The courtyard was suddenly filled with a howling wind, dark clouds obscured the moon, and the candles on the long table began to flicker.
A faint ghostly light flashed before their eyes, and with a ripple of space, Mo Chuan and Nü Ba’s figures returned to reality.
It was just the way they returned…
Mo Chuan, cradling the now sleeping Nü Ba in his arms, gently approached the coffin and carefully placed her inside.
Although Qing Lian Zi was stunned by this scene, he quickly reacted after Mo Chuan finished. With the help of the Seven Emotions Ghost Soldiers, he completed the sealing of the coffin (the inner wooden one), the blood anointing, the spell casting, the securing of the coffin (the outer bronze one), the pulling of the net, and the affixing of talismans in a mere fifteen minutes.
…
Three days later, all the diplomatic delegations departed from Dragon Country.
Before boarding the plane, Crown Prince Hong De cast a meaningful glance at Mo Chuan. However, he eventually boarded the aircraft amidst the almost ear-splitting smile of the Minister of Rites. (They couldn’t afford to use the teleportation array anymore.)
The Minister of Rites noticed that a few members of the Neon diplomatic delegation were missing. Crown Prince Hong De’s reply was: “They had urgent matters to attend to and returned home early.”
However, in reality, these primary instigators of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade had already suffered torment and torture within Mo Chuan’s lantern.
Initially, these people were meant to be scapegoats for the Neon authorities, hoping to appease Dragon Country with their sentencing. But Dragon Country clearly wasn't buying it. Thus, this group of people, whom they couldn't decide whether to kill or not, were successfully absorbed by Crown Prince Hong De.
Of course, officials who were supposed to become part of the Crown Prince’s faction ultimately became bargaining chips in exchange for support. It could be considered making the best use of them.
Mo Chuan watched the plane slowly ascend, pulled out a pipe from his embrace, lit it, and took a gentle puff.
Shortly after, the smoke rings gathered to form a ghostly visage, and the voice of Shuten-dōji echoed in his mind: “What’s wrong, darling?”
“Crown Prince Hong De’s plane has taken off,” Mo Chuan said. “Send a few yokai to keep an eye on it, make sure nothing happens.”
“Okay~ I’ll send a few Karasu Tengu to escort them~”
“How does it feel to be back in your hometown?” Mo Chuan exhaled softly, speaking relaxedly. “You must have many acquaintances in Neon, right?”
“Uh…” Shuten-dōji seemed to have been asked something embarrassing. She stammered for a while before finally saying, “Yes, it’s quite good here. Yuki-onna needs me for something, so I’m leaving!”
Saying this, Shuten-dōji quickly closed the incense burner on the other end and said speechlessly, “Acquaintances… I have grudges with everyone except that dense Ibaraki-dōji…”
…
Three more days later, in Jibei.
Mo Chuan took two days of leave and returned to Jibei City. However, he wasn’t there to retrieve anything or rest. He only stayed home for a moment before heading to Silishan.
A few minutes later, Mo Chuan arrived at the entrance of the Silishan Cultural Market and found the gatekeeper who sold tea.
“Master Xun, I apologize for the intrusion,” Mo Chuan said, pushing a small packet of tea towards Old Master Xun. “Last month, Zhang Hanshan and I came together and met you, Master Xun.”
Old Xun Liu glanced at the tea, put down his pipe, poured a cup of tea for Mo Chuan, and said, “Intrusion is unwarranted. What is it?”
“This is the moss green from Lotus Mountain, please take a look.”
Hearing this, Old Xun Liu narrowed his eyes, pretended to examine it, and said, “Picked at the fourth watch of the Zi hour, the tea is excellent.” (They start letting people in precisely at midnight. Today’s ghost market has good stuff, worth a look.)
“Master Xun has sharp eyes and is experienced,” Mo Chuan said with a slight smile. He took out a gold leaf with one hand, finished his tea with the other, covered the gold leaf with the teacup, and pushed it towards Master Xun, saying, “What’s so good about this tea?”
Old Xun Liu raised an eyebrow slightly, hesitated for a moment, then took back the teacup and said, “What’s good about tea? It’s nothing more than color, aroma, and taste. However, this tea has a pleasant aroma, comparable to high-quality Tie Guan Yin.” (A batch of goods from after a conflict is coming here for processing, definitely not junk.)
Mo Chuan frowned upon hearing this. Why wasn't this Master Xun getting to the point? He only brought five gold leaves and tens of thousands of yuan (half of his mission reward and a friendly sponsorship from Qing Lian Zi). He couldn’t touch the remaining gold bars. Was this one sentence of nonsense worth a gold leaf?
Old Xun Liu seemed to sense Mo Chuan’s dissatisfaction. He simply handed the teacup back to Mo Chuan and said, “Even I, Xun Liu, have teas I don’t understand. Take this teacup and show it to the person who sold you the goods. Ask them to show some leniency, just to give me some face.” (This cannot be said now. You can take this teacup to the people at the auction house later, and they will tell you.)
Mo Chuan nodded, took the teacup, stood up, clasped his hands, and left.
…
Midnight.
Mo Chuan, dressed in tattered linen, disguised his face as a scruffy, bearded uncle. He then put on a hood and a mask before entering the night market.
He didn’t rush into the “Feng Dui Lou” but first went into “Yi Hu Chun.” He called for the waiter, exchanged the secret password, and found the elderly gentleman in the dark purple long gown from last time.
“Old sir, we meet again,” Mo Chuan bowed slightly to the other party and then wrote three words on a piece of paper, handing it over.
The old gentleman frowned after reading it. He didn’t quote a price directly but wiped his glasses and asked, “Young sir, are you from the authorities?”
Mo Chuan was taken aback and then replied, “Does it matter if I am or if I’m not?”
The old gentleman shook his head and said, “Last time, we sold you information about the Five Yama Kings, which was the limit for this establishment. This time… it’s difficult for me to quote a price. We also have to do business.”
Mo Chuan understood his meaning perfectly. This person was afraid that the leakage of this information would lead to his death, so he wanted to raise the price. He then said, “For Class A information, I’ll pay double. For Class B information, I’ll add five gold beans. For Class C information, I’ll add one gold bean.”
The old gentleman was also surprised, not expecting Mo Chuan to be so generous. However, keeping the principle of doing business for the long term, he immediately made his decision: “Alright, please wait while I consult…”
…
At the same time, in Zhu Jincheng.
In the Humble Administrator’s Garden, Fu Xi was dozing in a lounge chair when a ethereal voice suddenly spoke, “Geng Jin and Ding Yang are both absent. What should we do? Should we pick from the Earthly Branches again?”
Fu Xi was silent for a moment and then said, “The Golden Rooster will be transferred to Ding Yang, and the White Tiger will be transferred to Geng Jin.”
The voice asked, “But the Daoist candidates among the Ten Heavenly Stems…”
“This major incident that has caused such a stir is a good time to rein in those old fellows. Consider it killing the chicken to warn the monkeys,” Fu Xi opened his eyes and looked towards the source of the voice, saying, “Not everyone is as loyal as you. By the way, has the matter of the blood coffin being in Geng Jin’s hands been investigated?”
“Qing Lian Zi said that Geng Jin found it at his master’s place of meditation… but when we went to the Heavenly Emperor’s Tomb back then, I didn’t see Daoist Qiu enter Nü Ba’s tomb…”
“Forget it…” Fu Xi shook his head, pushed himself up from the lounge chair with the armrest, and asked, “What about the secret realm in Suzhou?”