The Chasing Mourning Horse transformed into rainbow light, galloping through the skies, clearly no longer content with mundane funeral work, but now wishing to bring its burial services to the heavens.
The little demon horse traveled ceaselessly, using Vertical Earth Golden Light, Subterranean Abyss Shrinking, Riding Mist and Clouds... skillfully interweaving various speeding Divine Techniques, all within the time of a tea cup's brief duration, bringing Xu Qing to the boundary of the East Sea.
The coastal regions of the East Sea stretched vast and wide, and as Xu Qing made inquiries along the way, he found that there were no less than five or six places named Nine Bay River.
"This destiny of immortals is truly not something an ordinary person can find!"
Though it took Xu Qing less than a cup of tea's time to reach the East Sea, searching for the small temple from his memories took a full seven or eight days.
Opportunities for immortal destiny are always elusive; as the saying goes, with a serene mind, the immortal destiny arises; with obsession, the immortal destiny vanishes.
Using the Qimen Dunjia divination, Xu Qing encountered mysterious, nameless hexagrams like clouds obscuring the moon. When he tried using the Shoe Throwing Inquiry Technique, the shoe landed upon its head with the sole down, wobbling back and forth without finding direction.
These techniques below celestial rank ultimately could not glimpse the true immortal destiny.
Xu Qing decided to no longer rush the search but instead, immerse himself in experiencing the customs and charms of sea burials and water funerals along the East Sea.
Water burial is entirely different from earth burial. Traveling along the way, Xu Qing finally encountered a Li Family who were conducting a funeral.
The local coastal people, who have long thrived by the seaside, have a much stronger sense of clan than those inland. On the day of the Li clan's funeral, two hundred clan members gathered at the ancestral Li family home to mourn and offer tributes.
Upon inquiry, Xu Qing learned that the clan head of the Li Family had passed peacefully. Respected in virtue, even for a water burial, they used the highest ceremony.
There's a saying: coming early isn't as fortunate as coming at a good time; not finding immortal destiny may be regrettable, but encountering opportunities to enhance one's funeral skills is truly fortunate.
Major funeral matters are not suitable for outsiders to watch, and the Li family clan was extremely resistant to outsiders. Xu Qing initially couldn't enter to observe, but when he claimed to be the temple priest of the Sea Goddess Temple, the Li Family immediately changed their attitude, treating him as an honored guest.
The fame of the Sea Goddess surpasses even the Emperor along the coast!
Xu Qing sighed inwardly. If ever the influence of Bao Sheng Temple could spread to the coastal towns, how wonderful that would be...
Coastal water burials, earth burials, and cliff burials are quite similar. After inviting the Funeral Master to select the time and place, the master chooses not a soil pit grave nor cliff ridges, but opts for open sea areas or river mouths away from fishing harbor ports, for the family to decide.
On the day of burial, they always choose high tide or sunrise, supposedly for the tide's ebb and flow, guiding the soul to the Dragon Palace.
This aligns with Xu Qing's concept of welcoming and bidding farewell.
Additionally, the coffin differs.
The coffin for water burial is, in fact, a bamboo raft or boat.
At burial, the Funeral Master wraps the boat with plain cloth; the bow holds offerings, often rice, drinks, and paper money.
Affluent families use boats to inter the remains; financially constrained families use bamboo or old wooden rafts for the burial.
For a highly revered figure like the Li clan chief, premium tung oil-soaked wood was used for the coffin.
To ensure the boat sinks to the sea bottom after entering the water, the Li family members collected pottery, bricks, and other items from each house, readying them to sink the boat upon sea entry.
Xu Qing's feng shui expertise had long reached perfection, whether in wilderness towns or coastal geomancy; a glance revealed its quality.
The Funeral Master struggled to find the dragon hole during water site selection, but when Xu Qing tossed a piece of broken tile into the water, the master immediately brightened.
"Bowed like an arching sky, encircled ninefold, with winding streams that retain their noble aura – unquestionably a premium water hole."
"I never imagined you, a temple priest, also comprehend feng shui."
Xu Qing smiled without speaking.
Could he claim companionship among fellow practitioners?
"What's this place called?" the Funeral Master inquired of the local Li Family members.
Fishing folk, living off the sea for generations, stepped forward and replied, "This place is named Nine Bay River of the West Sea."
"West Sea? Isn't this the East Sea?"
Xu Qing was surprised.
Beside him, a Li Family elder explained, "There's a history behind this. You see, originally, we Li clansmen were not East Sea people but had lived in Nine Bay River of the West Sea for generations."
"But according to ancestral tales, our ancestors amassed wealth in the West Sea, yet met misfortune..."
"We descendants don't clearly know the specifics, only heard orally from elders that some Devil Boy caused trouble, angering the West Sea Dragon King, causing the towns near Nine Bay River to be flooded by ocean waters, ruining our Li family estate overnight."
"To escape the devil's havoc, our ancestors took the surviving clan members elsewhere to make a living."
"Yet our Li family ancestors, having always bonded with water, how could they adapt to foreign soil and waters?"
The Li elder shook his head and continued, "Fortunately, heaven's path doesn't forsake people. When the ancestor fell ill halfway, an Immortal riding a white-faced tiger helped them out. Learning our ancestor was homeless, the Immortal used divine techniques to bring our surviving family members to the East Sea to prosper and thrive."
"The distance between West Sea and East Sea spans no less than ten thousand miles. While the ancestor no longer feared devilish havoc, he remained attached to his homeland, thus naming this place Nine Bay River to commemorate the ancestral land."
After recounting the origin of Nine Bay River, the Li elder continued, "Speaking of fate, our ancestor later encountered the Immortal riding the white-striped divine tiger once more in the East Sea, but by then, the Immortal had joined the ranks of Immortals, becoming the sea god of the East Sea."
Xu Qing found the tale familiar, yet the next to him, the water burial master, paid no heed, taking it as frivolous talk.