Yan Gang left alone, and Xingshu drove Tian Lianfeng and He Chenxue to Jiefang Road, and found a small shop selling Sichuan Malatang on the back street of Jiefang Road.

After the torture stopped, he pointed to the shop in the car and said, "It's here, it's here." ”

Tian Lianfeng probed out and looked: "You want to buy Malatang?" ”

Xingshu shook his head: "You and Miss He are waiting for me in the car, lock the car door, no matter who knocks on the window except me, you don't open the door." ”

"Got it, I'm not a three-year-old." Tian Lianfeng replied and glanced at He Chenxue, who was unresponsive.

"If you were a three-year-old, I wouldn't have left you in the car." Torture grabbed his backpack and checked the items inside, along with some cash, before heading towards the shop.

The shop is very small, and the total is only about 20 square meters, and no one comes to eat Malatang at this time, so there are no customers in the house at all, and the young man in his early twenties who is standing at the door and keeps rubbing his eyes only said mechanically when he walked in: "Welcome, please inside!" ”

Torture pushed the door in, and at a glance looked at the window of the back kitchen, only to see a man standing there wearing a white chef's uniform with a cigarette in his hand, but because the window was too low, he couldn't see above his head.

"Welcome, please go to the left to order food, order and come here to get on the scale." The man in the back kitchen said in a hoarse voice.

Xingshu went straight to the window of the back kitchen, opened the backpack, and took out a few bottles from it: "Five bottles of rattan pepper oil, it is a time-honored brand in Hongya, Sichuan, I first asked a friend to help me make five bottles, if you think it is okay, I asked him to make it again, and there are three bottles of wine, two bottles of Tuopai qujiu, produced in 1997, not very well preserved, all volatilized by a third, and a bottle of Shooting Hong Liu Langchun, your favorite, now I can't get it at all, I spent a lot of effort." ”

The man inside put the cigarette on the ashtray, leaned down, revealed his tanned face, and said with an incredible expression: "Who should I be, it turned out to be the criminal boss?" ”

The torture technique was also a little surprised, looked at the man and said, "Three thousand? How are you? Aren't you out of the house? ”

The man who was called Sanqian by the torture has a strange name called Hu Sanqian, he is the young owner of this shop, and his father Hu Dehe is the boss in the real sense, these two fathers and sons are from Sichuan, to be precise, the last generation of the Hu family in western Sichuan.

What is a coffin opener? In the past, when the large families had to open the coffins of their ancestors or relatives who had been buried for mysterious reasons, they would privately hire a kind of "gifted" person through special channels, and this kind of person was called the coffin opener.

There are many rules among the coffin openers, the most famous of which is the nine taboos of the coffin opener - one taboo does not know what to take when opening the coffin; Second, it is taboo not to enter the genealogy of the deceased; Three taboos: the sun, the moon, and the stars; 4. Taboo fornication, indiscriminate gambling, tobacco and alcohol; 5. Do not harm the living family of the deceased; Six taboos: no heavy money is charged for opening the coffin; The heirs of the Seven Taboo Masters are heirlooms; 8. Don't believe in God and don't worship God; Nine taboos: greedy for life, leaving the sun and abandoning the soul.

But the number of people who open the coffin has been scarce so far, and the reason why Hu Dehe and his son Hu Sanqian came to the Northeast from Sichuan is that many years ago, Hu Dehe was invited by a boss in Zhejiang to help open the coffin of his family's ancestral tomb and take out a piece of jade in his grandfather's coffin. However, after the coffin was opened, something strange happened, the whole coffin burned up the moment it was opened, and the coffin and the contents were directly burned to the ground.

Needless to say, the result of this incident is useless, no matter what the Hu father and son say, it has nothing to do with them, not to mention the loss of their family and property, and they were inexplicably hunted down by a group of people, Sichuan can't stay anymore, and finally tossed and turned, and finally settled in the Mudanjiang River.

At that time, the cash on the Hu father and son was spent, and they had to go to the antique city to sell some of their things, including an ancient compass, but at that time they wanted to find a pawnshop to make some money first, and then redeem it when they had money, but there was no pawnshop in the traditional sense in Mudanjiang at that time, after being instructed, the two came to Harbin, found the shop of the torture, and after taking out the things, the torture immediately guessed the identity of the two, after all, the story of the coffin opener, the torture heard the master Zheng Cangqiong say many times in the early years, and I love to listen to it very much, Because it is very suspenseful and exciting, he also admires people in this profession in his heart, and he always wants to find the person who opened the coffin when he goes to Sichuan.

The torture technique never expected that the person who opened the coffin that he had always wanted to see came to the door by himself, and what he wanted to be was the most precious compass. The compass, for the person who opens the coffin with a combination of an onmyoji and a feng shui master, is like the relationship between a soldier and a gun, how can it be used?

Knowing that they must have difficulties, it is definitely inconvenient to explain their identities, so he simply asks them how much money they want. Hu Dehe stretched out five fingers and said 50,000, and without saying a word, he took 80,000 yuan in cash to them, and he didn't write a pawn ticket, he didn't have an IOU, and of course he didn't leave the compass.

This act of torture made the Hu father and son understand that the owner of this pawnshop was not an ordinary person, and he already knew the identities of the two of them.

At that time, Hu Dehe only left one of their addresses in Mudanjiang, and told the torture art one sentence - the grace of dripping water should be reciprocated by the spring.

Since then, he has also become friends with the father and son, and has also learned a lot about Feng Shui from them, and learned a lot about the folk customs that he does not understand, so as to enrich himself.

Later, after the Hu father and son had the capital, they knew that they couldn't do their old job, because the coffin opener and the cargo chaser have the same surface identity, the chaser is the court, and the coffin opener is the carpenter, but what they are best at is making coffins.

In this era when cremation is required by law, who needs a coffin? It's not so much to let them make some tables, chairs and benches or something, so they have no choice but to do Malatang business, after all, this snack is very popular all over the country, not to mention that the two fathers and sons themselves are from Sichuan.

Of course, in addition to the Malatang business, they also privately sell some domestic goods, that is, some so-called yin and yang objects, some things that are considered to be used in feudal superstition, but these things they will only sell to insiders, not ordinary people.

Hu Sanqian took the bottle of Liulangchun liquor, and said for a long time: "My dad went." ”

"When? I only spoke to your dad on the phone half a month ago, and he was fine at that time! "I was very surprised, I didn't expect such a big change in half a month.

"Liver cancer is in the advanced stage, he didn't let me tell you." Hu Sanqian took out a list of confirmed cases from his pocket, "A week ago, he packed his things and said that he wanted to go back to his hometown in Sichuan and find a place to die, you know his temper, I can't persuade him, and his last wish is to let me stay here well, don't go back, you know, that boss is a joint calculation of our father and son, someone is manipulating us, I also want to find out who it is, but unfortunately there is no clue, my father said forget it, I can avoid it." ”

Xingshu looked at the list of confirmed cases and said, "It's okay, you can avoid it." ”

When Hu Dehe told what they had experienced, the first reaction of the torture technique was that the father and son had been calculated, and most of them were enemies. Normal people can think of it, where is there a coffin that catches fire for no reason? And how is it possible to burn the coffin and everything in it to ashes in such a short period of time, without the premise of some kind of chemical substance? There are a lot of jade objects in the funerary goods, is the jade so easy to be burned?

Hu Sanqian opened the liquor, poured a glass, and put it in front of the portrait of his father on the side of the kitchen: "Actually, the old man is dead now, I don't know, but he said that he wants to fulfill many of his wishes, the first wish is to take a plane alone, just take an economy class, before he went out, he felt that it was already very high-end to be able to sit on the soft sleeper on the train." ”

He didn't know what to say, but he felt that it was not too appropriate to continue to talk about Hu Dehe, so he had to say, "Your business in the store is good, right?" Your skills in making Malatang are better than your father's, and your life will definitely get better and better in the future. ”

Hu Sanqian smoked a cigarette and looked at the rest of the liquor: "The business is good, no matter how much money you make, there is no way to buy the past back, my father is the one who opens the coffin, so is my grandfather, so is my grandfather's father, I don't know how many generations of ancestors started, it was to be the coffin opener, but suddenly one day I couldn't do it, let me sell Malatang, fuck Malatang!" Do you know how long it took me to bring myself to this reality? Although I was in school like other children since I was a child, but after I came home, I followed my father to learn crafts, carpenters' crafts, coffins, feng shui, and compasses, and when other children were reading comics and novels, I was reading "I Ching", "Five Stars", "Tianguanshu", from Tai Chi to the Sixty-four Hexagrams, from physiognomy to medicine, and from medicine to foreign arts, until now, I am completely different from others, they don't understand what I say, what they say, I'm not interested, do you see the child outside the door? That's what I picked up in the talent market, and no one wanted him because he couldn't speak, he barely spoke, and I taught him for a long time before I taught him the phrase 'welcome, please'. ”

Xingshu also looked at the wine bottle, standing there and listening to Hu Sanqian quietly, he knew that Hu Sanqian hadn't spoken to anyone for a week, and now that he was here, it was Hu Sanqian's chance to vent, he had to give the other party this opportunity, otherwise Hu Sanqian would go crazy.

Hu Sanqian lit two more cigarettes and put one of them in front of the portrait: "When I brought him back, I didn't think I was doing a good deed, I felt that he was helping me, he didn't speak, I didn't speak, the two of them didn't even have a chance to look at each other for a day, this is good, I won't bother him, he won't bother me, but I always think, when will I end this kind of life?" ”

Xingshu raised his eyes and looked at Hu Sanqian and said, "It's safe and steady, it's good like this." ”

"Yes, it's good, my dad used to say that he wanted to live such a life, but after being forced to live, he found that he was not adaptable, the son of the dragon and the phoenix and the mouse will make holes, and the person who opened the coffin should do the thing of the person who opened the coffin, but the times are different, who still invites us now, decades ago or even hundreds of years ago, the big family invited us to go once, that is to spend a lot of money. Soon there will be no coffins, and without coffins, what coffins will we open? So, sooner or later, the person who opened the coffin will be eliminated by the times, this is a fact, but I just want to know, why did that boss calculate our father and son? If I don't understand this, I won't be able to turn a blind eye. Hu Sanqian snuffed out his cigarette, "I'm sorry, I complained so much, I haven't thanked you for what you brought, you are the benefactor of our Hu family, I will always remember." ”

Xingshu took out the money from his bag again: "This money is my silk gold, don't refuse, accept it, part of it is my money to buy goods, if there is not enough, I will make it up to you next time." ”

Hu Sanqian took the paper bag: "What do you mean by not enough, there are too many, you do this every time, you want my Hu family to owe you forever, right?" ”

After speaking, Hu Sanqian smiled, and the torture technique also smiled, and then the torture technique said: "I'm going to Xiaobeihu Forest Farm once, this time the matter may be very tricky, I can't tell you in detail now, in short, you give me a little thing to avoid evil and avoid drugs, and you remember to turn on the phone at any time, don't cut off the power, I'm worried that there may be something to ask you, but I see that I'm lucky, and if I'm lucky, the phone may have a signal." ”

Hu Sanqian nodded vigorously: "You wait, I'll go get something for you." ”

Hu Sanqian took the empty backpack of the torture technique, turned around and went upstairs from the back kitchen, and went to his bedroom to get something.

Torture stood there, poured a glass of wine and placed it in front of Hu Dehe's statue, and bowed again.

Soon, Hu Sanqian came down, handed the backpack to the torture technique, scratched his head and said: "My phone has been on, rest assured, there is something to do, of course I am happy, I am happier than you, if you have the opportunity in the future, take me with you when you go out, I don't want money, I just want something to do." ”

"Okay, I'll definitely look for you if I have the chance." Torture laughed, "It's time for me to go, keep in touch." ”

"Stay in touch, it's not far away." Hu Sanqian said lightly, and after the torture technique walked out of the door, he lit another cigarette, then sat down, turned his head and looked at the portrait of his father blankly.

After walking out of the Malatang shop, Xingshu stood there and looked at the young man who could only say that sentence, and suddenly felt that Hu Sanqian was a little pitiful, but this pity was not because of his current state, but because they were abandoned by the times, and the wheels of history were directly rolled over the bodies of the two fathers and sons mercilessly.

He is the same as a chaser of goods, although the chaser was not well known in the first place, but the line of worship has basically disappeared now, and the pawnshops in the traditional sense are gone, and now the so-called pawnshops are all microfinance companies, maybe in the future some people want to know what the coffin opener and the chaser are and what they will do, only in some books can be seen.

After Xingshu returned to the car, he didn't say anything to the two of them, and drove straight to the agreed position and waited for Yan Gang.

Yan Gang also came in a taxi a few minutes later, but changed into a camouflage uniform, ordinary people wore camouflage uniforms like workers waiting for work on the street, and Yan Gang looked like a soldier in that dress.

Yan Gang, who was carrying a mountaineering bag, stuffed the bag into the back and put it away, then came to the driver's seat, released the handbrake and started the car at the same time, and said: "We were followed, an old Jetta, the person who followed it has experience, I also found it by accident, and this kid is fast and bold." ”

"What do you mean?" Xingshu looked at the position behind the car from the right rearview mirror, but did not see the Jetta sedan that Yan Gang said.

Yan Gang drove to the front: "He has at least three sets of license plates, every time I stop somewhere to do something, he will immediately change the license plate, which shows that he is quick and bold because, if he is stopped by the traffic police, things will be troublesome, and this person is also very familiar with the streets of Mudanjiang, not the kind of guy who drives by GPS, very tricky, I didn't follow now, it is estimated that it is a change of car, we have to be careful." ”

Tian Lianfeng turned around and looked at the back of the car from the gap in the bulging luggage behind: "Who is it?" Isn't that the guy who set up the game? ”

"I don't know." Yan Gang shook his head, and kept looking behind him from the rearview mirror, "I didn't even see his appearance clearly, but I just roughly judged that he was a young man. ”

Xingshu looked at He Chenxue behind him and said, "Miss He, what do you think?" ”

"Leave him alone, we'll go ours." He Chenxue said lightly, "Hurry up and go, originally it was only about a hundred kilometers from Ning'an to Xiaobeihu Forest Farm, but we have to go to the other end of the forest farm, and when the time comes, we need to abandon the car and walk, that is, follow the old road taken by Shen Dongjun and those people back then, so that we can find more clues." ”

Yan Gang nodded: "Hiking in the wilderness, Boss Xing and I must be fine, I don't know how the two of you are." The coldest time in the forest at night is about minus 30 degrees Celsius, and it can freeze people in less than a minute, you have to think clearly. ”

He Chenxue didn't speak, of course she had nothing to say, Tian Lianfeng was a little impatient at this time and said, "'Hades', what do you mean?" My dad is lost, and I'll have to find it even if I die! ”

"That's fine, that's what you're waiting for." Yan Gang sped up slightly and drove towards the old national highway, and a few hundred meters behind their car, a modern sedan appeared swayingly, and it was Bai Zhongzheng who had changed cars sitting in the car and looking straight ahead.

After Bai Zhongzheng followed the car of Xingshu and others on the national highway, he dialed the phone: "They take the national highway, I don't know where to go, I can only follow it all the time, but if I need to change the car again, I can't do anything, if I steal the car and follow it, once the owner calls the police, things will be even more difficult to do." ”

Guo Hongkui on the other end of the phone thought for a while and said: "You don't have to follow too closely, even if it's exposed, it doesn't matter, you just say that you are a hiker and adventurer, and you are sure that you are not following them, and they have nothing to do with you." ”

"Yes, I see." Bai Zhongzheng hung up the phone, sped up slightly, followed another car, and drove in the direction of Xingshu and the others.

Just when Xingshu and the others drove past Ning'an and headed towards the direction of Xiaobeihu Forest Farm, there was suddenly heavy snow in the sky, and the heavy snow quickly turned into a blizzard, and each snowflake was the size of a goose feather, which was no exaggeration, but Yan Gang did not stop and wait, but continued to follow He Chenxue's instructions, because if he stopped, then he would be trapped directly on the current trail, because here, it is impossible for someone to clear the snow for you.