To Raise A Soul Chapter 1

Description: Why do People Die?

At the coldest time in winter, Grandfather Yu pa.s.sed away with a smile.　　

Yu Zhen kneeled infront of the coffin and burned yellow paper[1]. The wind and snow outside were strong and heavy, causing a shabby wooden door of the Taoist temple to make creaking noises. The small light bulb overhead was not fixed by a lamp holder and a draft in the room made the lightbulb sway back and forth. The coffin and Yu Zhen's shadow stretched and shortened as the lightbulb swayed. In the dim light, the room was like a horror movie setting. 

“I asked to you to move in with me, but you didn't want to. Great, now you can't live with me anymore. What's good about this run down place? Nowadays, who would come to a Taoist temple for fortune telling? Who would come to a rundown Taoist temple built in the countryside?” 

Yu Zhen sniffled and he raised his ash covered hands to wipe his face. Ash mixed with the tears on his face, and he cut an extremely sorry figure. 

“I said I'd renovate it for you, but you didn't want it. I wanted to accompany you here, but you didn't allow it. Why are you so stubborn? “, he said with a choked voice. His originally straight back became hunched, and the hand stained with paper ashes wiped at his face again. 

The wind grew stronger, and the snow began to drift inside. 

He picked up a new bundle of yellow paper and opened it to continue the burning. His eyes swept over the safety beads hanging on his wrist. He remembered that time when he was still a child and his grandfather gave him a serious look. He felt his heart tighten. He clenched his fingers then threw the safety beads directly into the brazier. 

“You always say that I am very blessed. I was wronged in my previous life so this lifetime is blessed.[2] But now look at us, our days living as grandfather and grandson… You loved to write stories to coax me, why not coax me with a few more years. “

The black beads strung together with red string slammed into the brazier and made a hissing sound. The flame in the brazier jumped up, and pungent smell of burning plastic rose up. Yu Zhen receiving the surging flame's heat and the plastic stench, quickly straightened up. As the plastic stench became stronger and stronger, his sadness too became stronger. 

“You actually lied to me about this too! What ancestral treasure that can stabilize the soul? These are plastic beads!” 

To think he wanted to burn this to let his grandfather's after life be better!

The tears that had been gradually suppressed came bursting out again. He looked at the white cloth covering the coffin, took a deep breath and was prepared to cry again. Suddenly a shocking crash came from outside the temple and the light bulb hanging above shook with the crash. 

In his fright, the cries that had not yet escaped were swallowed back down. His eyes narrowed, his lips were pressed shut tightly and his shoulders were hunched for a few seconds. After returning to reality, he got up and ran outside the temple. 

The temple was located in quiet and remote place. Within a few miles of the temple, other than trees there were only farmlands and a small hill. Usually very few people visited. There was only a bare and narrow dirt road leading to the entrance. Both sides of the road was lined with trees, and it looked a little eerie at night. 

Because of the snow, the dirt road was covered in white. Thus the two deep car tracks in the middle of the dirt road were clear and worrying. 

Yu Zhen quickly ran closer, and saw the car tracks head straight into the trees by the roadside. At the end of the tracks there was a damaged red sports car which was pressed down by a broken tree. Frightened, Yu Zhen took in a breath of cold air, rushed over, and peered inside the car from the driver's side. He could faintly see two figures inside. Reaching out, he pull at the door but was unable to open it. He called to the people inside but received no response. His body shook uncontrollably as he fished out his phone and called the police and emergency services.

“I just wanted to give Grandfather a good final send off. You rich people, you have nothing better to do, but why do you come to this place - where birds don't even come to s.h.i.+t - and drive into trees?…h.e.l.lo… The place is AnYang Lotus village…"[3]  

When he ended the call, he lifted his sleeve and wiped away the snow that fell on his face. He tried to open the door again, but it didn't open. He saw that the people inside had not moved, as if they were already dead. His heart was palpitating and he wanted to cry again. 

What was this.

“Don't die, don't die you two.”

He looked in his surroundings, found a brick, and slammed it against the rear door's window with his eyes closed. Then he threw the brick away and reached inside the car. He opened the rear door and entered. 

Without the car's window blocking him, Yu Zhen finally saw the situation inside the car clearly. 

Sitting in the front seats of the car, there were a man and a woman. They were both young. The man in the driver's seat protected the woman in the pa.s.senger seat, s.h.i.+elding her under his body. They were covered with blood. The situation was unclear.

Yu Zhen first checked the man's condition. The skin was warm, but it seemed like there was no breathing. His fingers trembled, and he recited a chant for the dead[4] which his Grandad taught him when he was young. While chanting, he moved his hand towards the woman underneath.

A steady pulse beat against his fingers. The breath that he held was suddenly released. Leaning forwards, he didn't dare to move the two people much, fearing that he would cause further damage. He only looked for the two people's wounds carefully, thinking about stopping their bleeding first. 

“Hold on, the doctor will come soon, hold on.” 

The temperature of the man decreased little by little, but the pulse of the woman was always steady, Yu Zhen untied the white cloth tied on his waist and used it to clumsily wrap up the wound on the man's arm. Remembering his grandfather who would never again open his eyes, tears that had been withheld started falling. 

“Don't die…” Why do people die? 

Drip. Drip.

The warm tears dripped on the back of the man hand. As if it had been burned, and the man's slender fingers suddenly moved. 

Hmm? 

Yu Zhen froze, staring at the pale, bloodless hand in front of him, his lips shaking, and then squeezed tightly, the speed of his heartbeat suddenly increased. 

Yes. Yes, it was an illusion. Although he did not want the number of people walking the path to the next life to increase by one - he even helped wrap the man's wound - but the man was already turning cold. How…. 

“Don't ……” 

“Ah!” 

He yelled, dropped the white cloth and ran out of the car. He ran back to the Taoist temple and kneeled down in front of the coffin. He picked up a bundle of yellow paper and desperately stuffed it into the brazier. He kept talking, “Fake. It's all fake. It's a dream. It's a dream. How, how can a corpse suddenly move? Fake, it's all fake.”

 The snow slowly stopped. 

Outside the Taoist temple, the whistle of the police car and the ambulance sounded. Yu Zhen hid behind the door of the Taoist temple and peeked out from a crack in the door. Seeing two police officers walking towards him, his mind returned from a panicked to a more normal state. He took two deep breaths. Knowing he couldn't escape the situation, Yu Zhen opened the doors.

“Did you call the police?" The older policeman saw him appear from the doorway and stopped while asking the question. 

Yu Zhen quickly glanced at the scene of the accident surrounded by police cars and an ambulance. He nodded slightly and cautiously asked: “How are the two people in the car?” 

“They have been rescued from the car. The man's injury was a bit severe, but the woman was only slightly injured. There's no major problem.” the younger policeman replied. His eyes swept over the cloth[5] pinned to Yu Zhen's arm, and looked at the coffin in the mourning hall. He nudged the older policeman in the arm.

The older policeman also saw the situation inside the temple and he glanced Yu Zhen's face which still contained youthfulness. His eyes contained a little compa.s.sion and with a gentle voice he asked, ” Are you here alone? Where is your family?" 

Yu Zhen shook his head. “There is no one else, just me.” 

Then he took a look at the ambulance and asked for confirmation. “Is that man just, just injured heavily?” Instead of being cold? 

This question was a little strange. The two policemen looked at each other and guessed that he might have been scared. The older policeman calmly said, “His injury is indeed a bit heavy, but fortunately, the bleeding was staunched. Otherwise he might not have held on until the doctors arrived. Did you put on the bandage?” 

Yu Zhen nodded again, his fingers tightened and relaxed, and his heart palpitation reduced. 

It really seemed that he experienced an illusion earlier. The winter was cold, he may not have been able to feel the man's pulse properly. 

“Did you break the rear door's window? If you used anything, can you tell us in detail?” the police continued to ask while taking out a notebook. 

Yu Zhen calmed down and honestly answered the police question. At the request of the police, he found the brick he had used. 

At that moment, the tree pressing down on the sports car had been removed, the doors were opened, and the people inside were transferred to the ambulance. As Yu Zhen just pointed out the brick to the police, the ambulance started up, carrying the patients and leaving the dirt road. 

“The snow is slippery, and it's remote. I don't know if the man can make it to the hospital.”

The younger policeman sighed when he spoke. Yu Zhen listened to the policeman and he looked at the policeman with a tilted head. As he prepared to bid farewell to the police and returned to the Taoist temple, his vision suddenly turned black. A chill started at the soles of his feet and spread upwards. His body swayed and fell on the ground. 

“Hey! What happened?” 

“Young man, what happened to you. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” 

“Hurry! Come and help me move him!”

The chill invaded Yu Zhen's whole body, his head was extremely painful. His body was moved. With determination, Yu Zhen kept his eyes open and saw the police officer's lips open and close, but a strange, low-sounding male voice was heard by his ear. 

“Don't cry.” 

What crying? Who is talking? 

“Wait for me.” 

Wait for who? Who are you? 

Yu Zhen shook his head. His heart suddenly warmed up and his pain in his brain eased. His cold limbs slowly warmed up and his consciousness suddenly broke away from the fog caused by the pain. All his senses returned to reality and the face of the older policeman was in front of him. His warm voice could be heard. 

“Young man, what happened? Come, drink some hot water first.”

A thermos cup was stuffed into his hand. Yu Zhen opened his mouth but couldn't speak. He shook his head and returned the thermos to the old police officer. Then he headed inside the Taoist temple. 

An illusion. It's an illusion. It must be that he didn't rest well so he was getting illusions. 

In the ambulance, the nurse wiped off the blood on the patient's face and saw his lips twitching as if he was talking. She leaned over slightly. 

“Don't cry…” 

'Don't cry?' The nurse wondered. The body suddenly trembled abruptly, scaring her. She quickly reach out and pressed down the bed, raising her voice she said, “Slow down! Do you guys think the patient isn't injured enough?” 

"Sorry, sorry, the ground was covered with snow, and there was a pit that I didn't see.” The driver explained quickly. 

“Be quiet.”

The doctor who had been concentrating on the patient's wound suddenly frowned. The nurse quietened down, looked at the doctor, and glanced at the patient. His handsome facial features were revealed once the blood had been wiped away. Remembering the ruined sports car, the nurse sighed internally. 

These rich people are really…unbelievable.

Notes:

[1] Yellow paper: I think it's referring to paper money which is burned for the dead. In my branch of Buddhism, we burn paper money and sometimes paper versions of other objects (eg houses, cars, phones, etc) to the dead. It's thought that the dead will be able to receive the money/items and use it once the money/items have been burned. The other items are just extras, but you're almost guaranteed to see paper money being burned at certain types of Buddhist funerals. The paper money burning applies to Taoism too.

[2] Similar to how the concept of karma works. What happened in your previous life affects what happens in this life. If bad stuff happens to you, but you didn't deserve/weren't fated for the bad stuff, in your current life you would be repaid. Sort of. I'm not 100% sure of how this works either.

[3] 安阳镇莲花沟村.I'm pretty sure I butchered this translation.

     安阳  = An1Yang2, a place name. There's a place in China called AnYang.

    镇 = Small town (pro. zhen4)

    莲花 = Lotus (pro. lian2 hua1)

    沟 = ditch/gutter/groove/gully/ravine (pro. gou1)

  村 = village (pro. chun1)

安阳镇莲花沟村.= AnYang Zhen Lian Hua village? AnYang town Lian Hua village???? I'm not sure how this place name translates since it has both 'town' and 'village' in the name. For now, An Yang Lotus village is what I'm going with since it sounds better than the other variations I came up with.

For anyone unsure of why there are numbers behind each syllable, it show which of the four tones should be used to p.r.o.nounce each word.

[4] Chant for the dead: Another Buddhist/taoist thing. There are different chants for different uses, including one for helping the recently deceased to move on to a better place.

[5] Part of a funeral attire. The white cloth tied around Yu Zhen's waist that was used as a bandage was supposed to be part of the funeral wear too. I'm not sure how to translate the specific pieces of clothing, so I just left them as 'white cloth' since they are generally white, and also pieces of cloth ? .