It was past seven o'clock when they returned to the old Chen family residence.
Yang Guofu saw them come back and asked, "Second brother, did you find the Hua Sha tomb?"
Er Hu nodded, "It's all taken care of."
Liu Zhonghe asked Chen Ruolian, who had returned with Yu Daohen and the others, "Xiao Lian, where did you go?"
Chen Ruolian lowered her head, not daring to look at Liu Zhonghe and Lu Wenxia, and said in a small voice, "I went to the back mountain."
Lu Wenxia smiled, walked up to Chen Ruolian, touched her head, and said gently, "Xiao Lian, don't be afraid. After this is over, you can come to the city to live with us."
As far as Lu Wenxia was concerned, while she was angry that Liu Zhonghe had deceived her, the child was innocent. As the saying goes, a wife must follow her husband. The moment she chose to marry Liu Zhonghe, she was prepared to accept everything about him.
Seeing Lu Wenxia's actions, Liu Zhonghe felt ashamed. When he was still a poor young man, Lu Wenxia did not dislike him for being poor but persuaded her family to marry him. There were two women he had wronged: Chen Qingshui and Lu Wenxia.
Da Hu quietly told Yang Guofu and the others about what Chen Ruolian had said earlier.
Upon hearing this, Yang Guofu and the others' faces changed.
Yang Guofu said to Liu Zhonghe, "Boss Liu, since the Hua Sha tomb has been found, let's start the coffin lifting immediately."
Liu Zhonghe nodded in agreement, "Then I'll go with the masters. Wenxia and Xiao Lian can stay at home."
Yang Guofu hesitated for a moment and then explained the whole story.
Yang Guofu and Lu Wenxia turned pale after hearing this. Yang Guofu looked upstairs, "Does the master mean that Uncle Chen and Auntie are both dead!"
"But they are clearly alive and well!" Liu Zhonghe looked incredulous, but more so, he was scared.
Liu Zhonghe couldn't believe that Chen Qingshui would be so ruthless, but he was more afraid that Lu Wenxia and Chen Ruolian would be in danger.
Yang Guofu nodded. Although he didn't know why Chen Xiaobao and his wife didn't harm Liu Zhonghe, he was sure that Chen Xiaobao and his wife were indeed dead.
Liu Zhonghe anxiously asked, "Then what should the masters do now?"
Yang Guofu thought for a moment, "Perhaps burying Chen Qingshui first will help us find the answer."
After speaking, Yang Guofu shouted to Da Hu and the others, "Warm up, prepare to lift the coffin!"
Da Hu and the others nodded. Yang Ergou took out four military water canteens from his backpack and handed them to Yang Guofu and Da Hu.
Yang Guofu and Da Hu opened the caps and started drinking.
Yu Daohen sniffed and a strong smell of alcohol hit him.
San Hu took a few sips and handed the canteen to Yu Daohen, "Master Yu, would you like a couple of drinks?"
Yu Daohen took the canteen and sniffed it. He had heard before that coffin bearers had to drink a few sips of specially made wine when lifting a coffin, one to increase their yang energy and the other to boost their courage.
In Yu Daohen's understanding, the notion that alcohol could increase yang energy was unheard of, so he leaned more towards the latter. As the saying goes, alcohol emboldens the timid. After three catties of white wine, you wouldn't fear anyone, not even the King of Heaven.
He had always wanted to taste what this coffin bearer's wine was like, and today he had the chance.
Yu Daohen hesitated for a moment. Beer was fine, but he was a bit hesitant about white wine. In the end, he raised the canteen and took a few gulps.
As the white wine flowed over his tongue, Yu Daohen felt his tongue go numb, and an indescribable spiciness shot up to the crown of his head.
Yu Daohen handed the canteen back to San Hu, "Brother San Hu, what did you soak in this wine? It tastes a bit strange."
San Hu smiled and said nothing, "This is the coffin bearer's exclusive secret recipe, and I can't tell you."
Yang Guofu coughed lightly, "Er Gou, go burn some joss paper. Everyone else, insert the coffin poles and prepare to lift the coffin."
Da Hu and the others put away their smiles. Yang Ergou picked up a snakeskin bag full of joss paper and walked towards the door.
San Hu grabbed a ten-foot-long object wrapped in grey cloth leaning against the wall.
He pulled back the grey cloth, revealing two ten-foot-long red wooden poles that looked quite old.
Yu Daohen looked at the two coffin poles with some confusion. One pole was as thick as Yu Daohen's forearm, while the other was only as thick as his three fingers combined. However, there was a saying among coffin bearers: "The front end is raised to welcome wealth, and the tail end is lowered to ward off disaster."
It was said that the thinner coffin pole was made of three-thousand-year-old sandalwood and then soaked in chicken blood for over a year. Its hardness was comparable to marble, though there were likely exaggerations.
However, it seemed to be true now.
Yang Ergou finished burning the joss paper and walked back in, "Master, it's done."
Yang Guofu nodded, walked to the doorway, clenched his fist, and said, "Today, we coffin bearers are conducting business in this place. We hope everyone will cooperate. We came in a hurry and didn't bring much, so please bear with us."
As soon as Yang Guofu finished speaking, a gust of wind blew from the doorway, scattering the burnt joss paper.
Coffin bearers often encountered minor spirits obstructing their path, so they would burn joss paper for these spirits each time they lifted a coffin, which was the so-called toll fee, or protection money, to put it bluntly.
As the saying goes, fierce ghosts are easy to kill, but minor spirits are troublesome. Although it seemed a bit cowardly, it was the best method.
Yang Guofu saw the burnt joss paper being blown away, indicating that the matter was settled. He turned and walked back into the house, "Prepare, lift the coffin!"
Gratitude: Thanks for the gift from the cute little one [Dang Zui Zheng De Niu].