"You can wear it around your neck." Fei Yuan said.
I took the wooden box pendant, but said nothing.
One or two people saying someone has a problem might be just their issue, but when the majority say so, that person must indeed have a problem.
Fei Fang and I are merely in a business partnership. The only thing he cares about is that I cannot die or have an accident elsewhere, for otherwise, our cooperation would break apart.
Unwittingly, many things appeared in my mind.
The leader had many issues, which were wiped out thanks to the good he had done to me…
If he were to use this as the standard and style for his actions towards me?
Upon pondering this, I felt a shiver run down my spine.
"What? Are you going to regret it?" Fei Fang smiled and laughed like it wasn't a real question.
"No need, give it to him. You can tell him what I said."
"I will handle it in my spare time. Before that, promise me you will give me your corpse first," I replied in a hoarse voice.
There's always an uncomfortable feeling in the heart.
I hope the leader has changed his mind and will naturally reduce contact with me. If I give him that thing, my conscience won't feel guilty. If the leader is fine, we can interact with each other in the future with a clear conscience.
"That's quite the person of character. It's hard to imagine, under such circumstances, that you've survived and maintained such principles."
"Qin Waizi, you were well-raised," Fei Fang sighed slightly.
Youyang Ju knows a lot more than I had imagined.
"Thank you." I replied with two words.
Fei Fang was slightly surprised and looked at me again.
"Regarding what I owe you, there's no rush. I haven't decided what to ask of you, so first, come with me to retrieve the corpse you want."
"As for our cooperation, it will be a bit tricky, since I don't have more clues. I only know that after your father went missing, the previous Youyang Resident also disappeared. To find him, you'll have to follow the trail."
"As for where the root of this matter is, I'm not sure for the time being. I only know that your parents used to go to a place."
"If we can find a clue there about the body your parents took away, we might be able to locate the root."
As Fei Fang spoke, he walked towards the door.
I hung on to my tension and did not interrupt Fei Fang's words.
Fei Fang, however, didn't continue.
As we passed the second floor corridor, Fei Fang gave a call, and one of the clerks sleeping was jolted awake. He crawled out from under the cabinet and walked ahead of us.
We left Youyang Ju and walked deeper into the street.
At the end of the street, there was a market area. However, instead of the entrance to the market area, at the end of this street was a round building. From a distance, it looked like a huge jar lying on the ground.
The building has no windows, only one door.
A thin person, like a withered pole, was leaning against a broom, sleeping soundly at the door.
Suddenly, I thought of the two managers on the second floor dozing off, this person looking drowsy before us, and the old man at the gate of Ming Fang looking as though he could fall asleep at any moment.
Behind the Ming Fang, is it the Youyang residence?
Do the high-handed people of Youyang Ju always feel drowsy, as though they can't wake up?
The manager pushed the door open, and the withered pole raised an eyelid briefly, glanced at us, and then fell back asleep.
"This is the warehouse, where things brought out for exchange by Youyang Ju are stored," Fei Fang explained to me.
I nodded in response.
The layout of this jar-shaped building was quite strange, with the entrance forming a circular path.
The path was filled with doors arranged in a dense row, one after another. A small segment of the path led straight into a dimly lit area.
Suddenly, I thought of the overall structure of the Ming Fang. Wasn't it also circular? Wasn't it also a street every short distance?
There are many differences in details, but these doors should be storing things inside.
The items are not large, so they occupy little space.
After a few minutes, we stopped in front of a door. The manager fumbled out a set of keys and searched for a while before using one to open the door.
The room was one meter square, and there was a thin coffin inside. The coffin was no more than two feet wide and about eight feet long.
In terms of size, this can be considered a very small coffin.
"Would you like to open it and take a look?" Fei Fang asked with a faint smile.
"Take a look," I replied without hesitation.
"Hmm," Fei Fang glanced at the manager.
The manager immediately pushed open the coffin lid. The room was small, so only one side could accommodate a person standing. The coffin lid was propped up on the other side, and only half of the coffin mouth was opened.
The sight of the body before me momentarily froze my breath.
The body's hair was completely gone, leaving the head bald and shiny, with a faint purple hue.
The face, however, was lifelike, as if the person were sleeping. The cheeks had a faint hint of color.
"A person who dies and looks as if they are still alive, has no greenishness on the skin, the eyes are not destroyed, and the hair is completely shed. These are all characteristics of a body that has been dissolved," Fei Fang said with a gentle tone, "Dying during the day is called the upper dissolution. Dying at night is called the lower dissolution. Dying before dawn or at dusk is what we call 'underground owner'."
"The Taiyi cultivator guards the corpse, collects the three souls, protects the flesh with seven spirits, and records the vitality with the baby spirit. This is known as the Taiyin refining shape. Those who are skilled can use this technique of dissolving death to simulate death. If they awake within three to thirty years, their strength will far surpass ordinary people."
"The underground owner's body is feared by ghosts. However, at the same time, they are also tempted. Do you want this body because someone wants to possess it and return to life?"
"I must warn you that the corpse itself has a soul. While the corpse is good, the matter at hand is not easy to handle."
"It's like trying to steal a chicken and ending up losing a handful of rice."
Fei Fang's words were very long. The first half were extremely profound, yet they explained the origin of the underground owner and the time periods for dissolving death!
The latter half told me about the situation of the corpse…
Even so, he guessed a bit about it…
However, what he couldn't guess was that I wanted to use the underground owner to lure away the Plague Ghost!
Miao San had to know that there was a soul in the corpse. Was he using this soul to deal with the Plague Ghost, or something else?
Thoughts crossed my mind in an instant. I nodded and said, "I have my own use for it."
"Haha, of course it's that way. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to exchange for this corpse."
"Later, when Xu Jin comes back, I'll have him carry the coffin and deliver the body to you. How about that?" Fei Fang asked again.
"I don't need it." I shook my head and said, "Just deliver it outside the mausoleum."
"Oh?" Fei Fang pondered for a moment and then nodded, saying, "Nine streams are all complete, so it doesn't need to be carried by people."
After that, Fei Fang asked me to wait outside the mausoleum, saying that he would arrange for someone to send the coffin out immediately.
As for the things he had told me earlier, I could wait until I had delivered the coffin to its intended destination and taken care of the matters I should attend to. Then, we could discuss it in detail when I returned.
I nodded, without any hesitation, and hurried towards the door of the passage.
In just a few minutes, I walked out of the jar-shaped building and sped forward.
My heart was pounding rapidly.
Everything is going according to plan, without any deviation!
My hand, subconsciously, touched the pocket containing the turtle shell.
My palms were sweaty, and my back was also sweating uncontrollably. I was even feeling thirsty.
When I returned to the old teahouse, after drinking three cups of tea, I noticed that Mengying looked different again. She had gained a touch of allure, much like how I first met her.
Yu Xiu was staring blankly at the scene.
After briefly summarizing the situation to Mengying, including Fei Fang's views on the leader, I said goodbye.
Mengying's breathing was slightly hurried, and she whispered, "Such an important matter should be dealt with first. We can talk about the rest later."
Mengying quickly called Yu Xiu, and we three of them walked towards the outside of the mausoleum together.
By the time we reached the mausoleum gate, we saw a tall man immediately. It was exactly Xu Jin!
Xu Jin scratched his head, his face filled with a foolish smile, "Master said you would be waiting here, and I've been waiting for quite a while."
He pointed to the thin coffin beside him and said, "Here, your coffin."
