Chapter 148

Chapter 148

I carefully ran my fingers over the Copper Coin. It was a size larger than an ordinary Copper Coin and much heavier. Its color was different too, with a golden cast to it, and its surface was densely engraved with tiny runes.

I couldn’t understand the runes, but I could vaguely make out that they were Sanskrit.

The Red Rope threaded through the Copper Coin was no ordinary object either. It had undergone some kind of special treatment.

The Copper Coin was cool to the touch, just like Liu Junyan’s body was now.

Ever since the door to the West Room had opened, his body temperature had dropped considerably.

Even… that part of him was cold.

I clasped the hand Liu Junyan had laid against my cheek. Instead of pulling it away, I tilted my head and pressed my cheek deeper into his palm.

“Let me help you, Liu Junyan. I’m already in too deep to stay out of this. I don’t want to become a burden to you one day.”

Since he had chosen this path and intended to follow it all the way, I would stay by his side until we reached the end of the road.

Or… the end of our lives.

“All right.” Liu Junyan kissed my forehead again and pulled me tightly into his arms. “Where the husband leads, the wife follows.”

I only slept for three hours in the latter half of the night. When I woke up in the morning, it wasn’t even seven yet.

There was too much on my mind for me to sleep soundly.

After washing up, I went to breakfast and found Liu Junyan and the others already there.

To my surprise, Liu Junyan and Hui Moqiong looked completely different today.

They had both worn their hair long and tied up before, dressed in traditional robes. I had no idea when they had found the time to get haircuts and buy new clothes.

Liu Junyan had buzzed his hair almost down to the roots. He wore a lightweight cream sweater, straight black pants, and a long dark gray wool coat.

Leaning back against his chair, he rested his right hand loosely on the edge of the table, Prayer Beads looped around his wrist, while looking down at something. He gave off the cold, aloof air of a Buddhist ascetic no stranger would dare approach.

The instant I saw him, I stopped short. For a moment, one glance seemed to stretch across ten thousand years.

He… always managed to surprise me.

“Caught staring, sis?” Hui Moqiong’s voice snapped me out of it. “What do you think? Isn’t your husband hands-down the hottest man alive? Feeling even a tiny bit threatened now?”

I smiled, then turned to look at Hui Moqiong.

His hairstyle had changed too. His long hair had been cut short and styled into a soft, voluminous side part. The wisps near his temples had been highlighted gray-white, perfectly complementing the lock of white hair over his forehead. He looked both handsome and stylish.

Today, he was dressed entirely in black leather — a loose biker-style jacket zipped all the way up to his neck. I instinctively glanced at Li Qingying. This was exactly her type!

When she had first come to stay with me, she had loved wearing black leather from head to toe.

At that moment, however, Li Qingying sat quietly beside Hui Moqiong, head lowered as she silently stirred the noodles in her bowl.

Strange.

Very strange.

Normally, the moment Hui Moqiong started running his mouth, Li Qingying would get so annoyed that she looked ready to sew his lips shut.

But today… she was far too quiet.

Liu Junyan beckoned to me. “Xiao Jiu, come here.”

I sat down beside him and asked curiously, “Why did you two suddenly change your looks?”

“We’re heading out to take care of something, aren’t we? We were dressed too conspicuously before. Didn’t want to attract attention.” Hui Moqiong flicked his slightly curled bangs. “I still prefer tying my hair up and wearing robes, but when you’ve got looks like mine, it doesn’t matter how you dress-you’ll still make crowds swoon. Isn’t that right, Yingyingzi?”

He nudged Li Qingying with his elbow and tilted his head to look at her.

Li Qingying rolled her eyes dramatically. “Narcissist.”

I chuckled to myself. Dressed like this, the two of them would attract just as much attention when they went out.
I turned to Liu Junyan. “You’re heading out? Where are you planning to go?”

“We’ll be staying near the prison for a few days,” Liu Junyan said. “You and Qingying are coming too. Moqiong has already rented us a place.”

I murmured an acknowledgment and hurried through my meal.

Afterward, we each packed some daily necessities and drove to Xucheng.

This time, instead of heading straight for the mountain, we took a detour to the small town closest to the prison.

The town was tiny, with only a few dozen households, and nearly every family was in the funeral business.

Some sold coffins, some sold burial clothes, and others sold paper offerings. The place offered practically every funeral service imaginable.

There were also plenty of short-term rentals, usually leased for three to five days and never for more than half a month. Most were simple, move-in-ready houses.

This strange local economy existed entirely because of the prison.

The prison was enormous, and every inmate inside was on death row.

Almost everyone who came here did so because of those prisoners. Sometimes they came to visit. Other times, they came to… see someone off on their final journey.

They traveled from far away just to say their final goodbyes to someone in prison. Since the entire trip usually lasted only a few days, they rented a place in town for the duration.

They also bought everything they needed right here. The prices were considerably higher than elsewhere, but the shops were convenient and carried everything.

The place Hui Moqiong had rented was one of the better properties in town, a clean and tidy little courtyard house. The owners worked in the county seat year-round, so they rented the house out while they were away.

There were three rooms in total. Liu Junyan and I shared one, while Hui Moqiong and Li Qingying each took one of the others.

By the time we finished settling in, it was already noon.

We were here on business, not to settle down, so none of us had any intention of cooking. We went out to find a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant instead, planning to get a feel for the town while we ate.

Three groups had arrived that morning, two of them here to see death-row inmates off.

After buying all the necessary funeral supplies in town, they crouched at the intersection facing the prison and burned the offerings one by one. They murmured to themselves as they did so, weeping all the while.

The third group consisted of lamas.

Even more surprisingly, I recognized one of them. He was the Great Lama.

We were eating when the lamas passed the restaurant. Li Qingying shot to her feet, but I immediately pulled her back down. “Stay calm. Don’t alert them.”

Li Qingying lowered her voice. “Xiao Jiu, you saw him too, didn’t you? The Great Lama walking on the right just now. Isn’t he the one the Bai Family rescued back then?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Back then, he had worked with the Bai Family in an attempt to capture Du’e Maotan. In the end, I had crippled one of his hands and left him with a limp, while Li Qingying’s Long Whip had lashed his entire body into a bloody mess.

After the Bai Family took him away, we had more or less written him off as a broken man.

Yet hardly any time had passed, and he had actually appeared with a group of lamas in this remote little town in Xucheng. What were they doing here?

Hui Moqiong had joined us later, so he knew nothing about what had happened. Li Qingying pulled him aside and gave him a brief explanation.

After that, Hui Moqiong got up to pay at the counter. Within a few sentences, he had struck up a friendly conversation with the proprietress. They chatted for quite a while before he finally returned.

“Those lamas are going to conduct rites at the prison,” Hui Moqiong said as he sat down. “At the end of every year, the prison invites them here to perform rites and help the souls of executed prisoners find Release from Suffering. The ceremonies last seven days in total.

“The rites are held at night. During the day, they stay at the Temple on the mountain. Today should be their first day here, so they came early to set everything up.”

I frowned. “They’re actually staying at the Temple on the mountain…”