Chapter 220: Fireworks, Dog Food

"Imprisoning Ghosts and Demons."

Xu Qing held the Ghost-Commanding Seal, lost in thought.

This looks like a Poké Ball?

In a short time, the figures of the Eight Banners Marshal and the neighboring Du'e Ghost King floated into Xu Qing's mind.

But Xu Qing is not the type to repay kindness with treachery; the Eight Banners Marshal had just expressed goodwill toward him and given him a paper lantern ghost artifact capable of commanding troops, so how could he possibly turn around and seal the marshal into the seal?

After thinking it over, only the neighboring Du'e Ghost King fit his criteria.

However, piercing through the layers of tomb chambers surrounding the Ghost King's Mausoleum to reach the main tomb chamber deep within was no easy task.

Xu Qing thought for a moment and then put the Ghost-Commanding Seal away for the time being.

Right now, he had more urgent matters to handle; the Ghost King's Mausoleum wouldn't run away from here, and his neighbor certainly wouldn't suddenly move house. Discarding his distracting thoughts, Xu Qing began to arrange the late Daoist He Yi's remains.

To say he was arranging the remains was actually just looting the corpse.

There was a Cloud-Climbing Talisman, several bottles of pills in various colorful hues, and the ordination certificate and official documents of the Transmission Master.

Besides that, there were the common magic swords and artifacts of the Celestial Masters' Mansion, as well as some gold and silver treasures used only in the mortal world.

Xu Qing's skill at looting corpses had reached the pinnacle of perfection; in no time, he had squeezed every last bit of remaining value from the Daoist before him.

Casually tossing the corpse into the Box Garden, Xu Qing chose not to spend time dealing with Liao Jinzhong's body; right now, Second Master Feng and Ji Rui Nian were still trembling with fear on the docked tower boat, and he didn't know how his eldest uncle and Little Liu Immortal were doing.

Now that so much time had been wasted, if he didn't hurry to wrap things up, who knows what trouble those two might encounter next.

Xu Qing didn't even need to think; charges such as assassinating a martial arts grandmaster, a third-rank eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, and the Director of the Mirror Reflection Bureau would have to be borne by someone; the imperial court wouldn't care whether you had the ability to do these things; if the true culprit couldn't be found, then whoever was at the crime scene would be the culprit!

Entering the Yinhe Ancient Path is easy, but leaving is hard; although Li Heyi opened a passage between the mortal world's Bai Sha River and the Yinhe, it was only a one-way entry passage.

Li Heyi's heart was wicked; from the moment he began laying the trap to lure Xu Qing into it, he never intended to leave a way out.

Once the array connecting the Bai Sha River and the Yinhe bidirectionally was set up, what if Xu Qing realized something was wrong and turned to flee back to the mortal world?

Daoist He Yi was cunning, playing his little abacus with loud clicks, but he could never have calculated that Xu Qing would be so familiar with the Yinhe, and that his understanding of the Eight Banners Marshal far exceeded his own.

But was the reality truly so?

Only Xu Qing knew that between evil spirits, the most important thing is actually sincerity.

What he understood was never the Eight Banners Marshal, but the lingering obsession left behind by the dead.

If we truly speak of understanding the dead, I fear no one else in Jinmen could surpass him.

After all, only the dead understand the dead best; if not the dead, then it must be someone who has touched death to truly experience that feeling of mutual appreciation.

Xu Qing, unworthy as he is, happens to be a walking corpse strolling at the boundary between yin and yang.

However, this walking corpse has always possessed a strong sense of human warmth, and this is precisely what other ghosts, monsters, and zombies lack.

On this side, Xu Qing arrived at the grave mound burying the Twin Coffins, then turned and returned to his own mortuary shop.

At the counter, Xuan Yu, possessed by Sun Erniang, hadn't yet come to her senses when she heard Xu Qing speak:

"Xuan Yu, do you want to go see the fireworks?"

That day, the mortuary shop, which never closed its doors, unprecedentedly shut its shop door and hung up a sign saying "Temporarily Closed."

At the Bai Sha River dock, the lights of the east and west lighthouses shone brightly; beneath the lighthouses, a group of red-clad Tiqi soldiers holding torches were constantly running back and forth along the ferry, patrolling.

Previously, huge waves on the Bai Sha River had completely scattered the accompanying official boats of the Mirror Reflection Bureau; these Tiqi soldiers stationed on the shore could now only rely on the dumbest method, using lights as beacons to guide those lost boats to the shore.

However, just as a boat on the river approached the shore, the two lighthouses serving as guiding beacons successively extinguished their lights, and even the torches held by some Tiqi soldiers nearby mysteriously went out.

Those with sharp ears claimed to have heard a faint, crisp sound, as if someone had snapped their fingers, after which the surroundings plunged into darkness.

The soldiers and Tiqi, already terrified, became even more afraid upon hearing this.

They had long heard rumors in the market about the Lamp Ghost; in recent years, the lights on certain streets in Linjiang County would mysteriously go out and reignite from time to time; the locals of Linjiang spoke of this with great caution, and even children on the streets sang nursery rhymes, saying: "When the Lamp Ghost arrives, the King of Hell smiles; one light on and one off means losing a year; ten lights on and ten off means aging ten years."

It was also said: "A pinch of the wick sends up a wisp of blue smoke; borrowing life at the third watch, it vanishes at the fifth; naughty children, do not blow out the candle before you; ten blinks and ten extinguishments age you ten years."

A group of Tiqi dared not breathe a sigh, yet the more they feared something, the more it came.

One or two, disbelieving the superstition, immediately took out their fire flints and relit their torches.

Just at that moment, the eerie snapping sound, mixed with the damp, cold river wind, rang out again.

The torches flickered and danced, and the lighthouses not far away also flared and extinguished.

The leading Zhao Ye Shi immediately decided, shouting: "Everyone throw your torches into the river! Anyone who disobeys will be punished by military law!"

Xu Qing, passing by the riverbank, was quite puzzled; he had merely had a whim, found the Tiqi running back and forth annoying, and snapped his fingers a few times, but he didn't expect these Tiqi to be so cautious and careful that they actually threw their torches into the water.

Clearly, at this moment, Xu Qing had not yet realized that the Light-Kindling Art he casually cast in the past had already affected every aspect of Linjiang County; now, the lords of Linjiang County no longer sang "Night Crying Boy" to stop children from crying; they only needed to mention "The Lamp Ghost is coming," and the children would immediately hide under their quilts, daring not to make a single sound.

Just like that, a miraculous scene appeared at the Linjiang County dock: wherever Xu Qing and Xuan Yu walked, darkness would always fall.

When Xu Qing stepped onto a small boat and stood at the bow with Xuan Yu, walking with his hands behind his back, the merchant boats and fishing boats lit up around them, as well as the official boats not far away that had just found their direction, all merged into the night in clusters.

Xuan Yu asked Xu Qing: "Immortal Xu, doesn't your hand get tired?"

"..."

Xu Qing withdrew his hand, which had been snapping continuously, back into his sleeve.

However, next, Xuan Yu saw Xu Qing take off his shoes and toss them back and forth at the bow of the boat.

There was no other reason; at this moment, Xu Qing truly couldn't find where the tower boat had drifted to.

The small boat sailed south with the current, chasing for thirty or forty li before finding the Mirror Reflection Bureau's tower boat.

Xu Qing boarded the boat again; at this time, there were still some timid boatmen and cooks hiding in the cabin; besides these people, there were also a few loyal eunuchs and Tiqi operating the large ship, searching along the river for the traces of Director Liao.

Without the Director's orders, these people didn't dare to take the initiative to return to the dock; seeing this scene, Xu Qing felt a smile in his heart.

Fortunately, Eunuch Liao managed his troops well; if it had been someone else who managed troops loosely, at this moment, these people would probably have turned the boat around and fled to the shore.

If that were the case, although Xu Qing would still have a way to resolve tonight's matter, it would ultimately be more troublesome.

Jumping onto the deck of the tower boat, with Xuan Yu following closely behind, Xu Qing gave a few instructions; then, the stiff corpse and the cat transformed into ghosts, and in just half a stick of incense time, there was not a single person left walking back and forth on the entire tower boat.

"This sleep-inducing bug is quite useful."

Xu Qing looked at the boatmen and cooks he had knocked unconscious, then at those Xuan Yu had mesmerized with the sleep-inducing bug; in terms of efficiency, the sleep-inducing bug, which knocked people out upon contact, was indeed a bit faster than his violent method of inducing sleep.

On the deck, besides some unimportant people, there was Feng Erye, who slept soundly, and Ji Rui Nian, who had just fallen into unconsciousness. Beside the two out-of-body disciples sat a chicken and a snake, both small creatures snoring away.

Xu Qing let them snore on; he regained control of the river current and steered the pavilion boat toward Jinmen Ferry.

Liao Jinzhang could not die in Linjiang County—otherwise, Linjiang's officials would bear some collateral responsibility.

Xu Qing had no good solution for this; all he could do was minimize the impact of tonight's events on Linjiang County.

In contrast, the chief official of Jinmen Prefecture—that fickle, hypocritical Prefect Wang—Xu Qing had far fewer scruples about.

Since the matter had already blown up, why not add more fuel and warm everyone up a bit!

When the pavilion boat entered Jinmen Ferry, Xu Qing transferred Feng Erye, Ji Rui Nian, and the two little Immortals onto a small boat; as for the others aboard the pavilion boat—

The few trusted eunuchs and imperial guards around Eunuch Liao were granted exclusive funeral services from the Coroner's Shop; the boatmen and servants, still clueless about what had happened, were dumped by Xu Qing at the ferry dock.

After finishing all this, Xu Qing placed a cloth-wrapped iron flower ball on the pavilion boat and left behind a small paper figure clutching a fire-starter, waiting to light it.

Xuan Yu didn't understand; Xu Qing smiled faintly and steered the small boat to twenty li from the river's center.

"Little Immortal Xuan Yu, look up toward the river's center."

At the bow, Xuan Yu widened its eyes, its mouth involuntarily opening.

A thunderous boom echoed—a distant beam of white light unfurled like an umbrella, and multicolored fireworks cascaded like flowing treasure drops, illuminating the entire river.

Aside from the sky's spectacle, the pavilion boat consumed by thunder and fire, the shattered, burning sandalwood eaves, and the swirling ash and embers formed a sight that would shock even a cat.

The explosion's shockwave whipped up waves on the river; Xu Qing stood at the bow, while behind him on the deck lay Feng Erye and Ji Rui Nian, snoring deeply.

"This is the true fire tree and silver flowers—what do you think, Little Immortal Xuan Yu?"

The cat was speechless, but its eyes, filled with the colors of fireworks, said it all.

The next morning, Linjiang County's dock.

Feng Erye had just woken up when he saw a crowd gathered before him.

"You're awake?"

"Huh?" Feng Erye's mind was a blur.

"You and this Mr. were washed ashore by the river yesterday. Luckily, Hu's boy, who rose early to fish, spotted you—if not, when the tide came in, you two would've been swept back into the water."

After saying this, Cai, the foreman of the Corpse Retrieval Team, pointed to the cage hanging on Feng Erye and asked, "Is this your cage? I saw you clutching it tightly—must be something important to you."

Beside him, Hu's boy, whose face was sun-darkened from early fishing, scratched his head earnestly and said, "Come to think of it, it was your cage's chicken that saved you—if it hadn't crowed by the water at dawn, I never would've found you."

"Cage? Crowing?"

Feng Erye looked down at the plump, energetic Great Uncle inside the cage. Nearby, Ji Rui Nian felt the slick sensation inside his sleeve—he lifted his sleeve and peered inside, then his face twisted through shock, joy, confusion, and dread—all emotions surged like a tide, leaving the gentleman Ji utterly speechless for a long while.

In contrast, Feng Erye, upon seeing Great Uncle for the first time, looked up blankly, as if still half-asleep.

Only when he looked down a second time did Feng Erye finally realize.

"Oh my mother! This is a ghost story!"

Feng Erye flung the cage away as if shocked—but some wicked soul had tied the cage firmly to his belt, and no matter how hard he threw it, it wouldn't come off.

"Great Uncle, I'm sorry, I truly am! Don't haunt me! I was forced—I had no choice! It was all others' doing! If you're bitter, I'll burn you plenty of spirit money later, and have someone make a few hens for you too! You know who's to blame—don't come after me!"

Great Uncle flapped his wings vigorously; only when Feng Erye, unable to discard the cage, began sobbing over it, did Great Uncle finally settle.

What madness is this out-of-body disciple indulging in? I'm not even dead yet—why's he crying my funeral?

Great Uncle tilted his head, utterly baffled.

Beside him, Ji Rui Nian helped up the disgraceful Feng Erye, hastily thanked the crowd, and quickly dragged him away from the dock.

"Stop crying! Great Uncle isn't dead!"

"Huh? Not dead? I tasted him myself—he was delicious! How could he not be dead?"

"..."

Ji Rui Nian opened his sleeve—Little Willow Immortal poked its head out.

"I don't understand this either. Looking back, that eunuch must've scared us on purpose. But no matter what, at least Great Uncle and Little Willow Immortal are safe—that's the only blessing in this misfortune."

Feng Erye snapped out of his daze, but now, whenever he met Great Uncle's stupid, cockeyed gaze, he instinctively avoided it—the hidden guilt was impossible to conceal.

"Great Uncle, from now on, eat whatever you want—I'll treat you twice as well from now on."

Great Uncle, hearing this, flapped his wings happily, clucking loudly, thinking he'd truly chosen the right master.

Jingxia Street, Coroner's Shop.

Xuan Yu was overjoyed today—it had clearly chosen right! Xu Immortal had followed the right cat!

The sky was now fully bright; Xu Qing had just planned to enter the morgue to observe the inspiring growth story of a senior eunuch, when a familiar customer arrived.

At the door, Shang Shaoyang limped into the shop—long absent.

Behind him, a noble Young Lady with a typical southern appearance tried to step forward and support him.

"I told you not to touch me! Miss Gu, I'm already a broken man—why do you still cling to me? Do you truly wish to spend your life serving a crippled husband?"

As he spoke, Shang Shaoyang shoved Miss Gu's hand away and sat down on a coffin lid right before Xu Qing.

"Young Master Shang, what are you up to now?"

Shang Shaoyang didn't answer but asked instead: "Xu Shopkeeper, is the grave plot and coffin I ordered from you still valid?"

"What kind of talk is that? Young Master Shang is our iron-voucher member—these posthumous arrangements, anytime, as long as my shop stands, remain valid."

"Good!" Shang Shaoyang turned to Miss Gu: "Did you hear that? I'm just waiting for the day I die and be reborn. A man like me—lazy, idle, waiting to die—why should you still hold on?"

Hearing this, Miss Gu clenched her teeth, her face taut as she stepped up to Xu Qing.

"Give me an iron-voucher too. When you and I die, bury us together—we'll share the same bed in life, the same grave in death!"

Xu Qing frowned at the young couple before him.

So you two came here at dawn to shove love down my throat?

(End of Chapter)