Fellow disciples

After nightfall, Zhong Fa returned to his shop.

As usual, he lit three sticks of incense for his master, then went into the hidden room to roll his cigarettes.

The five small jars on the shelf had originally held enough for three months.

But during the incident with the twins, both he and the little ghost he kept had been badly injured by the incense aura. His old ailments had flared up, and he was going through cigarettes more than ten times as fast.

Three of the five small jars on the shelf were now empty. In a few days, he would have to go back to the Fushou Funeral Center and ask Du Rui for more ashes.

Zhong Fa narrowed his eyes as he recalled Du Rui's attitude lately.

He had been in Tianmen County for three years. During the first two, he had spoken to the owner of the Tianmen Funeral Home about buying children's ashes, but the man had refused.

Not wanting to stir up trouble back then, he had gone to another county and bought some there.

He had kept that up for two years before the Fushou Funeral Center opened.

After learning what sort of man its owner, Du Rui, was, he had approached him and demonstrated some of his abilities. Du Rui had been happy to cultivate a relationship with him and supply him with ashes.

Zhong Fa knew the man was only being so cooperative because he expected to need his help someday.

Sure enough, a year later, when the Fushou Funeral Center's growth began to slow, Du Rui came to him.

Zhong Fa had not refused.

What he hadn't expected was that the little Tianmen Funeral Home had someone in his own line of work!

That person had ruined both of his plans, costing him some of Du Rui's trust and causing his old injuries to flare up.

Did he hate them?

He didn't, because he knew that once he finished refining Uncle Dong, someone who skulked in the shadows like that could never stand against a Leaping Hopping Corpse.

Two more days. In just two days, Uncle Dong would be ready, and he could begin the next stage!

Then he would take Uncle Dong back into the mountains and find those old bastards.

He would show them that even though his master was gone, he was still here!

Zhong Fa tucked the rolled cigarettes into his cigarette case, lit one for himself, and walked over to the altar on the other side.

After lighting four sticks of incense, Zhong Fa picked up a small knife, unwound the gauze around his left hand, and made another cut across his scar-covered palm.

Not long after his blood dripped into the jar, the smoke began to sway.

A smile appeared on Zhong Fa's face at the sight.

"Good, you've recovered. Get some rest. I'll need you again in a few days."

Just then, Zhong Fa suddenly heard a knock at the door.

Frowning, he wrapped his left hand again and left the hidden room.

"Who is it?"

Zhong Fa asked from behind the door.

"It's me, Zhong Cai."

Zhong Fa raised an eyebrow and opened the door.

"What are you doing here?"

Outside stood the middle-aged man with glasses whom Chen Miao had met that day.

"I came to the county on business, so I stopped by to see you, senior brother."

Zhong Cai frowned slightly as he studied Zhong Fa's complexion.

"Senior brother, are you still keeping a little ghost?"

The corners of Zhong Fa's mouth curled upward.

"What? Are you going to discipline me on Master's behalf?"

"Senior brother, your body can't handle keeping a little ghost anymore."

"Heh. That's none of your concern. Now that you've seen me, you can leave."

With that, Zhong Fa started to close the door.

"Senior brother!" Zhong Cai held the door open. "There's one more thing."

"I met a child born with yin-yang eyes. I'm planning to take him as my disciple."

Something flickered in Zhong Fa's eyes, but he immediately replied with indifference, "Lucky you, junior brother. Congratulations in advance, then."

"Senior brother, will you come to the acceptance ceremony?"

Zhong Fa looked at the red invitation in Zhong Cai's hand but didn't take it.

"Aren't you afraid I'll frighten your disciple if I show up?"

Zhong Cai froze. He drew the invitation back a fraction, then held it out again.

But Zhong Fa hadn't missed that little movement. He sneered. "I don't have time."

With that, Zhong Fa slammed the door shut.

Looking at the closed door, Zhong Cai shook his head and put away the invitation.

He turned, walked to the corner of the alley, and took the hand of a little boy with a full head of white hair.

"Xiao Bai, let's go. Spend some more time with your family over the next two days. After that, I'll take you away."

Just as he was about to straighten up, Zhong Cai noticed that Xiao Bai's hand was cold and his whole body was trembling.

"Xiao Bai, what's wrong?"

The little boy slowly raised his hand and pointed toward Zhong Fa's shop.

Zhong Cai turned to look.

Dim yellow light glowed inside the Sever Yin and Yang shop. On the nearly deserted street, it stood quiet and eerie.

"You saw it?"

The little boy nodded.

Zhong Fa stroked his head.

"It's all right. Your martial uncle keeps it. It won't hurt anyone... Come on, I'll take you home."

Zhong Cai straightened up and led the little boy away by the hand.

He didn't see the little boy's lips moving soundlessly.

Anyone who could read lips would have understood what the boy was saying.

"So many children. In his mouth."

Two days later.

Zhong Fa returned to the Fushou Funeral Center and met with Du Rui.

"Have you prepared what I asked for?"

Zhong Fa looked at Du Rui as he smoked.

Du Rui smiled.

"Master Zhong, it's been a week since you told me something major was going to happen at the Tianmen Funeral Home. It's still doing just fine. Can you tell me why?"

Zhong Fa looked at Du Rui and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"The Tianmen Funeral Home has someone in my line of work, too. If you don't want them finding out you were behind this and taking revenge, you'd better hand over what I asked for."

"You wouldn't want to go through what the Tianmen Funeral Home went through."

Du Rui's expression changed drastically at Zhong Fa's words.

"The Tianmen Funeral Home has someone from the Dredging Yin Sect, too?"

His shock was understandable. The Fushou Funeral Center had been open for a year, and its competition had cut the Tianmen Funeral Home's business in half.

If they had someone like that, why hadn't they made a move?

Seeing Du Rui's nervous expression, Zhong Fa smiled. "Just as not every ordinary person is as unscrupulous as you, not everyone in our line of work is like me."

"You should be glad they're not like me. Otherwise, you might already have enjoyed the Fushou Funeral Center's full funeral package yourself."

Du Rui went pale.

"They couldn't possibly know! If you don't say anything and I don't say anything, no one will know."

After saying that, Du Rui looked at Zhong Fa.

He immediately plastered a smile onto his face, went over to the refrigerator, and took out a box before returning to Zhong Fa.

"Master Zhong, I had someone in the city draw this from the heart of a newly dead corpse. It arrived yesterday, and it'll keep for another two days."

Zhong Fa took the box, opened it, and pulled out a test tube filled with blood.

"Are you sure it meets the requirements?"

"It does. Here's the information on the corpse. I took a photo."

Du Rui held out his phone, but Zhong Fa didn't look at it.

He smiled at Du Rui. "I trust you, Mr. Du. Don't worry. I'll deal with that person."

"After that, I'll leave Tianmen County. So, Mr. Du, I hope you'll have ten times the usual amount of ashes ready for me when I go."

Du Rui's expression soured. He was about to say he didn't have that much.

But when he saw Zhong Fa's sinister, triangular eyes, he immediately put on a smile instead.

"Of course, of course. I'll contact the other funeral homes right away. I'll have it very soon."

Zhong Fa nodded. As he turned to leave, he said, "You've helped me a great deal, Mr. Du. If you need anything in the future, you can come find me in the mountains. As long as you bring a gift, you're always welcome."

With that, Zhong Fa left.

Du Rui kept smiling until Zhong Fa was completely gone. Only then did his face darken!

"Zhong Fa! Zhong Fa!"

Crash!

Du Rui smashed the ashtray in his hand against the floor.

But once his anger had passed, all he could do was slump onto the sofa.

"It's almost over. Zhong Fa still needs me. He won't do anything reckless."

Du Rui muttered to himself.

In the early hours of the morning.

Happiness Residential Complex.

Zhong Fa set the things he had brought from the top shelf in the hidden room on the table in front of Uncle Dong's coffin.

Besides the Corpse-Control Talisman, the Yin-Gathering Talisman, a boy's blood, and crow blood,

there were also a Long-Handled Bell and a Lotus Oil Lamp.

Once everything was ready, Zhong Fa lit a rolled cigarette and said to Aunt Mei beside him:

"Aunt Mei, Uncle Dong is about to wake up."