Chapter 103

The Bai Family is huge and prosperous, not something a Dang Pu can compare to.

Bái Jiā Yīguǎn was closed for seven days, and the doors and windows on the clinic's side were tightly shut.

White silk hung everywhere inside and outside the residence, and eight white lanterns hung beneath the front porch.

At the gate, people specially assigned to guide mourning guests stood; they took the offerings, asked about the visitors' backgrounds, then shouted toward the rear main courtyard: 'The Xiao Jiu Zhanggui of Wufu Town Pawnshop has come to pay respects!'

The memorial hall was set up in the main house, while the altar was set up on the west side of the main courtyard, with two-tiered tables constructed; on the upper table stood an offering table bearing offerings and various ritual implements.

A barefoot big monk sat cross-legged before the offering table, while on the second tier, all those sitting cross-legged in a circle were members of the Bai Family.

These Bai Family members were certainly not randomly selected; they all possessed cultivation.

I took a close look at that big monk.

Indeed, as Li Qingying had described, he had a fat head and big ears, with a somewhat fierce appearance.

But today around his neck he wore a string of eighteen arhat beads, not the egg-sized skull-shaped beads Li Qingying had mentioned.

When I entered, he was still sitting with eyes closed, tapping the wooden fish and chanting sutras.

As I approached the altar, he suddenly opened his eyes and stared straight at me.

Even though the Bai Family's residence was brightly lit at this moment, a canopy had been set up over the altar area, with red and green banners hanging everywhere, and all the illumination relied solely on that everlasting lamp on the offering table.

So when that evil monk opened his eyes and looked at me, I saw his pair of eyes reflecting a dark green light in the dim glow of the everlasting lamp.

That state instantly reminded me of a cat lurking in the grass at night.

Yes, the evil monk's eyes were exactly like a pair of cat pupils!

But this feeling was fleeting; the evil monk's eyes quickly returned to normal.

He then closed his eyes again and focused on chanting sutras.

I was led by Bai Family members to the memorial hall.

Granny Bai's coffin was placed on two long benches in the main hall, with an everlasting lamp set beneath it.

At one end of the coffin stood Granny Bai's portrait, before which a bowl of uncooked rice was offered.

Below and around it were piled paper money, gold ingots, and so on.

Wreaths, paper effigies of people and horses, and the like were all standing under the eaves of the main courtyard.

Bai Jingmo knelt before the coffin, paused his burning of paper money, lifted his face to look at me, and said, "Xiao Jiu, you've come."

I nodded and said, "Please accept my condolences."

Bai Jingmo's eyes were red from weeping, and his knees, from kneeling for so long, were quite dirty.

He nodded at me, then took a stack from the paper money I had brought, threw it into the brazier, and let it burn slowly.

According to custom, I knelt and kowtowed three times before Granny Bai's coffin.

As a family member, Bai Jingmo also returned three kowtows.

Having done that, I turned and left the Bai household.

I don't know if it was psychological, but although nothing had actually happened, on the way back I constantly felt something following me behind, its sharp gaze fixed on me.

That night, I was uneasy, and Li Qingying also felt inexplicably anxious.

Just after ten o'clock, we closed the Dang Pu's door.

Even the small street-facing door of Nan Shu Fang was shut.

After each washed up, Li Qingying came to my room to talk; neither of us wanted to sleep.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

But unexpectedly, the night passed in calm tranquility.

The next day, even more people came to the Bai Family to pay their respects; Wufu Town, this little town, really hadn't been this lively in many years.

I only knew the Bái Jiā Yīguǎn was famous; I never imagined it would become famous in this way.

No wonder Bai Jingmo could say to me, "You might not know the Bai Family's standing among the Five Great Immortal Clan."

Now it appears that, aside from the Hu and Liu families, among the remaining three, the Bai Family actually takes the lead.

That day, the Bái Jiā Yīguǎn's exterior was filled with various luxury cars; mourners came in an endless stream, and even the few small inns in town were fully occupied.

The third day was the day of Granny Bai's funeral; these people would not leave Wufu Town that night.

And throughout that whole day, Li Qingying and I never left the Dang Pu.

Along the way I went to the main house and walked around a few times, also speaking to the black coffin about the Bai Family's affairs, but the black coffin remained utterly still.

After a trip to Wangting Mountain, Liu Junyan returned with a complexion that was not looking good.

He must be in secluded cultivation?

But if he were in seclusion, he would always tell me beforehand.

Perhaps he's just asleep?

That night we guarded the Dang Pu until nearly twelve o'clock.

After two consecutive days and nights without rest, Li Qingying and I were both getting drowsy.

But the town was too bustling; the Bai Family's funeral seemed to be reviving Wufu Town's economy—tea houses, small restaurants, small inns, and even the big street stalls were packed to capacity.

When we closed the door at twelve, we could still hear voices from the barbecue stall far off to the east.

I practically fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

I don't know how long I slept, but a burning pain came from the inside of my left arm; half-asleep, half-awake, I seemed to hear footsteps walking on the roof.

That sound was very light, very light, like a cat.

I jolted awake; in the darkness, I opened my eyes, held my breath, and listened carefully for any movement on the roof.

After a while, I heard nothing.

Perhaps I was just dreaming?

But the burning pain on my arm was real.

I turned on the light, rolled up my sleeve, and took a look.

That burn mark kept growing larger; the center had already ulcerated, and if this continued, something bad would surely happen.

Maybe I should find a chance to tell Liu Junyan and have him help me think of a solution?

Just then, a sharp cat cry suddenly rang out from the street outside.

The sound seemed both far away and right above my head, extremely penetrating, and it made me jump in fright.

Immediately after, I heard Li Qingying's hurried footsteps running over.

She had just reached my door and hadn't even spoken when a howl came from outside: "Old Lady Bai… Old Lady Bai has turned into a corpse!"

Immediately afterward, it seemed footsteps and shouts were everywhere outside.

Those people must have come running from the Bai Family Medical Hall, scrambling all over the street.

Some of them were not locals of Wufu Town, knocking on doors everywhere begging for shelter.

Begging for their lives.

Not long after, the door of the pawnshop was also knocked on.

Outside was a woman's plea for help: "Old Lady Bai is feigning death! Good Samaritan, save me!"

Li Qingying instinctively wanted to respond, but I grabbed her and shook my head.

Tonight, someone will surely die.

But no one can say for sure how many of those involved in this chaos are human and how many are something else.

Especially since our pawnshop is right at the center of the storm, a moment of compassion could easily bring about deadly disaster.

After several rounds of knocking and pleas for help, a faint footsteps sounded on the front porch roof of the annex building.

Li Qingying whispered, "A cat?"

Yes.

That cat-like footstep sound came again.

It seems it can only move about on the front porch roof, unable to go over the house's roof, let alone get to the back.

But just that brief passage made alarm bells ring in my mind instantly, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on my palms.

At that moment, the small door of the Nan Shu Fang study was knocked on.

Knock… knock-knock…