The Rules of the Revelation Ceremony

The thin man dressed in all black standing at the door of Zhou Yang's house was none other than Sun San from the Patrol Team.

Zhou Yang's gaze first fell on the leather shadow dog hanging around Sun San's neck.

The shadow puppet dog, chained up, looked rather dull, its markings faded, but it didn't have any obvious injuries. As Zhou Yang approached, his brow twitched twice.

His Mindfulness was still touched by this shadowy dog!

This means that the Fanzi is most likely still alive!

"Sun San, are you here to pay the wages?"

Zhou Yang then looked at Sun San and asked him with a smile.

Sun San was also observing Zhou Yang at this time.

Hearing Zhou Yang's question, he nodded, took out a stack of paper copper coins, and handed them to Zhou Yang: "Here's a pound of coins for you."

I saw your brother on the way and gave him his money first.

"Okay, thank you very much, Sun San!" Zhou Yang took the heavy stack of paper money, and his smile became even more sincere.

Sun San, this Human-Skin Ghost, is somewhat different from the villagers of Guan Village. Zhou Yang is currently unwilling to have much contact with him.

Therefore, after accepting the paper money, he said, "Uncle, would you like to come over for a bowl of water?"

"My mother is busy at home right now, let me bring you a bowl of water."

If people hear that their elders are busy with something, they will naturally not go into the house to bother them.

This is a common customary practice in social interactions.

Sun San also followed these rules.

He shook his head and said, "No need, I'm going home."

He paused, glanced at Zhou Yang again, and continued, "Zhou Yang, once you join the Patrol Team, I'll have them assign you to my team."

"Ah?"

Zhou Yang hadn't expected Sun San to say that.

This Human-Skin Ghost will remember him!

He quickly put on a smile and said, "Third Uncle, I don't have any great skills. I'm afraid I'd be a burden to you if I went to your team."

"No, you're very diligent and a good candidate." Sun San shook his head, not allowing Zhou Yang any refusal, and turned to leave.

He made a special trip to Zhou Yang's house to give him money, just to say those last two sentences!

For Zhou Yang, being targeted by Human-Skin Ghost, the leader of a Patrol Team, was hardly a good thing.

When Zhou Yang heard Sun San's words of "praise," and considering Sun San's identity as Human-Skin Ghost, he felt a chill run down his spine!

"Take care, Uncle..."

Zhou Yang could only offer a few kind words.

They hoped that the other person would genuinely look at them with new respect and praise because of what happened last night.

Instead of harboring ill will towards him because of what happened last night.

He watched Sun San leave, sighed, took the money home and put it away, then went out and walked down another road.

After walking for a while, he suddenly turned into a side street. Emerging from that side street, he approached the place where he had arranged to meet the Cui Zhu brothers—the dilapidated houses left behind by the dead Old Zhang.

Zhou Yang circled the dilapidated house, then entered the courtyard through a crack in the wall. As soon as he entered, he heard Cui He calling from a corner:

"My benefactor, my benefactor, I'm here!"

Zhou Yang followed the sound to its source and saw only a thatched hut.

Although the thatched hut was overgrown with weeds, there was no sign of the Cui Zhu brothers.

He grew suspicious, frowned as he looked at the thatched hut, and didn't take a step.

But then, amidst the pile of weeds, several bundles of firewood had been pushed aside, and a mud slab, also overgrown with weeds, had cracked slightly upwards, revealing Cui He's anxious face underneath. "Here, benefactor, we're in this cellar!"

Zhou Yang's eyes lit up, and he immediately went over.

Cui He lifted the mud slab covering the cellar for him, allowing him to crawl into the already low cellar.

The mud slab was slightly ajar at the top, and the three people squatted in the cellar. By the light filtering through the crack, they recognized each other's faces, smiled at each other, and their eyes were filled with the joy of surviving a disaster.

"My benefactor, you're safe after you got back, are you alright?"

Cui Zhu offered a few words of greeting.

Zhou Yang nodded, thinking about Sun San's visit to his house and wondering about the situation with Cui Zhu's brothers, so he asked, "Did the Patrol Team deliver money to your house? We mustn't run into Sun San —if we do, things might get really bad."

After he finished speaking, both brothers looked pale.

What happened last night has left them with a deep psychological scar.

"Shortly after we got home, the Patrol Team came to deliver the money."

"But it wasn't Sun San who came. We hid inside the house and only dared to show ourselves after the Patrol Team team left." Cui He took a deep breath, suppressing the fear welling up inside her, and spoke to Zhou Yang.

As he spoke, he took two thick stacks of paper coins from Cui Zhu and handed them to Zhou Yang: "My benefactor, we were able to survive thanks to your help this time."

"It's already a stroke of luck that I survived, so I dare not even hope to receive those two catties of paper money."

"Give them to our benefactor; from now on, he will be much more comfortable with money when he needs it."

Zhou Yang glanced at the money Cui He handed him, but didn't take it. He shook his head and said, "For the Revelation Ceremony, the living need to prepare dozens of kilograms of grease for use. Have you all pooled together enough money to buy the grease?"

I think you should keep this money for yourselves.

"Especially since this money was earned with your lives, what kind of logic is it for me to use it?"

"Just take it, my benefactor!" Cui He forcefully stuffed the two stacks of paper money into Zhou Yang's arms. "The Revelation Ceremony requires so much rouge; even if we try to prepare at the last minute, it's too late. These two pounds of rouge won't improve our situation at all."

"It would be better to leave it to our benefactor!"

"With this money, our benefactor will pave the way for future success, and we'll definitely benefit from it!"

Hearing this, Zhou Yang sighed, took the two stacks of money, but put them aside, and said instead, "If we can't even Revelation Ceremony, what future do we have?"

"Two pounds of paper money could buy you two several pounds of cosmetics."

"The more fat you accumulate now, the more confident you will be when Revelation Ceremony."

"I have enough money to spend, so taking these two pounds is just icing on the cake."

"But you two, were you truly prepared for the Revelation Ceremony perfectly?"

Zhou Yang asked the question again.

Cui Zhu and Cui He both shook their heads.

"I knew about the ' Revelation Ceremony ' before I entered Guan Village," Cui He said first. "So after I arrived in Guan Village, I tried to save up some paper money every day, but my parents at home were too terrifying. They asked me for money, and I dared not refuse them..."

"By now, the paper money I've accumulated is enough to buy about twelve catties of fat. At my height, twelve catties of fat would barely be enough to wash my body."

Oil-based rinsing of the skin sac?

During the Revelation Ceremony, was this the actual use of grease?

Zhou Yang's heart skipped a beat.

He had previously felt that Cui He might know something about Guan Village.

Listening to what he says now, it seems that he has a clearer understanding of the entire ritual process of the "Revelation Ceremony".

Zhou Yang only knew that the Revelation Ceremony involved "opening people up," so he was thinking of using Zhou Heigou's strange stomach. He knew nothing about what Cui He was talking about.

Cui Zhu nodded in agreement. "He and I live in the same household, and our situations are similar."

"However, my parents seemed to dote on me more, and I managed to save enough money to buy sixteen catties of rouge."

"Two taels of paper money can buy a pound of rouge. Now, these two pounds of money are enough for you two to buy ten more pounds of rouge." Zhou Yang smiled and pushed the two stacks of paper money back. Before the two could refuse again, he continued, "You know much more about the Revelation Ceremony and the various situations in this Guan Village than I do."

"Telling me these things is much more useful to me than these two pounds of paper money."

For example, what exactly is the ritual for the Revelation Ceremony? What preparations should be made to ensure a smooth passage through this ritual?

The two Cui Family brothers were somewhat surprised to hear Zhou Yang's words.

They never expected that someone as capable as Zhou Yang, who remained flawless even in front of the Patrol Team of ghosts, wouldn't even know the proper rituals for the Revelation Ceremony.

Could it be that this benefactor stumbled upon this place without knowing anything about Guan Village?

If that's the case, the ability to proceed step by step and completely turn around a game that seemed like a dead end for them is something that Cui He and Cui Zhu greatly admire!

"The Revelation Ceremony is the only ritual performed in this ' Human-Skin Guan Village '."

"Those who can pass the Revelation Ceremony will be granted Official Body in the Great Zhao Dynasty, ranging from the lowest rank to the eighth rank."

"Whether one can attain a certain rank of Official Body depends entirely on the ' Root and Shoot ' one displays during the Revelation Ceremony," Cui He explained to Zhou Yang, organizing his thoughts. "My benefactor, you should know that there are five steps in this Revelation Ceremony."

"Firstly, it is through instruction—"

"A designated person would cut open the skin of the chest and abdomen of the person participating in the ceremony, exposing all their internal organs to the public."

"This is the teaching."

"The second step is called purification. This involves removing the internal organs from the chest and abdomen one by one, which is considered a complete purification of the person."

"Next, we can proceed to the third step, 'the official's disguise.'"

"The special offal from Guan Village is stuffed back into the chest cavity of the person attending the ceremony; this is called 'official offal stuffing'."

"The next two steps are ' Seedling Sprouting ' and ' Seedling Drenching '."

"To send off the calamity, the person who participated in the ceremony must be buried in the farmland of the Guan Village. Those who can reach this stage will have an ' Official Mandarin Square Pattern ' appear on their palm. Everyone's Official Mandarin Square Pattern is different, and this Official Mandarin Square Pattern is also called ' Root and Shoot '."

"Once the patterns have fully developed, the buried person will be dug up again, placed in a coffin, and their body will be continuously washed with the fat and oil they have purchased; this is called ' Seedling Drenching.'"

"Under Seedling Drenching, the Official Mandarin Square Pattern will gradually fade away, and the official organs within the body will gradually merge into an Official Seal."

"Once the Official Seal is issued, the person becomes Official Body."

Cui He explained in detail to Zhou Yang the various steps of the "Revelation Ceremony".

Zhou Yang felt a chill run down his spine. "If they were alive, I'm afraid eight out of ten would die by the very first step of the Revelation Ceremony!"

"In the second step, every single living person will turn into a corpse!"

"Are all the officials in the Great Zhao Dynasty dead?!"