Chapter 280 - 156: The False Death Syndrome
Fake death, also known as feigned death, exists as a technique among the peripheral and eclectic arts of the Jianghu. It is said that during the previous dynasty, the emperor summoned Ge Hongwen of Songyun Temple on Henglu Mountain to the court to assume the position of National Master. This cultivator of true virtue didn’t want to openly refuse, so he feigned death right in front of his own temple.
At that time, during the height of summer, Ge Hongwen’s body quickly decomposed, attracting flies in an instant. The emperor’s envoy, seeing this, believed it to be true and chose not to persist in coercing Ge Hongwen.
However, later, someone spotted Ge Hongwen again in Linzhou. When the new emperor heard of this, he became even more convinced of Ge Hongwen’s true talents and skills and, following the former emperor’s example, sent someone to invite him to court once more. This time, Ge Hongwen repeated his old trick and ’died’ again.
From then on, with the downfall of the previous dynasty, Ge Hongwen’s name vanished into the mundane world, and no one knew whether he was still alive.
Only Xu Qing, who had performed the rites for Ge Hongwen’s named disciples, knew that this man was still alive and possessed unfathomably profound skills.
Looking at the Zhang family’s young lady lying breathless before him, her pulse not beating, Xu Qing didn’t believe the woman also knew the art of feigned death.
The world is full of strange occurrences. Sometimes when a person dies, they’re cold, yet when it comes time for their funeral and burial, sounds of knocking emanate from the coffin. This is either a case of a zombie or ’fake death’.
Fake death is akin to shock, where the body inadvertently touches a nerve, entering a dormant state. If you open the coffin at this time, the person might become alive again.
However, there are those who, out of fear, dare not open the coffin and proceed to bury the person. Some people awaken from fake death only after being entombed.
Such cases have been common from ancient to modern times. Some only discover scratches and dried blood all over the coffin lid when they move spirits or change coffins.
Following funeral customs, the body should lie in state for seven days. In summer, the body is kept in a cool place for two or three days until there’s a slight change, then buried, which is reasonable.
The fear lies in not following the rules, burying the body immediately, or cremating it after just one day.