Shuiqing Temple was neither too big nor too small. Excluding Qian Huailin and his master, there were a total of sixteen Taoist priests.

Although there weren't many people, Qian Huailin was only one person. He dug in the yard for a day and a night before finally burying them all.

After tamping down the soil of the last grave mound, Qian Huailin, who was extremely exhausted, staggered toward the main hall. He had not yet collected his master's body.

Qian Huailin originally planned to burn down the Taoist temple after burying his master, but things didn't go as planned. Just as he carried his master's body into the courtyard, he heard hurried footsteps outside the gate.

Qian Huailin instinctively tried to dodge, but collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion.

When he woke up again, he found himself lying in a deep pit, with masked men dressed in black standing in the hole above his head.

Even with the firelight illuminating their faces, Qian Huailin still couldn't identify them.

Qian Huailin knew that he was in grave danger, but he was powerless to struggle. He could only frantically shout and curse at the sky above, but the group of men in black did not react at all.

After an unknown amount of time, Qian Huailin felt like his throat was about to burst into flames when a handful of soil suddenly fell down in front of him.

Qian Huailin looked up and noticed that a tall, thin man in a Taoist robe had appeared among the men in black.

This man had small eyes, a bulbous nose, and a huge black mole on the tip of his nose; he was so ugly that he was unforgettable.

"Don't blame me, this is a calamity that your Qian family was destined to suffer."

Don't worry, your family will be reunited in a few years!

After the man finished speaking, without waiting for Qian Huailin's reaction, he gave a wink to the men in black around him, and piles of dirt fell from all directions.

In no time, Qian Huailin was buried up to his head.

His body, buried in the loess, had begun to gradually go numb, and the pressure on his lungs forced Qian Huailin to stop cursing.

He had no choice but to open his eyes wide, trying to make out the faces of everyone above him.

Unfortunately, apart from that man, everyone else was dressed in black and did not reveal anything that could identify them.

Just a second before Qian Huailin's vision was completely obscured, he saw through the cracks in the soil that one of the men in black turned around and revealed a bright green waist tag with the character "Sun" engraved on it.

This was the last thing he saw as a living person.

"As a living person?"

"Yes, I was actually already dead at that time." Faced with Zhao Chengyuan's question, Qian Huailin made no attempt to evade the question.

Madam Qian, who was standing to the side, had already collapsed to the ground in tears. Mr. Qian seemed to be holding her and comforting her, but in reality, he was also crying his heart out.

Qian Handuo stood beside Qian Hanying, gently comforting her older sister who was more than ten years younger than her.

When Qian Huailin opened his eyes again, he was already inside that mahogany coffin.

He wasn't quite clear-headed at the time, and he didn't know why he was lying in a coffin after being buried in the earth. He was only thinking about what his older brother had just said:

"Huailin, my little sister is getting married soon. If you hear about this, come back and visit her so I can bring you a cup of wedding wine."

Qian Huailin got up and wanted to go home, but after taking only two steps, everything went black before his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was lying back in the coffin.

After repeating this process more than a dozen times, Qian Huailin finally came up with a solution. He tied the coffin to his back and carried it all the way home.

Qian Huailin had already guessed that he had become a walking corpse, so he originally planned to return to Shuiqing Temple to wait for death after sending Duo Niang off to her wedding.

But plans can't keep up with changes. That night, he originally wanted to go into the house to talk to his wife about how he had wronged her over the years, but as soon as he entered the house, he saw Wan Niang sitting at the table reading Taoist scriptures. Qian Huailin immediately sensed that something was wrong.

You should know that ever since he ran away from home to pursue Taoism, Wan Niang has deeply abhorred such things, and even the peace charm that she gave her a few years ago was thrown into the woodshed.

However, Qian Huailin did not rush to expose her. Instead, he pretended to be nonchalant and chatted with her about intimate matters between husband and wife. Sure enough, she gave herself away after only a few words.

Before Qian Huailin could even make a move, the other party keenly sensed his malice, reached out and tapped Qian Huailin's brow, causing Qian Huailin to faint and fall backward.

When he woke up three months later, he had forgotten everything that had happened before. His memory had been rearranged to match the previous account, and he only remembered the truth just now.

Han Mengyao remained reserved about Qian Huailin's words, but she wasn't prepared to break ties with him. She simply suggested:

“We can go to the backyard with you, but this time you have to go in first and find a way to prove that you are telling the truth, otherwise Qianqian will not make a move.”

Qian Huailin was about to agree when his father objected: "Miss Han, aren't you sending my son to his death?"

Mr. Qian's words were quite blunt, and Ying Xu, who had been holding back all day, finally exploded upon hearing them. He was young and had never suffered such humiliation outside of the company.

"Why bother sending him? He died hundreds of years ago, and his body just exploded!"

He's just an ordinary merchant from a few hundred years ago, yet he really thinks he's someone superior?

I recommend you turn right after you leave and look at the mass grave to calm down.

The three sentences were like three sharp blades, each one piercing the heart of the Qian family.

Master Qian was so angry that his eyes turned red, but he dared not lash out because Ji Qian was present.

Qian Huailin glanced at the cold glint on Ji Qian's twin swords, but dared not argue for his father. He could only step in to smooth things over: "Miss Han is right. Let's set off now. That fake Wan Niang won't come out until dawn."

Upon arriving at the backyard gate, Qian Huailin went in alone, as agreed.

Madam Qian and Mr. Qian both wanted to follow, but Ji Qian blocked them at the door.

Qian Huailin walked to the center of the courtyard, and without beating around the bush, he opened his mouth to the door and asked, "Who exactly are you, and what did you do to Wan Niang?"

No one answered; only the shadowy figures that kept flashing in the room indicated that it was not empty.

“I know even if you don’t say it, you’re that ugly Taoist priest from the Sun family, aren’t you?” Qian Huailin said a couple more times, and seeing that there was still no response from inside the room, he decided to take a more drastic approach:

"I always thought you were destined for a short life, and I never imagined you'd actually die so young. Could it be retribution for harming too many people?"

Perhaps provoked by those words, or perhaps because she was certain that no one was lying in ambush, the fake Wan Niang suddenly rushed out of the house, her hands clenched into claws as she charged toward Qian Huailin.

Qian Huailin quickly dodged, but continued to taunt him:

"Ha, getting angry now? Relax, you're lucky you weren't drowned at birth with your looks. If you're ugly, don't expect too much, or you'll be punished by heaven!"

"I didn't realize he was being so mean before," Xu Qi thought, his feelings complicated as he listened to Qian Huailin's cursing in the courtyard.

Upon hearing Xu Qi's question, Ji Qian kindly turned back to receive the goods for him:

"That's normal. Few of the people you're close to are good people."

After saying that, she seemed to realize something and quickly added:

"Meng and I are exceptions; we're doing this to help the poor."

Han Mengyao withdrew her gaze with satisfaction and continued to listen carefully to the movements in the courtyard.