The rain grew heavier, and the mountain road became increasingly muddy. Zhuo Xiong and Heng Roulian followed Hei Zi, trudging through one grave mound after another, their feet sinking deep into the mud. In the distance, a few will-o'-the-wisps flickered in and out of sight among the beech trees, but even Hei Zi, who usually couldn't stand such things, didn't notice them as he rushed forward.

  Not far away, a man was lying on a small mound, letting the raindrops hit his back mercilessly. A precious sword and a piece of mourning paper were scattered around him. If it were daytime, one would have thought he was dead. Zhuo Xiong turned over Cha Wenbin, whose small wooden coffin under him was almost untouched by the rain.

  "Wen Bin, wake up!" In the wind and rain, Zhuo Xiong shook his body like a muddy swamp. His face was pale, and Zhuo Xiong checked his breathing with his fingers, saying: "He's still breathing, but he has a high fever, hurry and take him down the mountain."

  Wen Bin was about to head down the mountain, Zhuo Xiong picked up the things on the ground and was ready to leave. He turned his head and saw that small coffin. Wen Bin used his body to block something, he immediately took off his raincoat and carefully covered the coffin with it, only then did they follow each other down the mountain.

  Back home, first changed him into a clean set of clothes, then asked Heng Rou to make the fire in the brazier burn more fiercely. Zhao Wenzhen was still unconscious, his body shivering with fever.

  In this small mountain village in the middle of the night, on New Year's Eve, where did the doctor come from? Zhuo Xiong found some more ginger in the kitchen and made a bowl of ginger tea. He held his body up and managed to get him to drink some. Heng Roulian kept going back and forth between the water tank and the bedside, replacing the towel on Zha Wenbin's forehead, as long as the fever came down, everything would be fine.

  Finally, at dawn, Zhang Wenbin's body temperature returned to normal. The two of them, who had been tossing and turning all night, fell asleep on the bed, until they were awakened by a knock at the door: "Wenbin, brother, get up and open the door!"

  Zhuo Xiong and Heng Rou woke up one after the other, heard the sound, and knew that the debt collector had arrived. With two pairs of dark eye circles, they got out of bed to open the door.

  The entrance was bustling with excitement, Chaozi, Leng Yiran, He Lao, Zhao Suozhang, and a chubby guy they didn't recognize, all carrying big and small bags, their faces filled with the joy of New Year's.

  Chao Zi was the first to enter the door and greeted: "Xiangzi, how's life treating you here? Ah, big brother Da Kuai is also here. Happy New Year to you both! By the way, Wen Bin, why haven't you come out? Are you inside preparing lunch for us?"

  The little witch wore a fiery red down jacket today, with shiny leather boots on her feet, showing off her perfect figure. She also followed alongside and teased: "Right? Even Wen Bin didn't come out to pick us up, I still want to ask him for red envelopes."

  Zhuo Xiong's face showed a difficult expression as he said: "Well, I don't know what to say either. In short, you all go in and take a look for yourselves. He's still sleeping, so be quiet..."

  Looking at his bitter melon face, Chaozi's heart jumped out with a bad premonition, and he blurted out: "Damn it, let him take care of himself, get out of the way." Pushing away Zhuo Xiong, he had just walked into the yard when the door creaked open. Cha Wenbin, wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, smiled and said: "On the first day of the new year, one should be careful with their words, don't let profanity fill your speech, after all, you're a grown man."

  Chaozi hadn't seen him for just a few days, and now he was overjoyed. He went up to give him a big hug, and in the heat of the moment, he punched him and said, "I thought something had happened to you!" This one punch made Zhang Wenbin's blood surge, and on the spot, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Chaozi still didn't know what was going on and continued to hug him, while Leng Yiru let out a sharp cry: "Ah!" The gift in her hand fell to the ground, and those cans shattered into pieces.

  Zha Wenbin, lying in the house, squeezed out a smile on his face as he looked at the crowd surrounding him, waving his hand to indicate that it was no big deal. He Lao continued to scold Chao Zi, and even Zhao Suo Chang joined in the criticism session, with one person speaking after another, making him feel ashamed and embarrassed, so he cursed Zhuo Xiong: "Blind man, you know he's injured, why didn't you come together last night?"

  "Me, me..."

  "How dare you, Xiao Mo! You're always bullying others. This is clearly your fault, you're so careless and rough when doing things. Don't you know that Wen Bin just got out of the hospital?"

  Seeing all the guns pointed at him, Chaozi was speechless, only hoping that Cha Wenbin would be okay. In the end, it was still Cha Wenbin who came to mediate, looking at the chubby man and saying: "Director Jin, you're here too."

  The fat guy who was originally standing behind the crowd squeezed forward and said with a flattering smile: "Hehe, Mr. Cha, you are my lifesaver, and you have re-arranged the feng shui for me again, how can I not come to pay my respects? By the way, it's just coincidental that we met Zhao and his group outside, so we came in together."

  Zha Wenbin is also a clever person. Director Jin's business is like dealing with the dead. He doesn't take any action unless it's absolutely necessary. As he slightly raised his body, Chaizi helped him lean against the headboard. Zha Wenbin said: "Director Jin, since that's the case, I appreciate your kindness. However, today is New Year's Day, let's not discuss those things, lest we offend the gods. If you have any business, come back after the 15th of the first month."

  When Wen Bin gave the order to seal his mouth, the Jin Guan naturally also knew what to do. This Taoist priest was absolutely the most powerful one he had ever seen. If he didn't follow his heart, it would be impossible to invite him. He turned around and wanted to leave. But before he retreated from the crowd, he thought about it and still spoke up: "No, Mr. Cha, please help me out, otherwise my family won't have a good New Year."

  Chao Zi originally had a burning belly, and now he's caught the opportunity, opening his mouth to say: "Haven't you seen that Wen Bin is uncomfortable? Everyone said not to discuss those things today. Are you looking for trouble? If it weren't New Year's Day, I'd throw you out of the house, believe me!"

  Director Jin was sweating profusely, he knew Director Zhao's methods, but didn't expect this kid to be even more ruthless. He could only hang his head and turn around to leave. Before he reached the door, Cha Wenbin shouted: "Alright, alright, what is it?"

  Chaozi asked in a low voice: "Will this work?" Zha Wenbin shook his head: "It's nothing."

  Director Jin heard that Cha Wenbin was willing to answer, and his bitter melon face immediately returned to its original state. He squeezed into the crowd and arrived at Cha Wenbin's bedside, saying pitifully: "Mr. Cha, you must save me this time..."

  Since the Jin Ge Pavilion followed Cha Wenbin's instructions and planted a phoenix tree on the Luofeng Slope, there have been no more ghostly occurrences in this funeral home, and business has also become increasingly prosperous, with money pouring in.

  However, good times don't last long. Probably after Cha Wenbin went to Sichuan, a nameless corpse was pulled into the funeral home. This wasn't anything unusual for him; generally when police found an unidentifiable body they would leave evidence behind and put it in cold storage at the funeral home until they gathered clues and solved the case.

  There were nearly twenty corpses like that, and as usual, they were put into the morgue. Since the arrival of those bodies, he received a report from his subordinates on the second day, saying that a large rooster raised in Luofeng Slope was bitten to death by something unknown last night, with all its blood sucked dry, which was very eerie.

  These big roosters were all bought by him from the surrounding villages, with the purpose of serving as phoenix messengers. To this group of chickens, he regarded them more importantly than his employees, feeding them with good food every day, for fear of offending these masters. Now it's good, one died, and it's so strange. Looking at the corpse of the big rooster, Principal Jin was afraid that the matter would spread out and affect people's hearts, so he let his subordinates secretly dispose of it.

  That night, the person on duty said they heard someone knocking on the boxes in the cold storage room. The steel freezer used to store dead bodies was made of a single grid, and it sounded very loud when knocked on, scaring the person on duty so much that he almost wet his pants and ran back home overnight. Early the next morning, Director Jin came to work and found another large rooster brought in, dead in the same way as the previous one, with its blood sucked dry.

  This matter quickly spread within the funeral home, where employees were already doing dirty and tiring work. Nobody wanted to deal with dead bodies unless they had a stable job. On that day, several timid employees wanted to quit, but Director Jin kept them from leaving by offering higher wages and even sent someone to buy two large roosters as compensation.

  Later, the roosters continued to die at a rate of one per day, and no one knew what was going on. The knocking sound in the cold storage room grew louder and louder, causing people's hearts to be disturbed and the chickens and dogs to be restless. Director Jin thought of Cha Wenbin at that time, came over to ask, but he wasn't there, had gone to the provincial city, and after asking around, found out from Director Zhao that he had gone to Sichuan.

  He had no choice but to go find a Taoist priest, who demanded some money and then performed a ritual, solemnly assuring him that everything would be fine from now on. But as soon as the priest left, things got even worse...

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