Dreaming about zombies and chasing corpses

The mysterious and terrifying "corpse driving" in western Hunan is revealed

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Author: Unknown

For Xiangxi corpse exterminators, interviews are required to enter the industry. Only those who are over 16 years old, taller than 1.7 meters tall, ugly and courageous can be hired. Admission.

In western Hunan, there is not only the world-famous Zhangjiajie, but also the mysterious corpse extermination. In the early days, if you stayed at a small inn in a mysterious mountain village in western Hunan, you would most likely see a corpse walking. Before dawn, a line of corpses would stagger in front of the inn, all covered with wide black corpses. cloth. In front of these corpses covered with black shrouds, there is a living person holding a gong. This living person is called the "corpse driver" by the locals. In fact, it is better to say that he is a "cadaver driver" than a "corpse leader" because he leads the group of corpses forward while beating the small gong in his hand. Instead of lighting a lantern, he shook a soul-catching bell in his hand to keep people away at night and to notify people with dogs to lock them up. If there are more than two corpses, the exorcists will use straw ropes to string the corpses one by one, every seven or eight feet away. When walking in the dark, the corpse will wear a tall blanket hat on its head and several pieces of paper on its forehead. The yellow paper with the talisman written on it hangs down on his face. There is a "dead corpse inn" on the road. This mysterious "dead corpse inn" only houses corpses and corpse collectors, and is not accessible to ordinary people. Its doors are open all year round. Because behind the two door panels is where the corpse rests. The corpse collectors drove the corpses to the "dead corpse shop" before dawn and left quietly at night. The corpses were standing neatly against the wall behind the door panel. If it's hard to walk on a heavy rainy day, I'll stop in the store for a few days or nights.

You can become an apprentice only after passing three levels

The folk industry in Xiangxi Hunan has been exorcising corpses since ancient times. Those who want to learn this industry must meet two conditions: first, be brave; It's good health. Moreover, one must become a disciple. The corpse exorcist never recruits apprentices randomly. Apprentices are first required to establish a written certificate by their parents, and then they must be interviewed by the exorcists. Generally speaking, applicants need to be over 16 years old and over 1.7 meters tall. There is also a very special condition: they need to be ugly in appearance.

The corpse hunter first asks the candidate to look at the sun in the sky, then spin it, and then suddenly stops, asking you to immediately distinguish between east, west, north and south. If you cannot tell the difference, you will not be hired. Because you don't distinguish between east, west, north and south, it means that you can't tell the direction when driving corpses at night, and you can't chase them away. Then, the corpse driver will ask you to find things and carry a load. Because the corpse is not a living person after all, it cannot climb up a steep slope. The corpse movers had to carry and carry them up the high slope one by one. Finally, there is an interview. This is where the corpse exorcist puts a tung tree leaf on a grave in the mountains and asks you to retrieve it alone in the dark. Only in this way can you show that you have the courage to be a corpse exterminator. If you successfully pass these three levels, you will have the opportunity to become an apprentice of a corpse-killing craftsman.

In the home of the corpse driver, just like ordinary farmers, they still "work at sunrise and rest at sunset." Only when they receive the business of removing corpses, they dress up and go to remove the corpses. Although they drove away corpses, they tabooed the term driving away corpses. Therefore, when experts ask them to drive away corpses, they all say: "Master, please go for a walk" or "take a walk." If the corpse exorcist agrees, he will take out a special piece of yellow paper and ask you to write the deceased's name, date of birth, date of death, gender, etc. on the yellow paper, and then draw a talisman and stick it on it. On this yellow paper, finally hide this yellow paper with yourself.

The clothes of the corpse exorcist are also very special: no matter what the weather, he wears a pair of straw sandals, a green cloth gown, a black belt around his waist, and a green cloth hat on his head. There is a pack of charms hidden in the fanny pack.

The first thing the master teaches his disciples is to draw talismans. This kind of very peculiar talisman is something that looks like words and paintings drawn with ink pen on yellow paper. If there is an unexpected situation on the way, he will draw a talisman. This strange talisman is hung on a tree or door facing west, and sometimes it is burned with ashes and swallowed with water.

At the same time, the apprentice must learn thirty-six kinds of skills before he can drive away corpses. The first skill is the "standing skill" of the dead body, which means that the dead body must first be able to stand up.

I quickly thought that this was "paper money", the so-called "travel money" that is left along the way when carrying a coffin to a funeral. Driven by curiosity, I followed him for a long distance. When going uphill or downhill, on a bridge or under a bridge, the man in short clothes still calls out to the man in black robe; when turning or reversing, the man in black robe also listens to the voice of the man in short clothes. At that time, I thought: It is said to be "screaming people to death", but actually it is called "leading people to death", which is more realistic!

This is a great adventure in my life. It's a pity that I was busy at the time and couldn't "follow" it to the end to find out what happened. However, as luck would have it, the next day I found out from an acquaintance the whereabouts of the men in black robes and short clothes, and my wish came true.

It turns out that they left the hotel early yesterday evening. Anyone in the hotel industry who has encountered this guest will know their profession - they checked in very early, and they arrived before ordinary tourists came. The man in short clothes came to the counter and shouted: "The God of Joy is opening the shop!" When the boss looked at the black robe behind him, half of his face covered by a straw hat, he couldn't help but be surprised and happy: he was surprised that he was a dead man, but he was happy that the income was more abundant than usual; besides, if the "God of Joy" came to visit, his luck would be great. of. So he immediately took them to a remote room. The man in short clothes brought the black robe in, placed it in the corner of the door, put the lantern on the table, then took out money to pay the boss standing outside the door, and asked him to prepare a sumptuous meal and buy some candles for the lantern; The rest is considered as shop account money, and the amount is quite considerable. For ordinary tourists, the boss only needs to prepare firewood and water quietly there, and does not care about making meals; but when it comes to this kind of tourists, he has to take care of it on his behalf. Before the meals were served, tea was served and a urine pail was brought because people in short clothes had to guard against going to the toilet. Two sets of utensils are required when bringing meals, one of which is used to honor the "God of Joy". The boss followed the request and sent it to the door, where a man in short clothes took him in. I will leave early the next morning and will no longer have contact with my boss. At that time, the area had just been liberated, and two People's Liberation Army soldiers were sent to the police station there. That day, a soldier went to the hotel to check the night, and the boss reported the truth. The People's Liberation Army soldiers asked the boss to check the number. There was no answer at first when I knocked on the door. I knocked loudly and shouted, "Check the number and open the door." The only answer was "Screaming to death," but the door still didn't open. So he knocked hard and shouted, and heard a response from inside, "Here he comes," but there was no movement. After going around like this for several minutes, the door was opened. The soldier stepped in and found the black robe in the corner of the door. He opened the straw hat and found that it was indeed a corpse. The man in short clothes reported his name and the name of the deceased, and said that he came from the north (probably Shaanxi and Henan). somewhere on the border). Under the light of the flashlight, the food on the table was all gone, the cups and plates were in a mess, and the two pairs of chopsticks were still wet. I looked everywhere, but found nothing. The soldier came out after checking his number and asked the boss in detail. The boss said that this was the first time for him to receive this guest. Fortunately, he had heard about it from his ancestors and colleagues before, so he knew that they would rest early and leave early so as not to disturb others. The soldier went back and pondered for a long time, and felt that there was a lot in it; first of all, a dead man would never walk, let alone such a far distance! Secondly, what is the explanation for the two pairs of chopsticks that were just used? Do dead people still eat? joke! He immediately made an appointment with another soldier and hurried back to the hotel to conduct a secret inspection. The night is getting darker and snoring is everywhere. There was no sound in that room, not even the sound of drowsiness. Probably because after checking the number, I was so shocked that I couldn't sleep. Not far from dawn, the guest opened the door and came out silently. At this time, the boss had already opened the store, and the man in short clothes was in front, guiding the man in black robe on the road with a very low voice. The two soldiers followed far behind...

It was daybreak, and the two soldiers followed quickly. The soldier checking the directory now saw the face of the man in short clothes clearly, and immediately became vigilant: it was the face of a young man without much beard, and last night under the flashlight it was clear that his face was full of beard, and he looked at least five years old. More than ten years old. The soldier drew his pistol and ordered them to stop and obey. Under the escort of two soldiers, he walked towards the branch station. The man in black robe walked basically the same way. The man in short clothes no longer faced half backwards but all forwards, and still made a guiding voice from his mouth.

It is said that at these critical moments, if a stranger approaches the corpse, there will be a risk of "shock", and the burial process must take place in the middle of the night. After all arrangements are in place, that is to say, after the deceased has been buried, the bereaved family goes to claim it. As soon as the coffin lid was opened, the man and his eyebrows appeared, and it turned out that they were bereaved relatives. They looked just like yesterday, but now they were sleeping in the coffin. They were so sad and heartbreaking that some were wailing loudly, and some were sobbing. The "corpse chasers" specifically advised everyone not to be too sad and make the deceased uneasy. Fortunately, he had accumulated merits during his lifetime and returned to his hometown safely. I have just been on a long journey and am in desperate need of some rest. While people were grieving, they felt a sense of security, satisfaction, and relief after seeing the deceased. Who would have suspected that it was a scam?

According to the confession, it is shocking! It turned out that all the secrets were in the back of that folder. On the surface, it contained paper money and wax. It was all a trick to deceive others and distract people's attention. Surprisingly, the bottom layer of the paper contained a corpse. To be precise, the contents of the back are the head and limbs of the deceased. As for the main part, it is unknown which deserted tomb contains the remains of the wanderer