The status and functions of shamans have been constantly changing. At their peak, they could be emperors, and evolve into historians and dancers. At their lowest, they were just the dregs of society, and there was no shortage of charlatans among them.

"If one doesn't do it well, forget about breaking even, it'll be hard to even stay alive." Tan Xiao felt quite fortunate. After all, with his mother's abilities, if it were in the past, she probably would have been done for too. "Forget about conveying the gods' decrees downwards and relaying the people's sentiments upwards, it would become relaying the people's sentiments downwarde and conveying the underworld gods' decrees upwards instead."

Directly hanging up and going to the underworld to do the relaying.

Kong Xuan thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a rebuttal, stubbornly saying: "My shaman definitely won't fail."

"Okay, okay, okay." Tan Xiao put his palms together and bowed, "Please bless me then."

With a ding, the WeChat notification sounded.

Tan Xiao lowered his head to look.

[Oh, a Song tomb and a Ming tomb stacked together, and there are well-preserved Buddha statues too?] After hearing what Tan Xiao said, Old Ji sent another voice message, sounding quite interested. It's good stuff.

[We generally won't excavate unless necessary. We protect it in its original location and condition. After archaeological activities, we will also backfill or relocate the whole thing. I see that if this tomb is valuable, we can indeed excavate it and then move it to a new location. During this process, you can perform a ceremony for them, or see how to operate in some way?]

Mu Fei also said: [Mm, that's possible. You write a simple description of the situation, I'll file a case for it, and then we can go through the procedures to resolve some formality issues.]

[Can it be done like this?] Tan Xiao didn't expect it to be quite simple. But on second thought, he probably just happened to know Mu Fei. Cheng Xueying and Pusanu didn't even know that such an organization existed now.

[Why not? Our Bureau 404 is precisely for handling these kinds of matters. To ensure the stability of all ethnic groups and create a good urban living environment.] Mu Fei laughed.

Tan Xiao: [Laughing Crying] [Laughing Crying]

[By the way, little bro, I applied for a subsidy for your previous operation. The finance side has already processed the payment, don't think it's too little.] If Mu Fei hadn't mentioned it, Tan Xiao wouldn't have even thought of this matter. He just considered it voluntary labor.

[Thank you Sister Mu.] Tan Xiao learned from Old Ji and sent a fist-cupping emoji, [Sorry for troubling you and Old Ji.]

...

This Yueshan Park where Cheng Xueying and Pusanu were buried was originally a feng shui treasure land chosen by both of them. Later it also became a scenic spot, and as an attraction, it already had a history of several hundred years, having been the private gardens of local nobles throughout the dynasties.

It's just that after experiencing the passage of time, not much remained of the former relics. Because the scenery was beautiful, it had become a public park for the people of the whole city to relax in, open for free, with visitors in all four seasons.

After the reporting was completed, a corner of Yueshan Park was cordoned off and excavation work began.

Nanchu had already gathered many archaeological talents for the rare Chu emperor's tomb. After coordination by the Bureau 404, a few experts were transferred to the site to lead the excavation, but the scale was far smaller than the Chu emperor's tomb.

Digging up tombs in the park naturally caused another round of discussion among the citizens of Nanchu. The last time Nanchu had a major excavation was in the previous century, and this year, there were two sites being dug up at once.

"I wonder what tomb this is? The one unearthed during the subway construction is also going to have a press conference. I don't know if it's a consort's tomb or a prince's grave?"

"If that's a prince's grave, then this one must be some general or minister, the scale is much smaller."

"Hey, no matter what, they are all cultural relics of our Nanchu."

With the help of the Bureau 404, the tombs of Cheng Xueying and Wei Pusanu completed the procedures in the shortest time. After identification, it was decided to excavate on-site and then relocate the entire thing elsewhere for protection.

The scale was naturally much smaller than the Chu emperor's tomb, and the excavation didn't need to take that long either.

Tan Xiao took advantage of his spare time outside of classes these days to prepare their wedding for them.

In China, matters in death are like in life, and all the rituals of the netherworld are basically modeled after the living world. For Tan Xiao to prepare a joint burial and wedding for the two ghosts, he had to start from the wedding documents and betrothal gifts, to the spirit offerings, and finally the joint coffin for the two.

A few of the burial items would be exhibited in the Chu Province Museum, which Pusanu and Cheng Xueying had agreed to.

The betrothal gifts and dowry for the wedding were easy to arrange, just go and order some paper offerings. The Bureau 404 promised these could be reimbursed, Tan Xiao just needed to keep the invoices.

While Tan Chunying was out playing mahjong, Tan Xiao set up an altar at home and summoned Pusanu and Cheng Xueying to inform them of the Bureau 404's handling process for this matter.

"Wuwuwu, the imperial court... the government is really too good," Cheng Xueying couldn't help wiping away tears. In the past few days, he and Pusanu, having felt the changes of the world, were no longer so reclusive and had learned a lot about the new world outside.

Just as they were feeling extremely moved, turning their heads, they saw Kong Xuan walking down from the altar.

He stared at Tan Xiao's altar for summoning ghosts, carefully discerning if Tan Xiao had borrowed his food to make offerings to the ghosts. Tan Xiao's disrespectful style of doing things was still hard to change, he had to be on guard!

Although Kong Xuan only appeared to check on the food and didn't do anything else, Pusanu and Cheng Xueying were so frightened that they fell prostrate on the ground. It seemed to make sense that a shaman's home would have deities manifesting, but the main thing was that they had seen Kong Xuan at No. 1 Middle School before.

It's just that at that time, Kong Xuan was wearing a school uniform, his divine radiance concealed. The two ghosts couldn't distinguish him with the thorn branch substitute. At this moment, he was in splendid attire, dazzling enough to be called glowing, clearly displaying an extraordinary identity.

Looking again at the divine seat, it was clearly the son of the Primordial Phoenix, the Great God Peacock.

Pusanu was shocked in his heart. This Shaman classmate was so amazing, other people enshrine gods just to guard the house, but he actually brought the Great God Peacock to the school to bless himself, guarding the school!

Thinking back to that day when they brushed shoulders with the Great God Peacock, the two ghosts were extremely frightened in hindsight. Fortunately, they sought out Shaman classmate without any malicious intentions and were very polite. The soon-to-be-married husband and wife bowed together: "We, we didn't recognize the true god, please forgive our offenses."

"No offense, no offense, it's not using the Great God's offerings anyway." Tan Xiao was most afraid of seeing them bowing back and forth, not even knowing that the two of them were talking about something completely different from what he said. He felt that the Great God Peacock was also like this, so distrustful of him.

When Tan Xiao spoke of the Great God Peacock, there was a sense of closeness and casualness in his tone, which made Pusanu gasp even more.

Tan Xiao took the opportunity to push the wedding documents to the Peacock. This was what he had written for Pusanu and Cheng Xueying. In addition to the traditional betrothal phrases, there was another sentence: [The living and the dead walk different paths, never to meet again.]

The usual tomb-sealing text was also written on it, emphasizing that the two of them, after fulfilling their wishes, must not disturb the living. Tan Xiao hadn't properly handled many matters, but he had heard a lot and knew that such things must be guarded against, and it was best to leave evidence.

Handing it to Peacock was hoping that he would serve as a witness. Generally, such matters would naturally be written to the local land and city gods... but with Peacock present, Tan Xiao naturally couldn't write about others.

Seeing it presented to him, Peacock indeed showed a hint of satisfaction on his face, not caring whether he had jurisdiction over such matters or not.

He had already involved himself in exam matters, let alone ghostly marriages.

After taking a bite of a grape, Kong Xuan took the brush and completed the marriage certificate with a flourish, leaving his signature.

Tan Xiao took it and looked. It was flowery and hard to recognize, barely making out the "Kong" character of Peacock's name. The character after that didn't look right no matter how he looked at it, but he couldn't tell what character it was. Either Peacock's handwriting was too cursive, or it was Peacock's real name.

This signature was equivalent to an artistic signature in ancient times, with some special symbols used in place of a name. Tan Xiao didn't dwell on trying to decipher it clearly and put it away.

Other people wanted to know the names of deities in order to use them to scare ghosts. Now with the Peacock God himself in his home, he didn't need to bother with such things.

"You two hurry and get up, just bow and it'll be fine. I've already placed an order with the funeral shop owner on WeChat. Take a look and see if you need any other offerings. I'll bring them down for you then."

To "bring" meant to burn. Things for the netherworld all had to be burned.

According to Pusanu, both of their families had been cut off for who knows how long, and naturally, no one had burned things specifically for them for a long time.

Fortunately, they had their own burial items to use. Sometimes, there would also be kind people making offerings to lonely ghosts. Places like the Bureau 404 would also represent the authorities to regularly make grand sacrifices to all under heaven.

Tan Xiao brought this up. Pusanu nudged Cheng Xueying, seemingly too embarrassed to say it herself.

Cheng Xueying immediately cupped her hands and said, "Classmate! It's like this. Could you bring down a few sets of underwear for us?"

Tan Xiao let out an "eh" sound. No wonder Pusanu was embarrassed.

The five collars and three sets of burial clothes indeed did not include underwear. This tradition was followed even in modern times.

"Mm, that can be done." Tan Xiao made a note of it. In any case, they were making paper clothes. If the two of them wanted real people's clothes, Tan Xiao would truly be a bit embarrassed. If Tan Chunying found out, she might misunderstand.

Tan Xiao was still thinking that he would burn both ancient and modern styles for them.

Just speaking of this, Tan Xiao couldn't help but ask Peacock, "Great God, I've also had some clothes custom-made for you." He glanced at Peacock's clothes and spoke very tactfully.

In the few times Peacock had manifested, the detail-observant Tan Xiao noticed that Peacock seemed to have never changed clothes. Wouldn't this make him seem inconsiderate? Indeed, he had been negligent and hadn't burned any daily necessities for the great god.

Kong Xuan was slightly stunned for a moment, then reacted and became furiously angry.

— He didn't change his clothing style for fear that Tan Xiao wouldn't recognize him again. Did the spirit medium think he couldn't afford clothes?

Kong Xuan said irritably, "Fine, bring them. I want to change into a new one every day!"

When the time came, if Tan Xiao couldn't recognize him, he'd be in for it.

Tan Xiao also didn't quite understand why he suddenly became agitated. With Peacock's love for the extravagant, he was probably just happy. "Okay, that's fine."

Tan Xiao lowered his head to make a note.

"Also, also..." Pusanu had been watching for a long time, afraid that Tan Xiao was about to finish. She suddenly stammered.

Tan Xiao thought to himself that with underwear already ordered, what else was there to be embarrassed about? "If there's anything else, just say it directly. It's no problem. Is it some large item? As long as the price isn't too high, it's fine. Or if it's some private item you're embarrassed to say, you can write it on paper too."

"It's not that. It's just that this lady has been observing this world these past few days and has become interested in something. Is it appropriate to have the master pay for a personal hobby?"

"How is it inappropriate? You've donated several cultural relics. I'm willing to use my pocket money to help you buy it. The Bureau 404 just gave me a subsidy." Tan Xiao's family, although not wealthy, had never lacked money. At least buying some items for the netherworld wasn't an issue. The exchange rates on both sides were laid out. He was even willing to personally gift some things, considering it a wedding gift.

"Many thanks, Classmate!" Only then did Pusanu speak. "This lady wants to play with stickers. I hope you can get me some stickers. Color printing designs on rice paper is also fine. Add some glue, whatever is convenient for you."

Tan Xiao: "...?"

Hearing the beginning, Tan Xiao almost thought he had misheard. He thought to himself, what cultural relic is "stickers"?

After three seconds, he came to a realization. My goodness, she wants to play with stickers!

Uh, come to think of it, according to what was written on Pusanu's land deed, she had passed away before the age of twenty, also a young girl. Not bad, she was really quick to keep up with the times.

Tan Xiao said as calmly as possible, "Uh, this, um, my family does have some sticker merchandise. I'll print some more for you... No, wait, where are you going to stick them? Do I need to prepare a full set for you, what's it called, a sticker book?"

He mentally calculated if his pocket money was enough. Otherwise, should he still have the Bureau 404 reimburse it?

In just a few days, Pusanu didn't have much understanding. Hearing him say this, she hurriedly said, "No need, no need for such extravagance. I just want to stick them on my land deed or my coffin."

Tan Xiao: "... No, no, it's not extravagant. Even if you wanted to stick them on your spirit tablet, it wouldn't be considered extravagant."

The things little sister Pusanu wanted to stick on were cultural relics from which dynasty? Wasn't this much too extravagant?!

...

The relocation ceremony was easy to talk about. Last time, Tan Xiao had also helped with the funeral of Lin Yang's second uncle. But combined with a ghostly marriage, Tan Xiao was a bit lacking in knowledge.

Fortunately, Tan Xiao also had a mother with equally abundant theoretical knowledge. He went to find Tan Chunying, "Mom, um, if a relocation is done together with a ghostly marriage, how should it be handled?"

Tan Chunying was absentmindedly eating offerings while playing Fight the Landlord on her phone. She said, "It depends on the main family's request. If they don't want it to be a big affair, just add a procedure during the spirit offering. But the timing must not be close to either end, supposedly for fear of corpse-hopping."

Tan Xiao: "..."

There was definitely no need to worry about corpse-hopping. Tan Xiao made a note of it.

"Why are you asking about this?" Tan Chunying asked offhandedly. The ceremonies in their family were now only performative, but what Tan Xiao was asking about was a practical issue.

Tan Xiao, getting an impromptu lesson, thought for a long time. Seeing the direction of the study, he suddenly thought of Ah Jin and was struck with inspiration. He said, "I want to write a supernatural novel."

"Hahaha! Show me when you're done writing. As expected of my offspring, I also wrote in middle school," Tan Chunying laughed, not opposing Tan Xiao's extra hobby. "Back then, your mom's submission was rejected. The editor said my writing was too much like a stream of consciousness. No way around it, I wrote it all factually."

"...I'll be careful not to write in too much detail then," Tan Xiao also chuckled.

After an emergency cram session, on the day of the reburial, Tan Xiao ran to the reburial site late at night. The workers had already gone off duty, but the site was brightly lit. Waiting for him were the two students of Professor Mo whom he had met at the Chu emperor's tomb.

--The two of them had been sent here to move bricks, and because they knew the inside story, they were also responsible for lending Tan Xiao a hand.

But it was only when they met that they realized they were here to help Tan Xiao.

"It's you again, Tan Xiao. You and our archaeology major are inseparable!" Student A sighed.

"You understand Spring and Autumn and Warring States tombs, but do you also understand Song and Ming tombs?" Student B was still a bit shocked by the knowledge reserves of today's high school students. He probed, "There's an artifact here, can you tell what it was used for?"

He showed Tan Xiao a photo of a container that was thick at the top and thin at the bottom.

Tan Xiao could recognize the phoenix bird suspended drum because it was a representative tool of Chu shamans. Now that he was shown a bottle, how would he know what it was?

But Tan Xiao didn't know that the owner of this object, Pusanu, was right there waiting to be married.

Tan Xiao had already sent her many things in batches and had personally watched her rub her own coffin. Using tweezers to paste an antique-style sticker on the deed of burial plot, then skillfully scratching it.

Tan Xiao tried his best not to look at her anymore...

Pusanu heard the words of the two students clearly. While pasting the sticker, she casually said, "A vessel for holding wine. I like to drink."

It turned out that Pusanu was also a drunkard. Tan Xiao followed along and said, "For storing wine."

The two students made a kneeling gesture with their fingers. "I don't know whether to say that today's high school students are amazing or that the knowledge of shamans is truly broad."

Tan Xiao couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you, seniors. Let's get to work."

These two had no idea that Tan Xiao had heard a prompt on the spot. They respectfully said, "Tan Xiao, what do you think we should do?"

"Also, why are we doing a joint burial..."

The two were more polite and a bit curious in their hearts. They were only in charge of the work but didn't know why the bones from two tombs were being combined.

However, Tan Xiao didn't explain. In his mind, he was already simulating the operation for later. Seeing that the time was about right, he said, "Please prepare."

These two were indeed archaeologists. At Tan Xiao's order, they moved the coffin carefully and effortlessly, their muscles bulging, clearly having spent a lot of time in the pits. However, as soon as the coffin was moved out from the temporary storage room next door, the two were stunned.

They saw that the red nanmu coffin with gold thread, which had been intact when unearthed, now had a set of antique-style stickers on it, with various small objects and decorations adorning the coffin.

"What's going on?" The two asked in horror.

Who, who vandalized the cultural relics?!

It was clearly still intact when unearthed and was guarded day and night when placed here. How could these things be pasted on it?

Tan Xiao also felt a bit numb. The stickers were all customized by Tan Xiao. He knew best that many were extracted from the "Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual". Moreover, he had specifically gone to discuss with Teacher Ji what kind of stickers to customize that Pusanu might like.

The problem was that he had burned the items for Pusanu, but now they had materialized in the middle of the night!

It was probably like the urban legend where some people receive money in the middle of the night, only to find it turned into paper money the next day. After all, this was an auspicious time for a spirit marriage, and Pusanu probably also hoped for a better-looking coffin.

"Don't speak," Tan Xiao said. What else could he do? In the middle of the night, he didn't want to scare people. Although these two knew some things, he was afraid of scaring them out of their wits in the middle of the night. Of course, he solemnly deflected, "These are all necessary things."

Student A was confused. Tan Xiao's appearance was really intimidating, and they already considered the teenager an authority in this area. Could it be that this coffin wood had some fierceness and needed some suppressing patterns pasted on it?

It was truly mysterious.

"Okay, okay," Student A quickly shut up. It was better to keep quiet in areas one didn't understand to avoid embarrassing oneself like last time. He honestly continued to do the hard labor.

Student B, who had younger siblings at home, couldn't help but take a few more glances at the coffin. He didn't dare say it out loud: Why does this form look so familiar?

Tan Xiao himself was also feeling guilty. He jumped down to determine the gold and the cave and first used a compass to determine the celestial line.

After snapping the ink line, the red rope was pulled straight in the same direction as the coffin. Then, using two segments of red rope strung with five copper coins, he aligned it with the ink line. This line was the earth line.

Next, the red thread was threaded through a needle and suspended over the bones. He instructed the two to move the coffin so that the three lines of heaven, earth, and man overlapped. This was considered determining the specific position.

"Seal the coffin," Tan Xiao ordered. He conducted a spiritual ceremony on the side, summoning the newly appointed marriage god, the Peacock, and burned all the offerings and documents, including the marriage certificate.

The Peacock God indeed appeared in response and took the paper ashes.

He heard the rhythm of Tan Xiao's tapping and the melody playing from his phone but wasn't very satisfied. "This is too old-fashioned. Since it's a wedding, change it to something more festive."

Tan Xiao: "Huh?"

The Peacock pointed and gestured. "The tune your mom was playing on her phone today was quite festive."

Tan Xiao thought for a moment, then couldn't hold back. "You mean the background music when she was playing games?"

The Peacock made an "uh-huh" sound. "You can't do it?"

"I can, but..." Tan Xiao looked at the Peacock, wanting to say something but stopping.

He was about to politely refuse when Pusanu and Cheng Xueying had already said reverently, "It is a great honor to have Lord Peacock officiate the wedding. Shaman Tan, please trouble yourself." How could they object to the Peacock God's small request?

Tan Xiao: "..."

How to put it, the deceased takes precedence. Today was also a big happy day for the deceased.

The two students working on the side only saw Tan Xiao mumbling something to himself. The drumbeat he tapped changed, and the corresponding melody started playing from the phone beside him. It was definitely familiar. It's just that the stickers could be forgiven, but this background music...

"Fighting the Landlord?!"

Author's Note:

Peacock: Wedding officiating skill acquired. No need for the civil affairs bureau anymore.