Chapter 211
Chapter 211
“Master, what should we do, then? We can’t have Master Liu carry more than thirty coffins away by himself, can we?”
Even if Liu Ye could manage it, they probably would not have enough time. The auspicious feng shui site they had chosen was a considerable distance away.
“Amitabha. As matters stand, we have only one option,” the old monk said slowly.
“What option?”
“We take a yin road!”
Second Uncle’s heart lurched at the suggestion. Because of his family’s unusual traditions, he had heard about yin roads before.
A yin road was, as its name implied, a road traveled by Fiends. Sometimes, while walking alone at night, a person would suddenly lose all sense of direction. That meant they had unwittingly strayed onto a road they should never have entered.
Walking a yin road was different from a simple spirit descent. During a spirit descent, only the soul made the journey, whereas a yin road transported the physical body.
Humans held an extraordinarily powerful attraction for the evils that dwelled there, so ordinary people found it almost impossible to escape on their own.
Some people were different, however. They could enter and leave yin roads at will. With that ability, they could accomplish things far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
The old monk was clearly one such person.
Despite the monk’s ability, Second Uncle hesitated. Traveling a yin road was extremely dangerous, and their group was enormous. The old monk plainly could not protect everyone.
By the time this was over, every child of the Zhao family might have vanished. Their family’s special methods would be useless if no one remained to employ them.
“Amitabha. Patron Zhao, there is no other way now.”
The old monk’s voice brought him back to reality. That was right. If they did not deal with the things in those coffins now, they would have no future anyway.
Indecision would only invite disaster. Between two evils, one had to choose the lesser.
“Master, we’ll do it your way!”
The old monk nodded and began making preparations.
Second Uncle, meanwhile, told the others that they would be taking a yin road.
The Zhao family members’ faces changed at once.
“Second Uncle, you never said we’d have to do anything this dangerous!” Third Uncle’s eldest son protested anxiously.
He had only just inherited his father’s shares, and now he had to face an ordeal like this. If anything happened to him, wouldn’t someone else get everything?
“Exactly, Dad! There has to be another way. If nothing else, we can hire more people. I refuse to believe money can’t buy people willing to risk their lives,” Second Uncle’s own son said urgently.
They had never truly believed in things like this. The family’s previous grave relocations had never involved such upheavals. But everything they had encountered on this journey had finally frightened them in earnest.
“Do you think you can escape? When the things inside those coffins get out, every last one of you will die! Not only you-your wives and children will die as well! You have enjoyed the benefits of being part of the Zhao family, so you must shoulder the Zhao family’s responsibilities!”
Everyone fell silent in an instant.
Seeing this, Second Uncle said evenly, “We rest for half an hour. In thirty minutes, we set out.”
With that, he took out his phone and began arranging the items the old monk needed.
The Driver’s expression shifted when he heard their discussion.
He knew about so-called yin roads as well. In truth, they were not some special ability. They were actually a method used by certain people targeted by powerful Fiends to enter and leave those Fiends’ Fiend Domains.
Those Fiend Domains did not exist within reality. They lay in a deeper stratum of the world, a place inhabited by exceptionally dangerous-and exceptionally irritable-Fiends.
Even the Driver would not dare go there without his vehicle… Hm? Wait a moment.
Something suddenly occurred to him. The strange entities there were all extremely powerful. The Driver and the Building Manager might be unable to kill Liu Ye, but that did not mean those entities could not do it.
If this succeeded, they would be rid of the brat for good.
The mere thought of the wonderful life awaiting him once he escaped Liu Ye made the Driver tremble with excitement. Perhaps this risk was worth taking after all.
As the thought took root, the look in his eyes began to change.
I’m sorry, kid. Don’t blame your big brother. Blame this world. Humans and Fiends walk different paths. In the end, we were always destined to stand opposed.
The Driver was a merciless Fiend, and his heart was cold as ice…
“Liu Ye! Put down their gravestone!”
Before long, the old monk finished his preparations. He had drawn a series of arcane symbols on the ground, and anyone who looked at them was seized by waves of nausea.
Next, he placed offerings of flesh and blood on the ground along both sides of the road. They were the young of various animals. The old monk closed his eyes and chanted “Amitabha” without pause.
Perhaps it was only an illusion, but a vague doorway seemed to appear on the path ahead.
“Amitabha. Patrons, when the time comes, please carry your ancestors’ memorial tablets and walk at the front. You must remember: no matter what you hear or see along the way, you must never answer it, and you must never stop.”
“How long do we have to keep walking?” one Zhao family member asked nervously.
“Follow this poor monk’s lead. When this poor monk stops, all of you must stop as well,” the old monk said gravely.
Nothing could be allowed to go wrong. A single mistake would condemn all of them beyond redemption!
One by one, the Zhao family members agreed uneasily. Then they took up their ancestors’ memorial tablets and stood before the coffins.
Liu Ye also took a tablet and joined them at the front. There was no helping it. The Zhao family did not have enough adults, and the ones left over were all children. They could only use a substitution ritual to have Liu Ye and several others fill the vacant places.
The old monk and the other experts carefully repeated their warnings to every Zhao family member. But when they reached Liu Ye…
The old monk said nothing.
Neither did Liu Ye.
They stared at each other for a moment. Then the old monk said gloomily, “Patron Liu, please do as you see fit. Just do not leave the group.”
Liu Ye nodded. This time, he would definitely walk quietly and behave himself. He absolutely would not do anything unnecessary.
Soon, everyone was ready. The old monk walked to the head of the procession. Several Zhao relatives held the offerings of flesh and blood. At the old monk’s command, all the coffin bearers exerted themselves at once and raised the heavy coffins.
“Set out!”
Master Pudu’s aged voice rang out, but it sounded as though it had not come from him at all. There was something profoundly strange about it.
No one dared delay. The moment they saw the old monk begin to move, they raised their feet and followed.
The instant they passed between the offerings, however, they vaguely felt the temperature around them drop. Even the light in the sky dimmed.
Everyone’s heart filled with unease. But matters had already come this far, and abandoning the journey was no longer an option.
The old monk was advanced in years and did not walk quickly. Although the Zhao family members were exhausted, they could still keep up.
But the farther they walked, the more they sensed that something was wrong.