Chapter 46: Treading on the Coffin

From Uncle Hu's eyes, I caught a fleeting glimpse of worry at that moment.

"There is no need to worry, Brother Hu. Although this coffin is heavy, we have Daqing!"

I winked at Uncle Hu, and with a wave of my hand, Daqing immediately slithered over and came right before me.

I reached out and patted its head, signaling it to carry the coffin into the Hu family courtyard.

Daqing understood immediately and swallowed the coffin whole in its mouth.

Thus, the two of us and one dragon, under the cover of night, secretly returned from the Hundred Grave Cavern to the Hu family courtyard.

Though exhausting, we had finally resolved a major trouble.

To me, this was a thoroughly worthwhile endeavor.

Yet, the only thing that puzzled me was why Chen Hongyi had not shown up this entire time.

What on earth was she doing?

Did she know that I had already absolved the Chen Qiyue within the coffin?

I felt that this matter was certainly not going to be resolved so easily.

Chen Hongyi was undoubtedly brewing a massive conspiracy.

Upon returning to the courtyard, both Uncle Hu and I felt an inexplicable mix of excitement and tension.

The exciting part was that we had finally resolved a trouble and discovered that the mastermind behind the scenes was Chen Hongyi from Huangquan Village.

The tense part, however, was that Chen Hongyi had not yet shown her face.

Given her profound Daoist arts and supernatural powers, she should not have allowed us to absolve Chen Qiyue so easily.

There was definitely something fishy going on.

After Daqing placed the coffin in the courtyard, I had it return to the mutton-fat white jade bottle.

The malevolent ghost that had come to harm me was still imprisoned inside.

It was sent by Chen Hongyi, and until our affairs were completely settled, this little ghost could not be set free.

Back in the Hu family courtyard, after taking a brief rest, I placed an incense burner in front of the coffin to pay my respects.

Although this fellow had no blood relation to me, our fates were intertwined. Absolving him this time could also be considered a stroke of destiny.

After placing the offerings of incense inside the burner, I returned to the inner room to rest.

The battle at the Hundred Grave Cavern today had truly worn me out.

Had the yin spirit not accepted my absolution at the very last moment, Uncle Hu and I would likely have had to expend a tremendous amount of effort to deal with him.

Back in my room, I sat quietly on the bed alone.

I had a premonition that tonight's events would by no means end so simply.

I prepared numerous talismans that I might need, tucked them securely close to my body, and placed the ritual implements I might require right beside me.

This night felt exceptionally long to me, truly giving me the sensation that every single day dragged on like a year.

I always felt that the relationship between Chen Hongyi and the person inside the coffin was by no means that of ordinary siblings, though what the exact truth was, I could not give a definitive answer.

Just then, the tightly shut courtyard gates were suddenly pushed open, and a fierce blast of yin wind swept in.

At a single glance, I recognized it: this was corpse qi!

She was here!

The woman in red from the Hundred Grave Cavern, the elder sister of the person inside the coffin.

Chen Hongyi had arrived!

That night at the Hundred Grave Cavern, I had been too tense to properly observe her appearance. Today, however, I intended to take a good look at what this woman actually looked like, and whether she truly possessed heaven-shattering cultivation.

Soon, accompanied by this gust of yin wind, a rather small coffin abruptly drifted in from outside.

That was right, the coffin seemed to float in all by itself, hovering about twenty to thirty centimeters off the ground as it drifted inward.

It was as if it had grown a pair of invisible feet and walked in through the front gate on its own.

Still, I could perceive that a massive concentration of corpse qi was gathered beneath the coffin.

This was Chen Hongyi controlling the corpse qi to carry the coffin inside.

And this coffin was nearly identical to the one I had parked in the Hu family courtyard, with large double-happiness characters pasted on both ends of the coffin as well!

As this coffin drifted into the courtyard, both Uncle Hu and I rushed out with looks of extreme vigilance.

This scene was simply too bizarre for the two of us.

"Qiyue, be careful. This must be that female fiend coming after us."

Uncle Hu held his broadsword horizontally before his chest, looking at me with a worried expression.

He was not afraid of death, but he was terrified that something might happen to me.

"Don't you worry, Uncle Hu. This creature poses no threat to me."

I waved my hand at Uncle Hu, signaling him to relax.

If this coffin was indeed sent by Chen Hongyi, then I naturally had ways to subdue her.

I solemnly cupped my hands in a bow toward the courtyard gates, and then said earnestly:

"Chen Qiyue, disciple of the Qingma Physiognomy Sect, is here. I know not which master is performing arts here, but I kindly ask you to reveal yourself and meet!"

My neither humble nor arrogant demeanor seemed to catch the mastermind off guard.

"Clink~~"

Accompanied by a crisp sound of bells, the slender-figured woman we had seen earlier in the Hundred Grave Cavern appeared once again at the doorway.

Yet, apart from the red bridal veil obscuring her face, she appeared shockingly young.

I had always assumed that given her profound mastery, she would at least be a forty- or fifty-year-old crone, but to my surprise, she looked to be only around twenty-five or six right now.

At this moment, she wore a red robe and held a delicate bronze bell in her hand.

I observed her closely and found her facial features to be exquisitely refined, resembling a female celebrity on television—stunningly beautiful.

Yet, as Chen Hongyi gradually closed the distance, both Uncle Hu and I could feel a chilling aura washing over our entire bodies, causing us to instinctively dodge aside.

"This old man is Hutieshou, disciple of the Incense-Viewing Sect. I know not why the young lady has come here in the dead of night? If the lady has come for the person inside this coffin, may I ask if our matter today can be amicably resolved?"

Uncle Hu Tieshou sensed the oppressive might emanating from the woman before him, and once again bowed respectfully, stating his affiliation.

In the world of feng shui, one only stated their background upon encountering a true master, which was also considered a form of courtesy.

"Chen Hongyi of the Corpse Immortal Pavilion!"

Upon hearing the three words "Corpse Immortal Pavilion," a look of confusion flashed across my eyes, for I was clearly completely ignorant of this sect.

Meanwhile, Uncle Hu beside me turned pale with fright and took several steps back, his face filled with terror!

"Today, I, Chen Hongyi of the Corpse Immortal Pavilion, have come here to kill you. To avenge my unjustly killed younger brother and child!"

"You, Chen Qiyue, are not worthy of living!"

"Should anyone dare to stop me, I will drag them down to the grave with me!"

"What I, Chen Hongyi, say, I will do!"

Chen Hongyi declared that I was not worthy of living and wanted to kill me to avenge her younger brother.

If any normal person were to hear such words and suffer such humiliation, they surely would not be able to bear it.

Yet, my heart experienced no major fluctuations, because ever since the moment I was born, I had been regarded as an omen of bad luck by those around me. Had it not been for my grandfather protecting me, I feared I would have long since departed this mortal world.

From a very young age, I had endured the cold stares of everyone around me. Such humiliating words from Chen Hongyi seemed entirely normal to me.

When I was young, unable to understand the gazes of those around me, I would cry in secret.

At that time, my grandfather would comfort me, saying:

"Qiyue, if everyone in this world scorns you, insults you, and even wants to kill you, you must endure it. Without enduring humiliation to survive, how can one astonish the world upon emergence?"

"When the day comes that you can remain as motionless as a mountain, all things in heaven and earth will become your fortune. Let them wait and see!"

In the past, I only half-understood what my grandfather said, thinking he was merely referring to those villagers.

Yet facing Chen Hongyi at this moment, a flash of sudden enlightenment struck me like a thunderbolt.

How could those country villagers ever catch the eye of my esteemed grandfather?

The people he referred to ought to be figures like Chen Hongyi.

At last, I finally understood why Chen Hongyi wanted to kill me so desperately. It was not because the two of us shared a personal grudge, nor did it have much to do with resurrecting the person inside the coffin.

She wanted to kill me purely because I deserved to die.

And my deserving death had nothing to do with committing any heinous deeds; it was simply because my birth disrupted the destiny of the supreme sects at the apex of the feng shui pyramid.

It seemed that there was indeed a profound secret hidden within me, a secret so deep that my grandfather could not bring himself to tell me before his dying breath.

Heavenly secrets must not be leaked; all of this could only be unraveled by myself, layer by layer.

I reckoned that right now throughout the entire feng shui world, high masters wishing to kill me were certainly not limited to Chen Hongyi alone.

"Fellow Daoist, I wonder in what way my junior brother Chen Qiyue has offended you? If he has, I, Hutieshou, am willing to offer double compensation!"

Uncle Hu realized that the woman before him was extraordinary, and hurriedly spoke to her.

However, Chen Hongyi clearly did not buy into his approach and directly shook the bronze bell in her hand, causing the coffin to drop to the ground with a loud thud.

And she simply smiled and sat right atop it. The situation was now in grave peril!