'Did you try to help him?' I asked Zhao Yuezhu.

Zhao Yuezhu said, 'I tried many things, but nothing worked. At first, he could see ghosts himself, but gradually, even I could see them. That's why I came to find you.'

I nodded, 'Xiao Rong keeps running into ghosts because his luck is too low. You can't help him change his luck, so no method of warding off evil will work.'

Whether a person runs into ghosts depends on their luck as a crucial factor. People with great luck not only keep wandering ghosts away, but even ghosts and gods will secretly protect them to build a good karmic connection.

Conversely, if a person is unlucky, even wandering ghosts will bully them. Xiao Rong is probably in that situation.

I looked at Xiao Rong and asked, 'When did you start having bad luck?'

'It started after my dad left!' Xiao Rong said, unbuttoning his shirt. 'I always feel that my bad luck is related to the coffin on my back.'

After Xiao Rong took off his shirt and turned around, I couldn't help but gasp.

Xiao Rong had a coffin tattooed on his back, from his shoulders to his waist.

Tong Bei Guan! (Coffin on the Back)

This was clearly meant for Xiao Rong to carry a coffin on his back!

It must be this coffin that's suppressing Xiao Rong's luck. If the coffin weighs down further, it might cost Xiao Rong his life!

I asked calmly, 'Who tattooed this coffin on you?'

'It was my grandpa!' Xiao Rong said. 'When my dad was around, he even helped me trace the edges of the coffin a few times.'

I lit a cigarette and said, 'Tell me the details.'

'Can I have a cigarette?' Xiao Rong asked. 'Just give me the one you lit. I can't light a cigarette myself.'

Has Xiao Rong's luck fallen to this point?

I handed my cigarette to Xiao Rong, who took two heavy puffs before saying, 'This story starts when I was a child.'

'According to my dad, I was cursed by my grandpa from a young age!'

'My grandpa tattooed a coffin on my back and named me Sun Qing. All these things are taboo.'

Hearing this, I was taken aback. 'The Qing in your name, is it the Qing from the ancient punishment "Qing Xing" (tattooing punishment)?'

I knew the word Qing; it was an ancient punishment, which involved tattooing characters on the faces of criminals.

Those with tattooed faces were criminals and would be exiled to the army. Especially during the Qin Dynasty, prisoners with Qing faces were assigned to prisoner camps, charging at the front lines. Often, half or more of the prisoner camp would die or be wounded in a single battle, which was considered light casualties.

Qing, in a sense, not only represents punishment but also sin and death.

Using the word Qing in a name is indeed taboo.

Sun Qing nodded and said, 'Yes, it's that Qing. My current name was given to me by my dad, but the name on my household registration and ID card hasn't been changed. It can only be like this.'

'Changing your name to change your luck?' I frowned. 'Do you have any seals or similar items on you?'

Changing one's name is one of the most common methods used by practitioners to change luck. Even if the name on the ID card can't be changed, it's not a big problem as long as everyone around them calls them by the new name.

If it's too much trouble, one can also engrave the new name on a seal and carry it with them, which also counts as changing the name.

'Yes!' Sun Qing took out a seal attached to his keychain and handed it over. Engraved on it was his current name, 'Sun Borong.'

I returned the seal to him and said, 'This seal is useless. From now on, we'll still call you Sun Qing.'

Sun Qing opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

I explained, 'Changing your name is for changing your luck, but your luck hasn't changed at all, which means this method doesn't work for you. Besides, the coffin and the name your grandfather gave you are full of deeper meanings, so it's best not to change your name for now.'

I thought for a moment and said, 'If you really want to change your name, I have to solve the problem on your body first.'

Sun Qing said in a low voice, 'I think my grandpa was just... just messing around.'

I waved my hand and said, 'If your grandpa was a genuine tattoo artist, he wouldn't be messing around.'

'Every tattoo artist knows that you can't just draw anything on someone's body.'

'If the client's fate isn't strong enough to handle the tattoo, it can cause trouble and disability in the mild cases, and ruin their family and cause death in severe cases. So, those who can't read fate are not genuine tattoo artists.'

'In my opinion, your grandpa is not a simple person. Besides, the name your grandpa gave you is even more unfathomable. Keep telling me what happened.'

Sun Qing's emotions suddenly became a little agitated. 'Brother Li, since you know the taboos of tattoos, you should know that you can't just get any tattoo, right? Especially tattooing a coffin. That's not a tattoo; that's casting a life-and-death curse.'

'I've asked around: the most taboo thing in the tattoo world is tattooing a coffin.'

'There's no saying of "get promoted and become rich" when you tattoo a coffin on your body. Coffins are for dead people. There's absolutely no good fortune associated with it. Ten out of ten people who tattoo a coffin die. There's no escaping it.'

Sun Qing said that ten out of ten people who tattoo a coffin die, which is a bit of an exaggeration. At least I know a saying in the tattoo world: with great luck, you can carry anything.

If the luck is there, you can carry a Mount Tai on your back, let alone a coffin.

But, this is not the time to say this.