Early March, the green hills stretch endlessly.
Taking advantage of Song Tu and Dou Yun's watch over the spirit, Xu Qing had already selected a burial ground at Wujue Slope in advance.
This burial ground is on a high hill, surrounded by pine shades, secluded and shaded, making it a perfect place of tranquility. Even in the feng shui theories of Wen Wu Kan Yu, it's a top-tier configuration of gathering winds and accumulating energy, guarded by four symbols.
This burial hill was singled out by Xu Qing, and no matter how many silver coins others might spend, he wouldn't sell it.
Here, it's a place he specifically designated for burying old acquaintances.
In Xu Qing's eyes, the old friends buried here seem dead, but in a certain sense, they are actually closer to him.
Life is the death of life, death is the life of death, Xu Qing transcends life and death, seeing it more clearly than Song Tu and Dou Yun.
Moreover, the distance between the living and zombies is not necessarily closer than that between zombies and the dead.
Having chosen the feng shui treasure land, the next step is the funeral procession, road sacrifice, and burial.
Xu Qing personally led the team, scattering paper money along the way as toll money to placate the wandering souls.
Behind him were funeral employees holding high the mourning flags, elegiac couplets, and mourning streamers.
In the middle, Wang Lingyuan's coffin bore a large character for "sacrifice," carried by thirty-two people, the highest honor ordinary people could enjoy under the Da Yan ritual laws.
Above that, only those with a title or crucial military officials could enjoy such treatment.
The eldest son carried the banner, the second son held the spirit.
Beside the coffin, filial son Song Tu, holding the spirit tablet, while the first disciple Dou Yun acted as the eldest son, carrying the spirit banner on his shoulder.
In front of the two disciples, Dou Yun's grandson held Wang Lingyuan's memorial portrait.
The portrait was personally drawn by Xu Qing using Danqing Skill, a fresh addition from the Funeral Shop, belonging to a chic category of burials, emphasizing high-end fashion.
Usually, this service would require an extra cost, but today Wang Lingyuan received it all for free.
One wonders if Senior Brother Wang, with his spirit in heaven, would be moved...
Behind the coffin, Zhao Zhonghe and other constables led the mourning horse. On the cart, paper offerings and various types of burnable items were placed.
The procession wasn't over yet, behind were young boys and girls leading 'soul-laden' paper horses, following along.
Musicians played mourning tunes on either side of the processional line, those were the seasoned veterans from Xu Qing's Funeral House.
In any case, as the suona played, the entire street was engulfed in this warm atmosphere.
Some families fearing bad luck mostly tied a red cloth strip on their door.
There were curious children wanting to join in the fun but were quickly pulled back by adults grabbing their collars.
Yet, this didn't stop the curious eyes peeking through door cracks.
The long procession majestically wound through the alleys, with monks and Daoists chanting sutras and sweeping dust at the end of the line.
Some were wandering monks or Fire Living Daoists. With war breaking out everywhere in previous years, these monks and Daoists fled from all over to Jin Sect, barely making a living.
Seeing the monks gather more and more, County Magistrate Chen Guangrui thought it couldn't continue indefinitely, so he built a temple near New Yao Fang and erected a Daoist temple as a landmark north of the City God Temple.
Usually, these monks and Daoists participate in the construction of the riverside city, allowing them to become self-sufficient.
Initially, some lazy monks and Daoists wanted to rely on managing the temple and collecting incense money to support themselves, but little did they know that the locals didn't believe in their ways. Instead, they trusted more in the Cat God and Lady Bao Sheng, and even the merchants and fishermen who came and went from the port believed in Jin Sect's Sea Goddess.
Having no alternative, if these monks wanted to live comfortably, they could only engage in production.
What kind of work brought quick money?
Selling goods on the overpass wasn't too effective, as there were too many peers, plus some competitive workers, like a female divination master who charged only a few coins and was particularly accurate, disrupting the balance of the divination circle. How could they easily raise the price and earn high divination fees with such a person around?
It was better suited to go wash dishes in a tavern!
But it was at this moment that a monk discovered that the Xu Family Funeral House posted a recruitment notice, hiring monks and Daoists to work as mages for funerals.
Although the pay wasn't high, the benefits were undeniable, promising long-term service the allocation of housing, and if they worked until old age, they could receive a free Iron Token and a comprehensive end-of-life service package.
After hearing the news, a group of monks initially hesitated, but within two days, they went to the Funeral House only to find the positions already filled.
Even so, the Funeral House left free meals for the monks who traveled far to apply, and each received thirty coins for the return journey.
Today's Xu Family Funeral Business is truly an integrated chain for incense candles, cemetery materials, embalming, and funeral services.
And today, with Xu Qing leading the entire funeral gate, the complete funeral process has once again demonstrated the power of the Xu Family Funeral Business to the citizens both inside and outside the city.
"Gosh, this Shopkeeper Xu returns with quite a spectacle!"
"Indeed, ten years ago, in autumn, as I took a shortcut through Underground Street, there were corpses lined from the Funeral Shop all the way outside, over two hundred of them, I reckon."
"Now with this Xu returning, another big spectacle, it's definitely not ordinary bad luck!"
Just as two people were talking, a middle-aged man at the front of the procession suddenly stepped over to them, took two sheets of paper from his basket of paper money, and handed them over.
The middle-aged man didn't speak, just handed over the items and turned away, stern-faced, continuing out of the city.
"Scholar Kong, you are literate. What does this tadpole script on the paper mean?"