In the middle of the night, the coffin street was filled with gloomy winds, and wild cats also played scary accompaniments from time to time.
The two three-foot-tall little men nodded towards Chang Feng and Fatty Xu with weird postures. How could the two of them not stand on end?
Are they the brats raised by the Miaoshou family?
To say that Hu Zi is indeed a hero among dogs, dogs don’t bark much.
It jumped up directly. Tear one of the villains apart!
Chang Feng bravely stepped forward. cough! It turned out to be two people tied with paper. He was blown by the wind and nodded towards them.
Chang Feng thought mockingly to himself: The scariest thing in the world is not ghosts. But scare yourself.
The paper-tied person should be the coffin shop that was placed at the door to solicit business.
Fatty Xu touched his big belly: "I'm scared to death, Fatty."
After saying that, he kicked the paper man who was not torn apart by the tiger.
Chang Feng knocked on the door of the coffin shop.
Not long after, a light came on in the coffin shop. An old voice came: "Who is it?"
Chang Feng lied: "The old man at home is very ill. I want to buy a shroud to celebrate."
There is a custom in the capital. If an elderly person in the family is terminally ill, the children and grandchildren will buy a set of shrouds, which is called "happiness."
If the old man doesn't make it through, it saves him the trouble of preparing a shroud now.
The door of the coffin shop was opened.
Inside was a shopkeeper in his forties.
The shopkeeper rubbed his sleepy eyes: "Please come in, two guests."
Although it is not common for customers to come to the coffin shop in the middle of the night to buy a shroud for the occasion, it is not uncommon. The shopkeeper didn't think much and led the two people into the coffin shop.
When walking inside, Chang Feng noticed that the shopkeeper had a steady pace and was not lame. Presumably he is not the "old cripple" that Miss Jiu said.
Entering the store, the shopkeeper asked: "Should I buy just the shrouds or a complete set of shrouds, shrouds, hats, shoes, socks, and quilts?"
Chang Feng replied: "Buy a complete set."
The shopkeeper asked again: "Do you want a high-quality one, a medium one, or a low-quality one?"
Chang Feng replied again: "Buy the best one."
The rules of the coffin shop are that you cannot bargain when buying a shroud. If you perform filial piety but then counter-offer, wouldn't that become filial piety?
Of course, the coffin shop will not ask customers for exorbitant prices, they are all fair prices.
The shopkeeper said: "The full set of high-quality ones costs three to six taels of silver."
Chang Feng asked Fatty Xu: "Have you brought any money?"
Fatty Xu naturally brought enough money to visit Yihong Building. He is not a person who likes prostitution for free.
He took off the money bag tied around his waist.
Chang Feng asked: "How much silver is there in total?"
Fatty Xu said: "There are about ten or two."
Chang Feng took the money bag and poured all the broken silver inside onto the table: "Shopkeeper, please accept it."
The shopkeeper said quickly: "We don't need so much."
Chang Feng lied: "That's right. My father said that in addition to buying a complete set of shrouds, he also had to buy a paper crane and a paper deer to celebrate my grandfather's birthday."
The shopkeeper said: "Oh, I want to buy 'Crane and Deer Linghun'. I have it ready-made here."
The shopkeeper led the two of them to the east side of the store. There are dozens of paper bundles placed here.
He took out a paper crane and a paper deer from inside: "Can these two be okay?"
Chang Feng shook his head: "My grandfather was obese, weighing around 200 pounds. These two are too small, and I'm afraid they won't be able to move his old man."
"I heard that there is a lame paper maker in your company who is very skilled."
"Let him tie two big ones now. Once they are done, the ten or so taels of silver will be yours."
After making up the lie about "grandfather weighs two hundred pounds", Chang Feng felt a little funny. It seemed like he was being taken advantage of by Fatty Xu.
Fatty Xu suppressed his laughter.
When you open the door to do business, there is no point in pushing money out the door.
The shopkeeper happily agreed: "Chengcheng. The old cripple is asleep. I'll call him over."
"His paper-tying work is the best in the entire Fulu Street! You can tell him whatever style you want."
“Absolutely great value for money.”
The shopkeeper went to the backyard. Not long after, an old man in his sixties and walking with a limp came over.
This person is the "old cripple".
The old cripple asked: "Two guests, how big of a deer and crane do you want to kill?"
Fatty Xu pointed at Chang Feng and rushed to answer: "My friend's grandfather weighed more than 200 pounds. It would take such a big immortal deer or crane to be able to move his old man."
After speaking, Fatty Xu gestured with both hands. The situation was so urgent that he did not forget to take advantage of Chang Feng.
The old lame man said: "It's done."
While speaking, the old cripple was keenly aware that although the two young men in front of him were wearing civilian robes, their feet were wearing boots!
The Ming Dynasty had a strict shoe system. Common people, handymen, businessmen, etc. can only wear shoes or leather jackets, not boots.
Only people in the extremely cold places in the far north can wear cowhide boots with straight seams.
Even if a businessman has money, he can only put silver or gold threads on his shoes to show that he has good status.
Yihonglou's pull-up boots do not have a heel, so they are not boots in the strict sense.
Those who wear boots must be officials!
At this moment, he has concluded that the two of them came here tonight not just to make two paper buns.
The old cripple said: "I'm going to work in the backyard. Wait a moment. It will be tied up in half an hour."
The shopkeeper was attentive and said: "I'll make tea for you two."
Chang Feng waved his hand: "No! I still feel at ease watching him work. You can't be careless about honoring the elderly at home."
Fatty Xu agreed: "That's right! It cost more than ten taels of silver! You have to keep an eye on it to avoid cutting corners."
The old cripple said: "Okay."
The old cripple led Chang Feng and Fatty Xu into the backyard with a limp.
He had difficulty with his legs and feet, and suddenly stumbled and fell.
Fatty Xu kindly went to help him.
I never thought that the old cripple was faking! He grabbed a handful of the loess on the ground with his hand, and with lightning speed, "hoo!" it flew up to Fatty Xu's face.
Fatty Xu was fascinated by the loess and exclaimed: "My name!"
Chang Feng on the side saw a shocking scene.
I saw the old lame man turning over like a kite, as nimble as a cat! He took three steps at a time and ran towards the courtyard wall.
It's just as fast as flying!
He is not a cripple at all, he is just pretending!
Chang Feng reacted very quickly and picked up the scorpion crossbow in an instant, but the scorpion crossbow was now equipped with a blue arrow smeared with poison, and the blood sealed its throat.
Gotta stay alive!
He hurriedly shot the poisonous crossbow arrows towards the ground, emptying the crossbow slot. Then he shook out the quiver from his sleeve and replaced it with non-toxic iron-tipped crossbow arrows.
The old lame man ran towards the courtyard wall. Fortunately, the backyard of the coffin shop is big enough. He was more than fifty steps away from the nearest courtyard wall.
The speed of the old lame man is obviously different from that of ordinary people, far better than that of young and strong young men.
The courtyard wall is nine feet high. But he tapped his toes and went up! He was about to climb over the courtyard wall before he saw it.
In a flash of lightning, Chang Feng finally replaced the non-toxic crossbow arrows and raised his hand to shoot at the old cripple.
"Whoosh, poof!"
The moment before the old cripple was turned out of the hospital, he suddenly felt numbness in his right leg, followed by a sharp pain.
The crossbow arrow hit his right calf!
The old cripple fell under the courtyard wall.
Fatty Xu rubbed his eyes and cursed endlessly: "Rat! How dare you hurt me!"
"You know Fatty, I've been through training, so you don't dare to fight me, so you just use this dirty trick, right?"
Chang Feng walked quickly to the old lame man: "Old senior of Miaoshou Sect, you are polite. I am the general banner of Fusi, Jinyiwei North Town, Chang Feng."
