Chapter 1 Seeing Through

Seeing the patterns on the wooden plaque, Yao Shunyu sneered, "Don't have one? Then what's this?"

The shop assistant, seeing the plaque snatched away, struggled desperately despite the pain, glaring at Yao Shunyu. "Give it back! Give me back my life-saving plaque!"

This plaque, whether in craftsmanship or texture, was similar to the one the shop assistant had been carrying earlier, both clearly originating from the so-called Tianshi Fu. The danger tonight was self-evident. According to Yao Shunyu's character, once something was in his hands, there was no way he would return it. "Enough nonsense, I'll take this. It's not late yet, as long as you don't approach the late madam's Yin residence, you'll be fine."

Knowing he was no match for Yao Shunyu, and that these people were honored guests invited by the Marquis, the shop assistant swallowed his anger, glared fiercely at Yao Shunyu and the others, then turned and ran, his figure quickly disappearing into the darkness.

Having obtained the so-called life-saving plaque, Yao Shunyu carefully examined the thunderstruck wood plaque in his hand. After confirming there were no problems, he turned and handed it to Fatty. "Brother Wang, keep this plaque safe. Although its effects are currently unknown, it's better than nothing."

Staring at the exquisitely crafted plaque, Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie both felt the urge to take it and examine it closely, but fearing misunderstandings, they ultimately refrained.

Fatty was taken aback, then waved his hand in refusal. "Brother Yao, you risked life and limb to get this, how can I take it?"

Yao Shunyu frowned and directly stuffed the plaque into Fatty's pocket, finally saying meaningfully, "Keep it, Brother Wang. In the upcoming mission, ghosts are certainly frightening, but you must also be wary of petty people's schemes."

"Brother Yao means well, you shouldn't decline."

With Jiang Cheng's reassurance, Fatty reluctantly accepted the thunderstruck wood plaque.

The group quickened their pace and quickly returned to the late madam's Yin residence. The journey was uneventful. The entire Marquis residence was eerily quiet. Apart from the white lanterns swaying gently in the wind, they didn't see a single person.

"Where did everyone go? I remember there should be soldiers patrolling some of the intersections."

Fatty had the copper coin in his left pocket and the thunderstruck wood plaque given by Yao Shunyu in his right pocket, still feeling uneasy.

"Something's not right. It's not about the people, it seems...it seems..." Zhang Qizheng's expression was strange, and he hesitated before speaking.

"Seems like what? Mr. Zhang, feel free to speak frankly," Li Bai urged.

Zhang Qizheng's wrinkled face furrowed, "It's just my feeling, but it seems that during the time we were gone, the feng shui in this Yin residence has changed."

"You mean someone altered the feng shui here?"

Before anyone could answer, the group had already arrived at the front of the room where they were staying. At this moment, the originally closed door was wide open, and 9 packages were neatly placed in the room.

Opening the packages cautiously, they found luxurious clothing inside.

Jiang Cheng immediately realized that the spirit-keeping woman had said they needed to dress up as the Zhennan Marquis tonight to steal the embroidered ball.

These clothes were clearly prepared for them.

As expected, the clothes in each package were exactly the same, only the sizes were different. After trying them on, everyone found a size that suited them and put them on.

In addition to the clothes, there was also a very thin red string in the package. Judging by the length, it was just enough to tie the copper coin as a pendant around the neck.

After doing all this, everyone closed the door and sat around the table, beginning to discuss the mission for tonight.

The mission was simple: to steal the embroidered ball from the late madam before dawn. The late madam would appear at the third watch (san geng tian).

"Do you all remember? The spirit-keeping woman said that our activity area tonight is within the Marquis residence, and we cannot enter the backyard, where there are more terrifying things." Zhu Jie said very seriously, "But just now, the Marquis residence's shop assistant didn't say that. He said that there are important clues in the backyard of the residence, which need to be investigated carefully."

One forbade them from going, the other encouraged them to go. Obviously, there was a serious conflict between the two statements.

Jiang Cheng thought about it simply and made a judgment, "Don't pay attention to the Marquis residence shop assistant's words. Listen to the spirit-keeping woman. She is the clue character who issued the mission."

Mentioning the spirit-keeping woman, Fatty seemed to suddenly think of something and turned to look at Li Bai, "By the way, what did you mean by the shezai nü (disaster-averting girl) you mentioned earlier?"

"In ancient times, wealthy families were superstitious about feng shui and fate. After a child was born, they would ask a fortune teller to help take a look. If the child's fate was good, that was fine, but if the child's fate was bad, or if some major disasters were calculated that could not be resolved, then the fortune teller would advise the family to find someone to ward off the disaster for the child."

"The requirements for a disaster-averting person are very harsh. They need to be about the same age as the child, and their birth dates must also match. A boy needs to find a boy, and a girl needs to find a girl. A boy who wards off disaster for a boy is called yinghuo tong (calamity-welcoming boy), and a girl who wards off disaster for a girl is called shezai nü (disaster-averting girl)."

"Yinghuo tong and shezai nü are mostly from poor families. Because their fate has the Five Weaknesses and Three Deficiencies, they often suffer from various disabilities. Even if they are not bought by wealthy families, they will eventually be abandoned by their families."

"After being bought and brought into the house, these young boys and girls grow up with the master's child. Some of the disasters that were originally supposed to befall the master's child will be warded off by them."

After listening to Li Bai's explanation, Jiang Cheng became more and more certain that the shezai nü had a close relationship with the late madam. He still remembered the shezai nü's title for the late madam. She called the late madam "Miss," while she directly called the Zhennan Marquis by his name, instead of the "Marquis" used by Yuwen General and others.

It seemed that the shezai nü had dissatisfaction with the Zhennan Marquis.

But as long as they could get the embroidered ball tonight and obtain the late madam's birth date and other information from the embroidered ball, then the late madam's identity would be completely revealed to the world.

Jiang Cheng had suspected more than once that the late madam was related to the former dynasty's General Guo, but he lacked direct evidence.

At this time, Fatty took out the copper coin hanging around his neck. The copper coin looked very old, and there was a shallow layer of copper rust on it.

An indescribable fishy smell wafted from the copper coin. Fatty knew that the copper coin was stained with blood, but this smell...

Just as Fatty was about to get closer and smell what the smell was all about, a discordant voice suddenly sounded, "I said, it's just a dead person's ya kou qian (mouth-holding coin), you don't want to taste it, do you?"

Shao Tong's eyes stared straight at Fatty, revealing an eager expression.

"Dead person? Ya kou qian (mouth-holding coin)?!"

Seeing Fatty's face suddenly change, Shao Tong grinned. Jiang Cheng had heard of the saying of ya kou qian, which was the money held in the mouth of the deceased, also known as "xian kou qian (mouth-containing coin)."

There were rumors that ya kou qian was used to buy life for the little ghosts, so that the little ghosts would keep the secret for three days in front of the King of Hell, so that the deceased's soul could stay in the human world for three more days to fulfill unfinished wishes.