This is a not very big city.
It's called a city...it just has the word "city" in its name. It's not much bigger than the previous stop. And there are not many residents, even fewer than Jintong Township where craftsmen gather, and it seems wider. It took them about a day and a half to travel here.
It’s the Dragon Boat Festival in two days. In this small town, the festive atmosphere can be seen everywhere. Mugwort leaves and calamus are hung in front of every house, and chess pieces selling realgar wine are hung in front of every few shops. They led the horses and walked slowly on the road. There was a shop assistant greeting me at the door, offering me a red oil duck egg for free for any price I ate. Dai Luan always stared at the shop assistant as she watched Shan Hai, so she went in.
They asked the waiter about the nearby inn, and discussed the plan while eating. They still had to divine their bearings again to determine whether their direction had shifted.
After the meal, the three of them continued walking south. The friend said that the inn here is relatively remote, in the south, close to the suburbs. It's not big, it's just a post station at best. It doesn't matter, as long as you can rest.
The center of the city is still very noisy, with red ribbons hanging in the streets and alleys, looking festive, and the Dragon Boat Festival temple fair. They walked and walked, and the two girls each bought a colorful bracelet and put it on their right wrist. There is a small river running through the city. There are many teams practicing for the dragon boat race the day after tomorrow, and a group of people gather around to watch the excitement.
They couldn't squeeze in, but there were goldfish fishermen nearby, and the fish they caught could be released into the nearby river to build a good relationship. Shanhai found it funny. Firstly, this goldfish is obviously not a resident of the river. Secondly, a fine net must have been cast in this water area, so that it can be collected in the middle of the night and sold the next day. What's more, this kind of temporary so-called accumulation of virtue is just for psychological comfort and has no meaning. Fortunately, Mu Wan understood this truth, and Dai Luan was not interested, so he took one look and left.
Sometimes Shan Hai is not sure whether A Luan is naturally indifferent to the things that girls like, or whether she is more mature than her peers - but sometimes she seems quite naive. That’s all, it’s not a bad thing.
The sky became a little calmer, and some shops lit up lanterns one after another. They passed through the temple fair, and suddenly it became deserted. When they turned around, they saw dots of golden and red light behind them, as if they had just woken up from a dream, in a trance, with no sense of reality.
After walking for a while, it seemed that there was still no sign of the inn. There is a relatively large house nearby, larger than the Lin family, but much smaller than the Qi family. This is the back entrance of the house. There are tables and chairs of various sizes piled neatly on the street in front of the house. There are also some cabinets, boxes, etc., and several servants are covering them with cloths, as if they are ready to call it a day and go back.
Shanhai dismounted and went to find out how far the inn was.
"It's still a bit far. By the time you get there, it will be the second update."
"...Well, there's nothing we can do about that. By the way, what are you doing?"
"We're moving. Let's clear out all the big stuff first. The old lady said we'll finish the move on Dragon Boat Festival."
"Dragon Boat Festival?"
Shan Hai made a rough calculation in his mind. It didn't mean that it was not appropriate to move on the Dragon Boat Festival, but... who would usually pick this day to move? The Five Poisons are out and people are reunited at home. What happened here?
"Isn't that right... It seems that you are a Taoist? Oh, please wait a moment, I will report back... Don't worry, I will be back soon!"
The waiter suddenly dropped what he was doing and hurried back to the house. Before entering, he turned around and waved to them, as if he was afraid they would run away. The few remaining servants were quite polite and nodded towards them while their hands were busy.
"I said, let's go quickly. I don't know how far it will be. Are you trying to meddle in other people's business again?"
Mu Wan crossed her arms on the horse and had a headache.
"...Listen first to what you have to say."
Dai Luan jumped off the horse at some point and quietly touched the expensive-looking tables and chairs. There are some scattered tree stumps here, and small objects are also piled up. After a while, she felt bored again, so she sat down on one of the tree stumps and rested with her face propped up.
It gets dark quickly. It felt like they hadn't stood there for long before the surroundings were completely dark. At this time, there was a bright fire in the house. It seemed that the servants had lit the lamps. There was still some noise in the courtyard, and the sound was getting closer and closer, as if many people were walking over. Sure enough, an old lady with gray hair walked out the door anxiously, almost staggering, and startling both the servants and Shanhai. Following closely behind were a less than middle-aged man and a gorgeous woman. From a distance, they could smell the fragrance of the woman's powder.
"This Taoist priest, please come in, please come in quickly!"
The old lady looked excited. Shan Hai was confused and turned back to look at Mu Wan blankly. Before Mu Wan could say anything, the servant who had just returned to report the news was leading her horse towards the door with a wink.
"Wait a minute, that's so rude..." the old lady muttered, "Come here, prepare a sedan chair and pick up some distinguished guests from the main entrance!"
"No, no, no -" Shanhai waved his hands repeatedly, "It's not necessary, just stay here, let's - go by ourselves... Aluan!"
Mu Wan wiped his face in disappointment, vaguely feeling that this person had been tricked.
Dai Luan's butt was still hot from sitting, so she stood up reluctantly. Turning his head, he patted the picture on his clothes and pants. At this moment, she was startled - she discovered that on the wooden pile she was sitting on, the twisted and weird annual rings were twisting and showing very ferocious lines, which made her feel weird.
"Shanhai, look at this -"
Halfway through the words, the two men were half-invited and half-pulled into the door. She hurried over and almost got locked out.
After entering the house, they vaguely felt something strange. Although there are not many people in this city, in such a large courtyard, it stands to reason that there should be many servants. However, looking around at the busy servants here, there are only a few familiar faces. Relatively speaking, this yard seems too empty... It's hard to say that many houses are newly built and look like they are only a few years old. Maybe the house had just been expanded and it seemed too big, and he didn't have enough money to hire servants.
But...since I haven't lived here for a few years, why bother moving out so early?
In order to collect money to send duck eggs at noon, this group of people was actually a little overwhelmed, and they haven't finished digesting it yet. Who knows, the old lady asked the cook to make a table full of delicacies, and served them one after another. The couple also told them to eat hard, eat freely, and eat without ceremony. To be honest, they didn't mean to be polite. They just touched their bellies, but they were really overwhelmed.
At the dinner table, the old lady finally solved their doubts.
It turns out that their family's surname is Baigu, and their ancestors were originally servants in the court, but were later framed by traitors and fell into decline. The Baigu family, which was prosperous at first, had no choice but to move to a small place like this and spend their ancestors' assets carefully to survive. As for why we moved, the reason is quite simple.
"There's a vicious ghost in the yard who's asking for your life!"
The old lady said tremblingly.
"That's right. Every night, there are strange noises coming from the house. It's really scary."
Baigu's wife complained softly in her husband's arms, and Master Baigu nodded repeatedly.
"We went to temples in the city to worship, and we also went to Taoist temples to invite people, but nothing happened. In the end, even they were too scared to come back. Those smelly Taoist priests knew they were trying to cheat money," Bai Gu said He said, "Ah, I'm not talking about you."
"No problem. What exactly happened?"
"There are always creaking noises in this room. First the bowls and basins, then the tables and chairs, then the pillars and beams, the whole house is creaking and shaking..."
Shanhai had an idea in his mind.
"Then, I'll take a look with the compass now."
Just as he was about to get up, Baigu's wife immediately got up and held him down. The old lady also said quickly: "There is no hurry, no hurry, please stay a little longer. Staying as a guest will accumulate virtue, and if I can keep you Taoist priest, I can also use your yang energy to frighten the evil ghost!"
"It's not a bad ghost, it's just..."
"Mom is right." Baigu's wife quickly refilled the tea for him, "Please stay here a little longer. With you here, I won't be afraid of the monsters coming to harm people."
Seeing the woman winking at Taoist Master Lin, and the others being so enthusiastic towards him, Mu Wan and Dai Luan felt that they had been forgotten by the whole world. They just silently stuffed things into their mouths, as if to vent their anger, thinking about eating. Recover the cost of wasted time.
The servants made two empty rooms in the old house available for them. Originally, the larger room was clearly reserved for Shan Hai, but it was said to be too crowded, so he was forced to move to a small room by the girls. In the small room, candles were lit, a divination board was drawn, and he used the damaged judge pen to do divination. The direction was correct, still pointing south, slightly west. It seems that we have to go further down.
"Shan Hai, what do you think it is?"
Dai Luan stared blankly at the flames on the table, put her chin on the table, and lazily fiddled with the penholder with one hand. Shanhai burned the paper and replied:
"It sounds like a buzzing house. Generally speaking, it's the little demon that calls the house singing. But we can't make a conclusion yet. We need to observe it more carefully in the yard tomorrow."
Mu Wan sat on the edge of the bed and sighed.
"Hey, I know you mean well. But don't you think there's something fishy about this matter?"
"Why are you always suspicious?"
"Don't think I'm troublesome. Why are they so sure it's a ghost? It sounds like they've done something bad and are afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. Speaking of which, this family is really partial."
"If you say you also know the Yin and Yang Tao, they won't treat you that way."
"I won't tell you, who's used to it? Your messy aunt doesn't take care of you."
"Okay, okay, don't wait..."
The pen almost fell to the ground. Before Dai Luan could react, Shan Hai reached out to catch it and put it into his bag. She was also a little tired, so she took a deep breath and breathed it out again.
"Mountains and seas... I still don't understand. They also said that they are moving now because they want to take advantage of the protection of Yang Qi to avoid ghosts and ghosts, and for good luck. But I think you... didn't look good at that time?"
"Really, you noticed." Shan Hai was a little surprised. "The things are almost empty. It's unreasonable for me to stop them. But... I really don't recommend moving and breaking ground at that time."
"Why?" Mu Wan jumped down from the bed, "Isn't it said that the Dragon Boat Festival is the most yang time of the year? Moving now is indeed..."
"That's wrong," Shan Hai interrupted her, "Do you know what the meaning of hanging moxa leaves and calamus on the Dragon Boat Festival is?"
"Of course it's to avoid plague and exorcise evil spirits...Ah, wait, you mean..."
"Isn't this sending yourself to poison?" The mountain and sea shook Dai Luan, who was drowsy, "Wake up too, go and soak your sword in the calamus water overnight. Soak it before going to bed, don't be lazy. "
"……oh!"
