Chapter 2 Another Conspiracy

…

Inside another厢房, an old man who looked quite dignified sat in the middle, flanked by a middle-aged man and a young man. When the old man’s eyelids twitched, the young man immediately stood up to pour him tea.

Yu Chengmu took a small sip of the hot tea and shook his shoulders as if his whole body had relaxed.

"Master Appraiser, you are truly amazing. Everything is under your control." Zhou Qing smiled as he put down the teapot, flattering him. "Sure enough, that fellow Pang Xiaofeng fell into the trap. Boss Jia just sent word asking if A Biao should go, and I repeated your instructions to him. He was completely dumbfounded and kept praising your profound abilities."

Yu Chengmu curled his lips and slowly stroked his beard with one hand, adopting the air of an enlightened master. "That Jia fellow doesn't know anything. If it weren't for his channels for selling goods, would we be working with him? He's just a small-time fence who hasn't been in the business for long. How could he possibly hire a true Buddha like me?"

"Yes, yes, yes, you are a master. It's giving him face just to join him," Zhou Qing hastily flattered.

Zhang Junyu wore a gloomy expression, lacking Zhou Qing’s enthusiasm. "Master Appraiser, Chen Hao is a policeman. I'm afraid he won't be easy to deal with. What if things turn ugly..."

"Now that we know his identity, we can't let him leave alive," Yu Chengmu opened his eyes slightly, a ruthless glint flashing within. He and Jia Jinliang were of one mind on this matter.

"Now they're one man short, leaving only three. Even if we add Wang Fugui from Jiangcheng, they'll only have five people. We also have five people. If we really fight, we won't be at a disadvantage," Zhou Qing chimed in.

Yu Chengmu was about to say something encouraging, but the face of Jiangcheng suddenly flashed in his mind, and he swallowed his words. This feeling was strange. He didn't know what he was worried about, but he considered it a kind of intuition.

Zhou Qing cleared his throat and lowered his voice, asking curiously, "Master Appraiser, please tell us what you encountered in the mourning hall and what arrangements you made. Just to broaden our horizons as juniors."

Yu Chengmu sneered and again adopted the air of a master. "You mustn't underestimate that mourning hall. The dangers hidden within are beyond your imagination. It's a temple, and a ghost temple at that."

"Behind the temple are several coffins, and inside the coffins are floating corpses. Floating corpses are associated with water, and this house has been transformed into a yin dwelling. The only source of water has also been filled in, so the clash between the two will inevitably cause corpses to rise."

"So, no matter what we do tonight, someone is bound to suffer?" Zhou Qing asked softly.

Yu Chengmu snorted coldly. "Exactly!"

Zhang Junyu frowned slightly. He was convinced of Yu Chengmu's abilities, but the old fellow's boasting was also first-rate. There was definitely danger tonight, but to say that there was no way to avoid death was too absolute.

In Zhang Junyu's understanding, there should be a way to avoid casualties, but it would be difficult, very difficult. And even Yu Chengmu couldn't do it, so he didn't mention it.

"This is a setup by an expert, and even if this expert isn't that night watchman, he must be related to him!" Mentioning the night watchman, a hint of fear flashed in Yu Chengmu's eyes, but when he noticed someone looking at him, that hint of fear quickly disappeared, replaced by a fearless arrogance. "He does have some ability."

"Master Appraiser is still the best." Zhou Qing continued to lick his boots.

Yu Chengmu narrowed his eyes comfortably. "I've observed the layout of the mourning hall. Someone used a paperweight made of yinchen wood to suppress the floating corpses, but that's just a temporary measure. The key to the formation lies in the candle in front of the mourning hall."

"The coffins where the floating corpses are located are constantly leaking water, and the leaked water merges into a stream, flowing along a hidden crack in the ground, towards the base of that candle. Tonight, we are keeping watch for the drowned people, and they will naturally come to eat the offerings."

"This wouldn't normally be a problem, but the offerings for the drowned are different from ordinary people. They have a lot of resentment, so if they want to be reincarnated, they must drag another living person to their death, which is what people call a shui gui (water ghost) finding a substitute."

"But these floating corpses are different from the usual water ghosts. Water ghosts sink in the water, their bodies tangled in weeds or hooked onto something. These floating corpses are even more evil. Even the big rivers don't want to accept them. They are rootless corpses floating on the surface of the water."

"These floating corpses were fished out, and their resentment increased rather than decreased. They will return on the seventh day after death to grab a substitute, and before grabbing a substitute, they must first eat the candle and extinguish the fire in the mourning hall. I'm afraid even you haven't heard of this saying." Yu Chengmu paused, his eyelids twitching slightly. "This is called Xiaogui Shi La (little ghosts devouring the candle)."

"Indeed, I haven't heard of it." Zhou Qing joined the trade relatively late, and many evil things were only heard of, but this time, they had to truly face this situation, and the psychological pressure was still there.

"In other words, as long as the candle is extinguished, these floating corpses will kill people to find substitutes, and the way to extinguish the candle is for the water seeping from the coffin to come into contact with the candle."

"I've roughly calculated that when the fifth person, A Biao, who drew the worst lot, enters the mourning hall, the water seeping from the coffin will almost be able to flow to the candle. When the water touches the candle, the floating corpses will appear and devour the candle. After eating the candle, they will kill people!"

"And I calculated the time, removed the yinchen wood that was suppressing the floating corpses, and greatly accelerated the speed of water seepage from the coffin, so after I left, shortly after Pang Xiaofeng entered the mourning hall, the water had already flowed onto the candle." Yu Chengmu was quite proud when he said this.

Zhou Qing showed an admiring expression and then asked, "Master Appraiser, then... those two little things that the night watchman gave us, are they..."

Yu Chengmu glanced at him with satisfaction and nodded slightly. "You two have good eyes. That's not amber, but rhinoceros horn. Since ancient times, it has been said that rhinoceros horn should not be burned, as it emits a strange fragrance when burned. If it touches clothing, people can communicate with ghosts."

"So... the night watchman is trying to harm us!" Zhou Qing wore a strange expression. "It is said that rhinoceros horn burns in two ways. Under normal circumstances, there is no big problem, but if there is a ghost nearby, there will be a blue light, and the ghost will also appear in the light."

Hearing this, Yu Chengmu shook his head slightly. "You only know one thing, but not the other. Seeing ghosts by burning rhinoceros horn is not the most important thing. There's also this..."

"People can communicate with ghosts!" Zhang Junyu suddenly said.

Yu Chengmu's eyelids twitched slightly. "That's right. After the rhinoceros horn is lit, not only can you see the ghost, but the ghost can also see you. And if you are noticed by the ghost and have no way to deal with the ghost, then..." Yu Chengmu stopped here.

Zhou Qing couldn't help but shudder just thinking about that scene in his mind. Being discovered by a ghost without a way to deal with it would be like waiting for death.