Lin Yang, like the other family members, got into one of the family's cars. Tan Xiao, on the other hand, went with the funeral band on the hearse carrying the coffin, with Aunt Lin holding the portrait in front.

The rear compartment wasn't fully closed, so one could see the people inside, standing and swaying with the vehicle's movement.

Every so often, Brother Ning's hand would reach out and toss a few pieces of yellow joss paper high into the air.

Lin Yang's mother said softly, "Your zodiac sign clashes with the Tiangou this year. Remember to stand far away later, and don't look back when going down the mountain, okay?"

The old man's funeral was originally a peaceful occasion, but the incident at the funeral parlor made everyone a bit uneasy. So this time going up the mountain, they didn't let the youngest family members come along and had them go home first.

Lin Yang nodded. Recalling Tan Xiao mentioning over half of their class clashed with the Tiangou this year, he wasn't sure what to say.

The car drove all the way to the foot of a suburban mountain. This wasn't a proper cemetery, but land rented from the village.

The village rented out land to those wanting ground burials. Villagers would also be hired for tasks like digging graves and carrying coffins. Some even took on jobs helping with tomb-sweeping.

"My dad reserved this plot ten years ago. When they were digging the grave the other day, they said they hit a big rock. I was just about to haggle with them," Aunt Lin told everyone. Being in the same business, even Tan Xiao knew that when villagers encountered rocks while digging graves, they would charge anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 yuan extra.

"But it turns out, when my dad bought the land back then, he had already paid them 1,000 yuan at the price of that time, saying to do it before inflation hit. Now prices have indeed risen so much. They only wanted another 500, but I bargained it down to 300."

Aunt Lin sounded a bit proud as she spoke.

In the portrait she held, there was a faint smile on the old man's black and white photo, seeming to reflect his humorous personality in life.

As soon as the car stopped, Tan Xiao grabbed the soul-guiding banner prepared by the family and jumped out first. As the spirit master, he was responsible for all the communication between the living and the dead in this funeral.

After getting out, Tan Xiao helped Aunt Lin who was holding the portrait to disembark as well.

Eight hired village workers together carried down the coffin. As Brother Ning struck the drum once, the funeral band started playing, their music resounding through the wilderness.

Everything was compressed. The singer tearfully began the funeral song: "Blessed with fortune and longevity in life, bidding farewell to loved ones to return to the netherworld. Sounding gongs and drums to send off the departed soul, may you be safe on the road to the Yellow Springs..."

Then, not just the singer from the funeral band, but anyone who knew funeral song verses started singing in turn on the road, as if by tacit agreement.

Most of them were elders. The old Nanchu custom emphasized "funeral drums to chase feelings". Compared to gifts, offering a funeral song seemed to show more feeling in the host family's heart.

But young people like Lin Yang had no idea how to sing them at all. Even his parents didn't know many.

Lin Yang could see his deskmate holding the soul-guiding banner at the very front, also starting to sing.

As the spirit master, what he sang was a bit different from the others. He was singing the "summoning the living chant", which was to call the soul.

"A person lives a hundred years, yet cannot escape the inevitable in the end. The whole family grieves, only wishing for an early rebirth..."

The spirit master's soul-summoning chant was extremely similar to Qu Yuan's "Summons of the Soul". This custom had been passed down and evolved over thousands of years. As early as that era, people would sing, make merry and beat drums at funerals to pay respects to the deceased.

The boy's melodious voice carried far into the distance. Surprisingly, there seemed to be a faint accompanying voice from afar.

It was the powerful voice of an old man, almost piercing the clouds. He too was singing a funeral song, the lyrics somewhat indistinct:

"Treading the living earth, watching the living. I am a lone figure in the distance. People fear a lonely old general, tigers fear a dismantled forest. Many thanks to the various singing masters, let us sing together until the break of dawn!"

Out of respect for the deceased, when people in Nanchu encountered a funeral procession, even if they didn't know the departed, they would still join in singing a verse of the funeral song. This old custom was now only practiced by a few elders, but it wasn't a rare sight either, especially since this was land purchased from the village, so there were still quite a few who understood the old ways.

From the sound of it, a passerby was singing along.

But at this moment, Aunt Lin stumbled, staring into the lush forest and crying out, "Dad?"

Her tears gushed out. That voice, so rich and powerful, sounded just like her familiar father's singing voice. It was just that ever since the old man fell ill and retired from the troupe, she hadn't heard it for many years.

The mourning relatives all exclaimed upon hearing Aunt Lin call out "Dad", also coming to the realization. Indeed, it was too similar, that voice was too much like Grandpa's!

Aunt Lin wept, "Dad planned out everything while he was alive, worrying about this and that. He must want to see if we've handled things well!"

Even Brother Ning's drumbeat nearly faltered.

Those in the funeral band were even more familiar with the old man's singing voice than the relatives. Many of them had even been personally taught by Grandpa.

Could it be? Brother Ning couldn't help but glance at Tan Xiao. The boy walking at the very front holding the soul-guiding banner seemed to be the only one who looked a bit perplexed, having never heard Grandpa Lin's voice before.

"This kid..." The band members who had previously doubted Tan Xiao hissed but didn't continue.

The atmosphere at the scene turned a bit eerie due to that singing voice of unknown origin from deep within the forest, especially for the more distantly related relatives who all felt spooked.

Lin Yang also got goosebumps all over. The dream incident had already scared them enough.

Could it be that Second Uncle's soul had really been summoned by Tan Xiao? He wanted to look at Tan Xiao, but Tan Xiao was at the front, head down hurrying along without turning back.

"Clang clang!"

Brother Ning struck the drum heavily twice and the chattering relatives all fell silent. He then called out loudly, "We've encountered a good singer, brothers, put in some effort!"

The entire band responded. The singer then raised the pitch by two more levels and started singing. With each line he sang, the crowd echoed.

They were in the business of handling funerals, so what hadn't they seen before? But if they saw something strange, they definitely couldn't call it strange!

Not to mention anything else, there were still the elderly and weak present. What if they got frightened?

Looking at Tan Xiao walking at the very front, that soul-guiding banner remained held up straight the entire time, his steps steady, also joining in with the funeral band and singing the final lines.

With someone taking the lead, the atmosphere at the scene became much more lively again. Everyone sang along, just treating it as encountering a highly skilled singer with a similar voice on the road.

The coffin was quickly carried to the grave site. Tan Xiao set up the soul-guiding banner. "The path of the deceased's soul is blocked, follow my magnificent banner into the coffin."

"Empty in life, empty in death, never leaving the three paths in life and death. Offering three cups of coffin-sealing wine, may the deceased's soul get drunk in a dream!" Tan Xiao poured three cups of coffin-sealing wine, placed the offerings, and then used the "funeral hoop" to seal the coffin.

The purpose of this mourning hoop is the same as that of the living coffin binding Xiong Hui - for sealing the coffin.

Even though it was a last-minute appearance, it could be seen that Tan Xiao completed the entire process very smoothly, leaving no room for anyone to find fault. It makes one sigh, is this what they mean by one minute on stage takes ten years of practice?

Next, it was time to bury the coffin and cover it with soil.

During this time, the host family was busy distributing cigarettes to those who helped and the relatives. When they got to Tan Xiao, they paused for a moment, as he was still a minor after all!

"Young man, why don't you take them home?" The host, probably Lin Yang's uncle, wanted Tan Xiao to take a couple packs of cigarettes home.

Tan Xiao smiled and waved his hand, "No need."

Then he walked to the side. He didn't smoke, and didn't really like the smell of cigarettes either.

As Tan Xiao was looking at the grave mounds on the mountain, a tall, elderly gentleman slowly walked up to him. It was unclear which relative of the Lin family he was. He also had a cigarette in his hand and carried a hint of alcohol on him. His gaze met Tan Xiao's.

After a few seconds, the old gentleman spoke, "You're quite brave."

Tan Xiao felt that he probably had never seen a student dare to do this, so he said, "Family teachings."

"Hahaha, I know." The old gentleman winked, "What, you've never secretly smoked before?"

"No, I don't really like it." Tan Xiao shook his head.

"Haha, this stuff, it's got a kick!" The old gentleman squinted and took another big puff. There were some spots on his face, either from the uniquely vicious mosquito bites of Nanchu, or from bumps and scratches. "Thanks for coming to help."

"You're welcome." Tan Xiao said, even if it wasn't a relative of a classmate, but a person he met by chance who urgently needed help, he would definitely lend a hand.

The old gentleman looked at him for a moment, "Those people from the funeral home said they checked every day, the air conditioning temperature and the corpse were fine, but when they took it out, they found the body had gone bad. Telling such an obvious lie, isn't that very stupid?"

Tan Xiao didn't know why he suddenly started talking to him about this, and was a bit at a loss for how to respond.

The old gentleman smiled, squeezing out wrinkles on his face, "That's because they weren't lying. There was an iron thing causing mischief!"

Tan Xiao was stunned.

What?

Someone patted his back shoulder.

"Brother Xiao, what are you standing here for? My mom said she'll drive you back after we eat." Lin Yang put his arm around Tan Xiao's shoulder and thanked him, "We really owe you one today."

"Okay, thanks." Tan Xiao subconsciously replied, still a bit dazed. He turned his head and exchanged a glance with Lin Yang, then turned back. The old gentleman from before had vanished without a trace.

For a moment, he felt a bit disoriented. His gaze fell on the portrait held by Aunt Lin. The features of the deceased Old Master Lin were hard for him to make out, but the smile remained.

Ah...

Tan Xiao suddenly understood.

But before he could marvel at seemingly having seen a ghost, he first recalled what the old master had said out of the blue.

Tan Xiao grabbed Lin Yang, "Tell me, don't server rooms that store servers also need to be kept at a lower temperature?"

"Of course, there are requirements for both temperature and humidity, otherwise how would they dissipate heat? Different servers have different temperature ranges too." Lin Yang also didn't know why he suddenly brought this up, but still said, "Haven't you seen some server rooms built inside mountain caves, and even in the Arctic, to save on air conditioning costs? Speaking of air conditioning, Nanchu is really toxic, it's still so hot even in autumn—"

"Please tell your family for me, I have an urgent matter and need to leave first." Tan Xiao said as he started walking down the mountain, "Sorry about this!"

"Huh?" Lin Yang was dumbfounded, "You're not eating? What urgent matter?"

Tan Xiao walked faster and faster, almost running, and shouted back without turning his head, "Not eating! I haven't finished my exam papers!"

Aunt Lin heard vaguely, "Where is your classmate going? What did he say about papers?"

"Yeah, you tell me, he's already so amazing, what is he still studying for!!" Lin Yang wailed in sorrow.

......

There was no signal at all on this mountain.

It took half an hour to hike up the mountain on foot, but going down was much faster.

As soon as he had a signal, Tan Xiao called Mu Fei, but she didn't pick up on the other end. He waited until the call finally connected before hurriedly saying, "Sister Mu, where are you?"

"I'm at the power bureau again," Mu Fei grumbled, "My eyes are going blind, I'm asking them to help find if there are any abnormal power usages anywhere. That spirit artifact has just gained sentience and doesn't have great abilities yet, it can't take the heat. Nanchu is so hot, it must be hiding somewhere stealing electricity to use."

"At the funeral home!" Tan Xiao shouted.

"Huh?" Mu Fei let out a scream, "That's possible! I've nearly dug through all the mountain caves in Nanchu! But this dead spirit artifact is definitely more used to air conditioning! But how did you know?" She didn't forget to squeeze in a question.

"An elder from my classmate's family passed away and the body was kept at the funeral home. I saw it, it was causing trouble there, either damaging the equipment or squeezing the body out of the single room. Anyway, it made the corpse rot! Hiding in a place like this, even if it revealed any clues, people's first thought would be a paranormal incident." Tan Xiao explained simply, not elaborating on his ghost sighting. He figured Mu Fei would get the gist.

"I just came down from the mountain, hurry to the funeral home, don't let it get away."

"Okay okay, I'll have my colleague go right away too!" Mu Fei called out to him, "Can you come lend a hand too? I'm begging you little bro, I've been up all night and I'm about to pass out from exhaustion. We can't let this thing escape."

"Uh, sure." Tan Xiao agreed after only a moment's thought. This wasn't the first time he helped out, once bitten twice shy.

Mu Fei hurriedly thanked him on the other end and rushed to the funeral home.

The route Tan Xiao took to the funeral home passed by his own home. He had the driver wait a moment as he quickly grabbed his tools, then hurried to the funeral home. Just as he arrived at the entrance of the funeral home, Mu Fei also screeched to a halt in her car.

By now, the new moon had already risen.

"My colleague hasn't arrived yet, let's go in and wait for him." Mu Fei was anxious to death. She grabbed Tan Xiao and ran inside, heading straight for the director's office.

On the way, Mu Fei had already called ahead. The funeral home was also a subordinate unit of the Civil Affairs Bureau. Mu Fei first contacted them through official channels so that they would cooperate when she arrived on site.

The director Tan Xiao had met during the day came to receive Mu Fei, "Hello, you must be Director Mu."

"Please, just call me Mu Fei." Mu Fei took out a document, "I need your cooperation here..."

After sorting things out with the funeral home director, they quickly saw them spring into action.

Irrelevant staff and those on duty all got off work on the spot. The floor plan of the funeral home was also brought to Mu Fei, including all kinds of keys. Mu Fei weighed the keys in her hand. "Let's go, we'll wait for him in the hall."

She led Tan Xiao out of the administrative building and into the Lotus Hall, one of the memorial halls in the Nanchu Funeral Home used for holding memorial services.

Due to the hasty clearing, two rows of wreaths were still in place. Between the black and white elegiac couplets was someone's memorial tablet and portrait, with the coffin resting in the center. The speakers were still playing mournful music, echoing in the empty room. From here, there was a path leading directly to the mortuary.

Outside the hall was also pitch black.

Standing at the entrance, Tan Xiao felt a gust of wind blowing across his back, chilling him to the bone.

Even if there was a draft, shouldn't it be coming from the front?

Feeling a sense of unease, Tan Xiao turned his head and warily looked behind the curtains.

"Hiss hiss."

Just then, the lights in the memorial hall flickered a few times.

The slowly flowing dirge seemed to distort, the sound becoming warped.

The curtains were blown high by a gust of wind from an unknown source—

Tan Xiao's face changed drastically, his hand unconsciously forming the "Shackle" restraining gesture. "Is it that thing?"

"Don't be rash!" Mu Fei was startled when she saw his hand gesture. She had witnessed this move before; even the Xiong Hui couldn't withstand it. "Hey, hey, don't move, it's not that thing!"

"?" As they spoke, Tan Xiao had already seen a gray-white ghost slowly walking out from behind the curtains. It was a thin middle-aged man, his feet slightly off the ground, his eyes sunken and dark, with more black than white in his eyes, and traces of blood at the corners of his mouth.

Indeed, it wasn't that artifact spirit, but it was still a ghost, not much better!

Tan Xiao's hand was about to form the restraining gesture again, but Mu Fei stopped him once more: "Classmate, don't get excited, this is my colleague!"

"Your colleague?" Tan Xiao paused. Mu Fei had mentioned that she was partnering with another senior colleague from her unit for this mission. When she came to find Tan Xiao the previous two days, that colleague was waiting for her in the car. Was it this person?

Tan Xiao was momentarily speechless and amazed. "Ghosts can also take the civil service exam for your unit?"

"We don't recruit ghosts," Mu Fei explained. "This is a deceased rehired employee of our unit."

Tan Xiao: "...?!"