Chapter 380 In the Middle of the Night, Sleepiness Strikes
Although the nine newcomers were afraid and somewhat reluctant, they still accepted the assignment.
Of course, they knew that keeping vigil might trigger an incident.
After all, even if they had never eaten pork, they had seen pigs run. Who hasn't seen a few horror movies or novels?
But no matter how scared they were, the decision was made by four seniors.
As newcomers, they had no courage to resist.
At night.
There was only a faint candlelight in the mourning hall.
In the center was a photo of the deceased. It was said that the old man was 79 years old when he passed away. He was healthy and had no disasters. It was considered a happy funeral.
However, this family did not hold a happy funeral, but just an ordinary funeral.
There were white wreaths on both sides, and white silk around. A coffin stopped in the center. At the head of the coffin was a sacrificial basin with two pairs of candles and many incense sticks.
The countryside is very particular about this kind of thing. They believe that after a person dies, the soul walks on the road to the underworld, and needs incense and candles to guide the way and illuminate the way ahead.
Therefore, these incense and candles are indispensable and cannot be extinguished. They must be kept burning. Before they are burned out, new incense and candles must be added.
The candles must not be extinguished until the coffin is buried.
Therefore, there needs to be a night watchman in the mourning hall to keep watching the candles and add new ones from time to time.
Many people believe that the candles cannot be extinguished or cut off, otherwise the soul will be lost on the road to the underworld and cannot find the way to reincarnate.
Next to the coffin, there is also a brazier.
This is used to burn paper money in order to get through the ghosts and jailers in the underground, so that the ghosts will not entangle and the jailers can take good care of the deceased.
It is also to make the deceased live better in the underground.
Although there are many ways, most of them are actually just the thoughts and wishes of the living.
It is also to allow the living to get some comfort after losing their loved ones, and then it slowly evolved into this.
However, the three newcomers sat on the small benches in the mourning hall trembling with fear. They only felt fear, and there was no comfort at all.
On the contrary, the dark mourning hall, the flickering candlelight, the dim firelight, and the coffin quietly parked on the side all looked like scenes in ghost movies.
They felt a gust of wind blowing across their necks, as if something had touched them. They shrank their necks and looked back tremblingly.
They naturally saw nothing, but they were still scared by their own imagination.
"Why do we only have to guard the spirits, but the group of seniors don't have to do anything? This is unfair?"
"Hush, just know it, don't say it."
"The errands that the seniors dare not do, but let us newcomers who have never experienced a copy do it, isn't this just watching us die?"
They sat on the small benches, talking in low voices, and their tone was full of dissatisfaction with the actions of those seniors.
"What can we do? They are seniors, we..."
"Hush... Be quiet, you are going to die if you make a noise in the mourning hall."
The mourning hall was quiet.
The newcomers gathered together and shut their mouths tightly. Only their heavy breathing and the occasional crackling of the candles could be heard.
"It's okay, we will keep watch for another three hours, and then it will be the next group's turn."
"It's okay for us to be the first group, but we will get sleepier as the night goes on."
"The candles are almost burned out, let's change them quickly."
The three newcomers quickly changed the candles and incense.
Then they threw some paper money into the brazier from time to time and burned it.
This lasted for three hours.
They didn't dare to be distracted, nor did they dare to try the consequences of burning the incense and candles.
Fortunately, they didn't get sleepy in the first half of the night.
They cheered up and kept watch for four hours.
It was the next group's turn to change.
Outside, a few hundred meters away from the mourning hall, the family in the town was still setting up a feast.
Many people who were related to him in the town went to his house to help with things.
Now the ingredients are being prepared. Many dishes need to be cleaned now so that they can be put into the pan and stir-fried as soon as the chef arrives tomorrow.
Of course, the excitement over there has nothing to do with the mourning hall.
Li Yue was assigned to the second group.
It is ten o'clock now.
Li Yue is guarding the fire basin, and the other two men are guarding the sacrificial basin.
"Ha~" One of the men yawned.
After entering the dungeon, although they were assigned to keep watch at night, they also asked the newcomers to catch up on sleep and rest. The town provided several unoccupied houses for them to rest.
However, the newcomers lay on the moldy couch, smelling the stench in the air, and closed their eyes for several hours without falling asleep.
As long as they thought that they might be in a supernatural dungeon and there would be ghosts here, they always felt that there was a pair of eyes staring at them in the dark.
The tense nerves could not relax, so naturally they could not fall asleep.
The work of keeping watch was boring and tedious.
They kept staring at the burning candlelight, and soon felt a wave of sleepiness coming.
They shook their heads and yawned again.
"What time is it now?"
"Is it almost twelve?"
"Hold on for two more hours before the shift is over."
Li Yue glanced at the sacrificial basin, where the candles and cigarettes were burning, and the candle was only halfway burned, so she focused on the brazier and threw a piece of yellow paper money into it.
"This photo is really creepy."
The two sat next to the sacrificial basin, very close to the photo placed in front of the coffin. Occasionally, when they looked up and saw the black and white photo, they felt a chill on their backs.
"Look carefully, he seems to be staring at us."
"No way, don't scare me."
The man patted the other man, who looked at the photo carefully for a few times and found nothing unusual.
"Ha~" The other man yawned again, "I guess I'm too sleepy, I must have seen it wrong, it's strange, I usually stay up until three or four o'clock and I won't be so sleepy, why am I sleepy so quickly today."
"Don't yawn, this thing is contagious, it makes me want to yawn too, ha~"
The man couldn't help yawning.
Li Yue was very quiet, but she was thinking all the time.
At the same time, she was also observing the other two newcomers.
The two newcomers were both men, one was an ordinary white-collar worker, and the other was a student who had just graduated not long ago.
The one behind was the unlucky guy who was hit by a car while crossing the road. He said that the traffic light was green when he crossed the road, and the brakes of the truck failed, so it didn't have time to stop and hit him.
Today's students often stay up late, sometimes even all night.
They are not very old, and their energy is still very strong.
The white-collar worker is a middle-aged man who has been working for more than ten years. His energy is not as good as before, so it is normal for him to feel sleepy.
But the college student who just graduated also started to feel sleepy, which is not normal.