Bargaining for More Money

Xu Qing had not come with high expectations, yet he had never imagined that even a commissioner over fifty could have possessed an Immortal Destiny!

Indeed, you could not judge a person by appearance, nor measure the sea with a bushel.

Unfortunately, the old Master Liu had coveted worldly desires and devoted all his energy to studying the Arts of Civil and Martial Geomancy, an Outer Dao. As a result, he had completely neglected the true abilities that could strengthen and nourish himself. Otherwise, he would not have died at Song Cai's hands.

After using the Qi Gazing Technique for a while, Xu Qing suddenly felt unwell. His whole body felt as though he had been crouching for a long time and then abruptly stood up, leaving his vision blurred with dizziness.

It lasted roughly two breaths. When he came to his senses, the scene before him had returned to normal, as though the colorful qi in the hall moments ago had merely been an illusion.

Xu Qing seemed to have realized something. It appeared that his cultivation was still too shallow, and he could not sustain the Qi Gazing Technique for very long.

The greater the spell, the greater the cultivation it required. Without sufficient power, it was like buying a fine steed but being unable to afford choice feed. In the end, it was a child wielding a knife—unable to unleash the sharpness of a deadly weapon.

After pondering for a moment, Xu Qing had already made his calculations.

The Corpse Nurturing Scripture he had obtained from Liu Youdao could let him take the nurturing-and-evolution path, feeding and cultivating himself.

But the prerequisite was that he had to find a way to gather materials for cultivating a zombie. Only then could he officially begin cultivating.

As for how far he could go with the Corpse Nurturing Scripture, Xu Qing did not dare dream too far ahead. After all, at his core, he was not a zombie that cultivated by sucking human blood and qi. According to the Corpse Nurturing Scripture, he could also cultivate into one of the three types of Wandering Corpse by feeding on auxiliary materials or nourishing himself with moonlight and yin qi. As for which type he could reach, that would depend on his fortune...

Inside the Liu family's Mourning Hall, Xu Qing was in an excellent mood after his abundant harvest. As a result, he was even more meticulous while preparing Master Liu's remains.

When he had dressed the deceased to look lifelike, Xu Qing motioned for the relatives to step forward and take one last look. Once they had finished, the coffin would be closed and the nails hammered in. From then on, they would never meet again.

The First Madam, Li Xiangyun, wept and wailed, saying how unwilling she was to part with her master. When her grief reached its peak, she even wanted to find a strip of white silk and follow Master Liu below, so that he would at least have company.

Butler Song Cai hurriedly stopped Li Xiangyun. She took advantage of the moment to bury her head against his shoulder and dabbed away her tears with a handkerchief.

Young Master Liu's legs trembled violently. Before he had even glanced at the coffin, he was so frightened that he staggered backward again and again, then dropped onto the floor with a thump.

Seeing this, Song Cai and Li Xiangyun hurried over together. Supporting Young Master Liu from either side, the three of them then embraced each other and wept.

The surrounding relatives were all deeply moved at the sight. They could only say that the butler was loyal and righteous, the madam faithful and chaste, and the young master grief-stricken and loving...

Thus, they all stepped forward to offer their consolation.

Xu Qing watched this whole family put on a grand display of acting, and a wave of disgust churned in his heart.

That's enough already!

I'm still waiting to finish this job and hurry back to cultivate...

When they had cried enough, Xu Qing closed the coffin lid and had Master Liu's family hammer in the first nail.

When a coffin was sealed, the first and last nails were generally driven in by relatives. That was tradition. If the deceased truly had no relatives or friends, it did not matter. In the end, such formalities were merely the living wanting a little more to bind them to their dead loved ones...

When the seven red-bronze coffin-sealing nails had been hammered in, Xu Qing was just about to drive in the eighth when a knowledgeable guest asked, "Young master, aren't seven nails enough to seal the coffin? Why are you still hammering more in?"

Xu Qing paused and said solemnly, "Master Liu held an official position in life and carried purple qi, so he was naturally different from ordinary people. That is why nine nails are required. It signifies a passage to the Nine Hells below, where he may receive the care and guidance of the Nine Palaces' Yama Kings. Even if he is reincarnated, he will be reborn into a wealthy family."

The guest's face filled with sudden understanding.

See? This is what you call professionalism!

Little did they know that what Xu Qing had said was merely the secondary reason. The main reason he did not stop at seven nails lay with this unlucky Master Liu.

The nails used to seal coffins were commonly called "Descendant Nails." There were usually seven of them, symbolizing the Big Dipper and representing the flourishing of the descendants and the growth of the family line.

But Liu was different. He seemed to have a son, yet no one else knew that the boy was not his biological child. Worse still, before Liu's death, this ungrateful wretch had merely stood by and watched. Then he had turned around and acknowledged Song Cai as his real father.

For a child like that, you expected him to hammer in seven iron nails?

Sorry, Xu Qing could not bring himself to do such a conscience-wracking thing!

Since he had accepted this job, he had to serve Master Liu properly, letting him lie on his board in full awareness, clear and bright.

When it came to delivering the dead, Xu Qing might still be a newcomer, but he would never be as lacking in professional ethics as Liu Youdao. By comparison, he felt that he still possessed a little professional integrity.

Not much, but absolutely close to passing!

After the coffin had been nailed shut, they bound it with leather straps—three across and two lengthwise.

Next, Xu Qing had the "filial son" use a broom to sweep away the loose dirt on the coffin. This was called "Sweeping Wealth." Then he placed a copper coin beneath one corner of the coffin, which was called "Lifting the Coffin." Immediately after came "Farewell to the Spirit."

Once the coffin had been carried out of the hall, the paper money burned, and the mourning basin smashed, Young Master Liu—the great filial son—walked at the front holding a paper banner. The relatives and friends, dressed in sackcloth and wearing mourning hemp, wailed in unison.

Xu Qing waved his hand. The workers responsible for the funeral music immediately understood. The moment the suona sounded, its blare shattered the heavens, and all the softer instruments instantly became mere accompaniment.

More than twenty pallbearers carried the coffin along with a swaying gait. At the front and rear, filial sons and grandsons held Funeral Banners to protect the procession. The banners were decorated with paper flowers in blue, yellow, white, and green for the four seasons, and they looked exceptionally striking.

Whenever they passed a household's gate, the firecrackers crackled and popped. It was practically livelier than the New Year!

Men and women of all ages who enjoyed a bit of excitement stood at their doors with their arms tucked into their sleeves, pointing and commenting. After all, a funeral procession of this scale might not be seen even once in several years.

Some housewives found it inauspicious. They twisted their sons' ears and dragged them back inside, not forgetting to close the doors tied with red cloth strips.

Xu Qing wore the clothes Liu Youdao usually wore when performing rituals and followed the coffin through the entire burial procession.

By the time they had escorted Master Liu into his grave dwelling, it was already past noon.

Normally, a Funeral Procession was best held before the hours of the Rabbit and Dragon. But Song Cai had insisted on waiting until noon, when the yang qi was at its strongest, before burying him.

After all that back-and-forth, Xu Qing nearly wanted to bury Song Cai in the ground himself.

How could he fail to guess what Song Cai was thinking?

As the saying went, a guilty thief had a guilty conscience. Song Cai was clearly afraid that Master Liu would turn into a ghost, crawl out of the coffin in the middle of the night, and settle accounts with his murderer.

Xu Qing wore a broad-brimmed bamboo hat and had smeared his face with a secret sunscreen formula made by a Corpse Driver. He did his best to keep to the shade as he walked.

When he returned to the Liu residence, Butler Song Cai raised his chin, using its pointed tip to indicate a direction, and said, "I've already spoken to the accountant. Go over there yourself and settle the remaining payment. I still have an important matter to discuss with Madam, so I won't accompany you."

An important matter?

Could it be another several-billion silver project?

Xu Qing shook his head and turned to find the accountant in the accounting office.

The accountant was over sixty and looked eighty percent similar to Song Cai. When he saw Xu Qing come to settle the payment, the old man smiled broadly and picked up his abacus, clicking away at it for a while.

"The deposit paid earlier was five hundred, and the unpaid balance was another five hundred. I'm a kindhearted man, so why don't I round it up for you? How about five qian of silver?"

"Five qian?" Xu Qing's expression darkened. One tael of silver in the Great Yong Dynasty converted to twelve hundred wen. By "rounding it up," the other man had directly added one hundred wen. It looked generous, but in truth, he was bargaining for more money!

He had learned from the household servants that the balance was not merely five hundred wen. It was a solid five taels of silver—six thousand wen. The deposit was separate.

Now, five taels of silver had been slashed directly down to six hundred wen. This was no longer bargaining for more money. This damn well was highway robbery!

"Half a tael of silver is already quite a lot. After all, a master craftsman commands a master craftsman's price, while you're only an apprentice worker. You count as a young master, so naturally you get a young master's price."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing's already cold and gloomy face turned even colder.