The black horse pulling the cart is tall and strong, with shiny fur without any trace of color. The pagoda-shaped hood is painted like a bright yellow glazed tile roof, and the body is embossed all over and decorated with various colored silks. Even the wheels are carefully pasted with gold foil.
Such a luxurious carriage and horse should go to a certain blue cave in the city, or somewhere outside the city with "broken bridge and residual snow". It should not be here - messy, filthy, full of fish smell, mud pit and poverty.
Ghost Linhufang.
It is so incompatible with the surroundings, but no matter whether it is the residents walking on the street, the popular ghosts on the eaves, or the gods patrolling in the sky, they all turn a blind eye to this "foreign object".
What’s even weirder is that the carriage is wide and the lane is narrow and winding, but the carriage is not affected at all. No matter what is blocking the horse is a dense crowd, a dead end, or a muddy pond, it is like a gust of wind.
, a beam of light, a shadow, passed straight through, passed through, and floated past.
It seems that it does not really exist in this world, it is just a reflection of the other side in this world.
It stopped briefly in front of a certain hut.
The car bell rang softly without anyone hearing it.
The carriage continued to move forward.
…………
Outside Jinghai Gate on the east side of Qiantang is a prosperous seaport.
It's called Yingchaofang.
It was a transfer station for land and sea trade between the Qian and Tang Dynasties. Merchant from all over the place gathered and dispersed here like migratory birds. During their short stay, the merchants usually rented a nearby house for temporary residence and discussion.
"Reflection" drove into such a house.
At the moment of entering the door, the carriage drove into this world from the other side, turning from illusion into reality.
It stopped next to an identical carriage in the yard.
There were several men surrounding the car.
The leader had his arms bare, revealing the tattoos on his arms. At first glance, he looked like a man hanging out on the street, but at this time he was holding a calligraphy brush and a book.
A tall man boarded the carriage, opened the curtain, and shouted: "Wanshou Fang, Ning Chun'er."
He got out of the car with a girl in his hand.
The girl's expression was in a trance, and her figure was illusory. She was obviously not a human body, only a soul.
The man with the flowery arm looked at it, made a sketch in the book, called someone over, and took the girl's soul to the depths of the yard.
Then, a short man came to the carriage and horse, took out a leather tube engraved with strange runes and blew on the carriage and horse.
With one blow, the carriage and horse speed up.
After seven or eight breaths, the big black horse turned into a black ant with long fingers, and the carriage turned into a miniature model. The short man picked it up and put it into the bamboo tube around his waist.
The man with the flowery arms added another stroke.
"It's a donkey thing." The tall man suddenly complained: "When will this immoral thing end?"
The short man laughed at him: "What? Did you lose your money?"
The tall man said: "This job pays a lot of money, but it is more sneaky than being a thief. To say it is a secret would be leaking. You are not allowed to go to the gambling stalls, or even go to the hotel to eat and drink. You are huddled in the house all day long.
, his grandma’s, my dick is almost moldy!”
"Shut up! You're going to go find a doctor. Why are you farting here?"
The flowery-armed man couldn't stand it, so he put his hands on his hips and scolded me.
"That's a lot of nonsense. Let the mage hear it. Do you want to choose a pig, a dog, a cow, or a sheep? Go get some souls!"
The tall man didn't dare to complain any more and boarded the last carriage with a low voice.
He shouted listlessly: "Linhufang, Zhu Gou Sheng."
Then the car curtain was opened.
"Huh? How come you are an old guy?!"
"If I were not old, how could I be your grandfather?"
A straw sandal flew out and stuck firmly in the middle of the man's face.
…………
Li Changan jumped off the carriage.
Rubbing the soles of his shoes on the ground with a bloody nose, he raised his eyes and looked around.
The four courtyard walls are high and deliberately isolated from the outside world. On both sides of the courtyard are living rooms. The house opposite the gate is made of bricks and stones, has doors but no windows, and should be used as a warehouse.
Logically speaking, the souls of the children should be hidden in the warehouse.
The Taoist priest looked over.
Four men stood guard in front of the door and glared at him.
The leader, Hua Ju, was quite sophisticated in his conduct. Seeing that Li Changan had a strong figure and a calm demeanor when he came alone, he gave a few instructions to the man next to him.
The man nodded, spat at Li Changan, turned around and entered the warehouse, and closed the door.
Only then did Hua Jie squeeze out a smile and bow his hands politely:
"My brothers and I are doing some small business here, but I don't know where I have offended a hero?"
Li Changan's answer was a yellow talisman.
"Edict."
There were many sorcerers seeking a living in Qiantang, and all kinds of terrifying rumors emerged one after another. Seeing the Taoist priest put the talismans in his pocket, the three of them were so horrified that the hairs on their hair stood on end.
But until the yellow paper fell softly to the ground, nothing happened.
Li Changan wasn't embarrassed at all. The Ghost Binding Talisman didn't respond, which meant that they were all living people and had to go through extra trouble.
On the opposite side, the man with flowery arms gradually put away the smile on his face.
"Brother." The tall man next to him covered his nosebleed, "Xuanju can't lift the body, I'm afraid this guy is a ghost."
"So what about ghosts? After doing this, how many people do you see?"
Although Qian Tang is richer and more peaceful than the Central Plains, there are also countless people of unknown origin hidden there, and there are even more people and ghosts living together. Under the calm situation on the outside, there is a more turbulent undercurrent. Among the scum hanging around here, which of them will be easy to escape? generation.
Everyone believes in a saying: If you only know how to fight hard, you may not live long; if you don’t know how to fight hard, you will definitely not be able to stand!
The man with the flowery arms put away the book and pulled out the short knife from his waist.
"Kill him to death."
…………
The flower arm is particularly ruthless in its attacks, and its fighting spirit is particularly tenacious.
Even if it is placed outside, it is enough to earn some reputation.
So Li Changan had to break one of his legs before knocking him over, and then threw the three of them into the corner.
He knocked open the barn door.
As soon as he entered the door, he bumped into seven or eight men. They were all holding swords and axes, with ferocious expressions. After a moment of surprise, they pointed at the Taoist priest:
"The Master has an order to keep this person alive, whether alive or dead!"
Li Changan clicked his tongue.
Those who engage in sex trafficking, whether they are kidnapping people or kidnapping souls, are indeed extremely vicious people.
Waving sleeves and throwing talismans.
Get out of the warehouse.
Close the barn door.
The movements were completed in one go, and then he hid by the door.
And refers to making tactics.
"Hurry up like a law."
The next second.
The talisman of the Suzaku Feather Seal caused the fire to explode with a "boom". The air wave rushed up the tiles and flew off the door panels. The tongues of fire surged out along the door opening and licked the blue sky.
Wait for Li Changan to lean forward and look in the door again.
The fire was fierce and black smoke billowed.
I don’t know what was stored in the warehouse, but the effect of the talisman was much stronger than expected. The entire warehouse was almost set on fire, and the men were all on fire. Maybe they were stunned by the explosion, and they were all around like headless flies.
He was bumping and howling miserably.
One of them happened to burst into the door.
Li Changan then pulled him out and threw him into a water tank used for fire protection under the wall.
The man took a few mouthfuls of dirty water. Before he could rejoice, the Taoist priest grabbed his hair and dragged him to the door.
"Where is the child's soul?"
The man gritted his teeth and said nothing, but his eyes subconsciously turned to a corner of the warehouse.
Li Changan looked around and saw that the air wave from the fire overturned the debris, revealing a secret door in the corner.
Taoist priest: "Thank you very much."
The man's expression changed drastically: "Dog..."
The words are not finished yet.
Then he was thrown back into the house, and the fire burned him again, turning all his curses into miserable howls.
Li Changan didn't pay much attention to it. There was no magic power in these men. They were not the culprits practicing sorcery, and their behavior was also shady. They were mostly ruffians recruited by the culprit to act as his minions.
For such scum, there is no need to listen to their dirty words or screams and howls.
So the Taoist priest immediately pressed his palm down.
"The wind is coming."
The strong wind came in response, crushing the tile roof and roaring down!
Carrying broken tiles and broken wood, they buried the flames in the house and the men together.
Wave your hands to the wind.
Li Changan walked through the dust and came to the corner of the room.
Open the secret door.
Go down alone.
…………
Underground is a slaughterhouse.
There was not a single soul in sight, only dozens of lambs waiting to be slaughtered were circled in the corner, crowded into wooden fences, and the smell was overwhelming.
In the middle is the slaughtering room. There are many iron hooks hanging from the beams. There is a slaughtering table underneath. It is made of split wood. It has been soaked with blood and the color of the wood is not visible. It is filled with all kinds of knives.
Opposite the big table, there is a shrine, which houses an unknown statue. It looks like a Buddha sitting cross-legged, but it has the characteristics of animals, fish and insects, and the tributes are all fresh offal. It does not look sacred, and it is even worse.
Like a demon.
Further outside, there is actually a sewer connected to it. The light casts beams of bright dust from the drainage outlet above, illuminating the large amount of waste material discarded after slaughtering accumulated below, which is crawling with maggots and flies.
There are many such wide and deep ditches built underground in Qiantang. It is said that their original purpose was to drain waterlogging and collect water, but now they have become places where filth and evil gather in.
For example, the sewer in front of us has obviously become a secret passage leading into the city.
There is even a small boat moored on the sewage.
Li Changan approached carefully.
Flies flew away in swarms, and maggots crackled underfoot.
There is nothing on the boat, but the rope that tied the boat to the "shore" has been untied, which means...
A few flies jumped up.
There was nothing at all diagonally above Li Changan, but it seemed to have hit something, causing it to buzz and fall.
immediately.
The dim light is slightly distorted.
A short figure hanging upside down appeared out of thin air.
He was hiding in the darkness and couldn't see his appearance clearly. Only the dagger in his hand was glowing with a mixture of black blue and dark green light.
Motionless, like a dead thing.
Until Li Changan inspected the boat and bent down to expose his neck.
He spread his limbs and fell quietly, like a lurking poisonous snake launching a fatal and silent blow to the unwary prey. The dagger in his hand was a fang filled with venom, and it was about to pierce Li Changan's neck.
The Taoist priest turned around suddenly.
He grabbed the attacker's throat with one hand and grabbed his dagger-holding wrist with the other.
Fold it hard.
"Click."
The attacker was immediately in unbearable pain and was unable to get rid of the dagger, but he gritted his teeth and only let out a muffled grunt.
Have backbone.
It's a pity that Taoist priests never show sympathy to human scum.
He grasped the attacker's "broken hand" and twisted it away.
In the heartbreaking sound of fractures.
The attacker's shoulders were unnaturally high, and his arm joints were twisted at a terrifying angle.
He finally shouted.
The sound is extremely high-pitched.
child?
Li Changan dragged the attacker's face into the light and took a photo.
The face is full of wrinkles and deformed facial features.
No, it's a dwarf.
He was blinded by the bright light and his eyes were closed tightly, but his lips kept trembling and opening and closing. If he hadn't been pulled into the light, he wouldn't have been able to detect this secret move.
The flies were buzzing, and Li Changan discerned the sound of a mantra with unknown words. This sound did not come from the dwarf in front of him, but... the Taoist priest glanced at it, and saw that the shrine behind him was emitting a turbid light.
There are many means, but it's a pity...
The Taoist priest sneered, grabbed the back of the dwarf's head, and slapped him hard against the wall.
boom.
After the muffled sound.
Along with the blood splattered on the wall, a few rotten teeth were embedded.
The curse suddenly stopped.
"Hasn't anyone taught you that when you get close, you should speak less and use your hands more?"
The dwarf made no sound as he fainted.
The Taoist priest lifted him to the butchering table, threw a few yellow talismans at the statue, found a bucket—perhaps for cleaning knives, the water was filled with oil foam and insects—and pressed the dwarf's face into it.
Until the dwarf started to struggle.
The Taoist priest took him out, picked up a sharp knife, and put it against the dwarf's neck.
"Tell me. Where are the souls of the children?"
The cold blade quickly brought the dwarf back to his senses. He looked straight at Li Changan and suddenly grinned, spitting out a sharp and weird smile that was filled with blood and a few rotten teeth.
"You wild ghost who doesn't know how to live or die, did you know that you have broken into a big...ah!"
He suddenly let out a scream, but it was Li Changan who cut off his left ear and threw it into the smelly sewer. Then he put the tip of the knife back to his neck, going a little deeper.
Blood rolled down with the blade.
"Say." Li Changan doesn't like nonsense.
The dwarf said, "Do you really want to know?"
The Taoist priest cut off his right ear.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, huh~ hahahaha." The dwarf cried out in pain, hissed a few times, and actually laughed.
"Of course I'll tell you."
The Taoist priest looked at the remaining parts of his face.
The dwarf had a frightened expression on his face, but said:
"Why are you so anxious? The little man's life is already in the hands of the uncle, so you might as well be more patient."
Li Changan felt that his nose was a little redundant.
"Let him continue."
Words suddenly broke in from the side.
Li Changan glanced at the entrance and saw that the backup was belatedly arriving - Mr. Hua led Huang Tail, the Blade-headed Ghost and a few unfamiliar faces down to the slaughtering room.
The one who spoke was the knife-headed ghost. He folded his arms, muscles on his arms were bulging, and he glanced at the underground slaughterhouse with disgust.
"Qian Tangduo has a lunatic who is not afraid of death. Even if you cut off his penis, he will not give in. Let him continue talking!"
The Taoist priest also realized that the questioning was ineffective, so he relaxed his grip.
The dwarf chuckled.
"Look, I'm just a butcher."
You are a scumbag. Li Changxin said, but did not interrupt him.
"In my line of work, there are three classes of meat in the world."
"The worst thing is 'vulgar meat', which is taken from pigs, sheep, cattle, horses and other animals. It smells fishy in the mouth and turns into feces and urine when it falls into the belly."
"The best thing is 'immortal meat', which can only be obtained from immortal birds and immortal beasts. Eating it can increase longevity and make you feel like immortals. However, immortal birds and immortal beasts can only be found in overseas fairy islands, famous mountains and caves, and mortals can't find them.
"
"The meat in the middle is 'spiritual meat', which is obtained from spiritual creatures in the world. Eating it can nourish the spirit and strengthen the body. This meat is also difficult to find. Most of the spiritual animals are monsters. If you want to eat it, it will eat it."
Eat you! This meat is easy to find, because in this world there are not only demons but also humans who have spirituality."
"Especially that little baby. His soul is clean and has not been polluted by the world. He is the best choice."
"Oh, it's a pity that cannibalism is a great evil. Those who want to eat can't pay for it, and those who have money don't want to eat. Sir, please tell me..."
The dwarf grinned and blood overflowed, magnifying his smile many times.
"What should I do?"
An ominous premonition welled up in Li Changan's heart, but he still held on to luck:
"Where is the child's soul?!"
The dwarf just laughed, but Yellow Tail sighed quietly.
"Taoist Priest, don't ask."
He pointed to the lamb in the fence.
"Aren't the souls of the little babies all here?"
The lambs huddled in the corner and didn't react at all.
Wind seeped in from the water inlet, blowing up the rancid smell of sewage materials accumulated in the ditch. Mosquitoes stirred up and buzzed around the light beam. In the increasingly dim light, the thick chopping board was stained black with blood and hung from the ceiling.
The iron hook swayed slightly.
Anyone can easily imagine how the "lambs" were skinned, bled, disemboweled, limbs cut off, ribs divided, and hung on iron hooks.
Li Changan silently pressed the dwarf on the chopping board and replaced it with a thick-backed chopping knife.
"Wait a minute!"
Hua Weng anxiously stopped him.
"Old gang leader, what's the matter?" The Taoist priest said very rudely, "This thing also belongs to our Brown Clothes Gang?"
"You promised."
Li Changan remained silent.
Hua Weng's face tightened.
"You have to follow my rules!"
The Taoist priest smiled, then slammed the machete, without cutting off the head. He only smashed the dwarf's sharp smile and mouth to pieces, and threw it at Hua Weng's feet like a dead dog.
"He's yours."
………………
Hua Weng discussed with several ghost heads how to deal with the dwarf and the follow-up matters.
Li Changan was too lazy to participate and went up to the yard by himself.
The house has been controlled by Hua Weng and other gang members. They drive away curious passers-by, control the half-dead gangsters, and scavenge for usable property. They are very skilled in this business, and there is no room for Li Changan to interfere.
The fog rarely clears.
The sky is broad and the clouds are low, and the sea breeze is warm and moist.
When Huang Wei came up to talk to the Taoist priest, he was lying on the stone steps basking in the sun.
Huang Wei sat down next to each other and stretched out greatly, as if he wanted to straighten all the yellow hair on his body in order to get rid of the stinky smell in the basement.
"The Taoist Master is still angry?"
Li Changan doesn't like to be angry. As the old saying goes: Don't be angry about things that can be solved; there is no point getting angry about things that can't be solved.
So the Taoist yawned lazily and asked:
"Is the trial over?"
"The trial is over." Huang Wei nodded, "The dwarf didn't hide it at all. He said that he was a wizard from Southeast Asia. People in Qian and Tang Dynasties looked down upon him. He ran into trouble everywhere and couldn't ask for food, so he had to start a business of spiritual meat.
.That is, kidnapping the soul of a child, stuffing it into the body of an animal, killing it and selling its meat. Because his name is difficult to pronounce, his appearance is ugly, and he is as short as a macaque, others call him 'Ghost Monkey'."
Li Changan noticed something fishy.
"Is he famous in Qiantang?"
"Reputable."
"Do you usually do this kind of thing?"
"Do this too."
That's strange. Since he is a long-time thief, why didn't he be suspected in the previous incident?
"Firstly, because the so-called 'spiritual flesh' is not sold in the market, we only heard about his name. Secondly, there are rules in his business. He only kills dead people, leaving them as helpless souls living in Qiantang."
Among wild ghosts, there are those who abduct the souls of little ghosts. We only know that there are those who sell souls and flesh, and there are those who kidnap little ghosts, but we have never thought of the two together."
Li Changan took over the conversation: "I didn't expect that guy to suddenly break the rules and attack a living person."
"Let me guess."
He paused.
"Cave City?"
"See you tomorrow, Taoist Priest!"
Yellow Tail skillfully delivers flattery.
"The guy excused himself by saying that Cave City ordered a large amount of spiritual flesh from him to celebrate the Ghost King's birthday, and he was pressing hard, so..."
He spread his hands and sneered.
Li Changan: "That's why Hua Weng is not allowed to kill him."
"How can you blame Mr. Hua?" Huang Wei shook his head and explained, "This matter involves many things, how can Mr. Hua settle it with one word? Besides, that guy also has some sense."
"Is there any reason why evil magic can harm people?!"
Huang Wei still shook his head: "Those kids were out selling groceries and got ghost money, so they were photographed here. The amount of money they got was several times the normal selling price. Are all the people in Qiantang taken advantage of? Those are so many
The money they paid was to buy souls! Alas, it’s just that they were guilty of the word ‘greed’.”
"What kind of bullshit is this?!"
"The Taoist Priest doesn't know that although Paihuazi is a bastard who was despised by humans and ghosts and killed a thousand swords, he also has a serious reputation, which is called a 'soul-catching ghost', which is similar to the 'noisy ghost' and 'remnant-plundering ghost' that the Taoist Priest has seen.
'As well as birth ghosts, debt ghosts, red evil spirits, white evil spirits, fire evil spirits, pestilence evil spirits, etc., are all recorded in the "Manuscript of the Dharma King of the Ten Directions' General Photography of Fierce Evils and Hundreds of Ghosts".
Dead people do not respect ghosts and gods and do not follow moral customs, so they are one of the various evil ghosts they will encounter. Since they are listed in the 'King of Ghosts' Sutra', the truths they preach can naturally be bullshit."
Li Changan understood. In the final analysis, it could all be related to the cave city.
I'm too lazy to go on and on, so I just asked how to deal with the "Ghost Monkeys" gang.
"They are all alive. The ghost leaders are preparing to escort them to the government tomorrow."
"Send off to official?!"
The answer was so absurd that it was almost comical. Even with Huang Wei's face, it was a bit embarrassing to say it.
Fortunately, Hua Weng appeared in time to rescue him.
Hua Weng sent the little girl's soul and two strange-looking tubes, one long leather tube and one thick bamboo tube.
It is the magical weapon that controls the carriage called "Xuanju".
"You have contributed the most to this matter. There is no property found here. Only this thing has some use, so it should be yours."
The "Xuanju" is probably made from some kind of Nanyang witchcraft. It is wrapped with evil spirits. It is quite sophisticated and can be used to capture people's souls very covertly. But, what is the use of Li Changan?
"don't want?"
"If you want, the elders will give it to you!"
Huang Wei nodded quickly and bent down to take it, winking at Li Changan.
Li Changan didn't care at first, so he accepted the situation and went back to study it. If it really didn't work, it would just be ruined.
Seeing this, Hua Weng also relaxed slightly, but then frowned.
"Taoist priest."
"Hua Weng, please speak."
"I know you despise my rules."
Li Changan was surprised: "Pindao never had such intention."
Hua Weng obviously didn't believe it. He raised his finger and pointed at the dead people working in the yard.
"We ghosts, such as the Brown Clothes Gang, the Suffering Relief Society, the Liansheng Tuan, and the Chaoyi Sect, all seem to have all kinds of tricks, but in fact they are just a bunch of lonely ghosts trying to survive together. If we are not willing to follow the rules, who will
Will you follow the rules with us?"
After that, without waiting for a response, he shook his head and left.
Hua Weng’s words are profound.
It's a pity that there are two audience members... Huang Wei always has a playful smile, but Li Changan is also unmoved.
The Taoist priest did not lie, he indeed did not look down upon Hua Weng's "rules".
For him, people and things in the world, whether they are good or evil. He may lend a helping hand or return a sword, but he tries not to judge them from above.
Because the world is not a gentle fairy tale, it is cold and ruthless.
All things born in nature follow their own paths and follow their own rules to gain a place in the world.
Heaven takes its course, that's all.
…………
Mrs. Tao's home.
Li Changan blew Ah Zhi's soul into his body.
"alright."
He stood up and warned carefully.
"The little girl's soul has just possessed her. She was previously possessed by a demon's nightmare spell. She seems to have had a big dream. It will take a few hours for her to wake up."
"When she wakes up, dissolve this soul-requieming talisman into the water and give it to her, and she will be fine."
Just when I was about to send the yellow talisman.
"mother?"
Ah Zhi suddenly woke up.
Mrs. Tao didn't care about anything else. She hugged her daughter into her arms and cried with joy.