"What's... what's the meaning of this black handprint?" I pointed at the black handprint on my wrist, trembling with fear. At this moment, my legs were shaking with dread.

Chen Yuanshan looked at the black handprint on my wrist without offering an immediate answer. The handprint on my wrist was visibly changing color at an alarming rate – first from black to blue, then from blue to red. After five minutes, the handprint slowly dissipated and disappeared.

"This is a mark left by a water ghost on you. If you go into the water again, you will undoubtedly be pulled underwater to become a substitute for the dead. My advice is, stay away from rivers, lakes, and seas where people have died," Chen Yuanshan warned me as he shook his head in resignation.

"Our family has been doing this for generations. If I don't do this, what else can I do?"

"You're a bit stubborn, kid. With two hands and two feet, if you're willing to work hard, you can make money doing anything. There's no need to deal with the dead and earn money from the deceased. Moreover, historically, those who engage in the business of dealing with the dead don't meet a good end. If you don't heed my advice, you'll risk your life sooner or later." Chen Yuanshan patiently urged me.

Just as Chen Yuanshan was about to say more, the middle-aged woman who had left earlier returned, her face still in mourning. When Chen Yuanshan saw her, he jumped up from the sofa and was about to reprimand her for the spit on the desk. However, upon seeing her distress, he exclaimed in surprise, and she collapsed on the floor, sobbing.

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"Oh my, lady, what are you doing? If you're trying to scam for money, you've come to the wrong place. I barely make any money here in the Taoist hall. The coffin shop across the street, now that's where the real profit is. They make at least five hundred yuan selling one coffin, and sometimes they sell five or six in a day, making several thousand. Why don't you check that out!" Chen Yuanshan nervously pointed at the coffin shop across the street, trying to console the woman sobbing on the floor.

The middle-aged woman paid no attention to Chen Yuanshan's words; she lay on the ground, crying and rolling.

"Young man, you've got to help me as a witness. I haven't done anything, and she's like this. It's really absurd." Chen Yuanshan pointed at the woman rolling on the floor, asking me to testify.

"Ma'am, what happened?" I stood up and walked over to the middle-aged woman, asking her what was going on.

"I just called my daughter's teacher. It turns out she really dropped out of school, and it happened a month ago. I had no idea." The middle-aged woman cried and complained to me.

"Ma'am, crying won't solve the problem! You should..."

Before I could finish my words, the woman, with more strength than I expected, pulled me down to the ground.

"Don't just stand there, come help! This man has no sympathy at all!" She scolded me, pointing at Chen Yuanshan.

"Unlucky!" Chen Yuanshan muttered, walking over to help the sobbing middle-aged woman up and onto the sofa.

The woman sat on the sofa, hands covering her face, still crying uncontrollably. Her emotions were quite unstable. Earlier, when Chen Yuanshan predicted her daughter's fate, mentioning pregnancy and dropping out of school, I thought he was making it up. But it turned out one of the predictions had come true, revealing that Chen Yuanshan had some real skills.

"My current situation is that my head feels heavy, and my limbs are weak. I have no strength at all."