A new female tenant arrived today at Wujue Slope in the west of the city. As the property manager, also known as the graveyard steward, Xu Qing had to perform some welcoming rituals before her move-in.
Paper money fluttered and drifted about, the ten perfect offerings burned lively and bustlingly. At the neighboring graves, the Wang couple, the limping old man, and the Wang family's old lady also benefited, each family's grave had an extra incense stick.
Previously, when Xu Qing was relocating the graves for the Wang couple and the limping old man, he also opened the Sutra of Salvation to look into the old man's past.
The old man was a veteran of the early battles at Celestial Gate Pass. At the time, the Celestial Gate Pass resisted foreign invasions, resulting in many casualties. The officers and soldiers who first defended the pass were almost entirely replaced; very few who lived to the end were intact.
In that battle, the old veteran lost a leg, becoming one of the few witnesses to the Celestial Gate Pass campaign.
Afterwards, the old veteran, along with other disabled soldiers, entered the Wang Family Manor with some idle positions to nurture themselves in their old age.
Though physically incomplete, these old veterans should not be underestimated.
To survive from the beginning of the Celestial Gate Pass campaign to the very end, one's skills must be exceptionally strong.
Otherwise, Zhu Huai'an would not have retained a limping veteran in the Wang family.
The old veteran didn't know much else, but from him, Xu Qing learned some battle skills purely meant for killing.
The combat experience from the battlefield is far more ruthless than those street techniques.
Street gang fights, at their dirtiest and most ruthless, are just some underhanded tricks or tossing lime powder and pepper. They appear fierce, but in the eyes of battle-hardened veterans, it's nothing but child's play.
In the old veteran's memories, Xu Qing saw fierce soldiers cutting off their own limbs to escape a besieged situation, joining the battle again, and the limping veteran unhesitatingly severing his leg to throw far off, hitting an enemy general, rescuing captured comrades.
Xu Qing had an epiphany—the true essence of these battlefield killing skills might not be the method of killing but the calmness in the face of life and death decisions.
Like a lizard cutting off its tail to survive or a ram breaking its horn to self-heal, when this calmness becomes instinct, whether it's for survival or killing enemies, it becomes the toughest, most formidable existence.
Xu Qing believed he was not yet capable of such calmness, but if the Undying Bone were completed, he would not even blink at removing his own head to use as a weapon for survival.
On Wujue Slope, the pine and willow trees cast thick shadows, occasionally brushed by a wild wind, stirring a rustling sound across the entire graveyard.
Among the moving pine needles, there is a rustling like ghostly whispers; as the willow branches swayed, a glimpse of green garments and white attire appeared; when the wild grass moved, it felt like hearing a filial daughter weeping at a grave, sobbing and choking...
Even under the same sky, with the same sun overhead, Shang Shaoyang distinctly felt this place was significantly cooler than other locations.
This was in broad daylight; what would it be like here after sunset?
"Brother Xu, coming here alone, are you not afraid?"
Xu Qing, repairing a newly risen grave mound, replied without turning his head: "Afraid? Why should I be afraid?"
He was a zombie; coming to a graveyard was like returning home. Whoever heard of being afraid when going home?
"Remote places are best avoided alone. I've heard at the teahouse that such secluded spots are most likely to harbor spirits and monsters. What more in a graveyard? There might be hanged ghosts, avenging ghosts here waiting for a substitute to take the punishment so they can escape into reincarnation..."
Xu Qing listened in stunned silence, but upon hearing the mention of a teahouse, he suddenly asked, "The teahouse you mentioned, could it be Fulai Teahouse?"
"How did Brother Xu know?"
Xu Qing somberly said, "Don't listen too much to storytellers' fabrications. There's no such thing as ghosts or monsters in this world. If anything, it's only human hearts playing tricks."
"Human hearts playing tricks..." Shang Shaoyang found it curious and inadvertently asked, "What does 'human hearts playing tricks' mean?"
Xu Qing stopped his repairs, leaned on the shovel, and said:
"There once was a Mr. Hu at the corner of my street, and he said that many times, the demonic auras in the world arise from human actions.
If people harbor no malice, demons will not act on their own. When individuals commit wrongdoings, harbor grudges, or fear, they taint the Earth Qi, disrupt celestial order, and allow demons to enter and wreak havoc, making it hard to dispel. But if the world is clear and people behave appropriately, during a time of peace and prosperity, demons would naturally hide and not meddle in mundane affairs.
As the saying goes, 'When a nation is due to prosper, omens will appear; when it is destined to decline, demons will emerge.'
After saying this, Xu Qing cheerfully looked at Shang Shaoyang: "Master Shang, do you think there are demons here at Wujue Slope now?"
Shang Shaoyang looked around; aside from Xu Qing, the kind-hearted shopkeeper of the Netherworld trade, there was no one else, let alone demons.
"These words seem meaningful. I should indeed pay Mr. Hu a visit as Brother Xu recommends."
Visit? Xu Qing blinked; that wouldn't do!
"But Brother Shang, you won't have the chance. Mr. Hu departed for the underworld half a year ago, and I was the one who arranged his funeral..."
Shang Shaoyang somewhat regretted it.
"Xu brother, in all these years running this white business, have you ever encountered ghosts?"
Xu Qing countered, "Has Brother Shang ever seen one?"
"I've heard my elders mention them, but never seen them myself."
Then you've seen one now.
Xu Qing smiled slightly and said, "I've never seen them either. Ghosts and monsters are just storytellers' flashy tales to draw attention, fabricating nonsense. I've never believed them."
"We must believe in the study of things, discerning the nature of things — that's the real truth."
Shang Shaoyang frowned and said, "Better to believe in the existent than the non-existent. Stories of ghosts and gods have existed since ancient times. Though I haven't seen them, I have heard stories, so it seems plausible."