Bai Shou Zhang could scare away even the most seasoned professionals with just one sentence. That's what they mean when they say: "The water is deep and hard to see the bottom, even a dead tiger still commands respect."

As long as Bai Shou Zhang wasn't buried, no one could accurately gauge his intentions.

Zhang Bufan stayed with the empty coffin until nightfall, lighting two white candles in the room.

Bai Shou Zhang told Zhang Bufan to wait for him, but he didn't say how. To verify whether the person who returned was alive or dead, Zhang Bufan set up a Yin-Yang feast in the mourning hall.

An ordinary feast consists of four cold and four hot dishes, but a Yin-Yang feast has four raw and four cooked dishes.

This was a banquet specially prepared for the dead by the living, with both the living and the dead sitting at the same table to eat.

The living sat inside eating cooked dishes, while the dead sat outside eating raw food.

Zhang Bufan sat alone in front of the coffin, his mind becoming increasingly muddled. He kept muttering, "What exactly did my master mean before he left?"

He said that the one who returned might not be him.

It might not even be a living or dead person.

Doesn't that mean something unexpected could happen during these few days he's gone? He doesn't even know if he'll come back alive?

Master, he…

No, nothing will happen to Master. He is a renowned Da Xiansheng (Grand Master), the leading figure in the Dongbei (Northeast) provinces. Who could possibly do anything to him?

While Zhang Bufan was lost in thought, the lights in the room suddenly flared up.

The flames on the candles shot up more than a foot high, as if trying to reach the moon, illuminating the entire mourning hall.

Bai Shou Zhang returned from outside, carrying a chill with him.

Bai Shou Zhang was only wearing a white shirt, his face clean-shaven.

But his face was frighteningly pale, looking like a freshly made-up corpse at first glance.

Bai Shou Zhang entered the room and sat across from Zhang Bufan. "Pour me a glass of wine to warm me up. It's too cold."

As Zhang Bufan picked up the wine pot to pour wine for his master, he saw another person standing at the door. That person was wearing Zhang Bufan's clothes, with a piece of white cloth covering their face.

Zhang Bufan was stunned when he saw that person.

Bai Shou Zhang, holding his wine glass, said, "He looks familiar, doesn't he? Do you remember what happened in the mountain temple ten years ago? You strangled yourself to death."

Bai Shou Zhang leaned forward, staring intently into Zhang Bufan's eyes, and said, "After you died, I brought you into a child's body and raised you for ten years. The ten years are up; you can't hide anymore."

Bai Shou Zhang said, word by word, "You are dead. The one at the door is your body. You have to bury him for you to live."

That was the first sentence Zhang Bufan heard after guarding the spirit for three days.

Zhang Bufan was immediately dumbfounded. "Master, what are you talking about?"

Bai Shou Zhang smiled strangely. "Think carefully about what happened when you entered the mountain temple."

Zhang Bufan seemed dazed, muttering to himself, "I haven't been able to remember what happened back then for many years!"

Bai Shou Zhang chuckled. "Think again, think carefully, think slowly! If you can't remember, I'll tell you."

"Start thinking from when you sat next to the clay figure!"

Zhang Bufan said as if in a dream, "I sat next to the clay figure… I knew the clay figure wouldn't move, but I couldn't help but tremble."

"The more afraid I was, the more I wanted to look to the side. I just glanced at the clay figure next to me and felt something was wrong."

"The clay figure next to me was two fingers shorter than me, and the clothes on its body were the ones I wore last year."

"The person outside turned his head. His face was covered with white cloth, just like… just like the clay figure you made!"

Bai Shou Zhang chuckled. "That's right! The one blocking you outside is the new clay figure I made."

"I didn't keep an eye on him and let him run away. The place you were sitting back then was where he should have been."

"Think further, what else did you see?"

Zhang Bufan continued as if unconscious, "Before I could react, I heard a rustling sound in front of me."

"That sound was like someone scratching under the shrine with their hand."

"I was so scared that I looked down through the gap in the white cloth."

"The person at the door had already come in, crouching under the shrine, scratching at the wall with both hands as he climbed up."

"I raised my leg and glared at his face, kicking the white cloth off that person's face."

"That person's features were exactly the same as mine. That person's face was made of clay, but those two eyes were real, looking like real human eyes had been inlaid on a clay figure."

"That clay figure suddenly grinned at me. I don't know where I got the courage, but I reached out and grabbed the other person's neck."

"At that time, I desperately strangled that clay figure, not even knowing that my fingers had sunk into the other person's neck."

"Before long, I saw that person roll his eyes."

"But those eyes, even as they rolled back, were looking at my face, and the corners of his mouth were still trying to stretch outward, as if he was smiling."

"The more he was like that, the more I didn't dare to let go. I don't know how long I strangled him before I heard you calling me from outside, 'Xiao Fan (Little Fan), let go!'"

"Everything went black before my eyes, and I fell on the clay figure. Before I passed out, I seemed to hear someone say, 'This disciple of yours is interesting; he strangled himself to death.'"

"When I woke up…"