Soon, Ren Fa and Ren Tingting were carried up the mountain by a group of people. In addition to them, there was also our old acquaintance Captain Awei.
"Master Ren."
Seeing Ren Fa's arrival, Lin Jiu greeted him with a respectful nod.
"Uncle Jiu!"
Ren Fa responded cheerfully, his voice carrying the warmth of genuine respect.
"Now that Master Ren is here, let's prepare for the coffin ceremony."
As soon as Lin Jiu spoke, a group of people rushed forward to set up the altar table and arrange the ceremonial offerings with practiced efficiency.
As the person in charge of the grave relocation, Lin Jiu lit three incense sticks with solemn precision and placed them in front of Old Master Ren's grave. The fragrant smoke curled upward in the mountain air as Ren Fa, Ren Tingting, Awei, and other relatives of the Ren family came forward to burn incense in respectful succession.
"This acupoint of Old Master Ren is called the Dragonfly Touches Water Point..."
Lin Jiu began to explain the exceptional qualities of Old Master Ren's burial site. In essence, if someone were buried here according to proper feng shui principles, their descendants would surely prosper for generations to come.
"Bury him here, and make sure he is buried according to the proper Fǎzàng method!"
Finally, Lin Jiu made his concluding statement with authority.
"Master, what is a Fǎzàng method?"
After listening to Lin Jiu's explanation, Wen Cai approached with a puzzled expression written across his face.
Hearing Wen Cai's words, Lin Jiu rolled his eyes in exasperation. Not only was this guy dressed ridiculously today, but he also asked such an ignorant question. Lin Jiu was beginning to regret allowing Wen Cai to follow him on this important ceremony.
"A Fǎzàng means to bury the person vertically!"
Lin Jiu glared at Wen Cai with obvious irritation before explaining.
"That's right, that feng shui master said the exact same thing back then. After a proper vertical burial, the descendants will definitely achieve greatness!"
Ren Fa stepped forward and spoke in a supporting tone, his voice carrying both pride and underlying concern.
"So how has the fortune of the Ren family been after Old Master Ren was buried?"
Lin Jiu asked with knowing suspicion in his voice.
"Hehe."
Ren Fa laughed awkwardly twice, the sound hollow and forced. Ever since Old Master Ren was buried, the Ren family fortune had been declining day by day, falling from being the richest family in the province to merely the wealthiest in Renjia Town.
The Ren family had obtained this tomb through coercion and bribery of a feng shui master. Could such a master possibly wish the Ren family well? He had used cunning tricks to ensure the family's fortune would continue to decline. Ren Fa could not produce a male heir, leaving only Ren Tingting as his daughter.
However, the feng shui master had not been completely merciless. He had given the Ren family a chance by allowing them to relocate the grave twenty years after Old Master Ren's burial.
While Ren Fa was speaking with Lin Jiu, Ren Tingting approached Gustave and asked with genuine curiosity:
"Master Gustave, could you tell me about the Dragonfly Touches Water Point?"
"I don't really understand feng shui principles."
Gustave shook his head politely and maintained his composed demeanor, though he remained distant from Ren Tingting's attempt at conversation.
Awei watched from the sidelines with growing fury. He had been pursuing his cousin for so long, yet she took the initiative to approach Gustave, this handsome outsider, only to be ignored. Didn't this mean Gustave looked down on Ren Tingting?
Awei's mentality was common among many desperate suitors. When the goddess he couldn't obtain was treated coldly by others, the suitor felt both relief that she wasn't seduced away and indignation that she was being dismissed. This contradictory emotional state could only be called pathetic jealousy!
But Awei didn't dare to lose his temper in front of Gustave. The scene where Gustave had crushed rock into fine powder with a single kick was deeply engraved in Awei's memory.
"Tingting, Master Gustave isn't very knowledgeable about feng shui. Let me explain it to you!"
At this moment, Wen Cai approached with a confident smile plastered across his face, speaking to Ren Tingting with obvious intentions.
"Humph!"
Ren Tingting became angry the moment she saw Wen Cai. When they first met, this guy had stared at her chest with lustful eyes, and now he was dressed in such a ridiculous manner, which made Ren Tingting extremely irritated.
"Tingting!"
Seeing Ren Tingting turning to leave, Wen Cai wanted to chase after her, but was immediately blocked by Awei.
"Don't even think about doing anything improper to my cousin!"
Awei glared at Wen Cai with protective anger.
Wen Cai was about to push away Awei, this troublesome interference, but then noticed the gun holstered at Awei's waist.
With the wisdom that a smart man doesn't invite immediate trouble, Wen Cai muttered something harsh under his breath in dissatisfaction, then left in embarrassed defeat.
While this drama of unrequited love and jealousy was playing out here, on the other side, the coffin of Old Master Ren had been successfully excavated.
However, when the coffin emerged from the earth, a murder of crows suddenly flew out from the distant woods, cawing ominously. Lin Jiu frowned deeply, recognizing this as a decidedly bad omen.
When Old Master Ren's coffin was opened for inspection, Lin Jiu's facial expression changed dramatically. Old Master Ren, who had been dead for twenty years, showed no signs of bodily decay whatsoever. It was obvious that he was destined to transform into a zombie!
"Master, Old Master Ren..."
At this moment, Qiu Sheng also noticed that something was terribly wrong with Old Master Ren's corpse, and came to Lin Jiu with concern written across his features.
Lin Jiu did not reply immediately, but simply shook his head gravely, then walked over to the weeping Ren Fa and said with serious urgency:
"Master Ren, the old master's body has not decayed even a single bit after twenty years of death. This is an extremely ominous sign. How about we cremate him on the spot before proceeding with the grave relocation?"
But Ren Fa directly refused without hesitation. Cremation was not a popular practice in these times. If he cremated Old Master Ren, wouldn't that make Ren Fa appear unfilial to his ancestors?
Faced with Ren Fa's stubborn insistence, Lin Jiu had no choice but to instruct the workers to close the coffin and transport it back to the charity cemetery.
"Gustave, Ren Fa refuses to allow cremation. When Old Master Ren in that coffin transforms into a zombie, Ren Fa will be the first person the creature seeks out."
Zombies are naturally attracted by the blood of their closest living relatives, so after Old Master Ren completed his transformation into a zombie, the first person he would definitely seek would be his son Ren Fa. By draining Ren Fa's blood, Old Master Ren would dramatically increase his supernatural power.
Seeing Ren Fa's obstinate expression, Zhang Zhiwei spoke quietly to Gustave with a disdainful smile playing across his lips.
"Ren Fa will not give up until he reaches the Yellow River. When Old Master Ren comes knocking for a family reunion, then he'll truly panic."
Gustave smiled knowingly and replied with characteristic composure.
Old Master Ren transforming into a zombie was definitely a troublesome situation for Ren Fa and Lin Jiu, but for Gustave and Zhang Zhiwei, it could be resolved with merely a flick of their fingers, so the two remained quite relaxed and were simply waiting to witness the father-son drama that would unfold later.
After Old Master Ren's coffin was carefully carried down the mountain, Lin Jiu instructed Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai to burn a plum blossom incense formation around Old Master Ren's original gravesite and report the results when the incense finished burning.
In addition to these protective measures, a few sticks of incense should be burned at the surrounding graves to express proper respect for the other deceased.
After Lin Jiu finished his detailed explanations, Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai went to perform the incense burning ritual. Looking at the bizarre spectacle of Wen Cai wearing a formal tuxedo and top hat while conducting the solemn incense ceremony, Gustave turned around and chuckled quietly to himself. This Wen Cai was indeed a uniquely entertaining character.
When Qiu Sheng was burning incense at the various graves, he discovered a solitary burial site. The owner of the grave was a young girl named Dong Xiaoyu. Looking at the remaining incense sticks in his hand, Qiu Sheng felt a wave of sympathy and burned them all as an offering to Xiaoyu.
After lighting the incense, Qiu Sheng turned and began to leave.
"Thank you!"
A faint, ethereal voice reached the ears of Qiu Sheng as he was about to depart. Qiu Sheng felt deeply confused and turned around to search for the source of the mysterious voice.
Unexpectedly, at that precise moment, Wen Cai came running over and called out to Qiu Sheng, informing him of the results from the Plum Blossom Incense Formation: two short and one long!
Although Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai were not particularly proficient in Taoist practices, they both knew that two short and one long was definitely not a favorable sign. Therefore, Qiu Sheng did not have time to investigate the source of the mysterious thank you he had just heard. He grabbed Wen Cai and they ran back toward the charity cemetery, ready to report the ominous results to Lin Jiu.