Gravekeeping Scoundrel, Justly Punished

Gravekeeping Scoundrel, Justly Punished

Yu Chen watched the scene unfold, and his expression gradually darkened.

At that moment, he finally understood.

—He had previously heard the corpse carrier mention that the trinkets the foolish young master Wang Ling gave that woman had been seen by Wang Ling's coworkers at pawnshops and markets.

Later, after learning that the woman was Wang Ling's mother, Yu Chen had considered it for a moment as well.

But if those wooden carvings had been gifts from the foolish young master Wang Ling to his mother, and she had been dead for many years, how could she have sold them?

What was more, with the Scripture of Deliverance in hand, his eyes could see wandering souls.

Yu Chen had not discovered anything supernatural at Li Qiu'e's grave. In other words, Li Qiu'e was not some ghost.

So he had assumed that the coworker had seen wrongly, or that rumors had grown with every retelling, until three men made a tiger.

But only now did he understand what had really happened!

Well, well!

All these years, the offerings the foolish young master Wang Ling had brought to his mother had been sold off by this weasel-sly gravekeeper!

Yu Chen had also tended graves at Qingfeng Mausoleum for many years, yet no matter how destitute he had been, he had never considered laying hands on the incense offerings and sacrificial meat of the dead.

Yet this colleague from Bright Moon Mausoleum took such generous pay while doing something so insulting to the deceased!

He truly had some nerve!

Over by Li Qiu'e's grave, the gravekeeper had not noticed that a pair of eyes was watching him from the darkness beneath the wall.

At that moment, he clutched the wooden carving and felt ice-cold all over!

—The foolish young master Wang Ling often brought things to his mother, and the gravekeeper knew it. Most of those things had been pocketed by him.

Those wooden carvings and jewels had all been sold at the county market.

When he got up today and saw another wooden carving placed before Li Qiu'e's grave, he had instinctively picked it up, intending to sell it after going down the mountain.

But the instant he grasped the carving and its icy touch pricked his palm—

The gravekeeper suddenly remembered!

—Hadn't that foolish boy from the Wang Household been carried up the mountain and buried only this morning?

Then who had brought this wooden carving?!

The gravekeeper swallowed, his face turning pale as he looked toward the gravestone where he remembered Wang Ling had been buried.

—Not far away, in the section of graves belonging to the Wang Household, a portrait hung from a cold, hard tombstone. The seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy in it was smiling foolishly.

When it came to ghosts and gods, nothing was more terrifying than frightening oneself.

And there it was: in the gravekeeper's eyes, the originally simple-minded smile in Wang Ling's memorial portrait suddenly became incomparably eerie and horrifying!

As though a life-taking evil ghost were baring its fangs, ready to burst forth!

At that moment, the gravekeeper went completely rigid.

He had tended graves for over twenty years and had never seen any underworld gods or ghosts. Long ago, he had stopped believing in such things.

Even the ghost sightings that had been causing a huge uproar in the city earlier had earned nothing but his disdain.

In his more than twenty years of experience tending graves, there were no ghosts in this world!

Otherwise, Bright Moon Mausoleum was such a vast graveyard—why had he never seen so much as a ghostly shadow?

But today, it seemed he was a maiden climbing into a bridal sedan chair—for the very first time!

"It... it must have been something that foolish kid delivered before he died, right? Maybe I forgot to pick it up?" After a long while, the gravekeeper wiped away his cold sweat and forced himself to stay calm, muttering, "Besides, that foolish kid was stupid beyond salvation. Even if he became a ghost, he'd still be a stupid ghost, wouldn't he?"

Taking a deep breath, the gravekeeper finally relaxed a little.

He consoled himself that he had probably been too suspicious.

If ghosts and gods truly existed in this world, then why had no one come after him when he had taken Li Qiu'e's offerings so many times before?

There were no ghosts!

There were no ghosts in this world!

With that thought, the gravekeeper patted his chest to reassure himself, then prepared to return to the hut by the entrance.

But the instant he turned around, a gust of chilling wind blew from behind him!

It made his entire body shudder!

His legs trembled beneath him!

Shaking, he stiffly turned his head.

In that instant, the gravekeeper's heart nearly stopped!

A figure had appeared before the foolish young master Wang Ling's grave at some unknown time!

His feet floated in the air without touching the ground. His face was deathly pale, but his lips were red as blood. His dark eyes were like icy, frozen cellars!

More terrifying still, he was smiling!

Smiling foolishly, exactly like the portrait on the tombstone!

—Wang Ling!

The gravekeeper recognized him at almost the first glance!

Who else could it be?

Wasn't he the foolish young master of the Wang Household, who had choked to death only this morning?

Damn it!

He had really run into a ghost!

The gravekeeper's teeth chattered. He clutched the wooden carving in his hand, wanting to flee, but his calves had gone weak and he could not run!

Then Wang Ling's ghost spoke.

Its voice was cold and eerie, as though it came from beneath the earth.

"My... wooden carving..."

"My... wooden carving..."

"The wooden carving... I gave my mother..."

That hoarse, chilling voice rang in the gravekeeper's ears, making his head buzz and his back turn cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar!

How could he care about anything else?

He immediately tossed aside the wooden carving, dragged his uncontrollably trembling legs along, and scrambled out of the graveyard in a rolling crawl!

Within the cemetery, the foolish young master Wang Ling's ghost reverted to Yu Chen's appearance.

—Wang Ling's ghost had long since crossed the river. The one who had frightened the gravekeeper was naturally Yu Chen, transformed through the Infernal Mask.

He gently picked up the wooden carving from the ground and carefully placed it before Li Qiu'e's grave before descending the mountain.

As for the gravekeeper, he ran all the way from Bright Moon Mausoleum to the county town. In the noisy night market, where people crowded thick and words flew freely, he grabbed a soldier and shouted!

"Ghost!"

"I saw a ghost!"

"The foolish young master of the Wang Household became a ghost! He wants to harm me! He wants to harm me!"

Many of the townspeople recognized the gravekeeper at once, but they had no idea what he was babbling about.

When the soldier questioned him, the gravekeeper stammered in panic and told him about seeing Wang Ling's ghost.

Such a bizarre experience naturally drew many nearby townspeople to stop and watch the show.

But the soldier was confused as well. He asked, saying that debtors and creditors had their grievances, so why would Wang Ling's ghost harm a mere gravekeeper like him?

Upon hearing that, the gravekeeper could no longer worry about anything else. He blurted out everything at once—how Wang Ling had brought those offerings and trinkets, and how he had stolen them to sell!

At the end, he even begged the soldier to protect him!

But when the soldier and the gathered townspeople looked behind the gravekeeper, there was nothing there. Where was this eerie ghost he spoke of?

And with his disgusting deeds exposed, no one was willing to pay him any attention.

Left with no choice, and still terrified, the gravekeeper found an inn for the night. No matter what anyone said, he refused to return to Bright Moon Mausoleum.

The next day, word of the matter spread farther and farther through Weishui, reaching the ears of many nobles and dignitaries, who were immediately enraged!

—The people buried at Bright Moon Mausoleum were all their ancestors. How could they tolerate this gravekeeper embezzling offerings meant for the dead?

If he dared steal offerings today, would he dig up their ancestral graves tomorrow?

At once, everyone joined forces to pressure the yamen. The constabulary sent out officers, who seized the gravekeeper—who had spent the entire night trembling too fearfully to sleep—and charged him with theft!

His life was ruined.

And with the gravekeeper brought to justice, the matter of the foolish young master Wang Ling also came to light.

Whether ghosts truly existed remained uncertain, but the things he had done over the years became known with absolute clarity!

Only then did people realize that this foolish young master's years of "deep devotion" had not been the obsession of some lovesick fool licking after another, but the devotion of a deeply filial son!

Later, storytellers naturally took notice of this tale and turned it into material for their performances.

They told of the foolish young master of the Wang Household, whose mind was impaired, yet whose sincere filial devotion was enough to move one to the core.

As for the gravekeeper, they merely passed judgment with a few light words: he had gotten what he deserved!

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(End of Chapter)