August 8th.
Chenshi.
The morning fog has lifted, but every household has lit incense candles early, and the smoke makes Qian Tang still shrouded in mist.
Pedestrians on the street walked in a hurry, passing each other suddenly, like ghosts floating back and forth in the deserted streets.
The shops on the roadside were only half open, and there was also little business. Occasionally, customers would exchange money and goods with just a few words, but they would never talk much or stop.
You can only hear some of it in the brief whispers in the streets and alleys.
"Dongwazi's double-acting double-actor Dagou was taken down."
"Du Qiaosheng, the singer of Baiwei Lou, is gone."
"Miss Quezhi and Lady Yulian from Chunfang River were kidnapped together last night."
"What a sin!"
"Hush! Be careful!"
Then he looked around carefully, shut up and left quickly.
In the rush of people, there was an old man singing and begging by the bridge.
"In the Qian Tang Dynasty, there was a man named Lang Ding and a man named Wuchang. He found a treasure mirror that was unparalleled in the world.
In the morning, longevity is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and in the evening, I fall into the cave of Jiuyoutang..."
Xi Qin is low and hoarse, and his singing voice is old.
Pedestrians passing by looked at him with disgust, as if the old man was some kind of poisonous insect or beast, and kept away from him. A few good-hearted people hurriedly walked away after leaving some coins, and did not dare to stop and listen to the music.
Presumably, this song is about a scholar named Ding Wuchang, who accidentally obtained a precious mirror, but was coveted by the ghost king, who forcibly took him down to the Cave City with a birthday sticker. After a strange and terrifying process, he got acquainted with a maid of the Ghost King. The beauty was moved by his talent and helped him retrieve the precious mirror and returned to the human world hand in hand.
Like many myths and legends circulating on the market, it is full of poor daydreams about talented men and beautiful women, fox wives and ghost concubines. The only difference is that this short piece does not have a second half and does not tell the story of Ding Wuchang's final ending.
Ding~
Li Changan threw a few coins into the broken bowl: "Do you know how to talk about the second half of the story?"
The old man raised his yellow eyes, pointed to his ears, and waved his hand.
Perhaps thinking that the Taoist priest was the last appreciative listener today, the old man put away the broken bowl, bowed and staggered away.
As he left, he sang another short song.
It tells the story of Xu Tianshi subduing the dragon. It says that Xu Tianshi made a bet with the demon dragon and decided Qian Tang's fate based on the good and evil in the world. If there are many good deeds, the demon dragon will be trapped; if there are too many evil deeds, the demon dragon will be allowed to devour all living beings in Qiantang. Xu Tianshi cheated in the gambling game. The time to measure good and evil is not that day, but a certain day thousands of years later.
Like many stories about gods and monsters, it praises the "changes" of human beings and despises the "weirdness" of monsters. Fortunately, this short song has an ending - "Ask people today, how many good and evil are they familiar with?"
Maybe each song is more unlucky than the last, making people hate it and even heaven.
The wind rolled out of the alley carrying paper dust all over the sky, pushing the old man's steps to stagger, and finally tore his sparse hair bun. Finally, he finally gave up, cheering and jumping off the stone bridge first, adding a new layer to the river. Dirty black.
"Daozhang Li?"
Xiao Shide's tearful eyes were full of worry.
"It's okay." Li Changan rubbed her round head. "I am here."
Xianyi Temple is already in front of you.
…………
The current situation of Xian Yi'an is very bad.
The mountain gate collapsed into ruins, and the four heavenly kings fell among the rubble, their heads disappeared without a trace. The remaining Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, Arhats, and Jialan all had their eyes destroyed, leaving pairs of empty eyes to stare into the world.
Several pilgrims who went up the mountain after hearing the news turned pale and left in panic. The surviving nuns wandered around the temple in despair, as if they were all wandering corpses.
No one paid attention to Li Changan, no one cared about anyone.
Until you reach the main hall.
Only then did a nun rush out after hearing the news.
"Shide, where did you go?!"
He held the little nun tightly in his arms.
"If you have three cards and two shorts, I should..."
Already choked with sobs.
Tears washed away her makeup, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes revealed her original age, which was in her late thirties, concealed by makeup. This age is not too young for a nun, and it is even older for a pleasure court.
Most of the nuns in Xianyi'an are this kind of nuns - they are unable to make a living due to various reasons after being a good nun, so they can only change their appearance and return to their old profession.
As soon as she cried, she would cry too. The sound of crying was contagious. Soon, the sound of crying echoed everywhere in the sutra hall, bell tower, lotus pond, dormitory...
The pilgrims who fled down the mountain looked back in panic, perhaps thinking that the temple was full of eyeless gods and Buddhas mourning together.
Xiao Shide was tired from crying and fell asleep in the nun's arms.
The nun hugged her and came over to greet her.
"Yesterday, the host led us to organize the night banquet as usual. But at dusk, a messenger suddenly knocked on the door and said that a certain real person from the Thirteenth Family had summoned Master Wuchen to question. The host knew the importance and broke up the banquet immediately. Turn off the lights and silence the nunnery. But as expected, as soon as Master Wuchen left, an evil spirit came to the door and said, 'The musician that Pure Monk likes must be the best musician in Qiantang, enough to add color to the Dharma King's birthday banquet.' Come to think of it. , Cave City has long been targeting us."
The pure monk is Wuchen. He has a nickname among the elegant guests of the Qiantang brothel. He is called "the most talented and wise heavenly guest, the dustless and pure monk" and the more famous "the most romantic person in Qiantang".
"The Cave City is not targeting you alone." Li Changan told what he saw along the way after entering the city. "Last night, the Cave City captured many actors and actresses. The number is so large that it is said to be the first time in a hundred years. It is not easy to detain too many in the Cave City. The living people will probably be released after tonight."
Li Changan didn't even believe the dry consolation, let alone the nun.
"You can't come back."
She gently held Shi Tao.
"A few years ago, a poor... slave once had a courtyard by the Chunfang River. As he grew older, he trained a daughter, named Lianli. When people saw it, who wouldn't praise her for her extraordinary talent and beauty? But that's right. At the Ghost King's Banquet that year, he was kidnapped by the messenger and disappeared from the world. As a slave, he had no means of livelihood, so he had to join this Xianyi nunnery. A few years ago, a wealthy guest who returned from the Ghost King's Banquet mentioned that he had seen ripples during the banquet. It’s already a ghostly skill in Cave City.”
Her expression was as calm as the Eyeless Guanyin in the main hall.
"The Cave City can't accommodate the living, so how can it not tolerate the dead?"
Li Changan was silent for a while.
"I heard that the Thirteen Families have an agreement with the Ghost King that the Sixty-Four Temples and Cave City will not interfere with each other..."
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Li Changan realized that he had made a mistake, shook his head and changed the question:
"Where's Wuchen?"
"I asked someone to send a message to Master Wuchen early in the morning." The nun replied, "No reply yet."
"How can a pure monk prevent a woman like us from dirtying her socks?"
But a nun next to him sneered and interrupted, and the nun immediately scolded him.
"Stop talking nonsense!"
She explained to the Taoist priest:
"Master Wuchen has always believed that the Ghost King is the leader of all evils in Qiantang, and that Cave City is the most filthy place in the world. Master is also used to being noble and self-respecting."
Li Changan understood what the nun meant and her calmness. When everyone around you and all justice cannot be relied on, all that is left is endurance. After all, whether as a technician, a bustard, or a nun, she lives by enduring. After all, there are millions of people and ghosts in Qiantang, who is not suffering in silence?
Li Changan didn't like to endure it, so he asked about various matters about the Ghost King's Banquet.
The nun spent most of her life in Huanchang and got to know many powerful people, wealthy businessmen, eminent monks and guests.
The Ghost King's Banquet is held every year, with nothing new and no secrets in its content. However, the Cave City itself is hidden deep in the intricate ditches and tunnels underground in Qiantang. It cannot be reached without guidance.
After some questioning, Li Changan learned a lot, but he was missing the most crucial point.
He was deep in thought, said goodbye and left, but was stopped by the nun.
"Shi De went outside the city to look for the Taoist Priest this morning. Su Nu and Huang Wei kept mentioning that you were chivalrous and proficient in martial arts. But maybe the Taoist Priest didn't know? There were forty-nine envoys under the Ghost King, and they were all murderers. The big ghost is as big as hemp, and he also has countless minions. In recent years, many mages have escaped the war and moved to Qiantang. In order to make a name for themselves, they have done evil in Cave City, but within a year or two, there has been no news about them all."
"No matter how great the Taoist priest is, he is still alone. Why throw away his life in vain? If you really care about the affection of plain girls, it is better to take care of the helpless children in the Salesian Home in the future."
"As for plain girls and meditation..."
Hearing Jingxiu's name, Xiao Shide called out "Master" aggrievedly in his sleep and sobbed softly.
The old nun stroked her back and hummed a few tunes, his eyes full of helplessness and pity.
"Everything is fate, nothing is up to you."
…………
When Li Changan returned to Salesian Hospital.
The children were playing in the abandoned courtyard of the dilapidated house. At this time in the past, He Wumei would urge them to study or take care of medicinal materials. Now that there is no supervision, Medical Officer Lu is not able to use his legs well. He is like a monkey without a golden hoop, making a lot of noise.
There was only a little girl who ran over dirty when she saw Li Changan and grabbed the Taoist priest's sleeves.
"Uncle Gui, I heard from the neighbor's aunt that Shide came here this morning. Was it Wuniang who was looking for you?"
"That's right."
Li Changan smiled and grabbed the corner of the little girl's head. She smiled and shook her head to dodge.
"I see, you are the smartest in this yard, look!"
Take out a small bag of preserved fruits.
"Wu Niang asked me to bring it back."
"ah!"
The little girl cried out in surprise, took the paper bag, raised it to her friends, and shouted loudly.
"Preserves!"
The little guys gathered around happily.
Li Changan stopped laughing and backed away silently.
I went back to my cabin and took the guy out.
The little guys surrounded Dr. Lu again and told him to eat preserved fruits.
Doctor Lu had already noticed it and looked at the Taoist priest with an incomprehensible look, but hesitated to speak.
Li Changan nodded at him, turned around and threw himself into Qian Tang Miaomiao's smoke.
…………
Dongwazi, Baiwei Tower.
On August 8th, all happiness in the world must give way to the King of Ghosts.
Therefore, it is reasonable that Dongwazi, which is usually noisy day and night, is deserted today. Half of the street shops were closed, and the other half closed early after noon.
Only Baiwei Tower still has its door open.
But there were no beggars in front of the door, no waiters in the hall, and no actors among the tables and banquets. There were only private seats upstairs, where a table of wine and food was served, and seven or eight diners gathered around.
The banquet was sumptuous, and every dish was the chef's signature work. However, no one here put down their chopsticks, and no one opened their mouths. It was as if the tables full of delicacies were all for show, and the diners in the seat were all dummies.
Until a man dressed as a scribe and with three long beards took the lead in breaking the calm.
"Throughout the ages, there is only one death. This statement is true. But now, what if I don't die? Everyone, please take the first step!"
After that, he picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp.
Qu Dingchun, who was on the opposite side, was shocked when he heard this and also raised his glass.
"How can you let Mr. Zhang look down upon you?"
After speaking, it’s time to drink the wine in the cup.
A big man suddenly broke into the room. When he saw Qu Dingchun's movements, his expression changed drastically, and he quickly rushed to grab his arm.
"Brother! Wait a minute."
But Qu Dingchun yelled: "Asshole! If I don't die, how can you live?!"
He punched the big man in the face and forced him to drink.
But the big man held on tightly and refused to let go. His face was covered with blood, snot, and tears.
"It's saved! Brother can live! We can all live!"
Look back and shout loudly.
"Taoist Priest! Taoist Priest Li!"
Li Changan was stepping in and saw the scene.
"After last night, everyone in Qiantang was in panic. Did you think you could all gather together for a banquet?"
He clapped his hands and laughed.
"You're really brave."
