Already out of the mountains?

Early the next morning, Xie Songde got up to find Chen Miao and ask how he planned to transport the old man out.

If the method was feasible, they could leave as soon as possible, before Xie Yong stirred up any more trouble.

But he searched everywhere without finding Chen Miao.

Not only was Chen Miao missing, but the hearse driver, Jiao Zhiyong, was gone too.

Just as Xie Songde was puzzling over this, his phone rang. It was Chen Miao.

"Hello, Mr. Chen. Where are you?"

"Mr. Xie, I'm at Tianmen Funeral Home. I've placed your father in cold storage. How are things on your end? Has Xie Yong been giving you trouble?"

Xie Songde froze.

"Mr. Chen, what are you talking about? I just passed Xie Yong's house and took a look. My father's coffin is still sitting in the yard!"

"Oh, that's empty. I transported your father out of the mountains last night. But if Xie Yong and the others find out, they'll probably cause trouble again. I suggest you call the police directly, Mr. Xie. Otherwise, they may stir things up once they discover it."

Xie Songde was dumbfounded.

He transported him out last night?

In the middle of the night, with only two people, he took a body out of the mountains?

Could they have carried him out on their backs?

Xie Songde's heart skipped a beat as something came to mind.

As a reasonably successful businessman in Shannan City, he naturally had his own social circle.

When he chatted with other business owners in his spare time, they discussed all sorts of things.

Those topics naturally included unusual people and strange happenings.

As it happened, Xie Songde had heard about two similar professions from other people.

Corpse Handlers and Corpse Bearers!

Before technology developed, how did people who died far from home get returned to their roots?

Aside from using transportation such as horse-drawn carts, they could only rely on human strength.

Corpse Handlers handled long-distance transportation, while Corpse Bearers handled shorter journeys.

Because these professions involved the dead, people told all kinds of eerie stories about them, but the reality was nothing like what people imagined.

The person who had told Xie Songde and the others about this had revealed some of the lesser-known details.

For example, some people claimed Corpse Handlers used magic to make bodies move, hopping along.

That was not what actually happened. Those practicing Corpse Driving generally secured the bodies to two bamboo poles, then had two strong men lift the poles, one at the front and one at the back.

As they walked, the bodies between them would bob up and down, much like a load hanging from a carrying pole.

From a distance, it looked as though the bodies were hopping.

Some people who saw this spread rumors that Corpse Handlers knew magic and could make the dead obey them!

As for the bells Corpse Handlers used, those were not meant to control the bodies either.

They were used to warn the living while traveling at night, so unsuspecting people would not stumble upon them and get a fright.

But even in the modern age, with all its advanced technology, people struggled to distinguish rumors from truth, let alone back then, when there were no other ways to learn what really happened.

And so the mystery surrounding Corpse Handlers persisted. Even now, some people firmly believed they possessed mysterious powers.

Corpse Bearers, on the other hand, had fewer supernatural legends surrounding them.

Still, the job generally went to people whose birth charts were said to withstand evil influences-ill-fated loners with no family left.

Because Corpse Bearers came into close contact with bodies, a faint odor always tended to linger on them.

Even if they removed the smell completely, most people would still keep their distance once they learned someone was a Corpse Bearer, fearing bad luck!

As a result, Corpse Bearers usually kept their profession secret.

Aside from certain funeral workers and a few particular individuals who knew who the Corpse Bearers were, no one else knew who had carried bodies. In a way, this also protected the Corpse Bearers.

So when Chen Miao said he had traveled out of the mountains overnight, Xie Songde wondered whether he or Jiao Zhiyong might be a Corpse Bearer.

Or perhaps they had carried bodies in the past?

After all, Chen Miao had struck him as someone who valued tradition and respected ritual. It did not seem strange for the Funeral Home to have a Corpse Bearer, did it?

At that thought, Xie Songde felt relieved.

He immediately headed toward Xie Yong's house.

If everything Chen Miao said was true and his father had been taken out of the mountains, the rest would be much easier to handle.

A cold glint flashed in Xie Songde's eyes.

The only reason he had not used his connections and resources earlier was his fear that Xie Yong and the others would lash out in desperation and prevent his father from departing in peace.

Now that his father was gone, what did he have to fear?

"One hundred thousand? Heh. That money could burn your fingers."

Before long, Xie Songde reached Xie Yong's house.

As soon as he entered, he saw Xie Yong's mother leaning against the window of her son's room, knocking on it and calling to him.

"Son, what's wrong with you?"

"Don't scare your mother!"

Xie Songde had no idea what was happening. He merely glanced over without approaching.

Lowering his head, he walked over to the coffin in the yard and opened it!

Seeing nothing inside but a few herbal packets and quilts, Xie Songde finally felt completely reassured.

He immediately turned and left Xie Yong's house, then took out his phone and called several friends once he found a signal.

Only after finishing those calls did he return to Xie Yong's house.

"Son, open the door! Let your mother in!"

Seeing Xie Yong's mother like that, he walked over.

"Ma'am, what's wrong?"

As Xie Songde asked, he peered into the room.

His gaze swept across the room before settling on the bed.

Xie Yong was huddled in one corner of it, clutching a quilt around most of his body, with only his eyes and the part above them exposed.

In those bloodshot eyes, Xie Songde saw panic.

Panic?

This shameless bastard could actually feel that?

"I don't know what's wrong with Yong either. He's been like this since he got up this morning. He won't respond when I call him... Yong, open the door for your mother."

Looking at Xie Yong, who remained completely unresponsive, Xie Songde frowned.

Just then, Xie Yong's disreputable friends arrived.

"Yong! Where's Yong?"

Xie Songde stepped aside to let them approach the window.

Before long, the man with the small eyes climbed through the window and opened the door.

As they filed inside, Xie Songde stayed where he was, watching through the window.

But no matter who moved around in front of Xie Yong, he showed no reaction.

They immediately decided to take Xie Yong to Old Cripple and have him see what was wrong.

But the moment they brought Xie Yong out of his room, he saw the coffin in the middle of the yard, struggled free like a madman, and ran back into his room screaming.

"A ghost! A ghost jumped out of the coffin! A ghost!"

Bang!

The door slammed shut from the inside again. Aside from Xie Yong's mother, who continued pounding on it, the other three men all looked somewhat bewildered.

As the others began climbing through the window, the small-eyed man looked at the coffin, then shifted his gaze to Xie Songde.

He immediately walked up to Xie Songde and said, "You must've scared Yong by leaving a dead man in his house! Pay up! This isn't over until you pay!"

Looking at the greed on the small-eyed man's face, Xie Songde smiled. "How much?"

"One hundred thousand!" the small-eyed man said at once. "This isn't over unless you pay a hundred thousand!"

Xie Songde nodded.

"All right. I'll transfer more money to Xie Yong."

With that, he took out his phone to make the transfer!

"Yong's gone crazy now. Transfer the money to me. I'll give it to him later!"

Xie Songde looked at the small-eyed man with an inscrutable gleam in his eyes.

"Are you sure you want me to transfer this hundred thousand to you?"

"Cut the crap and transfer it! If you don't, I'll smash your coffin! And you won't be getting out of here either!"

The small-eyed man held out his phone.

Soon, the hundred thousand arrived in his account.

Suppressing the smile tugging at his lips, the small-eyed man warned Xie Songde, "Don't think this hundred thousand settles things. If anything happens to Yong, even another hundred thousand won't get you off the hook!"

With that, he followed the others back into Xie Yong's room.

Before long, they brought Xie Yong out of the house with his eyes covered and headed toward Old Cripple's home.

Xie Songde silently followed.