Chapter 58: Shopkeeper Liu

The courtyard was not small, and taking advantage of the fine sunlight, many pieces of wood were laid out in the yard to dry. Seeing guests arrive, a young apprentice who was busy with carpentry work put down his saw and stood up to greet them, "The two of you, is there something you need?"

"Little brother, we have business with Shopkeeper Liu," Yang Xiao said, getting straight to the point.

Soon, led by the young apprentice, the two arrived in front of a low house in the backyard. The apprentice respectfully stepped forward and knocked on the door, "Master, there are guests to see you."

Not long after, with a creak, the old black wooden door was pulled open, revealing an elderly man with graying hair.

The old man wore a black long gown that reached past his knees, with a white cloth belt tied around his waist. Outside his black cloth shoes, a circle of white soles could be seen. His skin was pale, and the exposed parts of his skin, such as his face and neck, were densely covered with unsightly brown spots. Most crucially, the old man's eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his two eyeballs were nowhere to be found.

Su Tingting felt her skin crawl just looking at the old man; he did not look like a person, but rather more like a corpse lying in a coffin.

The old man faced Su Tingting and Yang Xiao with his empty eye sockets, and Su Tingting actually had the illusion that he was staring right at her.

A few seconds later, the old man finally spoke, emitting a hoarse voice, "Xiao Fuzi, there is nothing for you here anymore."

The apprentice named Xiao Fuzi said "alright" and went back. After he left, the old man waved his hand, signaling the two to follow him. The three arrived at a spot in the backyard to sit down; there was a set of simple stone tables and chairs here, which felt icy cold.

"Shopkeeper Liu, we are visiting today to inquire about a matter," Yang Xiao said, getting straight to the point.

Shopkeeper Liu's body was stiff, his skin so pale it seemed he hadn't left the room in a long time, and his whole person was permeated with a scent of decay. Being stared at by such hollow eye sockets, the two felt completely uneasy.

"There is an aura of death on both of your clothes. The original owners of those clothes died violent deaths; you are 'Town Guests' who are taking the blame for others."

Having his identity pointed out in a single sentence, Yang Xiao was not surprised. He cupped his hands and replied, "Shopkeeper Liu has great skills. The two of us indeed make a living this way. For the sake of us all seeking a way to cross over in the Yin Hang, I hope Shopkeeper Liu will tell us the truth."

"Very well, ask what you have to ask," Shopkeeper Liu nodded.

"Ten years ago, a woman named Chun Jie died at Wohu Zhuang. Not long after the woman and her child died, her husband also died. Does Shopkeeper Liu know about this?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Shopkeeper Liu, who had been exuding the aura of an expert, suddenly changed color, and veins appeared on the back of his hands, "You two came for this matter?"

Before Yang Xiao could speak, he saw Shopkeeper Liu shake his head, "That thing is too fierce; you two cannot suppress it at all. Take a piece of advice from this old man: drop the job. Even if it means smashing your rice bowl, it is better than losing your life. You don't want to become a cripple like me, do you?"

"So these eyes of yours were lost at the hands of that thing?" Yang Xiao truly had not expected this.

"Yes. If I didn't still have a bit of cultivation to rely on, I'm afraid I would have ended up like those few coffin bearers, dying in an inexplicable way." Even after so long, Shopkeeper Liu still felt lingering fear when mentioning this matter.

After a long pause, waiting for Shopkeeper Liu to calm down, Yang Xiao deliberated for a moment before slowly speaking: "Shopkeeper Liu, is that thing Chun Jie?"

"Who else could it be? I was deceived by that god-forsaken Wang Laizi. I don't know what he did with Chun Jie and her child, but that thing is filled with monstrous resentment!" His breathing grew rapid, and a look of ruthlessness appeared on Shopkeeper Liu's face, "It wasn't enough for Wang Laizi to kill himself; he actually implicated so many innocent people! Hmph! This old man personally chose a thin-skinned poplar wood coffin for him, ensuring he suffers the torment of being eaten by worms and ants down below, never to be reincarnated!"

"Do not plant mulberry trees at the head, do not step on locust trees at the feet, do not lie in willow wood while alive, do not sleep in poplar wood when dead"—Yang Xiao knew these four old sayings. Poplar wood is soft and lacks sufficient hardness and density; it is easily dampened and rotted when buried in the ground, and it also attracts pests, which is unfavorable for preserving a corpse. In other words, using poplar wood to make a coffin is a great disrespect to the deceased and even affects their reincarnation.

"How did this Wang Laizi die?" Yang Xiao needed to confirm this point.

"He went to a neighboring village to gamble and drink heavily. On the way back at night, he tripped and fell, landing squarely head-first into a mud puddle by the side of the road, and drowned." Shopkeeper Liu held up his thumb and index finger, gesturing a height, "Heh, I went to see the scene myself. That mud puddle was only this deep, less than five inches, yet it was able to drown a grown man."

The stone in Yang Xiao's heart fell to the ground; it seemed he was right, "It was done by that thing. She came back to seek revenge."

"Correct. There were signs of a struggle near that mud puddle. At the time, Wang Laizi was desperately grabbing at the dirt with his hands, trying to pull his head out, but he couldn't. It was as if someone was pulling his hair, dragging him hard into the mud puddle until the man was drowned by the muck."

"By the way, I also inquired that after Chun Jie and her son died, people at the gambling den reported that Wang Laizi suddenly had a sum of money, and he lived a life of debauchery for a few days," Shopkeeper Liu added.

The storyline from ten years ago gradually became clear. Yang Xiao thought it must have been like this: the troupe leader Bai found Wang Laizi in private, and the two reached an agreement. Wang Laizi took the silver and secretly sold Chun Jie and her daughter to the troupe leader Bai, while the troupe leader Bai used Chun Jie as a substitute to replace Xi Yao, the biological daughter who was supposed to be betrothed to Feng Laotaiye. It was precisely because the person betrothed was wrong that the Feng family's evil arts not only failed to take effect but were instead entangled by the Resentful Soul of Chun Jie, leading to their current fate.

Chun Jie did not let go of anyone related to this matter. Wang Laizi died, the entire Bai family troupe was wiped out, the Feng family was also mostly dead, and even the few people who helped carry the coffin, as well as those who were on the same boat as the Bai family troupe, all died.

Chun Jie had killed until her eyes were red, or perhaps, only resentment remained in her heart.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Xiao asked again: "Where is Chun Jie's coffin buried?"

"Don't waste your efforts; that is an empty coffin," Shopkeeper Liu sighed, "Although the coffin bearers said it was very heavy inside, I suspect it must have been filled with stones. I don't know where that bastard Wang Laizi sold the corpse."

"Alright, take a piece of advice from this old man: you juniors should not meddle in this matter. Go back where you came from," Shopkeeper Liu stood up, clearly not wanting to waste more breath on this matter, or perhaps simply unwilling to recall this past.

Yang Xiao stood up to stop him, smiling bitterly: "Thank you for your kindness, Senior, but... but we are already involved. I hope Senior can point us toward a clear path."

Yang Xiao's silver was almost used up, so he signaled to Su Tingting. Su Tingting immediately understood and took out the only remaining ingot of silver from her bosom, respectfully handing it over with both hands: "Old Senior, this is a small token of our appreciation."

Unexpectedly, Shopkeeper Liu didn't even pay attention. Instead, a look of anger appeared on his face, and he struck the ground heavily with the cane in his hand, "The ancestors have a rule: the Yin Hang is already weak and lowly, and being able to earn a living depends entirely on the brothers in the hall helping each other out. In this trade, we value righteousness over wealth. You two trying to dismiss me with silver—are you looking down on this old man?"