I nodded, making up an excuse: "Our engineering team is working nearby, and we've run into some strange occurrences. Someone said the place is haunted, so the manager told me to buy some cigarettes to appease the ghosts."
The shop owner was quite satisfied with my reply and even gave me a discount. He also threw in a stack of spirit money, advising me to place it on the grave first before burning the cigarettes, to truly summon the souls. He added that a proper ritual required three bows and nine prostrations – that was the procedure and the custom.
"Alright, thanks, boss!" I managed to stifle a laugh. They were all waiting for me, did they really need to summon souls?
After leaving the tobacco shop, Bingbing had also bought her clothes – all overshirts with plenty of pockets, the kind construction workers wear.
We returned to the haphazard graveyard the way we came. As expected, they were all eagerly waiting. The five "green energies" also shuffled over. It was peculiar; their cultivation in the afterlife didn't seem to depend on their abilities in life. These five green energies could be described with four words: the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled.
"Whoa, Da Qian Men! They still make this brand?" the middle-aged man exclaimed excitedly.
"I specifically got this for you, in case you're not used to new brands."
This was sincerity.
I inserted the cigarettes into the pockets of their clothes. Once they manifested their physical forms and put on the clothes, they could revert back. This way, the cigarettes and lighters were successfully transferred to the underworld. Judging by their attire, the villagers seemed to have lived at a decent standard, and quite a few were smokers, numbering over two hundred. The proportion was similar to today's society. The youngest "little smoker" was only nine years old.
However, this little boy was a green energy. The cigarette smoke intertwined with the green energy above his head, creating a strange hue.
Everyone relaxed and gathered loosely around, smoking. I sat back down on a grave mound, joining them.
"Lord Wu, just tell us straight, what do you want us to do? I want to hear your opinion," the middle-aged man said, sitting on a grave mound opposite me. He swapped his Yu Xi for a Da Qian Men and spoke leisurely between puffs.
"Did you understand what I said earlier?" I asked.
"We're simple folk, to be honest, we didn't quite get it," the middle-aged man scratched his closely cropped hair.
"What I mean is: Du Lisan's power was built up step by step in the underworld. By staying in the mortal realm, you're just wasting time, making no progress. You'll never solve your problem. Even if you meet those weaker underworld enforcers you mentioned, who are willing to send them to the underworld to fend for themselves, what then? It still won't resolve your quest for revenge."
"So my advice is: people need to move forward, to look ahead. If you stay here, it's a dead end. As the old saying goes, 'a tree dies if moved, but a person thrives.' If I were you, I'd go to the underworld first, but not rush into revenge. As they say, a gentleman's revenge can wait ten years!"
"The underworld is short on talent! Look, that scoundrel Du Lisan can become a regional governor in the underworld. Can't any of you become a regional governor? Once you have the power to confront Du Lisan, revenge will be as easy as lifting a hand. It's much better than staying stuck here, isn't it?"
"Moreover," I saw the middle-aged man's resolve waver and pulled out my final trump card, "I am a living underworld envoy. I won't interfere too much with underworld affairs. But if you follow my advice and agree to go to the underworld, I can guarantee that I'll support you with any modern, high-tech weapons I can get my hands on, to help you build up your strength for revenge – just like I'm supporting you with these cigarettes today."
"You have that ability?" the middle-aged man asked doubtfully.
"My goodness, what are you talking about? If I didn't have the ability, would I dare to talk to you?" I chuckled smugly. "Think about it, why would the underworld choose me, a living person, as an envoy? It must be because I have extraordinary strength!"
The middle-aged man naively believed me, or perhaps, the fact that I could buy them such a brand of cigarettes demonstrated my power. He slowly nodded, then looked at the others: "I think Lord Wu has a point. What do you all think?"