I tapped lightly on the dashboard. "Are you saying that Wei Xuesong went deep into Lin Yun Mountain back then to release Duo Tian Yao Nü (heaven-snatching demoness) and get revenge on the Yang Jian Jie Ming Ren?"

Chen Shuyu said, "Only that answer can explain why the secret order to capture Wei Xuesong became a flying dispatch. Because every Jie Ming Ren who entered Yun Lin Mountain has already died at the hands of Shen Youyou."

I countered, "Then how do you explain the gathering of the Thief Sect in Yunyin Village? Although the Thief Sect calls itself a sect, it's actually just a bunch of loose sand, each with its own inheritance. Can a single token really make the Thief Sect submit?"

Chen Shuyu said helplessly, "The Thief Sect has always been tight-lipped about its treasure; apart from a very few people, no one knows exactly what it is."

"However, I'm sure that Wei Xuesong took the Thief Sect's treasure not just to get revenge on the Thief Sect."

"In this world, the only things that could drive the Thief Sect crazy are either shocking treasures or their lives. The Thief Sect's treasure must be related to these two things."

I was silent for a moment. "What I'm concerned about now is whether that red shoe belongs to Shen Youyou."

"If the person chasing us is Shen Youyou, then that means someone released Shen Youyou! Shen Youyou didn't come out sooner, and didn't come out later, but happened to come out at this time. Isn't that too much of a coincidence?"

Chen Shuyu said, "Unfortunately, everyone in the third room is dead. Otherwise, we could have asked him where he encountered that red shoe."

Ye Yang suddenly said, "What method did the Jie Ming Ren of that year use to defeat Shen Youyou?"

Chen Shuyu said, "I don't know! All I know is that they piled up lives to achieve victory in their first encirclement of Shen Youyou. As for what method they used the second time, I have no idea."

Chen Shuyu changed the subject. "Are we still going to look for Zuan Shan Bao (Drilling Mountain Leopard)?"

"Yes, we must go!" I said in a deep voice, "I want to know what secrets the older generation of Zuan Shan Bao obtained. If he really did break through the Ninth Mountain of Yun Lin, then our path to survival lies with him."

"I don't know what you felt when you encountered Shen Youyou just now, but I felt a sense of powerlessness that I couldn't fight against. This time, I'm afraid we're going to fall."

Ye Yang said in a deep voice, "It's too early to say who will win until the very end. That's not like you!"

I shook my head again. "An exorcist's intuition is sometimes more accurate than a Tian Ming Shi's (fate master) calculations. I have to believe it! Let's go! Now, it's too late for us to run even if we wanted to."

Ye Yang sped up without saying a word. It wasn't until dusk that we arrived at Qinghe Town, the hometown of Zuan Shan Bao.

Chen Shuyu straightened up in the back seat. "Ye Yang, drive slowly. Follow the river outside the town."

"There's an old saying in Qinghe Town: Qinghe Road, Caohe (grass river) goes, Qinghe sees no grass, where there's grass, there's a river! Let's find out where the other river is."

I turned my head. "You mean there's another river in this place?"

"That's right!" Chen Shuyu said, "Not only is there another invisible river here, but that river also leads directly to the underworld. Zuan Shan Bao's great-grandfather, Huang Bai, was buried in that river. His grandfather, Huang Xin, also drowned at the entrance of Caohe."

Zuan Shan Bao's eyes widened. "How do you know things that I don't even know?"

Chen Shuyu said, "I bought the information from Tian Ji She (Heaven's Secret Society)."

Zuan Shan Bao was startled. "Can our Liangjie Tang (Two Realms Hall) do business with Tian Ji She?"

In the world of术道 (Shu Dao, the esoteric arts), buying information from Fengmen doesn't show off your status, but being able to cooperate with Tian Ji She represents your position in the Jianghu (martial world). Because Tian Ji She never pays attention to ordinary people.

It's like a bowl of noodles. If you sit by the roadside and eat it, no one will look at you twice. But if you sit in an international hotel, even if you just order a bowl of noodles, you have to be well-dressed to sit in the lobby.

Chen Shuyu smiled and didn't answer, continuing, "That generation of Zuan Shan Bao, Huang Bai, saved up a lot of family wealth. They lived the most comfortable lives. However, Huang Bai used up most of his family fortune on the day he was buried."

"This matter has to start from the day Huang Bai painted his coffin!"

In the Northeast, there is a saying of囤棺材 (tun guan cai, hoarding coffins).

People of age have their children prepare coffins for them and store them in the warehouse.

The older generation feels at ease when they see their future resting place, and the villagers will only think that the elderly's children are filial, and will never think that they are cursing the elderly to die sooner.

Hoarding the coffin is not the end of it.

Before the coffin is officially used, there is actually one more step to complete, which is "painting the coffin."

In some places in the Northeast, coffins are not just a single coat of paint like they are in TV shows, or just a longevity character, but they must be painted with "Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars" all around.

On the coffin lid, there must also be three sentences in white characters on a blue background: "Lei Gong (thunder god) and Dian Mu (lightning goddess) must listen, this person has merit in the Yang realm, don't startle his body with thunder."

The key to painting coffins around Qinghe Town lies in these three sentences.

These three sentences cannot be written all at once. The words "功德" (gong de, merit) and "莫要" (mo yao, don't) must be left blank, and a master must be specially invited to write them. Legend has it that whether or not lightning strikes the coffin depends entirely on whether or not the two words "功德" can be written on it.

However, something went wrong with the Huang family's coffin because of this sentence.