No matter which dynasty or era, buying a house and land is always a big deal. It's not like you just take out the money and I simply agree; it's not as if the deal is finished.
That's just play acting.
In the Dayong Dynasty, if you want to buy a house and land, you have to first draft a contract between the buyer and seller, then go to pay the contract tax, and only after obtaining official approval is the transaction considered complete.
Xu Qing drafted a preliminary contract with the broker's steward, which was the purchase agreement for the house. Then they went together to the government office to register with the clerk in charge of population records.
After completing this, he also had to pay out of his own pocket to buy several "official contracts."
The official contract comes in four copies, each of which must be exchanged with real gold and silver.
The clerk in charge of handling the house contract was clearly an old acquaintance of the broker's steward. After greeting each other and asking about the house details, the clerk was secretly amused.
He almost blurted out the joke: "Welcome back when you sell the house again, Shopkeeper Xu!"
"This house is exceptionally good; you are truly fortunate to have it!" The clerk said this without a hint of embarrassment, because he had already been thoroughly embarrassed by this house in the past!
The clerk just did his job, and whether the person buying the haunted house lived or died had nothing to do with him.
After the preliminary contract was done, the process wasn't over yet. Xu Qing still had to go to the Capital Taxation Bureau to pay the "contract tax."
He did not feel tired after the whole process, thinking that if he found even these tasks troublesome, how would he handle the large mansion that would hold more corpses in the future?
...
In the Dayong Dynasty, money really talks. Xu Qing went to the Capital Taxation Bureau in the afternoon, and by evening, the official contract had already been delivered to the broker.
Seeing Xu Qing delightedly accept the property contract, Li Si, who still had a bit of a conscience, finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Others might not be aware, but he knew very well!
That house by Old Master Huang wasn't meant to be inhabited; it was clearly a haunted house for raising his own offspring to care for himself in old age!
"Younger Brother Xu, you don't strike me as a fool. Don't make a mistake; we both know that house is uninhabitable for the living!"
Xu Qing thought, I never said I was alive!
Besides, how can a haunted house be scarier than a real zombie?
"I appreciate your good intentions, but I must live in this house!"
Xu Qing ignored Li Si's advice, saying he knew a thing or two about feng shui, so it didn't matter.
The broker's steward also chimed in: "Master Li, Shopkeeper Xu has skills; maybe he really can bring the house back to life..."
Master Li shook his head, not caring about whether it could be revitalized, just hoping no more people would die there in the future!
...
The sun set and darkness descended, with lamps gradually lighting up.
Outside the Funeral Shop, Xu Qing borrowed a cart from Hu Baosong and placed the emptied corpses from the coffin onto the cart, covering them with coarse cloth.
He was just tucking the cloth around the corpses when Wu Yaohua from the Paper Mache Shop suddenly opened a door and greeted him.
"Hey, Younger Brother Xu, you're finally back!"
"I didn't see you all day, just heard some noise and came out to check. Why do you look like you're heading out again?"
Xu Qing finished tucking in the cloth, smiling, and said, "I just rented a courtyard and am planning to move some things there that can't fit in the shop."
Wu Yaohua came closer, glanced at the cart packed full of what seemed like goods, and didn't think much of it.
"Two people came looking for you today. One was the coroner from last time, and the other was a stranger. Judging by his mourning attire, I'm guessing someone in his family died, and he came to ask for your services..."
Xu Qing didn't care, saying, "If it's meant to be, we'll meet. If not, we miss each other. It's all in destiny."
Wu Yaohua clicked his tongue and, half-jokingly, said, "Younger Brother Xu, you sound like a scholar. Maybe you should take the spring exams with my son and become a scholar..."
A scholar? Xu Qing laughed. He had once opened a scholar's head and taken the "Scripture of Books" from it, a compilation of Dayong's classic writings. Forget a scholar, he could easily pass as a elevated scholar too.
But taking exams wasn't useful for him. He didn't plan to become an official. However, achieving scholar status to avoid taxes and labor duties, that would indeed be practical.
After the small talk at the shop entrance, Xu Qing pushed the cart into the alleys.
At this time, clouds shifted, and the moonlight flickered. There were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the street.
The new house was five or six miles from the shop.
Xu Qing walked through the streets and alleys, almost halfway when he suddenly heard the sound of rubble shifting.
He turned his head to see cats walking and jumping along the roofs of houses lining the street.
Returning his gaze, he continued pushing the cart at a steady pace.
Soon after, a faint bell sound echoed from far and near.
"This bell sound... seems familiar."
The cart wheels stopped, Xu Qing held his breath and prepared himself, with a flick of his wide sleeves, a pair of Finger Tigers appeared on his hands.
The wind was silent; the night road deserted.
Suddenly, the sound of smashing tiles shattered the silence as something unknown descended from above, crushing into the ground. A monstrous growl echoed.
Xu Qing stayed alert, focusing his gaze.
His frequent exposure to corpses allowed him to recognize the oddity instantly. His nostrils flared, and his Qi Observation Skill activated.
He smelled the familiar scent of corpse emanating from the air and saw the gray-white Gale Qi seeping from the creature's body.
Combined with the earlier bell sound, he had a rough idea of the situation.
Someone in his field was targeting him!
As he leaned back and dodged, another zombie blocked his path behind him.
The bell sound rang again, this time with a new, murderous spell unlike any Qi-Diving Curses he knew.
Facing the fierce zombies closing in from both sides, Xu Qing calmly reconsidered, abandoning the idea of using Finger Tigers for violent confrontation.
He had initially thought the assailant would be some underworld soldier or night bandit.
Upon a closer look, it turned out to be two tough-skinned zombies controlled by another professional, not even armored zombies.
Watching the aggressive corpses approaching, Xu Qing silently took out his Corpse-Driving Whip from his coat.
Like to scare people with the corpses at midnight?
Xu Qing lashed the high-quality Corpse-Driving Whip, its deep red, nearly black whip cracking through the silent night, striking the attacking zombies heavily.
Annoyed, he put extra force into his strikes!
Just because he was a corpse conductor didn't mean he could be messed with by any random corpses!
The fierce lashings from the whip caused the controlling bell sounds to cease abruptly as the controller was likely hit by the whip's energy.
While disciplining the two zombies attempting to flee, Xu Qing used his Qi Observation to search for their handler's position.
Finally, after a series of lashes, only two twitching corpses remained.
Xu Qing put away the whip and headed straight towards the alley across the street.
About two zhang (approx. 20 feet) from the alley entrance, a hoarse, low voice emerged from the darkness:
"Young man, go no further; let's end this tonight."
Xu Qing's steps paused, his finger tiger clad hand loosely forming a fist.
Then he continued stepping forward.
Stop? You're hiding in an alley at night, sending corpses to scare people. Now that you see things aren't going your way, you want to escape? How large does your face have to be?
"Enough!"
Seeing him advance, the voice hiding in the alley sounded truly anxious.
"Kid, I let you off since you're new to Linhe, but as your elder, I must warn you: Linhe's corpses aren't solely yours. Other families need to make a living too. You collecting all corpses for four taels each has cut into others' income. Consider this night even; neither of us owes the other. I won't trouble you further..."
Xu Qing stared at the dead-end alley and delivered a piercing question: "Do you really think it could have ambushed me?"
Before the words faded, Xu Qing's face twisted, revealing another face at the back of his head.
Simultaneously, he grinned menacingly at the cat-faced zombie that had stealthily crept up behind him.
The Two-Faced Three-Blade Technique!