Chapter 483: They Are Hunting

Such a big commotion from the Yin Mountain Fox Clan—whenever Yu Nian goes out for a turn, she should be able to get some news.

Yu Nian shook her head: "Xiao Jiu, I'm not free; I can't freely travel back and forth between yin and yang. Moreover, you just came up from below—you should have seen that Yin Dang Hang has reopened for business, and I'm busy every day."

I was completely bewildered: "You can't just leave—how did you manage to leave that commissioned death notice at the Funeral Shop?"

"At specific times and in specific settings, I can appear in the Funeral Shop and also slip into the netherworld, but what I can do now is very limited."

Although it sounded utterly bizarre, I believed Yu Nian's explanation.

"When my abilities grow stronger in the future, perhaps I'll be able to come and go freely, but for now I can't."

"I heard Old Fang say that on the night of the fifteenth, a ferry crossing the Wangchuan River—was that the one you tied?" I kept asking, "Sister… have you remembered anything?"

Yu Nian shook her head: "I don't know why, but everything here feels inexplicably familiar, as if I'd lived here for many years, yet I can't recall anything."

She paused, then said: "Xiao Jiu, all that is in the past. You can only stay here a short time, so let's make it brief."

"From zero to three a. m. on the fifteenth of each month, the Gui Shi gates open to the Six Realms and conduct trade; after three, you know what the Gui Shi becomes."

"And from the sixteenth to the fourteenth of each month, the Gui Shi gates close; from zero to three a. m., the ghost door linking the Nether Realm and Gui Shi opens, and the lonely wild ghosts lingering at the edge of the Nether Realm rush into Gui Shi at once to seek substitutes."

So those ghosts are looking for substitutes!

They actually intend to borrow corpses to return to life this way?

"Besides those wandering ghosts, the ones entering Gui Shi next will be the yin officials and soldiers, who are ordered to capture the wandering ghosts; the rest are the various groups coming to Yin Dang Hang to pawn things."

My brow twitched slightly: "In other words, if there's a way, one can transfer from the Nether Realm, and each night there are over two hours to enter Yin Dang Hang?"

"That's the theory," Yu Nian said, "but Xiao Jiu, the business of Yin Dang Hang differs from that of the Wufu Town Pawnshop, which hardly ever actively seeks customers, right?"

I nodded.

Yu Nian continued: "If Yin Dang Hang is willing to accept a transaction, it will send an invitation in advance; with the invitation, Uncle Three will grant entry; otherwise, ordinary people simply cannot find Yin Dang Hang's entrance."

That's how it is.

Yin Dang Hang is open only a short time each day—at most three hours.

In such a short time, what can be done is extremely limited.

Therefore Yin Dang Hang adopts a 'custom-made business' model.

After advance screening, the orders that can enter the pawnshop are basically accepted without refusal, and processing them is swift.

This differs greatly from the business model I imagined.

After digesting that, I asked: "Where are the clerks currently working at the counter hired from? They all look very professional."

"They're all veteran employees of Yin Dang Hang," Yu Nian said. "As soon as my joining Yin Dang Hang was announced, they expressed their intent to return, and Uncle Three personally vetted them, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Uncle Three, that is Old Three.

It seems Yu Nian gets along quite well with Uncle Three.

I felt a faint excitement: "Since they're all veteran employees, couldn't we…"

"All those in the know are dead," Yu Nian said solemnly. "When Yin Dang Hang had its accident, it was on the eve of the New Year; most staff had gone home to prepare for the festival, including Uncle Three, and by the time they got the news and rushed back, it was already too late."

I seized Yu Nian's hand and pleaded: "Sister, please help—ask whether, when they rushed back, they encountered me or the Seven Halls Yama, or whether they previously saw any interaction between us and Yin Dang Hang."

I won't let any scrap of usable information slip by.

Yu Nian agreed.

Turning to ask about outside events, I dumped all these recent messes on her.

After hearing that, Yu Nian's face grew grave: "It seems our pieces have long been set on the board, just unmoved; now the other side intends to really cast the net—Xiao Jiu, you must be careful."

I told her not to worry; I have a plan in mind.

Thus we chatted about whatever came to mind, and time flew by.

At two-thirty, there was movement downstairs.

It turned out that Yin Dang Hang's business hours were about to begin, and those patrons who hadn't finished their transactions started to grow anxious.

Yu Nian told me not to worry: "Soon Uncle Three will take you to the Ghost Gate; you'll follow the returning souls into the Nether Realm…"

She said this while pulling me downstairs, repeatedly urging me to act quickly.

Don't run into the patrolling yin officials and soldiers on their way back, or it'll be troublesome.

Even if I had a bellyful of questions, there wasn't time.

"This incident happened suddenly, there's no time to prepare, and we have to transport a small red-wood coffin, so taking the Nether Realm route isn't suitable." I stared into Yu Nian's eyes and said, "Next time, if I still want to come to Yin Dang Hang, I can simply return the same way, right?"

After all, matters of the Nether Realm are handled with the help of the Seven Halls Yama and my little aunt.

Yu Nian gave a helpless smile, raised a hand to wipe the sweat from my forehead, and said earnestly: "Xiao Jiu, don't you feel it? You're breaking out in a cold sweat—forcing yourself like this drains your mind and wears your body; if it's not an emergency, don't come—just visit on the fifteenth of each month."

……

Coming and going in haste.

The patron who had just been waiting in Yin Dang Hang to make a deal suddenly turned and rushed out at a quick pace.

Yu Nian called out: "Uncle Three!"

Old Three immediately leapt in, taking me as we ran toward the Ghost Gate.

He watched me enter the Ghost Gate.

Just before I left, Uncle Three sincerely said: "Boss, thank you."

Seeing the small wooden sword at his waist, I understood that Yu Nian had told him about the little old lady.

No wonder he gets along so well with Yu Nian now.

I smiled at him, turned, and stepped into the Ghost Gate.

Before my eyes went dark, yin wind swirled all around me.

After I finally emerged from the Ghost Gate, a fierce ghost lunged at me head‑on, as if it wanted to devour me alive.

What's worse, behind that fierce ghost were many old ghosts staring covetously at the Ghost Gate.

Like a bird standing in the water waiting for a fish to swim by.

They are hunting…