Chapter 150: Paper Figures Borrowing the Path, Clear-Yin Precious Mirror

In the middle of the night, the living sleep peacefully.

In the mortician's shop, Xu Qing held a hammer, axe, and chisel, knocking incessantly.

Ling Yangzi's gold-faced paper puppets had been transformed into Chu-Ling by him.

To build a complete paper-figure funeral team, Xu Qing took a coffin made of Yin-sink wood that had been left idle in the shop.

With the blessing of his superb carpentry skills, in a short while, he had a dark red coffin bound with thirty-two levers in front of him.

In funeral rituals, the levers used by the lever-room to carry the coffin are called "Dragon Levers." When sending a funeral, according to the size and specification of the coffin, they can be divided into several levels, such as eight-person levers, sixteen-person levers, thirty-two-person levers, etc.

The gold-faced paper figures Xu Qing obtained from Ling Yangzi only numbered about forty, not enough for a sixty-four-person carrying team, let alone the top-tier carrying formation of one hundred and twenty-eight people used when Emperor Longping was sent to the afterlife.

Xu Qing didn't need such a top-tier funeral team right now.

One hundred and twenty-eight people—just the outer coffin of the coffin was the size of a house. Looking at his mortician's shop, there was only one coffin that was slightly larger.

"Speaking of which, the coffin Old Hu prepared for himself was quite large..."

I don't know when it started, but Xu Qing began to have a soft spot for large coffins. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had no resistance to them.

It's like how men in the world like to ride good horses, and most women in the world love makeup and needlework. Ask, which zombie in the world doesn't like a coffin with a large space?

Xu Qing's aesthetics were different from the Yong Dynasty's aesthetics. He looked at the coffin he used for sleeping and was still not satisfied.

At this time, the Yong Dynasty already had glaze and "medicine jade," and medicine jade is glass.

If he could install a panoramic floor-to-ceiling window on the coffin, the coffin's floor plan might be even better.

However, everyone has their own preferences. Some dead people like wooden coffins, some like stone coffins, and a few dynasties ago, an honest official cast an iron coffin.

At that time, there was a proverb circulating among the people, saying, "An 'honest' official entered an iron-cast 'heavy' coffin, and there were no more honest officials in the world from then on."

Regardless of whether this proverb was true or not, at least there was no fixed rule for choosing a coffin.

Now, Hu Baosong, who ran the coffin shop on the street, was at the end of his rope. He only cared about enjoying his old age and enjoying the hard-won late years, and he had no energy to toss about his own coffin shop.

But Xu Qing was different. He had a long time. If he really took over Old Hu's coffin shop one day...

He would definitely choose to innovate on the original basis and implement the concept of diversified management, such as stone coffins, iron coffins, or even making a few crystal coffins to display in the shop for the dead or their families to choose from.

The main point was that the floor plan was complete; there was nothing the customer couldn't think of, and nothing the coffin shop didn't have. This could be called a qualified coffin shop.

As for how the dead choose coffins...

In the Yong Dynasty, once people lived past forty, many families would prepare longevity materials in advance for emergencies.

This sounds absurd, but it is a custom passed down from ancient times.

In the dead of night, in a deep alley, white mist surged out from the alley. Immediately after, a team of tall, thin paper figures wearing straw hats, wrapped in veils, and draped in white paper quilts appeared on the quiet, deserted street, carrying a coffin and breaking through the thin mist.

The paper figures landed without sound, as if supported by Yin-wind and white mist. When the sound of the night watchman beating the clapper came from the street corner, this team of paper figures carried the coffin and jumped onto the eaves and roof ridges of the shops along the street with ease.

The paper figure funeral team moved along the roofs of tea shops, stone shops, and clothing shops, walking as if on flat ground.

Until a piece of thin tile was accidentally scraped off by the Yin-wind, and the night watchman looked up at the sound.

After seeing the paper figure team carrying the dark red coffin on the roof of the street, the night watchman couldn't help but exclaim.

Hearing the sound, the thirty-two paper figures turned their heads in unison. The white gauze under the straw hat of a paper figure was lifted by the Yin-wind, and it immediately revealed a face like a dead person.

The key was that this dead person also had blush, red lips, and a color on his pale face that was neither yellow nor green, and people couldn't tell.

If one had to say, it was a dead-gray tone!

Meeting ghost coffin-carrying in the middle of the night, anyone would be scared.

The night watchman thought, he had been a night watchman for years, and finally, one day, he bumped into a ghost.

I... I'd better run! If I delay for a while, I'm afraid these paper figures will stuff me into the coffin and carry me off to be buried alive!

No sooner said than done, while the paper figures were turning their heads, the night watchman turned and ran, even dropping the clapper and gong in his hands to the ground.

The next day at dawn, a pale-faced young man walked out of the mortician's shop.

He looked like a "thirty-time hero" who had been lingering in the brothels for four or five days without resting day or night, as if he could fall asleep forever with a yawn.

Xu Qing rubbed his waist and looked up at Shopkeeper Cheng, who was splashing water across the street.

Seeing him like this, she teased, "Yo, what's wrong with Scholar Xu? Could it be that you read too hard with a little lady last night?"

As soon as Cheng Caiyun finished speaking, Sun Erzhuang's figure appeared at the shop door.

"Xu Qing, the fried small fish tasted good yesterday. Bring some back when you return; I'll watch the shop for you!"

After Xuanyu possessed Sun Erzhuang, she would call him by his full name in front of outsiders.

Xu Qing was used to it and nodded, considering it a promise.

After Xuanyu finished speaking about the fried small fish, she turned to look at Cheng Caiyun, who was teasing Xu Qing.

The cat didn't understand the "heavy material" hidden in the widow's words. She said earnestly, "Xu Qing didn't read last night. He tossed and turned in the room all night, maybe he's tired..."

Cheng Caiyun's old face turned red, thinking, how can this girl say anything?

Even the widow felt embarrassed hearing this. She spat secretly, how could she answer, and turned back to her own shop.

Xu Qing looked at Xuanyu silently, not knowing what to say.

"Remember to bring the fried small fish!"

Responding to Xu Qing was Xuanyu's crisp voice.

Leaving the mortician's shop, Xu Qing held the Clear-Yin Precious Mirror and shone it back and forth while walking toward the Flower and Bird Street.

When he was in the shop, he had shone it on Jin Luan, and golden demon-aura appeared on the mirror surface. Besides seeing demon-aura, there was also a burning sensation on the mirror.

That was the embodiment of the golden chicken's extreme rigidity and yang.

As for the other ordinary chickens in the chicken coop, they were unremarkable, with no anomalies manifesting.

The scout Huang Xiaoliu often went out to inquire about news, and he hadn't had time to shine it on him yet. The rest were just Xuanyu.

However, considering his past experience of angering Xuanyu when he opened his Yin-pupils, Xu Qing didn't choose to shine the mirror on Xuanyu this time.

If he angered the cat and she ran away from home, who would chat with him in the future, and who would help him watch the shop?

Just like that, Xu Qing held the precious mirror and turned into the longevity clothing shop on the funeral street.

"Shopkeeper Yao, I'm here to look at longevity clothes..."

Xu Qing chatted with Shopkeeper Yao while looking at the longevity clothes on the rack.

"The longevity clothes Shopkeeper Yao purchased don't have very good craftsmanship. Look, there are thread ends. The biggest taboo in making longevity clothes is thread ends. The affairs of the living are like these thread ends, tangled and growing in people's hearts. Even if people die, their hearts are hard to transcend."

Shopkeeper Yao shook his head, "The reason is this reason, but there's no way. Business is not good these days. There used to be a good tailor who could make longevity clothes, but unfortunately..."

Xu Qing knew who he was talking about—the old tailor who was famous for being careful.

"Now, if you want to buy good ones for the original price, it's not easy."

Xu Qing had been doing dead-person business for so long, so he naturally knew the problems inside.

"This matter really can't be said. Some tailors feel that since people are dead, why wear such good clothes? If you spend the same price to buy clothes for the living, they won't be so perfunctory, but buying longevity clothes..."

"Will the dead get up and say the clothes you made don't fit?"

Shopkeeper Yao sighed, "The paper effigies in my shop are not as good as Old Wu's, and the incense was originally good, but recently Shopkeeper Cheng's incense shop seems to have found a good source of goods. Now, the old brother only has this longevity clothing business to make a living..."

"To tell you the truth, I've already planned to transfer this longevity clothing shop. Whoever is willing to buy it, I'll sell it."

Shopkeeper Yao was helpless, "People all think this street is unlucky. If I don't sell this shop and start another business, I'm afraid no one will come. If you open a restaurant, who will come here to eat? If you open a medical clinic, do you want to treat illnesses or make it convenient for people to have funerals? How can you say to people, if the illness can't be cured, it doesn't matter; turn the corner and there's a funeral shop..."

Xu Qing listened to Shopkeeper Yao's complaints, and the precious mirror he had been holding turned over, just happening to reflect the shopkeeper's figure.

In the mirror, besides the gray darkness on the forehead, there were no other abnormalities.

Leaving the longevity clothing shop, Xu Qing turned and walked into the coffin shop.

"Old Hu, I'm here to see you!"

Hu Baosong, who was drinking tea, raised an eyebrow and spat out the tea leaves stuck between his teeth.

"See me?" Hu Baosong curled his lips, "Who would be idle enough to see an old man early in the morning?"

Hu Baosong didn't have a good face, but he still nudged his chin to the side, letting Xu Qing sit down and talk.

"Why don't I see Senior Sister Yizhen?"

Hu Baosong raised an eyebrow, "Are you here to see me or her?"

"She is cooking breakfast in the kitchen. If you haven't eaten..." Hu Baosong laughed, "I'll give you two taels of silver, go eat a good meal at the Drunken Spring Building, so you don't say I don't cherish the younger generation."

Xu Qing was speechless. This old man...

The two chatted for a while, and Xu Qing took out the Clear-Yin Precious Mirror at the right time, saying nonchalantly, "Old Hu, I picked up a burial object at the Flower and Bird Market yesterday. See if it's valuable?"

Saying this, Xu Qing turned the mirror and happened to shine it on Hu Baosong.

"What kind of dirty thing is this?"

On the mirror, behind the human figure that was like reality, a fox phantom appeared, and human Qi and demon Qi rose almost at the same time.

However, the aura overflowing from the mirror was extremely faint, not even as effective as when Xu Qing shone it on Shopkeeper Yao.

"A burial object, something from a dead person. I don't know where the seller dug it up, and I don't know the origin, but it's quite fun."

Xu Qing's words were half-true and half-false. Hu Baosong was knowledgeable, and he frowned and thought about it, and he really remembered something.

"I heard that the Celestial Master Mansion has a precious mirror passed down through the ages. That mirror can not only shine on demons, monsters, people, and ghosts, but it is also a magic weapon for the Celestial Master Dao to find the successors of the past Celestial Masters."

"Look at the back of the mirror to see if there is the Daoist name of the First Celestial Master."

Xu Qing turned the precious mirror over. There were indeed words, but they were not the Daoist name, but the two words "Clear-Yin."

Hu Baosong was surprised, "You really picked up a treasure. I thought it was the Celestial Master Dao that took a fancy to you and deliberately leaked the precious mirror to you..."

"Now it seems that this mirror is something left behind by some expert in the past."

As the two were talking, Daoist Yizhen walked out of the back kitchen with hot food.

Xu Qing subconsciously turned the precious mirror. The next moment, a big white fox phantom appeared on the mirror, and in front of the phantom was Daoist Yizhen's cold appearance.

Fox girl? I have to take a good look at this.

Xu Qing took a look and turned the mirror again.

However, this time, he saw Daoist Yizhen narrowing her eyes and looking at

Silently putting away the treasure mirror, Xu Qing acted as if nothing had happened and greeted Yizhen, whose expression softened slightly, and who then invited him to dine together.

The food cooked by the fox girl was certainly tempting, but how could Xu Qing be accustomed to eating the food of the living?

Stepping out of the coffin shop, Xu Qing sighed silently.

To be able to eat and drink without restriction, one must at least be a Corpse-Turning Zombie.

Thinking about the matter of raising and refining the Golden Armored Corpse to evolve into a Corpse-Turning Zombie, Xu Qing did not stop his feet and hurried all the way to Bird and Flower Street.

Arriving at the residence of Second Master Feng, Xu Qing inquired with the servants inside and only then learned that Second Master Feng had taken the people from the escort agency to the pier to collect goods.

"How long until the Second Master returns?"

"I don't know about that, but I imagine it won't be until after noon."

Xu Qing had no choice but to turn around and walk back.

In the bird and flower market, there were those selling cats and birds, and those selling antiques and calligraphy; having nothing to do, Xu Qing took the treasure mirror and shone it on those birds and cats.

Occasionally, he would also shine it on the vendors.

After some exploration, Xu Qing gradually grasped some of the tricks.

For instance, those with good vitality and spirit would have a red glow on their forehead in the mirror's reflection, while those who were down on their luck would have a gray and dim forehead.

As he shone it, Xu Qing also discovered an interesting thing.

This mirror could actually reveal the authenticity of antiques and calligraphy!

For fake porcelain and bowls, there was no change in the mirror, but for some genuine funerary objects and antiques, phantom images like wood grain would ripple across the mirror's surface; the more circular patterns there were, the more ancient the age.

However, when Xu Qing aimed the mirror at himself, the smooth, mirror-like surface plunged into pitch-black darkness once again.

"."

After strolling around the bird and flower market for a while, seeing that the day was still early, Xu Qing turned and came to the Water Gate Bridge residence, intending to bury the corpses he had performed rites for yesterday in the ground first.

Climbing over the back wall into the residence, the sound of a loom operating came from the west wing.

Xu Qing passed by and took a look, only to see the loom moving with a creaking sound despite no one treading on it, and not far away on the windowsill, a female ghost was leaning against the edge, talking to a pot of blooming spider lilies.

The spider lily is a famous ghost flower, blooming on the road to the Yellow Springs, but the so-called spider lily among the common folk is different from the one Xu Qing had here.

The seeds of this spider lily of his were obtained when he performed rites for the deceased using the Scripture of Saving Souls; it was a true spiritual plant capable of increasing a ghost's cultivation.

Xu Qing was just wondering how bored this female ghost must be to be chatting with a pot of flowers there.

It was only when he got closer that he heard Xiuniang say: "When will you bloom? I'm almost starving to the point of becoming a phantom..."

"."

It is not easy to describe being starved to the point of becoming a ghost in such a refined and unconventional way.

Xu Qing glanced sideways at the self-operating loom, then looked at Xiuniang, speechless for a long time.

Ghosts can manipulate objects, and they can also treat items they held obsessions for while alive as magic tools, refining them.

Most of the natal magic tools controlled by ghosts are either hanging ropes or various kinds of murder weapons, most of which possess lethal characteristics.

Yet the ghost he raised was different; she had actually refined the loom in the house into her own magic tool.

What kind of serious ghost carries a loom when fighting and casting spells!

Xiuniang was quite proud; seeing Xu Qing come over, she pulled him to the side of the loom, looking like a big white goose with its head held high, saying that it took her a long time to tame "this" unruly loom and make it weave cloth by itself.

Feeling the yin qi flowing on the loom in a certain specific pattern, Xu Qing thought to himself that it was fortunate the people at the corpse-worker mill didn't know that ghosts could weave cloth.

This was no fierce ghost or yin ghost; this was clearly a money-making machine that didn't know fatigue, and one that didn't even need to be fed.

Xu Qing suddenly spoke up: "Xiuniang, can you make burial clothes and burial shoes?"

(End of chapter)