Bloodstained Clothes for Ghost Festival

Chapter 5

Mother Tian cried out in a low voice, "Heavens! Does this all have to be killed before it ends? God, why don't you do anything about it!"

Seeking an extraordinary person

Tian Juan said, "Let's think of a way to persuade this old man; he might be our last hope!"

"Instead of asking, try to provoke him. Since the old man says he's possessed by the Victorious Fighting Buddha, then he should be as warlike and unyielding as Sun Wukong," I said.

Jiang Ping seemed unconvinced, saying slowly, "Sun Wukong is a fictional character created by folk tales and ancient novelists; I don't really believe he exists."

Tian Juan said in surprise, "No way, you're not kidding, are you? You're denying the old man's magical powers?"

We were all surprised that he would say such a thing.

Jiang Ping quickly explained, "You've misunderstood me. The old man definitely possesses magical powers; there are many such extraordinary individuals scattered throughout the world. They can see, hear, and sense worlds completely different from ours. Their magical abilities vary greatly; some excel at prediction, some at deciphering, some at hearing, some at seeing, and so on. In different countries, these extraordinary individuals often describe themselves as deities whose characteristics most closely resemble their own, based on local myths and legends. This old man is actually a very peaceful and serene person; he is not arrogant or combative."

"So what is his personality like?" Tian Juan breathed a sigh of relief.

"The old man is very kind-hearted. The reason he's hiding is because he's afraid he won't be able to harden his heart and refuse us when he sees us. He always believes that breaking the law is against the natural order and would damage one's virtue. But he also believes in fate. If we find him, he will believe it's fate's arrangement. That's why I sent you here."

We should convince him that resolving this tragedy is actually a good deed, just like telling someone that water entered their coffin—it will bring good fortune and be rewarded.

"So what exactly do we do?" I asked.

"Let's find the old man's son and daughter-in-law first, talk to them, and then have them take us to the old man."

After discussing the details, we drove to Jiang Ping's maternal grandmother's village.

This is a simple and peaceful little village. Our arrival attracted the attention of almost the entire village. Amidst countless curious and envious glances, we entered the home of the legendary old man. The house was a typical two-story building, very clean, with peach and pomegranate trees in front.

The elderly man's surname was Sun. His son and daughter-in-law were also nearing sixty, and both had kind faces. Our sudden arrival caught them off guard, and they were clearly very happy. The husband kept offering us seats, smiling憨憨地, while the wife quickly served tea and then pulled Jiang Ping aside to ask her something in a low voice.

Jiang Ping introduced us in a very generous manner. The two elderly people may not have understood what a researcher was, but they realized that their knowledge was as profound as that of a university professor, and they were filled with respect. They praised my identity as a journalist.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Ping explained his purpose: he had a problem that he wanted Mr. Sun to resolve, but he didn't go into details.

On the wall was a family photo of them. In the center sat a thin old man, wearing a melon-shaped hat, leaning on a cane, with a serious face and bright, piercing eyes. Next to him were more than twenty people of his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons.

Mrs. Sun said with difficulty, "He went to his son-in-law's house early this morning. He said he didn't want to see anyone. Sigh, people have been trying to contact him over the years, but he's always turned them down. I'm afraid this will be difficult to resolve."

She immediately gave off a kind and virtuous impression, making people feel close to her. She was definitely not someone who would take advantage of you or deliberately make things difficult. This further convinced me that Mr. Sun was good at judging people, and that he had chosen a very good daughter-in-law for himself.

Mrs. Tian said politely, "Then we'll have to trouble you two to help persuade him, to beg him to save Mr. Bian..." Her eyes reddened as she spoke.

Mrs. Sun looked at Mr. Sun and gave a bitter smile.

Mr. Sun said hesitantly, "My father is easy to talk to about other things, but we can't persuade him on this matter. He hasn't helped anyone in a long time, and he doesn't care much about his own family members when something happens to them. Even when the township head came to see him last time, it was no use."

I pretended not to know and asked, "Why don't you understand? You don't even care when your own family member is sick?"

Mr. Sun said, "Yes, it's been several years. He said that many people have committed sins in their ancestors or in their past lives, or offended the gods. This is a calamity destined in their lives. If he helps people resolve it, he will offend some god. When he is alive, nothing will happen, but after he passes away, we will be unlucky. My child's aunt pleaded for someone once and was scolded by him."

Mrs. Sun sighed and said, "We tried to plead for him, but he scolded us for being greedy and only thinking about the present. Alas! No one dares to advise us. He even gave us special instructions before he left this morning."

Tian Juan looked anxious and seemed about to say something. I secretly tugged at her arm, and she gave me a disapproving look. Mr. Bian trusted me a lot and patted Tian Juan, indicating that she should follow my instructions.

I said very sincerely, "I know your difficulties. Finding a solution depends on fate, and we will not force you to invite a scolding."

When I said that, they seemed a little embarrassed.

"We came all the way from Hunan. We don't ask you two to intercede for us; we just hope you can take us to see him so that our trip won't be in vain. Whether to resolve the issue or not is up to our fate, and we'll let him decide for himself. That way, he can't blame you for anything. You two are kind people and can't bear to see us go back like this, right?"

Jiang Ping chimed in, "These people have made great contributions to the country and are all good people. They won't make things difficult for you. Please take us to see him."

Mr. Sun hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

Despite declining for a while, we kept half of the gift.

We also found out that the old man especially liked to eat glutinous rice balls, so we went to the street and bought him glutinous rice balls and the cigarettes he liked to smoke.

At 3 p.m., we finally met Mr. Sun at his sister's house.

His eyes were slightly sunken, but very bright. He was very thin, but his complexion and spirit were excellent. He really looked a bit like Sun Wukong from the TV series.

Mr. Sun blushed and tried to explain. Mr. Sun waved his hand, snorted, closed his eyes, and ignored him. Mr. Sun looked at us awkwardly and gave a wry smile.

At Mr. Sun's sister's invitation, we all sat down and looked at Mr. Sun.

After a while, Mr. Sun said slowly, "You should all go back. I'm old now, and I've forgotten most of my old skills. Go find someone else, don't waste any more time."

Jiang Ping smiled and said, "Grandpa Sun, I know your abilities. These are good people, all my friends. Please give them some pointers! They heard about your reputation and came all the way from Hunan."

Mr. Sun glared at him: "I knew it was you who was bragging everywhere, making people come all this way for nothing."

"Within hundreds of miles, who hasn't received your guidance and kindness? If it weren't for you, my sister might have gone blind, and my jaundice hepatitis wouldn't have healed so quickly. You are a celestial being descended to earth to save the world, aren't you? Who doesn't remember your kindness?" Jiang Ping said emotionally.

The old man didn't speak, but his expression softened considerably.

I said, "Sir, may I ask you a question?"

He looked at me with slight surprise.

Is illness an inevitable calamity in a person's life?

He didn't answer, trying to figure out what I meant.

Jiang Ping cleverly answered for him: "Of course, a person's fate is predetermined, not only in terms of illness, but also in the family they are born into, whether they are male or female, rich or poor, who they marry, how many children they have, and what kind of work they do."

Seeing that the old man did not object, I continued, "So if a person's fate is bad, is there no way to change it?"

Jiang Ping said to me like a crosstalk performer: "That's not true. Haven't you heard? First, fate; second, luck; third, feng shui; fourth, accumulating good deeds; fifth, studying. The last few can change your fate if you have good luck."

"If fate is predetermined, wouldn't changing fate go against the will of Heaven?"

"Of course not. If someone is unlucky, there's nothing wrong with trying to change it through their own efforts. If one passively accepts their fate, then the poor will remain poor forever, and the rich will enjoy happiness forever, which is against the will of Heaven."

"Then isn't changing someone else's fate against the will of Heaven?" I winked quietly.

Jiang Ping understood what I meant and said, "Of course, if someone committed sins in their past life, and God punishes them by making them suffer in this life, and you try to save them, you are going against the will of Heaven and will be punished."

After hearing Jiang Ping's words, Tian Juan probably thought he had gone mad. Mr. Bian and Tian's mother trusted us completely and watched us calmly.

"You acknowledge that illness is a calamity that is destined to befall a person. The reason he gets sick is either because his ancestors or he himself committed sins in a previous life, or because he offended the gods in this life, so he gets sick. This is the punishment he deserves, right?"

That should be the case.

"So, does that mean that doctors who heal and save lives are actually harming their own karma? The more people they cure, the more detrimental it is to their descendants? Is that true?"

"You can't say that. If you cure a bad person when they are sick, it's considered a sin; if you cure a good person when they are sick, it's considered a meritorious deed. Curing an illness can both diminish one's good deeds and accumulate merit."

"So, does that mean that before treating a patient, a doctor has to determine whether the patient is a good person or a bad person? A good person is treated, a bad person isn't. If someone is bleeding profusely, but no one can prove whether they are a good or bad person, should the doctor treat them or not?"

"Of course you should save them. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. If you have the ability to save someone but don't, and a good person dies as a result, you are committing a sin. If you do save them, even if they are bad people, the gods cannot blame you because you were unaware of the situation and you have a heart that desires good."

Mr. Sun understood what we meant after listening to only a few words, but he did not stop us. He seemed to be deep in thought and still had doubts.

I asked further, "But there are so many gods, some with good tempers and some with bad tempers. If a doctor cures the punishment set by a god, he will inevitably offend some of them. Won't he be punished?" I remembered Jiang Ping mentioning that performing rituals could easily offend the gods.

"There will be punishment, but other gods will help you resolve it. There are always far more kind gods. But if you are afraid of offending a god and do not help good people, then if a kind god gets angry and punishes you, no other god will come to your rescue."

Mr. Sun sighed and said, "I understand what you mean, but there are some things you just don't understand."

Mr. Bian said, “Sir, I don’t care about my own misfortunes, after all, I’ve lived for so many years, but my children are still young, and their lives haven’t even begun yet. Please help me!”

The old man looked at him, then at me and Tian Juan, and said, "Neither of your daughters has suffered any misfortune."

Mr. Bian's face flushed slightly, and he was about to explain when Mrs. Tian interrupted, "So, sir, you mean he's in for some bloodshed?"

Mr. Sun remained silent.

Jiang Ping suddenly changed the subject: "Grandpa Sun, you said that people like you who truly have magical powers often see gods flying around and ghosts appearing at night, right?"

Mr. Sun grunted in agreement, but no one knew what he was up to.

"But ordinary people can't see it, right? People often laugh at old ladies or madmen for talking to themselves all day long, but actually they can see some mysterious things, and they are actually talking to gods and ghosts, right?"

Mr. Sun nodded. We didn't know what Jiang Ping was trying to say, but he must have had his purpose.

"But this time it's strange, and you'll probably accuse me of lying if I tell you!" He paused, winking at Tian Juan and pointing to the gift in her hand.

Tian Juan understood and handed over the glutinous rice balls and pastries, saying sweetly, "Grandpa, these are your favorite glutinous rice balls. Let's eat some together later!"

No one could bear to refuse such a cute little girl. Seeing the old man's slight smile, Jiang Ping quickly took the things and said, "Auntie, could you please cook some glutinous rice balls? We haven't had lunch yet, so let's eat some to fill our stomachs."

Mr. Sun's daughter readily agreed.

The atmosphere eased considerably, and I quickly said, "Sir, I've heard many things about you from Jiang Ping, and I admire you greatly. However, we also know that there are many things you can't change. But if you really can't resolve them, even a little guidance would be better than us sitting here doing nothing. Don't you think so? This matter is truly strange; I don't think you've seen much like it. What do you think?"

Mr. Sun finally nodded slightly.

Jiang Ping quickly recounted the whole story in their dialect, while the old man listened with his eyes closed, stroking his beard.

After listening, he thought for a while, then suddenly opened his eyes: "Did all three of you see that ghost?"

We all nodded affirmatively. Jiang Ping said, "We all saw it, and their accounts were basically the same. It's definitely not a hallucination. The strange wind yesterday afternoon was also real. I asked other people today, and none of them saw it."

"You can all see it with your own eyes, this is indeed a bit strange..." the old man muttered to himself.

I had a lot of questions, so I said, "Sir, I have a few questions. First, how did the ghost know that Jiang Ping and I were discussing this case on the train, and that we decided to come to you and Mr. Bian?"

"There's nothing strange about that; the abilities of gods and ghosts are beyond our mortal comprehension."

"So, did he show up yesterday to scare us, or did he want to kill us?"

“I was just trying to scare you. When Jiang Ping came yesterday, I noticed he had signs of being possessed by a ghost, but it wasn’t malicious, so I didn’t warn him. I also saw signs on you when you came in today.”

I shuddered: "So Mr. Bian is in grave danger?"

"Yes, he was marked by a ghost."

We all looked at Mr. Bian; he looked very well, and we couldn't tell anything was wrong with him.

“You can’t tell, his face is pale and he looks very unlucky.”

"I heard that you once saw an ancient female ghost, but others couldn't see her. Why can we see this ghost too?"

The old man didn't answer this time; he counted on his fingers for a while. We all remained silent, watching him quietly. The light rain outside continued to fall, and although the lights were on inside, electricity was rarely used in the countryside, so the light was dim.

The day before yesterday, I met Jiang Ping on the train at this time. Yesterday, I suddenly met Aunt Tian and Tian Juan. Today, I met Mr. Bian. Then, the three of us, who were originally unrelated, ended up visiting a legendary old woman in the countryside of Hubei. At this moment, I truly feel like I'm in a dream.

After a while, the old man finally opened his eyes and asked me, "Did you see in the book that only one person was killed at the time?"

"Yes, the book says that the merchant was killed on the road by a man."

He then asked Mr. Bian, "You mean you never dream, but on the day your sister was murdered, you happened to wake up from a dream and saw that ghost, right?"

“Yes, that day my cousin and his wife were also strangely woken up by a pig, and then they saw the back of a ghost,” Mr. Bian said with certainty.

“That’s strange…” the old man said, frowning.