Li Changan entered the city early and rushed to meet the ghosts.
Unexpectedly, the nun of Xianyi Temple told him that before dawn, Huangwei and the others were kicked out of the mountain gate by the master, leaving only a message saying that the Taoist priests should meet at Hua Wengdi shop in Fuguifang outside the city.
The Taoist priest had no choice but to go back home.
The Hua Weng Di store is very conspicuous, right next to the pier.
It occupies a large area and has many houses.
The host's family is well-run, and half of the large land is used as a warehouse and half as a hotel. His hotel is also different from other hotels. There are no beds in the side rooms, and there are no large bunks. It is filled with three-story large wooden frames, separated by wooden boards or bamboo strips.
Beds between rooms.
When a person lies inside, it is not much bigger than a coffin. The tenants nickname it the "coffin box".
In Li Changan's opinion, this "coffin box" is similar to a cage house somewhere in modern times. It can only be said that the situation of the poor is always similar no matter where they are.
Even though it's mediocre like this, it's much better than those black-hearted chicken and feather shops.
At least, even if you are born with thin skin, tender flesh, fair skin and plump skin, you can rest assured and boldly lie on your side at night.
What's even better is that if you close the coffin lid... no, close the bed door, the inside will become a world of its own, just like being in your own home, without any restraint. And when you go out to beg for food, you can leave the crude objects behind.
In "home", you don't have to tie all your belongings to your body all day long.
The owner of the shop, Hua Weng, was a famous and extravagant figure in the Qian Tang Dynasty. He was fair and reputable, and with him in charge, no one dared to do anything wrong, not to mention the three melons and two dates that Qiu Haha had on his body, even though he was piled high with gold bars and silver ingots.
!
The last words were spoken by Huang Wei in front of the shop owner. Unfortunately, the compliment only changed the back of the shop owner's head.
Huang Wei, always "forgiving", smiled and let everyone go to the food stall opposite the di shop to talk.
…
The food stall was tucked into a nook.
Cramped and shabby.
Fortunately, Li Changan and the others were even more humble, so they scrounged up a few copper coins, asked the shop owner for a bowl of rice soup, and then openly occupied the only table in the stall.
As soon as Li Changan sat down, he showed a questioning look - there were half as many ghosts gathering today as last night.
The family of four disappeared, half of the country men were missing, and only the old one was left among the two salesmen. There were quite a few scholars, but when faced with Li Changan's inquiry, they hesitated to speak.
The country man was impatient and cursed: "Taoist priest, why don't you mention those wolf-hearted things, and why are you talking about fellow countrymen? Bah! You're making a lot of noise!"
The old salesman was much calmer: "We all meet by chance, it's not love or reason, and they can't be dragged down by us."
Li Changan became more and more puzzled.
Huang Wei shook his head slightly, rolled up his sleeves, and saw the words "August 8" written like bruises on his plush wrist.
Then, the old salesman, Lu Xiucai, and two country men showed their wrists one after another, and they all had the same handwriting as Huang Wei.
Li Changan frowned and thought for a moment.
Stretch out your arms.
There is also the word "August 8" written in black and blue on the wrist.
This is a strange image that only appeared after coming into contact with the black stickers distributed by the skeleton ghost last night.
"What is this?"
"The Ghost King's Banquet, Ten Thousand Dollars Poster."
…………
Huang Tail is a cultural ghost, at least he once was.
Therefore, I have the problem of an educated person, who is unwilling to speak straightforwardly, and when he opens his mouth, he will say:
"During the Zhide period, the world was in chaos, and ghosts from the Central Plains poured into Qian and Tang Dynasties in large numbers."
"Even though there are many Taoist spectators in the temples in Qiantang City, the evil spirits came with the refugees and were born due to the war. Today they will kill a hundred, and tomorrow there will be a thousand more. We cannot stop them at all."
"In those days, as the play says, fierce ghosts gathered together, causing trouble during the day and eating people at night."
"That ghost king is the refugee from the Central Plains who fled at that time."
"A refugee, without a tile on his head or a grain of food in his belly. For the sake of his family, he and a group of fellow villagers were deceived by evil men and went to the seaside to build a seawall."
"He is originally from the Central Plains and doesn't know the dangers involved. Building seawalls is a hard job that no one would want to get involved in."
"A thousand people from the same village who worked together to build the pond were exhausted in less than ten months. But on the one hand, for the sake of their families and on the other hand, they could only grit their teeth and endure."
"When the construction period finally came, the supervisor deceived them into thinking they were homeless refugees and forcibly detained them to continue hard labor."
"More than a month later, a new hard laborer was an acquaintance of his, and he learned that the meager wages he had worked so hard to send to his family were robbed by scoundrels among the refugees because there was no man to support him at home.
.It’s a pity that his whole family has starved to death in a shack outside the city.”
"When he heard the bad news, he howled for three days."
"On the first day, the sky was dark and the earth was miserable. He cried his eyes out and shed tears of blood."
"On the second day, there was no light from the sun or the moon, and he even cried out his blood."
"On the third day, when it rained heavily, he smashed his own head with a hammer and swore an oath: After death, he would not go to hell or reincarnation. He would only become a fierce ghost and kill all the traitors in the world!"
"Everyone who witnessed it was moved, and thousands of hard laborers who had the same experience as him followed suit.
That night.
Blood rains from the sky and red tide surges from the sea.
As expected, these thousands of people turned into fierce ghosts and howled in the bloody city. In one night, they killed all the villains, unscrupulous supervisors, rogue homeless people and other traitors in the city!"
Huang Wei finished speaking in one breath, his mouth was dry, he poured rice soup into his belly, asked everyone to wait, and went to ask the boss for more soup with a shy face.
Revenge is prevalent among the people in this part of the world. The story of paying blood for blood and eradicating the enemy is the most deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Therefore, even though the protagonist of the story is the ghost king, the ghosts' faces are red and their ears are hot when they hear it. They wish that the bowl of rice soup was not rice soup but strong wine to relieve the heat in their chests.
But Li Changan shook his head in disappointment.
One of the scholars asked bluntly: "Why is the Taoist shaking his head?"
The Taoist priest first used his mouth to "wash" the bottom of the bowl. Strangely enough, his appetite increased greatly because he had eaten so much at the table last night. After only one night, his stomach was empty again.
"How true or false is the story of the Ghost King? I don't know. But I do know a thing or two about powerful ghosts."
He quietly glanced at Huang Tai, who was spinning in front of the stove. After all, he was not that shameless. He patted his belly angrily, sighed and asked:
"Do you think you are evil ghosts?"
The ghosts quickly shook their heads.
"You are all good ghosts. However, when you are new to death and ignorant, you are still unwilling to die violently and instinctively cause trouble in the way. The resentment of fierce ghosts is a hundred times that of you, and your mind is most easily robbed by vicious energy. Once it harms others, it will
Where can we tell the difference between good and evil?"
"The Taoist priest is right!"
Huang Wei really got the rice soup back, and Da Jicheng sat down, as if the words "Trouble Daozhong" had nothing to do with him, and continued to tell the story with a smile:
"The ghost king gradually became cruel and cruel."
"In the beginning, we only killed enemies. Later, even those who were related to the enemies could not escape the poisonous hands. In the end, even those who accidentally bumped into them were hunted down and devoured. The good Qian Tangcheng, because he was waiting for a group of evil spirits, how could he be killed?
Become a ghost."
"Until one day, his ferocity became so fierce that he led his evil ghosts to rush into the prefect's mansion during the day and devour everyone from the prefect to the servants in the mansion!"
"Such fierce flames finally caused the gods and arhats from the temple in the city to come down from the mountain and join forces to conquer the devil."
"The Ghost King is naturally invincible, but the gods and arhats pity him for a reason. They also consider that there are many evil ghosts under him. If they are all killed, it will harm the peace of heaven. Therefore, they made an oath with him, and he and his evil ghosts must retreat to Qian Tang.
The underground 'Cave City' accepts incense offerings and protects the peace of the place."
"From then on, the ghost king devoured evil spirits underground, and the temples and temples on the ground rescued good souls. Only then did Qiantang gradually become the prosperous market it is today. There is also a saying: Qiantang temple above ground, cave tomb underground."
After Huang Wei shook his head, he saw that Li Changan's bowl was empty and wanted to give him half of the rice soup.
After the Taoist priest declined, he smacked the story twice, but he always felt something was wrong.
"There are a lot of secrets in the story, how did you get it?"
"What's the secret?" Huang Wei divided the rice soup among everyone, leaving only a small sip. "There are many witches and witches in the city who worship the ghost king. Everyone has a copy of "The General Photographer of the Dharma King of the Ten Directions" on hand.
"The Sutra of Fierce One Hundred Ghosts", what I talk about are all recorded in the sutra."
As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and pointed to the black words on his wrist.
"The feast of the Eight Ghost Kings in August is actually the day of worshiping the Ghost King as stipulated in the oath. The people and ghosts who receive the message must hand over 10,000 yuan to the wizard on this day, and they will bring it into the cave city to offer it to the Ghost King. Therefore,
That’s why it’s called ‘Wan Qian Tie’.”
When it came to money, everyone immediately woke up from the excitement of the story and returned to their own positions.
"Is this really unreasonable?!"
The scholar ghosts were the most indignant.
"Since you are worshiped, you are a god. How can you take away people's money?!"
Huangwei argued disapprovingly: "The ghost king has no temple, and he does not receive many offerings on weekdays. Furthermore, Qiantang is different from other places. Even ghosts have to wear clothes and eat. The ghost king's family has a big business, so how can he get so little money?"
It will help the place become more prosperous and prosperous, so ten thousand dollars is not a big sum."
Say it.
Everyone stared at Huangwei with wide eyes, as if they knew him again.
This poor guy who can only ask for rice soup actually thinks that 10,000 yuan is just a small amount of money?!
Is this the pattern of ghosts in the city?
It's a pity that city ghosts are not as open-minded as country ghosts, especially when they are so poor that they can only drink rice soup and some people try to urinate themselves.
Several scholars took the lead in making noises, and soon reached a consensus that they would go to the City God's Temple to complain!
Huangwei couldn't persuade him, so he got two pig urine bubbles from somewhere, filled them with excrement water, and said he wanted to stay with them.
"Taoist Master, there is no need to go. First, come with me to burn incense and worship at the shrine."
…………
society.
Originally meant to refer to the land god, it was gradually extended to an organizational form for worshiping gods, and later expanded to other aspects of social activities.
For example, a club.
People in Qiantang especially love associations and gatherings.
For example, the Tailoring Society is a guild formed by tailors; the White Society is a platform for funeral practitioners such as coffin shops, musicians, yin and yang masters and even cooks to communicate with each other; another example is the most common so-and-so hometown association, which is a platform for outsiders to
They are especially the refugees, an organization that helps each other in times of need.
These gangs, sects, societies, and societies, to put it nicely, are for survival and friendship and mutual help. To put it bluntly, they are the hotbed and embryonic form of dynamic social groups, or they are!
Li Changan was naturally grateful but not sensitive.
Huang Wei advised:
"Everyone in the Qian Tang Dynasty joined the society. Once they joined the society, someone would take care of everything; if they did not join the society, it would be difficult to move forward. Even if they were to work as coolies or beggars, they would not be able to make a living without joining the society."
"Besides, there is another benefit to joining a society. In Qiantang City, there are often wealthy families who come forward to pay homage to Li Shigu, and they are secretly watched over by the society. If you don't join the society, you won't even be able to eat the cold incense."
The Taoist priest then thought about it.
Anyway, I don’t need any money, so just do as the Romans do for now.
…
The club introduced by Huang Wei is the most powerful one in Fuguifang, and most of its members are Kuhaha who work at the dock, so it is called the "Brown Clothes Gang".
The Xiangtang also happens to be located in the Hua Wengdi store.
At first, Li Changan was quite daydreaming.
Is the initiation ceremony like in the movie?
First pay homage to Guan Gong, and then drink blood wine.
What to sing:
"Loyalty and righteousness lead to wealth and glory."
Bang! Smash the bowl into eight pieces.
"There is no loyalty or righteousness, just shine on this lotus flower.",
pity.
After waiting for a long time, an old man with a trembling goatee came out, looked at his presbyopic eyes, wrote down Li Changan's name, and led him to burn a stick of incense in front of an unknown statue, which was considered as official joining.
It's not as ritualistic as in the movie.
The old man was kind and asked patiently whether Li Changan had been deceived recently? What difficulties did he face? Can he make a living? If not, Xiangtang could help introduce him to work as a laborer at the dock, but if arranged by the society, part of the wages would have to be turned over to the society's charity treasury.
After Li Changan refused, he was not upset and repeatedly warned: In a few days it will be the Hungry Ghost Festival, and during that time, the government and wealthy families will be offering sacrifices to orphans in Fuguifang. He has already registered his name in Xiangtang, and he is eligible to share some slices of cold pork.
But don't be careful, don't break into other people's altars and cause trouble.
…………
After the Taoist priest finished burning the incense, the ghosts who went to complain to the underworld also came back.
Judging from their expressions, they may be scared or angry, which means things are probably not going well.
Ask about the situation.
"Alas~"
The old salesman sighed heavily.
"When we arrived in front of the City God's Temple, we were stopped by two ghost messengers. The scholar told us his grievances, and the ghost messenger actually led us to the temple. The old man's eyes were not yet dim, and he saw that the ghost messenger clearly had a tattoo on his wrist.
We had the same handwriting and asked, 'Have you got all the gifts for Mr. Chai?', who would have expected..."
Snapped!
But it was the young scholar who had been the most noisy before and slammed the table, his pale and pale face turned red. If it hadn't been for the clear day, he would have appeared on the spot.
He grabbed the conversation and said through gritted teeth:
"The guy actually said: I was still short of a hundred yuan, but thanks to you, I sold it to hard labor in exchange for money. Not only can I make enough money, but I can also pay for a meal and a drink."
"The world is bright and clear."
"The world is bright and clear!"
The scholar was so angry that he could not speak coherently, so the old shopkeeper had no choice but to pick up the topic and stood up first to bow to Huang Tail.
"Thanks to the Huang brothers for their urine bubbles."
Huang Wei was about to wave his hands modestly, but felt that there seemed to be an ambiguity in his words.
there.
"While the ghosts were unprepared, we threw urine on them. The ghosts were stained with filth, and it was difficult for them to show their Dharma bodies for a while, so we were able to escape."
After saying that, all the ghosts sighed.
Ten thousand dollars.
It's ten guan of money, it's ten taels of silver!
If you leave it elsewhere, at least, you can buy a few living people; at most, you can buy fields and houses, and build a family fortune.
Could it be that "it's not a big amount" that Huang Wei said lightly?!
As for throwing away the ten thousand yuan sticker, it’s all a fart?
Oh, the King of Ghosts is shaking his head with fierce flames. How can a group of lonely wild ghosts resist it?
"Everyone, please don't be anxious."
At this time, Huangwei Youyou spoke.
"To be honest, Huang still has some wealth and can help everyone get through this misfortune."
The ghosts were stunned for a moment when they heard this, and then they all looked happy, with free flattery on their lips.
"only……"
Huang Wei's face showed regret again.
"A few days ago, I found a promising business, and all my belongings were invested in it. Now, like everyone else, I am penniless."
The eyes of the ghosts couldn't help but dim with joy.
"Nothing."
This guy changed the subject again.
"If that business is successful, it will be the only one in Qiantang City. Not to mention making a lot of money every day, it will also make a lot of money. I am alone and unable to make ends meet. If everyone is willing to help me, from today to August
At the Eight Ghost King's Banquet, one person can earn ten taels of silver, which is more than enough!"
All the ghosts looked at each other.
But what else can be said? They all just said "hey".