Yin Energy Concentration

Xie Songde forced a smile as he watched Chen Miao approach.

"Mr. Chen, this is my brother-in-law, Leng Zhiyuan. Sorry about the accommodations tonight. You'll have to share rooms in pairs and stay here."

Chen Miao nodded to Leng Zhiyuan without asking about what had just happened.

Afterward, Chen Miao carried the coffin into the room where the old master lay.

Nearly forty hours had passed since his death. Even though the temperature in the mountains was lower than outside, his body had begun giving off a faint cadaverine odor-a mix of rotten eggs and fish.

After discussing it with Xie Songde, Chen Miao entered the room and took off his outerwear.

Then he put on a mask and gloves, took some alcohol, and began wiping down the old man's body.

Truth be told, Chen Miao had never done this before.

In rural areas, when an elderly family member was being prepared for burial, the family usually had one of their own wipe down the body, or asked someone else in the village who was careful and willing.

Afterward, the bereaved family would give the helper a little "token of appreciation."

At the Funeral Home, this kind of work was usually done by an embalmer or mortuary cosmetologist. If they were unwilling, the Cold Storage attendant could do it instead, and would likewise receive a "token of appreciation."

Naturally, that wasn't an option this time.

The family had paid such a high fee for this job that Chen Miao wouldn't cut corners on anything he ought to do.

It took a full half hour and half a bottle of alcohol before Chen Miao finished wiping down the old man's body.

After dressing the old man again, Chen Miao had the coffin carried inside.

He opened the lid and rearranged the scattered packets of medicinal herbs inside, laying them out neatly before lifting the old master into the coffin.

Before long, the quilts Xie Songde had paid for arrived as well.

Chen Miao cut them open with scissors and packed the pieces around the old master's body to hold him in place.

Once that was done, Chen Miao laid down another layer of herb packets, followed by a layer of quilt.

With this arrangement, once the lid was closed, the old man wouldn't be jostled around by the movement.

By the time he finished, it was completely dark.

Chen Miao went out to wash up, then followed Xie Songde to another household for dinner.

At the table, Xie Songde explained what had happened earlier to Chen Miao and the others.

It turned out that the bald man was one of the corpse bearers Xie Songde had initially approached in the village where they had parked.

Xie Songde had later left because they were too greedy.

He had thought they would never cross paths again. Who knew the man was from Blue Stone Village? More coincidentally still, Xie Songde was staying in his house!

Somehow, the man had learned about Xie Songde's situation and come straight to Blue Stone Village to find his brother-in-law, Leng Zhiyuan.

When the bald man first arrived, he still wanted the corpse-carrying job, and said he would do it more cheaply-for just a hundred thousand.

But by then, Xie Songde was already on his way back, so Leng Zhiyuan naturally refused.

Once he realized he couldn't make money that way, the bald man turned his attention elsewhere, insisting that keeping Old Master Xie's body in their house had brought bad luck upon the family.

Yet Xie Songde had already made arrangements with the man's mother beforehand, agreeing to give her two thousand yuan as a token of thanks when they left.

This was outright extortion, but what could they do?

What happened next was what Chen Miao had witnessed.

After hearing the story, Jiao Zhiyong, the hearse driver, clicked his tongue, looking deeply taken aback, but said nothing.

Cao Jun merely frowned.

Kong Fang, however, was rather worked up. "You shouldn't have given them any money. I refuse to believe they can just do whatever they want! There are six of us and four of them. There's no way we couldn't take them!"

At those words, Leng Zhiyuan's gaze toward Kong Fang grew much friendlier. He wholeheartedly agreed.

"Exactly! What's there to be afraid of? Brother, let's just leave tomorrow!"

Xie Songde frowned. "What are you talking about? They're thugs and hoodlums. Are you one too?"

"Haven't you heard the saying? A wise man doesn't stand beneath a crumbling wall!"

"Even if we could beat them, do you think none of us would get hurt? If someone gets injured out here in the mountains and treatment is delayed, do you want to end up disabled or dead?"

"All over a hundred thousand yuan?"

"Besides, Mr. Chen and the others came to help us bring the old master home, not to fight alongside us!"

"Put those ideas away. If we're going to do anything, it'll have to wait until we've settled the old master's affairs."

Xie Songde's words silenced Leng Zhiyuan.

Listening nearby, Chen Miao couldn't help admiring Xie Songde's composure. Someone else might well have started a fight already.

Still, judging by what Xie Songde had said, was he planning to settle the score afterward?

Considering he could afford to pay the Funeral Home a hundred thousand to transport a body, perhaps he really could make them pay.

It was already nine at night when dinner ended, and everyone returned to their rooms.

Chen Miao shared a room with Kong Fang, with barely enough space for the two of them to sleep side by side.

Given the conditions, Chen Miao hadn't expected anything more.

"San Shui, I'm going to sleep. A whole day on those mountain paths wore me out."

"Sure. Take the inside. I'll be up a little longer."

After speaking with Chen Miao, Kong Fang climbed into bed. Before closing his eyes, he saw Chen Miao take a book out of his bag.

Marveling at Chen Miao's habits, Kong Fang drifted off to sleep.

Chen Miao opened the book and felt much more reassured when he saw that nothing had changed.

That means once this trip is over, after deducting the three men's pay and Kong Fang's ten-thousand-yuan commission, the Funeral Home will still clear sixty thousand.

Elder Uncle had told him that when they settled the accounts at the end of the year, they would divide the money according to their previous agreement.

But it was already July. In other words, Chen Miao only needed to work for half a year to earn a full year's share. In a sense, he was getting the better end of the deal at Elder Uncle's expense.

Elder Uncle didn't mind, but Chen Miao couldn't accept it without qualms.

Making sixty thousand on a single trip delighted Chen Miao and also let him breathe a sigh of relief.

At this rate, he would at least keep the Funeral Home's earnings from falling below last year's by year's end, and wouldn't let Elder Uncle down.

Putting away the book, Chen Miao checked the time. It was only nine thirty.

There were no materials here for him to practice drawing talismans or carving. After some thought, Chen Miao left the room, opened the door, and stepped outside.

The mountain night was far quieter than the world beyond, and far cleaner too.

Without the light pollution of neon signs, the sky overhead was filled with stars. Before he knew it, Chen Miao's mood had settled.

He walked a dozen or so meters ahead and sat on a large rock.

He raised his right hand and activated Yin Gathering.

Wisps of cold energy rapidly gathered in Chen Miao's hand. After assessing them briefly, he stopped Yin Gathering himself.

It gathers twice as fast as it does inside the Funeral Home.

After nightfall, the temperature in the mountains had dropped. At the time, Chen Miao had wondered whether there might be more yin energy here than outside.

Now he had confirmed it directly.

If the yin energy concentration at the Funeral Home was designated level one, then the concentration in the mountains was level two.

Although the Yin-Gathering Talisman gathered energy over a wider area than Chen Miao's Yin-Gathering State, it couldn't condense that energy into a palm-sized mass the way his ability could.

Generally speaking, the yin energy collected by a Yin-Gathering Talisman would end up contained within a radius of two or three meters.

Thus, the concentration gathered by the Yin-Gathering Talisman was roughly level eight.

Meanwhile, the concentration of the small mass of yin energy gathered in his hand through the Yin-Gathering State should be level ten!

Now Chen Miao only needed to encounter a yin ground to find out exactly how his Yin Gathering ability measured up, and whether it could match the concentration there.

According to the Zhong Clan's Secret Manual of Corpse Driving, only the yin energy gathered after a Yin-Gathering Talisman takes effect has a chance of producing a ghost. In other words, the concentration has to reach level eight for a ghost to be born.

That means it's pretty difficult for a ghost to appear under ordinary circumstances.

At least, something like The Old Corpse in the Mountain Village isn't very likely to happen.

Chen Miao reflected on this.

If not for Zhong Fa, he might never have encountered a ghost in his entire life.

Shaking his head, Chen Miao returned to his room to rest.

Meanwhile, in another house in Blue Stone Village, the bald man, Xie Yong, was discussing the next day's plans with three other men.