Volume One, Chapter 43: The Day of Heavy Mourning

Page 1 of 3

Master Ma walked twice around the coffin and said in a low voice, “Come on. Let’s go outside.”

Liu Dakui waited anxiously by the courtyard gate. The moment he saw Master Ma emerge, he fished a cigarette from his pocket.

“Master Ma, what’s going on?”

“Find us somewhere warm.”

Liu Dakui thought for a moment, then said, “Come on, get in the car. I’ll take you there.”

I was more than happy to have a ride.

We drove barely two hundred yards before Liu Dakui turned into a courtyard.

A woman dressed in mourning clothes came out, followed by a man.

The moment he saw Master Ma and me get out of the car, the man’s expression changed. He began cursing loudly. “Fuck your mother! Your father’s dead, and you’ve been making one damn fuss after another all day!”

The words appeared to be directed at his wife, but in truth they were aimed at Master Ma and me. After all, our professions were enough to make most people uneasy.

It was hard to blame them. For instance, if someone in the village worked at a crematorium, nobody would welcome him into their home.

Liu Dakui looked embarrassed. He opened the trunk, took out two cartons of cigarettes and two bottles of liquor, and handed them to the man.

“Brother-in-law, it took me a lot of effort to bring Master Ma here. Let him have some water at your place.”

“Which Master Ma?” The man’s tone was sharp, as though he were looking for someone to fight.

“Master Ma from Mountain God Temple Village.”

I guessed his brother-in-law had certainly heard of Master Ma. His expression changed at once, and he smiled.

“Come in, come in! Hurry, get inside. Sit on the heated brick bed.”

Being invited onto the heated brick bed was one of the highest courtesies in the villages of the Northeast.

Master Ma said nothing. Once inside, he went straight to the point.

“Do you know the old man’s birth date and time?”

Liu Dakui looked blank.

Dakui’s sister gave the year, month, and day, but nobody knew the exact hour of his birth.

Dakui’s brother-in-law brought out the tea leaves and brewed some tea. This method of making tea was distinctly local. There was no teapot. He simply put a handful of leaves into a thermos, then poured the tea into rice bowls.

Master Ma made a calculation for a while, then murmured, “Something’s not right. There’s nothing wrong with his birth date or the day he died. What illness did he have?”

“We don’t know either. He went out for a walk and suddenly cramped up. I called emergency services, but he stopped breathing before long.”

“He was only fifty-two. That doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s what we’re saying. The old man was as strong as an ox and never had any illness. One man, he could plant enough corn to cover two whole hills.”

Dakui’s sister asked, “Master Ma, how could he have come back from the dead?”

Master Ma answered slowly, “It isn’t that. The corpse was having spasms, and it wasn’t tied up properly.”

“Then what about the bloody tears?”

“Probably a brain hemorrhage. Or he hit his head when he fell. It’s cold here, so he froze soon after dying. With people burning paper offerings and cooking around the coffin, the temperature rose and the blood thawed. Don’t worry. It isn’t resurrection.”

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

“What? It really isn’t resurrection?”

Liu Dakui asked, “Then what are we supposed to do?”

“Here’s what you do. Burn fires inside the house. I see you have two stoves, so boil two pots of water and warm the whole room. Once the temperature rises, the old man will sit up. He’s only frozen stiff right now.”

At those words, Dakui’s sister let out a cry and began to weep, calling for her father again and again. It was a heartrending sight, enough to make anyone feel her grief.

Liu Dakui took a deep drag on his cigarette.

“All right. I’ll go back and arrange it now.”

“I’ll go with you,” his sister said.

Master Ma stopped her. “Find someone to tend the grave and burn the fires. I still have questions for the two of you.”

The brother and sister stared at him in confusion.

Liu Dakui reacted quickly. He pulled out his phone, an old flip phone of the kind that had once been beyond even the village chief’s reach in my old village.

He gave a few instructions and found someone to burn the fires, then sat down and waited for Master Ma to begin questioning them.

Master Ma asked, “When did your grandfather die? It hasn’t been a full year, has it?”

Dakui’s sister thought for a moment, then suddenly slapped her thigh.

“That’s right! Grandfather’s first death anniversary is on the eighth of next month.”

“He wasn’t cremated, was he?”

Liu Dakui rasped, “No. We pulled a few strings and buried him.”

Master Ma let out a long sigh, his expression troubled.

“Come on. Take me to your family graveyard.”

Dakui’s sister asked, “Does this have something to do with Grandfather?”

“When your grandfather was buried, did you have someone inspect the grave site?”

“We did. We even paid two hundred yuan.”

“Something’s wrong. I think your father’s death is connected to your grandfather. His life shouldn’t have ended yet. There must be a problem with your grandfather’s grave. What day did he die?”

“Last year, on the eighth day of the tenth lunar month.”

Master Ma cried out and slapped his thigh.

“That was during the Pig Month, on a Pig Day! Tell me, did you have an expert choose the burial date?”

“We did. He charged us a hundred yuan.”

“Something’s wrong. Did he tell you when to bury the body? And did you follow his instructions?”

“We just buried him normally.”

After saying this, Liu Dakui hesitated.

“That man may have been a fraud. He came to our house himself and asked for a hundred yuan, saying he’d help arrange the funeral. I wasn’t short of money then, so I let him eat and drink here. But the old bastard seemed to get addicted to it and insisted that we keep the body for seven days. What rural family keeps a body for seven days? I may have money, but I won’t let someone cheat me like that.”

Master Ma’s expression suddenly changed. He shouted angrily, “Liu Dakui, Liu Dakui! You truly never listen. Your grandfather died during the Pig Month on a Pig Day. That is a Day of Repeated Mourning—and not merely that, but a Great Day of Repeated Mourning, one of the most inauspicious days there is!”

Liu Dakui stood dazed for half a minute. Then he rose stiffly and walked out.

Less than a minute later, he returned with a thick stack of hundred-yuan notes. He dropped to his knees.

“Master Ma, tell me what must be done. I’ll do exactly as you say.”

Master Ma slapped the stack of money away.

“It isn’t about money. Come on. Take me to the graveyard.”

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

Liu Dakui nodded repeatedly.

The graveyard lay behind the mountain. As we climbed, Master Ma explained that several days each month were Days of Repeated Mourning. If someone died on one of those days and the proper rites were not carried out, six generations of relatives could suffer misfortune, while close relatives within three generations might die violent deaths within a year.

If someone died or was buried on a Snake Day or a Pig Day, that was the most vicious form of Repeated Mourning—a Great Mourning of Heaven and Earth. Within a year, one of the deceased’s close relatives would certainly die violently.

Repeated Mourning meant that the funeral had to be performed all over again.

After hearing Master Ma’s explanation, Dakui and his sister, along with her husband, were drenched in cold sweat.

Dakui’s father had already confirmed the warning. He had died before a year had passed. It was impossible not to believe in such things.

When we reached the slope behind the mountain, Master Ma swept the snow from the burial mound and let out a long sigh.

“Is this your family graveyard?”

“Yes. That one belongs to my second uncle. He died this summer.”

“Go sweep the snow off your second uncle’s grave too.”

With a single sweep of the large broom, Liu Dakui uncovered the mound in less time than it took to smoke a cigarette.

Master Ma asked, “Do you see anything different?”

I looked around. They were all burial mounds. Apart from their size, I couldn’t see any difference.

Liu Dakui stared at them again, utterly baffled.

“No. There’s nothing different.”

Master Ma snorted.

“Look at your second uncle’s grave. It’s been only half a year since he was buried, yet the mound is covered with a thick layer of dead grass. Now look at your grandfather’s grave. He’s been buried nearly a year, but it’s completely bare.”

My heart gave a sudden jolt. Everyone’s expression turned grim, their faces pale.

Master Ma continued, “A Great Mourning of Heaven and Earth that isn’t properly dealt with—no blade of grass will grow on the mound. No wonder your family is being wiped out.”

Dakui and his sister, along with her husband, all fell to their knees and begged Master Ma to break the curse.

Master Ma asked only one question.

“This time, will you listen to me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Master Ma picked up a branch, walked in a circle, then drew a ring in the earth.

“Bury your father here—after cremating him.”

“Yes, yes,” Liu Dakui stammered. He had suddenly become perfectly obedient.

Master Ma said, “Come on. Down the mountain. We have things to prepare.”