My uncle spoke, and I didn't hesitate.
Turning around, I walked towards the direction of the Rose Supermarket.
Everything felt familiar.
Passing by the little girl Lingling's grave, I called out to her, "Lingling!"
But there was no response.
In the graveyard, I couldn't sense any ghostly energy either.
She must have reincarnated by now!
That's for the best; through rebirth, she can live another life.
Walking past Lingling's grave, I headed straight for the Rose Supermarket.
Soon, a patch of white mist appeared ahead.
Walking into the mist, after a few minutes, I saw a neon sign.
"Rose Supermarket!"
Now that my cultivation had advanced, I returned here.
Even without my celestial eyes, I could feel ghosts drifting past.
They were likely heading to the supermarket to shop.
I arrived at the entrance and called out into the building,
"Aunty!"
As I spoke, I stepped inside.
Rat Aunty still had that kind and benevolent look:
"Little Qin! What brings you here?
Isn't your uncle going to the Golden Light Feng Shui Hall today to deal with a demon taoist?"
"He's finished dealing with it and is back. Uncle wants to pay respects to Master and asked you to get some incense and candles for the ceremony."
I replied.
Rat Aunty nodded:
"Alright, I'll finish helping these customers first!"
With that, she took a ruler and began measuring the air, speaking to herself,
"This one fits perfectly, it's the latest style!"
"Not expensive, not expensive at all, just one year of ghost age.
Isn't it written on your document, that you have ten years left before reincarnation?
Wearing the old woman's clothes, you won't feel cold, it's worth a year!"
"Yes, yes, even fingernails can be used for payment..."
The supermarket was filled with all sorts of burial clothes.
In the enclosed space, they swayed.
I knew these were ghosts trying on clothes.
The "ghost age" Rat Aunty mentioned referred to the duration these ghosts were permitted by the underworld to stay in the mortal realm.
I didn't quite understand the details.
Rat Aunty was busy attending to her ghostly customers, introducing clothes.
Her business was with ghosts.
She didn't seek wealth, but rather longevity in the underworld.
It was somewhat similar to my situation.
However, the underworld longevity Rat Aunty acquired wasn't for herself, but for her rat son.
I had my celestial eyes closed now, so I couldn't see the ghosts in the shop.
I didn't feel scared; it felt quite normal.
If it were before, I would have been scared stiff, but now I felt rather composed.
I walked to the wooden table.
Rat Aunty's rat son was currently on the wooden table, eating lamp oil.
After not seeing him for some time, the big rat had grown much larger:
"Brother Rat, it's been a while, you've gotten quite plump!"
The big rat also recognized me.
It squeaked at me twice, its eyes fixed on my fingernails.
I understood, it wanted to eat my fingernails.
My fate in the underworld was not good for me.
But for them, everything was good, including my fingernails.
Without further ado, I picked up the scissors on the table.
Then I "snip-snip-snip" cut off my excess fingernails and offered them to the big rat.
Shopping at the Rose Supermarket wasn't done with money.
It required longevity and luck.
My lifespan was still several years, so I didn't care about this small amount of vital energy.
It was considered payment for the incense and candles.
The rat, seeing me offer it my fingernails, squeaked happily.
Holding my fingernails in its little paws, it "caw-caw-caw" crunched them as it ate.
After about a few minutes, Rat Aunty finished her business and took out black incense and black candles from a corner of the supermarket:
"Here you go!"
"Thank you, Aunty!"
I took them with a smile.
Rat Aunty then asked again:
"Little Qin, what kind of background does that demon taoist have?"
If it were someone else, I definitely wouldn't have said anything.
But I was quite familiar with Rat Aunty, and my uncle was even in the same circle as her.
Moreover, I had a connection with the Mother of the Abyss.
Therefore, I directly replied:
"It seems to be from the Amaterasu Alliance."
With those few words, Rat Aunty listened.
Her expression, like my uncle's, changed drastically:
"What, the Amaterasu Alliance?"
"Aunty, you know about the Amaterasu Alliance too?"
Rat Aunty heard this and snorted coldly:
"Aunty is almost a hundred years old, how could I not know?
They are all evil spirits from the East, and during the war, they harmed many people in our territory.
They were driven back.
Unexpectedly, after more than half a century,
These evil spirits dare to extend their wicked clutches towards us..."
Hearing that Rat Aunty also knew about this organization, I asked further:
"Aunty, what kind of organization is it?"
Rat Aunty snorted coldly:
"What else could it be?
Worse than beasts, specializing in wicked deeds.
Later, I'll have to confirm the details with your uncle.
I must report this to the Mother..."
Seeing Rat Aunty seething with indignation and not seeming to want to continue,
Although I was annoyed that she wouldn't say more,
I knew that when dealing with people from the underworld, one had to be tactful.
I didn't press further.
Holding the incense and candles, I bid farewell and left the Rose Supermarket.
Now it was confirmed.
This was a foreign cult, and they had committed many heinous acts here.
Otherwise, Rat Aunty wouldn't have been so furious.
But for now.
I was more interested in knowing what connection my uncle had with this Amaterasu Alliance.
Because I could tell that there was definitely a story between my uncle and the Amaterasu Alliance.
And this story involved my Master.
Otherwise, my uncle wouldn't have wanted to come and pay respects to Master in the middle of the night...
Holding the incense and candles, I soon arrived at the tombstone.
My uncle took the incense and candles and said to Old Mo and me:
"Wait for me at the cemetery entrance. I'll be down shortly."
Uncle clearly didn't want us to be nearby.
Old Mo was about to ask something.
But seeing this, Uncle immediately raised his hand to stop Old Mo:
"You heard nothing!"
Upon hearing this, the three of us were stunned for a moment.
Finally, we nodded.
If Uncle didn't say it, and was so serious.
There must be a reason; asking more would be useless, and it might involve some taboo.
Thus, the three of us left Master's tombstone.
Leaving Uncle alone, burning candles and lighting incense before Master's grave...