Chapter 136 The Cloth

Lei Mingyu was stunned by the words, then a look of recollection appeared on his face, "That cloth..."

"I'm asking you a question, answer me," Du Moyu couldn't help but urge. This was a matter of life and death. If he had known Lei Mingyu was so unreliable, he would have gone to monitor Yu Chengmu, the old fox.

"I... I don't remember," Lei Mingyu said truthfully, "At the time, my attention was all on the Soul Suppressing Bell. When I saw it fall, I bent down to pick it up, but Wang Fugui was faster."

Chen Hao didn't press him further. He immediately took out his phone, found Jiang Cheng's number, and dialed it.

The call connected quickly. After hearing just a few sentences, Jiang Cheng understood everything. He immediately asked Fatty about the whereabouts of the cloth. Fatty's expression was similar to Lei Mingyu's, a mixture of confusion and nervousness. He swallowed and recalled, "I saw the Soul Suppressing Bell fall to the ground, and my first reaction was to pick it up. Then, just as I stood up, Yu Chengmu took the bell, and... and he even said thank you to me."

"After you stood up, the cloth in Yu Chengmu's hand was gone, right?" Jiang Cheng confirmed.

"It seems... it seems like that," Fatty said with a hesitant tone, "But I'm not sure."

Actually, after hearing this, Jiang Cheng basically understood. There was something wrong with the cloth. Yu Chengmu's accidental drop of the Soul Suppressing Bell was just to distract Fatty and Lei Mingyu, his ultimate goal was this cloth.

But when it came to describing the cloth, neither Fatty nor Lei Mingyu could give a clear answer, after all, they hadn't paid attention.

"Now it seems, the problem lies with this cloth," Jiang Cheng said into the phone, "I think this cloth probably contains some information."

"Related to the Dahe Niangniang (River Goddess) and the paper figurine Lu Jianli, either a letter or an item that can prove their identity," Chen Hao said after thinking. After all, even if Miss Wu from the Wu family had no suspicion, she wouldn't simply trust these people in the Yin profession, especially with such an important matter, unless there was a token from Lu Jianli as proof.

"Although we lost the initiative, at least this Soul Suppressing Bell is real, and it will definitely be useful tonight," Jiang Cheng said.

Chen Hao's voice sounded a moment later, as calm as ever, "I understand, Yu Chengmu wants to use this Soul Suppressing Bell to confuse us, to make us mistakenly believe that this is the so-called treasure, so we will relax our vigilance." After a pause, he took a breath and continued, "But there's nothing wrong with the Soul Suppressing Bell itself, and it's one of the props we'll use tonight, but it doesn't seem to be for dealing with the Dahe Niangniang."

"If it's not for dealing with the Dahe Niangniang, then who is it for?" Fatty, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but ask.

A moment later, Fatty suddenly realized and blurted out, "It couldn't be... it couldn't be for dealing with the night watchman, right?" After all, tonight's task was to send the night watchman's body to the ferry crossing.

Jiang Cheng and Chen Hao were silent. They weren't sure about Fatty's guess, but it at least showed that besides the Dahe Niangniang, there were other things that would take their lives on the corpse driving road tonight.

"Let's take it one step at a time," Chen Hao stared at the Soul Suppressing Bell on the table, lost in thought.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng said seriously, "If the situation allows tonight on the corpse driving road, I will help you."

Chen Hao smiled wryly, "Thank you."

Not long after the phone call ended, Jiang Cheng received a message from Chen Hao. In the message, Chen Hao stated that he would be holding the Soul Suppressing Bell tonight, and might become the primary target of attack. If something happened to him, he hoped that Jiang Cheng could take care of his remaining two teammates.

Jiang Cheng agreed.

...

In another private room.

A white paper lantern was burning dimly, emitting an unsettling light. The lantern was brought by A Biao and Jia Jinliang. That's right, the two of them had secretly come to Yu Chengmu's room.

On the old wooden cabinet, there was still Zhang Junyu's jacket.

Jia Jinliang glanced at it, but didn't mention this embarrassing topic. After all, Zhang Junyu was dead, and for the time being, they still needed Yu Chengmu's help. "Master Yu," Jia Jinliang's expression and tone were impeccable, "In your opinion, what kind of risks will we encounter on the corpse driving road tonight?"

Yu Chengmu squinted his eyes, stroking his beard with the air of an expert, "That depends on what exactly is in the coffin."

Jia Jinliang reacted quickly and immediately understood, "You mean... the coffin doesn't contain the night watchman's body, but the missing bones of the Dahe Niangniang?"

"It should be like this," Yu Chengmu nodded.

After a moment of thought, Jia Jinliang, having clarified his thoughts, spoke again, "Then, in your expert opinion, Master Yu, is the night watchman really dead, or is he feigning death?"

Whether it was an act or genuine thought, this question made Yu Chengmu frown slightly. After a long while, he said, "The death aura on the night watchman can't be faked. He has indeed reached the end of his life, but as for whether his death was last night, I can't be sure."

"Is the night watchman also a person of the Yin profession?" A Biao suddenly interjected.

Yu Chengmu turned to look at him, and said with a playful smile, "The night watchman belongs to the Yin profession, but compared to professions like corpse drivers and corpse retrievers, his reputation is not as prominent."

"Why did you give them the Soul Suppressing Bell, Master Yu?" A Biao asked.

"Hehe," Master Yu leaned back in his chair, revealing a strange smile, "Do you think that Soul Suppressing Bell is so easy to handle? In my opinion, it's fine if they can't ring it, but if they really ring it, who knows what will happen."

Jia Jinliang became interested upon hearing this.

Yu Chengmu exhaled and said slowly, "Do you remember that something was sealed inside the Soul Suppressing Bell?"

"It was something like wax," Jia Jinliang recalled carefully, "Because it fell, the sealing wax inside cracked."

Upon hearing this, Yu Chengmu's eyelids fluttered slightly, and he shook his head with a hint of pride, "Hehe, that was to fool them. The sealing wax inside the Soul Suppressing Bell... was originally cracked."

Jia Jinliang and A Biao's expressions changed, and they immediately realized, "So... there's something wrong with that Soul Suppressing Bell!"

"Why would it be sealed with wax if there was no problem, and besides..." Yu Chengmu sneered, sniffing, "There's also corpse wax mixed in."

Although the person who made this bell was very skilled, he couldn't hide it from his nose.

As for what consequences would be triggered by ringing this corpse wax bell, Yu Chengmu vaguely remembered seeing a damaged ancient book, which only contained two sentences: Living people lose their souls, dead people possess the body.

After digesting the clues he wanted, Jia Jinliang gave A Biao a look. The latter understood and stood up, smiling as he said, "Master Yu, the cloth that wrapped the Soul Suppressing Bell in the Dahe Niangniang Temple... you didn't lose it, did you?"

As soon as these words came out, Yu Chengmu, who had been posing as an expert, instantly changed his expression.