Xie Yong and his mother went into Old Cripple's room, leaving the small-eyed man and the other two waiting outside.
"I saw what you just did. Hurry up and transfer us the money!"
The other two surrounded the small-eyed man.
"Like hell I will! That's Yong's money!"
"Yong? Yong's gone mad! Hurry up. If you won't transfer it, don't blame me for taking it myself."
The looks in his two accomplices' eyes made the small-eyed man uneasy.
He wasn't the muscle in their group of four, so he was no match for the other two physically. But making him cough up the money would hurt worse than a beating.
His eyes darted as he said to them, "Are you idiots? Why ask me for money? Go ask that sucker! Listen, here's what you say..."
"Will that work?"
One of them sounded doubtful.
"Why wouldn't it? Would he dare refuse? If he does, kick his old man's coffin over!"
The small-eyed man spoke viciously.
"All right. I'll give it a try."
With that, one of them headed to the other room, where Kong Fang and the others were being treated.
Less than five minutes later, he returned, beaming.
"He actually paid!"
Hearing that, the other man couldn't sit still any longer!
This time it was even quicker. He came back out in under a minute.
"Heh, easiest money I've ever made!"
The three huddled together, chuckling.
Before long, Old Cripple finished his examination. His conclusion was that Xie Yong had suffered a fright.
They could either wait and see whether Xie Yong recovered on his own, or take him to a major city for treatment.
Xie Yong's mother had only this one son. He might have been a bit of a bastard, but he was still her own flesh and blood. Naturally, she wanted to take him elsewhere for treatment.
What she hadn't expected was that when she told the small-eyed man and the other two what she intended to do, they made excuses.
"Auntie, don't worry. I think Yong will get over this soon. Let him stay home for a day and see. He might be fine by tomorrow."
"That's right, Auntie. Hospitals elsewhere aren't all that great either. What if Yong gets better before you even reach the hospital? What a waste!"
"Auntie, doesn't that old hag on the east side know how to summon souls and stuff? Get her to call Yong's soul back. Maybe the fright scared it out of him, and one summons will bring it back."
The three chimed in one after another with all sorts of suggestions, but not one of them wanted Yong to go elsewhere for treatment.
Their thinking was simple. There was still a hundred thousand on Yong's phone. If he went mad, the three of them could split that money. How nice would that be?
And they still had to carry the coffin out afterward. That would be another hundred thousand.
Surely splitting the money three ways was better than four?
Xie Yong's mother had no choice. She couldn't carry him on her own, so she could only listen to the three of them and wait a little longer.
But before Xie Yong returned to normal, four people in police uniforms arrived at Old Cripple's home.
The small-eyed man had been urging Xie Songde to make a decision, warning that if they waited any longer, there wouldn't be time to carry the coffin out.
The moment he saw the police, he ducked aside.
"Hello. Are you Mr. Xie Songde?"
"Yes, that's me."
Xie Songde walked over.
"Hello. Director Zhang sent me. My name is Yu Yang. Sorry for the trouble, but could you go over what happened again?"
"Of course..."
Xie Songde then recounted the events and provided the transfer records, recordings, and other evidence.
Standing nearby and listening, the small-eyed man broke out in a sweat.
He wanted to go over and say something, but one look from a police officer robbed him of his courage.
Only after Xie Songde finished did the lead officer walk toward him. His legs immediately went weak.
What happened next was straightforward.
Faced with the transfer records, the recording of Yong's brazen threats, and the recordings of the other three's suspected extortion afterward, none of them claimed to be innocent, Yong included.
Even though Yong was already somewhat deranged, Yu Yang still took him away for questioning.
"Mr. Xie, aren't you leaving?"
Yu Yang looked at Xie Songde as he asked.
"No. Three of our people ate mushrooms and are too weak to walk four or five hours through the mountains. I'll wait until they're feeling better."
"Hm? It doesn't take four or five hours. Less than an hour is enough."
Seeing Xie Songde's stunned expression, Yu Yang explained.
There was more than one route to Blue Stone Village!
If they walked from the other side of Blue Stone Village to a river that had dried up long ago, they could drive out along the riverbed.
An ordinary sedan would struggle, but an off-road SUV could manage.
Outsiders, however, didn't know about that route.
Xie Songde was completely dumbfounded.
So none of this had needed to be so complicated?
But why hadn't a single villager in Blue Stone Village told them?
Xie Songde fell silent.
At noon.
Xie Songde arrived at the Tianmen Funeral Home with Kong Fang and the others. Only after seeing that his father was completely unharmed in the cold storage did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Chen, thank you so much for everything."
After shaking Chen Miao's hand firmly, Xie Songde took out his phone and paid the remaining balance.
"Mr. Chen, when can you have someone take my father to Shannan City? We've already lost too much time."
"I'll arrange it right away."
Chen Miao called Jiao Zhiyong.
Half an hour later, everything was ready, and they could leave immediately.
Before leaving, Xie Songde gave Chen Miao a business card. It listed no title, only a name and a phone number.
"Mr. Chen, I run a few hotels and other leisure businesses in Shannan City, and I have a few connections. If you ever run into trouble, you can contact me at this number."
Chen Miao accepted the card and said apologetically, "Mr. Xie, I haven't had any business cards printed yet."
"Heh, that's all right. I've already saved your number."
Xie Songde smiled and waved his phone.
"Oh, there's one other thing I'm curious about."
Xie Songde looked at Chen Miao.
"Mr. Chen, was it you who carried my father out on your back last night, or was it Mr. Jiao?"
On my back?
Seeing Chen Miao's blank look, Xie Songde smiled. "Haha, I was just asking. I'd only ever heard of the Corpse Bearer trade before, so I was curious."
"All right, I'll be off, then. Until we meet again."
With that, Xie Songde got into his car and drove away with his brother-in-law, Leng Zhiyuan.
Jiao Zhiyong followed close behind, saying goodbye to Chen Miao before leaving.
"Corpse Bearer? Is that really a trade?"
Chen Miao muttered to himself, planning to find time to ask Elder Uncle whether he knew anything about it.
As for how Old Master Xie had gotten out of the mountains, Chen Miao had naturally used the Corpse-Control Bell and a Corpse-Control Talisman to make his body walk out through the mountains at night.
Since this wasn't proper Corpse Refining, all Chen Miao needed to control Old Master Xie's body were a Corpse-Control Talisman, the Corpse-Control Bell, and the method for using the bell.
If he wanted to control a zombie, a Corpse-Control Bell and a Corpse-Control Talisman alone wouldn't be enough. A Lotus Lamp filled with corpse oil was essential.
But Chen Miao hadn't used only a Corpse-Control Talisman for this round of Corpse Driving.
He had also used a Yin-Gathering Talisman to gather yin energy around the old man's body, lowering the temperature around him to prevent decomposition.
To keep the Yin-Gathering Talisman from turning the old man into a reanimated corpse or nurturing a ghost, Chen Miao had also stuck a Spirit-Sealing Talisman on his body.
With the combined effects of the Yin-Gathering Talisman, Spirit-Sealing Talisman, and Corpse-Control Talisman, Chen Miao had brought Old Master Xie out of the mountains with a few scares but no real danger.
After reaching the funeral home and placing the old man in a refrigerated cabinet, Chen Miao had taken out some offerings and, using ordinary incense sticks, recited two incantations: the "Resolving Grievances with Jiangzhen Incantation" and the "Descending the True Soul-Calming Incantation."
"Resolving Grievances with Jiangzhen Incantation": could be recited while offering incense to someone who had died an unnatural death, such as in an accident, murder, or traffic collision, to dispel the departed soul's resentment.
"Descending the True Soul-Calming Incantation": could be recited while offering incense to someone who had died of illness or old age, to soothe the departed soul and help it pass on.
Originally, Chen Miao had only recited the grievance-resolving incantation. After all, the old man had died in an accident.
But after finishing, he noticed no other change in the incense smoke. After some thought, he recited the soul-calming incantation as well.
This time, the incense smoke circled the old man's body many times before rising and dissipating.
From that, Chen Miao surmised that the fall might not have been the main cause of the old man's death.
The main reason might simply have been that his time was up.
It was worth noting that although the soul-calming incantation had worked this time, Chen Miao hadn't gained any yin virtue.
Perhaps that was because the old man had been helped to pass on before he could become a ghost?
Chen Miao couldn't figure it out.
As for running into Xie Yong on the way out of the mountains, that had been pure coincidence.
Chen Miao had actually been in the courtyard at the time.
Just as he was about to raise the corpse, Xie Yong had returned.
Chen Miao had immediately activated Hide-and-Seek, and Xie Yong hadn't noticed him even when walking right past him.
After that, Chen Miao had practiced making the old man move around in the courtyard.
It was his first time using Corpse Control, after all. He needed to get the hang of it.
Somehow, he seemed to have accidentally scared Xie Yong out of his wits.
Thinking back on it now, traveling through the mountains with a corpse last night had certainly been a little thrilling.
He had only managed because he already worked in the funeral business and had faced a zombie before.
For anyone else, it would have been hard to say.
Chen Miao turned and went back into the funeral home.
He still had to replenish the talismans he had used.
Having a Corpse-Control Talisman prepared was what had allowed him to solve the problem this time. Otherwise, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly.
At the very same time that Chen Miao saw Xie Songde off.
At the Fushou Funeral Center.
The owner, Du Rui, bowed as he welcomed an old man into his office, where the man sat in the chair Zhong Fa had once occupied.
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