Chapter 152: Eating up the Family

“Alright, enough of that. Do you think Master Gu will have trouble finding us?”

“After all, we didn’t tell him where we’d be staying yesterday.”

Just as Han Yong finished speaking, the traveling merchant waved dismissively, unconcerned. “What’s there to worry about? Someone like Master Gu, if he wants to find us, isn’t it just a matter of calculating with his fingers?”

“We’ll just wait here at ease.”

“Hey, look, isn’t he already here?” As he spoke, the traveling merchant waved toward Gu Ning’an, who was walking into the inn. “Master Gu, over here!”

Hearing this, Gu Ning’an quickly walked over to their table and cupped his hands. “Apologies for keeping you waiting.”

“Not at all, not at all. We’ve just woken up ourselves.”

“Have a seat, Sir, and try this freshly made ‘three ways with chicken’ dish.”

Halfway through his sentence, the traveling merchant noticed the dark, soot-streaked face of Mu Sheng.

“And who might this young fellow be?”

As Gu Ning’an gestured for Mu Sheng to sit, he replied, “Her¹ name is Mu Sheng. She specializes in handling funeral services and will be traveling with us for the time being. Do you have any objections?”

“None at all! We’re not particularly superstitious folks, and funeral services aren’t anything ominous anyway.”

“Exactly, we’ve seen plenty of corpses in our time. Why would we be bothered by funeral work?”

While Han Yong and the traveling merchant reassured him, they took the opportunity to introduce themselves to Mu Sheng.

Mu Sheng didn’t seem inclined to speak much. After briefly repeating her name, she sat quietly at the table.

Gu Ning’an smiled. “Good, no objections then.”

“By the way, Master Gu, Hero Jiang has departed. Before he left, he asked us to pass on a message to you.”

“He said, ‘Thank you for the fleeting dream.’”

Gu Ning’an nodded. “I see.”

“Master Gu, do you think Hero Jiang will…?” Han Yong left his question unfinished, but everyone at the table understood what he was implying.

Gu Ning’an simply smiled. “Even if it was just a fleeting dream, he’s essentially outlived you all by a century… Do you think he’ll still act recklessly?”

Although Gu Ning’an didn’t give a direct answer, his meaning was clear, and both Han Yong and the traveling merchant picked up on it.

Relieved, the traveling merchant relaxed visibly and grinned. “Enough of that. Master Gu, Brother Mu², hurry up and try this chicken!”

“This rooster kept crowing all morning, so I bought it on the spot and had it prepared three ways!”

Gu Ning’an chuckled. “You certainly have a temper.”

“Hah! It challenged me, so I had to let it know who’s boss,” the traveling merchant joked shamelessly.

“You… I bet that chicken cost you a fortune, didn’t it?” Gu Ning’an remarked as he ladled a bowl of golden chicken soup. Turning to Mu Sheng, he added, “You should eat, too.”

“Alright!” Mu Sheng replied and picked up her chopsticks, eating without hesitation.

“Not too expensive, just two hundred copper!” the traveling merchant said, grabbing a chicken claw and taking a big bite.

Han Yong, munching on a piece of braised chicken, laughed through a full mouth. “Master Gu, you wouldn’t believe it—this guy nearly cried when he had to pay.”

“Enough out of you! Can’t you shut up even when you’re eating?” The traveling merchant shot Han Yong a glare as he spat out a chicken bone.

Amid their banter and laughter, the meal came to an end.

Since everyone had to set out after the meal, they all ate heartily, knowing that hot meals were hard to come by in the wilderness.

Though Mu Sheng looked small and frail, she surprisingly ate the most by the end of it all.

Mu Sheng ate six steamed buns alone!

Although the traveling merchant didn’t say much, Gu Ning’an wasn’t someone who liked taking advantage of others. Since Mu Sheng was his guest, he quietly slipped half the cost of the meal to the traveling merchant before they left. Seeing that he couldn’t refuse, the merchant reluctantly accepted.

At the table, Gu Ning’an asked Mu Sheng a lot of questions, and she answered everything casually, without hesitation.

In fact, she even brought up things that Gu Ning’an didn’t ask about.

Mu Sheng was an orphan abandoned by the roadside and taken in by an elderly woman who specialized in funeral services.

The old woman, unmarried and childless her entire life, adopted Mu Sheng and raised her as a granddaughter.

Interestingly, the name “Mu Sheng” wasn’t given by the old woman. It came from a wooden plaque found in her swaddling clothes, with the two words “Mu Sheng” engraved on it.

Mu Sheng showed a natural talent for funeral work. By the age of three, she was already helping the old woman fold paper money and make paper effigies. This continued until she turned twelve—the year the old woman passed away.

When the old woman was alive, no one cared about her. But after her death, a group of so-called “relatives” suddenly appeared.

These “relatives” used various excuses to seize the old woman’s modest possessions—a small house and a single acre of land.

The term “eating the last crumbs” exists in every era, though the methods may vary.

At this point in the story, the righteous traveling merchant slammed the table, vowing to help Mu Sheng seek justice.

But after hearing the full story, even the merchant was stunned.

It turned out that the old woman had anticipated this pack of “beasts” would try to divide her belongings after her death. To protect Mu Sheng, she left behind a will that stated everything would go to her.

However, the old woman underestimated the shamelessness of this group.

One man, claiming to be the old woman’s eldest nephew, snatched the will from Mu Sheng’s hands and ate it.

With the evidence gone, no matter how hard Mu Sheng pleaded with the authorities, it was futile.

In the end, Mu Sheng didn’t argue or fight. She simply said she wanted nothing—just to bury the old woman properly before leaving.

The “relatives” didn’t want to make things too ugly and agreed to her condition. However, they added a stipulation: she couldn’t use a single penny from the old woman’s possessions for the burial. Mu Sheng would have to handle it all herself.

And she did. She arranged the burial and didn’t tell anyone where the grave was located.

By the time the “relatives” thought they could finally divide the property, Mu Sheng had already pawned off the acre of land.

As for the old house, which was under constant watch and couldn’t be sold, she waited for a moonless night and burned it to the ground.

After finishing all this, she packed up the tools the old woman had used for funeral work and started wandering, taking on funeral jobs wherever she went.

“Serves them right!”

“Brother Mu Sheng! To have such wit and resolve at such a young age is truly admirable!”

“Let those bastards choke on their greed!”

“An empty basket after all their scheming!”

The traveling merchant, pulling the donkey cart along, sighed as he walked.

Mu Sheng’s expression remained calm as she said softly, “Honestly, if they hadn’t tried to sell me along with the house… I wouldn’t have burned it down. After all, it was where I lived with granny for so long.”

“What?! They tried to sell you too?”

“Those beasts aren’t even fit to be called animals!”

The traveling merchant rolled up his sleeves, swung his fist in the air, and muttered about wanting to give those greedy scoundrels a good beating to vent his frustration.