Chapter 117: Pawn Gold, Two Drops of Lamp Oil

Dou Zhile also started laughing.

He tapped the opium pipe, wanted to light it, then held back, saying, "Dealing with smart people is straightforward; Old Lady Yu's judgment is still good."

Dou Zhile often mentioned my grandmother; it seems their relationship back then was still quite good.

I asked, "Old Dou, for this deal, do you want a live pawn or a dead pawn?"

"Dead pawn." Dou Zhile pointed his opium pipe to the west side of the outer corridor and said, "Current gold, two drops of lamp oil."

"Lamp oil?"

"Does the hexagonal palace lamp have lamp oil?"

"Before, there was only merit inside."

Dou Zhile raised his eyebrows: "Just now when I came over, I specifically took a look; the soul-guiding lamp already has lamp oil, which means you should have used the soul-guiding lamp to judge souls recently, right?"

"Judge souls?"

"Could he be referring to…… Old Lady Bai?"

Li Qingying immediately ran out to check, then came back and nodded at me: "Xiao Jiu, there really is lamp oil, a thin layer, green."

My heart stirred, and I instinctively asked, "Old Dou, may I ask what you need the lamp oil for?"

Dou Zhile shook his head: "When the time comes, you'll naturally know; you don't need to take the lamp oil now—I'll come to you for it when I need it."

"Alright."

I agreed, then took out the pawn ticket, began filling it out, and handed it to Dou Zhile for signature and handprint.

The pawn ticket exists in two copies: one kept on file, one given to Dou Zhile.

Dou Zhile put away the pawn ticket but didn't leave right away; instead he said, "Girl, may I go offer incense to Old Lady Yu?"

"Of course."

I led Dou Zhile to the funeral shop side; my grandmother's spirit tablet has always been placed on the west side against the wall, and as long as I'm home, the incense has never been cut off.

Although I know she has already been reincarnated, my grandmother remains my deepest concern and my spiritual refuge.

Dou Zhile took three sticks of yellow incense, lit them, bowed deeply before my grandmother's portrait, then lifted his head; I heard him whisper softly, "Senior Sister, I always thought I would go before you, but I didn't expect you to be more carefree than I."

Afterwards, he inserted the yellow incense into the burner and left without looking back.

I, however, stood where I was, unable to come to my senses for a long time.

Could it be that my grandmother and Dou Zhile are actually senior sister and junior brother?

Yeah, why not?

One runs a funeral shop, the other a coffin shop; both are in the funeral business, dealing in yin-yang trades.

I couldn't help but feel wistful; truly, things remain but people have changed.

Turning around, I went to the corridor and glanced at the hexagonal palace lamp.

They all say this is a soul-guiding lamp.

But what is a soul-guiding lamp?

I used to think it simply meant attracting souls, but now I see it's completely different.

It not only can attract and nourish souls, but even judge them.

It is more powerful than I imagined.

As I was looking, I suddenly noticed something off.

What about that little black speck in the lamp chamber?

Where is the Mysterious Cat?

How did it disappear?!

Could it be that its wounds have healed and it ran away?

This ungrateful little thing left without even saying goodbye to me!

I shrugged; from the start I had prepared myself for the Mysterious Cat not recognizing me as its master, so I'm not too disappointed now.

I returned to Nan Shu Fang, reopened the bag, and reached out to fiddle with the Heaven-Earth Mandarins Hook inside to see its full appearance.

But before I could touch it, I felt the fierce Yin Cold Qi emanating from this weapon and instantly pulled my hand back.

This thing is probably not something ordinary people can subdue.

Without a word, I tied up the bag and carried it toward the main hall.

If I can't touch it, I'll just offer it to the dirty things inside the main hall!

But when I pushed open the main hall doors, I saw a black lump curled up on Liu Junyan's black coffin; hearing the movement, its two upright ears twitched, it lifted its head and gave me a lazy glance, then buried its head and went back to sleep.

Heh, so the Mysterious Cat this little guy was here!

I placed the cloth bag on the offering table, then went around to the black coffin, wanting to reach out and touch it.

But it shrank back inside, refusing to let me touch it.

So tsundere!

I waited in the main hall for a while, but never saw those dirty things come out to devour the Heaven-Earth Mandarins Hook.

Is this thing really that fierce?

Then compared to the Língchí dagger, which is fiercer?

I didn't take away the Heaven-Earth Mandarins Hook, just left it on the offering table.

When I returned to Nan Shu Fang, Li Qingying actually came in from outside.

I asked, "Sister Qingying, did you just go out?"

"Mm." Li Qingying said, "The Dou family's first deal has been accepted; I need to go inquire who exactly turned over the Heaven-Earth Mandarins Hook."

Exactly, I had originally planned to go to the teahouse tomorrow to gather news, but Li Qingying's efficiency is far higher than mine.

I then asked, "Have you found out anything?"

Li Qingying, however, started selling a riddle: "You guess."

I said: "It should be the Bai family."

Li Qingying asked curiously: "Why?"

"No matter who the real culprit is, the one who shows up can only be the Bai family." I analyzed: "Because the Bai family forced the Dou family to help them make the human-skin red coffin, this is an excellent opportunity; what I'm not sure about is whom the Bai family have pushed out."

It couldn't be Bai Jingmo personally showing up; ordinary people of the Dou family wouldn't recognize him, so who is being put forward is important.

"Do you still remember that man who was by the old Bai lady's side earlier?" Li Qingying said, "It's him who came out to take the blame, blood splattered on the spot."

It's him.

"He might not be innocent either." I said: "For the human-skin red coffin, Bai Jingmo really is willing to spill blood—what exactly are they trying to do?"

That night, the coffin that rumbled up from the Zhupan River—who exactly was inside it?

Was it really Chen Ping?

Nine human-skin red coffins, nine girls with completely yin bodies—what formation is this?

Whether it's to suppress Chen Ping or... no, whatever it is, I must stop this from proceeding smoothly.

The next morning, I took the two flesh spikes Lu Qiu sheng gave me and went straight to the Bai family clinic.

The Bai family clinic hasn't been open recently, but people are at home, with someone guarding the front gate.

I stepped forward and explained my purpose: "I'm Xiao Jiu from the Wufu Town Pawnshop, I have something to discuss with Bai Jingmo."

One person immediately went to report; after a short wait, someone came to lead me to the front hall to wait.

Not long after, Bai Jingmo came over.

Today he looked much better in complexion; aside from a lingering dark energy at his brow, he was altogether refreshed, and he greeted me with a smile: "Xiao Jiu, what do you need?"

I pushed the flesh spikes toward him and said: "Today I came to exchange these for a person."

When Bai Jingmo saw the flesh spikes, his eye twitched slightly, but he quickly regained composure and smiled: "What is this? Xiao Jiu, tell me who you want—what's mine will eventually be yours."

"Bai Jingmo." I said solemnly, "Between us there's no need for riddles—you know best where your acupuncture skill comes from; you also know best who did the skinning of Chen Tao. For those the authorities can't judge, I, too, may not be unable to judge."