C1 A man who orders a coffin

In the middle of the night, the entire mountain village sank into a deathly silence. This was a desolate and barren land, and right now, it appeared even more desolate.

"Close the shop. There's not many people at this time of the night."

"Got it …" I went out of the shop, picked up the two paper men by the door, and put them in the house. By the way, my name is Liu Guotian, and my little name is "Coffin Man".

I grew up an orphan, born in a coffin with my mother's last breath. When my master saw that I had pitifully adopted me, I didn't even know how to cry. No one knew who shouted, "Coffin boy!" With a wail, I cried, and this nickname was born.

My master had the skills passed down from his ancestors, and was specialized in making coffins for the dead. Very few people know this skill anymore, and it used to be called a carpenter.

There were many things to be said about coffins, from colors to wood, and there were many taboos. But now, with the progress of society, cremation is carried out, and only in the traditional form of burial is it carried out in a remote village like my home.

"Gu Gu …" "Gu Gu," a gust of cold wind blew past, followed by a night owl cry that sounded like it was filled with grievances. I couldn't help but shiver and hurriedly ran into the shop to close the door.

"Now that you're so big and so timid, if I'm not here anymore, how are you going to manage this shop by yourself?" His Master chattered for a bit before turning around and entering the room. "After you're done, go rest. There's still a lot of work to be done tomorrow."

"If you die, I'll sell this shop and move to the city." I muttered to myself, luckily this old man didn't hear, otherwise I would have been smacked on the head twice more.

I went back inside, yawning. As I lay down on the bed, I heard a dull knocking at the door. I got off the bed a little vexed. It's already so late, who would still come to buy stuff? "Who is it? It's already so late, are you still letting me sleep?!"

"I need to order a coffin. I'll have to trouble little brother to help out."

"It's already closed. Come back tomorrow!"

"Order a coffin so quickly …"

"Creak …" Just as the man finished speaking, the door opened by itself. I remember that I had locked the door from the inside. How did the door open?

A man in a black robe pushed open the door and walked in. He wore a black hat and sunglasses and a mask, covering his face tightly.

"Why are you like this? Didn't I say it's already closed!" I was a little angry and wanted to ask him out, but he just gave me a gentle push and pushed me into a chair.

The man looked around and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is your shopkeeper here?"

"My shopkeeper has already rested. If you want to find him, then please come early tomorrow."

"I want to order a coffin. The money is for making coffins." The man took out a stack of bills from his pocket, placed it on the table, wrote down the required size, turned around and walked out of the shop. When I looked at the pile of bills, there were tens of thousands of dollars. Even a coffin wouldn't cost that much money.

I originally wanted to chase him and return the money to him, but then thought better of it. Who would give away money? The more money they had, the more they would put in their own pocket, treating it as a tip. I put the money in the drawer, went back to my room, and lay down on my bed and slept until dawn.

The next morning, just as the sun was rising, I got up and opened the shop. This shop is the old man's lifeblood, and we, master and disciple, depend on it for our livelihood.

"Is Old Man Liu home?" I returned to the front desk. Aunt Zhang, who was at the east end of the village, came in. "Coffin Boy is home. Where's your old man?"

"The old man hasn't gotten up yet. If you need anything, just tell me. I'll get it for you."

"Then bring me two bundles of burning paper …" I really didn't want to hear the name Coffin Man. Ever since I had this nickname, I was like a plague god. Even the kids in the village didn't dare to play with me. The thing that impressed me the most was that when I was seven years old, I was playing in the fields with a few kids from the same village. I didn't know why, but I happened to be in pursuit.

Fortunately, I was quick to grab a big rock, those few children are like a wet chicken. The parents of the children then went to the door. They all agreed that I was the one who pushed them into the river, that was called tacit understanding. It caused me to be viciously beaten by the old man and locked up, causing me to become friends from then on.

My childhood can be described as miserable to see four words, play with me only those things others can't see to touch.

I sat in the shop all morning and didn't sell a single deal. It's not easy to earn business these days, but think about which family will have so many dead people.

By the time I finished preparing breakfast, the old man had also woken up. He came out with a pipe in his hand and sat on a chair. Time to eat … Master! " I took the food out of the kitchen and put it on the table.

The old man looked at me and softly said, "How many times have I told you not to call me master?"

"Oh, got it." I've already asked this question several times as to why the old man didn't let me call him master. Every time, the old man would give a vague explanation and then stop.

The old man put down his pipe and said hoarsely, "Did someone order the coffin last night?"

"Yes, that person was very strange. He said that he wanted to order a coffin, and even left behind the money to make the coffin." I almost forgot about it when the old man didn't mention it. I went to the counter and opened the drawer, handing over the deposit and size requirement to the old man.

The old man took it and looked at it. His face changed and he said in a deep voice, "The white coffin …" A wad of underworld money... It's really too weird. "

Underworld currency? "That's impossible …" "I took a closer look and saw that it was indeed a stack of bright red bills. It was enough to fool me. That bastard used the money of a dead person to trick me.

The old man's expression turned ugly. He wanted me to tell him everything that happened when that person came last night from the beginning. I felt the seriousness of the situation and repeated the scene word for word.

"In that case, let's finish the coffin first." The old man knocked on the pipe, lowered his head, and took a sip of congee, as if nothing had happened.

"Old Man …" "This coffin really has to be made. That person gave us a stack of underworld money, he's clearly messing with us, so ignore him."

"What are you saying? They already gave you money, how can you not make a coffin." And I've also taught you that you can't owe someone else a debt. "

After finishing breakfast, the old man took his axe to the backyard and chopped down at the wood.

There was also a saying to make a coffin. If one were to use the first axe, then the wood shavings would fly high, meaning that the person still had a few more years to live. On the contrary, if the wooden shavings flew low and close, it meant that the person's lifespan was running out.

"Cough, cough …" It's really strange! " His Master put down the axe and sat on the rock. She took a few puffs of smoke and said, "This person's lifespan hasn't run out yet!" "His lifespan hasn't ended?" In other words, this person wasn't dead yet, and he was already ordering a coffin before he was dead. He was hoping that this person would die early. There shouldn't be any problems, right?

The old man's face darkened. He exhaled a cloud of smoke and said, "I'm going out for a while. You stay at home and watch the shop. If that person comes again, then let him wait for me."

The old man changed into a clean set of clothes and took his pipe out. The coffin stopped halfway through. This had never happened before. I've been studying with the old man for so long, and this is the first time I've seen him like this.

Around 2pm in the afternoon, the old man returned. He was drunk and sat on the rocking chair the moment he entered the room.

"Little God, get me some water." I boiled a pot of boiling water and put it on the table. The old man usually liked tea and taught me a few things when he had nothing to do, but I was born stupid and learned to throw half of these things away.

"Alright, you look good at the front. I'll go prepare the coffin." The old man tapped the bottom of his shoe with his pipe and went into the backyard.

After twenty years of learning from the old man, the old man had been hiding his skills and eating like a dead man. Whether it's "Mr. Coffin" because of Feng Shui's choice of tomb or being able to drive evil from harm, he was still holding a pinch in his hand.

When it was close to dinner, the old man finished preparing the coffin. A white coffin was placed in the yard with a cloth covering it. It really looked quite creepy.

Perhaps because the old tutor drank too much and ate a few mouthfuls of rice, he went back to his room to lie down.

When it was late at night and I was about to close up, a wandering ghost floated over and hit my store door a few times with my head, regardless of the consequences.

"Bang bang!" After bumping into it for a few times, I learned craftsmanship from my master. I really have some methods to deal with this kind of troublesome ghost.

I picked up the axe my grandfather used as a coffin and used my strength to slash at the ghost. This axe has been with my master all year round, and it also has a murderous aura to it.

With one strike of the axe, the ghost's head was chopped off. Its head rolled onto the ground like a ball.