Chapter 143

'Zan' means a ladle.

'Ju' means a pendant.

Both characters originally had the 'jade' radical on the side, which was later simplified to the 'king' radical.

The jade craftsmen of Zanju Town were famous for their exquisite carving skills. Relying on a high-quality jade mineral vein, the jade wares of Zanju Town were widely loved by royalty, nobles, merchants, and scholars, making it a gold-lettered signboard.

Besides high-end jade, the stone carvings here were also quite famous. However, in modern times, most of the skilled old craftsmen in Zanju Town died in the wars, many old-brand signboards lost their inheritance, and the raw stones produced in the mines lost their quality. Zanju Town thus slowly declined, becoming an ordinary, obscure township.

After the millennium, due to the southward shift of the economic center and the fact that Taoyuan City began to siphon off the population of surrounding towns, the population of the already declining Zanju Town became increasingly sparse. Until the last old person died in their old house a few years ago, Zanju Town was completely deserted, becoming a 'Ghost Town' famous far and wide.

It could be considered a way of gaining fame again in a different way.

"Although no one lives in the town, the carvings left by the stonemasons back then are still there. Look at this." Duan Geng clicked on a streamer's homepage and used keywords to search for a video posted last August.

Opening the video, the scene showed a small courtyard overgrown with weeds. Weathered stone carvings were scattered on the ground; some were hands, some were feet, and several Buddha heads covered in fleshy growths were leaning against the base of the wall, with fresh buds sprouting from their ears. A severed hand of a Bodhisattva was making a gesture on the steps not far away.

A female streamer in a low-cut outfit held a selfie stick and walked tremblingly through the desolate courtyard. On the ground, a Vajra glared with rage; on the wall, a Bodhisattva lowered their brows. The frightened, glamorous streamer swayed, her chest trembling. Several ferocious Buddha heads, eroded beyond recognition by wind and rain, lay half-hidden in the weeds, their fierce expressions fully exposed.

"In the early years, almost every household in Zanju Town was a stonemason. Every house was piled with many semi-finished stone carvings like these that hadn't been sold or couldn't be moved in time. Now, in the deserted town, only these human-like yet non-human dead objects remain, which actually has a unique atmosphere."

Duan Geng closed the video and said 'Goodness': "After the internet era, this place became a famous influencer check-in spot. Many streamers specifically choose times like the Ghost Festival or Qingming Festival to come here for exploration and mystery solving."

The field assistant nodded, lost in thought.

The Daoist priest scrolled down his follow list to the bottom, a long list of at least a hundred people.

"Look, little brother, what do all these streamers I follow have in common?" Duan Geng asked.

The field assistant thought for a moment and replied: "They are all female streamers with large chests."

"Exactly... no." Duan Geng twirled his prayer beads and silently recited a 'sin', explaining: "Admittedly, these female benefactors do have broad minds, but the reason I follow them is that these streamers have one thing in common—they have all entered Zanju Town."

"Perhaps these attention-seeking streamers specifically choose times like the Ghost Festival to enter Zanju Town to gain traffic, which disturbs the vengeful spirits in the town, causing the ghost Qi in the north of the Jade Urn to be eerie, even affecting the Feng Shui of the Hanging Lake."

Duan Geng put away his phone, shook his prayer beads, flicked his horsetail whisk, and with a solemn and dignified expression, said clearly and roundly: "When I find an auspicious day, I will take a trip to Zanju Town to liberate the vengeful spirits wandering in the human world. It will be a meritorious deed—Amen."

"Amen." The field assistant followed suit and pressed his hands together, unable to tell for a moment whether this Daoist priest was a high monk or a priest.

Hopefully, he wouldn't be interested in little boys.

Today's terrain survey ended early due to the weather. The company field staff assisting the Daoist priest were happy to get off work early and went home to rest. Those with younger siblings at home were concerned about the Gaokao situation today. Duan Geng returned to his temporary hotel room alone, took out his phone, and was burdened with worries.

As a number was dialed, a phone rang halfway up Chuyun Mountain in Yunzhou.

A gentle-looking, elegant young man in a pure black Zhongshan suit with the buttons done up meticulously to the collar answered the phone and asked casually: "Is there something you need, Daoist Priest? Or are you just calling to chat?"

"I wouldn't visit the temple without a reason; I naturally have something to discuss. I just don't know if Brother Wen is available right now." Duan Geng went to the window and watched the rain outside getting heavier.

"I am available now, but I won't be for long." Seeing Lan Shiwen on the other end of the phone said while walking up the winding stone path, followed by a dozen armed personnel in tactical goggles with strict discipline.

A small temple enshrining the statues of the Three Immortals was not far ahead. The path Seeing Lan Shiwen was walking on was clearly the one leading to the Juxian Garden on Chuyun Mountain.

"I'm taking people to Juxian Garden. The Yin family still has some ancestral property that hasn't been cleared out, but I'm still on the way. If you have something to say, Daoist Priest, you can ask directly." Seeing Lan Shiwen said casually: "There are no outsiders with me right now."

"I need to find Fen Wu." Duan Geng heard this and got straight to the point:

"I discovered some situations in a place called Taoyuan City in Qinzhou Prefecture and wanted to confirm them with Senior Fen Wu, but this person has always been elusive, coming without a shadow and leaving without a trace... Perhaps you can contact him." "Perhaps it's 'her', who knows." Seeing Lan Shiwen laughed: "To be honest, Daoist Priest, although I have had a little contact with Fen Wu, in fact, I don't even know if this person is a man or a woman. As for whether they are old or young, fat or thin... I have no idea at all."

The implication was that Fen Wu's whereabouts were extremely mysterious; Seeing Lan Shiwen wasn't even sure of their gender or age, let alone how to contact them.

"Does Brother Wen have any other ways to try and contact Fen Wu?" Duan Geng asked persistently.

Seeing Lan Shiwen shook his head: "No, but you can try asking Tu Yu. He went to Qinzhou a while ago; perhaps he still has contact with Fen Wu."

"Alright, thank you, Brother Wen." Duan Geng had no choice but to give up.

"You're welcome. Also, Daoist Priest, it's best if you don't call me 'Wen-chest' anymore."

"What does Brother Wen mean by that?"

"F*** your mother."

Seeing Lan Shiwen hung up the phone in a rage, took the SIM card out of the slot, snapped it in half, and tossed it into the trash can behind the Three Immortals temple.

"Juxian Garden is right ahead, let's go."

Taking out his keys, Seeing Lan Shiwen led his men into Juxian Garden through the side door. These people were death squads assigned to him by the Yunzhou side. When a strange event occurred in a certain place and there happened to be no trusted Ascenders who could arrive quickly, these were the first batch of people to risk their lives.

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Either they die in the strange event, a death notice is sent home, and their life becomes a dependent's benefit for their family, or they crack the rules and become Ascenders, from then on rising in the world and receiving attention from all sides.

After the era of the great families ended, many of the Ascenders born in the new century had once been such death squads.

Seeing Lan Shiwen led a dozen death squads into Juxian Garden, passing through the side door, inner hall, and arriving at the lush bamboo-covered courtyard without any surprises or dangers. The sky in the garden was dim and gloomy, and a small, crystal-clear pond appeared before their eyes.

"Prepare to enter the water." Seeing Lan Shiwen said softly.

As the words fell, the death squads beside him took off their outer clothes, revealing the one-piece swimsuits underneath. Clearly, they were well-prepared.

Under Seeing Lan Shiwen's gaze, the group did 10 minutes of thorough warm-up exercises on the shore before entering the water one after another.

"Not dead, looks like luck is good." Seeing Lan Shiwen's gaze was fixed on the death squads as they entered the pond and cautiously swam toward the center, his eyes not blinking.

There existed one or more unknown rules in Juxian Garden. When he previously came with Master Yeyao, Seeing Lan Shiwen had witnessed at least 3 sudden deaths of Master Yeyao. This time, he had already prepared for all dozen death squads to die.

But unexpectedly, they swam smoothly to the center of the pond, dived into the water smoothly to find the remaining Second-Rank treasure coffin, and smoothly dragged the 【Longevity Black Coffin】 wrapped in iron chains onto the shore.

—Master Yeyao had once warned that the 'Fortune' red coffin must not be touched; Seeing Lan Shiwen repeated his original words.

Watching several death squads work together to drag the heavy Longevity Black Coffin to the shore, Seeing Lan Shiwen couldn't help but frown: "Not a single one died? How is that possible?"

Last time, when he and Master Yeyao explored this place together, they had nearly lost their lives. This time, bringing a group of mortal death squads, they had actually pulled up the Longevity Black Coffin so smoothly. How could this be possible?

How could it be so smooth?

Seeing Lan Shiwen's expression turned gloomy, and he said in a deep voice: "Open the coffin right here."

The death squads said nothing and did not hesitate. They quickly found a handheld cutter from the toolbox placed next to their clothes, skillfully cut the iron chains wrapped around the coffin, and used a claw hammer to pull out the coffin nails nailed around the lid one by one. After doing this, 4 people worked together, and accompanied by a sour groan of wood, the coffin lid was lifted.

The pitch-black coffin lid was lifted to the side by several death squads and placed flat on the ground by the shore.

Seeing Lan Shiwen stepped forward, staring at the newly opened coffin, his already gloomy expression suddenly becoming even heavier:

"The Longevity Black Coffin is empty."

(End of Chapter)