Chapter 24 Searching the whole city
Wujun Archaeological Exploration Center.
Cai An is studying the city map, with books about Feng Shui beside him.
He is still very interested in Zhao Qi because Zhao Qi can hit the nail on the head and has a high level of knowledge about Feng Shui.
It was just the nonsense in the observation room of the State Secret Service that made Cai An a little confused as to what was going on with this person.
A sudden phone call broke the silence of the office.
A few seconds after the call was connected, Cai An's face became confused.
After hanging up the phone, Cai An made another call without hesitation.
"Director Lin, hurry up, Yishan, something big happened!
The other side.
In the Wu County Transportation Management Bureau, Director Wu Xuefeng also received the call.
Originally, he was preparing to go to a subordinate bureau for a meeting. After receiving the call, he immediately ordered someone to change his itinerary and hurried to Yishan.
......
While everyone was rushing to Yishan at the same time, agents from the State Secret Service were constantly looking for the things on the list in the city.
Most of the things can be found in antique shops or clothing stores, but it just takes more time.
Only for this troupe, the agents went to several troupes in succession, but failed to find anyone who met the requirements.
Because it is a secret operation, they cannot reveal their identities. Therefore, every time they go to a theater troupe and ask if there are any actors singing the last scene on the stage, they will be rudely kicked away. go out.
These people were regarded as troublemakers by the Liyuan class leader.
When watching a play, you don’t ask about three things: the stage, the actors, and the box.
One of them is not to ask about the stage.
When the agents come to your door like this and ask the actors here if they want to sing the finale, in the opera industry, this is a sign of hope.
Of course the agents don’t know that there is a saying among the people since ancient times: listen to the play but not the ending scene.
The actors for the last play have always been hired from other troupes. It has always been the custom of each troupe that their own actors should not stare at the last play.
Since ancient times, there has been no encore in the last scene, and most of the time, there is no one in the audience during the last scene.
The elders say that this last scene is used to send off the gods. The gods in it are actually worthy of being lonely ghosts.
The actor who goes on stage to sing the last scene is called Ying Shen. Each troupe has different rules for opening the play, so the form of the last scene is also different.
There were even actors who, during the last scene, wore masks and costumes, singing and cleaning the stage at the same time.
Some people will turn all the tables and chairs upside down, close the door and turn off the lights, light candles and sing at night.
This kind of troupe that specializes in taking over the final scenes is what Zhao Qi wants to find, but it is not easy.
The origin of this custom is now unknown. The initial theory of ghosts and gods later became just a practice for future generations to imitate their predecessors and continue the inheritance.
Therefore, this kind of troupe is not common, and when asked whether to sing the last play, it is also a bad luck for each troupe.
In addition, there are many rules in the troupe.
No one knows whether these rules are true or false, but every troupe follows them.
The reason why the agents were treated rudely was because they violated the taboo of asking questions when they came up.
After running for several hours, the agents had prepared everything else on the list, but they could not find a suitable troupe.
Finally, after asking Ye Zhiqiang for instructions, an agent showed the ID of the State Secret Service to a theater troupe leader, and then he had the opportunity to ask where to find the theater troupe who sang the last scene.
The class leader quickly pointed out a direction for them as if sending off the plague. Then after a few people left, he immediately picked up the broom and started sweeping the floor, as if he wanted to sweep away all the bad luck. .
If you don’t ask about the station, ask about the station and leave the customers.
If you don’t ask about Jiao’er, asking about Jiao’er will ruin the play.
Third, don’t ask about the box. Ask whether it is easy to seal the box but difficult to open it.
These rules are never known to outsiders, but are followed everywhere by insiders.
For these unknowing agents, on the way to the address, they were still wondering why all the troupes were so resistant to them. Gradually, the vehicle drove away from the city and arrived at a remote suburb. Looking at the remote environment around them, the agents were still wondering if they had made a mistake. How could there be a troupe standing in such a barren place?
A few kilometers back from here is Cemetery Hill. If a troupe opens here, isn’t it just waiting to close down?
Finally, following the navigation, the vehicle stopped at a very old-looking bungalow outside a courtyard.
This courtyard was obviously rebuilt in a later period and is not common in Wujun.
The ajar door was pushed open by the agents from the outside, and what came into view was a stage full of ashes. The stage was facing due west.
Unlike other pear orchards I have visited, there is no sense of celebration in this place, but instead a sense of loneliness and desolation.
There were several old men sitting in the open space next to the stage, playing their own instruments, as if they were practicing, but the music they played was so sad.
In the middle of the old men is the energetic old leader, who is practicing the tricks used in singing.
The agents couldn't tell what the opera was, and they didn't know anything about opera.
The reason why I came here is just to complete the task as soon as possible.
So the leading agent soon came to the old men:
"We are looking for someone to sing in the opera, are you still open here?"
The sound of playing It stopped suddenly, and everyone turned to look at the agents curiously.
The old leader looked up and down at the young people in front of him, and then waved his hand:
“We don’t sing that kind of opera here, go to the opera and find another opera house.”
The agent heard this and pointed to the stage next to him:
"The theater troupe we are looking for specializes in singing the last act, isn't it the one here?"
"Huh?"
The old troupe leader frowned in astonishment:
"You are young, you want to listen to a ghost show?"
The troupe who sang the last play, an insider can tell at a glance, because the stage It is the only one facing east and west, which is also called Baihu Terrace.
And such a troupe usually calls the play it performs a ghost play.
Because this kind of troupe has never performed operas for people since ancient times, and when they perform operas, the audience is always empty.
Over time, the people also called this kind of play a ghost play.
It’s just that this kind of theater troupe can perform during the Ghost Festival all year round, or when the owner is bereaved.
So in normal times, there will be actors who go to various theater troupes to sing the last scene that no one wants to sing, to support the entire troupe.
The agents didn't know this at all. They just followed Zhao Qi's request to find it. So after confirming that the stage here faced west and that the troupe was only singing the last scene, the agents quickly revealed their identities. , and asked these people to go with them to Yishan.
The old people packed up their instruments and asked without knowing what opera they were going to sing.
After all, it’s not the Ghost Festival now, and it seems that these people are not mourners. They came here suddenly out of nowhere. Could they be making fun of them?
But the agents were also confused. They knew nothing about opera and so on, so they just urged the old people to follow.
Of course, the agents did not forget to ask if there were any female protagonists here.
The class leader nodded naturally, and then called his daughter.
What a slender woman, with a unique oriental charm in her steps.
What the agents were puzzled about was that the woman's face was covered by a red gauze, making her appearance unclear.
However, the agents did not ask too many questions. Seeing that everything met Zhao Qi's requirements, they quickly urged everyone to go together.
In desperation, the old team leader could only ask a few old guys to bring a few boxes containing the things used for singing and follow the agents into the car.
It is worth noting that the box is not affixed with an ordinary seal, but a yellow talisman.
On the east and west stages, the female actors cover their faces, and the ghost show is different from other theater troupes that are unpacked at the beginning of the year and sealed at the end of the year.
This kind of troupe, when you open the box, it will either open the door to hell, or it will be a time when people are on the run...
(End of this chapter)