The Seventh Pile

Chen Geng guards the Yizhuang in the village. The master died three years ago, leaving him half a piece of peach wood, a booklet, and a rule: Counting shadows in white matters. Don't pay attention to the extra shadows facing east. Those facing the coffin, mark them. On the day he carried the coffin for the Wang family, he counted the seventh shadow and dug out a piece of yellow mounting paper from the soil in front of the coffin. There are three names on the roster, the first two are barbers. The third one is Chen Geng. The roster calls this: betting on the foot. The living stand with the dead all night, and their names are recorded in the coffin. If they go to the horizon, they can find the coffin. The hand that filled in his name was held in the dead man's hand for three years. On the ninth day of September, three steps in front of the grave, stood an acquaintance wearing a shroud, with his shoulders covered with soil. People who have died teach him how to name him, and when accounts are settled, he is asked to fill in his name. There are two accounts in the underworld: one records what the living owe the dead, and one records what the dead owe the living. The previous book, the seventh pile, was sold. The first page of the last book said "Change Face", the days were empty, and the first name was Hu Guanglai. Next to the name, there is a crescent mark pinched by fingernails. Green.