Chapter 3: The Museum Opens

  The three days after Lao Ye's funeral, Qiū Shuǐ always felt that something was not normal. In the movie, Lao Ye didn't bring anyone to the coffee shop, but those few people were absolutely top-notch experts. Although the world is not very peaceful now, rich families all hire guards. However, in the coffee shop, those few people looked at Jiū Shū with fervent eyes and looked at themselves with puzzled eyes, Qiū Shuǐ always felt that something was not normal. Moreover, these three days, the three of them often came into contact with Jiū Shū, Wén Cái, Qiū Shēng, and himself. Qiū Shuǐ, in order to be prepared for any eventuality, went to the town the next day to ask around, and also bought a lot of glutinous rice, two black dogs, and several roosters. After all, in the original work, that zombie was even something Jiū Shū couldn't handle.

  Three days later...

  Today is the day when Old Master Ren's coffin will be unearthed, Wen Cai got up early in the morning, and Qiu Sheng arrived at the Yi Zhuang even earlier. The two of them worked together to prepare many things. There were dozens of incense sticks alone, and they had prepared a variety of lengths and thicknesses. Autumn Water, also a disciple of Ninth Uncle, was preparing the incense table.

  After about an hour of preparation, someone sent by Old Master Ren arrived at the Righteous Mansion and said respectfully: "Ninth Uncle, Old Master Ren has sent us to move things." Ninth Uncle responded with a sound, calling out to Wen Cai, Shu Sheng, Qiu Sheng, and Qiu Shui, and several people followed behind him towards the ancestral tomb of the Ren family.

  Rich people are rich, when they arrive at the ancestral tomb, dozens of people from the Guang family come to pay their respects. At this time, Ninth Uncle puts on a yellow Daoist robe and also wears a Daoist crown on his head.

  Incense was placed in front of Old Man Ren's tomb, and Ninth Uncle lit the incense after which Old Master Ren also went forward to respectfully offer a stick of incense, followed by the members of the Ren family who offered incense one after another.

  Ren Lao Ye came before Jiu Shu after finishing the incense and said, "Jiu Shu, the feng shui master who evaluated this grave site years ago said it's a rare find, a good spot."

  Ninth Uncle nodded and walked while saying: "Not bad, this tomb is called Dragonfly Water Point Tomb, it's three feet four inches long and only four feet wide can be used, one foot three inches wide and only three feet can be used, so the coffin cannot be buried flat, must be buried in a slope."

  "Uncle Jiu is incredible." Mr. Ren exclaimed, discovering that Uncle Jiu's words were identical to those of the geomancer twenty years ago, and he couldn't help but give a thumbs up in admiration.

  At this time, Wencai curiously asked: "Master, what is Fa Mu? Is it a French-style funeral?"

  Qiu Sheng sneaked a smile on the side, Jiu Shu glared at Wen Cai and said: "Shut up!" Wen Cai was taken aback and became more honest, not daring to interrupt.

  At this time, several young men from the Ren family came over with tools to lift the coffin and said to Ninth Uncle: "Ninth Uncle, have you finished worshiping? Can we start digging now?"

  Jiushu nodded with his hands behind his back and said, "Alright." After hearing Jiushu's instructions, several people picked up their tools and came to the front of the grave. Two of them kicked open the tombstone with one foot and started digging with their iron shovels. At this time, the captain of the security team, Awei, saw that Autum was standing close to Rending, which made him uncomfortable, so he quickly turned around and squeezed Autum to one side. To be honest, Autum was really handsome, much more than Wencai.

  Qiu Sheng saw this situation and didn't mind, came to Jiu Shu's front and asked: "Master, what is the law of burial after all?"

  At this time, Jiu Shu saw Qiu Sheng ask questions without being as impatient as Wen Cai. The key is that Qiu Sheng didn't speak nonsense like Wen Cai. Jiu Shu glanced at Qiu Shui with his eyes and hinted to her with his eyes.

  Qiu Shui saw the expression on his master's face and knew that Jiu Shu wanted him to show off in front of the Ren family. After all, Jiu Shu had already started entrusting some unimportant tasks to Qiu Shui, intending to train his apprentice step by step. Later, when Qiu Shui left the master's side, Jiu Shu would also be at ease.

  Qiu Shui walked along the water's edge and said, "So-called fa mu, is to bury upright. Master doesn't know if what I'm saying is right or not?" After finishing speaking, he looked towards Jiu Shu.

  Only saw Ninth Uncle's profound and mysterious appearance slightly nodding: "Not bad."

  Mr. Ren furrowed his brow slightly and said, "That geomancer once said that if the ancestors were buried upright, the descendants would definitely be prosperous." Qiushui and Jiu Shu looked at him with this expression, not knowing why, and Jiu Shu asked, "Is it effective or not?"

  "Good grief!" Old Master Ren's brow furrowed even deeper after hearing Ninth Uncle's words. He shook his head and said, "Over the past twenty years, our family business has been getting worse and worse, I don't know why?" As he spoke, he walked away with a worried look on his face, not wanting others to hear their family affairs. Just as Old Master Ren finished speaking, Ninth Uncle said, "I think this Feng Shui master holds a grudge against your family." Then, after some thought, he added, "Was there something between him and the old lady before she passed away?"

  Old Master Ren hesitated for a moment before saying: "This piece of land originally belonged to that Feng Shui master, but my late father bought it from him after finding out about it."

  "Is that just a bribe? No coercion?" Ninth Uncle gazed at him and said. Master Ren smiled awkwardly, but didn't respond.

  Ninth Uncle involuntarily let out a soft hum, facing the grave and saying: "I think it must be coercion, otherwise he would never harm you, and even let you cover the entire Winding Stream Water Cave with foreign ash." After hearing Ninth Uncle's words, Old Man Ren couldn't help but ask: "Then what should we do?"

  "Must be the snow covering the top, this is what's called 'dragonfly water', how can it be called 'dragonfly water' if the coffin head doesn't touch the water?! He still has a conscience to have you all move his grave after twenty years, harming you for half your life or not harming you at all, harming one generation or not harming eighteen generations." Autumn Water followed beside him and saw that Ninth Uncle was no longer as respectful towards Old Master Ren as before. Having followed Ninth Uncle for so many years, Autumn Water of course knew her master's personality, which could be described in one sentence as "hating evil like an enemy".

  Mr. Ren was now in a state of utter confusion, thinking that if it weren't for today's coffin relocation, it would have been the more famous Ninth Uncle who came, and he might still be kept in the dark.

  Just as Lao Ye was thinking, he heard someone shouting loudly: "I saw it." Everyone followed the sound and came to the front of the grave.

  The crowd came to the front of the grave and saw that the head of the coffin had already been exposed, while several young men who were moving the earth were using ropes and a frame to tie up the coffin and pull it up.

  When the young men who were moving the earth finally brought out the coffin and placed it on the empty ground beside, Jiǔ Shū was heard giving a low order: "Loosen the ropes and pull out the nails." Then he turned around with his back to the crowd and said: "Everyone, today is the day when Rèn Gōng's bravery will be revealed to the world. All those who are 36, 22, 35 or 48 years old, whether born in the year of the chicken or the cow, must turn around and leave."

  After a few breaths, Ninth Uncle said: "Withdrawal is complete, everyone tidy up their clothes and open the coffin." Several young men heard the command to go and open the coffin, only to see that as soon as they touched the coffin lid, the birds in the forest were startled, cawing loudly, and all flew away.

  Seeing this phenomenon, let alone the Nine Uncles who understand the situation, even ordinary people feel that something is not right. The crowd walked towards the coffin with a worried heart.

  After the coffin was opened, a thick black corpse gas spread out from it. Only then did they see that Old Master Ren wore a hat with peacock feathers and a Qing dynasty official uniform with an embroidered crane on his chest. These were not surprising, but what was astonishing was that a person who had been dead for twenty years showed no signs of decay!

  "Master, something's off about this corpse!" Autumn Water said in a low voice as she stood beside Ninth Uncle, her expression unusually solemn. Her hidden fingers also made a few subtle strokes on Ninth Uncle's arm. Ninth Uncle noticed his disciple's hint and glanced sideways at the direction she was indicating. He saw that after the coffin was opened to reveal the corpse, the eyes of the several high-ranking guards from the Ren family showed obvious surprise, greed, and fear. The fear could be understood; it was a normal human emotion, after all. A dead body that hadn't decayed in twenty years would naturally inspire some fear and confusion. But the surprise and greed were not normal.

  Ninth Uncle whispered a sentence in Qiushui's ear, "Be careful with your actions." Qiushui nodded slightly after hearing it.

  At this time, Ren's father and daughter knelt down with tears in their voices "Dad, Grandpa, we disturbed you, we are really unfilial." However, there was no sign of tears, it had been more than 20 years since they died, the sad things had already faded away.

  At this time, Lao Ye stood up and hastily asked Jiū Shū: "Ninth Uncle, can this tomb be used?"

  The ninth uncle looked at the coffin with a serious expression and said, "A dragonfly touches water once and again, it will definitely not touch the same spot twice. This grave cannot be used."

  Mr. Ren's mind was in a mess, and he said urgently: "What to do then?" A pair of eyes stared tightly at Ninth Uncle, eagerly wanting to know.

  "I propose cremation on the spot."

  "Cremation! No way!" Mr. Ren immediately raised his objection after hearing Ninth Uncle's answer, saying: "My late father was most afraid of fire before he passed away, I cannot do this."

  Ninth Uncle's solemn expression faced Old Man Ren and said: "Not cremating will cause trouble."

  "It's okay as long as it's not cremation, think of other ways." Mr. Ren said firmly. Didn't expect that Mr. Ren is quite filial.

  Ninth Uncle saw that persuasion was useless, so he lowered his head to think for a moment and said in a low voice: "Alright, let's temporarily place it in our charity house. Tomorrow I will help Old Man Ren find another burial site so he can rest early." As soon as the words fell, Captain Ah Wei shouted, "Cover the coffin lid and carry it to the charity house!"

  "Please go back first, Mr. Ren." said Ninth Uncle politely.

  "Ah, is there anything I can do for you, Ninth Uncle? Zhang Qiang, Zhu Gui, Wang Li, the three of you follow Ninth Uncle and see if you can be of any help." Ren said politely while instructing the three men behind him to stay and assist Ninth Uncle.

  "Uncle Jiu, I've heard that your Taoist skills are profound. What I'm seeing today is indeed well-deserved of your reputation." Wang Li and the other two people came to Uncle Jiu's side with flattering words.

  Although the three men seemed enthusiastic, as an old hand, Jiǔ Shū detected that they had ulterior motives in their ambiguous gaze. Despite feeling anxious about today's events, his expression remained unchanged, and he politely said, "No, it's just everyone showing favor."

  "Qiu Shui, Wen Cai, you two just go to the tomb and light some incense, come back and tell me what it's like." Jiu Shu turned his head and instructed his apprentice. After finishing, he looked around and said: "Every grave needs to be lit with incense."

  "Qiusheng, lead the crowd to carry the coffin back to Yizhuang." After finishing speaking, Jiu Shu said to the three strange and exotic people left by Ren Lao Ye: "Three of you, let's go back to Yizhuang together. There is nothing here, just let my two useless apprentices clean up."

  "Hehe, Uncle Jiu is being polite." Wang Li and the other two said. From their words and actions, it seems that this Wang Li is their leader.

  After everyone left, Qiu Shui and Wen Cai lit the incense sticks that were left behind and started to offer incense at each grave.