"Kneel and kowtow!" Qu Mo instructed me to kowtow to Hei Bai Wuchang before saying, "The Yin-Yang lineage belongs to the Coffin Gate, but it's not exactly part of the Coffin Gate."

"The Coffin Gate values opening coffins and burying ghosts. Coffins are their secret art. The successors of the Yin-Yang lineage, however, do not have coffins."

"By choosing the Yin lineage, you are not burying ghosts, but saving them."

"After people die, not all ghosts can smoothly enter the underworld. Some are suppressed by sorcerers using secret arts, while others are lost in some secret realms. What you have to do is rescue these ghosts and send them to the underworld, so that they can complete the cycle of Tian Dao (the Way of Heaven)."

At this point, Qu Mo suddenly changed the subject. "However, when you rescue ghosts, you may have to destroy the restrictions of sorcerers, or open some kind of secret burial. This means you will be an enemy of the sorcerer's path."

"The coin you threw landed with a bloody glow. This foreshadows that your appearance will be accompanied by constant bloodshed. A very ominous sign!"

Qu Mo couldn't help but sigh at this point, "Perhaps, I should have chosen for you earlier."

I smiled faintly, "If you choose for me, is it still my life?"

"You little bastard!" That was the first time Qu Mo cursed at me.

After cursing, Qu Mo took out a box from under the offering table, and removed two thumb-thick chains: "These are Soul-Chasing Chains. Although they can't compare to the artifact in the hands of the Patriarch, they can still dominate the Jianghu (martial world). Keep them safe."

Qu Mo then took out two slightly curved, foot-long strange knives, one black and one white.

I said they were strange because the handles of both knives were in the shape of hand bones. At first glance, it looked as if two knife blades were attached to bloodless human bones: "These two knives are called Bai Zhou (Daytime) and Zi Ye (Midnight). They will be your weapons from now on. These two knives are made from the hand bones of ghosts and gods, and are also the treasures of the Yin-Yang lineage. You must treat them well."

Finally, Qu Mo took out something that looked like a alms bowl and placed it in front of Wuchang's statue: "This is the Patriarch's communication device. On the first and fifteenth of every month, you put a talisman into the bowl and light it. The Patriarch will send a ghost messenger to give you tasks. You just need to follow the ghost messenger's instructions to bring back the souls. Do you understand?"

I was silent for a moment before saying, "The Patriarch is so powerful, with countless ghost messengers and Yin soldiers under his command, why doesn't he find the ghosts himself?"

Qu Mo said, "I can't explain this either. After all, none of us have ever seen the Patriarch. Moreover, the Yin-Yang lineage has only produced two Yin God successors, and you are the second."

"We don't choose the Yin God lineage because it can only be inherited by people who are both human and ghost. You are human when you don't use Yin energy, but you become a ghost when you use it. You are the most suitable person to inherit the Yin God lineage. But I don't want to... never mind, there's no point in saying more about things that are already destined."

I asked again, "Can I kill ghosts?"

Qu Mo was silent for a moment before saying, "Do as you see fit! There are many rules in this world, but there are even more who break them. Those who follow the rules will never be part of the Jianghu. Just follow your heart."

Before I could speak, Qu Mo continued, "I'm leaving in a while. You stay in front of the Patriarch's statue for three days. The Patriarch will impart another set of techniques to the Yin God lineage. You must learn it well, it will be your means of survival in the future. I'm leaving. Stay well. The things on the ground are left for you to remember me by."

When I looked back, there was an extra bank card and a coffin lid-shaped pendant on the ground.

The pendant that my dad always treasured was a coffin without a lid. What Qu Mo left behind was a coffin lid. Together, they should form a complete coffin.

Before I could verify my guess, Qu Mo stepped out of the cave: "You need to grow up quickly. The ghost god who wanted to kill you back then won't give you much time. At the earliest, he will come looking for you in five years. Be careful."

I turned around and said, "You took the Nine Ghosts out to find that ghost god? No, you're taking the calamity for me. Your injury is to buy me five years!"

Qu Mo didn't know where my dad was, which meant he couldn't find the ghost god. The ghost god must have followed my scent and come to the door, so Qu Mo took the Nine Ghosts down the mountain to meet the enemy.

Qu Mo smiled and turned to leave.

I faced Qu Mo's back and bowed deeply: "Shifu (Master), take care in the Jianghu!"

My Shifu's body trembled slightly, then straightened again, and strode away with a loud laugh. He only left me with a tall and straight back.

I knew he was trying to reassure me, so I wouldn't worry about where he was going.

My Shifu is a strange person. He always expresses his meaning in a different way.

Just like now, he clearly came all the way to save me, but he kept saying that I was his enemy, because he didn't want to, and couldn't be bothered to explain anything to me.

When I completed my apprenticeship, he used a coffin lid to explain. He and my dad came from the same school.

Perhaps, he really wasn't my dad's direct senior brother, just a fellow disciple.

Perhaps, it was just because of his personality that there was some kind of misunderstanding between him and my dad, which caused them to never see each other again.

However, those were the rights and wrongs of their generation. I know that he is my Shifu, and that is enough.

After Shifu left, I sat in front of the Patriarch's statue for three days, but I didn't receive any inheritance, and I didn't even sense the Patriarch's existence.