The next day, Su Kun and Geng Zimo finally decided to get rid of the coffin.

This time, learning from their previous mistake, they didn't directly throw it downstairs. The temperature outside had risen sharply compared to the previous days, making it unbearable for people, let alone ghosts.

The two of them took advantage of the scorching midday sun, found an opaque bag for shoe boxes, and put the coffin inside. Then they got on a bus, found two seats that had been baking in the sun, and rode around half of Li City. They got off at a suburban stop, walked a long way, and dumped the coffin in a wild forest.

After solving the problem, although they weren't completely relieved, at least they felt a bit more at ease. They had a good meal outside and even removed the dustproof cover of the air conditioner that hadn't been used for a long time, enjoying the cool air for a while.

Actually, when these two still had jobs, their lives were not as miserable as they are now. At least when summer came, the air conditioner would be on all night. But since they both lost their jobs a few months ago, they started to save every penny.

Geng Zimo was in a better position, as it was only a matter of time before he could find another decent job. But Su Kun was different. With his "dark history", it was hard to say whether he could find a new job. He was living from meal to meal, not knowing if he would have the next one.

So even though he had saved a small amount of money from his previous two years of work, he tried to use as little as possible. He didn't touch a cent of his savings, and his daily living expenses were taken from the card that collected rent. He saved wherever he could, and the money left over each month was put into his savings card.

However, this month, forget about having any money left over, he probably wouldn't even have enough for daily expenses. And the root cause of this financial loss was this broken coffin.

Stimulated by the money, Su Kun, nestled with his computer in the long-lost air-conditioned wind, boldly reached out to the Taobao seller. This time, he wasn't afraid of being chopped up. He had been haunted by the ghost for two days, his life hanging by a thread several times, so why would he be afraid of a normal person?

But perhaps it was because he had been haunted by the little ghost for the past two days and had already experienced all the bad luck he could, Su Kun was quite fortunate this time. The seller not only wouldn't chop him up, but also had a good temper. After hearing his description, the seller patiently checked the purchase records and sources, without a hint of annoyance in their tone.

"Dear~ I've checked, that is indeed just an empty shell, there's nothing inside. It's meant to symbolize promotion and wealth, it's impossible to put anything unclean in it. I inspected it before sending, including the inside. The coffin lid was resealed later, and I have photos on my computer. Would you like me to send you a few to take a look?"

The seller quickly sent over a row of photos. Su Kun scrolled through them with Geng Zimo beside him, from the overall coffin to the lid and the open coffin body, with photos of almost every part.

The two of them didn't expect to see any problems in the photos. In fact, they contacted the seller purely out of a sense of frustration and nowhere to vent. Whether it was the lack of money or being haunted by the little ghost, the root cause was this coffin, and not complaining to the seller would make them feel a bit unbalanced.

Just as they were staring blankly at the row of photos, the seller said another sentence—

"However, if there really is something unclean, it's best to find someone to deal with it as soon as possible."

Find someone to deal with it? Where? Before meeting Su Kun, Geng Zimo was a supporter of Marxist dialectical materialism with a complete scientific outlook, completely unrelated to these things.

Su Kun's scientific outlook had long been shattered. When he was young, it seemed that his family had invited an old man in a grayish-green robe, but that was more than a decade ago, and his family was no longer around. It was really a bit difficult for him to find someone like that old man again.

The seller seemed to know what they were thinking, paused for a moment, and then sent another message: "I know someone who can take a look for you. If you need, I'll leave you their contact information, and you can discuss the specifics and price with them."

Holy! Shit!

Geng Zimo said from the side, "Could it be that they're in cahoots? One sells, the other exorcises?"

Su Kun nodded, "Very good."

Geng Zimo: "..." He so wanted to smash this guy's head like a watermelon = =

Su Kun typed, "Thank you, if we need it, we'll be sure to contact you." while snorting through his nose, "Do you take me for a fool?! Dream on! I won't fall for it!"

Geng Zimo nodded approvingly, feeling relieved.

An hour later, the two dead stupid fools reopened the seller's avatar: Can you give us a contact...

Seller: Sure o(*^▽^*)o

Seeing this emoticon suddenly gave them an ominous premonition! Su Kun immediately reached for the keyboard, about to say: Just now my dog rolled out those words, it has nothing to do with me, no need for the contact information.

The seller had already sent over the phone number and name.

Su Kun and Geng Zimo stared at the number for a long time, and finally dialed the phone to find the person who had the guts to call himself "Qing Pin". After all, the seller had already scared them, so this exorcist should have a way to clean up the mess, otherwise they shouldn't do this business. Although just looking at his name made him seem a bit unreliable, but as the saying goes, a drowning man will clutch at a straw, so they still held a bit of a fluke.

But they really wronged that seller. This haunting had nothing to do with him, and the contact information he provided was something he happened to get from a friend. After all, the nature of his business was special, and it was always good to have someone to turn to in case something happened.

The old man who called himself "Qing Pin" arrived unexpectedly quickly, so fast that Su Kun thought he lived in the next neighborhood.

When the doorbell rang, Geng Zimo opened the door with Su Kun standing behind him. On this day when the ground temperature could directly fry an egg, the old man at the door, with a face full of wrinkles, was actually wearing a robe with long sleeves and a long hem, and it looked like there was another layer of inner clothing. The first reaction of the two was: Holy shit, is this person crazy?!

The next second, the old man removed the question mark from their previous thought with his actual words and actions.

The old man looked Geng Zimo up and down, then frowned and shifted his gaze to Su Kun standing behind him. After less than a second, he raised his eyebrows and pointed with two fingers pressed together: "Ha! Your house is indeed unclean. In broad daylight, this little beast is not afraid of death and still dare to follow people openly! Let this old man deal with this one first before listening to you talk in detail about the haunted coffin!"

With that, he waved his wide sleeves, lifted the yellow cloth bag slung across his shoulder, grabbed a talisman with one hand, and pulled out a ladle from somewhere with the other, instantly releasing a strong fishy smell.

The old man slapped the talisman on Su Kun's head, and with the ladle in his hand, splashed forward, drenching Su Kun's head and face with black dog's blood.

Little Beast Su Kun and Geng Zimo who was followed by the little beast: "..."

If they had a broom in their hands, they would have definitely beaten this unreliable old man out. Of course, with a bit of respect for the elderly in mind, they still politely showed the old man out and stuffed him with a hundred yuan for travel expenses.

The old man: "..."

This old master who jumped and danced to exorcise evil spirits dashed their last bit of hope, especially Su Kun's. He felt that the possibility of finding a reliable person to perform an exorcism dance to prevent the ghost from ever returning was even lower than the possibility of directly begging the ghost to spare his life.

Su Kun sat back in front of the computer, propped his chin up, and aimlessly scrolled up and down the row of photos in the open chat window. But in his mind, he was thinking about what the little ghost had said. The words that had been repeating in his mind all night.

"Exterminate the entire clan", "execute by dismemberment", "one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four cuts"...

These fragmented words looped in his mind like a spell, making him feel dizzy and heavy. He didn't know much about the little ghost's background, but judging from his disheveled long hair and tattered yet dragging clothes, he was probably from ancient times hundreds of years ago.

But even in ancient times, under the emperorical system where one person ruled the world, the death penalty couldn't be easily decided, let alone dismemberment, such a horrifying method. And the entire clan was exterminated...

What kind of terrible things must this person have done to suffer such a fate?

Su Kun, who didn't have much understanding of these things, instinctively felt that those who are pitied must have done something hateful. To have the entire clan exterminated and be cut a thousand times, eight or nine out of ten must be heinous villains!

He inexplicably thought of those eyes again, filled with viciousness and hatred, paired with those slanted eyebrows, looking more and more fierce no matter how you looked at it... Even if he wasn't a heinous villain, he definitely wouldn't be easy to talk to QAQ

Just as Su Kun was feeling more and more chills on his neck and more and more like his life was in danger, Geng Zimo suddenly patted him: "Hey, look at this photo!"

"What is it?" Su Kun looked at him with an expression as if he was going to bury himself tomorrow.

"..." Geng Zimo twitched the corner of his mouth and pointed to a spot in the photo in the chat window, "I told you, see, this recess originally had a piece of jade embedded in it, right? It was gone when it got to us, definitely pried out by the seller."

Su Kun blinked at him for a few seconds, then started typing.

Before Geng Zimo could stop him, this guy had already sent the message: Dear, did you pry out the jade in the coffin?

The seller quickly replied: I wanted to pry it out, hesitated all night, but in the end still left it for you _(:з」∠)_

Su Kun: ...

The seller then reacted: You didn't have the jade when you received it?!

Su Kun: No = =

Seller: How is that possible? I didn't touch it, you didn't touch it, was it pried out by a ghost?!

The seller's words sparked a thought in Su Kun's mind. He suddenly remembered that when the old fellow who had choked his neck was beaten back into the coffin, Geng Zimo had mischievously opened the coffin, and the shrunken little ghost coughed heavily as if choking on something. He remembered vaguely seeing that small shadow slide all the way down the little ghost's esophagus to his heart.

Thinking about it this way—

Holy shit, it swallowed the jade?!