I had previously seen the grandfather using yellow paper to summon spirits by the small river in the neighboring village, which was very shocking. And at this moment, seeing a similar scene again, I was still very surprised.
The coffin figurine rapidly rotated in place as if it had come to life, clockwise, while Yu Rubing, standing at the center of the formation, rotated counterclockwise.
Both were rotating very quickly, and a cold wind swept through, even I, huddled by the window, could feel the chilling breeze.
As they rotated vigorously, the coffin figurine began to move towards Yu Rubing.
As if it were the most critical moment, the grandfather's fingers merged and his muttering became more urgent.
"Merge!" a cold shout from the grandfather's mouth rang out, and at almost the same time, the coffin figurine suddenly disappeared without a trace, and Yu Rubing stumbled to the ground as if she had lost her bones.
"You can come out now!"
The grandfather said this to me, and I hurried out, and asked him, "Grandfather, is it over?"
"It's done!" The grandfather wiped the sweat from his forehead and said softly, "It's lucky you came back in time. If it had passed midnight, then this coffin would have been unusable."
This wasn't particularly alarming news. Even if the coffin couldn't be used, I could always come back for it at midnight tomorrow. Thinking about the coffin reminded me of the scene with Zhao Xiaocui in the graveyard, but the grandfather seemed to know what I wanted to ask. He said in a deep voice, "Ask questions later. Let's deal with Yu Rubing's matter for now."
I nodded hastily, and my grandfather took a step forward and took out my childhood workbook from his pocket and lit it on the candle. As the workbook burned, I saw it was densely covered with words.
"This is a scripture copied by Yu Rubing just now. It is something she must have for the reincarnation." I nodded thoughtfully, I didn't understand my grandfather's actions at all.
As the workbook burned, Yu Rubing turned her head and looked at me, smiling, and said, "Mingyang, thank you for everything you've done for me. I'm going to be reincarnated now. If there's another life, I hope to meet you again."
"I hope so too," I said with a smile.
Yu Rubing showed a happy smile, her lips moved slightly, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.
I waved my hand, and as the workbook in my grandfather's hand burned to ashes, Yu Rubing's body slowly rose and drifted towards the horizon.
After she completely disappeared without a trace, my grandfather did not rush to extinguish the candle. Instead, he looked at me and motioned for me to follow him into the room.
As we were about to close the door, Du Xiaolan rushed in and asked my grandfather, "Grandpa, can I come in?"
"Yes!" My grandfather said and, disregarding Du Xiaolan's presence, lit a cigarette, causing the whole room to be filled with smoke.
Du Xiaolan coughed violently, and I, feeling helpless, opened the window for ventilation and asked my grandfather, "What did Zhao Xiu finally give birth to? Hasn't she been a widow for many years? How did she suddenly get pregnant and die?"
All sorts of questions rushed out, and my grandfather frowned, sighed, and said, "Ah, this is a tragedy!"
I was very puzzled, and my grandfather sat cross-legged on the kang and slowly began to speak.
At the age of twenty-three, Zhao Xiu moved to our village from another province. Two years after her marriage, her husband died in a car accident. Zhao Xiu was beautiful and very kind, and many villagers thought she would remarry, but she did not leave the village.
A woman without a man is very hard, and widows often face a lot of gossip, which is not groundless.
Several old bachelors in the village cast their eyes on Zhao Xiu, but she refused to yield and no one dared to force her.
In April of this year, Zhao Xiu inexplicably discovered that she was pregnant.
In the countryside, a widow getting pregnant is something that would make people talk, and Zhao Xiu's belly was not ordinary. Her rapid growth every day made everyone feel very strange, and many people cursed her behind her back as a woman of loose morals.
Eventually, Zhao Xiu could not bear the pressure of public opinion, and after a month of pregnancy, she hanged herself.
Normally, once a person is dead, the fetus cannot survive. But Zhao Xiu's fetus continued to grow day by day, causing the whole village to panic.
My grandfather went to see and realized that she was pregnant with an evil spirit. After Zhao Xiu was buried, he had nine peach wood sticks inserted into her grave.
Peach wood is used to ward off evil spirits and can also suppress haunting spirits.
But the matter was not resolved, and I unexpectedly encountered Zhao Xiu's spirit coming out of the grave and wanting to give birth.
Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but shudder and ask, "I saw a creature covered in black hair jumping out of Zhao Xiu's belly, could that be the evil fetus?"
My grandfather nodded, calculated on his fingers, and muttered, "This may also be a disaster. We thought the nine peach wood sticks could suppress her for a lifetime, but we didn’t expect her to run away."
"What are the consequences of letting the evil fetus be born smoothly?" Du Xiaolan asked the question I wanted to ask.
"The problem is big," Grandpa sighed and continued, "This ghost embryo just born doesn't have much power, but its growth speed is unmatched by human standards. If it becomes powerful, I'm afraid I'll be the first one to die."
Du Xiaolan leaned over and asked, "Why?"
I already knew the answer to this question without Grandpa having to respond. Grandpa had ordered the burial of Zhao Xiaocui's bones, and he had personally nailed nine pieces of peach wood, which suppressed the growth of the ghost embryo.
Now that it has finally broken free from the constraints, it will surely retaliate against my grandpa.
As expected, Grandpa's answer was almost identical to what I had anticipated.
I anxiously asked Grandpa how we could deal with the ghost embryo. Grandpa shook his head and said while filling his pipe with tobacco, "To kill it, we have to find the nine pieces of peach wood nailed at the grave."
I slapped my thigh and said, "That's easy, I'll go get them back tomorrow."
"If it were that easy, I wouldn't be worried," Grandpa sighed and continued, "The people in the village know about the nine pieces of peach wood. No one is brave enough to risk their life, and the person who removes the wood will definitely not be an ordinary person; they will surely destroy the nine pieces of peach wood."
I quietly cursed, "Who could be so treacherous?"
"I don't know, I'm worried it might be someone I've had a feud with in the past," Grandpa lit his pipe again, it was already his fifth, indicating his extreme confusion.