Chapter 574: Sutra Recitation for the Dead

County Magistrate Wu stared at Old Man Li for a while, whether moved by his willingness to spend money on sutra recitation for the dead or because of his friendship with Pan Yun, he finally nodded and agreed: "You may redeem your sentence."

Old Man Li wept.

He immediately turned to make arrangements.

At the hour of Xu, all the bones were transported by cart to the county's mass grave.

The mass grave had many mounds; Magistrate Wu had ordered constables to dig pits during the day.

The original plan had been to bury all the bones on a clear day within these two days.

But since Pan Yun and the others wished to perform sutra recitation for the dead, they chose tonight.

Old Man Li was extremely generous: he took fine plain silk from his own shop and spent a large sum to buy proper bone urns for burial.

A row of more than ten bone urns stood in line; at the very end were two coffins, just delivered by the coffin shop's shopkeeper and apprentices.

They had not left yet.

Since the coffin shop provided bone-gathering and burial services, and Old Man Li bought not only in bulk but also high-quality urns, the package included plenty of incense, candles, and spirit money.

Honestly, after so many years in this trade and having seen countless bones, and often cooperating with the county office, this was their first time burying so many bones at such a late hour.

Watching the Daoist priest standing nearby, the shopkeeper and apprentices felt a chill down their necks.

The constables did not feel cold, only hot.

Carrying bones up and down in the middle of summer—wasn't it hot?

The constables felt the stench had soured; their bodies reeked.

They lowered each set of bones one by one, and as they turned, they couldn't help glancing at Pan Yun and the others standing with hands clasped to the side, muttering inwardly: What a lunatic—who buries anyone at this hour?

Pan Yun stared straight ahead: "Are you silently cursing me?"

The constables immediately snapped their heads forward and resumed moving bones, nervously denying: "No!"

One constable couldn't help asking: "Master Pan, can you read minds?"

"No," Pan Yun said. "But I can detect lies—you just lied."

The constables dared not think ill of her again and quietly finished moving all the bones.

All were bones now; except for the two decayed corpses, for whom special funeral robes and shoes had been prepared, the rest were wrapped only in silk, with a white paper stuck to their feet bearing simple sketches and names.

Magistrate Wu and the County Commandant brought a bundle of wooden plaques: "Ink and brush are ready. These plaques came from the coffin shop—we don't have time to hire someone to write names, so we'll do it ourselves. Let them have plaques so relatives may find them for offerings later."

Their handwriting was no worse than the coffin shop's master's; they took brushes, divided the names, and began writing.

Old Man Li reached out to help, but Pan Yun slapped his hand: "Don't. They'd be upset."

Old Man Li protested: "I provided all this for them—what could they possibly be upset about?"

"Who wants to die if they can live?" Pan Yun said. "If these small favors could buy your death, I'd give you a whole set—even a more luxurious one. Would you go?"

Old Man Li opened his mouth but could not speak.

Young Master Li picked up the brush: "Father, why don't you carry the urns over? Master Wang just said names should be written on the urns too, so we won't misidentify bones later."

"We already have plaques—how could we get it wrong?"

"We still can," Magistrate Wu said softly. "I handled a case where a man coveted the feng shui of a grave mound and tried to move his ancestor's bones. He secretly swapped two wooden plaques."

Everyone: …

"The two families unknowingly made offerings for two years. In the third year, one family felt something was wrong but couldn't figure out why—finally, they sued the county office, demanding the graves be opened and urns inspected. When they opened them, they found Zhang family's ancestral plaque buried under Li family's urn."

Pan Yun blinked in confusion: "He… didn't swap the urns back?"

Magistrate Wu glanced at her: "No."

Pan Yun asked sincerely: "Was his luck bad those two years?"

Magistrate Wu: "Oddly, his luck was quite good—so he became even more convinced the feng shui change helped." Both Pan Yun and Li Wenying were astonished, speaking in unison: "His ancestors had a good temper."

It seemed impossible—had they been in his place, they'd have given that filial son a double beating in their dreams, unless…

"Did they reincarnate?"

Magistrate Wu could not answer such a question.

But writing names on the urns was settled—even though they didn't think anyone would move the plaques.

With many hands, work moved quickly.

Pan Yun finished writing and went to collect the bones, unfolding the silk and placing each set of bones upright in the urn from bottom to top.

It was her first time doing this; she'd only read books, and though the Imperial Academy had taught the subject, there had been no practice—but she remembered exactly where each bone belonged.

Among those present, only she and Li Wenying, plus the coffin shop's shopkeeper, had this ability.

So only the three of them arranged the bones.

Pan Yun carefully placed the skull, confirmed its position, sealed the urn, then draped it with silk.

!

After taking Xiao Hong's bones, seventeen sets remained.

Fifteen urns and two coffins were now carefully placed at the bottom of the pits.

Pan Yun looked up at the stars and moon.

Tonight the moon was tiny as a sprout, but the stars were numerous, forming a river of light.

Li Wenying finished pasting the last talisman, clapped her hands, and climbed out of the pit, glancing at the starry sky and sighing: "It's past Hai hour."

Pan Yun: "Perfect—this is when yin energy grows strongest."

Li Wenying glanced at her: Truly, she loved stirring up trouble.

Old Man Li seemed to sense it too, shivering as he shuffled over: "Master Pan, shall we postpone the sutra recitation until tomorrow? Don't funerals always happen at noon?"

Pan Yun: "Do you know why funerals are held at noon?"

Old Man Li replied as if obvious: "Because it's auspicious."

Pan Yun: "Yes—but auspicious for whom?"

Old Master Li's eyes went wide. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I mean, choosing noon for the funeral procession benefits the living," Pan Yun said. "Do I really have to spell it out? The dead belong to yin, so naturally they prefer nighttime, but—would you dare hold the procession at night?"

Old Master Li's face went deathly pale. He stumbled back two steps, shaking his head again and again, and the government office runners beside him were startled too.

Their bodies were steaming with heat, and they hadn't felt cold at all, but now suddenly they too felt a chill creeping over them.

Pan Yun swept a glance at them and frowned. "Why are you pulling your gall back in for no reason? The baleful aura on you is heavy, and you carry a righteous air of your own—ordinary yin and evil qi can't get near you. You scared yourselves, tucked your gall away, and look—now yin qi has wrapped itself around you, hasn't it?"

The government office runners' eyes went wide. Just as they were about to ask what to do, Pan Yun had already given each of them a slap on the shoulder. The force was tremendous, leaving their arms numb and a fire flaring up in their hearts.

Pan Yun nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. Just like that. Keep it up."

The government office runners: …

Old Master Li immediately sidled up. "Daoist Master Pan, give me a slap too."

Such a request was rare—how could Pan Yun refuse?

One slap, and she sent Old Master Li sprawling to the ground.

Li Wenying urged her on. "Stop playing around, come help out."

"Oh." Pan Yun immediately sobered up and trotted over eagerly.

(End of chapter)