"I see that your steps are light and seem to be thin, but actually you are strong. You must also be proficient in ghost-catching and corpse-summoning techniques! Your forearm muscles are developed, and you must have hit the bell many times in your spare time!"
"Extremely heavy dark energy around the body, slender fingers, and skin flakes in the nails indicate frequent use of paper or even human skin. There's probably also a practice of paper cutting."
"I dare to guess, you are an expert in all aspects of funeral rites, isn't that right!?"
"Very rare to see, you are the most important one in the pure nine-stream lineage, not because of the extremely heavy life force, but because of the extremely strong yin."
"Finally, I'll make an offer. Four things. Even if you kill the gang leader who supervises Jìn Yáng, it will take you no more than one day to get his head!"
After saying this long speech, Máo Yǒu said was so excited that his face turned red.
But I felt goosebumps all over my body, and only cold remained!
He seemed to be able to tell so much just by a quick glance.
I feel as though I'm naked, as if I have nothing left to hide, and all my secrets have been exposed.
What made me even more cold-sweat-drenching is that he said that even the head of Jìn Yáng's supervisor could be obtained in just one day.
Supervisors are typically Taoist priests or masters who serve in the realm of positive deities.
Even with someone like Sun Zhuo, I would have to avoid them.
What kind of abilities does Máo Yǒu have to be so powerful?
I retracted my razor as my palms started to sweat.
I'm not a match for Máo Yǒu even if I had ten of me, and to engage in combat would be an act of shame.
He looked at me eagerly with a smile on his face, constantly rubbing his hands together.
"Sorry, I'm not interested. I won't sell," I replied, my voice hoarse as I suppressed the chaotic thoughts swirling in my mind.
In a mansion of the afterlife, there must be rules, and he dare not engage in forced buying or selling.
"This..." Máo Yǒu had a look of disappointment in his eyes. His small eyes quickly turned lively as he spun around, then said thoughtfully, "Alright, since you're not in a hurry to make a decision now, I'll give you a little thing. If there's anything, you can just call me."
As he spoke, he pulled out a tarnished bell from his pocket.
Funeral workers use bells for their trade, but this is not their tool.
"No need," I replied firmly.
"Ha ha, little brother, no one is without a bottom card. Look, you're already injured. If things go well, the person you've provoked is most likely to be a combing ghost. The combing ghost is a key member of the Huan sir's team and usually won't target ordinary people. You've offended the Huan sir's team of Jìn Yáng, and their manpower is as numerous as locusts. You will die."
"Die in vain, isn't that a waste of the world's resources? What's wrong with making a deal?" Máo Yǒu continued to chatter on.
Suddenly, the curtain was lifted.
Standing at the doorway of the private room was none other than Mù Yíng!
On her pretty face, there was only frost left, and she was staring at Máo Yǒu.
"By breaking the rules, this is not your place," Mù Yíng said in a cold voice that carried a lot of volume.
The teahouse was originally very quiet, with only the sound of the yīyīyāyā singing.
In that moment, the sound of the ghost play suddenly disappeared.
The paper-cut figures on the stage lifted their heads, staring straight at us.
Including those watching the play below, they all looked up almost simultaneously, their gaze fixed on Máo Yǒu.
On the other side of the private room, the little servant appeared.
His formerly smiling face turned extremely cold and ferocious, more resembling a death mask.
"Eh... misunderstanding, misunderstanding... I just saw someone 'good' and couldn't help but do what's good for business. We all want to make a profit in harmony."
Máo Yǒu's expression was slightly panicked. He immediately stood up and left the private room in a hurry, heading in the direction of the stairs.
The paper-cut figures on the stage, their limbs stiff, descended from the stage and headed towards the entrance as well. It looked like they were waiting for Máo Yǒu there.
The little servant then came closer to us, his face full of smiles as he apologized.
Mù Yíng waved her hand, indicating for him to go away, and the little servant walked away with relief.
"Your return was quite fast," I glanced at the stairs where Máo Yǒu had disappeared, finally sighing with relief.
"It's been a day and a night, but yes, it was quite quick..."
Mù Yíng furrowed her eyebrows, and she looked over at the stage.
There were several more paper figures on the stage, and the play had changed.
"He's pretty brave to sit in a seat occupied by someone else and break the rules here," Mù Yíng said with a pursed lip.
"What will happen if you break the rules?" I asked in response.
"Go up and sing the play," Mù Yíng still glanced at the stage.
I didn't say anything more.
Máo Yǒu definitely wouldn't be able to get on the stage. The few paper figures before didn't have the skills to do so.
But now I bring this up, it doesn't have any meaning.
"Luckily you didn't take anything from him. If you had, it would have caused a lot of trouble," Mù Yíng added.
I shook my head and replied, "I'm not stupid."
After a brief exchange of words, the two of them fell silent again.
A few seconds later, Mù Yíng looked at me deeply, her expression tense.
"The mansion of Huan was sealed."
I'm not quite sure what "sealing the door" means.
Mù Yíng pursed her lower lip, speaking softly, "Internal threats that cannot be resisted, and cannot let the person causing the threat or ghosts escape, the Huan sir will seal the door. They will fight to clear away any threats and during this period, all Huan sir people will receive a notice and rush back."
My pupils constricted.
The headless woman is truly fierce, forcing the Huan sir to take such drastic measures.
"You were too harsh, that skinless ghost is so fierce. It must have killed many people to force the Huan sir to seal the door..."
Mù Yíng's expression and tone were both complex.
"They brought it on themselves, and for me, that's good news," I said in a calm tone.
"No... it's not good news..." Mù Yíng shook her head.
She just told me that the Huan sir in front of me was actually strong on the outside but weak on the inside. The high-level experts had all gone out on business, but once the door was sealed, they would receive a message and return. After clearing away the danger that Huan Sir itself faced, they would retaliate. Jìn Yáng and I can't stay here anymore. We need to quickly complete our business and then leave!
My eyelids jumped wildly, and only then did I start to feel a sense of dread.
originally, I thought that the Huan sir was weak, only slightly stronger than the book grandma.
But I didn't expect that it was because of the experts being out?
What about the headless woman? Can she escape and leave?
"Let's go, it's time to leave." Mù Yíng stood up, breaking my train of thought.
Because of Mù Yíng's words, the idea I had of investigating other normal mortician shops was completely abandoned.
Exiting the teahouse, we followed the same path back.
At this time, all the shops were closed, and the narrow street was deathly silent and gloomy.
Only Máo Yǒu's shop remained open at the beginning of the street.
"The mortuary office is open at night, but this shop can't operate tonight. He can only go on the stage and perform funeral scene plays," Mù Yíng explained as if her emotions had recovered.
I didn't say anything, and my peripheral vision had already seen a heap of yellow paper that had been rubbed to pieces under the bamboo chair behind the coffin. The top few pieces of paper were particularly lifeless.
Not long after, we left the mortuary office.
In the recessed wall on the right, the person was still sitting slumped in a chair, looking like they were drowsily sleepwalking.
After climbing the sloping steps upward, Mù Yíng pushed open the narrow door.
As we went out, the setting sun shone on my face, giving me a feeling as if I had been transported to another world.
Suddenly, Mù Yíng's phoenix eyes tightened, and she fixed her gaze on my left side.
My heart sank instantly, and I turned my head abruptly.
Máo Yǒu, with his donkey-like face, was standing against the wall, as if he had been waiting for us here.
Máo Yǒu's small eyes twinkled as he smiled and said, "Little brother, if you don't sell yourself, then sell your teacher. The old guy might be getting old and not useful anymore. If he hasn't died yet, selling him for a good price wouldn't be bad."
Under the setting sun, Máo Yǒu's donkey face looked stiff and dead, resembling a malevolent corpse.
