I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 143: Leaning on the Flag, Corpse Roar
When Xu Qing arrived at Mr. Feng's house, he happened to see several servants tying paper flowers of the four seasons.

He was very familiar with this thing. If there was a funeral in someone's family, they would take willow branches and tie colorful, yellow and white paper strips on them at the door to announce the death.

There are also many tricks involved in announcing a death.

In addition to the simplest paper strips, some families will hang sky-high paper at the door when they hold funerals.

What is Tongtian Paper? Fold the old white hemp paper, cut it end to end, and cut it into strips three fingers wide and one and a half feet long. These strips are strung together to form a chain. This is called Tongtian Paper.

The number of pieces of Tongtian paper is usually cut according to the age of the deceased, one piece for each year of life, plus one piece each for heaven and earth.

For example, when Emperor Longping passed away at the age of eighty-three, eighty-five pieces of paper had to be cut to announce the death.

In addition, there are also do's and don'ts when hanging sky-high paper.

The normal practice is to find a red hairband, tie one end to it, tie a piece of charcoal to it, and hang it on one side outside the gate.

If the deceased is a male, it is hung on the left side; if the deceased is a female, it is hung on the right side.

The left is yang and the right is yin, corresponding to male and female.

There are five bundles of Tongtian paper in front of you, which are spread outwards from the left door and extend for about ten feet in the shape of an eight, just like a silver tree street scene.

After Xu Qing counted the number of notes on it, he shifted his gaze to the tightly closed gate.

At this time, the couplet at the gate of the courtyard had been torn off, and a piece of white paper was posted instead.

Xu Qing was also familiar with this thing. In the funeral industry, it is scientifically called "door newspaper". The so-called door newspaper is a piece of white paper posted at the door of the house with the words "obituary" or "funeral" written on it, and the name, gender, age, date of death, industry or status of the deceased will be clearly written.

In addition to these, some will also write down the specific arrangements and date of the funeral.

The purpose of announcing a death is very simple, which is to clearly tell relatives, friends and neighbors that someone in the family has died so that relatives and friends can come to express condolences or help.

Sometimes these things may seem unnecessary, but they have continued to this day and become part of funeral rituals. There must be a certain reason for this.

Without further ado, let's talk about Xu Qing standing at the door. Just by taking a quick glance, he knew how many people had died in this family, whether they were male or female, and how old they were!
"The five deceased were all men in their prime. The oldest was forty-five years old, and the youngest was no more than twenty."

Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Mr. Feng was still alive and well, but he didn't know what the relationship between him and the five dead people was.

Beside him, Xuan Yu followed Xu Qing's gaze towards the paper figures and asked in an inexplicable tone, "Are you secretly fortune-telling again?"

"Fortune-telling?" Xu Qing shook his head. "No more than three fortune-tellings. Who would have the time to tell fortunes when they have nothing better to do?"

"Then how do you know these things?"

Xu Qing chuckled, pointed at the decorations at the door, and said, "They told me."

“Can paper figurines talk?”

"You can say that."

Xu Qing suddenly thought of his brother Wang, a coroner at the government office, and said with emotion, "Everything has a language. Even the dead can speak, so it's not surprising that paper figurines can speak."

As he was speaking, Xu Qing knocked on the gate and a waiter welcomed him in.

The waiter didn't recognize Xu Qing, but he didn't ask about his identity.

Just because there is a funeral in the family, most families who hang paper banners at the door to announce the death will allow people to come in and pay their respects.

Even if a stranger passing by arrives at the door and says he wants to go in to pay his respects, the host generally will not stop him. This is considered a custom of following stories and adhering to conventions.

Here, Xu Qing followed the servant into the courtyard, walked around the gate wall, also called Xiao Wall, and walked into the courtyard.

"Master Xu! Oh, you are a rare guest!"

The first time the housekeeper saw Xu Qing, he thought something was wrong!

Tianjin is a really evil place. I just mentioned the victim not long ago, and he came to my door!
Fortunately, the butler reacted quickly. He calmed down, bowed, and came out from the inner room to greet him.

"Butler He, long time no see."

After all, it was someone else's family that had something going on, so Xu Qing didn't feel comfortable greeting them cheerfully. Instead, he returned the greeting in a normal manner, and then followed the housekeeper to the mourning hall, intending to light some incense for the deceased first, go through the formalities, and then talk about business.

Following Butler He, who was wiping his sweat all the way, to the mourning hall, Xu Qing heard the sound of people arguing.

"Master Feng, let's talk about the matter at hand. If there's a problem with the escort at Tai'an Escort Company, it's our fault. Regardless, the payment for the goods must be tripled. As for the personnel lost by our escort company..."

"My escort company must avenge them. Second Master, please don't stop me. Anyone who dares to stop me will be the enemy of my Tai'an Escort Company!"

Xu Qing stopped outside the mourning hall and looked inside through the threshold. He saw a young man in his twenties leading several bodyguards to confront Mr. Feng.

"Xie Shaozhu, you don't understand the truth. The Jinmen Gang is very different from before. Of the three salt gangs in Jinmen, two are under his control. The only one who could challenge the Jinmen Gang, Old Lady Cao, was also wiped out a few months ago. Behind Old Lady Cao stood General He. But until today, there has been no further news on this matter."

Mr. Feng didn't want to make it too clear. Although there were rumors that the Tianjin Gang had been bribed by a minister in the court, who would dare to mention this matter to others?

The young man known as Young Master Xie stiffened his neck and angrily said, "I don't care about him! In our business, we value credibility with our clients, loyalty to our fellow escorts, and discipline with the underworld. If the Jinmen Gang doesn't follow the rules, I'm going to take him down!"

Mr. Feng's head was buzzing when he heard this. This young man's temper was even more irritable than his.

"Second Master, please stop talking. My father has been away escorting people for two years and hasn't come back. There are thousands of people in this escort business waiting to be hired, and I have to support them all. Therefore, the rules of this business must not be broken. I can't let everyone down!"

Finally, Xie Yunyan bowed and said, "Second Master is a guest of honor in my escort company. My grandfather and Second Master's family have been friends for three generations. It's not an exaggeration to say that we have been friends for three generations. Today, I will trouble you to take care of the remains of my brothers. After I have sorted out this matter, I will come to thank you."

After lighting the incense and mourning his brother, Xie Yunyan led several bodyguards beside him and rushed out in a hurry.

Walking to the door, Xie Yunyan glanced at Xu Qing, who was watching the fun, and the black cat at his feet, and suddenly stopped and said, "Is this your cat?"

Xu Qing nodded.

"The funeral hall is a sacred place. No cats, whether domestic or wild, are allowed to enter without permission. If they disturb the deceased, they will be disturbed."

Xu Qing interrupted, "I'm a mortician. This cat has been with me for a long time and is quite sensible. It won't disturb the corpse."

"If you don't believe me, I can show you."

As he spoke, Xu Qing raised his chin towards Xuan Yu and said, "Come on, perform a backflip for this young master."

"."

Xuan Yu looked at Xu Qing expressionlessly, then ran out of the yard without looking back.

Xie Yunyan twitched his lips when he saw this, but he didn't say anything else.

As long as the cat doesn't enter the mourning hall, there won't be any problem.

After the escorts from Tai'an Escort Agency left, Xu Qing turned and walked into the mourning hall. "Second Master, what are you doing?"

When Mr. Feng saw Xu Qing, his old face turned red.

"Don't mention it! Brother Xu, to tell you the truth, I have done what I promised you."

Mr. Feng kept on talking, recounting all the bad things that had happened in recent days.

After hearing what Mr. Feng said, Xu Qing frowned immediately.

He had previously entrusted Mr. Feng Er to help him search for the best Yin gold and buried coins. There were quite a few of these things in the antique market in the capital. Mr. Feng Er then sent someone to the capital to collect enough Yin gold and entrusted it to the Tai'an Escort Company, asking the escort company to send escorts to escort the goods to Tianjin by water.

Tianjin has well-developed waterways. If nothing unexpected happens, those funerary objects and Yin gold can be transported to Linhe within a few days. However, when the fleet arrived at the Linhe port, the people from the Tianjin gang detained Mr. Feng's boat on the pretext of searching for illegal salt.

There were not only Xu Qing's goods in the ship, but also many coffins. Although these things looked valuable, only Mr. Feng knew that they were filled with money for the dead, such as Wuzhu coins, horseshoe gold, unicorn gold, etc.

Mr. Feng still can't figure out why the people from the Jinmen Gang stole these things.

Although these items are antiques, their value is far less than that of calligraphy and paintings and porcelain. Thinking about it, perhaps the Jinmen gang's ship robbers didn't understand the ins and outs of the matter, and saw those funerary objects and thought they had made a fortune!

A salt gang that smuggled salt turned against Tiangang and robbed good ships under the pretext of investigating smuggled salt. They also told you that the money from the dead bodies transported on your ship was salt from the Dayong Dynasty.

Who do you think I can go to for justice on this matter?
The Jianghuai Salt Gang, a deformed product closely related to the state-run salt and iron system, was able to beat the natives of Linhe so hard that they could not say a word. Even Mr. Feng, a man who could call the wind and rain in the capital, was defeated.

Looking at the corpses neatly placed in the mourning hall, Xu Qing stepped forward, picked up three incense sticks, and silently inserted them into the incense burner.

"Brother Xu, this has nothing to do with you, don't worry about it"

Master Feng sighed, "This salt gang is not something we can handle. The Jianghuai waterway is dangerous. The Jinmen gang can come and go freely, so there must be a capable person in charge. Brother Xu, it's best not to provoke them. As for those goods..."

"After a while, I'll send someone to the capital again. This time we won't take the sea route. It will only take a month or two at most, but we'll be able to get the goods ready."

Xu Qing shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Second Master. I don't need this cargo for the time being."

Changing the subject, Xu Qing said, "I'd like to perform a ritual for these escorts. Is that convenient?"

"It's convenient, but I can't help with this matter. How can I let Brother Xu worry about it again?"

Xu Qing shook his head: "Second Master has done very well, I am very grateful to you."

"Well, what's there to thank me for?" Master Feng waved his hand and said, "I was thinking of going to the temple to invite some monks and Taoist priests to perform a ritual. Now that Brother Xu has come forward, I don't have to worry about it anymore."

In the mourning hall, Xu Qing burned incense and performed rituals to bury several bodies and pray for their souls to be reborn.

Turning the page of the Sutra of Salvation, the Forgetful River appears.

Xu Qing performed the ritual of liberating five corpses in succession and reaped great rewards.

Five martial arts books, four flags, a black cloud mace, a poisonous dragon nine-section whip, as well as some powerful pills, gold-breaking powder and other commonly used medicines for bodyguards.

The Dark Cloud Mace and the Nine-Section Whip are both human-shaped grade items, and the four-sided flags are also human-shaped grade items, but there are some stories behind these flags.

Kaoqi originally refers to the flags inserted behind the generals on the stage, symbolizing the momentum of "thousands of troops".

The four flags in Xu Qing's hands have a similar function, which is that they can differentiate into four illusory clones. These four clones have no entity, but the person who holds the flag can move freely between the clones transformed by the flags.

As for the origin of Xu Qing's four flags
In the escort business, there are four types of escorts: accompanying escorts, flag escorts, gold escorts and town escorts.

If you want to be a bodyguard, you can't just have martial arts skills, you also have to have a reputation in the world. That way, when you raise your name, others will be polite and give way to you.

When escorting goods, the escorts would also use their own flags as signs to lead the way.

The five escorts that Xu Qing saved happened to be a complete escort team.

The leading escort was nearly fifty years old and had a lame leg. Although his martial arts skills were not as good as those of the gold-ranking escort, his prestige and experience in escorting were unmatched by other escorts.

The flag that this escort commander was carrying was a dark purple flag.

Master Guajin is the most capable fighter among the five escorts. He wields a fine steel mace and his martial arts skills have reached the level of Ning Gang.

The escort was carrying a golden flag.

The flag-hanging escort is an all-rounder in the team. He is good at surveying the terrain, communicating with others, and fighting to protect the escort. However, if these abilities are taken individually, they are not as good as the specialised Guajin and Zhenxing escorts.

Therefore, the position of the flag-hanging escort is to be a substitute. Once the coach and the main general are killed, he will take over.

The remaining escorts and porters are the guides of the team, responsible for all the tedious matters such as building bridges, asking for directions, finding accommodation and staying in hotels.

The flag-hanging escort holds a red flag, and the accompanying escort holds a green flag.

Now that Xu Qing has obtained four escort flags, he can create four clones. If the original body is added, it will be the configuration of a complete escort team.

Tsk, if he were to join the escort company, wouldn’t he get five times the salary?
All in all, this reward is good. Although it is of human-grade quality, it is a noble set, and it is a set that can be collected in one go.

Right now, Xu Qing is going to chat with the Tianjin gang, and he can try out the effect of this flag-supporting suit then.

Recovering his composure, Xu Qing turned to look at the five martial arts books he had obtained.

Lion's Roar, Mountain-Splitting Mace, Liuhe Spear, Ghost Head Whip, and Eighteen Eagle Splits
The Lion's Roar skill was learned from the escort team's porter.

The so-called "porter" is the escort who is responsible for leading the way and shouting slogans.

The slogan is usually just two words "Hewu".

It means friends who get along well with each other.

When you come across a bridge to borrow the road, or when you stay in a hotel to rest, make a long sound, "合" (he - wu).

When there is no threat and you can travel or rest without worry, it will be short and clear, which suits me.

The long sound is also called the Phoenix Three Nods. When you meet bandits on the road, and both sides reach an agreement, you will also make the sound of "合吾".

These are the specialties of the porters, and the porter that Xu Qing was saving had the unique skill of Lion's Roar.

In the mourning hall, Xu Qing tried to use the Lion's Roar technique to regulate his breathing, but as a zombie, he did not have the breathing instinct of a living person when practicing the Lion's Roar.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Qing simply replaced his breathing with Yin Qi. The next moment, he felt a strong desire to roar.

Suppressing the desire, Xu Qing opened his eyes and couldn't help but smile.

The Lion's Roar Technique may not be suitable for him, but the Corpse's Roar Technique does not seem difficult to learn.

(End of this chapter)