“Since ancient times, people of the Yin profession rarely interact unless necessary. When Yin practitioners gather, each bears their own fortune, which is more likely to bring misfortune than good. I'm wondering, what exactly is attracting them to this obscure little mountain village?” Yu Chengmu’s tone seemed to hint at something.

Zhang Junyu’s heart trembled, and he blurted out, "Is it… the River Goddess!"

Yu Chengmu nodded, his expression grim. “It should be. It's just that my skills are not refined enough to see through the mystery of this so-called River Goddess. If my master were here, he might be able to figure it out.”

Zhang Junyu had heard of Yu Chengmu's master, a genuine Mojin Xiaowei (Grave Robbing Captain) descendant, possessing a Mojin Talisman to prove his identity, and famous in the tomb raiding world.

Unfortunately, everyone makes mistakes. Once, he boasted about his abilities while drunk, and because his voice was too loud, a waiter reported him. The grandmaster was arrested.

After being arrested, due to his good attitude of admitting guilt and actively confessing, his original crime, which deserved execution, was commuted to life imprisonment. Now, he is frequently taken out of his cell to provide on-site guidance at various archaeological sites. He even actively cooperated with the police to lure Yu Chengmu, but the information was leaked, and the latter escaped.

Seeing that Zhang Junyu wasn’t responding, Yu Chengmu remembered his master’s dark history and couldn’t help feeling resentful. He quickly changed the subject, “Junyu, what do you think about this paper figurine resurrection that Du Moyu mentioned?”

Du Moyu pointed out that the paper figurine had A Biao's face.

Zhang Junyu pondered for a moment, then looked up. “Master Yu, I think Du Moyu is playing a trick. They’ve already figured out that we’re with Boss Jia. This is a way to drive a wedge between us.”

“That paper figurine must be the one discovered in Jiangcheng last night. That kid has some skills; he was the one who informed Du Moyu about this. The two of them sang a duet, cooperating to put on this show today.”

“He’s risking his life to put on this show?” Yu Chengmu scoffed. “If it were you, would you dare to drip your blood on that handkerchief?”

Zhang Junyu looked embarrassed and honestly said, “I wouldn’t dare.”

Seeing that the purpose of his warning had been achieved, Yu Chengmu changed his attitude and offered some comfort. “Don’t pay too much attention to that kid Jiangcheng, and don’t let him interfere with your judgment. After all, he’s just a person, and people make mistakes. As long as we find an opportunity, we can kill him.”

Hearing this, Zhang Junyu nodded and respectfully asked, “What’s your opinion, Master Yu?”

“Du Moyu is telling the truth. There’s definitely something wrong with that paper figurine. He said he saw the paper figurine sticking its head out, with a human face, and I think that’s all true.” Yu Chengmu said.

“But he also said that something… no, a ghost hand suddenly appeared and tore off the paper figurine's face.” Zhang Junyu's voice changed. He originally thought that all of this was Jiangcheng and Du Moyu's scheme.

Unexpectedly, when he said this, Yu Chengmu's expression suddenly changed, and his voice became serious. He stared at Zhang Junyu and said in a deep voice, “That’s what I want to talk about. Du Moyu is not lying. The face of that paper figurine… was torn off by a ghost, and I have a rough idea of where this ghost comes from.”

“What is it?” Zhang Junyu became nervous.

“Like the dead paper craftsman, it was also someone from the Yin profession in life, called a Huashi Ren (Corpse Makeup Artist).” Yu Chengmu narrowed his eyes slightly. “Huashi Ren are skilled at applying makeup to the deceased, but that’s just the surface. It is rumored that the strongest Huashi Ren can even draw the appearance of the deceased on paper figurines, making them as lifelike as real people.”

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Junyu immediately thought of the paper figurine with its face torn off. “The paper figurine looked like A Biao. Could it be… that this ghost wants to create a fake A Biao to confuse us?”

“So, the ghost’s next target is A Biao? He’s being targeted?” Zhang Junyu's mind worked quickly. Thinking about it, it wasn't impossible. Last night, A Biao moved too many things in the paper figurine room to try to kill Jiangcheng, and he even took out two paper figurines. Maybe one of them violated a taboo.

However, his expression soon turned strange again. Zhang Junyu tentatively looked at Yu Chengmu and asked doubtfully, “But… why is the name Lu Jianli written on the back of A Biao’s paper figurine? Writing a name on the back of a paper figurine should mean that’s the name of the paper figurine, right?”

This time, Yu Chengmu did not give a clear answer. “You’re right. I also can’t figure out this point. If the ghost intends to make a paper figurine disguised as A Biao, then the name pricked on it should also be A Biao.”

“Could it be that A Biao is a fake name, and Lu Jianli is his real name?” Zhang Junyu continued to guess.

Yu Chengmu shook his head. “It has nothing to do with that. We don’t even know A Biao’s real name; how could the ghost know? In short, we can be sure from this incident that there’s something strange about this A Biao, and we must be careful.”

“Indeed.” Zhang Junyu remembered A Biao’s face and felt a sense of dread.

Yu Chengmu leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard with one hand, and lowered his voice. “If I’m not mistaken, tonight our mission is related to the Fengshi Ren (Corpse Stitcher), and tomorrow, the next mission will be related to the Huashi Ren.”

“Since coming to this world, all our missions have been related to the Yin profession. We came to this village as corpse捞捞人 (corpse fishers). The first night was related to the Shouling Ren (Spirit Keeper), last night was the paper craftsman, tonight is the Fengshi Ren, and you predict that tomorrow will be the Huashi Ren. This…” Zhang Junyu seemed to suddenly realize something, and his face changed drastically.

Yu Chengmu’s sinister voice came, “You’ve realized it too, haven’t you?”

“This order is wrong! This… this is all reversed!” Zhang Junyu was so excited that he stood up, his eyes fixed on Yu Chengmu as if he had foreseen something terrible.

“According to the normal order, after receiving the corpse, the Huashi Ren should first apply makeup to the deceased to confirm their identity, then hand it over to the Fengshi Ren to stitch up the body, then find a paper craftsman to select paper figurines and other funeral supplies, and the last step is to set up a spirit hall. For violent deaths, a Shouling Ren needs to be found to watch over the body at night.” Yu Chengmu said, “But now, you can see that all these orders are reversed. These top experts in the Yin profession wouldn’t be ignorant of this principle. There’s only one explanation: they’re doing this intentionally.”

“Reversing Yin and Yang is against the natural order and will be punished by heaven!” Zhang Junyu was also a member of the Yin profession and was shocked when he heard this.

“Yes, it will be punished by heaven, so there are only two possibilities.” Yu Chengmu paused. “First, they’ve all gone mad, abandoning their cultivation to cut themselves off from the world. And the second… they are executing a plan, and if the plan succeeds, not only can they withstand this heavenly punishment, but they can also gain endless benefits from it.”

“I just wonder what kind of heaven-defying powers these seniors are relying on,” Yu Chengmu said in a low voice.