Chapter 157: Moving the Spirit (Seeking monthly tickets at the beginning of the month!)

On this day, Xuan Yu went out early to work to support the family, while Xu Qing guarded the shop and pondered the life of a zombie.

It is much more difficult for a zombie to pass the lightning disaster than for a human or a demon, but if there is enough incense, let alone the Yang Lightning that restrains demons, even the Divine Lightning of heavenly punishment can be completely offset by the incense.

Incense, still incense...

Just as Xu Qing was thinking about things, Sister-in-law Wu from the paper shop next door suddenly turned in from outside the door.

She was carrying a basket of eggs on her arm, and as soon as she entered, she greeted him with a forced smile.

Xu Qing didn't think much of it. He got up, took ten taels of silver from the counter, and said: "A wealthy guest bought all the paper crafts a few days ago. I won't say exactly how much silver I earned, but in any case, I only made money and didn't lose any. Sister-in-law, you have something going on at home, and this is exactly when you need money. Just take these ten taels of silver..."

Sister-in-law Wu initially had a smile on her face, but as soon as she saw the silver Xu Qing handed over, her tears couldn't stop falling.

"That paper craft can't be worth much money, Sister-in-law knows that. I can't take this money..."

Xu Qing didn't know how to explain it. You say this is a mess; why doesn't anyone believe the truth?

That paper craft sold for a hundred taels of silver. How much did he just take out?

"How about this, Sister-in-law, take two taels of silver to use first, and consider the rest as deposited here. When you are short of silver later, come back and get it."

Sister-in-law Wu still shook her head, refusing to take the silver no matter what.

Xu Qing suddenly realized. It wasn't about money, so it must be something else.

"Sister-in-law, if you have something to say, just say it."

Sister-in-law Wu hesitated for a long time before she made it clear.

It turned out that Wu Zhiyuan's newlywed wife, the daughter of County Magistrate Zhang Yong, couldn't think straight and hit the door wall and died.

County Magistrate Zhang Yong's eldest daughter and son-in-law believed that the younger sister had already married Wu Zhiyuan, and because she committed suicide for an "unfilial, unfaithful, and morally deficient" outsider, it would bring shame to the ancestors if she were buried in the Zhang family's ancestral grave.

Zhang Yong had always valued his reputation. Hearing the words of Yang Hong and his wife, he didn't perform any merit rituals, didn't let the coffin stay in the mourning hall, and just hastily held the funeral, burying his younger daughter in the mass grave outside the city.

Zhang Wan's foster mother was soft-hearted and couldn't bear to see the young lady's body buried in the wilderness, so she sent someone to Linhe to tell Sister-in-law Wu, wanting to move Zhang Wan's coffin to the Wu family's ancestral grave so that she could be at peace.

Sister-in-law Wu heard the bad news and couldn't recover for a long time.

Thinking of herself as a woman, her husband was framed and put in prison, and her son and nephew were still missing. How could she handle all these troublesome things alone?

After thinking for a long time, Sister-in-law Wu had no choice but to take some eggs and find her neighbor, Xu Qing.

In her eyes, Xu Qing was both an acquaintance and a funeral director. Moving spirits and relocating graves was his bread and butter. Besides Xu Qing, she really couldn't find a second person to entrust this to.

Xu Qing listened to Sister-in-law Wu's words and was speechless for a while.

This Wu family was really full of disasters. No wonder Hu Baosong said the Wu family had a hurdle; if they crossed it, they would be in the blue clouds, and if they couldn't, it would be the destruction of the family.

Now it was good; he didn't wait for the incense business, but the funeral business came uninvited.

Xu Qing, based on being an acquaintance and a regular customer, didn't ask Sister-in-law Wu for any silver. The basket of eggs before him would just count as the travel expenses for this trip.

"Sister-in-law, set your heart at ease. Baisha County is only twenty miles away from here. Before tomorrow, I will move the younger sister's coffin back to Linhe..."

Closing the shop door, hanging the "Working" sign at the door, and placing a message board with a charcoal pen next to it, Xu Qing went to Baisha County.

Arriving at County Magistrate Zhang's mansion, Xu Qing understood that the Zhang family was already possessed by ghosts. If he dared to go to the door and say, "I'm here to relocate your daughter's grave, please lead the way,"

That County Magistrate Zhang would definitely give him dozens of beatings and kick him out the door.

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and found the old servant at the gate and said: "Grandpa, I am a relative of the foster mother of Miss Zhang Wan of the Zhang family. I have something to find her, please report it."

After saying this, Xu Qing also gave the old servant some errand money.

Just like that, in a short while, Xu Qing saw Zhang Wan's foster mother.

Briefly explaining his intention, Zhang's foster mother called her husband and followed Xu Qing into the carriage, driving toward the outside of the city.

On the way, Xu Qing drove the carriage and asked about Zhang Wan.

The foster mother's husband, the chef of the Zhang mansion, shook his head and sighed: "The blame lies with the son-in-law for not being competitive, insisting on wandering, whoring, and gambling all day. Now we don't even know where he has mixed up. The old master regretted marrying the young lady to that Wu surname, so he arranged another marriage for the young lady. Who would have thought that Miss Wan'er was a stubborn and fierce person who only recognized the Wu surname? No matter how others persuaded her, she wouldn't listen, otherwise it wouldn't have..."

Xu Qing was surprised. Wu Zhiyuan went to the capital to appeal for his father; how could he have the leisure to eat, drink, whore, and gamble? Could it be that the Zhang family had been blown by an evil wind and lost their minds?

"Who did you hear this from?"

In the carriage, Zhang's foster mother replied: "At first I didn't believe the son-in-law would do this, but it's spreading throughout the mansion. The son-in-law hasn't appeared yet, which has instead harmed my Wan'er..."

Xu Qing frowned and stopped asking.

Someone in the Zhang mansion was clearly stirring up trouble, deliberately provoking the relationship between the County Magistrate and Wu Zhiyuan. Wu Zhiyuan was not at home now, so he couldn't defend himself, and it was left to others to fabricate.

The three of them took the carriage and soon arrived outside the graveyard.

The mass grave had a separate graveyard fenced off, managed by a gravekeeper. Although County Magistrate Zhang hated his daughter for not being competitive, he didn't really bury his daughter outside the graveyard where wild dogs dig graves.

The three got off the carriage. The Zhang chef knew the old man watching the grave, and after the two explained the reason, the old man was quite reasonable.

"That is the young lady of the County Magistrate's family. It's a bit unsightly to bury her here, but relocating a grave privately is no different from stealing a grave. If it spreads, I'm afraid it will be bad."

Zhang's foster mother took out silver to bribe the gravekeeper, but who would have thought that the old man didn't eat this set: "I have no wife or children, and I won't live many more years. What's the use of this money? Take the money back. As for this grave... I happen to be going out to buy wine. If you want to pay respects, do it quickly, don't delay the time."

Xu Qing smiled upon hearing this. He took down the pickaxe, crowbar, axe, and shovel from the back of the carriage and walked into the graveyard openly.

Under the guidance of the foster mother, he found Zhang Wan's grave, and Xu Qing skillfully picked up the shovel and began to dig.

Zhang's foster mother and the chef saw this scene and felt terrified.

Looking at his posture, it didn't look like the first time he had dug a grave; it looked like a skilled worker who often did this.

The chef grabbed the foster mother's arm, sweating on his forehead: "Where did you find this person? I feel like this person doesn't look like a proper master, but rather like a thief who often steals graves..."

The foster mother was also suspicious, but she still explained: "This is the relocation master found by the son-in-law's mother. People are originally in this business, so it's normal to have experience."

Here, Xu Qing removed the floating soil. He didn't even take a knife to pick the coffin nails. He just saw his fingers pinch the coffin nails and lift them lightly, just like pulling chicken feathers. In a while, he removed all the coffin nails.

To prevent the two from being suspicious, Xu Qing didn't forget to explain: "This coffin is too heavy. The three of us definitely can't lift it to the carriage. It's better to dismantle it, move the coffin lid and coffin body separately, and wait until we move to the place before sealing the coffin."

The foster mother and the chef had no doubts and let Xu Qing do it.

After lifting the coffin lid, Xu Qing opened it. The Zhang family young lady, wearing pearl-colored burial clothes, was lying in the coffin as if she were asleep.

Xu Qing apologized and said: "Moving the spirit requires burning incense and chanting scriptures for the deceased, and tidying up the remains. You two wait a moment, it only takes half an incense stick time."

After saying that, Xu Qing held an incense stick and inserted it in front of the coffin, then took the eyebrow pencil and powder dish to start tidying up the remains for the Zhang family young lady.

After dressing up, Xu Qing lifted Zhang Wan's wrist and was about to start the funeral rites, but when his fingers touched her wrist, he found that the "Duren Sutra" had no reaction.

Looking at Zhang Wan's arm again, it was as soft as a living person.

Xu Qing was surprised and reached out to touch Zhang Wan's pulse. There was no beating.

Feeling the temperature, the small hand was cold, not like a living person.

Opening the Qi-gazing technique, this time Xu Qing finally found something unusual. He saw a mass of heat condensing and not dispersing at the heart of the Zhang family young lady.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 158 =====