August 4th.
Haishi.
Tan Shisan was lying on the couch in plain clothes, tossing and turning, getting up from time to time and looking at the incense leakage. The incense thread gradually burned past Haishi, getting closer and closer to Zishi. He grumbled a few times and lay down again. He couldn't fall asleep no matter what, he could only stare straight into a pair of swollen eyes.
finally.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A drum-like sound of kicking the door sounded outside, accompanied by Huangwei's urgent shout.
Finally here!
He immediately jumped up from the couch, and hurried to the door without caring about putting on his shoes.
When it's time to open the courtyard door.
He stopped quickly, straightened his clothes, coughed a few more times, and then opened the door calmly.
"Why are you panicking? Shouting in the middle of the night, isn't it..."
"Ouch! Tan Shisan, Tan Dawu! It's already so urgent, what else are you trying to show off? If you delay any longer, it will be useless to give you the money!"
Before he could finish his words, he was urgently interrupted by Huang Tail bursting through the door. Then, he was half pulled and half dragged into the shrine, and Li Changan, the salesman, the scholar and the masons filed in behind him.
The shrine is still the same, small and messy, but the black cloth has been pulled back, revealing that the Ghost King and his followers are becoming more ferocious under the dim candlelight.
Huang Wei poured a few ingots of silver and a large pile of coppers onto the tribute table.
"Here's the money! Are the rituals ready?"
Yes, giving gifts to the Ghost King on his birthday is not just about paying money, there is also a simple ritual.
"Why are you panicking?"
Tan Shisan pointed to the incense drain - there was a long incense stick placed horizontally on the copper plate, and copper coins were hung on the incense. Whenever the incense string burned and the copper coins fell, it meant that time had passed.
"There are still three coins left on the incense, which is more than enough."
As he said this, people knelt down to the altar, offered incense, kowtowed, and asked for a ruler.
Made of bamboo and wood, two fingers wide and half an arm long, with some crooked, black characters painted in blood.
"Which comes first?"
…………
The old shopkeeper was the oldest, and the ghosts chose him as the first one.
Tan Shisan asked him to roll up his cuffs, then held his wrist and put the ruler against the old salesman's arm.
All of a sudden.
The old salesman's eyes widened, his body trembled violently, his teeth creaked in his mouth, as if he was suddenly frightened to the extreme, and he was about to jump up and run away from the door.
Li Changan had quick eyesight and quick hands, so he went up and held him down.
Tan Shisan nodded gratefully to the Taoist priest. It was his first time doing this job and his hands were very good.
He tightened his grip on the old man: "Bear with it!"
The old shopkeeper nodded heavily, but his body was still shaking, as if even the "August Eight" tattoo on his wrist was shaking.
No.
Li Changan could clearly see that the tattoo was indeed trembling, twisting, and deforming under the rule, and the strokes were messed up, and they gathered into things like earthworms and scurried around on the old shopkeeper's wrist.
Was it actually alive?
After getting this "tattoo", the Taoist priest also did some research and found that although this thing is obviously manifested on the soul body, if you carefully perceive it, it is between presence and absence, and its existence is weak and almost undetectable. After several attempts, I couldn't get rid of it and no harm was found, so I had to let it go. Although he has yet to try some violent methods, he is not a scientific madman. How can he conduct random experiments on himself?
The "earthworm" seems to be very afraid of the ruler, and immediately jumps away as soon as it approaches.
Based on this, Qin Shisan drove it from the forearm to the wrist, and then transferred it from the old shopkeeper's wrist to his own arm.
Then he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Next."
…………
The scholar, the mason, and Huang Wei passed by one after another, and finally it was Li Changan's turn.
Copper coins have fallen twice.
On August 5th, it was close to my ears.
Tan Shisan wiped the sweat off his face, grabbed Li Changan's wrist, and carefully attached it to the ruler.
At this moment, he understood why Huangwei and the others were trembling. It was not because of pain or cold, but because he sensed an extreme ferocity from the contact of the ruler, as if they were putting their necks under the fangs of a tiger. It makes people instinctively want to scream and run away.
The Taoist priest adjusted his sitting posture slightly uncomfortably, and then became calm and composed.
Also at this very moment.
The writing on the forearm moved, and the originally weak sense of existence became stronger. The Taoist priest vaguely noticed that it seemed to be really alive! Not a trace of magic power, nor a wisp of filth, but a strange and weak soul.
I don’t know if it’s because Tan Shisan is out of energy, or because this “earthworm” in Li Changan’s hand is particularly difficult to deal with.
It cannot be driven away by life or death.
Tan Shisan glanced at the fragrance leakage frequently from the corner of his eyes, and soon he was sweating profusely.
The Taoist priest was really nervous when he saw him.
"Where did your ruler come from?"
Tan Shisan was silent and concentrated.
"I saw you kowtow, so I took it and used it. Don't you need to make a gesture or recite a spell beforehand?"
Tan Shisan stared.
"What is it made of? How is it made? Can other people use it?"
Tan Shisan's face trembled.
Finally, the "earthworm" came to him.
Dang~
The last copper coin fell, and the time had come.
Tan Shisan seemed to have lost all his strength, half-slumped on the futon, took a few breaths of air, and after feeling better, he pointed the ruler at Li Changan's nose and scolded him.
"Aren't you such a verbose person? You keep asking questions here and there. Do you want to be the wizard?! If I get really distracted and waste time, what will you do?!"
"I believe in Tan Dawu's ability."
Tan Shisan opened his mouth, speechless, and hummed for a long time.
"She's really sharp-tongued and is a good material for chanting spells. Anyway, there's no harm in telling you."
"This ruler is called the 'Soul Expelling Ruler'. It was given by the envoy after the wizard made an offering to the Ghost King."
"There is no need to recite incantations or make incantations, just remember to pay for a new one every year."
"What is it made of? How is it made? His grandma's, how do I know?! As for whether others can use it? Ha! Apart from wizards, what else can others use this thing for? I hate the chance of having such a smooth life and want to bankrupt it. Put it on yourself?"
He sneered a few times and began to count the silver and copper coins on the spot, waving his hands at the ghosts as if to ward off flies.
"Go and have a rest, go and have a rest."
"You ghosts stayed up most of the night, but I, the human being, need to rest early."
Seeing this, all the ghosts thanked him one after another and left.
It was dark and gloomy at this time, and when we left the shrine, the wind blew and it hurt like hell, and the fog wrapped around us and it was freezing. But everyone was happy instead. The crisis that had been weighing on their heads for a month was finally lifted. A big stone was gone in their hearts, and they felt relaxed all over.
"That man surnamed Cao has a vicious mind, but he is a softie! We didn't ask any questions, so he told us where he hid the money."
"It's a pity that he doesn't have much silver in his hands. He traveled a few places and could barely collect the one hundred taels."
While talking and laughing, everyone left the yard one after another.
But suddenly, the laughter in front of him stopped abruptly, and his body seemed to be caught by something, making him stiff and motionless.
Li Changan frowned and pushed his companion away and stepped out of the courtyard.
Just one step.
It was as if I had fallen from a warm shore into an icy river, and a chill suddenly invaded my soul.
Oh, what a vicious resentment!
He looked coldly, and saw pairs of green eyes lighting up in the dark night fog ahead. Accompanied by the low growls in the throats of dogs, monsters emerged from the fog one after another.
These monsters sound like dogs, and their fur, heads, limbs, and bodies also look like dogs, but they are definitely not dogs.
Probably because the hind limbs are extra long than the forelimbs, the posture of walking and standing is very weird, not like a standing dog, but like a lying down person.
They bared their fangs and drool fell from their mouths.
Li Changan silently took out the yellow talisman.
Xilulu~
There are horses neighing in the fog.
Immediately, I saw a black horse coming out of the fog. The horse was strangely tall and its head was even higher than the thatched roof of the street hut.
Sitting on the saddle was a very lanky man.
Even though he was wearing a thick and wide black cloak, he could still see the ruggedness of his body under the cloak.
His face was wrapped under a hood, as pale as clean-shaven bones. Set against the black horse and black robe and the black mist, it was like a ball of white paint on a blackboard, eye-catching and disgusting.
He sat high on his horse and lowered his eyes to scan the ghosts. He paused for a moment when he saw Li Changan, but finally fell on Huang Wei.
Showing some doubts.
At this time, Tan Shisan hurried out and without saying a word, he knelt down in the mud in front of his house and raised the money in his hand high above his head.
"The birthday gifts for these little brats have been given to me, please let the envoy take a look!"
The messenger's eyes moved away from Huang Wei, but he didn't look at the money.
A dog barked in the distance.
He pulled the reins and took his "dogs" with him, disappearing into the night mist as suddenly and quietly as when they came.
Tan Shisan maintained his posture and knelt for a long time, until he couldn't hold on any longer, and then he slumped down in the mud, mumbling and spitting into the fog.
All the ghosts followed suit and sat slumped in the mud, looking at each other in disbelief. The little bit of joy they had just now had long since dispersed.
Only Huangwei, who had been standing there with his face buried in the beginning, remained silent until now, which was completely different from his usual out-of-the-box temperament.
"Who is that?" Li Changan asked.
Huang Wei raised his head, and the Taoist priest saw that the muscles on his face had lost control, causing his facial features to form an extremely weird expression.
He said: "The Soul Catcher."
…………
The old "debt" of Cave City has been repaid, and there are new "debts".
The next day, Li Changan and Huang Wei brought two baskets of miscellaneous fish to the small open space in Fuguifang.
Usually, this open space under the wall is a children's playground during the day and a meeting place for cats at night.
However, due to the wandering spirit, the parents suspected that the open space was unclean and did not allow the children to play there anymore. So the open space belonged to the cats even during the day.
Some were lying on the trees, some were squatting on the ground, some were drinking water by the ditch, some were swatting at flying insects in the grass, some were hooking their tails, some were meowing... The cats surrounded Li Changan.
The Taoist priest was not moved at all. Doesn’t he still know the moral character of these long-haired thieves? Feeding is okay, but petting the cat is out of the question.
Just throw out all the other fish waiting in the box - this is the final payment for asking Mao'er for help yesterday.
"well."
Yellowtail sighed.
Glancing quietly, the Taoist priest didn't respond.
He leaned closer and turned up the volume.
"well!"
The Taoist priest was helpless, knowing that this unruly guy would not come to help.
"Say something quickly."
Huangwei chuckled, picked up the bamboo basket, and dumped it carelessly on the open ground, earning a burst of "oows" in protest.
Then he threw the basket away and picked it up.
"Taoist Priest, I'm afraid our 'funeral viewing' business won't work."
Li Changan nodded.
After what happened with Shopkeeper Cao, the ghosts' identities will be revealed sooner or later, and it will be difficult to find anyone to cooperate with them. Even if he can find it, the "funeral watcher" has been targeted by thirteen families. As the saying goes, officials advance and people retreat. Although the Thirteen Family are not officials, their power in Qiantang is much more powerful than that of officials.
"Without the 'funeral viewing', if the rest of us want to earn the reincarnation money again, we have to rely on working hard with others. I don't know how long it will take before we can make it."
"Do you have another clever idea?"
"You can't take a clever idea. Some ideas need to be carefully considered."
Yellowtail cleared his throat.
"If there is such a place, it is very close to Qian Tang, and its products are rich and needed by Qian Tang. However, due to various reasons, the two parties have always had a bad relationship, so that the output of this place cannot be sold to Qian Tang market. If , we can come forward and sell the things from that place to Qiantang, which not only helps that place, but we can also make a lot of money ourselves. In this way, we get the best of both worlds, isn’t it wonderful?!”
Although Li Changan had already made a guess, he still cooperated and asked:
"What place are you talking about?"
"Feilaishan!"
