Sun Qing continued, "That's not even the most cursed part. The most cursed thing is the Tong Bei coffin my grandfather tattooed on me. The coffin goes down my neck, with the tail pressing on the cervical vertebrae joint and the head pressing on the lower back."

"The base of the neck and the lower back are also taboos for tattoos. Tattoos can cover these two places, but they must never press on these joints."

"Those are the places where the executioner's knife falls during beheadings and waist severing. An inexperienced executioner will straighten the prisoner's clothes before striking, using the edge of the clothes to press down on these two places, and then swing the knife along the edge of the clothes."

"Unless the tattoo artist has a feud with the client, they won't stick needles close to these two places."

"Brother Li, are you saying my grandfather was messing with me?"

I knew all the things Sun Qing was talking about, which is why I gasped when I saw the Tong Bei coffin.

I handed Sun Qing another cigarette. "Calm down. Now is not the time to get excited. Tell me everything, and I'll figure out how to help you."

Sun Qing took a few puffs of the cigarette before saying, "After my grandfather tattooed the coffin on me, every two years, he would tattoo an iron chain on the coffin, as if to tie it up."

"Wait a minute!" I interrupted Sun Qing. "You said there were iron chains on the coffin? Where are the chains? I didn't see them."

"The chains are gone?" Sun Qing stared at his back, feeling around.

Zhao Yuezhu looked at Sun Qing's back again. "There are indeed no chains on the coffin."

"Where are the chains?" Sun Qing was completely stunned.

I waved my hand. "Let's not talk about the chains for now. Tell me everything else. We'll talk about other things later."

I had a faint guess in my mind that Sun Qing's bad luck probably started after the chains on the coffin disappeared. If he had been plagued by bad luck since he was a child, he might have died long ago.

Sun Qing took a deep breath of his cigarette and continued talking about his affairs. This time, I didn't interrupt.

Sun Qing said:

I never understood why my grandfather did this until I turned eighteen and he tattooed the ninth iron chain on the coffin. Only then did he mention my tattoo for the first time.

At that time, my grandfather said to me, "Qingzi, I know that you've been resenting me in your heart all these years because I tattooed a coffin on you, but you never ask me about it. That's just like your father's personality."

"You're leaving for school tomorrow, and I know that with your personality, you probably won't come back once you leave. Remember, when you turn twenty, you must come back and let me add the tenth iron chain for you."

My grandfather saw that I didn't say anything and said, "I'm not telling you why I tattooed a coffin on you. I just want you to come back. If you want to know the result, come back, understand?"

My grandfather saw me nod and said, "You can't show the skills I taught you in front of others. After I tattoo the tenth iron chain on you, you can do whatever you want. Before that, no matter how wronged you feel, you can't fight with others, understand?"

My grandfather saw me nod and let me go.

When I had my school physical examination, I escaped by not taking off my clothes, but the tattoo on my body was always a thorn in my side.

I was always curious why my grandfather tattooed a coffin on my body.

Two years later, when I went back to see my grandfather again, he was already at the end of his rope.

My father also told me that my grandfather had stopped recognizing people a few days ago and kept muttering my name. He was holding on to his last breath, waiting for me to come back.

I leaned close to my grandfather's ear and called out to him softly. My grandfather opened his eyes. "You're back. Take off your clothes and sit down! Everyone else, please leave!"

After I took off my clothes, I sat down with my back to my grandfather.

I thought my grandfather was going to tattoo me, but I didn't expect him to slash me hard.

I felt a burning pain from my neck to my lower back. When I reached out to touch it, blood was flowing down.

My grandfather sat on the kang, watching me without moving. "I originally wanted to use iron chains to lock in your life, but I changed my mind. Things that are forced will never be your destiny."

"When I break the iron chains, something will come to claim your life. I don't have much time left. There's no time to explain in detail."

"After I die, someone will come looking for you within a month. He will tell you everything and teach you how to save your life within a year."

"If you don't die within a year, you can forge your own path in the future. If you can't make it through a year, come down and keep me company! This is your destiny. If the Sun family's lineage is cut off, it will be considered repayment of our debts."

My grandfather finished speaking and passed away. He didn't die peacefully. He was still frowning when he was put in his coffin.

I waited at home for a month, but no one came to find me. However, the wound on my body had healed.

The coffin was still on my back, but there was a gap where the nine iron chains had been cut open.

I always felt that the things my grandfather said were hallucinations he had before his death. He must have been delirious.

But my father said that everything my grandfather said was true! He told me to wait patiently for that person to come.

The person my grandfather said was coming didn't come, and I had to go back to school. I was thinking all the way about what my grandfather was trying to do. After thinking about it, I always felt that it had something to do with the tattoo on my body.