Just as I was wondering what was wrong with this skeleton, my grandfather spoke up: "Yang 'er, you judge, what did this man do before life, and how did he die?" If it was a man or a woman, if it was a woman, did she have any children, how old she was when she died, and what diseases she had before she died?
"Grandpa, are you testing me?" I asked.
"Sort of! Grandpa took a faint smoke.
I mean, what a fucking fancy test, huh? Dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night, took me to dig someone else's grave in a mass grave, probably no other grandfather in the world would do such a thing.
"Hurry up and see, this place is too dark and cold, and I'm afraid I can't bear this old bone if I stay here too long." With that, Grandpa stamped his foot hard.
I calm down to look at this skeleton, from time to time there are some suspicious movements around the mass grave, coupled with the gloomy atmosphere here, very affecting people! But as I settled down, I gradually shut out all these distractions.
The skeleton I put together was 1.8 meters long from head to foot, and it is thought that this person was a big tall man, but the feet were very small, which is really unscientific. Human feet and height is about a fixed ratio of one to seven, the higher the height, the longer the feet, unless the life before the ancient woman wrapped their feet into three inches of golden lotus.
I am not going to struggle with this for the time being, and to judge the gender of the person, judging from the thickness of the bones, my first reaction is a man, but a look at the diastolic pelvis, and clearly female characteristics, and there are scars left on the pubic bone!
I picked up the skull to confirm the age, and judging by the wear on the teeth, it was an adult in his early thirties. However, looking at the femur bone, the bone is slightly lighter, which is a sign of calcium loss, and because of years of pressure to bend, these features are clearly an elderly person, which is too strange...
What's more, the man's arms have thick bones, which should be a characteristic of the leg bones, and he was born walking on all fours?
This set of bones from head to toe, everywhere is full of contradictions, people look more and more uncertain, but suddenly, I understand grandpa's intention, this exam will not be so simple, I already have an answer in my heart!
I had been squatting for so long that when I stood up I was dizzy, my eyes were black and my legs were as stiff as stones. Grandpa threw a cigarette butt in front of me, and I found myself squatting there for half an hour.
"How's it going, Yang 'er?" "Grandpa asked.
"She was about thirty years old, a man and a woman, who lived in captivity for years after birth, walked on four legs, ate rough food, gave birth to seven or eight children, was drowned and then hacked to death."
"That's your conclusion?" Grandpa sneered.
'Yes, because it's not a person at all! 'I said.
'Oh? Grandpa came to interest: "You tell me, he is not alone."
Except for the head, all the parts of the skeleton are borrowed from animals, the legs are sheep, the hands are pigs, the pelvis is from another old sow, and the hands and feet are pieced together with bones, probably from cats and dogs.
If we had to determine the cause of death, the lacerations on the neck bones would indicate decapitation.
Listen to me finish, grandpa nodded happily: "I am able to teach, the ancients said that the letter is not as good as no book, if you even human and animal bones are not clear, then tell you more is a waste of time, very good, very good, my Song family is sure to follow someone."
"But Grandpa..." I wondered, "What's going on with this skeleton?"
Grandpa took a puff of smoke and told the story of this strange skeleton
That was 30 years ago.
At that time, there was a villager named Huang SAN in Yangshuzhuang near the county seat. Huang SAN was an idle bachelor who could do nothing except drink, gamble, and turn over the widow's wall in the middle of the night. When he was less than twenty years old, he gave his mother alive to anger.
Of course, this boy did not get a wife, borrow money around all day, the village people are very disgusted with him, Huang SAN in the village can not go on to work, in the construction site for two days, in the restaurant for two days, have two money on hand to go gambling.
Once he ran away owing a gambling debt of five thousand yuan, and the creditor chased him to the village to ask for money. At that time, it was a huge sum of money, enough to build several nice houses in the countryside. None of his relatives and friends wanted to take the blame for him, so they all said they did not know him.
A few days later, someone picked up a black plastic bag on the side of a mountain road, which contained a bloody head, and immediately called the police! The police took a photo and published an identification notice in the newspaper, and a distant uncle of Huang SAN recognized that the head was Huang SAN, the boy was probably killed by the creditor, everyone felt that the boy was killing himself, and the countryside people thought conservative, did not file a lawsuit, the police did not file an investigation, and the murder case was so unsolved.
Huang SAN's head was returned to the village, we all feel that the Huang family is too miserable, so broke the incense, Huang SAN to death did not leave a full body, afraid will haunt! Someone found that Huang SAN's mother was Chaoshan, so in accordance with the customs of Chaoshan there, he did a "substitute burial", that is, he was buried with the bones of other animals to spell out a body, which is also to let him live in peace after death.
After saying the origin of this skeleton, grandpa asked me to bury Huang SAN's bones back, after I buried, he took out a stack of yellow paper from his arms, rubbed a match and lit it on the grave and said: "Huang SAN brother, how much bother, I know you died, and have no children behind you, this sacrifice probably does not look up." On the day of your death next year, I will ask some monks and priests to do things for you and cross over your dead spirit!"
Just after the voice fell, a dark wind rose without cause, blowing the fire swaying, I seem to hear the wind also mixed with a if there is no crying, wrapped in paper ash floating to the sky.
I was so shocked by this scene that my grandfather pressed my head and told me to clap my head a few times to apologize.
After I got up, the strange wind had disappeared, and I asked grandpa with a trembling voice: "Is there really a ghost in this world?"
"There are things you believe in and things you don't. But remember, Yang er, post-mortem examiner is itself an offence to the deceased! So you must always be in awe, so that you can be worthy of heaven and earth."
I nodded: "I remember!"
But when I thought about it, did this mean that I could be a medical examiner in the future? He asked, "Grandpa, I have passed your test, so can I be a medical examiner for Uncle Sun in the future?"
"No, absolutely not, the Song family's ancestral teachings can never be violated!" Grandpa snapped.