Chapter 57: Evil Shop

"That man of Chun Jie's really wasn't a good thing; he didn't show a shred of affection. In the end, he just ordered the cheapest thin-skinned coffin from the coffin shop in the village for Chun Jie and her daughter. He didn't even notify the people in the village; he just hired a few people at random and had the coffin carried out to bury them."

Yang Xiao feigned surprise, "Two people in one coffin?"

Old Man Zhou exhaled a large puff of alcohol fumes. As the intoxication rose, his face became very indignant, "Isn't that just it? You tell me, what kind of business is this? At the time, people in the village were already whispering that doing things this way would sooner or later invite retribution. Sure enough, not long after this happened, heh, this Wang Laizi died."

"Oh? How did he die?"

"I heard he drank too much and fell to his death on the road back from the gambling den. I don't know the specifics; he didn't die in our village, he died in the next village over," Old Man Zhou recalled slowly. "If you want to talk about who had the worst luck, it's Shopkeeper Liu of the village coffin shop. Originally, he didn't make much silver off that one thin coffin, and as a result, well, with Wang Laizi dying like this, he lost another coffin for nothing."

Yang Xiao knew a little about this principle. It is said that old-established coffin shops have their rules: if someone who enters the shop to buy a coffin dies suddenly within 7 days without warning, the shop must pay to provide a coffin for that person. In the trade, this is called Redeeming Evil, and in some places, it is called the Sending Coffin Curse.

"Then it seems Chun Jie's grave is also in Wohu Zhuang." Yang Xiao decided to make a trip to Wohu Zhuang, if time permitted.

Before Old Man Zhou could speak, the man at the table who had been drinking until he was tipsy curled his lip, tilted his head, and chuckled, "How about that? Listening to this brother's meaning, he... he once had some feelings for Chun Jie, right? Hahaha, old flames are hard to forget."

Worried that his brother was talking nonsense, Old Man Zhou immediately interrupted, raised his wine cup, and apologized to Yang Xiao, "This brother, my friend doesn't know how to speak; please don't take it to heart."

Yang Xiao was not annoyed and smiled freely, "Feelings is too strong a word, but the last time I, this brother, first came to this Yingke Lou, I watched Chun Jie's performance. After so many years have passed, it's inevitable to feel a bit of nostalgia."

"That Chun Jie's acting is good, that's true, but her appearance is really nothing to brag about. Brother, you haven't seen what she looks like after taking off her makeup." The tipsy man curled his lips, as if he had suddenly thought of something, and spat fiercely on the ground, "But that's still better than that slut Xi Yao. Heh, just mentioning her makes me angry!"

"Enough, Brother Diao. The dead are to be respected; do not discuss the rights and wrongs of the deceased." Compared to these brothers, Old Man Zhou's character was much greater.

After being full of food and wine, Yang Xiao rose to take his leave. He brought Su Tingting along, and the two headed straight for the carriage, "How far is Wohu Zhuang?"

The coachman, who had been dozing against the carriage, just woke up, his brain momentarily lagging, "Wo... Wohu Zhuang? That road is not exactly close."

"Is there enough time to go now?" Yang Xiao pulled Su Tingting onto the carriage, "Can we make it back before dark?"

After pondering for a moment, the coachman finally nodded, "Yes, we'll take the main road, and we have a carriage. If we are quick, we should be able to, but..."

Yang Xiao knew the coachman's concerns and nodded in response, "We won't delay too long after we arrive. This matter is very important."

Just as the coachman said, this road was much easier to travel than the one to the wharf. The road was flat and relatively wide, allowing the carriage to pick up speed. Yang Xiao even managed a rare nap in the carriage, and Su Tingting, showing great insight, promised to keep watch herself, telling him to sleep at ease.

Wohu Zhuang was even smaller than imagined. The surrounding environment was actually quite good; it could be considered a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters. Yang Xiao dared not delay, and following the directions of the locals, he quickly found the coffin shop mentioned by Old Man Zhou.

Actually, it wasn't hard to find. After all, there was only one coffin shop in the village, located right next to the low-lying land on the west side. The choice of location was quite particular.

Looking at the wooden sign hanging outside the courtyard, it was inscribed with the five characters for Shouhe Coffin Shop. On both sides of the courtyard gate, a pair of couplets was hung.

"Man has no thousand-year life." Yang Xiao looked at the other side, "I have longevity here."

"What a big boast." Su Tingting was stunned for a moment. The next second, her eyes seemed to have suddenly discovered something, "Hey, why is there only a couplet and no horizontal scroll?"

Yang Xiao stood outside the door and watched for a moment, then took a deep breath, "The shopkeeper of this coffin shop is an old hand in the underworld with no small amount of cultivation. Don't speak when we go in later; I will handle him."

Su Tingting hurriedly grabbed Yang Xiao's arm and pleaded, "You... you tell me about the tricks here first, otherwise I'm worried I won't act well and will hold you back."

Yang Xiao had no choice but to explain, "In the eyes of the ancients, the coffin holds a very important position. Generally, families with elderly people would prepare a coffin long in advance, keeping it in a dark room in their own backyard. Even the poorest families would try their best to save up for a coffin while they were still alive. That is where the common saying 'saving for a coffin' comes from."

"A coffin brought into the home and kept there is called a Longevity Material; it is a lucky charm. But if it is kept in a coffin shop, or if it is an ownerless coffin, that is different. That is called a 'deadly object'. Therefore, coffin shops, paper-craft shops, and such funeral supply stores are also called Evil Shops."

"There are six gates to the Evil Shop, with the coffin shop at the head, and it has the most sayings regarding its facade. Look carefully at the threshold of this courtyard."

After Yang Xiao's prompt, Su Tingting discovered that the threshold of this courtyard was not only high but also tilted inward.

"The direction of this threshold's tilt has a great deal of meaning, similar to the guest-staying rules of Buddhist temples. A threshold tilted outward means this coffin shop only accepts 'virtuous corpses'—that is, those who died of illness or other types of natural death."

"A vertical threshold, neither inside nor outside, means the shop can accept those who died from hanging, war, drowning, and other such violent deaths."

"As for this threshold tilted inward, this is the formidable one. It means they refuse no one, and even dare to accept evil corpses that already show signs of reanimation or have developed strange appearances."

"The threshold being made to tilt inward is actually for practical purposes. This way, even if a corpse kept in the courtyard reanimates at night, it cannot get out."

"Those things have stiff ankles and cannot take steps; they will be firmly caught by the instep against the angle formed by the threshold and the ground. Therefore, this inward-tilting threshold has another name: Corpse Watching Stake. It means that the next morning, when people outside pass by, they might see a horrifying scene: a corpse with a livid face stuck stiffly on the threshold, unable to move, left for outsiders to gaze upon."

Lifting his chin, Yang Xiao signaled Su Tingting to look up, "And as you said, there is no horizontal scroll on the door. This also has its own meaning. The horizontal scroll is the 'eye' of a couplet, the finishing touch. Since this coffin shop has no horizontal scroll, it means the head shopkeeper encountered something evil and had his pair of 'eyes' plucked out."

Su Tingting blinked, "'Eyes'?"

Yang Xiao was a bit impatient. He extended two fingers and pointed at Su Tingting's eyes, "It's those two beads in your eye sockets."

"Alright, it's enough that you have a rough understanding; more is useless. Remember, don't talk nonsense after we go in, and don't stare fixedly at people. We'll leave once we've asked what we need to ask." Yang Xiao was the first to step over the threshold.