Chapter 95: The Unsettling Shop

“Hiss, there’s something not right about this shop.”
“Let’s find another one, shall we?” I said.
The yin energy emanating from this shop was too dense, making me instinctively want to stay away, not to mention the Golden Bee Gu had already issued a warning.

“But this shop has customers, doesn’t it?” Ou Zhiqin asked, puzzled.
Besides the girl in the red wedding dress who had just walked out, another man had just gone in.

Unlike the woman in the red wedding dress who looked like a corpse, this man was clearly a living person.
His yang energy was even more pronounced against the backdrop of the yin energy.
But I was only filled with sympathy for him; who knew what kind of things were being sold in this shop.

“Anyway, let’s just find another one.”
“What I want to buy is an incense holder, and this funeral supply shop probably doesn’t sell them,” I said with a wry smile, finally managing to pull Xiao Qing away.

Although Xiangshan Road was a street of funeral supplies, the business scope of each shop was not entirely the same.
They each had their own niche.
Some were clothing stores selling burial shrouds, some were funeral shops selling incense and paper money, and there were also tomb Feng Shui shops that advertised “locating dragon veins and choosing auspicious sites” and “geographical divination.”
All in all, it was a diverse collection.

What we were looking for was actually a carpentry shop, the kind that sold coffins.
I quickly found one.
There were five or six coffins displayed at the entrance, also emitting yin energy.
The sign above read “Beishou Longevity Materials Shop.”

“Generally, coffin shops won’t explicitly state what they are.”
“Instead, they’ll write ‘Official and Wealth Shop’ or ‘Longevity Materials Shop’.”
“And it must be an old carpenter who specializes only in making coffins to be able to make the kind of incense holder that can nurture a soul,” Ou Zhiqin said.

I could feel a faint yin energy on the few coffins displayed in front of the Beishou Longevity Materials Shop, but the overall yin energy of the shop was not heavy.
Inside the shop, there were many shrines, incense holders, and urns.
It was a genuine carpentry shop.

“This is the one.”
“The yin energy is relatively normal.”
“It should be a carpenter with real skills,” I said, leading Xiao Qing into the shop.

The space inside the shop was even larger.
Coffins were lined up one by one.
Shrines were arranged in a row on a long table, and urns were placed on shelves.
It was clear that they were all made from different precious woods.
Just walking into the shop, you could smell a faint scent of sandalwood.

And there was more than just that.
There were also various exquisite wooden furniture pieces and some wood carvings.
The carvings were of ferocious beasts like wooden lions and tigers.
Each one was carved lifelike, and all of them had a faint trace of yin energy flowing through them.

“Hmm? Why is no one here?” Xiao Qing looked around the shop and subconsciously wanted to sit down on a chair placed in the shop to rest.
I immediately grabbed her.
Xiao Qing looked back in confusion and asked, “What are you doing, Brother Xiao?”

“This is someone else’s merchandise, it’s not good to just sit on it,” I advised.
In reality, I saw that this chair also had yin energy, and I was afraid it would be bad for Xiao Qing to sit on it.

“Hehe, the little lady understands these things.”
“Luckily, you didn’t sit.”
“This chair is not for the living to sit on.”
“Sitting on it will diminish your blessings,” a voice came from the inner hall.

Then, a sturdy middle-aged man walked out from the inner hall.
He was bare-chested, wearing only a leather apron on his upper body.
His pants were covered in wood shavings, and he held a saw in his hand.
His hands were covered in calluses, a clear sign that he was a carpenter.

“Not for the living to sit on?”
“Are these all burial objects?” Ou Zhiqin looked at the tables and chairs in surprise.
Burial objects, also known as netherworld objects, were items buried with the dead in their tombs.

“That’s right.”
“Don’t be fooled by the fact that these burial objects look no different from real-life chairs and decorations.”
“My family has been master craftsmen of burial objects for three generations, specializing in woodworking for burials,” the carpenter said with apparent confidence.

Ou Zhiqin’s eyes lit up.
She looked at the carpenter and said, “That’s right, we came looking for an old craftsman like you.”

There was no need to be too explicit.
Both sides knew that we were looking for a carpenter who truly understood the knowledge of funerals and the supernatural to buy a suitable incense holder for enshrining Xia Yubing’s parents.
Judging from the yin energy on these coffins and wooden products, this was what we needed.

Before we came, Xiao Qing had told me that this kind of true craftsmanship could not be taught openly.
They were ancestral secret arts, often passed down only to sons and not daughters.
Finding a true master was not easy, but I had found one in an instant with my aura-seeing ability.

“You two young ladies, are you here to buy a coffin or woodenware?”
“Even if it’s for your parents, it’s a bit too early, isn’t it?”
“Or are you buying for your grandparents? In that case, it wouldn’t be your decision to make,” the carpenter looked at us doubtfully.

“It really is for my parents.”
“I want to buy an incense holder to enshrine them back home,” I stated my purpose.

“I apologize, I spoke out of turn.”
“My condolences.”
“Please, take a look around.”
“The incense holders are all here,” the carpenter immediately realized he had said the wrong thing.
Since she wanted to buy an incense holder, her parents must have passed away.
For such a young girl, it must be a huge blow.

I didn’t feel any sadness.
They were Xia Yubing’s parents, after all.
I just followed some of the precautions Mo Qingyan had told me before and looked at the dazzling array of incense holders.

The shop had both incense holders and shrines for gods, but the couplets written on them were different.
Shrines usually had phrases like “attracting wealth and treasures” or “blessings as vast as the eastern sea,” while incense holders had phrases like “merits that inspire a hundred generations” or “ancestral virtues for a thousand autumns.”

The styles of the incense holders also varied.
Some were for hanging on the wall to worship all the ancestors of a clan.
Some were made in the style of small temples.
Some incense holders even came with their own tables, with drawers underneath for storing paper money and incense sticks.

The table-type ones were too big, and the wall-hanging ones were too much trouble.
I wanted to buy a smaller incense holder to place on a table.
Anyway, I only needed to enshrine two paper figures, not even an ancestral tablet, so from the beginning, I only looked at the small and exquisite incense holders.

Ou Zhiqin was still checking information on her phone on the side, asking, “What kind of wood are these incense holders made of?”

“Hehe, that’s the right question to ask.”
“This shop never cuts corners or uses inferior materials.”
“All are carved from whole logs, and we select precious woods like Phoebe zhennan, cypress, red sandalwood, pine, and so on.”
“Which kind would you two young ladies like?” the carpenter asked.

He continued his introduction, “Phoebe zhennan is undoubtedly the most precious and best wood.”
“Enshrining ancestors in an incense holder made of Phoebe zhennan can ensure a prosperous source of wealth.”
“Red sandalwood is also excellent.”
“Enshrining ancestors with red sandalwood can bring a bit of official luck.”
“Even if you don’t become an official, it’s easier to get promoted.”

The carpenter wasn’t exaggerating.
The incense holder made of Phoebe zhennan had a faint golden aura of wealth, while the red sandalwood incense holder had a faint purple aura.
Both were auspicious signs of great wealth and nobility.
These few incense holders were also the most luxurious and the most expensive.

But what caught my eye was a relatively simple double-door incense holder.
It had a fine texture, a pure and restrained deep yellow color, and also a light fragrance.
“How much is this one?”

“Little lady, are you sure you want this incense holder?” the carpenter’s eyes flashed for a moment as he asked with a solemn expression.