Yu Nian scrutinized the boy carefully for a moment and only then noticed that the boy's face was extremely pale, almost devoid of any color.
As a living person, the ghostly aura on him actually overpowered his yang energy.
Deng Yang stared at the boy for a while, then suddenly widened his eyes. "You wouldn't be Guan Sheng from the coffin shop that the villagers talked about, would you?"
The boy gave a non - committal snort and said nothing.
According to the villagers, this boy was a coffin child.
His father accidentally drowned before he was born, and his mother died in childbirth. Seeing how pitiful the family was, the villagers pooled their money to commission a coffin from the coffin shop at the east end of the village. But on the day of the burial, a crying sound suddenly came from inside the coffin.
When they opened the coffin lid, they were shocked to find that the baby boy who should have died in the pregnant woman's belly was crying inside the coffin!
The old master of the coffin shop rescued the child, but the pregnant woman's family didn't dare to claim him.
Helpless, the old master adopted the child. Since the boy was born in a coffin, he was named Guan Sheng.
The first thing Guan Sheng saw when he opened his eyes to the world was a dead person. After being adopted by the old master, he was exposed to things related to the dead every day.
This made him unlike other lively and active children from a young age. He often sat alone in a corner, talking to himself and claiming that he could see ghosts... Some said he was an ill - fated star, while others said he was a symbol of disaster.
A few years later, the old coffin - making master passed away. Guan Sheng became even more taciturn. He took over the old master's job and made coffins for the villagers to earn a living.
In short, hardly anyone in the village dared to approach this strange boy.
Only then did Yu Nian understand why Guan Sheng was so bold.
Coffin children are born with the ability to communicate between the yin and yang worlds. Due to the accumulation of corpse qi in their bodies at birth, they can easily shuttle between the two worlds, and even ghosts can't see them.
In other words, they are good candidates to become yin - yang masters.
Guan Sheng cast a cold look at everyone and said impatiently, "What's your decision?"
Without hesitation, Yu Nian nodded. "Deal."
Guan Sheng glanced at the sky and said calmly, "Climbing the mountain is not as easy as you think. I need to prepare some more things."
Guan Sheng led everyone to the coffin shop. As soon as they entered, they felt a chill in the air.
The room was not large, and the dim blue - toned light was extremely depressing.
The air was filled with the smell of paper money and incense ash. Several piles of shiny things caught everyone's eyes. When they got closer, they found that they were gold ingots folded from paper money, looking like a small golden mountain from afar.
There were many flower wreaths and paper figurines stacked against the wall. The paper figurines' black, lifeless eyes stared at everyone, as if they were about to come to life at any moment.
It was hard to imagine how Guan Sheng had lived alone here for so long.
Guan Sheng was very quick. He rummaged through the bottom of the cabinet and took out a stack of yellow paper and an old - fashioned lantern. His tone was flat. "Let's go."
Deng Yang was a bit confused. "Why are you bringing a lantern during the day?"
Guan Sheng showed his usual sarcastic smile. "You'll find out later."
Before climbing the mountain, Yu Nian wiped everyone's eyes with willow leaves soaked in the dew of Tomb - Sweeping Festival, enabling them to notice any abnormalities around them in time.
With Guan Sheng leading the way, everyone easily reached the middle of the mountain. But the higher they climbed, the steeper the mountain path became. The rocks were jagged, and with every step, gravel and soil would fall from their feet, which was extremely dangerous.
Jiang Jin leaned on a stick and struggled to follow at the end of the team. He kept cursing in his heart.
He, Young Master Jiang, had been pampered since childhood. When had he ever suffered like this?
But since Feng Chengyuan was beside him, he had to suppress his temper and force himself to follow everyone.
Just when he was about to collapse from exhaustion, Guan Sheng finally stopped.
Jiang Jin's eyes lit up. "How much longer until we get there?"
Guan Sheng answered truthfully. "It's almost there."
Jiang Jin let out a sigh of relief. "That's good."
"Just cross a river and climb over two mountain peaks, and we'll be there."
Jiang Jin: …
Deng Yang was also exhausted. When the archaeological team came to Taohua Village last time, they brought tents and it took them two whole days to reach their destination.
"Master, can we take a break?"
Just as he finished speaking, strange roars echoed through the forest. The fog on the mountain suddenly spread, covering the sky completely like night. Everyone could only observe their surroundings with the light from Guan Sheng's lantern.
Jiang Jin was terribly frightened and carefully peeked out from behind Feng Chengyuan.
"Who... who's playing tricks?! Show yourself to this young master!"
The air was silent for a while, and then a very sorrowful sigh suddenly came.
"Ai—It hurts!"
The voice was old and hoarse. It suddenly rang out in the silent and empty night, which was extremely terrifying.
Jiang Jin's hair stood on end, and he looked around for the source of the sound.
But all he could see were the weeds swaying in the wind.
"You're stepping on my head!" the voice said angrily.
A chill rose from Jiang Jin's feet. He let out a shrill scream and jumped away.
An old ghost in an elaborate ancient funeral robe was holding his head and wailing in pain.
Yu Nian observed the old man. His face was clean, his clothes were neatly dressed, and he even wore a valuable string of prayer beads on his finger.
This indicated that the old man believed in Buddhism during his lifetime and wasn't a violent death. He was buried peacefully by his family.
It was said that the dead should rest in peace, so why did the old man come out to scare people?
Yu Nian took out a vertical incense from her bag and lit it. When the fragrance gathered on the old man, his expression gradually relaxed.
Only then did Yu Nian ask, "How did you die?"
The old man replied, "I died of old age."
"Why are you here?"
The old man looked dazed and murmured, "Hiding from the thunder."
Feng Chengyuan looked at the dilapidated and rotten coffins behind the old ghost and suddenly frowned. "All the coffins in this area were damaged by the thunder, but why is he the only ghost around?"
Yu Nian's eyes lit up. She asked the old ghost, "Have you seen an old ghost that has lived for two thousand years?"
The old man's figure suddenly froze. Everyone actually saw a look of fear on his face. But the next second, the old man covered his head and cried out again.
"Don't eat me! Don't eat me!"
Seeing the old man's crazy state, Yu Nian knew that his soul had been scattered by the thunder striking the coffin.
When the vertical incense burned out, Yu Nian recited a Requiem Mantra to send the innocent old man to reincarnation.
Before leaving, the old man's eyes regained clarity. He seemed to want to say something to Yu Nian, but in the end, he just gave her the prayer beads in his hand.
Yu Nian looked at the prayer beads thoughtfully, as if lost in thought.
Seeing that everyone was exhausted, Yu Nian asked Guan Sheng, "What's the general location of the ancient tomb?"
Although Guan Sheng didn't understand what Yu Nian was going to do, he still answered truthfully. "In the northeast corner of the mountain."
Yu Nian casually picked up a branch on the ground and seemed to be drawing something on the ground while softly reciting a spell.
Before long, a round symbol emitting a pure golden light appeared in front of everyone.
Jiang Jin was a bit confused. "What's this?"
Yu Nian threw away the stick in her hand and patted the dust off her hands. "It's an Earth - Shrinking Talisman. It can teleport you thousands of miles underground."
The moment Yu Nian finished reciting the spell, everyone felt dizzy. When they opened their eyes again, the surrounding scenery had completely changed.
The sky seemed even darker. The weeds were growing wildly, and the wind was howling. But the terrain had become flat. Deng Yang rubbed his eyes in surprise and found that they had already reached the periphery of the ancient tomb.