My daily mountain driving, I met a fox at the beginning and got married

Hearing what Fatty Wang said, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

However, just as he finished speaking, Huo Xiuxiu's voice came from the door:
"I am back!"

Although Huo Xiuxiu had not stayed in the inn for a long time, she had already gotten used to the life here.

And now she has begun to like the quiet environment of Fengmen Village.

There is no hustle and bustle of the city here.

The village is located among green mountains and clear waters, with a beautiful and pleasant environment and a comfortable and peaceful life.

Living in the Yin-Yang Inn every day and joking with Fatty Wang, Hao Xie and others also made her feel very happy.

But today, Huo Xiuxiu's face clearly did not have the smile she usually had.

After she walked into the yard, she saw Zhang Hao and others gathered together, as if they were discussing something, so she walked over and asked with a smile:

"What are you discussing?"

"Can I listen?"

Fatty Wang said quickly with a reluctant look on his face: "I'm talking about you!"

"Are you talking about me?" Huo Xiuxiu looked at everyone with confusion, pointed at herself and asked.

Zhang Hao cleared his throat, interrupted Fatty Wang, and asked:
"By the way, I heard that you went to help Old Liu with his funeral arrangements?"

"How is it, is everything settled?"

Huo Xiuxiu shook her head, and then said with a frustrated look:

"The body has been brought back."

"But he can't be buried yet."

"Because the villagers said that the funeral customs in their village are somewhat different from those in other places."

"But people should die with dignity. Old Liu is in such a disfigured state that he cannot be buried."

"It is rumored that if Old Liu is buried like this, his soul will definitely return." Zhang Hao nodded slightly, thinking to himself that this saying has indeed been around for a long time.

If not, how could there be such a profession as a leatherworker in ancient times? Even today, there are still corpse beauticians, scientifically known as "embalmers", who specialize in making the deceased leave the world in a dignified manner. The duties of the ancient leatherworkers, or embalmers, were far more than just tidying up the remains. In fact, they were more for the ghosts, that is, the ghosts, stitching up the souls and tidying up their appearance, so that they could have a good birth when they were reincarnated.

The time Huo Xiuxiu stayed in the inn was also a test for her. After all, the inn would need more manpower if it was to be upgraded in the future. Especially after the inn was upgraded, if it took on ghost business, it would need a second cobbler to handle related matters.

"This matter is easy and difficult at the same time." Zhang Hao pondered, "I have a technique called Yin-Yang Suture, also known as Coffin Entombing Technique. Are you willing to learn it?"

Before he finished speaking, Huo Xiuxiu looked at Zhang Hao blankly. She had obviously not come to her senses yet and stood there blankly.

"Ah?" "What?" she asked repeatedly.

Seeing this, Hao Xie smiled and reminded her: "Silly girl, what are you thinking about? Brother Zhang Hao wants to teach you a skill, why don't you become his disciple?"

After being reminded by Hao Xie, Huo Xiuxiu woke up as if from a dream. She showed ecstasy, nodded repeatedly, and looked at Zhang Hao, Hao Xie and others in disbelief.

"really?"

"Brother Zhang Hao, are you finally going to accept me as your apprentice?"

After saying that, Huo Xiuxiu knelt on the ground without waiting for Zhang Hao to respond, clasped her hands together, her eyes full of excitement, "Master! Please accept my greeting! No matter what you teach me, I am willing to learn. As long as you teach me, Brother Zhang Hao will be my master!"

"Master, you are the owner of the Yin Yang Inn. Once you say something, you can't go back on your word!"

Zhang Hao smiled and waved his hand, "Get up. You should also thank Brother Haoxie, because he felt that I ate the meal you cooked, so I should do something for you."

"Right, Haoxie?"

Hao Xie smiled awkwardly, shrugged and said, "Haha, little brother Zhang Hao is amazing, nothing can be hidden from you! But Fatty is indeed not as good as Huo Xiuxiu at cooking, I am doing this for everyone's good. It just so happens that Fatty can also enjoy the days of having everything provided for him."

"Well, Fatty, you don't object?"

The fat man touched his head and smiled happily when he thought that he didn’t have to cook.

"Haha, yes!"

"Girl, the food at the inn will depend on you from now on."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of hurried footsteps outside the door.

Then, an old man in his sixties appeared at the door of the inn.

This old man was the village chief. He stuck his head in and when he saw Zhang Hao, a trace of anxiety flashed in his eyes.

"Mr. Yin Yang, do you have time? I'm afraid I have to trouble you again!" the village chief said anxiously.

Fatty Wang hurried to the door and wanted to invite the village chief in, but the village chief looked at the armchair in the yard with fear and waved his hand, "I won't go in. Let's stand here and talk."

Zhang Hao walked over, looked at the village chief and asked, "Village chief, what's the matter? We are all from the same village, just tell us directly."

The village chief nodded, glanced at Huo Xiuxiu, and continued, "I don't know if Huo Xiuxiu told you about Old Liu. Old Liu was bitten to death by a wolf. He had no children, so the funeral can only be handled by the old people in our village. But Old Liu's body was bitten beyond recognition by the wolf, and it is really impossible to bury it. But there is no second leatherworker in the nearby villages, so I want to ask you... Since you are in the business of dealing with dead people, can you help sew up Old Liu's body?"

Hearing the words of the village chief, Fatty Wang, Hao Xie and Zhang Qilin turned to look at Zhang Hao.

Huo Xiuxiu had been here for a short time and didn't know much about Zhang Hao. But Fatty Wang, Hao Xie and Zhang Qilin knew Zhang Hao very well, and knew that he was proficient in drawing talismans, driving corpses, retrieving corpses, tying paper, and summoning spirits, but they had never seen him sew up the bodies of the dead.

Moreover, this item was not included in the inn's business, so everyone looked at Zhang Hao in confusion, not knowing how to handle this business.

Seeing that no one spoke, the village chief thought that Yin Yang Inn would not help, so he hurriedly cupped his hands and said anxiously: "Gentlemen, please help me with this! Old Liu had a miserable life. He had no children and died suddenly. No one gave him a funeral, which was already very pitiful. Now his body has been bitten to pieces by wolves. It would be too shabby for him to die like this. If it is a matter of money, I will go back and ask everyone in the village to chip in... At least you won't work in vain. And when I send Old Liu off, I will definitely invite you to have a feast together."

Fatty Wang smiled awkwardly, turned to look at the village chief, waved his hand and said, "Village chief, that's not what we meant. We are all neighbors, and Old Liu has sent us a lot of food, and we all remember it. Now that he is in trouble, it stands to reason that our inn must do its part. But..."

Before he finished speaking, the light in the village chief's eyes dimmed a little, and his expression became listless. He interrupted Fatty Wang and sighed, "Hey... So you don't want to help? Poor old Liu, it's ok that no one saw him off before he died, but in the end he couldn't die in a dignified way. What do you think he lived for?"

Shaking his head, the village chief was about to leave, but when he turned around he said, "There really isn't a second-rate shoemaker in this village, let alone a master of threading. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come here in the middle of the night to bother you. Forget it, this is what Old Liu deserves!"

At this time, Zhang Hao walked to the door, stopped the village chief and said, "Village chief, wait a minute. The inn has accepted this order. The inn has this business, and you don't have to worry about the reward. Let me see the body first."

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Qilin, Hao Xie, Wang Pangzi and others looked at each other, their eyes full of shock and disbelief. They leaned against each other and whispered, "I didn't expect the shopkeeper to know this? Have you heard that Brother Zhang Hao can sew corpses before?"

"I haven't heard of it, but didn't Brother Zhang Hao just say that he wanted to teach Huo Xiuxiu the Yin-Yang suturing technique? Could this be it?"

"You mean the coffin technique? It sounds like it's somewhat related, but I've never heard of it before, and I've never seen Brother Zhang Hao show off his skills!"

"Tsk tsk, little brother Zhang Hao is really a hidden talent!"

"Okay, let's see what the shopkeeper has to say first!"

After a few people whispered to each other, they stood aside.

Since Zhang Hao took on this business in the village, he must be able to sew the corpse whole.

As for how to mend it, it depends on how Zhang Hao performs it at that time.

This was very unfamiliar to Huo Xiuxiu, and also to Fatty Wang and the others.

At least they had never heard of sewing up corpses before.

When the village chief saw that Zhang Hao actually agreed to help them, he immediately showed ecstasy in his eyes, and bowed to Zhang Hao repeatedly to thank him: "Oh! Then I thank you on behalf of the deceased old Liu! I knew that if I came to Yin Yang Inn for help, there would be results. Then... Mr. Yin Yang, when do you think we should start?"

Zhang Hao waved his hand and asked, "Old Liu's body is incomplete, so the pieces of flesh that fell off his body probably haven't been found, right?"

The village chief nodded and continued, "He must have been eaten by the beasts in the mountains! Poor old Liu was actually bitten to death by a wolf! What a miserable life!"

Zhang Hao nodded slightly, and then said, "Okay, Village Chief, you go back first, I'll be there soon after I get ready. By the way, let me inform you that people with the same Chinese zodiac sign as Old Liu should not go out tonight. After I sew the corpse, even if you go to the toilet, you have to go to your own room, otherwise, it will be easy to attract Old Liu's ghost to possess you."

The village chief was stunned when he heard this. Most people in this village believed this, especially Zhang Hao, who had helped the villagers many times.

So now that Zhang Hao said it, he naturally believed it. So he nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, I'll go and inform them right away." "Mr. Yin Yang, let's meet later!"

Zhang Hao nodded slightly and gestured to the village chief, who then hurried away to every household in the village to convey Zhang Hao's latest instructions.

No one could be sure about the existence of ghosts, but they had all witnessed the extraordinary abilities of Yin Yang Master. Therefore, Zhang Hao's words undoubtedly became the golden rule in their hearts.

After the village chief left, Fatty Wang, Zhang Qilin and Hao Xie slowly walked towards Zhang Hao and asked curiously.

"Brother Zhang Hao, this corpse-stitching technique... I've never seen you perform it before. It's truly a hidden talent!" Fatty Wang spoke first, his tone full of surprise.

Hao Xie also echoed and expressed his agreement.

"However, I don't quite understand the second shoemaker and the thread-laying master mentioned by the village chief just now," he asked puzzledly.

Zhang Hao explained: "I have heard a little about the second leatherworker. It seems that he is known as the last of the four Yin gates, along with the executioner, paper maker, and coroner. As for the thread master, maybe it is a respectful title for them, just like the foot master."

Then, Zhang Hao slowly shook his head and continued, "There is a nursery rhyme about the Four Yin Gates circulating among the people..."

He recited the contents of the nursery rhyme one by one, describing in detail the status of the Second Cobblers as the most bizarre of the Four Yin Sects, as well as the historical origins of their craft.

"Second leatherworker is actually the name of this craft after its decline. In ancient times, the first person to invent the art of sewing corpses was a practitioner. He found that if the body was incomplete after a person died, it would be regarded as unlucky." Zhang Hao explained in detail.

He further elaborated on the horrifying fact that the executioner's knife could not only cut off a person's body, but also his soul, and how the second shoemaker used his profound knowledge of yin and yang to sew up the mutilated body and soul so that the deceased could rest in peace.

"Mr. Painted Skin is a respectful title for those leatherworkers who have superb skills to make a corpse look like a new life after stitching it together." There was a hint of awe in Zhang Hao's tone.

He changed the subject and said with a smile, "There are even rumors that Mr. Painted Skin can make a stitched corpse come back to life, just like an ordinary person!"

Upon hearing this, Huo Xiuxiu couldn't help but widen her eyes in amazement.

Zhang Hao nodded in confirmation and warned them of the taboos of sewing corpses and paper dolls, emphasizing that if Mr. Painted Skin sutured the paper dolls too perfectly, it would bring unpredictable consequences.

Zhang Qilin, Wang Pangzi, Hao Xie and Huo Xiuxiu nodded in understanding after hearing this. They felt a sense of admiration for Mr. Painted Skin, even though they knew nothing about it before.

Zhang Qilin looked at Zhang Hao curiously and asked, "Boss, what you are going to teach Huo Xiuxiu is the Yin-Yang suturing technique created by the ancient Mr. Painted Skin?"

When Huo Xiuxiu heard that the skill she was about to learn had such a profound background, her eyes flashed with anticipation and she stared at Zhang Hao closely.

Zhang Hao confirmed her guess and explained in detail the inheritance and evolution of Yin-Yang suturing, as well as the historical changes from Mr. Painted Skin to Mr. Line Walking and then to the Second Leather Craftsman.

Huo Xiuxiu frowned and asked if modern undertakers and corpse beauticians had any similarities with the leather workers of ancient times. Zhang Hao shook his head and smiled, saying that although they all evolved from the profession of leather workers, their skills could no longer be compared with those of the leather workers of the past.

"However, we in the inn don't want to be low-class leatherworkers." Zhang Hao turned to look at Huo Xiuxiu and said with a smile, "I will teach you how to become a stitching master. If you can master the Yin-Yang stitching technique in the future, you can also be known as Mr. Painted Skin."

Huo Xiuxiu's eyes sparkled with longing, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. She was most happy that she finally became Zhang Hao's apprentice.

She nodded repeatedly and said firmly: "Master, don't worry, I will work hard. I will never be a second-rate shoemaker, I want to be a master of stitching!" (End of this chapter)