"No way," Zhuzi refused directly.

"If you can't, then leave. A mere *Corpse Scripture* is enough to ensure your safety; I'm already being generous. Don't expect me to save those four as well. Whether I have regrets is my own business. I don't need to get involved in your karma for the sake of a book." I didn't stand on ceremony with him either.

"No, Shopkeeper Wan, you misunderstand me." Zhuzi softened his tone. "With my father dead and my mother remarried, it's every man for himself. I'm not noble enough to sacrifice my family heirloom to help them. I just hope you can clarify how you're going to protect me. Does it mean I'll be completely unharmed, or just barely alive? If it's just a matter of life and death, I might as well make a deal with the evil spirits."

I was amused by his words. "You're quite cautious, aren't you? Afraid I'll play word games with you. Don't worry, I, Wan, am not that insidious. If I say I'll protect you, I'll definitely protect you. 'Completely unharmed' is hard to guarantee, but I'll try my best to prevent any permanent damage. At the very least, I'll ensure you don't end up crippled in this mess."

Zhuzi agreed.

I said, "Don't be so quick to agree. I need to see the *Corpse Scripture* first; otherwise, who knows if you're trying to trick me."

"Alright."

Zhuzi was prepared; he already had the book with him. I quickly flipped through it from beginning to end and casually tossed it into the drawer.

Zhuzi reached out to snatch it back. "The matter hasn't been settled yet; you can't do this! What if you can't protect me? The evil spirits at the funeral shop do deliver on their promises; they can definitely help people fulfill their wishes. But who knows if you, Wan Qian, have the ability?"

I slapped Zhuzi's hand away, blocking him from the desk. "If I can't get the job done, I'll either die or go insane. What's wrong with you having a book buried with me? I'm not as easy to deal with as you coffin bearers. It's not enough to just lose your life for a coffin. I think your little bit of funeral money as a deposit is a rip-off!"

Zhuzi gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand. Now, besides begging me, he didn't have any better options. From the price calculated on the abacus, I knew that not only was the matter he encountered troublesome, but his own sins were also heavy.

In his current situation, ordinary cultivators couldn't handle it, and those with high cultivation bases understood everything and wouldn't bother with his messy affairs. I was basically his only hope.

Actually, I could have ignored him. When I flipped through the book just now, I had already finished reading it and memorized it all. I had obtained the useful information, and the book was now just a few pieces of waste paper to me.

I didn't throw the book back to him because I didn't want to owe anyone, especially not a petty person, and Zhuzi was undoubtedly a petty person.

What followed further confirmed my judgment. Zhuzi did have some ability, but his character was truly... haha.

Zhuzi first took me to his second aunt's coffin shop. The other four coffin bearers were waiting there, probably afraid of being found by Zhao Jianjun if they stayed alone in the village.

With a dark face, Zhuzi told the four of them that if they wanted me to save them, they had to offer up their ears; otherwise, I wouldn't take care of their matter.

One of the thin, tall coffin bearers naively asked me how exactly they should offer up their ears. Should they cut them off right now and give them to me? If so, he wondered if he could go to the hospital and have the doctor help him cut them off. The doctor could treat the wound immediately after cutting off the ears, which should minimize the damage. Although not having ears would be a bit ugly, it was still better than being strangled to death by Zhao Jianjun.

These days, everything could be fake; maybe he could even buy fake ears from the hospital to wear. They villagers didn't care too much about that anyway, as long as it didn't affect their hearing.

I very seriously and very clearly, word by word, told him, "The ears I'm talking about aren't the two pieces of flesh with cartilage protruding from your head, but the function of the ears. The two decorations next to your face can stay, but the function of your ears will be completely taken away by the evil spirit. You won't be able to hear any sound in the future, and even installing artificial cochlea won't help."

The coffin bearers were immediately dumbfounded and asked Zhuzi what they should do.

Zhuzi said not to ask him, to make their own decisions. Although he wouldn't lose his hearing, the price he had to pay wasn't any smaller than the others'.

Zhuzi didn't mention the *Corpse Scripture*, and I didn't expose him.

After a fierce mental struggle, only one of the coffin bearers stood up, looked down at his toes, and said in a trembling voice, "Take my ears away. I know why. I listened to what I shouldn't have, and didn't miss a single word of what I shouldn't have. I really don't deserve to have ears anymore. Take them, take them now."

The coffin bearer suddenly raised his head, looked at me anxiously, and urged me to act immediately, as if he would regret it if I delayed for even a moment.

I calmly patted him and then smiled and snapped my fingers in front of him. The coffin bearer stared blankly at my fingers, his whole body as stiff as wood.

I knew he couldn't hear the sound of the snapping fingers anymore.

Among the other three coffin bearers, one cursed Zhuzi and left on his own, saying that he would find his own way. The people Zhuzi found were all unreliable, especially me. I couldn't help at all and had even turned a perfectly fine person into a deaf person. He didn't know how a swindler like me had managed to survive until now. As long as he could get through this ordeal, he would definitely find a way to make me suffer in the future.

I ignored the cursing coffin bearer and just asked the last two what their plans were. If there was nothing else I needed to do, then I would go and do what I needed to do.

The two coffin bearers looked at each other, and the corners of their mouths actually revealed cunning smiles.

One of them, with a fairer complexion, said, "We haven't thought it through yet. After all, once the decision is made, there's no way to regret it. We want to think about it some more."

The other one, with a large mole on his face, immediately echoed, saying that after all, it was about completely losing sound from their world, such a big decision couldn't be made in just a few minutes, he also needed to consider it.

"It's okay, take your time to consider it. Call me when you've thought it through. However, if some things happen before you've considered it, then don't look for me. I can't change what has already happened, and I can't undo the losses that have already appeared. Especially, I can't bring dead people back to life."

After saying that, I directly called Zhuzi to set off, completely without any intention of continuing to talk nonsense with those two. However, after Zhuzi and I went out, those two still followed us, and, after we got into the car, those two even very impolitely squeezed into the car as well.

"You can hitch a ride, but I absolutely won't take care of anything that has nothing to do with me. Drive."