Chapter 120 - 113 Miss in the Coffin

Chapter 120: Chapter 113 Miss in the CoffinZhou Xuan severed the connection with the Blood Well, opened his eyes, and placed the journal into the inner pocket with a wry smile. *Four incense of Ghost and Divine People, replacing it with the method of "tattoo to accumulate incense fire," now that he thought about it, it seemed it wasn’t the Blood Well’s greed. It should be the difficulty of finding the tattoo to accumulate incense fire.* He took out his pocket watch and checked the time; it was nearly midnight. "At this time, sister should be in the Silent Hall." Zhou Xuan left the room and headed toward the Silent Hall. ... The Silent Hall was where the Zhou Family’s Troupe performed Jingyi, and every night the masters would be sent out, with the leader overseeing personally. Originally, the workload at the Silent Hall was relatively small, starting around seven or eight in the evening and finishing before midnight. But recently, the Zhou Family’s Troupe’s business had been booming, and three to four hours of work was no longer sufficient. Zhou Xuan heard from Lv Mingkun that the day before yesterday, they even worked until six in the morning. When Zhou Xuan arrived at the Silent Hall, he first peeked inside, seeing that the masters each had to handle over three corpses, working fervently. Zhou Lingyi lay on a bamboo chair, closing her eyes to rest. Zhou Xuan softened his footsteps as he walked inside, occasionally startling the working masters. The masters saw him and smiled at him, genuinely smiling, since the Zhou Family’s Troupe wasn’t a business that treated its employees like beasts of burden. Although the hours were long, their wages increased exponentially. The masters were working with great enthusiasm. They knew who was responsible for the recent surge in business and naturally greeted Zhou Xuan with smiles. Coming to Zhou Lingyi, Zhou Xuan whispered a greeting, "Sister." "Why aren’t you asleep this late at night?" Zhou Lingyi picked the largest tangerine from the fruit platter beside her, peeled it, and handed it to Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan lazily bit into the tangerine as if it were an orange, chewing and saying, "Sister, I’m going on a long trip, probably for a long time, maybe two or three months, it’s hard to say." "Where to?" "Mingjiang Prefecture." Zhou Xuan leaned to his sister’s ear and said, "The Blood Well Divination gave me guidance. I have to go to Mingjiang Prefecture to learn the way of accumulating incense with tattoos..." "Hmm." Zhou Lingyi thought for a moment, nodding, "Going to Mingjiang Prefecture is quite good. It’s the economic center of Jing Country, with a prosperity that Ping Shui Prefecture lacks... It would be nice as a distraction as well. However, neither sister nor the master can accompany you." She looked in the direction of the Ancestor Tree and said, "I and Elder Yuan have to stay at home guarding the Ancestor Tree..." The Ancestor Tree needed to be guarded by the Zhou Family, Before she returned to the Zhou Family’s Troupe, the person guarding the tree was their grandfather. Although he was in a coma and confused, as long as he was in the Zhou Family’s Troupe, the Ancestor Tree was safe. As a Night Patrol Deity, Zhou Lingyi had only one chance left to take action for personal reasons, so this action was extremely precious. She could not conveniently take action at ordinary times, so she needed Yuan Buyu’s help. Although recently Yuan Buyu’s spiritual incense was unstable, leaving him confused, his presence in the Zhou Family’s Troupe served as a deterrent. "I’ll let your Fifth Brother accompany you." Zhou Lingyi said, "I know you’re fearless, but your incense fire level isn’t high enough. Having Fifth Brother with you gives me a bit more peace of mind, Fifth Brother is a Wuzuo of four incense, and the cultivation method at his Tangkou has similarities to tattoos, so he might be able to teach you something." "Hmm." Zhou Xuan also thought Fifth Brother was very reliable, at least more so than that shadow. With the two of them facing Mingjiang Prefecture together, the sense of loneliness wasn’t as strong. Moreover, to find a master of four incense as a sacrifice within a week would be much easier with Lv Mingkun’s help. "Brother, have you decided on a date to go to Mingjiang Prefecture? I can find someone to buy the train tickets." "The day after tomorrow." "Not tomorrow?" Zhou Lingyi asked. "I have some things to take care of in Ping Shui Prefecture tomorrow," Zhou Xuan replied. ... After Zhou Xuan returned to his room, he first took a look into the Divine Revelation Secret Realm and found that the spiritual incense was still burning strongly, enough to last for a few more days. "I must visit Dr. Du tomorrow." He stepped out of the secret realm and got up to take a business card from the drawer. The front of the business card bore the image of a Maitreya Buddha. On the back, it was printed "Shande Hospital, Ping Shui Prefecture, Pharmacy Physician Du Kaili." This business card had been given to him by Mr. Dai in the past, saying that this doctor could cure his "spiritual" illness. Later, Zhou Xuan learned that Mr. Dai had been a "foot" for Alien Ghost Food Heaven, and under its orders, he had delivered the business card to him. This indirectly confirmed that Du Kaili was definitely part of the Kidnapper Hall and held a significant position within. "Tomorrow I’ll visit him and see if I can find the whereabouts of Chun Meng and Yan Zhongdao." Zhou Xuan had begun plotting to capture the two major master kidnappers. Killing a master kidnapper of four incense level would be a challenge, but the most challenging part was finding where he was hiding. ... Shande Hospital was well known in Ping Shui Prefecture, located at the intersection of Taiping Road and Taiping West Road. The hospital was large, with many patients, so Zhou Xuan could find it even without Lv Mingkun’s guidance. Upon reaching the hospital, Zhou Xuan parked the car under an elm tree, fetched two bundles of Huayu House pastries from the trunk, and walked into the hospital. The pharmacy was easy to find. The pharmacy was connected to the Cooking Medicine Room, where after collecting the medicine, one could directly brew it if needed. The aroma of cooking medicine was strong, and Zhou Xuan’s nose was sharp enough to smell it from a distance even without perception. Following the scent, it didn’t take long before he found the Cooking Medicine Room, along with the pharmacy sign. "Hello, is Dr. Du Kaili available?" Zhou Xuan inquired a young female doctor writing a prescription. "She’s transferred." "Where did she go?" Zhou Xuan feigned urgency, saying, "I keep having olfactory hallucinations, you know those, right? It’s where you smell things that shouldn’t be there. A friend of my boss recommended I come see Dr. Du..." "That may be hard to find." The female doctor looked up and said, "She transferred to Mingjiang Prefecture, where there’s also a Shande Hospital, but whether she’s working in the pharmacy there is unknown..." "At the pharmacy, wasn’t I just in Mingjiang Prefecture for further training a couple of days ago when I happened to meet Dr. Du." A male doctor holding a porcelain-enamel teacup sauntered into the room, happening to witness the conversation between Zhou Xuan and the female doctor, and interjected, "Old Wang, was that by chance? Or were you intentionally searching... You better be careful. If your wife finds out, she’ll come to the pharmacy and make a fuss again." The female doctor teased Doctor Wang. "Ahem." Doctor Wang coughed twice, casting fleeting glances toward Zhou Xuan and Lv Mingkun, implying that with patients present, they shouldn’t talk recklessly. Zhou Xuan then asked Doctor Wang, "Shande Hospital has many branches in Mingjiang Prefecture, right? I’m not sure where I should look for Dr. Du." "Two branches, one in the Mingdong District, the other in the Mingxi District. Dr. Du is in the Mingdong District." Doctor Wang took a sip of tea, closed the teacup, and returned to his work. "Mingdong District, Shande Hospital Pharmacy, Du Kaili. It seems Dr. Du is quite attractive, captivating her married colleague Old Wang." Zhou Xuan mentally remarked. ... As Zhou Xuan had anticipated, his "Water Seller" article was published in the Taiping Business News. When Zhou Xuan returned to the Zhou Family’s Troupe and saw the newspaper featuring his article, he murmured, "Will Jing Deng contact me tonight?" ... Mingjiang Prefecture, Big World Restaurant. The restaurant’s Mingjiang cuisine was quite skilled, and the traveling bosses and guests enjoyed tasting the local flavors here. Yet Mrs. Yu wasn’t impressed with Mingjiang cuisine. Wearing a white silk scarf and a stylish Ge Li cheongsam, she ordered three Ping Shui-style dishes. People from certain places tend to favor their local flavors. Many years of habit, preferences etched into their bones, are hard to change. After eating, she drank yellow wine, reading the newspaper as she ate. She held four newspapers in her hand, each a different edition from Mingjiang. Her eyes scanned through the newspapers rapidly, seemingly searching for something, without much enthusiasm for the content itself. After finishing her meal, she left the restaurant, heading to Room 901 in the Xinmingjiang Hotel across the street. The hotel was high-end, with each room equipped with a telephone. As soon as Mrs. Yu reached the room door, she heard the urgent ring of the telephone. After entering and securing the door, she walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Hello!" "Teacher, I saw an article in the Ping Shui Business News, entitled ’The Water Seller.’ The seller’s name in the text was Zhang Hua, with several mentions of the words ’well’ and ’lamp,’ seemingly implying..." "I understand the implication. Can you find the person who wrote the article?" "It’s been checked. The article was submitted by someone named Guo Kaiming, but he didn’t write it. They used the same submission method as us." After a long pause, Mrs. Yu finally said, "This is an invitation for me to reveal myself." "What should we do...?" "Ignore him for now and wait a few days to see what happens." Mrs. Yu hung up the phone, musing, "*Could this person also be a master of prediction like the Human Turtle?*" She lifted her sleeve, revealing the alien Ghost script engraved with a sharp knife on her wrist. Each stroke of the script was an ugly scar. "*If I’m being predicted, this talisman will react.*" Mrs. Yu got up, grabbed her handbag, and left the room... ... Jiuli Mansion was a villa area in Mingjiang Prefecture. After showing her pass to the gatekeepers, Mrs. Yu walked further inside, toward a stone pot fountain statue, where a maid sitting on a small bamboo chair rose and said, "Mrs. Yu, Miss has already gone to bed." "I have urgent business." "Let me check." The maid, holding a bell, went inside the Western-style house, returning after a while to say, "Come in, Miss has woken up." "Oh." Mrs. Yu replied, making her steps as light as possible, walking through the entire hallway, up the spiral staircase, along the red carpet, until she reached a room. She gently knocked on the door. "Come in." Mrs. Yu opened the door. The room was very small, only about ten square meters, without any household furniture, just two pitch-black coffins. The seams of the coffins were stained with fresh blood. A censer, with one incense burning, rested on the coffin lid. Mrs. Yu walked to the right coffin, gently rapping her knuckles on the coffin lid. "Miss, someone is on to us." "He knows that I am Jing Deng." After speaking, Mrs. Yu waited for a response from inside the coffin.