Xu Erniang suddenly raised her head when she heard this, her eyes were bright, and her hands were twisted even tighter.
Huang Wei smiled proudly and said, "The lies that guy made up are quite deceptive."
"Unfortunately, you can't fool me."
"I once read an ancient book that told the story of the establishment of Qiantang City. As we all know, a thousand years ago, two demon dragons caused chaos in Wuyue. After Xu Tianshi was ordered to subdue the demons, he built this 'Smoke Willow Painted Bridge' with hundreds of thousands of houses.
'Qiantang City. However, few people know that the two dragons are not monsters without origins. The first is the Dragon Lord of Taihu Lake in the past, which drove away the floods of Taihu Lake. The second is the Dragon Lord of Qiantang, but it entered the sea from the east and used the eyes of the sea to cause tsunamis.
Sweeping across the southeast."
"Feilai Mountain outside the city is the remnant of the mountain where the Heavenly Master sent strong men to move to block the confluence of the two dragons. And the sixty-four temples and temples in the city are all highlands where the survivors of the Qian and Tang Dynasties escaped from the flood."
"Therefore, if there is indeed an eye of the sea in the East China Sea, its location should be between the vast sea from Zhoushan to Ryukyu. But Song Wanping said that the eye of the sea is somewhere between Yizhou and Wanli Shitang, where the tsunami flooded
It should be Chaozhou, not Qiantang.”
"There is a huge difference between the two. Song Wanping must be lying!"
Huang Wei spoke with certainty, but Li Changan rubbed his stubble.
"How can we be sure that the records in your ancient books are true? Furthermore, the 'Osmanthus' has been involved in Luozi and drifted for many days. Maybe it has left the original sea area, but the crew did not notice it?"
Huang Wei shook his head.
"We are not the Lord of the City. What does the truth have to do with us? That Song Wanping acted in a flamboyant way and got a lot of red eyes. All we need to do is find the flaws in his words and then write a complaint for Mrs. Xu and submit it to the Yamen
.”
He chuckled.
"Under three trees, what can you ask for?"
The light in Xu Erniang's eyes dimmed, she turned away and stopped looking at him.
…………
The two ghosts were driven out.
Of course, the elegant way of saying it is "the room is poor and shabby, not good enough to entertain guests". To put it bluntly, it is "if you don't have any news, don't come to the door, because you are thinking about my money"!
Two ghosts squatted on the street, and there were many pedestrians on the road, everyone running about making a living.
Li Changan: "A bad idea."
Huang Wei: "At least it's an idea, and it will work quickly."
The Taoist priest looked at him with eyes, and Huang Wei quickly waved his hand to beg for mercy: "Taoist Priest, don't be offended, I just tested the woman."
"Testing what?"
"Although the mother-in-law died of her son, she didn't blame Song Wanping who brought her son on the ship. At least, she didn't hate him. Isn't there something fishy in this?"
Huang Wei had a weird smile, and Li Changan rolled his eyes: "Stop gossiping, what does it have to do with us?"
Their commission is to find someone.
In the huge Qiantang, find someone who doesn't know whether he is dead or alive, or where he is.
It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, it gives me a headache just thinking about it.
However……
The two ghosts lamented at the same time.
"Silver!"
…………
Even though it is difficult to do, who knows that Gui Qian is short of ambition? For the sake of money, he has no choice but to do his best.
Calling the scholar, shopkeeper, and others, a dozen ghosts spread out and looked around.
Perhaps because of the "Ten Money God" or the "Ghost Doctor Lady", Li Changan's reputation was unexpectedly easy to use, and the ghost leaders of all walks of life were not embarrassed. Some of them, such as the "Knife-Headed Ghost"
"He also gave a lot of help.
But after careful investigation...
Li Changan and Huang Wei came to visit again.
"The two of us have visited all the ghosts and gods in Qiantang, and it is true that my son's soul is nowhere to be found."
Xu Erniang's face was dull and her eyes showed impatience.
Huang Wei quickly spoke:
"But we sincerely begged Master Shiqian for you. He sent a spiritual response..." Li Changan, who was standing next to him, said without changing his expression, "He pointed out a way to find your son's soul."
Xu Erniang looked suspicious. The "Ten Qian Master" he mentioned was obviously not reliable.
Huang Wei took a deep breath and sat upright:
"Have you ever heard of Fanke?"
"Dangerous maritime conditions, wind and waves, diseases, piracy and even vendettas all threaten people's lives. On a trip to sea, 12 out of 10 ships will sink, and another 12 out of 10 people will die on board. The bodies of the victims are usually thrown into the sea, but the souls can
Return to their hometown with the ship. However, not everyone's soul can be returned. There are those whose ship sank, and those who were stranded in the sea for various reasons. Their souls sank into the deep sea with their corpses, and their bodies were eaten by fish and shrimps, and their souls followed.
Drifting in the sea, they are more lonely and helpless than a lonely ghost. They are wandering in a foreign land, so they are called 'Fan'; they have difficulty returning home, so they are 'guests'. Therefore, they are called 'Fan Ke'."
After Huang Wei finished speaking, Xu Erniang's face turned pale and her body was shaky.
Don’t let anything happen to the sponsor!
Li Changan quickly took over the conversation, half questioning and half interrupting: "I thought fanke refers to people seeking survival overseas."
Huangwei: "After traveling thousands of miles away from home and wandering across the ocean, what's the difference between humans and ghosts?"
Xu Erniang stumbled. If she hadn't stretched out her hand to hold on to the wall, she would have fallen down.
Li Changan gave Huang Wei a kick in the dark, and the young man finally woke up from his show-off.
He smiled and said hurriedly.
"We happen to know a wizard who can summon the souls of foreign guests. But it is quite dangerous. Are you willing to take the risk?"
Xu Erniang turned pale and nodded.
…………
The wizard mentioned by Huangwei's surname is Qin. He claims to be the thirteenth in his family, so those who are familiar with him call him Qin Shisan. He lives in Yingchaofang.
The god that Qin Shisan worshiped was called "Dragon Son".
The so-called "Dragon Son" is not one of the nine sons of the Dragon, but refers to the drowned baby "sent" to the Dragon King by a family near the Qian Tang Dynasty.
…
Yingchaofang is a prosperous harbor, but not every corner is like this.
Leaving the port and wharf, leaving the tall buildings and courtyards of the business inns that serve merchants, and reaching the remote corners, the roads become narrower and muddy, and the houses become more low and dilapidated.
The smell of mud, fish, and moldy wood are mixed together. There are drunken men everywhere in the streets. The open doors along the street are full of disheveled women with indifferent expressions. A few children are stepping on them with bare feet.
Langni ran over, squatted down in rows by the wall, stuck out his buttocks and pooped, while a yellow dog "Ha Chichi" lay aside and stared closely...
Li Changan felt much worse here than Fuguifang.
Think about it carefully.
This is probably because the residents of Fuguifang are mainly laborers who come from other places to make a living. Even though life is difficult, they still retain a meager hope for the future. And the residents here are mostly dark women, sailors, scoundrels, and beggars. For them,
Tomorrow is a word that is too far away.
And Tan Shisan's residence is at the deepest part of it.
There are many strange strings of bones hanging on the door of his house, which are easy to identify.
Huang Tail came up and shouted hello.
"Tin Thirteen."
But there was no response from the door.
He heyed, raised his foot and kicked the door, leaving several muddy footprints on the door.
This was an immediate success, and an angry shout immediately sounded from the door:
"What a fool! What a hurry! Is there a death in your family?"
Soon, the door was suddenly opened, and no one showed up. First, a mouthful of chewed betel nut flew out, and then, a sinister-looking man with a face like a Shar-Pei dog was revealed.
Huang Wei was all smiles: "How are you doing, Master Qin these days?"
Tan Shisan: "Fuck your mother."
…………
Tan Shisan's shrine is a small house less than three feet square.
Burning low-quality incense, stuffed with bird and animal bones, cloth strips painted with ghostly symbols, and a mess of magical instruments and sundries, the altar that took up most of the room was covered with black cloth and could not see the sunlight.
"Evocation? You're late!"
"Huh? You finally got your comeuppance, your time is running out?!"
"You really can't say good things with your shit-eating mouth. I no longer worship Long Zi."
"You have changed the god."
Huangwei was surprised. The god the wizard worshiped was not a good friend, so he could change it at the request of him, so he hurriedly asked.
"Which one did you change?"
Tan Shisan didn't answer, he just lifted up the black cloth slightly.
Everyone leaned over to take a look, but they saw that the altar was full of strange and ferocious ghosts, surrounded by a big ghost with a big belly, and many human faces with painful expressions painted on its belly.
"You're crazy!" Huang Wei's eyes widened, "Worship the Ghost King!"
Li Changan suddenly realized that this was the Ghost King, no wonder he was made so ferocious and terrifying.
"Let's just say I'm crazy. If I'm not crazy, there won't be any rice left in the pot."
Tan Shisan snorted and threw another betel nut into his mouth, chewing it until his teeth dripped with blood.
"Those little bastards are originally ghost babies. Even if they are restrained by the Baoying Dragon King, they are very cruel. I usually beg them ten times, four times they will ignore you, five times they will punish you, and only once will they help. But now Baoying
The popularity of the Dragon King is getting less and less, and the 'Dragon Son' is becoming more and more cruel. He is getting less and less help, but his punishments are becoming more and more cruel!"
He cursed and cursed, becoming angrier as he spoke.
"At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Fangji of Fuxianglou lost a pearl hairpin on the river and asked me to help her fish it out. At that time, I spent a lot of money and offered sacrifices and blood food, but these little bastards couldn't find pearls.
The hairpin was fished out, but the dead children thrown into the river by Fuxianglou in previous years were also fished out, filling the whole house with people!"
"What a bastard! Because of this stupid thing. Halfway through this year, I haven't done a single business, and yet I'm so proud of him! I also need to eat."
No matter how hard it was, Tan Shisan just refused.
Huang Wei and Li Changan had no choice but to invite Xu Erniang.
When she came up, she didn't say much, she just took out the silver nugget from her sleeve.
One tablet, two tablets, three tablets...
Tan Shisan stared straight at it, and unconsciously stretched out his hand, but without waiting, he jerked it back as if he had been stung, and shook his head like a rattle.
"No, no, no! The Dharmakaya has been sent to Feilai Mountain. They are very petty. If they try to provoke me again, they will kill me!"
Huang Wei saw that he was out of touch, rolled his eyes, pulled him aside, rolled up his sleeves, and exposed the tattoo on his wrist.
Tan Shisan was surprised: "You, a cunning old man, have also been tricked?!"
"Not only me, but also the Taoist Priest." Huangwei pointed at Li Changan, "and a dozen brothers who are not here have all received the notice. If you help me this time, we will be together tomorrow."
How about I give you all my birthday money to send to Cave City?"
Tan Shisan hesitated for a moment.
Huang Wei said quietly: "It's not easy to hang out under the Ghost King's throne."
Tan Shisan finally sighed.
In Qian Tang, even ghosts have to work for money, let alone people.
He took a cup of cold tea, rinsed his mouth, sat back, and smiled on his face.
"Madam, I will accept your request, but as I agreed in advance, I will take a risk, so no matter whether the ritual is successful or not, the money is indispensable."
Xu Erniang has been running into obstacles at every turn during this period. She sees straws to grasp, so she can't refute.
Nods heavily.
Tan Shisan breathed a sigh of relief, and his smile became a little more sincere.
"My ritual does not require bathing or fasting. I just need to find a deserted beach and offer the blood essence and blood of my parents or recent personal belongings."
Li Changan's heart skipped a beat.
It's over, Xu Erniang's husband has been dead for more than ten years.
Unexpectedly.
Xu Erniang did not hesitate.
"good."
…………
A remote beach outside the city.
The waves are submerged in the white sand, rising and falling slightly.
A leather boot stepped in suddenly.
Qin Shisan grabbed a rooster, slit its throat, raised his head and drank, muttered something, and then squirted the chicken's blood into the sea.
Later.
Waving two bell knives, singing and dancing, he returned to the shore next to the altar.
In front of the altar stood a paper man with the name of Xu Erniang's son written on his forehead.
The left and right hands are holding another paper figure respectively. The one on the right is wearing Xu Erniang's usual dress, and the one on the left is carrying a fine gold coin from Dashi.
Xu Erniang was under the Dharma altar, looking forward to but also worried.
Huang Wei quietly moved to Li Changan's side and asked in a low voice: "Can this ritual be accomplished?"
The Taoist priest calmly replied to him: "How do I know about the wizard you are looking for?"
"Aren't you afraid that this guy is afraid of trouble?" Huangwei said anxiously, "Did you come up with a trick to fool us?"
"no need to worry."
Li Changan shook his head and pointed to the sea.
"'Longzi' has arrived."
The chicken blood spread silently in the water, dyeing the vast sea surface pink.
Many fish and shrimp carcasses that had been eaten emerged from the pink. They were pushed ashore by the waves and piled up to form the dividing line between seawater and land, emitting a strong stench.
Tan Shisan turned around suddenly, pointed his halberd at the sea, and blood dripped as he shouted:
"A wandering soul, why don't you come back soon!"
Suddenly, I saw a spring not far from the coast. As a large amount of mud rolled out, a human figure stood up from the mud.
It was a young man, standing in the water up to his waist, with a pale face and wet body.
"My son!"
Xu Erniang whined and staggered over.
Tan Shisan quickly stopped her: "Madam, don't worry, those little bastards are not so kind!"
But Xu Erniang couldn't listen. No matter how hard she struggled, Tan Shisan was scratched several times. She was so angry that she cursed, but she didn't dare to let him go. She turned around and yelled at Huangwei: "Why don't you come over and help!"
Huang Wei hurried over to help.
Xu Erniang couldn't break free, she just looked at her son and cried: "Son, it's all my mother's fault. I shouldn't have let you get on that ship."
The son seemed to want to answer, but his lips seemed to be sewn shut. No matter how anxious and miserable he looked, he could not speak.
until.
He raised his head and exposed his neck. A red line appeared on the pale skin, and then suddenly tore open, forming a horrific wound.
The skin and flesh were soaked and turned white, and the outward opening seemed like the mouth was opening and closing, and he said:
"mother."
Xu Erniang's struggle suddenly stopped, and she opened her mouth in disbelief, but she was silent, with only tears flowing down her face.
Perhaps seeing the mother's grief, the child struggled to move in the sea water.
But I just took the first step.
Large areas of his clothes were suddenly stained red, and fragments of internal organs slipped out from under the hem of his clothes and floated on the water. The sea water became even redder. With every step, wounds of various sizes appeared on his body, and pieces of skin and flesh peeled off, revealing white bones.
Not long after.
The young man has turned into a bloody skeleton.
But he still dragged his steps forward with difficulty.
When he was about to cross the "dividing line", many childish but malicious laughter suddenly sounded in the sea.
Immediately afterwards.
One after another, children with black skin and mutilated limbs jumped out of the sea, threw themselves on the young man, and dragged him into the blood-red water again.
Huangwei turned around and shouted: "Taoist Master!"
"disease!"
The yellow talisman is thrown like a stream of light.
Dazzling golden light then burst out in all directions.
Li Changan has already jumped into the light.
A little.
The golden light faded.
Li Changan Independent Beach, staring at the deep sea waves in the distance, the waves are clear and shallow, the sea sand is fine and white, both the young man and the ghost boy are like dreamy bubbles, disappearing without a trace.
"Daozhang Li?" Xu Erniang looked miserable.
Li Changan didn't say anything, he just opened his palm, only a bone fragment and a blood-stained corner of his clothes were found.
…………
Li Changan and Huangwei sent Xu Erniang back home.
She didn't cry anymore, but started to arrange the food with a calm expression.
The two ghosts stood aside and looked at each other.
Neither the Taoist priest nor Huang Wei's cunning could think of how to comfort a mother who saw her son's tragic death with her own eyes, especially since this mother was an employer who had not settled the bill.
All I could do was say something dry: "Sister-in-law, don't worry too much."
Xu Erniang was busy on the stove without raising her head: "It doesn't matter, people always have to eat."
As he said that, he took off the only piece of bacon hanging on the beam, cleaned it and put it into the pot.
Not long after.
The rice and meat are all cooked.
Divide out three large bowls of multigrain rice, pour the sauce on them, put pickles on top, and spread a layer of oily marinated meat on top.
Li Changan and Li Changan were polite for less than a second, and then they immersed themselves in their food.
As Xu Erniang said, you always have to eat.
After eating, Xu Erniang brought the reward, which was more than what was agreed upon.
"There is one more thing that I need to trouble you two about."
"Just ask."
Xu Erniang handed over the big food gold coin again and wrapped it in the blood-stained corner of her clothes.
"Please return it to its original owner."
…………
Song Wanping held the corner of his clothes, his eyes empty.
for a long time.
It was as if he just realized that there were two guests in front of him.
He opened his mouth, and the words swirled around his mouth many times before he asked belatedly:
"Second mother, how are you?"
"I can still eat."
Li Changan talked about Xu Erniang's every move after returning home. Soon, the conversation changed and he talked about her encounter at the seaside ritual and the scene of the boy's skin and flesh peeling off.
Song Wanping's expression became more and more depressed, but there was no abnormality.
Li Changan stared at him:
"That kind of wound was not caused by the fish and shrimps eating at the bottom of the sea, but was cut by a sharp knife."
Huang Wei next to him was at a loss. He didn't know why the Taoist priest said this. It wasn't until he saw the look of fear, regret, and numbness on Song Wanping's face that he realized a possibility, something that made the yellow hairs on his face stand up.
possible.
Li Changan: "You ate him."
Song Wanping buried his face and the corners of his clothes in his hands, and his body began to tremble. After a long time, he raised his head, but he could not straighten his back.
Half-bent on the table, he told another ending to the story about the Osmanthus.
"At the beginning of the year, the ship was delayed, and the owner took the risk to change the channel. Not long after passing Yizhou, a strong wind suddenly blew, and the water swallowed up the sun in one gulp. It became dark immediately. The wind became stronger and stronger, and the waves rolled and the water surged. In the blink of an eye, the sky
It’s not the sky, it’s not the sea, it’s just a bunch of white-tiled mountain peaks, and the waves are rushing in groups, tossing the boat back and forth, and the footstools and wooden barrels are jumping up and down.”
"Maybe it was retribution. The bottom of the boat leaked at that time, and there was no way it could be stopped. A few fellow villagers and I had no choice but to grab a small boat. Maybe... he was also on the small boat."
"When the sea leveled off, we were still alive, but we didn't know where we were blown. There was no wind, no clouds, no birds, no driftwood, just the sea. We escaped in a hurry and only grabbed a box of belongings and took them with us.
Some wine and dry food."
"The dry food was quickly finished. We also ate leather strips, cotton, and linen, but they were of no use. We soon became sick and had no strength to row the boat. We were floating on the sea waiting to die."
"But I don't want to die. The boss is old. Without a wife and children, the Song family cannot be cut off. So, I propose to draw lots according to the rules of the sea."
"He won the lottery. He drank seawater and was confused, but he was still resisting. Several fellow villagers came up to hold his hands and feet, and he started crying, saying that he was still young and that his mother was still waiting for him to come home.
He said that I watched him grow up and he always regarded me as his father in his heart...but he won the lottery."
His expression became calm again, as if he had made some decision on the ship.
"I slit his throat with my own hands with a knife."
Song Wanping did not say anything about what would happen next.
It is unclear where he heard the legend of Haiyan and how he could describe the lives of the victims.
He took a box of gold and silver and asked Li Changan to hand it over to Xu Erniang.
The Taoist priest made another trip.
But when they arrived at Xu Er's house, there was no response no matter how many times they called the door.
I suddenly had a bad feeling in my heart and broke into the house.
But he saw that Xu Erniang had hung herself on the empty roof beam, holding the bone fragment tightly in her hand.
As for Song Wanping.
He disappeared.
He left behind the newly purchased house and the girl that the matchmaker said was too good to be hired, and just quietly disappeared without a trace.
Some people said that he rowed a small boat into the sea alone at night; others said that they saw him walking into the cave city alone.
Li Changan made two trips, but no one on both sides was there, leaving only a box of belongings with nowhere to go.
After thinking about it, he handed the property to Hua Weng. He had a good reputation and a good reputation. He helped organize the funeral for Xu Erniang and her son, and then helped Xu Erniang arrange for a good pregnancy.
After going back and forth, there was only a few coins left, which were all used by the Taoist priests in exchange for wine and meat, and everyone who had helped in this matter was invited to have a full meal.