nurhachi in the Qing Dynasty also had three eyes. But I have always thought that the three-eyed thing is just a legend. Are there really three-eyed people in this world? Professor Xie said that the story of the three-eyed man was actually recorded on some ancient sacrificial bronze vessels, and many unearthed oracle bone inscriptions also contained the story of the three-eyed man.However, this incident mostly involved a hidden history in ancient times, so it was concealed. He said that the Yangshao culture discovered in the Henan area is a period of history in the Neolithic period, and it is also a transitional period from the matriarchal clan to the patriarchal clan in ancient China.After the Yangshao culture, the Longshan culture and so on came into existence.The Yangshao Culture is also known as the painted pottery culture, because many exquisite painted pottery were unearthed at the Yangshao Cultural site, the most famous of which is the three-eyed painted pottery. Huang Xiaoli asked: "Three-eyed painted pottery?" Professor Xie nodded and said: "There are many big-eyed people in the painted pottery unearthed from the Yangshao Culture. In fact, there are also many images of three-eyed people in some painted pottery unearthed at that time. These three-eyed people not only appeared on painted pottery, but also in the A large number of similar patterns appeared on earthen pots and stone carvings." The monkey and I looked at each other, and both of us made up our minds. What we saw in the ancient cave of the Yellow River at that time must not be revealed. The monkey deliberately said: "Could it be that the ancients did not draw the patterns accurately, and the archaeologists misunderstood it?" Professor Xie said: "The patterns of these three-eyed people are very clear. On the forehead of these people, a slightly smaller eye appeared." Huang Xiaoli said: "Do you think it is possible that the ancients deified emperors and other gods into three-eyed eyes?" Professor Xie said: "Of course we have also considered these reasons. Everyone thought that the emperor was virtualized and totemized, but it was later discovered that it was not. This three-eye pattern not only appeared on emperors, but also appeared in large numbers on civilians. body. Moreover, the proportions of the characters in these patterns are the same as those of real people, except that there is an extra eye." Huang Xiaoli still shook her head, saying that most of these patterns were the imagination of the ancients and could not be taken as real. Professor Xie was a little anxious, he endured it for a long time, and finally couldn't help but said: "Actually, the evidence for the existence of this three-eyed man is not just these patterns, we have unearthed the skeleton of a three-eyed man in the ancient Yellow River Road. " The monkey clapped his hands and shouted: "This is a big deal, why don't you say it?" Professor Xie said slowly: "After studying those skeletons, paleontologists found that the proportions of the upper and lower limbs of the pile of skeletons were wrong. More importantly, those skeletons all had very long tail vertebrae, which looked like a long tail. .” I couldn't help but said, "Are those skeletons human?" Professor Xie shook his head and said, "I'm afraid those skeletons are not human beings, but some humanoid monsters." Huang Xiaoli said: "Even if it's a monster, it's a major discovery, why hide it?" Professor Xie asked her a question: "What is the fundamental difference between humans and animals?" Huang Xiaoli replied without thinking: "According to Marxism, the fundamental difference between humans and animals is that humans can make and use tools." The monkey also interjected, "People can still walk upright and work." Professor Xie nodded and said: "At that time in that ancient cave, archaeologists discovered a large number of stone tools made of these three-eyed skeletons, including iron tools, as well as many finer things such as fishhooks made of animal teeth and fish bones. .And judging from their strong lower limbs, they already have the ability to walk upright." We stopped talking. Huang Xiaoli finally asked: "Since this history has been concealed, how did you know about it, Professor Xie?" At this time, the old boatman said, "I told him." Huang Xiaoli tilted her head and asked, "Then how did you know?" The old boatman said, "I discovered that ancient cave on the Yellow River." No one has any more questions. Seeing that we were all silent, Professor Xie also sighed and said, "When I was researching some weird religious cultures, I also found a weird hieroglyph in some oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions." He dipped his hands into the water, and wrote a strange oracle bone inscription on the table stroke by stroke: This hieroglyph is quite special. At the bottom is a pictographic "ghost" character with three vertical bars on it. Everyone knows that the strokes on the pictograph must imply some meaning. Then the three vertical bars on this character represent what? I found that some of the ancient bronzes unearthed in the Sanmenxia area had such symbols, and I discovered later that this symbol represented some catastrophic events, such as wars, disasters, and large-scale famines.Not only that, this symbol also frequently appeared in some prophetic sacrificial rites, which also mentioned an ancient mysterious nation called ghosts. The symbol of this ghost clan is the third eye on the forehead.This third eye cannot see light all year round, but can see things under the ground and in the water, so most of the ghost people live in underwater caves and do not see sunlight all year round.And according to ancient records, the ghost tribe people are good at finding treasures in the groundwater. Someone once entered the ghost cave by accident and said that it was full of golden lights and piled up with all kinds of jewels. One bitter war after another. Although there are not many ghost clansmen, they live in caves in the mountains. The terrain of the ghost caves is special, and the ghost clansmen are good at repelling beasts, so they have never been defeated once.But I don't know why, around the time of the Tang Dynasty, the ghost clan suddenly disappeared, and there was no trace of it anymore.Someone once dug up the underground ghost cave and found that there were human bones everywhere, but there was not a single gold bead, not even a single grain of gold sand. Some people say that they unfortunately opened the gate of hell when they were digging holes, and they all fell into hell, and some people say that they were eaten by underground beasts.Anyway, this ghost clan suddenly disappeared, and no one knew the real reason. Later, I thought about it for a long time, and I thought that this hieroglyph should represent the ghost race and an incredible mysterious power. This character obviously symbolizes a person with three eyes, or an evil ghost with three eyes. up some. The theory of evil spirits is also in line with ancient Chinese legends.For example, the earliest Queen Mother of the West appeared in the image of a three-eyed ghost. We were also very surprised when we heard what he said. We did not expect such a mysterious nation to live on the ancient Yellow River. Huang Xiaoli still asked with her usual skepticism: "How did Professor Xie know these things?" Professor Xie asked her, "Do you know Yin Ruins?" I was afraid that Huang Xiaoli's words would be too direct, so I hurriedly said haha, "I know a little about this Yin Ruins, are they Oracle bone inscriptions or something?" Professor Xie nodded: "Then do you know who discovered the oracle bone inscription in the first place?" I said, "This is not clear." Professor Xie said: "The Yin Ruins are in Anyang, Henan. My ancestor is Xie An, who lived in the Eastern Jin Dynasty when "the old king Xietang's swallow flew into the homes of ordinary people". To tell you the truth, the ancestral home of our Xie family is near Anyang, Henan. Now It is said that oracle bone inscriptions were discovered by Guozijian Wang Yirong during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. In fact, this is not true. As early as the Qin Dynasty, some famous families in ancient times had begun to secretly study oracle bone inscriptions, but they have not been announced to the outside world. My ancestors also bought them back then. There are a lot of tortoise shells, and some ancient secrets have been deciphered on the tortoise shells. However, these are related to some private affairs of the family, please forgive me for not being able to speak directly. But I can tell you that the ghost tribe people I am talking about are written on a large tortoise shell. It is recorded in the sacrificial text." He thought for a while and said that it was also recorded in the oracle bone inscriptions that the ghost tribe believed that there was a ghost cave gate underground, and behind the ghost cave gate was a world of eternal life.They even forged a lot of huge iron chains with meteor iron, and tied the giant tortoises with the iron chains, hoping that the giant tortoises could lead them into the real ghost cave, so as to gain eternal life. Huang Xiaoli was also curious, and asked what was going on with the door of the ghost cave. Professor Xie shook his head, saying that the ghost tribe behaves strangely, and what they do is often unimaginable, which cannot be deduced according to common sense, especially the evil gods they worship, and they like to use ghosts to control people's spirits, so many ancient books think that ghost caves are just a figment of imagination In fact, there is no such place. At this time, the old boatman suddenly said: "About this three-eyed man, there is also a legend on the Yellow River." The old boatman said that on the Yellow River beach, there has been a legend of "opening the golden eye". "Opening the golden eye" is an incision in the rivers and lakes, which means that a person has another eye on the forehead. That eye is different from the ordinary human eye. Strictly speaking, it is not an eye, but it can only be said to be split on the forehead. There is a gap, that gap is like a hole, you can see the treasure hidden in the ground, but you can't see the person. The third eye is called the "golden eye". This eye cannot see people or things in the world, but it can see the golden pearls and jade veins hidden in the ground or in the water.This kind of golden eyes is born. When this kind of person is born, there will be a slit on his forehead, which will be closed at first, and will open at a certain time. After opening, he can see the golden veins underground. But this golden eye is not as evil as in the legend, as long as you open your eyes and look, everything under the ground is clear.Before seeing with golden eyes, the ground must be burned with madder.After burning madder, the soil is soft, so that the golden eyes can see through the ground to see the things under the ground. This step of burning madder is called "opening golden eyes" by them. Professor Xie nodded and said that he had heard of this story when he was looking for folklore on the Yellow River beach. He had always suspected that these people had some secret relationship with the ancient ghost race, but it was a pity that no one had ever seen these golden-eyed people with their own eyes. . Huang Xiaoli asked a few more questions, and Professor Xie answered them one by one. At the end, when we were about to get up and say goodbye, the old boatman finally said that he was willing to take us to the Yellow River to find a black coffin, but even though we were members of the yamen, the rules of sailing on the Yellow River could not be changed.Not to mention us, even Lord Qianlong of the previous dynasty crossed the Yellow River, and he had to burn paper to salute according to the rules.If you are floating in the Yellow River, your life will be handed over to the Lord of the Yellow River. If we don’t follow the old saying, we will all have to feed the Yellow River carp!The so-called do as the Romans do, we have dealt with the Yellow River for many years, knowing the evil ways of the Yellow River, we naturally agreed.After thinking about it for a while, he told us some taboos about sailing on the Yellow River. Since ancient times, the Yellow River has never sailed at night; it is not allowed to sail on rainy days; it is not allowed to sail in strong winds; it is not allowed to say unlucky words such as "sinking" and "overturning"; These weird customs on the Yellow River are like sinking pig cages in western Hunan and burying bandits alive in the mountains. If anyone dares to violate them, the boat owner can even use lynching, tie them up, and throw them into the Yellow River whole, so as not to kill the whole boat. people. The government doesn't care about this kind of thing, and dare not take care of it. These rules are bought by the elders with their lives, and there is nothing wrong with it. We naturally understand it and expressed that we must abide by it. The old water ghost nodded, and finally added one more, his black dog also.The first few rules were easy to understand, but the last black dog with him seemed a bit weird. Presumably the old man was reluctant to leave the black dog, so he agreed at that time. In the end, the old water ghost asked the team leader to buy some weird things, half a carload of quicklime, ten catties of dried earthworms, twenty catties of sulfur, three big barrels of shochu, and one barrel of black chicken blood. I came to this small village at the foot of the Taihang Mountains to find clues about my father's disappearance. No one expected that I would embark on a very weird trip to the Yellow River by accident. Many years later, I looked back at this story again, only to realize that in the dark, I have my own destiny. As a small pawn among all living beings, when you think you can control everything, you are actually connected to each other. Didn't even touch it. Sometimes, I would also think, if I hadn’t gone to Shanghe Village, Taihang Mountain, or the Yellow River trip, would my future destiny have been rewritten? I have thought about this question for many years, but I have not figured it out. Maybe, I will never figure it out. After all, life is not a story, and it cannot be repeated like a story. You can only keep moving forward according to the trajectory of fate. This time looking for ghost coffins, we took the old boatman's boat.It was an old fir boat, with a piece of black wood standing on the bow, and an ancient mirror was placed on the black wood. The black dog first jumped to the bow, and then lay motionless beside the ancient mirror.The old boatman took out a palm-sized white bowl from his arms, scooped up half of the bowl of water, and placed it firmly under the black wood. Looking at the surging Yellow River, his cloudy eyes gradually brightened. The monkey and I got on the boat first, and then called Huang Xiaoli. She had just boarded the mountain boat. When she saw the black wood at the bow, her complexion changed drastically. She almost fell off the boat, and I grabbed her.I asked her what was the matter, she forced a smile and said it was all right, all right, she got on the boat, but stayed away from the bow. Huang Xiaoli is serious and careful in her work. She reacted like this. The ship must have asked him a little bit. I talked to the monkey for a while, and then I went to ask her in a low voice, is there something wrong with the ship? Huang Xiaoli turned pale, nodded, and said, "This is, it seems to be...the Yellow River ghost ship." "Yellow River Ghost Ship?" I didn't understand what she meant. Huang Xiaoli turned pale, and said, "Old Bai, do you still remember the incident that the old river worker said about the corpse king of the Yellow River?" I said, "Ah, that matter, you must remember it!" Huang Xiaoli said: "The old river worker said that in order to suppress the corpse king of the Yellow River, the old Taoist sat on the black coffin and melted himself. Finally, he smeared his blood on the black coffin, and asked people to saw off the coffin and put it on the black coffin. On the ghost boat on the Yellow River..." I was taken aback, and said in surprise: "What, you said our ship is..." Huang Xiaoli nodded and said, "I took a closer look just now, and the piece of black wood is indeed in the shape of a gossip, with a layer of dark red on it. I'm afraid the boat we're riding on is a ghost boat on the Yellow River hundreds of years old." I was also taken aback. I knew that this taciturn old boatman must be very special, but I didn't expect that this ship was an ancient ship hundreds of years ago. I don't know how many thrilling stories have happened on this ship. At this moment, I suddenly remembered that the last time I went to Shanghe Village and crossed the Yellow River, the ferry boat also had a black board inlaid on the bow. Is that also a Yellow River ghost boat?The boatman originally said that his boat does not ferry living people, but after the weird old man who picked us up muttered something to him, he decided to send us to Shanghe Village again. What did the old man say to him?I always feel that the trip to Shanghe Village was not that simple last time. Looking back now, it seems that everything was arranged by someone. The more I thought about it, the more confused I became, and I didn't look like it anymore. I went to say hello to the old boatman and said, "Old man, this time I will have to work hard for you. Where do you think we are going this time?" The old boatman patted the black dog. The black dog lazily got up and dived into the water. After a while, it came out and barked in one direction. He squinted his eyes and said, "Just go that way." The monkey raised its thumb and said, "Old man, I really didn't realize that your dog can tell the direction by listening to the water, it is really comparable to the roaring god dog of the ancient Erlang Zhenjun!" The old boatman ignored him, supported the penny firmly on the bow of the boat, walked all the way, the monkey begged for nothing, went to my place, and was squeezed by me again. Huang Xiaoli looked at Huang He thoughtfully and remained silent, as if thinking about something. I watched the water of the Yellow River for a while. The yellow water was surging and muddy like mud. If I scooped a bowl of water, half a bowl of yellow mud would come out. I don’t understand how there are fish in such muddy water?After watching it for a while, my mind felt drowsy, and I couldn't help sitting in the cabin and taking a nap. In the dimness, I heard the black dog outside barking suddenly. The black dog was so weird, it barked suddenly at this time, it must have found something, I quickly rubbed my eyes and got up, and saw the old boatman put down the boat pole, instead of looking into the water, he went to check the boat on the bow first. white bowl. I looked at him funny, could it be that he was afraid that the black dog would knock over the white bowl?The monkey also built a pergola with his hands and looked towards the direction where the black dog was barking. I asked the monkey, "What's the matter?"