Chapter 331

"After enshrinement, the wake and the opening of the funeral must last seven days..."

"This time there is no need to choose a location; the funeral and burial will take two days..."

In the small courtyard, Wang Daoxuan was eating breakfast while explaining to everyone.

"These matters can be arranged under my direction. The Shen family will provide the people; you don't need to exert any effort, which is just right for you to investigate in secret."

"On the way here, I already observed that the water veins of Liang Zihu are vast, surrounded by mountains; it is a place of excellent feng shui, and there are many hidden places."

"After the funeral is over, even if we don't find clues, we can find a place to live in seclusion, rest, and practice with firearms."

"The Daoist's words are very true."

Li Yan also nodded in agreement: "Later, Brother Lu San and Wu Ba will come with me; we'll just say we're going to enjoy the mountains and water nearby. Uncle Sha, you stay behind to protect the Daoist and, while you're at it, inquire about intelligence from the villagers."

With the increase in their team members, they could act more freely, separate, and combine personnel according to different situations.

For example, for this funeral, Wang Daoxuan was the most skilled, and Sha Lifei could both help and communicate relationships, and there was no danger in the village.

If it were wilderness exploration, Sha Lifei's long-range sniping, combined with Lu San, could also handle most situations.

As for Li Yan, who had the strongest combat power, he would act as needed.

And the reason for bringing Wu Ba was because Li Yan was still not at ease with him, fearing that if he didn't see Lu San, the other party would panic and go mad.

After making arrangements, Li Yan took Lu San and Wu Ba, made up a random excuse, bid farewell to Young Master Shen, and arrived at the village ferry.

Beside the ferry, several flat-bottomed fishing boats were moored.

"My lord, it's this one."

The servant sent by the Shen family hurriedly stepped forward and untied the cable tied to the wooden stake: "This boat belongs to my Shen family; we usually use it to clean up and catch river shrimp. You can use it as you please."

Longquan Mountain is to the north of Liang Zihu; if you go by land, you have to climb mountains and ridges for a long time, so the best way is to take a boat.

Because it was a secret investigation, it wasn't good to bring people along.

"Many thanks."

Li Yan smiled and nodded: "The scenery of Liang Zihu is quite beautiful; we will go around and have a look, and perhaps we will camp in the wilderness and won't go back for a few days. Please explain this to Young Master Shen."

"Li Li Shaoxia is too polite."

The servant was about to turn around, but hesitated and turned his head again: "Li Li Shaoxia is a master; I shouldn't have talked too much, but you are not familiar with this place after all, so there are some things you should know."

Li Yan became interested: "Is there danger here?"

The servant replied: "This Liang Zihu covers more than 700,000 mu, and the water area is vast. Since ancient times, many kiln sites have been built around the mountains."

"Some kiln sites belong to the Miao people and are close to the Miao villages. They don't like outsiders to get close, and I heard they also use Gu..."

"Also, there are three taboos in Liang Zihu that you must pay attention to."

"First, on rainy and thundery days, never go into the water. Legend has it that a long time ago, Liang Zihu was still land, and there was a Gaotang County. Later, there was a heavy downpour, the earth dragon turned over, and it directly turned into a lake of ten thousand mu."

"So some villagers say that on rainy days, countless wronged souls at the bottom of the lake will float to the surface to hook people. I don't know if this is true or not, but we have been told since we were young not to go into the water on rainy days..."

"Second, the old kiln sites in the mountains; this place has been burning kilns since the Qin and Han dynasties, and some have been abandoned and often have strange things happen. Never get close at night..."

"This third one is the Gu jar. I heard it was placed by the Gu grandmother of the Miao village; sometimes it's in the water, and sometimes it's on the wild paths in the mountains. If you run into it, stay far away to avoid being hit..."

Li Yan frowned after listening: "So many things, didn't the county magistrate report it to handle it?"

The servant replied: "Monks have been here before, but after turning around a few times, they said there was no problem with Liang Zihu."

"They did seal a few old kiln sites, performed some rituals outside, and I don't know what they said to the people in the Miao village."

"Since then, there have been fewer Gu jars, but sometimes you still run into them. In short, Li Li Shaoxia, be careful."

"Got it, many thanks."

Li Yan bowed and then jumped onto the wooden boat.

This wooden boat was not large, about five meters long, and more than enough to accommodate three people.

After seeing the servant leave, Li Yan rowed the boat and slowly sailed away from the shore.

Since entering Ezhou, they had traveled by water for most of the time.

Li Yan's martial arts had already entered the Hua Jin realm, and he had extremely precise control over force; he played with it a few times on the road and had already learned how to steer the boat.

Although it was a bit shaky, the speed was extremely fast.

This was hard for the savage Wu Ba, who lay flat in the cabin, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the boat, screaming wildly, fearing he would fall out.

The fear of water seemed to have been carved into his bones.

Li Yan shook his head slightly and looked at Lu San: "Brother Lu San, summon a school of fish to investigate and see what's at the bottom of the lake."

Lu San didn't talk nonsense, pinched the magic formula, leaned his body out of the edge of the boat, and kept splashing water on the surface.

Soon, schools of fish from all directions gathered.

But when they got close to the wooden boat, they seemed to be frightened by something and suddenly scattered, with no movement at all.

Li Yan frowned: "What's wrong?"

Lu San was thoughtful and looked at the surrounding water surface: "This place already has an owner; the fish and shrimp won't listen to my orders. Continuing to summon them is just a provocation, and I'm afraid I'll be retaliated against."

Upon hearing this, Li Yan hurriedly pinched the magic formula and took a deep breath.

In an instant, the smell within three hundred meters surged into his nasal cavity.

But except for the smell of water, there was only the fishy smell of some fish and shrimp, without any sinister energy, and the bottom of the water was also full of the muddy smell of silt.

"This water is quite deep."

Li Yan was a bit surprised; the water under Liang Zihu was as deep as a hundred meters, and this was not even the center of the lake; the further in you went, the deeper it got.

The olfactory supernatural power would be hindered by soil and water vapor, and a hundred meters was his limit. After sailing for a while, he couldn't smell what was below.

Thinking of this, Li Yan asked again: "What could it be?"

Lu San replied: "Nothing more than some fish monsters, water demons, or water ghosts, occupying a side and treating this place as their territory."

Li Yan shook his head: "If that's the case, don't provoke them; let's prioritize the important business."

Saying this, he exerted force on his hands, and the small boat accelerated, heading toward the northern water area...

"Have all those families been notified?"

"Back to Young Master, I didn't have time, and besides, our Shen family is in trouble, others might avoid us..."

"How they act is their business; the proper etiquette cannot be broken. The more it is like this, the more particular we must be. Send people to report the funeral; not a single family can be left out..."

"Has the compensation for the villagers been issued?"

"Back to Young Master, half has already been issued, but the second master and third master are arguing, not letting us touch the treasury silver."

"Take the Black Cloud Guards and go; tell them this is my father's funeral. If they cause trouble again, don't blame me for being heartless!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

In the main hall of the Shen residence, Shen Jinghong frowned.

In the Divine Land, weddings and funerals are major events in life for everyone, from royal clans to common people, and cannot be handled carelessly.

This is ritual, and it is also a norm.

Some people think it's cumbersome, but they don't know the deep meaning behind it.

It is precisely because of these "rituals" that the country and society can operate smoothly. Once the "rituals and music collapse," it is a time of chaos and turmoil.

Precisely because of this, throughout the dynasties, the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism have been fighting each other, all to seize the power to set the rules.

The funeral of the common people is the same.

It seems like just burying the ancestors, but family, neighbors, colleagues, business partners... as long as there is an intersection, they will all gather because of this matter.

What to do, how to speak, all have their own requirements.

If a small family messes around, at most they will be pointed at behind their backs by villagers, but if a large family doesn't do it properly, it might be the beginning of decline.

After arranging everything, Shen Jinghong looked at Wang Daoxuan beside him: "Daoist, do you see any loopholes?"

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and said: "Young Master Shen's arrangements are very thorough, except that the time for keeping the coffin is a bit long, a full seven days. The weather is hot now, and I'm afraid your father's corpse won't be able to hold up." There are rules for the time of keeping the coffin, usually odd numbers, three, five, or seven days.

Shen Jinghong was also a bit helpless: "Since we want to hold a grand funeral, we must keep it for seven days, and we have to wait for some people from the Chamber of Commerce to come and pay their respects; this matter concerns whether our Shen family can turn things around later."

Wang Daoxuan pondered for a moment: "If so, I will perform a ritual every night and stick Snow Mountain Talismans on the coffin, which should be able to hold up until the burial."

"Many thanks, Daoist Wang."

Shen Jinghong bowed in thanks and discussed the burial arrangements with Wang Daoxuan...

On the slope beside the mansion, Sha Lifei gathered beside the stove, chatting with the carpenters who came to help while eating small dishes and drinking old wine.

This is also a rule; when carpenters come to work, the host usually treats them well, first to thank them, and second to avoid them being dissatisfied and messing around.

The wine and dishes were not high-end goods, just rice wine brewed by the villagers themselves, paired with river fish and river shrimp caught in Liang Zihu, which was enough to make the carpenters enjoy themselves.

Sha Lifei was eloquent and soon became one with the craftsmen.

After three rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became more harmonious.

!.

Sha Lifei toasted them again and laughed: "You all work everywhere in Jiangxia and are well-informed; have you ever seen any strange news or monsters?"

"Hi, I've seen plenty."

One of them liked to brag and immediately said upon hearing this: "Although Jiangxia is not big, there aren't many people in the yamen, and some places are very closed off; when something happens, it's all handled by clan rules."

"A few years ago, a village in our district was building a house, and the ridgepole couldn't be lifted no matter what; splashing chicken blood didn't work either. As a result, in the middle of the night, the whole family of more than a dozen people hanged themselves. That scene, tsk tsk..."

"Shut your mouth."

An old carpenter laughed and scolded: "They are specifically here to handle these things; don't they know more than you? Don't make a fool of yourself..."

Sha Lifei was amused: "Old man, you're joking; we're also just making a living. What I'm interested in is, are there any rare monsters in Jiangxia?"

The old carpenter shook his head: "What could there be? Nothing more than wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards; as long as you don't drill into the mountains, it's basically fine."

The man who was retorted was a bit unconvinced: "Who says there aren't?"

"Oh?"

Sha Lifei became interested upon hearing this and hurriedly poured wine: "Old brother, tell me about it."

The man hesitated at first, but with the alcohol kicking in and being watched by everyone, he whispered: "You must never talk about this matter randomly."

"A while ago, I took a job in Baihewan to make a dozen coffins temporarily, and I ran into a tricky matter."

The old carpenter next to him sneered: "How rare can it be? A while ago, demonic people caused chaos, and many people died; there weren't enough coffins in the county, and everyone here has taken on a lot of work."

"I've made at least twenty thin-skinned coffins..."

"What do you know?!"

The man's face turned red, and he stared: "The dead in the coffins, I saw them; it wasn't a knife wound at all, but they were bitten by wild beasts."

"There were a few corpses whose half bodies were bitten away; I used wood to patch them, and I did it with my own hands."

"I also saw a tooth mark; one tooth was as thick as a fist, and I don't know what kind of thing bit it."

"Damn it, it's scary just thinking about it..."

"Baihewan?"

Sha Lifei was thoughtful: "Where is that village?"

The man replied: "It's just to the north of Liang Zihu..."

Just as he was speaking, a commotion suddenly came from the courtyard.

Sha Lifei frowned and hurriedly stood up to enter the Shen family mansion.

The carpenters also wanted to join in the fun, but were stopped by the Shen family servants.

Sha Lifei quickly arrived at the side courtyard, only to see the Shen family swordsmen surrounding the courtyard where the second and third branches lived, forbidding them from going out.

The people of the second and third branches were also cursing loudly.

"Where did you get the guts?!"

"Let that little bastard come out and see us!"

"That's right, what qualifications does he have to make decisions?"

Sha Lifei listened from the side and knew the cause.

It was that Shen Jinghong was holding a funeral and wanted to use the silver in the treasury; these people were anxious and wanted to stop it, but were blocked in the courtyard.

"A bunch of idiots..."

Sha Lifei cursed inwardly, his face full of mockery.

These guys hadn't figured out the situation yet; although Shen Jinghong was weak, if a scholar was forced into a corner and played dirty, he would be merciless.

When the old butler sent compensation this morning, he had already pushed the reason for the delay entirely onto these two branches, and he had already won over the hearts of the people...

Those sent to report the funeral would also cry and complain about this matter.

These two families were not in the right to begin with, and now even the old lady didn't want to pay attention to them; I'm afraid that as soon as the funeral is over, they will be kicked out.

Shen Jinghong could even get a good reputation.

If they had tried their best to help, they might have been able to get some silver, but now that they were causing trouble, I'm afraid they wouldn't get a single copper coin...

Sure enough, the Shen family swordsmen clearly had orders; seeing someone trying to force their way out, they were merciless and beat them back directly.

The old butler also came upon hearing the sound and said coldly: "The old lady has ordered, whoever dares to cause trouble again, pack your bags and get out now!"

Hearing the old lady speak, the people of the second and third branches immediately lost their arrogance and had to suppress their anger and go back.

After returning to the room, the fat and thin old men were both furious, but since that incident last night, the Shen family old lady no longer saw them.

Even if they wanted to make trouble, they had nowhere to exert their strength.

Just at this moment, Shen Jingcan's eyes rolled, and he suddenly said: "Father, Third Uncle, that kid Shen Jinghong is sincerely forcing us into a dead end; if we keep making trouble, we won't get any good."

"We must find a way out."

"Where is the way out?"

"That treasure of the eldest uncle, Shen Jinghong doesn't want it, right? Instead of entangling here, why don't we go find it."

"If we find it, do we still need to suffer this anger?"

On the other side, seeing that there was no more fun to watch, Sha Lifei also returned to the room, took a pen, wrote a note, and stuffed it into a bamboo tube.

To facilitate sending messages, the falcon was still left at the Shen residence.

After Sha Lifei tied the bamboo tube, the falcon suddenly soared into the sky, circled a few times over the lake, and headed north.

On the north bank of Liang Zihu, Li Yan and the other two had just gone ashore and disembarked.

Seeing the falcon land, Lu San hurriedly raised his arm to catch it, then took off the bamboo tube and handed it to Li Yan.

"Baihewan?"

After reading it, Li Yan nodded: "Just right, while it's not dark yet, let's go nearby and inquire."

Upon hearing this, Lu San released the falcon again.

Sha Lifei's power on that side was relatively weak, so the falcon had to be left at the Shen residence; once something happened, they could be notified in time.

They dragged the boat ashore, covered it well with branches, and walked along the riverbank and mountain forest, preparing to find someone to ask for directions first.

However, not long after walking, the savage Wu Ba suddenly shook his whole body, lowered his body, and growled at the mountain forest.

Li Yan hurriedly pinched the magic formula and took a deep sniff.

"Be careful, there are wild beasts."

As soon as the words fell, he saw a black shadow appear in the dark part of the forest in the distance, blurry and unable to see its appearance, waving at them gently...

(End of chapter)