That was about my great-grandfather.
Yangzhou City at that time! It is said that there was a tailor master, Lao Li, who opened a shop on Chengxi Street. Normally, it would be quite busy with people coming and going. But there was a coffin shop next door, and Lao Li always felt bad luck when he saw it. Fortunately, the business of the tailor shop was pretty good, so I didn’t want to move out.
It rained all day that day, and there were not many customers. Lao Li closed the shop door early and sat alone on the steps in a daze!
Just when I was thinking about something on my mind, a burst of shouts came from the street corner not far away. Look up! It turned out that three or two officers from the Yamen were escorting the prisoners towards this place. Seeing the dejected face of the prisoner, Lao Li just glanced at the sign of his shop, as if he was soulless, and continued to be driven away by the guards. Go straight to the city gate.
It's night and the rain hasn't stopped. He could only hear the creaking sound of the coffin shop across the wall, which disturbed his sleep. Lying on the bed, Lao Li thought, if he hadn't accumulated good deeds over the past few years, he would have been frightened to death by this strange sound!
Just as he was hazy, the store door was suddenly opened. Slowly and vaguely walked in alone.
[damn it! Here comes the thief. ] He wanted to shout, but suddenly he felt his throat tightening, and then he couldn't make any sound at all. At the same time, his whole body was not in control, as if he was being weighed down by three bags of rice.
[Bad luck, I'm really possessed by evil spirits! ] Lao Li opened his eyes wide and saw that the man was groping around with his hands. The money cabinet was overturned on the ground but he didn't take it. He just took his money-making tools in his hands and swayed out the door. During the struggle, Lao Li finally climbed out of bed. Not caring about putting on shoes, I stumbled to the door, only to see the street was empty and only heard the sound of rain!
Early the next morning, a group of people gathered around the store next door and started talking. The boss was muttering in shock with a frustrated face!
"The yamen doesn't care about anything. This is a troublesome matter. It's going to ruin your life!" Seeing him shaking his hands wildly, he locked the door tightly and didn't look back. He just said to go to the other side of the street to find a Taoist priest.
Several young men climbed up to the threshold and peeked through the crack in the door. They saw a coffin in the room, but the coffin board was not covered.
Poor Lao Li was so frightened that he didn't sleep all night. He finally waited until the fifth night before he could take a break. Then he was woken up again. He got up angrily and went out the door to see what was going on.
"Look, the coffin shop is probably haunted! The yellow-robed Taoist priests have been invited…" Isn't that right? In the distance, the owner of the coffin shop came towards the crowd with the Taoist priests.
After entering the store, there was no movement for a long time. Suddenly, a shout came from inside: "Old Li! Something strange has happened. Please come in and take a look!"
Lao Li outside looked horrified when he heard this, so he bravely poked his head in. Unexpectedly, he saw the Taoist priest holding his sewing box in his hand!
"This is the thing that was taken away by a thief last night. How could it be in your hands?" The Taoist priest pointed to the coffin.
"Be careful, don't be frightened! There is a corpse in the coffin, and a seam mark is clearly visible on the neck. This man was executed outside the city yesterday afternoon, and his head was brought in. I didn't have time to call someone. …But it turned out like this!”
Lao Li didn't say anything. There was cold sweat on his forehead. It was so big!