Zhang Hua gave a thumbs up. "As expected of Hall Master Li, right on the mark."

Zhang Hua said, "I once secretly investigated what strange things had happened near the lumberyard after Xie Sanbao left. And I actually found something."

"There used to be a legend here about marrying a ghost wife."

"Not long after Xie Sanbao left, some people saw a wedding procession carrying a coffin in the middle of the night."

"If you only looked at the procession, from beginning to end, it was no different from a wedding, even the suona horns were playing wedding music, but instead of a bridal sedan, there was a coffin."

"None of the locals had ever seen such a scene. Several people who witnessed the ghost wedding procession were so frightened that they became seriously ill."

"At first, no one believed in the ghost wedding. Who would have thought that the ghost wedding would continue, happening every few days. The locals were so scared that they didn't dare to go out."

"Someone invited a great shaman, but the shaman died on the road to the wedding procession. When he died, he was kneeling on the ground. It looked like he was kowtowing to someone."

"The locals were terrified and invited a famous geomancer from outside."

"The geomancer stood on the wedding procession road all night, and the next day he told people: 'It's nothing serious, it's just the Ghost King marrying a wife. He has taken a fancy to several unmarried women who died young. Once he marries them, he won't come back.'"

"Don't worry, the Ghost King won't harm the living, but don't stop him from marrying. Otherwise, he will kill people."

"After the geomancer finished speaking, he left without looking back. The commotion lasted for about a month, and then nothing happened."

Zhang Hua then said with certainty, "I suspect that a sorcerer used the way of marrying a ghost to remove the nine coffins in order to seal the gate to Nine Graves Gully."

I was also thinking, could it be the work of a sorcerer!

The practice of arranging ghost marriages is more prevalent in the South and less common in the Northeast. Some places don't even have it. Arranging a ghost marriage involves a complete set of rituals, and none of the masters of ceremonies in the Northeast know how to do it.

Moreover, in Xie Sanbao's time, news was relatively isolated, and ghost marriages hadn't become popular in the Northeast yet. It's unlikely that someone would suddenly come to arrange a ghost marriage.

According to Zhang Hua's description, I think it's more likely that a sorcerer was performing 'Song Sha' (sending away the evil spirits).

The secret art of "Song Sha" exists in both the North and the South, and the forms are similar. In essence, it is somewhat similar to the methods of the great shamans of the Northeast.

Great shamans usually don't take drastic measures to resolve evil. They usually talk to the evil spirits, and both sides take a step back, turning big problems into small ones, and then sending the evil spirits away.

Song Sha is the same, but the method is more solemn. Moreover, Song Sha has a bit of coercion involved. If the evil spirits don't leave willingly, they have to be forcibly sent away.

The Song Sha procession must be all living people; only the one being sent away is dead. If any other unrelated dead people intrude into the Song Sha procession, not only will the person not be sent away, but there will also be a life-and-death battle.

This Song Sha procession is somewhat similar to the way the rogue Taoist priest used an ox cart to pull coffins away back then.

Since someone was performing Song Sha, who was that person? And why did they want to send away the coffins in Nine Graves Gully?

I walked back and forth with my hands behind my back. "Did you find out where those coffins went back then?"

"I couldn't!" Zhang Hua shook his head. "The only thing I know now is that those coffins all came from Nine Graves Gully. I can't find out anything else."

"Mm!" I nodded. It was normal for Zhang Hua to say he couldn't find out; it would be abnormal if he said anything else.

I asked again, "Then do you know where those nine coffins were sent?"

Zhang Hua shook his head again. "I don't know. Back then, no one dared to ask about the whereabouts of those nine coffins. Even the geomancer who was invited back didn't dare to say much. The only thing he said was that the ones sending the coffins were people."

I smiled. "Zhang Hua, if you're just relying on this little bit of information to try and cooperate with me, aren't you making a bit of a fool of me?"

"Of course not!" Zhang Hua smiled. "With Hall Master Li's illustrious reputation in the Northeast sorcerer's world, I wouldn't dare to make a fool of you even if I had the guts. In addition to the clues I've collected, I have some important information left at the hotel. Hall Master Li will understand once you come back with me and take a look."

"Let's go!" When Zhang Hua and I got back in the car to return to the hotel, I asked again, without showing any emotion, "Manager Zhang, haven't you learned any life-saving skills from being in contact with these strange things all these years?"

Zhang Hua shook his head. "How could I have that ability? If I had the ability to go to heaven and earth like Hall Master Li, I wouldn't need to ask for help."

I glanced at Zhang Hua and stopped talking. We didn't say another word until we returned to the hotel entrance, where we saw Lin Zhao standing there waiting for me.

Lin Zhao came up and said via sound transmission, "I lost the person. That person led me all the way to the second floor. By the time I got to the second floor, I couldn't see him anymore."

I immediately said via sound transmission, "Did you look carefully? Not even at the corner of the stairs? Did it trip you or pat you?"