I turned around and saw four people rushing in from outside the yard. "What are you doing?"

I glanced at them. "Keep pouring. After the third bucket, throw in the Five Thunder Talisman!"

As Lin Zhao picked up the bucket, ready to pour more water into the well, the four men charged towards me.

I folded my arms and sent them flying with a few kicks. "Is that all you've got? And you came to cause trouble? Blow up the well for me!"

While I was talking, Lin Zhao had already thrown the Five Thunder Talisman into the well. Lightning and water amplified each other's power. After a burst of blue light erupted from the bottom of the well, a ghostly wail echoed from the billowing white smoke, and burning sparks, ignited by the Five Thunder Talisman, scattered from the well's edge.

I coldly looked at the men struggling on the ground. "Send Little Zhao's soul away."

"Stop!" The leader finally stood up. "Gentlemen, we were ignorant and offended you masters. You've already destroyed the Evil-Quelling Well. Please, have mercy and spare us."

"If we've done anything wrong, please tell us, and we're willing to make amends."

I raised a hand slightly, signaling Lin Zhao to stop. He whispered, "He's the one who spoke to me during the day."

I looked at the man with some interest. "So, you're the ones who make a living off this Evil-Quelling Well? Where's the other one?"

The man said, "Old Sun hasn't returned yet!"

I pointed to the body on the mortuary bed. "Whose idea was it to kill this person?"

"This..." The man hesitated for a moment, and I sent a palm strike through the air.

Though three meters away, the man was hit by my palm, sent flying into the air, and crashed down far away.

I said calmly, "Bring him over here."

The remaining members of his group trembled as they helped him up and brought him before me, quickly retreating to their original positions.

I looked down at him. "If you're not dead, sit up and talk."

The man struggled for a long time before he managed to sit up. "Sir, ask what you want! I admit defeat! Old Sun was blind to offend a great Buddha like you."

I said in a deep voice, "Answer my previous question!"

The man sighed. "It was all our idea."

"We five families used to work in the funeral business, passing down our skills. But there are things we can't handle. You understand, right, sir?"

Are there experts in the funeral business? Of course, there are! But not everyone is an expert. If those in the funeral business could solve everything, wouldn't all the术士 (shùshì – Taoist practitioners) be doing funerals?

The man saw I didn't speak and continued, "Among us five families, Old Sun's family has the most complete set of skills. Without Old Sun's family washing the deceased, we can't do anything."

"But Old Sun's Evil-Quelling Well isn't permanent. Every thirty years, we have to replace the wronged ghost at the bottom."

I understood the gist of what he was saying. This Evil-Quelling Well doesn't use water to wash away the resentment of the dead, but rather uses a greater resentment to suppress it.

It's like having a living person and a ghost working together. The living person is responsible for dressing the corpse and arranging its appearance, while the dead person is responsible for driving away vengeful spirits, preventing them from harming their own people.

Some modern embalmers have similar abilities. If they don't allow family members to approach the mortuary bed, it means there's a ghost standing beside them.

The man continued, "Originally, the wronged souls that suppressed the ghosts in the Evil-Quelling Well had to be chosen from our five families. Whoever drew the death lot had to go down."

"But what era is this? Who says术士 (shùshì – Taoist practitioners) have to risk their lives to make a living? At least, we don't want to do that."

术士 (shùshì – Taoist practitioners) are essentially risking their lives to earn a living.

It's common for 术士 (shùshì – Taoist practitioners) to go months without any business, earning no money. Take the Two Realms Hall, for example. Without Yun Shang's financial market operations and Lin Zhao's help with funds from the Coffin Sect, Ye Yang and I would have had to open a pet shop long ago.

In this situation, some 术士 (shùshì – Taoist practitioners) are forced to make sacrifices.

If 术士 (shùshì – Taoist practitioners) aren't willing to sacrifice themselves, they can only find ways to sacrifice others.

The man said, "Sir, think about it yourself. If someone asked you to abandon your family and jump into a well, becoming a vengeful ghost, would you be willing?"

"None of us are willing, but without the Evil-Quelling Well, the funeral home wouldn't give us such high salaries. We're used to making a lot of money, and we can't suddenly accept low wages, so we pestered Old Sun to find a solution."

The man pointed to the corpse on the bed. "Old Sun came up with the idea of throwing this person into the Evil-Quelling Well, turning him into a fierce ghost guarding the well."

"But Old Sun can't suppress the ghost. He said he has to invite a master back. That person should be arriving in the next few days to help us imprison Zhao's soul in the well."

What the man meant was: In the past, the ghosts in the Evil-Quelling Well were all from the five families. Although they were thrown into the well with resentment, they knew very well what they were doing. So, they would never harm the descendants of the five families.

But it's different when you replace it with someone else. At the very least, you have to find a way to lock up the ghost and force him to submit.

Old Sun doesn't have the ability to lock souls, so he has to find someone else.