Chapter 97

Chapter 97

Old Cao said, “Since you don’t want to enter the Netherworld yet, why not remain in my coffin shop and help Xiao Wu and me? Let me make one thing clear: we’ll feed you, but you won’t be paid.”

Wang Hu froze at those words.

Then, overwhelmed with gratitude, he repeatedly bowed to Old Cao and me.

“Thank you… Thank you both for taking me in.”

I thought Wang Hu was no fool. He understood that remaining in the coffin shop offered many benefits.

A coffin shop was a place rich in yin energy.

Even during the day, the yin energy inside the shop was about as dense as it was in the remote wilderness at midnight.

A relatively weak ghost like Wang Hu could wander inside during the day, provided he did not leave. The environment would also stabilize his spirit body.

In other words, as long as Wang Hu remained in Old Cao’s coffin shop, he would gradually grow stronger even if he did not cultivate any ghostly arts. The process would simply be slow.

Once he became stronger, he would have the opportunity to travel farther in search of his daughter.

I knew the transparent, invisible barrier that prevented Wang Hu from leaving Lianghe Town had a specific name: a soul-binding barrier.

Simply put, it was the earth-vein energy’s restriction upon ghosts.

If a person did not immediately enter the Netherworld after death and instead became a ghost where they died, that was another kind of birth.

Upon becoming a ghost, they formed an intangible connection with the earth-vein energy.

That energy then used the ghost’s birthplace as the center to construct a limited range of movement. This was the invisible barrier Wang Hu had sensed.

Living people could not sense it at all. Only ghosts could.

There was only one way to expand the soul-binding barrier’s range: the ghost had to grow stronger!

Only greater power and a more stable spirit body would allow it to travel farther from its birthplace.

I therefore understood that Old Cao was not merely taking Wang Hu in as an assistant. He was helping him too.

He simply did not say so.

Perhaps Old Cao had worked in this profession for so long and met so many lonely wandering ghosts that he no longer realized certain things needed explanation.

I explained the matter to Wang Hu, making him even more grateful to us.

“Young Adept, Lord Coffin Bearer, I can never repay your great kindness. If I find my daughter, I will obey your every command. When you no longer need me, you may send me to the underworld.”

Old Cao waved a hand. “You were a member of the working class in life, so your thinking should be progressive. Why did death make you so hidebound? There’s no need for talk of repaying us. Since you’re staying at the coffin shop, you’re an employee from now on. Call me Boss. As for Xiao Wu…”

“Call me Xiao Wu too,” I said with a smile.

But Wang Hu hurriedly waved both hands. “I wouldn’t dare. I wouldn’t dare. Should I call you Young Master Wu?”

I shook my head. “I’m a village boy. I can’t accept being called young master. All right, call me Young Mr. Wu.”

At last, we found a form of address that suited us both.

From that day onward, someone new joined Old Cao and me in the coffin shop… No, not someone–a ghost.

Though extremely weak, the ghost could serve tea, pour water, or pass Old Cao materials while he made coffins. It truly could assist us.

More importantly, Wang Hu appeared to be a kind ghost.

And he had been a good father.

I hoped he could cultivate some ghostly abilities and become stronger, which would make searching for his daughter easier.

“You’re an employee of the coffin shop now, Brother Wang. Come inside.”

Smiling, I stepped through the door.

But Wang Hu said awkwardly, “Young Mr. Wu, I… I can’t get in. I don’t know why, but when I look at that tall threshold, I can’t make myself step over it.”

Oh!

Only then did I remember that the corpse-blocking threshold at Old Cao’s shop could repel not only corpse-fiends, but ordinary ghosts as well.

“Wait there.”

Old Cao bent down and swept some sawdust and dirt from both sides of the threshold’s inner edge.

The sawdust had fallen as the threshold slowly decayed over the years.

Though enchanted to effectively repel corpse-fiends and ghosts, to a living person–or in its fundamental nature–it remained an ordinary wooden threshold.

Naturally, it had begun decaying with time.

Old Cao scooped the fallen sawdust and dust from the ground, then drew a circle in midair beside him with his left hand.

Swish, swish, swish!

The top three sheets from a stack of spirit money in a nearby alcove flew into his hand. He wrapped the threshold’s sawdust and dust in the paper money and blew on it.

Whoosh!

The paper money ignited without a flame and burned to ash. Blending with the sawdust and dust, it formed a long, floating stream that flew over the threshold and entered Wang Hu’s body.

He shuddered from head to toe.

Old Cao nodded. “Good. My corpse-blocking threshold has acknowledged you. Though you’re a ghost, you’re a true member of the coffin shop now. From this point onward, you may enter and leave freely.”

“Thank you, Boss!”

Wang Hu thanked him again, raised a leg over the threshold, and entered the shop.

Perhaps because he had not interacted with people for so long, he seemed rather timid.