As for the corpse before him, Xu Qing would handle it just as he would with the clients who came to the Funeral Shop to arrange posthumous affairs, without violating professional conduct.
"Mountain Gathering Prayer Technique, Earth Origin Technique, Bewitching Heart Curse, Fox Light Mirror, Moon Worship Banner..."
Xu Qing supervised the remains all the way to the main burial chamber, but when he opened the coffin in front of him, he found it empty with only an unassuming, plain-looking five-colored stone placed inside.
Xu Qing attempted to pick up the palm-sized stone but was unable to lift it.
"Hmm?"
The zombie had immense strength, so how could it not lift a mere stone?
Xu Qing was perplexed. He had already reached the perfection of the Undying Bone realm, able to lift thousands of pounds with ease, and with effort, could effortlessly lift tens of thousands of pounds.
But this palm-sized five-colored stone...
A thought occurred to Xu Qing. While guiding the souls of the Hu Yang Clan, who had been buried here for generations, he had caught wind of a local legend about a Lost Sky Patching Stone.
According to the legend, in ancient times, the four giant pillars supporting the heavens collapsed, causing the sky to crack, floods to surge, and wild beasts to rampage...
A goddess born from the essence of heaven and earth forged over thirty thousand five-colored stones to save all living beings at the Ungrounded Cliff of the Great Wilderness.
She used 36,500 five-colored stones to mend the sky; various stories circulated about the surplus stones.
One story was that they were abandoned beneath the Green Ridge Peak, while another said that the 'Gaomei' goddess, who later governed matters of marriage and procreation, entrusted the five-colored stones to the Nine-tailed Fox Race as a token, and the Nine-tailed Fox replaced the goddess as 'Gaomei,' overseeing human matrimonial affairs.
The Mountain Collection Fox Race was the latter.
Xu Qing exerted tremendous force yet still could not move the five-colored stone before him.
Just as Xu Qing was about to give up, the stone in his hand suddenly emitted a five-colored glow.
The next moment, the meritorious incense of the Blood Lake Dharma Realm seemed to be influenced by something, suddenly becoming excited and restless.
Xu Qing was intrigued, and he channeled a strand of the Blood Lake incense around the five-colored stone...
Strangely enough, once the meritorious incense touched the five-colored stone, the stone, supposedly weighing over ten thousand pounds, instantly lost all its weight.
Xu Qing, unable to restrain his excess strength, staggered and quickly steadied himself.
At this moment, he weighed the five-colored stone in his hand, finding it light as a feather; relying solely on sensory perception, no one would believe this was a stubborn stone.
"Strange."
Xu Qing attempted to store the five-colored stone into the Mountain and River Map but failed. He then tried to place it into the Blood Lake Dharma Realm, and this time the stone, without much effort from him, conveyed a thought and entered the Blood Lake Dharma Realm like a frolicsome puppy.
"Could it truly be a Lost Sky Patching Stone?"
Xu Qing couldn't be sure; he didn't even know of what material the stone was made or what its function could be.
"Forget it, let it be."
Recollecting his thoughts, Xu Qing turned his gaze back to the now-empty coffin before him.
"This coffin is nice; if Senior Sister Yizhen wants to continue the Hu Yang Clan's bloodline in the future, she'd definitely need a dowry!"
Happily, Xu Qing took the coffin without considering who in their right mind would choose a coffin for a dowry.
After all, in Xu Qing's mind, since Hu Baosong entrusted Taoist Yizhen to him, he should perform his duties diligently, handling her affairs in life and death.
Before that, this coffin, perfect for resting in, was naturally his to keep.
After witnessing the lantern images of the Hu Yang ancestors and obtaining numerous rewards related to the Hu Yang legacy, Xu Qing finally left the Hu Yang Tomb without further concerns.
Under the Five Filthy Evil Worlds, right law is difficult to preserve; he could neither effectively extend the life of an old friend nor resurrect them.
For now, all he could do was this much.
On the Ancient Yin River Dao, Xu Qing rode a horse.
Behind him, the mysterious Hu Yang Tomb once again faded into the mist.
...
Boundary Stone of Yin and Yang, True Monarch's Bone Temple.
A man in a red robe stared silently at the young man entering the bone temple.
Xu Qing touched his cheek, puzzled, and asked, "Why does the True Monarch stare at me so?"
"Could it be out of shame?"
"..."
The Demon Exorcism True Monarch snorted coldly and said, "Two months ago, the Yin Corpse Sect's burial mountain was flooded with corpse qi, and then a sky-high evil qi rolled up into an overwhelming blaze, burning the burial mountain to the ground."
"From a distance, the aura seemed very much like yours."
Xu Qing blinked and said, "My aura of righteousness is detectable from such a distance? The True Monarch must be perceptive!"
"You have no aura of righteousness! I see your yin energy is too strong, and your evil qi too intense; continuing this way isn't right!"
Watching the earnest look of the man in the red robe, Xu Qing laughed: "What is the right path? Has the True Monarch, after so many years on the Ancient Yin River, ever seen this place so peaceful?"
"Peaceful?" The Demon Exorcism True Monarch was puzzled.
Xu Qing pointed outside the bone temple, arguing logically: "Look at the Ghost King's Tomb, the Magic King Tomb, and the Yin Corpse Sect that had plagued the Ancient Yin River for years. Do you see any of their presence in the Ancient Yin River now?"
"..."
Don't say it, you'd better not say it!
Only after Xu Qing's hint did the Demon Exorcism True Monarch realize that the Ancient Yin River had indeed been unusually quiet recently.
But the True Monarch quickly reacted.
Most of the ghosts and evil cultivators in the Ancient Yin River had almost been wiped out by Xu Qing, making even ghostly shadows hard to spot, so of course, it seemed peaceful!
"No major issues, just stopped by to look at the True Monarch before leaving the Ancient Yin River." Xu Qing paused and said, "If we meet next time, it might be a final farewell."
"..."
"Stop speaking ominous words. Even buried in the Ancient Yin River, if one day the netherworld is rebuilt in order, I might also have the chance to reincarnate, then one day awaken to my past wisdom, and return to my place..."