I am a child without a mother, so it's a long story. Looking at the yellow earth mounds around me, I know that the entrance to the Yin Road is in those ownerless graves. Especially around me, there is not even a sound of insects. Obviously, the Yin energy here is very strong, which is very consistent with the conditions for the birth of the Yin Road.
I told the old man that I was trapped in a ghost wall and walked here by myself in a daze.
The old man harnessed the donkey cart, patted his side, and said to me: "Are you from Shenyang?"
I said yes, and asked curiously: "Isn't this Shenyang?"
The old man suddenly used the donkey whip in his hand to hit my ears a few times, and frowned on his wrinkled face and looked me up and down: "You are really lucky, I whipped you just now to get rid of bad luck, didn't I hit you? Come up and sit."
I was exhausted after walking for so long, so I was happy to get on the donkey cart when someone invited me. The Gashi lamp was very dim, and I could only see three or five meters in front of me. There were many graves protruding on the ground in a mess. I couldn't help but think of the people who died in Zhang's shop, and I sighed deeply. [Gashi lamp: a kind of lamp made of flint, Baidu if you don't understand.]
"Why are you sighing so young?" The old man rolled a dry cigarette and then lit it in his mouth.
"Uncle, give me one." I said.
"This thing is very powerful, can you handle it?" The old man kindly reminded me.
I repeatedly assured him that it was okay, and he rolled me another one. After smoking, we started chatting. The old man, let's call him Lao Luo for the time being, said he went out before dawn to go to the ghost market.
After hearing this, I thought he was a ghost dealer, ready to go to the ghost market to trade with those ghosts, and sell me to the ghosts as a substitute. But I glanced at his donkey cart, which was full of tattered clothes and antiques. The bargaining chips for trading with ghosts are human lives, so why sell these things?
"Uncle, going to the ghost market, where are there ghosts?" I asked tentatively.
Who knew that Lao Luo coughed a few times after hearing what I said, and almost choked on his dry tobacco. He said: "Little kid, you have watched too many movies. The ghost market here is to sell things before dawn. You earn money with your eyesight. Those who can sell things there know the rules. For example, two of the clothes behind me are good, and the rest are torn. There is also one real antique in the pile, and the rest are fake. If you pick it, it's your eyesight, and if you get hurt, it's called a mistake."
This aroused my interest. I have experienced the real ghost market, but this is the first time I have seen a ghost market driven by living people. After chatting for a while, I knew it was already three o'clock in the middle of the night. Lao Luo told me that this place has reached the junction of Xinmin and Shenyang. When there was no 024, Xinmin was an independent city.
However, how could I walk so fast? Did I really take a shuttle bus? Otherwise, I would have reached Xinmin in just three hours? But if I ran, it would be possible, but why don't I feel tired at all?
From Lao Luo's mouth, I learned that the so-called ghost market is a market organized by some folk villages spontaneously. Most of them are people who steal, rob, and rob (tomb robbers) to sell stolen goods. There are also some practices like Lao Luo's, commonly known as "top lights", a bunch of things are put together, the price is the same, you go to pick it yourself, if you pick it, it's your ability, if you don't pick it, it's your eyesight. And there is an unwritten rule for people in the ghost market. If the "light" is pulled out by someone, you naturally have to pack up and leave, and you can't stay. When the market is over, you have to take out the good things for everyone to see.
If you go back and ask your family, you will know that in any city, from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, stalls were set up under bridges and in dark corners. This was also the way for ghost markets to enter the daytime, but those people did not follow the rules and there was no real goods.
Because Lao Luo often walked at night, he naturally practiced the skill of avoiding ghosts, such as the ghost money behind the carriage, the three-foot-high Ga stone lantern, the old dry tobacco, and the donkey whip. When the old man saw me, he was also worried whether I was a ghost, so he whipped me twice to test the bottom, and then lit up the old dry tobacco. That is, I also asked for one, and then Lao Luo knew that I was a living person, so he talked to me.
It is a sign of bad luck to meet a living person doing "hell" business. The location of the ghost market is very particular. It is set in a pile of lonely graves in the wilderness, so there is a "ghost" word. At first glance, people think that this place is a place where people and ghosts are mixed, so it is called a ghost market. The ghost market in Wenguantun refers to a gathering, not a market, so the two cannot be confused.
"Young man, I have clothes here. If you don't mind, just pick one and put it on. It's not good to be seen with your bare skin." Lao Luo pointed to the carriage behind me.
In fact, I had been thinking about it for a long time, but I didn't dare to say it. After listening to him, I immediately changed into a more fitting set of clothes. Except for the sound of the donkey cart's wheels, there was no insect chirping or bird singing. This scene can only be summarized by the word "quiet".
After changing clothes, I asked Lao Luo: "Uncle, how long will it take? I need to go back to Shenyang in a while. Is there a bus?"
"There is a bus, but the earliest I have to wait is six o'clock. I really don't know how you can go so far." Lao Luo smiled and said, "The market is just ahead. There is no bus back to Shenyang so early. Can you help me set up a stall?"
I agreed without hesitation. Even if he didn't say it, I had to take the initiative to help him. Otherwise, according to the Northeast dialect, it would be too ungentlemanly. [Doing things that are not human]
In the mountain valley, most people who come to the market wear masks. Although some do not care, they are only a minority. People like Lao Luo who are "top lights" naturally follow the "open market", that is, the price is announced. For these things, you can choose them after paying the money, so they don't need to cover their faces.
There are quite a few people visiting the market, and most of the other people who sell stolen goods are more disciplined. They all squat on the grave mounds and wait quietly for business to come.
When I helped Lao Luo set up the stall, customers started to come forward one after another. Lao Luo collected money. Clothes were 20 yuan per person, and antiques were 50 yuan per person.
The only thing that made me uncomfortable was that every time those people came to pick things, they would glance at me intentionally or unintentionally, which made me feel very strange. Is there something wrong with my face?
"Young man, this is your first time here, why don't you take a stroll and broaden your horizons?" Lao Luo suddenly said.
I said I didn't have any money either, so it would be a waste of time if I went.
I continued to chat and smoke with Lao Luo, but every seller would look at me on purpose. After a long time, I got used to this look. He pointed to the masked seller over there and said to me: "I heard that those people have a lot of good stuff in their hands. Later, the news spread, which made our place very popular. It would be a pity if you don't join in the fun."
I thought that I had also caught up with such an opportunity to broaden my horizons. According to what Lao Luo said, it would be a pity to miss it. So, I greeted Lao Luo first, and then strolled into the crowded part of the market. Those people who were selling stolen goods and covering their faces were squatting on the top of the grave mounds. They would put Gashi lamps beside them, and the lights were very dim, so you could only vaguely see what they were selling.
I counted from the beginning to the end, there were more than 20 merchants in total. There were five or six cents for the top lights. People who came here paid money and started to choose. If they couldn't choose, they would leave automatically. But when the market was over, the stall owners had to take out the good things for everyone to see.
I felt that the only feature here was that it was very quiet, unlike the usual noisy and noisy market. Just when I was strolling, suddenly, a transaction caught my attention. I saw that the buyer was a woman. She was wearing loose and baggy clothes, and I couldn't see her figure. She was also wearing a big mask, wrapped tightly.
The thing that caught my attention the most was that the other party sold the woman a palm-sized gold-inlaid jade coffin. When the woman put it under the light and looked at it, I noticed the golden dragon body on the coffin. The dragon carved on the coffin can be regarded as a Feng Shui talisman. Using the dragon to suppress the coffin is like the Weihe Dragon King that my grandfather told me, who was locked in the coffin.
I also found that the dragon eyes on the coffin were one red and one white, which looked particularly evil. Using talismans to suppress evil, it is obvious that the dragon's red eyes mean eating people, [so those who have tattoos should not tattoo red-eyed dragons, which is the same as the gold-inlaid jade coffin.]
I didn't observe from the perspective of Feng Shui, nor did I use my wisdom to explore, but just wanted to be a kind reminder as an ordinary person. After all, the evil things that can be trapped by the dragon in the coffin are probably not good people.
Thinking of this, I walked over slowly, stood beside the woman and coughed lightly, causing her to turn around. She was stunned for a moment, then turned around to trade with the seller, but she had already put the coffin away intentionally or unintentionally.
I sighed and said, "The thing in your hand is not particularly good. I advise you not to buy it, and return it to where it was dug."