When the group stood still, the old man standing by the altar turned to face us, holding a piece of paper in his hand, and began to read aloud in his mouth:

"The children and grandchildren are here, today is the day of the death of the old lady of the Ren family's army, filial son Ren Zhiguo, Ren Zhibing, filial daughter Ren Fuxiang, Ren Minxia, filial son-in-law Wang Zijian, Zhang Youping, filial grandson Ren Xuanning, Ren Ruoyi, grandson Wang Zixuan, Zhang Xiaoguang, nephew Ren Sheng and all relatives and friends are present for the old lady Ren to spend his life!"

The old man read loudly and with great strength and rhythm in Mandarin with a Liucheng accent, which is somewhat like the storyteller on TV when he speaks, with a bit of a sense of play, and a passage is read much slower than spoken.

After finishing speaking, the old man shook the bell again, put down the paper in his hand, picked up a few pieces of paper, lit them and put them in the brazier, and said: "Filial son, filial daughter, filial son-in-law, kneel!" ”

Hearing this, the uncle in front of them knelt down together, and when they knelt down, the old man continued: "Filial grandson, grandson, and nephew kneel together, and others mourn in silence!" ”

I saw that the cousin Xuanning on the side had already knelt down, and I knelt down as such, and when we knelt down, the old people sitting on the side began to play mournful music.

The sound of gongs, drums, and suona sounded, and the old man next to the altar picked up the microphone and began to read it in pieces, the sound of the musical instrument on the side was a little loud, and the old man read it quickly, and it was difficult for me to hear what he was reading, but I could only roughly hear the more concise passage inside: save all suffering, overcome all misfortunes, and eliminate all sins.

Later, I checked the information about this, and it turned out that the old man was reciting the Taishang Sutra of Salvation at that time, which is a kind of scripture used in Taoism to transcend the soul.

The old man kept reciting it, and it took about half an hour to recite it, which made me miserable when I knelt underneath, and what it was like to kneel on the ground for half an hour, I think only those who have experienced it know what it feels like.

There is only one mat in front of the mourning hall, and the uncles in the front row knelt on the mat, while the back row of us knelt directly on the ground, a real marble floor!

Because I had never participated in a funeral in the countryside before, I thought I only needed to kneel for a while to get up, but I didn't expect to kneel for so long, when I knelt for five minutes, my knee began to hurt, I realized the seriousness of the matter, when I glanced at Ren Ruoyi and them around me with my spare eyes, I instantly messed up.

I noticed that each of them had a thick cloth tied to their knees, and because the sackcloth was too long, it covered their knees when they stood, so I didn't pay attention.

It seems that they all know that this ceremony requires a long kneeling time so they have been prepared, and I am very depressed, why don't they remind me?

The next is more than 20 minutes of torment for me, as time goes by, when your knee gradually has pressure, you will feel that your knee is getting more and more painful, and not only knee pain, even the calves of both legs are starting to numb, and even my waist is starting to ache in the back, yes, at that time I know that my waist will be sore after kneeling for a long time!

However, before the old man said that he couldn't get up, even moving around was impolite to the deceased, Cousin Xuanning and Ren Ruoyi on the side showed sadness on their faces, even the two sons of the two aunts were motionless with their heads down, and some villagers in the back were looking at us, and I was embarrassed enough to be the only one in the family as a relative, I don't want to leave a handle here.

I endured the pain and listened to the old man's broken recitation, until the music stopped, and the sky outside was completely dark.

"Filial sons, filial daughters, and filial sons-in-law stand up, and filial grandsons, grandchildren, and nephews stand up together."

When the old man said this, I listened like a heavenly sound, everyone stood up, I couldn't stand up for the first time because of the numbness of my legs, and then the people behind me realized that something was wrong and pulled me up.

"Are you alright, young man?" The uncle who helped me up asked me.

This sound also made the others look at me, and Ren Ruoyi on the side saw that I was unstable, and took the initiative to come over and support me.

I stood still and smiled at them, "It's okay, it's just that my feet are a little numb after kneeling for a long time." ”

After standing up, I felt a lot more comfortable, the pressure on my knees and waist was gone, and the pain was reduced, and I wondered if I was kneeling in the wrong position, otherwise why they didn't have anything at all.

"Xuan Ning, why didn't you bring a cloth for Xiao Sheng?" Uncle Guo reproached his daughter.

"I'm too busy to forget, are you okay?" Cousin Xuanning looked at me with some guilt.

I was embarrassed to see them all looking at me, and I was still in the middle of the funeral ceremony, so it was not good for them to stop me.

I kept saying that I was fine, but when they saw that I really had no problem, they turned around, and the old man began to continue the rituals.

Ren Ruoyi on the side looked at me and whispered with some distress: "It's painful, right, I know this feeling, I didn't have a cushion on my knee when I knelt this morning, and I couldn't stand the pain in less than five minutes." ”

Seeing that Ren Ruoyi had an experience, I didn't deny what she said, so I heard her whisper again: "When the Dharma is done, I'll go get you the ointment, and it won't hurt if you apply some of it." ”

After speaking, Ren Ruoyi smiled at me, stood up straight, and listened carefully to the old man's words.

I was stunned, I didn't expect that the cousin I just met today actually cared so much about my cousin, who I had never met, I couldn't help but warm my heart, I should say that her heart is kind, I can see it from her eyes.

When Ren Ruoyi was talking to me, the old man in front was also talking.

"The soul is coming back, the Yellow Spring is chaotic, and the relatives are waiting here, so as to avoid the suffering of the five prisons!"

A bell rang, the old man picked up the portrait of the second grandfather and handed it to Uncle Guo, in addition to the statue and the tablet of the second grandfather, handed it to the second Aunt Fuxiang, next to an old man lit a handful of incense and distributed it to the rest of us in turn, when all the people in front of the altar got a piece of incense, the mage who was standing aside walked to the front of the altar.

"Relatives listen to the order, come with me to the five prisons to help the old lady Ren avoid the suffering of the five prisons!" When the first row was finished, the old man stopped us who were about to follow, and let the relatives and friends behind them follow them, and finally let us follow.

At that time, I didn't understand, according to the custom, it was distinguished by generation, and the head and tail needed to be relatives, so we were the younger generations in the back.

Because I was next to Ren Ruoyi, I followed her when I left, and followed the team all the way to the outside of the hall, and I saw the mage leading us to surround the shed outside.

This kind of ritual is called a sacrifice, and in layman's terms, it is to turn in a circle, go around the mourning hall from the outside, bypass the coffin, and let the deceased "see" their loved ones for the last time.

And when I read clearly what was written on the slip of paper on the stool outside, I realized what the so-called "Five Prisons" were.