Chapter 263

In the incense hall, white smoke curled, and the Protecting Life Goddess lowered her head; under the drum tablet in the hall, the little girl, hugging her knees, curled up into a tiny ball, looking exactly like a little kitten that had lost its mother's love.

When in the mortuary shop, Xu Qing couldn't help the child because she didn't know anything; she only knew her father didn't want her and her mother was gone, and as for everything else, including where her home was, she knew nothing at all.

Xu Qing couldn't report it to the authorities, because this matter couldn't be reported to the authorities.

The living have the laws of the living, and the dead have the rules of the dead; it is nothing more than this.

The little girl seemed to feel something; she looked up in confusion at the statue on the altar, and when she saw the gaze cast by the Protecting Life Goddess, the little girl rubbed her eyes hard, thinking she was hallucinating.

But when she opened her eyes again, the statue on the altar had returned to its original state; the little girl was anxious and ran to the side of a worshiper who was making a wish, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly.

Xu Qing heard the other party mumbling words like "The Protecting Life Goddess has manifested, the Protecting Life Goddess has manifested!"

This little girl...

Xu Qing didn't manifest, because a bear child with a topknot came running in, panting, at the entrance of the hall.

This little brat was holding a wild rabbit with a round belly in his arms, but the rabbit's leg had been injured by a hunter's trap and it could no longer run normally.

The nanny responsible for taking care of Chen Liuer smiled and said: "This child is kind-hearted; seeing the hunter about to take this rabbit away, he insisted on saving it. The hunter wasn't very willing at first, so I planned to give him some small change to buy the rabbit."

"But who would have thought that when the hunter heard the young master and I were going to the temple to worship the Protecting Life Goddess, he refused to take the money and even handed the rabbit over to the young master."

Sister Jin asked curiously: "Why is that?"

The nanny explained: "Master, you don't know, it turns out that rabbit is a female, and the reason its belly is so round is that it is pregnant with a litter of little rabbits! The hunter, thinking of the Protecting Life Temple's protection of mother and child, felt he had almost committed a sin, so he let the young master and me bring this mother rabbit back."

"Liuer is so good." Sister Jin touched Chen Liuer's head, her gaze kind: "Go put it behind the hall; in a while, the Protecting Life Goddess will manifest, send an immortal messenger to heal its wounds, and send it back to the forest..."

Hearing Sister Jin praise Chen Liuer for being good, the little girl kneeling before the incense table subconsciously turned her head to look; when she realized the other party wasn't calling her, she withdrew her gaze.

Chen Liuer, holding the mother rabbit, first greeted the little girl kneeling before the incense hall; seeing the latter was lost in a daze and unwilling to follow him, Chen Liuer went to the back of the hall happily by himself.

In front of the hall, Sister Jin and the nanny taking care of Chen Liuer were chatting.

Behind the hall, Chen Liuer familiarly placed the injured rabbit on the dharma altar; the child stood on tiptoe, stroked the wild rabbit, muttered a few heartwarming words, and then skipped off to play with "Guai-Guai."

At this moment, in front of the dharma altar, the white snake coiled under the altar table slithered out.

Willow Immortals are good at medicine and have divine medicine in their bellies; Bai Xiaoxian is the same. It opened its snake mouth, and a crimson berry hidden in its body was spat out.

A Willow Immortal with cultivation has a space within its body that can store many things; besides the crimson berry, Bai Xiaoxian's belly also hid many treasures.

The mother rabbit took the berry, and its wound healed visibly to the naked eye, but it still didn't dare to leave without permission.

Bai Xiaoxian said irritably: "Go, go! If it weren't for the fact that you are pregnant, this immortal would have swallowed you in one bite!"

A snake saving a rabbit is simply against the natural order, but who let it be an immortal of the Protecting Life Temple now.

The pregnant mother rabbit, carrying a "get out of jail free" card, ran out of the Protecting Life Temple as if granted amnesty.

In the mortuary shop, Xu Qing's consciousness withdrew from the Blood Lake Dharma Realm, and at the same time, a sound rang out at the shop entrance.

"Which of you is the shopkeeper here?"

The voice was a crisp female tone; just hearing the sound, one knew it wasn't something an ordinary woman could produce. Which young lady or little wife from a normal family would have such heroic spirit?

Xu Qing looked up and saw three women storming into the shop. These three women were all dressed in red clothes and red trousers, wrapped in red headscarves, with bright silver knives stuck in their backs, and their trouser legs tied with straps—they were clearly not people to be trifled with!

The leading woman was not the tallest, but had the most imposing manner. She had a cinnabar dot between her eyebrows, and her first look wasn't at Xu Qing, but at Shang Shaoyang, who was cooling off on the grand armchair.

In contrast, Xu Qing, who was holding his post at the counter, looked more like the shop's accountant.

Shang Shaoyang reached for his sword and sized up the red-clad woman: "Red Clothes Cult rebels?"

"Who is a rebel!" Beside the leading woman, a woman with a frame like a strong man spoke: "Our Red Lotus Holy Aunt is the descent of the Heavenly Palace Mother, upholding the Heavenly Way, wanting to overthrow the dog emperor's empire and support the True Dragon to relieve the common people. If you want to talk about rebels, it should be the dog emperor who killed his brother and murdered the loyal!"

Shang Shaoyang raised an eyebrow; you have to say, what the other party said had some truth to it.

"True Dragon? Who is the True Dragon?" Shang Shaoyang asked.

"The Holy Aunt asked the heavens for divination, predicting the True Dragon is in the wild; anyway, killing the dog emperor first is never wrong!"

The leading woman raised her hand to interrupt her subordinate and said: "We didn't come here for matters of state, but only to let our former brothers and sisters be laid to rest..."

As soon as Xu Qing heard this, he immediately stood up.

It's so hot today, where are the bodies? What? They haven't been transported over yet? Is this how you treat your brothers and sisters? Quick, send them over immediately, or the bodies will start to smell!

The three Red Clothes disciples looked at each other, momentarily confused by Xu Qing, who had taken charge of the situation.

"Aren't you afraid we are rebels?" The leading woman couldn't help but ask.

Xu Qing asked in return: "Then are you rebels?"

"..."

"That's different. Our Red Clothes Cult is wanted by the government; aren't you afraid of being implicated?"

"Bah! What's the big deal?" Xu Qing said: "When two countries are at war, the bodies of those who died on the battlefield still have to be buried by each other; this is a rule passed down by our ancestors. If no one takes care of these bodies, what if a plague breaks out?"

Xu Qing said earnestly: "After a great war, there must be a great plague, and after a great plague, there is even greater famine; these words aren't just for show. I am a funeral master; I don't understand great benevolence and righteousness, I only know that bodies cannot be left exposed in the wilderness. Not to mention your bodies, even if they were the government's bodies, I would bury them just the same."

"Sir has great righteousness, why not join our Red Clothes Cult and overthrow this dark..."

"..."

Xu Qing flatly refused.

He just wanted to collect bodies where he was; he didn't want to run around rebelling.

When these Red Clothes disciples paid the deposit and were about to leave, Xu Qing suddenly remembered something and asked: "Why didn't you go to the funeral parlor to handle the funeral arrangements?"

The leading woman explained: "The funeral parlor has too many people and loose lips. We only went twice, and it was passed to the ears of the government troops. Now, the people of the Martial Court are guarding outside day and night, so we had to look elsewhere. In Linjiang County, besides the funeral parlor, there is only this funeral business on Jingxia Street, and there really is nowhere else to go..."

Xu Qing understood. After the Red Clothes Cult disciples left, Shang Shaoyang sighed: "It is said that the Red Clothes Cult has a Red Clothes Women's Army, personally led by the Red Lotus Holy Aunt, and the women in it are all heroic and spirited; now it seems it really lives up to its reputation."

"Why, does Brother Shang want to join the Red Clothes Cult?"

Shang Shaoyang just wanted to refute, but when the words reached his lips, he suddenly changed his tone: "It's not impossible."

Xu Qing looked at Shang Shaoyang's eager appearance and always had a bad premonition; this second-generation heir wouldn't have his true nature resurface again, would he?

For the next two days, Shang Shaoyang brought his little native dog to Xu Qing's place to cool off every day. The key was that he used to cool off at noon, but now he started early in the morning, and every time he wouldn't leave until dusk.

Xu Qing didn't know what the other party was planning, until the third day, when the Red Clothes Cult sent thirteen bodies at once, all with tragic appearances and wrapped in lime powder.

However, even with lime powder to prevent moisture and kill bacteria, these bodies already had an odor.

In the midsummer season, it is very difficult for ordinary people to preserve bodies for a long time; the only way is to bury them as soon as possible.

However, Xu Qing didn't mind. In front of those Red Clothes disciples, he performed mortuary makeup and dressing for these bodies, putting on burial clothes.

Seeing Xu Qing treating them seriously and not showing any disgust, the leading red-clad woman's tense face couldn't help but relax.

"My name is Xie Hongying; Hongying will keep the kindness of Shopkeeper Xu's help in mind."