Master Qiu's suspicions were dispelled by Li Mei's words, and he said to the servant in a deep voice, "Seal the coffin."
The servant took a wooden nail and started smashing it against the coffin. In no time, the coffin lid was nailed shut.
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci were extremely anxious, frequently glancing at Zhu Huaizhang. Just as Zhu Huaizhang raised his hand to take action, a loud "bang" was heard, and the coffin lid was forcefully blown off!
Before everyone could recover from their shock, two hands suddenly emerged from the coffin.
Li Mei screamed in fright, and Master Qiu shrank even more. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the coffin, and no one dared to breathe.
But the next moment, the bride in the coffin sat up straight.
"Ah..." A terrified scream, so loud it cracked, echoed through the night sky.
"A ghost..."
"It's come back to life..."
"She's alive! She's come back to life..."
"A monster..."
"Help me..."
"Run!"
"Don't come any closer..."
Everyone was instantly terrified. The entire courtyard erupted in chaos, filled with screams, howls, running away, and stumbling—a cacophony of sounds.
Jin Shanyao in red with disheveled hair, crawled out of the coffin on all fours.
She slowly raised her head to face Master Qiu, grinned with a wicked smile, and under his terrified gaze, she reached out and dragged Young Master Qiu's corpse out of the coffin.
Master Qiu was so frightened that he nearly choked to death. He mustered his courage and shouted, "Let... let... let go of my son!"
Jin Shanyao slowly shifted her gaze to Master Qiu, letting out a ghostly giggle. She lay on the ground, dragging Young Master Qiu's corpse as she crawled towards Master Qiu.
That speed was inhuman...
"Ah... don't come any closer!" Master Qiu no longer cared about his son; he turned and ran for his life. " Li Mei, you bastard, what kind of thing did you bring me? Get it away from me!"
Li Mei didn't care whether he lived or died; at that moment, she and Liu Dashan were desperately pulling on the door, but the door was as if it were welded shut and wouldn't budge.
Master Qiu ran wildly around the courtyard, with Jin Shanyao dragging Young Master Qiu's corpse in pursuit. "I'll make you agree to a ghost marriage! I'll make you dig up graves! I'll scare you bunch of bastards to death!"
"Ghost girl, I was wrong. It wasn't my idea to be married to a ghost; it was all Li Mei's."
Upon hearing this, Li Mei burst into a tirade, "You old bastard, if you weren't so eager to arrange a ghost marriage, would I be digging up graves?"
Upon hearing Li Mei's voice, Jin Shanyao suddenly stopped chasing after Master Qiu, tilted her head, and looked over in a sinister manner.
Li Mei turned pale with fright and began frantically pulling on the door latch. Damn it, she'd dug up so many graves, and this was the first time she'd encountered such a giant zombie.
The more frightened she became, the tighter the bolt tightened. Just as the giant zombie dragged Young Master Qiu's corpse toward her, she managed to pull the bolt off with a sudden burst of strength.
Li Mei grabbed the door latch and yelled, "Get out... stay away from me..." Before she could finish the word, Jin Shanyao grabbed her and pulled her over.
Seeing his mother being bullied, Liu Dashan's anger flared up, and he charged forward with his fists raised, shouting, "I'll fight you to the death..." But the next moment, he was kicked away by Jin Shanyao.
She grabbed Li Mei with one hand and carried Young Master Qiu with the other, slowly walking towards Master Qiu.
Master Qiu was already terrified and had nowhere to retreat. His back was pressed tightly against the wall. He hurriedly took off his Buddhist prayer beads from his wrist, put them to his lips, and kept chanting, "Buddha, please protect me, Buddha, please protect me."
"Oh dear..." Jin Shanyao at him, "You're asking the Buddhists for help in front of the Daoists? You're really disrespecting me!" She blew on Master Qiu's hand.
The prayer beads scattered all over the floor with a clatter... Master Qiu was terrified on the spot, and instantly felt utterly hopeless!
Jin Shanyao over the corpses of Li Mei and Young Master Qiu, and called out in a ghostly voice to Master Qiu, "First bow to Heaven and Earth... second bow to the parents... husband and wife bow to each other..."
After saying this, under the horrified gazes of the crowd, he threw Li Mei and Young Master Qiu's bodies into the coffin together, then casually pointed to a servant, "Go... bring me the coffin lid."
The servant swallowed hard, trembling as he went to pick up the coffin lid, then dragged it weakly to Jin Shanyao's side.
Jin Shanyao took the wooden fan with one hand and slammed it onto the coffin with a thud. Then, she picked up a wooden nail and began hammering it in.
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci were perched on the wall, staring blankly at their aunt pretending to be a ghost to scare people, completely losing their ability to think.
Constable Wang whispered, "Sir... aren't we going to take action yet?"
Zhu Huaizhang snapped back to his senses and shouted urgently, "Do it! Do it now! Don't kill anyone!"
The constables and yamen runners immediately broke down the door and subdued Liu Dashan, Master Qiu, and the others.
Constable Wang rushed to the coffin and reached out to open it, but no matter how hard he tried, the coffin lid wouldn't budge.
He immediately shouted to his colleagues, "Come and help!"
As soon as he finished speaking, four or five constables rushed forward and pried and twisted the coffin lid until they finally managed to open it. They found that Li Mei had already fainted from fright. Constable Wang out, pulled her out, tied her up tightly, and took her to the prison along with a group of prisoners.
Ghost One, holding onto Young Master Qiu's soul, floated in the air, looking at Jin Shanyao with an expression of adoration. "Boss is really amazing... He's even scarier than them when he's pretending to be a ghost."
Zhu Huaizhang led his men toward the government office. Seeing Jin Shanyao, her hair disheveled, following behind, he couldn't bear to look at her and said helplessly, "Couldn't you take off this wedding dress first?"
Jin Shanyao brushed aside the strands of hair that were obscuring her face, and exclaimed blankly, "Doesn't it look good? It's the first time I've worn a wedding dress, and it's red. Look how beautiful the auspicious clouds are embroidered, and the cuffs..."
Zhu Huaizhang quickly interrupted her, "These clothes are unlucky, take them off immediately."
"Bad luck?" How could she be bad luck just because she put it on? Jin Shanyao, Qi Ingestion, "I think you're the bad luck one."
Having said that, she tossed her hair in a huff.
Seeing that she was heading towards the government office, Zhu Huaizhang quickly said, "Thank you for today's matter. Leave the rest to the government office."
Jin Shanyao to look at him in disbelief, her lips trembling as she said, "Discarding the millstone after it has served its purpose, burning the bridge after crossing the river, turning her back on him without mercy, forgetting the trap after catching the fish... Zhu Huaizhang, I misjudged you, you heartless bastard!"
Zhu Huaizhang nearly choked on her last sentence, and lowered his voice to explain, "I just thought it was getting late and wanted you to go home and rest early."
"Resting?" Jin Shanyao, shaking her head. " Zhu Huaizhang, Zhu Huaizhang, without me, you'd at most punish them for stealing a corpse! Besides..."
She pointed to herself, "You even chased away this 'corpse' after you'd served your purpose..."
Zhu Huaizhang couldn't help but chuckle, and said gently, " Shopkeeper Jin, you've really misunderstood. If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't have been able to solve this case until now."
We'll be going back to investigate the case that night, and who knows how long it'll take... You wouldn't be able to help if you went, so you might as well go back and get a good night's sleep.
Jin Shanyao at him sideways, "I'm not even helpful. Do you think they'll confess obediently just by interrogating them?"
Zhu Huaizhang: "Those cases all have to be investigated step by step, piece by piece. How can someone just confess right away?"
Jin Shanyao lightly, "You... you're just lucky to have run into me. For one tael of silver, I'll sell you two Truth Talisman. Once you stick them on, I guarantee they'll answer any question you ask, without uttering a single lie."