CH 145.1

The corpse drivers left in a hurry, and soon left Yanwang Town.

The head of the coffin home saw them off and walked back inside with heavy, staggering steps.

The sound of footsteps faded away and eventually disappeared.

The sun was rising, but there was still no movement outside the coffin home.

Bai Lixin slowly opened his eyes, and all he saw were a few strips of damask and hemp rope.

He tore off the yellow paper from his forehead and stood up to inspect the coffin home.

The courtyard home was large, and the large black doors were shut tight.

The corpses he came with were neatly lined up with their backs to the ground and faces to the sky, their pale faces plastered with yellow paper to suppress evil spirits.

At the end of the courtyard was a house made of bricks and wood. A hemp rope with candles was suspended from the eaves of the roof.

The windows of the house were covered with yellow talismans, even a blind man could guess that they were to prevent evil spirits from entering the house.

Bai Lixin walked to the window. It was shut tight, but there was a small gap, so Bai Lixin put his eyes on the gap and peered inside.

The house was dark, and there was a musty smell coming from inside.

There was a table and a few chairs, and a picture of a demon-faced celestial master was hanging on the wall. He had fierce eyes, his teeth were bared, and he was holding a sword.

There was a bed beside the wall, from which Bai Lixin could make out a vague lump, so the old man must have gone back to catch up on his sleep.

It looked like an ordinary coffin home.

The sun had finally risen, and the warmth of its bright light soon dispelled the darkness.

However, it was still terribly quiet outside the coffin home.

After some thought, Bai Lixin stepped back from the bedroom window and jumped over the fence.

He checked the time on the taskbar, it was already 7:30 the next day. It is reasonable to say that residents in a normal town would have been awake by this time, selling breakfast and going to work.

Yet Yanwang Town was quiet.

A chilling wind blew by; the paper money flew all over the streets; the invocation streamers moved; and the bells jingled.

The street was gradually shrouded in a white haze of fog.

His visibility was instantly reduced, and Bai Lixin could only see about ten meters ahead.

He stood still and looked into the strangely rising fog warily.

Suddenly, something flashed by in the white fog.

The black shadow moved extremely fast, and Bai Lixin frowned slightly, looking at the place where the black shadow appeared vigilantly.

Immediately afterward, the black shadow appeared in the fog again. This time, it stood in the fog for a second before disappearing again.

The other party was fast, but Bai Lixin was faster.

He quickly chased after the strange black shadow, his body quickly blending into the white fog.

The black shadow ran, and Bai Lixin chased after it.

The other side didn’t expect Bai Lixin to catch up with him, and Bai Lixin clearly saw him stumble as he ran in a panic, almost falling to the ground.

There was a white field all around, so there might be something else. Bai Lixin did not dare to use a very fast speed, and he was able to follow the black shadow at a speed that was not too fast but not too slow.

The black shadow’s movements were a bit strange, they looked too smooth, so it was not appropriate to say that he was running.

Just as Bai Lixin was about to catch up with the black shadow, the black shadow suddenly accelerated and quickly disappeared around a corner.

Bai Lixin followed and slowly came to a stop.

In the white mist, deep in the narrow alleyway, was a building.

He came closer and discovered that the width of the alley was growing wider.

On each side of the wall were couplets in black letters and on green paper.

The voice of the escape system rang out in his mind: [In this town, couplets in black letters on a green background mean that someone died a year ago. The first two years after a person’s death will have couplets in green, not red. ]

At the end of the alley was a small lantern above a couplet, the candle flame in the small white circular lantern had not yet been extinguished.

Above the big lantern was a wooden sign with a few big words: [Yanwang Paper Tying Shop].

The large words were followed by a string of small letters.

[Business items: coffins, shrouds, and wreaths; fortune telling; palm reading; naming; and transcendence]

Bai Lixin looked through the gap in the window and was unprepared to suddenly meet a pale white face.

He secretly licked his dry lips, and held his breath.

It was an adult-sized male paper figurine wearing a lab coat cut out of black paper, its dark eyes staring blankly ahead.

The paper figurine was indescribably bizarre, with a face made of paper that was already extraordinarily white and a huge blush made of red paper on each side of the cheeks.

The mouth was also bright red.

The boldness of the colors and materials used was breathtaking.

“Who’s outside?”

A woman’s voice rang out from inside, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Bai Lixin stood straight and coughed softly, “Hello, I want to buy something.”

There was a creak of old wood, and a face no more vivid than the paper figurine peeked through the crack.

It was a woman who looked to be in her forties, she was slightly fat, with a thick layer of powder covering her face, making her several shades whiter than the paper figurine next to her.

As her body shook, the powder fell off her face and onto the floor, spreading out in a patch.

The woman wore a large red peony flower on her head, and only after a closer look did he realize that the peony flower was actually made of red paper, with the petals stacked together in a lifelike manner.

After looking at Bai Lixin up and down, the woman asked, “What do you want to buy?”

Bai Lixin glanced at the sign and blurted out, “Coffins.”

The woman frowned slightly, and another chunk of powder fell from her face.

“Come in.” Just when Bai Lixin thought the woman wouldn’t believe him, she moved to the side and invited him in.

The same musty smell like the one from the bedroom at the coffin home assaulted his nostrils. Bai Lixin calmly walked into the paper-tying shop. The instant he walked in, the woman immediately closed the door, as if she were afraid that someone would suddenly enter.

Bai Lixin’s eyes once again fell on the male paper figurine he had just seen, the woman noticed this and immediately asked with a smile, “What, do you want to have a few attendants follow you?”

Bai Lixin’s eyes slowly moved down from the paper figurine’s head, and his gaze finally stopped at its ankles.

There was a cut on its ankles. The white paper seemed to have been cut by something sharp, and the white paper rolled outward, exposing the bamboo strips inside.

The woman followed Bai Lixin’s line of sight and suddenly let out a cry when she saw the cut, and a large amount of powder fell from her face, “Why is it cut? It was fine yesterday?! But don’t worry, I’m well known for my craftsmanship in this town, so this little cut will be repaired in no time, it’s no problem at all.”

“Choosing an entourage is the same as choosing a pet, it’s not easy to find the right one. I won’t cheat you; if you really like this paper figurine, I’ll even give you a discount. I sell the paper figurine for eight, but I’ll give it to you for six, and make it up to you. What do you think?”

Eight?

Six?

What kind of unit of measurement was that?

Bai Lixin calmly said, “I’ll look around something first.”

The woman: “Then how about choosing a good coffin first?”

Bai Lixin looked around the shop, the hall was not large, and besides this paper figurine, there was another one standing by the wall.

It was an adult-sized female paper figurine wearing a big red robe, the outfit much more exquisite than that of the male paper figurine. She was wearing gold and silver on her head, along with a lot of paper-cut pearls, flowers, jade, and hairpins. There was a pearl necklace hanging around her neck, and the big red robe had three layers inside and three layers outside, looking somewhat like a wedding dress.

“You have a wonderful eye, guest.” The woman followed Bai Lixin’s gaze and began to walk over to the female paper figurine to introduce it, “This is a paper bride I made in one day, she is an absolute virgin, look at the face.”

The pale fingers of the proprietress went to the face of the paper bride, “Her face is like a peach blossom looking forward to flying.”

“And look at this mouth, it’s a small cherry mouth. Look at these eyes, they are so beautiful, she’s a real beauty.”

“Take it on the road, it’s better than a living fairy.”

“If you still have money to spare, you can also take this with you.”

The proprietress pointed to the paper figurines standing next to the bride.

These were the size of seven- or eight-year-old children, with round faces, the same bold blush, and cherry mouths.

The children were also divided into sexes, one male and one female, the female had a goat’s horn braid, and the male had a peach head.

The gorgeously dressed children stood by the paper bride obediently, their hands clasped together and looking somewhat well-behaved.

“This paper bride is great, in addition to the beautiful bride, you can also have auspicious dragon and phoenix children as well, to enjoy the joy of family.”

Bai Lixin nodded perfunctorily and said, “They’re not bad.”

He turned his head to look behind him. There was a shelf with many small items on it.

There were gold ingots, paper money, shoes made of paper, etc.

“Yes, yes, and you can’t go wrong with paper money,” said the proprietress as she quickly went to the shelf and raised her arm to pull a stack of paper money out of the top compartment.

“This paper money was just printed, look at the zeros on the back of it; there are more than you can count. It was published by the Paradise Bank, so they are absolutely genuine banknotes.” The woman shook the paper money and said, “Don’t blame me for not reminding you, being a ghost is no different from being human, but you have to know the ways of whichever world you to. Ghosts have to be able to decide what is good and what is bad. And when you get to the bridge of death…… the underworld is not like the mortal world, you have to spend a lot of money.”

“You should take a lot, it’s definitely useful.”

“Such a pile is only a number, the value of the goods exceeds the value.”

Bai Lixin smiled perfunctorily again, and said, in a joking tone, “Madam, this paper figurine is made so vividly that I fear it will get up and run away when I buy it.”

His eyes fell on the ankle of the male paper figurine.

The proprietress laughed, and the powder on her face fell to the ground like snowflakes. “Hahahahaha, the guest knows how to joke, how is that possible? I’m embarrassed by your compliments. I’ll tell you what, if you buy, I’ll give you another discount. Not only are you good-looking, but you are also good at sweet-talking. I wouldn’t be able to resist your charm if I didn’t have a boss at home.”

Bai Lixin: “……”

No need!