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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 17 Ghost Marriage
Everyone must be wondering what exactly is wrong with Wang Qingshan's daughter. In the first few days, she kept having strange dreams every night, dreaming that she was wearing a bright red Tang suit wedding dress and vibrant embroidered shoes, as if she was about to get married.
In her dreams, she always saw Duanyang coming to her home, bringing baskets of silk and satin, new clothes, a dressing table, embroidered shoes, red scissors, and other traditional wedding gifts. She wanted to call out to him, but he ignored her, leaving with the gifts while telling her that he would come to marry her on the wedding day.
Perhaps some might say that Wang Qingshan's daughter is about to marry Duanyang, so it’s normal for her to dream about getting married.
Initially, when Wang Qingshan heard his daughter say this, he thought it was quite normal too. However, his daughter then told him that every time she woke up from these dreams, there were indeed more of these items in her room; now there were several large baskets of wedding gifts.
Wang Qingshan couldn't believe it, so he went to his daughter's room to take a look. He was immediately terrified because he saw that there were indeed baskets of wedding gifts in his daughter's room—silk and satin, new clothes, a dressing table, embroidered shoes, red scissors, marriage certificates, brocade pillows, longevity cloths, and everything else. If it were just mysterious items appearing out of nowhere, it would only be strange; what truly frightened Wang Qingshan was that all these gifts were made of paper!
Yes, the baskets of silk and satin, new clothes, a dressing table, embroidered shoes, red scissors, marriage certificates, brocade pillows, and longevity cloths in Wang Qingshan's daughter's room were all made of paper—those kinds of paper items sold in shops for burning for the deceased.
This scared Wang Qingshan greatly. Just imagine dreaming every night about someone bringing baskets of wedding gifts and then waking up to find those very gifts from the dream actually appearing in reality—and they are made of paper! How could Wang Qingshan not be terrified?
However, this was not the end of it. Wang Qingshan discovered that his daughter genuinely could not tell that these wedding gifts were made of paper. When Wang Qingshan tried to burn these paper items away, his daughter adamantly refused, saying it would be a shame to burn such beautiful clothes and satin. She insisted that perhaps these were the wedding gifts sent by Duanyang.
At this point, Wang Qingshan was almost in tears; he knew deep down that his daughter had encountered something sinister.
Not long after that, even more concerning events unfolded. Ever since his daughter started having these dreams for several nights in a row, she seemed like a different person—becoming increasingly silent and withdrawn each day. Her gaze grew more vacant and lifeless; she spent her days listless and hardly spoke at all. Suddenly she resembled someone suffering from severe depression.
Logically speaking, since Wang Qingshan had agreed to their marriage arrangement, the couple should have been excited and happy. So why did things suddenly turn out this way?
Wang Qingshan worried that his daughter was ill and took her to the hospital for various tests; however, nothing was found. Meanwhile, Wang Qingshan's wife held their daughter and cried.
With no other options left, Wang Qingshan hurriedly sought out several masters for help. However, after performing several rituals with no effect at all, his daughter's condition continued to decline daily; it became worse until she started muttering to herself.
Seeing his beloved daughter suddenly become like this drove Wang Qingshan nearly insane; yet the hospital had no cure for her condition. Despite having a fortune of millions at his disposal, he felt utterly powerless.
A few days ago, Wang Qingshan's relatives from the countryside heard about his daughter's situation and suggested that he seek help from a master who runs a paper shop in Yaoshan Village, known for his impressive skills and good reputation. They believed that he might be able to help.
Thus, this led to Wang Qingshan coming to me today.
As he spoke, Wang Qingshan was in tears, looking quite pitiful.
Seeing him like this made me feel sad as well. A father, worried about his child, reduced to such a state; anyone would feel for him.
I quickly poured him a glass of water and offered some comforting words, telling him not to be too upset.
Wang Qingshan took the water and suddenly knelt before me, clutching my legs and pleading, "Master, please save my daughter! She is still young; she can't come to harm! My wife and I are counting on her to support us in our old age. Master, have mercy and show some kindness..."
Seeing this shocked me, and I hurriedly helped him up. At his age, how could I accept his kneeling? Moreover, he was kneeling for his daughter; I couldn't bear that. So I told him not to worry. Since he had come to me for help, I wouldn't stand by idly. Rest assured, I would take on this matter.
After that, I quickly gathered some items and set off with Wang Qingshan towards the county town...
On the way, Wang Qingshan asked me if I knew what kind of trouble his daughter was in. I told him that his daughter had most likely entered into a Yin Marriage.
Yin Marriage, also known as Ghost Marriage or Matchmaking with the deceased, is a folk custom. It occurs when a couple who were engaged dies before their wedding or when children die before they can marry. Out of love and care, parents arrange for them to be married posthumously. Ghost Marriage can involve either two deceased individuals marrying or a deceased person marrying a living one. In the past, it was believed that a lonely tomb in an ancestral grave could affect the prosperity of descendants negatively; thus, a Ghost Marriage would be arranged for the deceased. In essence, it is finding a partner for the dead. Some young couples die before their wedding day due to unforeseen circumstances. Elders believe that if they do not marry them posthumously, their spirits will cause disturbances in the household. Therefore, a Yin Marriage ceremony must be held so that they can be buried together as husband and wife and avoid lonely tombs in both families' graves.
Ghost Marriages are arranged through matchmakers; both parties must pass through a portal post and obtain a Dragon and Phoenix Marriage Certificate after their marriage. Even in late Qing Dynasty and early Republic-era Beijing, remnants of Yin Marriage customs existed. Some families would hold "joyous events" for the marriage of the deceased. This was referred to as Bone Marriage. In earlier times, such wedding ceremonies were often held at night; sometimes people would be awakened by drums and music in the streets during their sleep—this was for Bone Marriage. A paper palanquin would be carried with single drums and horns leading the way. Others used traditional eight-bearer bridal sedan chairs with gold lanterns as attendants but only brought along a photograph of the bride. After the 1930s, there were imitations of "civilized weddings," where Western bands led the procession while four people carried a shadow pavilion used for funerals with the bride's photo inside.
Yin Marriages between living people and the deceased can be divided into two types: Yin Yang marriages and soul-collecting marriages. A Yin Yang marriage refers to one person being in the Yin Realm while another is in the Underworld; they merely have the title of husband and wife but cannot truly be together. It is said that those who enter into such marriages may still have visits from their deceased partners at night. The other type is soul-collecting marriage—when a deceased person has chosen a living partner; once the living person agrees to this marriage, on the wedding day, the deceased will come to take their soul away to marry them in the Underworld.
From what Wang Qingshan described, I had already come to a conclusion: his daughter must have been targeted by a spirit and entered into a soul-collecting Yin Marriage.
Wang Qingshan was greatly frightened and said that his daughter was only engaged to Duan Yang; could it be that Duan Yang is dead?
I replied that I couldn't say for sure whether he was dead before this moment, but since your daughter started having strange dreams frequently, he must have already passed away.
Wang Qingshan was anxious and angry, asking me what to do. I suggested we first go to his house to check on his Daughter's condition.
When we arrived at Wang Qingshan's home, he led me into his Daughter's room. Before even seeing her, I noticed the room was filled with red baskets, all containing paper-made silks and satins, new clothes, a dressing table, Embroidered Shoes, red scissors, marriage certificates, brocade boxes, longevity cloths, and more. There were also some Big Red Flower paper food boxes and brocade boxes cluttering the bookshelves and tables, making the entire room look overwhelmingly red and strange.
Looking at his Daughter, she was sitting dazed on the edge of the bed, holding a pair of large red paper Embroidered Shoes as if they were precious treasures. Her eyes were vacant, and she was mumbling incomprehensible words to herself.
Seeing his Daughter in this state, Wang Qingshan sighed helplessly and turned to leave the room, clearly unable to accept that his Daughter had suddenly become like this.
It was evident that Wang Qingshan's Daughter was in a serious situation; it was clear she had been involved in a Ghost Marriage. Witnessing this scene made me sigh; this was indeed a difficult problem to solve!
It is important to know that Ghost Marriage is not against Underworld laws. In other words, since both parties have entered into a marriage contract, it is considered legitimate. Even if the Underworld or Yin Chai were aware of it, they would not interfere. As a Yin Yang Master, it would be impossible for me to forcibly eliminate a ghost over this matter. After all, ghosts can be good or evil; for those who make a living from Yin Yang practices, killing ghosts without reason is akin to taking human lives. The only way to resolve this issue is to convince the other party to annul the Ghost Marriage!
Fortunately, according to Wang Qingshan, they were unaware that Duan Yang had entered into a Yin Marriage with them. This means there is still hope since there is a misunderstanding involved. In other words, there is reason to discuss this matter.
The so-called reason is that ghosts are very afraid of reason; reason represents righteousness and pure yang energy. As long as they are not Evil Spirits, generally speaking, troubles can be resolved through reasoning. This is why the field of Yin Yang is collectively referred to as "Dao." Various folk rituals for sending souls or guiding them are essentially attempts to persuade ghosts to leave or resolve their Resentment so they can reincarnate peacefully.
Having understood this, I left the room where Wang Qingshan was comforting his tearful wife. When they saw me come out, they hurried over and asked what should be done.
I said that if we want to resolve this issue, we must find Duan Yang. Since you have been to Duan Yang's house before, let's go there now in hopes of finding him!
Wang Qingshan nodded and thanked me before instructing his wife to prepare dinner. He then took me out the door and drove towards Duan Yang's house...
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