A few porters from Zhongzhou, feeling bewildered, followed Xu Qing into the Funeral Shop and left the shop, which had a black cat, in a daze.
On Underground Street, the lean man leading the group looked confused. Unlike when they arrived, he and the followers behind him each held a membership iron token.
"Why can't I remember what happened in the shop?"
A follower next to him reminded, "Didn't Officer go into the compartment alone and sign a contract with that shopkeeper regarding the funeral services?"
"Did this happen?" The lean man referred to as Officer shook his head, feeling dizzy, like someone who had been drunk all night.
"Yes, Officer also disclosed the birthplace of each of us to that funeral shopkeeper and signed some family package, saying that the funerals for three generations of our families would be handled by Underground Street."
"..."
The lean man was suddenly startled and asked, "Did I handle it too?"
Several subordinates cast puzzled glances, wondering if handling funeral services was not part of the Officer's plan.
The lean man immediately realized and said gruffly, "All of this was naturally within my expectations. As long as we have the iron token from his Funeral Shop, we can justifiably appear on Underground Street to carry out the orders given by Your Majesty..."
As they spoke, the shopkeeper of the Funeral Shop, a middle-aged man in white, came to the street and nodded at them with a smile.
His gaze was like someone looking at his assets stored in a bank, waiting for the moment he could withdraw them at any time.
"Officer, should we follow?"
The lean man pondered for a moment and then said, "Wolf Tail, stay here. Wolf Waist, Wolf Fang, you two come with me!"
Xu Qing walked along the street, stopping now and then. Whenever he encountered a food stall selling wontons, crab noodles, crispy rings, bean pudding, or tea soup, he stopped.
For the past ten years, Xu Qing had not consumed a drop, but now that he was thrust back into the mortal world, he completely indulged himself.
Of course, it's not that the street food was particularly delicious, but being in the mundane world inevitably stirred some past memories.
Xu Qing ate from one end of the street to the other, and when he changed streets, he continued to eat.
A few people trailed not far behind him, but Xu Qing didn't mind. He had already used the Truth Pill back at the Funeral Shop to extract the information he wanted from the lean man.
This group was all spies for the current emperor, Zhu Huai'an, under the Inspectorate.
The Inspectorate, also known as the Brocade Division, had four ranks: Brocade Emissary, Brocade Officer, Brocade Major (Left Major, Right Major), and Brocade General.
The lean man was a Brocade Officer for the Inspectorate. Before Zhu Huai'an established the Inspectorate, he came to Jin Sect by imperial decree to monitor Underground Street.
And they had only one mission, which was to wait for Xu Qing to appear. Once he showed up on Underground Street, the Inspectorate was to immediately report the matter to the emperor.
Xu Qing could roughly guess why Zhu Huai'an was so focused on him; it might be because of the past friendship among the 'Four Talents of Jin Sect,' or it might be due to the Brocade Pouch he gifted Zhu Huai'an before he went to the northern border.
In any case, after learning that the lean man and his group had no hostility towards him, Xu Qing put the matter aside.
As long as it didn't affect his business, Xu Qing couldn't be bothered to deal with them.
"That funeral shopkeeper sure can eat!"
"Exactly! And he's quite the foodie. Just look at how he dips those crispy rings in soup, how authentic!"
Some of the group, who had been tailing Xu Qing all day, were just about hungry. A Brocade Emissary from Zhongzhou mimicked Xu Qing's method of eating crispy rings, filling a leather bag with a bowl of soybean milk and eating while walking.
"Ugh—puh puh! Tastes like swill!"
A Brocade Emissary from the Capital City spoke up, "How wasteful, that's how soybean milk tastes, you just don't get it!"
"Enough talking, he's on the move again, let's go!"
Xu Qing arrived at the Incense Candle Workshop on Long Lamp Street. As soon as he entered the workshop, the inside was bustling with making incense and candles, paper pulping, and boiling cinnamon oil.
"Employee, please do me a favor and take me to see your employer. I have something to discuss with her."
As soon as the floor walker heard this, he immediately waved his hands, "There are countless people looking for our employer. If you want to talk business, see Steward Xing. If you're here to propose, hehe..."
The employee sneered and said, "Our employer is no ordinary woman; she is a husband among women, and has always detested those who come to court her. If you're here for that, I advise you to abandon the idea!"
Has the Wang Family's girl really become so difficult to meet...
Xu Qing stopped the employee who was about to leave and spoke again, "I am an old acquaintance of your employer. You just need to tell her that the shopkeeper from Underground Street is here to visit, and she will understand."
Upon hearing 'shopkeeper from Underground Street,' the employee's dismissive attitude immediately disappeared, though he still asked with some suspicion:
"The shopkeeper from Underground Street? Underground Street is where our employer started. I haven't heard of any shopkeeper on Underground Street over the years, though there's a famous woman named Sun Erniang. But her husband disappeared without a trace ten years ago. I heard he went out of town, couldn't escape the turmoil, and died elsewhere..."
Xu Qing furrowed his brow. He knew who Sun Erniang was — she was the assumed name of the Female Zombie possessed by Xuan Yu running the shop.
But what's with Sun Erniang's husband being missing for ten years?
Xu Qing wondered, "Since when does Sun Erniang have a husband? Who told you? What's her husband's name?"
The employee replied without thinking, "I don't know, that's just the rumor. As for her husband's name, it seems like his last name is Xu..."
Xu Qing clicked his tongue in disbelief. He knew the Jinmen people were quick to gossip, but this was too bizarre!