Jiang Yongnian and the goatee-bearded man walked in front of the coffin and whispered something to each other quietly.
After a while, Master Sun saw Jiang Yongnian suddenly come over, take off his black suit jacket, leave only the similarly colored shirt underneath, and then stand next to the large carrying pole.
Seeing his stance, Boss Zhao exclaimed in surprise, "Is President Jiang planning to lift the coffin himself?"
Master Sun shook his head blankly, "I don’t know..."
He had never heard of such a custom.
In the past, the lifting of the spirit was always done by relatives or servants of the family, but not by the descendants.
Descendants were supposed to break tiles and hold up the ancestral tablet, not capable of taking part in the lifting of the spirit.
As time passed, there came to be teams specialized in handling funerary matters, and a portion of those people were specifically tasked with lifting spirits.
However, the Jiang family’s affair this time was too strange.
Boss Zhao muttered, "There must be some sort of reasoning, I guess?"
Master Sun still shook his head, yet he felt some doubts in his heart.
He figured it wasn’t that simple.
It wasn’t strictly about adhering to tradition.
While Master Sun and Boss Zhao were discussing, the master of ceremonies next to them started chanting the ritual words again.
"Lifting the spirit—"
Jiang Yongnian and those strong men tasked with the lifting stood under the large poles, with wooden sticks as thick as an adult’s arm on their shoulders, attempting to lift the coffin once more.
Whether it was because Jiang Yongnian, the son, had joined in or not, this time everyone exerted all their strength, their faces turning red, and with a fierce effort, the coffin actually moved!
"It moved, it moved!"
Boss Zhao quickly nudged Master Sun’s arm in astonishment, "What’s the meaning of this? Can the spirit really be lifted?"
Master Sun opened his mouth but didn’t get a chance to speak.
A sudden loud snap, a crack, abruptly interrupted what Master Sun was about to say.
Everyone looked up and saw that the large pole near Jiang Yongnian had suddenly broken.
The very next second, there was a loud bang, and the Golden Thread Sandalwood coffin forcefully smashed down.
The other strong men had not reacted yet, instinctively letting go and dodging.
Immediately after, the coffin hit the ground.
All the force concentrated on Jiang Yongnian in an instant.
Jiang Yongnian’s face turned red, and with a bang, he was pressed under the coffin.
Everyone was terrified by this sight.
At that moment, the coffin lid, which had been properly sealed long ago, suddenly fell off, and the corpse of the Jiang family patriarch rolled out from inside, landing directly on Jiang Yongnian.
Jiang Yongnian suddenly raised his head, letting out a piercing scream that nearly ruptured everyone’s eardrums.
"The old man must really be restless in death!"
"Why are you still talking nonsense? Hurry up and help!"
People around came to their senses and began rushing over to rescue Jiang Yongnian from beneath.
"Don’t move anything!"
Just then, the same master who had been speaking to Jiang Yongnian walked out with a grave expression.
"The patriarch does not wish to leave; whoever touches him will be contaminated with Yin Energy. It’s best not to get close."
With those words spoken, who would dare to approach? Everyone just stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do.
"What on earth is going on, how did it turn out ?"
An old woman emerged from the crowd, trembling and leaning on a cane, her face full of nervousness and tear stains.
Master Sun immediately recognized her as Jiang Yongnian’s mother, meaning the wife of the late patriarch, He Xiumei.
He Xiumei staggered quickly over, and upon seeing Jiang Yongnian being pressed by the coffin and the corpse, almost couldn’t catch her breath.
Her body sharply wobbled before she managed to steady herself.
She quickly turned her head to look at the goatee-bearded man, seizing his arm, "Master Wu, what, what’s going on here?"