Speaking for the Dead in a Living Man's Body

Speaking for the Dead in a Living Man's Body

Yu Chen froze.

He ran through everyone he had ever seen in his mind.

Yet he could not place the old man's face.

He did not know him.

But judging by the old man's expression, it was as though he had seen something horrifying.

Could it be that the old man had seen through the blood and qi Yu Chen was concealing?

No, impossible.

Leaving aside how the Infernal Ghost Mask had hidden all of Yu Chen's aura, when Yu Chen looked with the Heavenly Eye of Minute Insight, the old man was nothing more than an utterly ordinary old fellow. His blood and qi were failing, his five organs withered, and he was barely clinging to life.

How could he possibly see through the Infernal Mask's concealment?

"Do you know him?"

Seeing Yu Chen looking in that direction, Corpse Mover asked, "Let me tell you, this old man isn't simple. He used to work for the yamen and was called Deadmouth."

"Deadmouth?" Yu Chen paused. That did not sound like a very flattering title.

"He speaks for the dead, of course!"

Corpse Mover said carelessly, "This old man used to be the yamen's best coroner. No matter how chaotic or bizarre a corpse was, as long as he examined it, he knew exactly how that person had died. With a living man's body, he spoke for the dead. Wasn't that Deadmouth?"

After hearing that, Yu Chen understood.

"Oh, right, I heard that more than half the coroners in the yamen nowadays were trained by this old man!" Corpse Mover added.

"Then why does he look so miserable now?" Yu Chen was rather puzzled.

"Who knows?" Corpse Mover rolled his eyes. "I only heard that more than ten years ago, he suddenly stopped working at the yamen. He holed up at home and did nothing, then turned mad and muddle-headed. In the end, when he got old, his family drove him out to beg."

"Oh..." Yu Chen nodded and said no more.

Before long, the Tiger Banquet began.

Or rather, this feast had never truly had a moment when it began. Once someone sat down on a bench and moved their chopsticks, it had started.

—After all, the people here came from all walks of life. It was impossible to make them all obey some exact hour for eating.

Yu Chen did not care about appearances either. He grabbed whatever he could and stuffed it into his mouth—everyone sitting around him looked like the sort who would become starving ghosts the instant they breathed their last. If he stood on ceremony with them, he feared he would not even get to lick the plates.

Corpse Mover was the same. A bite of tiger meat, a mouthful of rich soup, a swig of strong liquor—he ate and drank with boundless delight, clicking his tongue in praise!

Since Yu Chen and the others were seated at the very outer edge, all passing visitors had to come by them.

During that time, Xie Qing of the Zhengqing Gang arrived with a group of jianghu men.

The moment he came, the entire outer street fell silent.

The two great gangs of the southern city, Blackwater and Zhengqing, had built their formidable reputations through bloodshed and killing.

If nothing else, they had sheer presence!

Corpse Mover put down his chopsticks with a show of restraint and looked at Xie Qing, muttering enviously, "Tsk, if I could be that impressive one day, dying would be worth it!"

Yu Chen could only roll his eyes.

What are you pretending for?

With your blood and qi, with your physique, you could grind Xie Qing into the dirt. What the hell are you envying?

But since no one had pierced that layer of window paper yet, he said nothing.

Xie Qing paid them no attention and walked straight inside.

—He did recognize Yu Chen, but the Yu Chen he knew was the black-clad ghost god in a ghostly mask who had brutally slaughtered the great tiger, not this frail-looking gravekeeper youth.

It was merely a small interlude.

They continued eating and drinking.

Yu Chen also feasted heartily.

As the tiger meat slid down into his stomach, an exceedingly fine warmth flowed through his limbs and bones, nourishing his body and strengthening his health.

Yu Chen's physique could naturally handle it.

But a few hungry, consumptive ghosts from the same lowest ranks of society were already weak by nature and unable to bear such nourishment. As they ate, blood streamed from their noses.

By the time they had eaten and drunk their fill, noon had long passed. Yu Chen and Corpse Mover were preparing to leave—the burly fellow had even tucked two chunks of tiger head meat into his clothes to take away, thoroughly displaying the manner of a common man from the streets.

If that behavior was an act, Yu Chen could only say that this fellow had been born into the wrong world. In the world of his previous life, would he not at least have become some kind of Best Actor?

As Yu Chen grumbled inwardly, a burst of clamor suddenly rose.

The two turned to look and saw that the old man known as "Deadmouth" seemed to have choked. His limbs convulsed, his face turned blue-white, and he could not make a sound!

Not long after, he breathed his last.

"Someone's dead!"

"Someone's dead!"

"..."

The cries echoed across the entire long street.

They drew everyone's attention.

Yu Chen and Corpse Mover exchanged a glance. The latter slapped his forehead. "Damn it, there's work!"

Deadmouth had been driven from his home and left to wander the streets, with no one to rely on. Now that he had suddenly died, it would ultimately fall to Corpse Mover to carry him up to Qingfeng Mausoleum.

Very soon, men from the yamen arrived. They determined that he had choked while eating tiger tendon.

He had already been old and in poor health. Once he was deprived of air, he had died on the spot.

The whole process had unfolded under countless watchful eyes, ruling out any suspicion of murder.

Thus, after a cursory examination, two officials and servants of the Wang Household came over. They loftily ordered Corpse Mover to carry the body to Qingfeng Mausoleum, then left.

To be fair, when those fellows threw their weight around like that, Yu Chen truly wondered whether Corpse Mover would smash their heads apart with a single slap.

—He could absolutely do it with ease.

Yet the fellow showed not the slightest complaint. He nodded and bowed, hoisted the old man's body onto his shoulder, and left.

After returning to Qingfeng Mausoleum, Yu Chen and Corpse Mover buried the old man together. Then Corpse Mover went down the mountain.

Yu Chen remained behind, gazing silently at the low grave mound.

—That was right. This old man, too, had an unfulfilled wish!

With a wave of Yu Chen's hand, the old man's ghost followed him into the house.

He opened the Scripture of Deliverance. The old man's ghost was drawn inside, where it crawled beside the Yellow Springs River and kowtowed without cease.

Generally speaking, the actions of a dead person's ghost were somewhat connected to the wishes they had left behind in life.

For instance, the beggar who had wanted to eat Gui Snowfish kept muttering about Gui Snowfish.

For instance, the old woman whose money had been forcibly borrowed by a tyrant kept muttering about two taels of silver.

But Yu Chen had never encountered a ghost that did nothing but kowtow.

Immediately afterward, the Scripture of Deliverance shone with golden light, and several lines of smoky gray words appeared.

[Ninth-Rank Mortal Wish]

[Lifelong Regret]

[Time Limit: None]

[Reward upon Completion] ```

Then, the life lantern of the old man known as Deadmouth flashed past before Yu Chen's eyes, scene by scene.

The trade of examining corpses had to be learned from childhood.

One had to see countless bodies—whole ones, mangled ones, fresh ones, rotting ones, ones so ruined they no longer looked human...

Deadmouth had been adopted as a child by an old coroner. By the age of four or five, he had already seen more corpses than he could count.

Where ordinary people would vomit up last night's meal at the sight of a body, he could sit beside one and eagerly slurp down a bowl of tofu pudding.

He had been born with an extraordinary gift.

It happened that the old coroner had no children of his own—though this line of work truly did make it difficult to find a wife—so he raised Deadmouth as his own son and successor.

At twelve, Deadmouth began examining corpses.

By twenty, he had examined no fewer than a thousand bodies, large and small, throughout Weishui.

It was also that year when the old coroner was struck by a vile illness and died.

The final words he said to Deadmouth before his death were—do not speak falsely of the dead.

The meaning was roughly this: a coroner was one who spoke for the dead, who could no longer open their mouths. No matter what, he must never spout nonsense. What was true was true.

For the next twenty years, Deadmouth kept the teachings of his master and father firmly in mind. Whatever he found from a corpse, that was what he reported.

With his ever-deepening skill and his unwavering integrity, countless strange and bizarre cases were brought to light through his help.

Over those twenty years, Deadmouth became Weishui's foremost coroner. Even yamen from the prefectural city had sent coroners to learn from and exchange knowledge with him.

Though his work dealt with the dead, during those years, Deadmouth's limelight was unmatched.

Had nothing gone wrong, he would have continued like that until retirement, never wanting for food or clothing, feared by others yet respected by them, living out his life.

But when nothing was supposed to go wrong, something went wrong.

More than ten years ago, amid a torrential downpour, there was a major case involving twelve corpses. After examining the bodies—

He lied.

This new book sapling needs watering! Please keep reading and send recommendation votes and monthly votes! This author kneels in gratitude ORZ

(End of Chapter)