Chapter 98: Construction

“Willow Cypress Garden, Building Four,” I said.
The carpenter seemed to pause for a moment, then asked for confirmation, “Willow Cypress Garden?”

“That’s right, what’s wrong?” I asked, puzzled.

“It’s nothing, just that someone came to my shop not long ago to order a coffin, and the address they left seemed to be Willow Cypress Garden,” the carpenter said, stepping on the accelerator and driving the vehicle away.

Ordered a coffin?
It sounded a bit ominous, but birth, old age, sickness, and death should be the natural order of things.
It had nothing to do with me.
It must just be a coincidence that it was also Willow Cypress Garden.

Xiangshan Road was not far from Jianlong Middle School, and of course, it was not far from Willow Cypress Garden either.
We arrived quickly.
The carpenter drove the vehicle directly into the residential complex and stopped downstairs.

Then he carried the wood carving, and I carried the incense holder, and we went into the elevator together.
When the elevator opened on the twelfth floor, we saw a woman standing at my door, peeking around as if looking for something.

“Hey! Who are you? Are you looking for someone in this household?” I asked, startling the woman.
She turned around.
It was a woman in her forties, not particularly beautiful.

“Ah! You must be Miss Xia, right?”
“I heard from Xiao Fan that the landlord’s daughter has moved in, so I wanted to come and say hello,” the woman said, looking at me.

“Oh, I’m Xia Yubing.”
“And you are?” I asked the woman.
She must have heard about me from Fan Yuxuan.

“I’m the resident of 12-1.”
“About the rent, I hope Miss Xia can give me a few more days,” the woman said slowly, with a regional accent and a stutter.
It took me a while to understand her.

This family hadn’t paid the rent before?
I wasn’t very clear on that.
But the carpenter was still holding the wood carving behind me, and I didn’t want to talk too much about the rent with her, so I said, “Okay, I’ll come and talk to you about it another day.”

“Thank you, you’re so kind,” the woman said her thanks, then slowly left my door and walked back to apartment 12-1.
During this time, Xiao Qing kept a tight grip on her hairpin, remaining vigilant.

I wasn’t the least bit wary.
This woman was a living person.
Although her life force was relatively weak, possibly due to poor health, there was no trace of ominous aura on her.
She had nothing to do with the supernatural, so I was very relieved.

“Master, please come in,” I opened the door and invited the carpenter and Xiao Qing into the room.

“Miss, your home is quite big.”
“And you even have rooms to rent out to others,” the carpenter said as soon as he came in, looking at the spacious and bright living room.
He seemed to have figured out why this customer was so generous.

“Please have a seat first, I’ll go pour some water,” I said.
But the carpenter did not sit down.
Instead, he took out a wooden ruler covered in writing and began to measure the room.

“That’s a Lu Ban ruler, also known as a construction ruler.”
“It not only has scales, but also divisions for Feng Shui, the Eight Characters, and constellations.”
“It measures both length and the fortune of a house.”
“It’s a common tool used by ancient construction masters,” Xiao Qing explained to me.

“What’s a construction master?” I heard another term I didn’t understand.

“It’s the ancient name for an architect, miss.”
“Of course, modern construction masters are also required to know Feng Shui and how to make buildings avoid misfortune and attract good luck.”
“Ordinary construction workers don’t count,” the carpenter said while measuring.

“Although I only make small objects, I’ve learned a little bit of the ancestral knowledge.”
“Placing vanquishing objects is a very serious matter.”
“The star positions of the house, the eight gates, and so on, all have to be calculated accurately, otherwise it would be dangerous if it backfires on the owner.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, master,” I said.
Seeing how seriously he was working, Xiao Qing also relaxed her guard towards this carpenter and watched his work intently, trying to learn something.

Soon, he had measured his way to the room where I was enshrining Xia Yubing’s parents.
He immediately saw the two paper figures on the table, and the candles and dishes in front of them.
I had placed fruit on them in the morning, but now it was gone.

The carpenter’s expression turned solemn.
He first bowed respectfully to the altar, then turned his head and said, “It seems what the young lady said is true.”
“Your parents’ hearts were filled with resentment, and they turned into resentful spirits.”
“Did a master guide you to use the art of paper figures to let them reside here?”

I nodded.
The carpenter frowned again and said, “Then why didn’t he teach you the proper way of enshrining?”
“Your method is a bit too casual.”
“Luckily, you’re enshrining your own parents, who are easier to talk to.”
“If you were enshrining a demon immortal, it would probably cause you trouble.”

Enshrining a demon immortal?
I had enshrined the Yellow Great Immortal.
It had ordered me around like a lord and seemed to enjoy the food quite a bit.
I didn’t see any signs of it wanting to cause me trouble.

But as for the proper way of enshrining, Senior Sister Mo had only told me to offer some fruit and rice and to remember to light incense and candles.
She had even specifically given me a bundle of soul-pacifying incense.
That should count as teaching me, right?

“Never mind, since you bought my shop’s incense holder, I will naturally help you set up the altar.”
“There will also be a standard funeral arrangement, so please rest assured,” the carpenter said.

“Okay, I’ll leave it to you,” I said.
It was only then that I realized that since I had just moved in, I didn’t even have tea or disposable cups to serve guests.
So I said to Xiao Qing, “Can you watch the house for me? I’m going downstairs to buy some groceries.”
“Are you staying for dinner?”

Ou Zhiqin was stunned for a moment.
She hadn’t planned on it, but after thinking for a moment, she said, “Okay.”
“Brother Xiao, go buy a chicken and some beef.”
“I’ll call home and tell them I’m not coming back for dinner.”

“Alright,” I said, then went to inform the carpenter as well, turned around, went out, and took the elevator downstairs.

I couldn’t get any good tea at this time, so I went to the supermarket to buy green tea bags and disposable cups, and also some snacks to serve the carpenter.

Considering the legend of the Art of Vanquishing Sorcery, which said that if you didn’t treat a carpenter with courtesy, they would use Vanquishing Sorcery to trip you up.
Although I felt that this carpenter was honest and upright and probably not that kind of person, it was still better to treat him to a good meal according to tradition.

So I went to the wet market.
I first bought a piece of beef and some green vegetables.
After thinking for a moment, I went to buy a sea bass and had the stall owner kill it for me, so I could just steam it and pour soy sauce over it when I got back.

The fish stall owner had calluses on his fingers and scars on his arms.
He killed the fish extremely quickly, gutting and removing the heart of the sea bass in just a few movements, without even breaking the fish gall.
He looked like a skilled knife handler.

Then I went to the place that sold chickens and bought a local chicken, also asking the stall owner to kill it for me.
Then I saw a seven or eight-year-old boy come out from behind the stall owner and grab the chicken.

I had seen others kill chickens before.
They usually cut a slit in the chicken’s neck to let the blood out.
But this little boy actually pressed the chicken onto the cutting board, and with a single stroke of the knife, he chopped off the chicken’s head.

The headless chicken didn’t seem to die immediately.
Its headless body flapped desperately in the boy’s hands, but the boy held on tightly, letting the chicken blood drain into a bowl.