A few words were written on it:
'The paths of the living and the dead are different; you must forget me and find a good match, that would fulfill my wish!'
Cheng Caiyun tore the paper into pieces, but suddenly squatted down, eagerly trying to piece it back together. However, when she finally did, the words had long disappeared.
"You promised to marry me. How can you, claiming to be a gentleman, break your word?"
On the day of the Mid-year Festival.
The long-quiet Incense and Candle Shop was suddenly decorated with lanterns and red celebratory characters, accompanied by a string of firecrackers.
The nearby residents were perplexed. Wu Yaohua and other neighbors approached to inquire, only to find Hu Baosong from the coffin shop blocking the entrance, not allowing anyone in.
"It's their personal matter, why are you all here creating a fuss?"
"If you want to give a gift, just hand it to me!"
Although Wu Yaohua was puzzled as to who would have a celebration on the Mid-year Festival, he generously gave a considerable amount as a gift, being neighbors and all.
Two days later, when the Incense and Candle Shop reopened, the owner Cheng had her hair in a bun, dressed in her usual clothes, looking every bit the image of a married woman.
The neighbors seized the opportunity, peeking in curiously to see what the man who married into the Incense and Candle Shop looked like.
However, Cheng claimed her husband was a scholar and had gone for examination travels right after the wedding.
With the Mid-year Festival in July followed closely by the autumn examinations, everyone didn't think much of it, assuming Cheng was fortunate and might even become a scholar's wife.
Since then, only Cheng remained in the Incense and Candle Shop.
After the autumn examinations, the spring ones followed, yet no scholars returned to the Incense and Candle Shop.
Wu Yaohua couldn't help but inquire, only to hear Cheng Caiyun say her husband encountered bandits and lost his life, leaving her a widow.
The neighboring people, hearing this, felt it inappropriate to probe further.
Since then, everyone took special care of the Incense and Candle Shop, and Cheng Caiyun never remarried...
...
As the lantern spun, Xu Qing remained silent for a long time.
He had expected the Shopkeeper Cheng to have a memorable romantic past, but he didn't anticipate an enduring love between a human and a ghost.
No wonder after he became a scholar, the way Cheng looked at him was so complex.
In hindsight, everything had signs to follow.
As for the mysterious masked person sealing part of Lu Zizhan's memory, who else could it be but Ascendant Fuluan?
Dingyuan Prince's Mansion.
Once the seven days of mourning passed, Xu Qing properly buried the Shopkeeper Cheng according to the mansion's funeral standards.
However, the funeral was not yet complete.
Xu Qing had just buried Cheng Caiyun at Wujue Slope when he quickly sought out Ascendant Fuluan and together they found Lu Zizhan's grave.
Unearthing the abandoned grave, Xu Qing once again recited the Sutra of Salvation.
Now bolstered by the Sutra of Yama's Original Wish, the Sutra of Salvation was far different from before. It could trace back through reincarnation to find fragments of memory, even from bodies that lost their souls decades ago.
After watching Lu Zizhan's spinning lantern, Xu Qing confirmed quite a few things.
Besides that, Xu Qing didn't forget to check the reward from the Sutra of Salvation.
The reward from Lu Zizhan was:
Earth Grade Lower, Yinyuan Stone.
This stone, like the Doumi Bowl, is a special dharma artifact that can enhance ranks.
Currently, the Yinyuan Stone only has one side, and its function is to engrave the 'karma' of the next life. The meeting between Lu Zizhan and Cheng Caiyun after death was destined to be next life's karma.
Fortuitous circumstances lead to harmonious union.
Xu Qing attempted to use magical power to activate the Yinyuan Stone, but it didn't respond. He then tried borrowing incense power, and as soon as the incense power touched it, the stone swiftly buried itself in the Blood Lake Realm, landing on the opposite shore.
At the same time, the Yinyuan Stone, enhanced by the incense of the Blood Lake, revealed a glimpse of the future.
Xu Qing gazed at the two figures in the blood lake's incense reflected by the Yinyuan Stone, his expression became exceedingly odd.
The attire of these two seemed far too advanced...
After witnessing Lu Zizhan's karmic destiny for his next life, Xu Qing had a sudden idea and invested ten thousand incense to catch a glimpse of his future.
However, when he saw the red Yinyuan Stone turn pitch black, Xu Qing's expression darkened as well.
Ten thousand incense, and all you did was change color?
Xu Qing's interest in the Yinyuan Stone significantly decreased.
This stone, if evolved to its peak, might reveal a person's past, present, and future karma, perhaps even calling it a destiny spanning three lifetimes.
But none of this mattered to Xu Qing.
He is a deity ensuring long life, not a matchmaker concerned with 'romantic fate' like Yue Lao!
Besides the Yinyuan Stone, Xu Qing also held a red string ball spun from red threads.
This string was a reward from releasing Cheng Caiyun's soul.
As for its function...
It operated just like the red string he obtained before, allowing two parties with the same red string to sense each other across the void. With magical power, it could even serve as a positioning dharma artifact.
The key difference was that the red thread on the string ball could continue to grow by consuming incense.
But the red string wrapped around Xu Qing's wrist and the one tied to Xuan Yu couldn't grow by consuming incense, nor could it be harvested like crops, yielding endlessly.
"What are you doing, Daoist brother..."
Seeing Xu Qing disinter corpses and transport them elsewhere, Ascendant Fuluan was full of confusion.
"Haven't you seen a funeral expert relocating spirits for reburial? This is all part of the services offered by my Xu family shop. Don't just stand there, scatter the paper money where needed. How can you be blind to the rituals?"
"..."
After bringing Lu Zizhan's corpse back to Wujue Slope, Xu Qing conducted a joint burial ceremony for the tragic pair, the Shopkeeper Cheng and Scholar Lu.
In the process, Xu Qing took out the red string ball, cut a three-foot-long red string, wrapping one end around the Shopkeeper Cheng's hand and the other around Lu Zizhan's hand.
He even tied an unbreakable knot.
Outside the tomb, Ascendant Fuluan watched Xu Qing tying red strings for the tragic couple, filled with curiosity, "Daoist brother, this red string seems peculiar..."
Xu Qing closed the coffin lid and looked at Ascendant Fuluan with a cheerful smile:
"If Daoist Fuluan is interested, I'll tie one for both the founding emperor and you another day."
"No need!"
Ascendant Fuluan felt a chill, instinctively hiding his hands in his sleeves.
Though he didn't know what was special about the red string, he had a foreboding that it was a horror like no other!