Chapter 140
Chapter 140
The car rolled slowly down the road as Dou Zhile and I talked at length.
I said, “The Dou Family Ancestral Tomb has collapsed. You’ll have your hands full for a while.”
“It won’t be that troublesome,” Dou Zhile replied. “In fact, most of the graves in the Dou Family Ancestral Tomb are cenotaphs.”
His answer caught me off guard, but I quickly understood.
Dou Jinsuo’s parents had been killed by the Qiankun Mandarin Duck Hook. By the time their remains were fished out, they were unrecognizable, and neither body was intact.
And that was to say nothing of his forefather, who had been controlled and had his reputation dragged through the mud.
It could be summed up this way: if even one of the Dou Family’s ancestors had made it through unscathed, Dou Jinsuo wouldn’t have ended up the way he had, and Dou Zhile wouldn’t have been forced into such a passive position.
Even if they had some incomplete remains, what good would that do when their Souls were still being held captive who knew where?
What Dou Zhile had truly cared about all along was the Gray Immortal hidden in the ancestral tomb.
As long as the Gray Immortal and Dou Jinsuo were both safe, relocating the graves would be child’s play for him.
Dou Zhile said with supreme confidence, “Once the graves are moved, the Dou Family’s fortunes will finally be on the rise.”
He laughed, and Li Qingying and I joined him.
It seemed Dou Zhile had great confidence in our Pawnshop.
My mood brightened as well. “Old Dou, if you need any help relocating the graves, just let me know.”
Old Dou smiled. “I certainly will.”
When we returned to the Pawnshop and entered the Rear-facing Room’s living room, we found Dou Jinsuo asleep against the sofa.
The deathly aura on his face had already faded. He would probably fall mildly ill after this, but with proper rest and care, he would be fine.
Dou Zhile gently shook him awake. “Jinsuo, wake up. Come home with your second uncle.”
Dou Jinsuo rubbed his bleary eyes. “Second Uncle, you’re back? Is everything taken care of?”
“It’s settled,” Dou Zhile said. “I’ll give you one week to rest. After that, I’ll personally teach you everything I’ve learned in my lifetime. You’d better pull yourself together, kid.”
The moment Dou Jinsuo heard that, he sprang off the sofa. He grabbed Dou Zhile in disbelief and asked if he was lying to him.
He had waited far too long for this day.
After seeing the two of them off, I carried the Hexagonal Palace Lantern to the Main Courtyard.
Liu Junyan had been waiting in the West Room.
He took the Hexagonal Palace Lantern and looked me over from head to toe. Only after confirming that I wasn’t injured did he say, “You’ve worked hard, Xiao Jiu.”
“Well, well. ‘You’ve worked hard, Xiao Jiu,'” Hui Moqiong echoed sarcastically, having appeared at some point without my noticing.
He glanced at the Copper-Coin Figure, then clasped his hands behind his back and circled Liu Junyan once. “Your hair is longer, and your whole air has changed. Other than that, you’re the same as ever.”
He solemnly patted Liu Junyan on the shoulder. “Buddy, this is the second time I’ve put this little life of mine in your hands. Don’t make me lose my gamble again.”
Liu Junyan pulled his hand away and said to me, “Xiao Jiu, go get some rest. I need to have a proper talk with him.”
Hui Moqiong immediately crooked an arm around Liu Junyan’s shoulders and urged, “Right, right. Go do your thing, kid sis. We men haven’t seen each other in years, so we need to catch up properly. Does the Pawnshop have any liquor and food? I haven’t touched that stuff in ages, and I’m craving it.”
“You two talk,” I said. “I’ll buy some liquor and food and bring it over in a bit.”
Hui Moqiong snapped his fingers. “That’s more like it. Thanks for the trouble, kid sis.”
I left the Pawnshop and rode my electric scooter to buy liquor. Then I stopped by a deli and bought a kilo of sliced pig’s head, a roast duck, and a few vegetarian side dishes.
After that, I swung by the bakery on the south side of town and bought a large cake.
When I returned to the Pawnshop, I asked Li Qingying to deliver the liquor and food to the Main Courtyard. I went to pack some incense, candles, spirit money, and other offerings. By the time I finished, Li Qingying had returned.
She asked, “Are you heading out?”
“Mm,” I replied. “You’re coming with me.”
Li Qingying drove while I sat in the passenger seat holding the cake and gave her the address.
The moment she heard it and glanced at the cake in my hands, she understood.
She started the car and drove straight to the cemetery.
I had once promised Lu Qiusheng that when the day came for his enemies to face justice, I would bring a cake to his grave and tell him the good news.
Bai Xian’er and Little Monster had both died in the tomb today. If Lu Qiusheng and his family were aware of what had happened from the afterlife, their souls could finally rest in peace.
Today, a great many souls could finally rest.
By the time we returned from the cemetery, night had fallen. After a simple dinner and washing up, Li Qingying and I sat behind the counter in the Southern Study to mind the shop.
The pair of Buddha Eyes was still in the refrigerator, clear as water.
That girl had said she would return in a few days to collect her pawn payment — a single drop of Lamp Oil.
I had been waiting for her. After all, strictly speaking, this transaction had never been completed.
I needed to make it clear to her whether she still wanted to proceed with the deal.
I waited until eleven, but to my surprise, another girl arrived first.
And both Li Qingying and I knew her.
It was Chen Tao.
She stood outside the threshold in a beautiful little dress, with a thin wool coat over it and a Chibi Maruko-chan doll cradled in her arms.
Her parents had burned that outfit as an offering to her on the night she became a Standing Corpse in the Zhu Pan River.
It was her sixteenth birthday present.
The outfit meant for late autumn had finally found its way onto her in the depths of winter.
Now that her death had been avenged, Chen Tao would likely depart for Reincarnation tonight, or by the first rooster’s crow at the latest.
Yet instead of leaving in a hurry, she had come here to see me… I immediately took out my phone, found Father Chen’s number, and called him.
Then I asked Li Qingying to fetch the Ox Tears I had left over from before.
Before long, Father Chen and Mother Chen arrived in their van, both looking utterly confused.
I dabbed Ox Tears onto their eyes. A moment later, they saw Chen Tao, beautifully dressed and as sweet and innocent as ever.
At once, the three of them broke down in tears.
Only then did I fully understand why Chen Tao had come here before leaving.
Her death had been horrific. Every inch of skin had been flayed from her body, leaving her standing in the river as a bloody, skinless corpse. That gruesome sight would haunt her parents for the rest of their lives.
Whenever they woke from dreams in the dead of night, all they would remember was her blood-soaked form.
And with that memory would come endless guilt and self-reproach.
But after tonight, Father Chen and Mother Chen would feel a little more at peace.
Their precious daughter had finally received her belated birthday present. Beautifully dressed, she had gone on to Reincarnation. For them, there could be no greater comfort.
What a thoughtful, kindhearted girl.
Such a shame.
After I urged her again and again, Chen Tao finally left.
Father Chen and Mother Chen thanked me profusely before leaving as well, their eyes red from crying.
It was already past midnight by then. Thinking nothing else would happen tonight, I was about to close up and go to sleep.
Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded outside.
They were very soft, but with every step, the silver ornaments on the person’s clothes jingled.
Li Qingying and I looked up at the same time and saw the girl who had gouged out her own pair of Buddha Eyes in the Pawnshop.
She was still dressed exactly as she had been that night. Her empty eye sockets were crusted with dried blood.
Step by step, she approached the Pawnshop on tiptoe, her heels never touching the ground.
Her entire body was shrouded in a dense aura of death.
She stopped outside the threshold of the Southern Study. Opening her mouth, she spoke slowly and mechanically.
“Shopkeeper, I’ve come to take back my pair of Buddha Eyes…”