As My Sister-in-Law Was Buried, Having Died in Childbirth with Her Baby, a Blind Taoist Blocked the Coffin: There Are Three People Inside

In the winter of 1984, my eldest sister-in-law died in childbirth. The baby didn't make it either. Two lives lost in one coffin. The coffin had been nailed shut the night before, and my eldest brother spent the night beside it, weeping. As the funeral procession reached the old locust tree at the village entrance, a blind Taoist priest suddenly stepped into the road and refused to let us pass. He slammed his cane on the ground, his voice shrill and trembling. "Stop! There are three people in that coffin!" Everyone in the funeral procession froze. 01 Snow pellets struck my face, stinging like needles. The procession stopped beneath the bare old locust tree at the village entrance. The wind cut like a knife, whipping the white mourning cloth into a frenzy, like it was summoning the dead