Chapter 130
Chapter 130
Heavy black curtains covered every window in the coffin shop, preventing even a sliver of sunlight from entering.
This clearly defied common sense.
Even ordinary people knew that a place so heavy with yin energy had to be kept as well ventilated as possible.
Shopkeeper Liu, a hereditary corpse bearer, should have understood that better than anyone.
Deaf Granny told Zhao Aiguo to open every curtain. Liu Meina said timidly, “Grandma, if you do that, my grandfather will be angry.”
Deaf Granny laughed coldly.
“Don’t be afraid, little Meina. Grandma is here.”
“Besides, the one who gets angry may not be your ‘grandfather’ at all!”
Zhao Aiguo brought prosperity to the people under his care and was filled with righteous energy, so he naturally did not fear the strange atmosphere in the shop.
Yet the moment he opened the curtains, even he was shocked by the arrangement inside.
Eight dark-crimson coffins stood in orderly rows along the two sides of the room.
Seven thick white candles were fixed to the top of each coffin in the shape of the Big Dipper.
Each coffin rested on redwood blocks, with hemp ropes dangling from the beam above.
Four white paper figures stood at either end of every coffin, holding it aloft.
Their cheeks were painted bright red, and the rigid upward curves of their mouths formed terrifying smiles.
Worst of all were their eyes, painted in blood. No matter where a person stood, the figures seemed to stare directly at them.
Deaf Granny’s expression turned solemn.
“Never paint eyes on paper effigies. Give them eyes, and ghosts possess them!”
“How could Old Liu fail to understand such a basic rule?”
“It seems some filthy things have clouded his mind!”
“There really are filthy things here?!”
The moment he heard Deaf Granny, Zhao Aiguo bounded in front of her and the young girl.
“In broad daylight, beneath a clear and righteous sky, I refuse to believe any demons and monsters would dare come out and harm people!”
Deaf Granny watched Zhao Aiguo stand there, filled with righteous energy, and nodded inwardly in approval.
This was how an official responsible for the common people should behave!
Clearing her throat, Deaf Granny shouted toward the rear room.
“Old Liu, I know you’re in there.”
“This old woman has come. Why haven’t you come out to greet me?”
As soon as her voice fell, the heavy curtain over the inner doorway lifted.
It revealed Shopkeeper Liu’s gaunt, deathly gray face.
He had grown so thin that his eye sockets and cheekbones protruded while his cheeks and eyes had sunk deep into his skull.
He looked thirty percent human and seventy percent ghost!
Shopkeeper Liu apparently had not expected sunlight to enter.
He instinctively raised a hand to shield himself and swiftly retreated into the darkness.
In a shrill, whistling voice, he roared, “Meina, you wretched girl! Who told you to open those curtains? Close them at once!”
Deaf Granny gave a cold laugh.
“I did! ‘Old Liu,’ if you have a problem, take it up with this old woman!”
From within the shadows, Shopkeeper Liu raised his head and looked at Deaf Granny.
At first, his withered eyes were blank, as though he did not recognize her.
Then wild joy appeared in them. He opened his mouth to say something, only for his expression to turn savage.
“Have you lived long enough, you damned old hag?”
“As the saying goes, ‘Sweep the snow from your own doorstep; pay no mind to the frost on another’s roof.'”
“I suggest you stop meddling, or one careless step may cost you your miserable old life!”
Deaf Granny laughed coldly again and again.
“No one but Grandfather Wuchang can take this old woman’s life, so don’t trouble yourself worrying about it!”
“Now answer me. What is your name, and where do you come from?!”
“Why have you come to Liujia Village to harm people?”
Shopkeeper Liu did not answer. Instead, a shrill giggle began rising from his throat.
Then he waved one hand, and all fifty-six white candles atop the eight coffins burst alight.
A rapid series of cracks followed.
The door behind Deaf Granny slammed shut.
The curtains swept closed at the same instant, leaving only the candles’ deathly white glow inside the shop.
“Since you insist on meddling, old woman, I’ll kill all of you too. That will give me the eight ghosts I need to carry the coffins!”
As soon as “Shopkeeper Liu” finished speaking, he sprang at Zhao Aiguo in front like a monkey.
“You die first!”
But the instant his hand touched Zhao Aiguo, a faint layer of light flung him backward.
Shopkeeper Liu’s face filled with disbelief. “Loved by the people, protected by official authority?!”
As he stood stunned, Deaf Granny bit through her middle finger and pressed it between Shopkeeper Liu’s brows.
“Wake up at once, Old Liu! Tell me what kind of ghostly thing is harming you!”
Struggle twisted “Shopkeeper Liu’s” face. Then he crouched on the floor, clutched his head, and cried out in agony.
As though exhausting every scrap of strength in his body, he roared, “A ghost dead far from home, a bearer of corpses-eight blood coffins bound for Xiliang!”