The dice was as gentle as jade, lying quietly in a pile of grass. It would have been difficult to find it if Cheng Yu hadn't squatted down to pick up the broken silver.
He stretched out his hand to pinch it, and a cool breath spread out in his hands.
It was a scorching hot day at this moment, and although Cheng Yu didn't feel particularly hot due to his condensed spirit, the cool breath spread from his palms, making him feel happy both physically and mentally.
Cheng Yu turned the dice over to the one-point side, and sure enough he saw that it was hollow and inlaid with a round bead.
The bead was as red as fire, and it looked much larger than the hollow hole. It almost filled the inside, and you could barely move it with your fingers from the outside.
The dice is carved as a whole, and I don’t know how the fiery red beads were inserted into it.
This must be the "stolen" that Zhang Baogu wanted to get rid of. It must have been when Zhang Baogu stumbled in panic just now, the dice mixed with broken silver fell out from his arms.
Cheng Yu held the dice and took a closer look. The fiery red bead inside was not a top-grade red agate as Zhang Baogu said, but more like a fruit or a bean.
beans?
red beans?
A flash of lightning flashed across Cheng Yu's mind:
Linglong Dice An Hongdou?
He looked at the dice, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt that the fiery red bead inside was a red bean.
For a time, his slightly dusty memories were recalled one by one, and he still remembered that there was a person in the past who vowed to give him an exquisite dice.
But later, due to the widely circulated rumors that exquisite dice are poisonous, the other party had to give up.
But from this, Cheng Yu at that time also learned that the method of making exquisite dice was to force a red bean into the hole of the dice.
Looking at the dice in front of me again, the fiery red bead inside is much larger than the opening, and it seems that it cannot be forced into it.
Regardless of whether Zhang Baogu stole or picked up this object, if, as he said, it was a rare object polished with the luminous tailbone of an alien beast from the abyss of the East China Sea, then it must be a luxury that can only be made in the palace at the very least.
Taste.
But why did the palace want to carve this precious thing into a gambling tool?
Could it be that there are so many such things in the palace that they can be used to carve various utensils at will?
In addition, if there is really one red bean in this dice, then...
From this, Cheng Yu had to think of the old man who quoted the classics of the previous life and talked about food and drink in Qingchuan County's official residence a year ago.
Later, in the ancestral hall, Cheng Yu learned that this person was actually his gay friend Lao Pi from his previous life who had traveled through time.
So, could this exquisite dice also come from the hands of another colleague in the capital?
Or maybe Huo Yazi, who traveled through time ten years ago, also made this dice while traveling in the capital, and then accidentally fell into the hands of Zhang Baogu?
While Cheng Yu was thinking, he opened the Five Elements Blunt Spirit Pouch and dropped the dice in his hand into the pouch.
The inside of the bag is pitch black, and the dice themselves emit a faint blue light, rolling down from the mouth of the bag, illuminating the surrounding areas one after another.
Especially on the hollowed out side, purple light oozed out, even more so than in the private room of the restaurant just now.
Um?
Cheng Yu looked down into the brocade bag, only to see that the dice fell into the bottom of the brocade bag, rolled on the spot three times and then slowly stopped. After a breath, it rolled straight to a corner again.
In that corner, quietly stood the golden light blade and Aunt Bai's white demon pill.
There is another small thorn shining with white metal light, which is close to the demon pill. It is Bai Zhonger's natal thorn.
Around these three objects, there is a circle of clay dolls, each facing the golden light blade.
Cheng Yu's watery aura attached to the bottom of the clay dolls has not completely dissipated, so the feet of each of these clay dolls are not idle.
Some are swaying back and forth, and some are swaying left and right.
Especially the civil servant doll with the green gauze on his head, with two emerald green hat wings dangling along with his body.
Each clay doll was standing still, but they refused to stay away from the golden blade, like a group of cold little people stomping around a campfire to keep warm.
"Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock..."
The exquisite dice rolled on their own in the pitch-black bag, bringing up residual shadows along the way, and soon they turned behind a circle of clay figurines.
The closest thing to it was a maid puppet. When the dice was less than an inch away from it, the maid puppet's swaying body suddenly stiffened, and then it threw its head back and fell with a "snap" sound.
Cheng Yu only found it interesting at first and didn't pay much attention to it. After the maid puppet fell down, he took a closer look and saw that the dice started rolling again, bypassing the lying maid puppet and rolling behind the warrior next to him.
This time Cheng Yu finally saw clearly that when the dice came closer, there was an extremely small black breath seeping out from the soles of the warrior puppet's feet, fluttering into the bead in the dice.
"Crack!"
The warrior puppet also fell down in response.
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
"Pap...pap...pap..."
Immediately afterwards, many clay dolls fell down one by one. Looking at it again, the red bead in the exquisite dice was much brighter than before. In the glow, it was already purple with a fiery red core.
After all the clay dolls fell to the ground, the dice rolled to the opposite corner, as if to avoid the golden blade.
From this, Cheng Yu suddenly thought of Jia Fei, especially when she was at the Confucian Temple in Fucheng, Qianjiang. She was like a greedy cat who was greedy for her watery aura, and she was afraid of avoiding Mrs. Bai of Jin Xing. They were just like this dice.
It seems that the beads in this dice must not be of high quality, but a mysterious object of wood, and definitely not the red agate that Zhang Baogu mentioned.
Could it be that there is really a red bean inside?
If this is the case, then there is a high probability that this object was made by a fellow traveler.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that by coincidence, there is also a story similar to the exquisite dice and red beans in this world.
But having experienced the old way before, Cheng Yu felt that the last possibility was not high.
He put the broken silver and bamboo tubes on the ground into the bag, and let the exquisite dice shine in the corner. He closed the bag, turned to look to the west, and remained silent, which was the direction Zhang Baogu fled.
"Hey! Shopkeeper, these people don't look like they are looking for Zhang Fugu to discuss business."
"Don't worry about it. He's gone just in time to save us trouble... Hey hey hey! You guys, all go in and continue playing. Don't watch the fun here."
All the idle people crowded at the back door, all looking eastward and talking a lot, but none of them reacted to Cheng Yu who was only a few feet away.
The shopkeeper of the gambling house drove all the idlers back to the gambling house one by one. After confirming that no one was outside the courtyard, he closed the small door to the backyard and even bolted the door.
At this time, Cheng Yu was the only one left in the back alley. He muttered the mantra silently, and the air around him trembled like a burst of heat. He was standing in the alley wearing a white shirt, and the breeze blew and lifted the hem of his coat.
Light and swaying.
"Whoosh!"
Cheng Yu casually threw the pouch upwards, and in the blink of an eye, the five-element blunt pouch hung firmly on the treetops high up, swaying gently along with the dense shade of the trees.
Beside the treetop, there was a small sparrow standing blankly.
But after just one breath, the dull sparrow with dull eyes became alive again. He stretched out his head to pick up the brocade bag hanging next to him, spread his wings and kicked off the branches, flying westward.
…
"Dong...dong dong!"
"who?"
"I!"
"..."
At the door of a remote courtyard in the west end of the town, Zhang Baogu knocked on the door and answered, then curled up and waited outside the door, looking around from time to time.
But after he said "I", there was a silence in the courtyard. He couldn't bear his temper and said anxiously:
"Madam, it's me, Zhang Baogu. Come open the door quickly. We have something important to discuss."
Hearing a gentle sigh from inside the door, followed by a "squeak" sound, the courtyard door was opened a small crack. Zhang Baogu wanted to push the door in, but was resisted by the person inside the door and said:
"Why did you come to my place?"
Seeing that Zhang Baogu didn't move when he pushed the door open, but he didn't dare to make a big noise and alert the neighbors, he suddenly whispered in a low voice:
"Open the door quickly, someone is coming."
"Clang!"
Madam Liu was startled when she heard someone coming at the door. She hesitated for a moment. Zhang Baogu took advantage of the situation and squeezed into the door. He gently pushed the door open with his backhand. He turned around and grabbed Madam Liu's hand, but she pulled away and was angry.
road:
"I told you today that the person in my family who is suffering from the plague will be cured soon. Why do you worsen the situation and have the audacity to break into my house? Aren't you afraid..."
As she spoke, she noticed something was wrong in the other person's eyes. Apart from panic, there was also a bit of fanaticism mixed in.
"You...what happened to you? Ah!"
Zhang Baogu hugged Lady Liu tightly without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, and whispered in her ear:
"Come with me, leave this place, leave your home Liu Dalang, I will support you for the rest of my life."
"You! What nonsense are you talking about? Are you hysterical?"
"Quick! Pack up some light and soft things, and you and I will leave here quickly and go to my uncle's place in Qianjiang Fucheng, Qianyuan Prefecture."
The two of them started tugging and tugging in the courtyard. Zhang Baogu persuaded the other person and pulled him into the house. The two of them talked to each other for a while, but Zhang Baogu only said that he had made a fortune. , enough to take the other person far away and enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth elsewhere.
On the backyard wall behind them, Cheng Yu, who had just followed the sound, stood, stepping on his kit and looking at the small courtyard at his feet. The three tile-roofed houses were quite bright, and various vegetables and ordinary vegetables were planted on both sides of the courtyard. Flowers and plants, it seems that Mrs. Liu is also a diligent person who likes to take care of them.
No wonder she was able to attract Zhang Baogu's true feelings. In times of crisis, he didn't want to escape first, but wanted to elope with this young lady.
However, it was quite risky for him to do so, and he might bring trouble to the innocent Madam Liu.
"Squeaky!"
Cheng Yu was thinking secretly when he unexpectedly saw the door of Mrs. Liu's house being pushed open from the outside.
Zhang Baogu came in too hurriedly just now, he just closed the door gently without bolting it, and then let a man and a woman directly push the door open and enter the courtyard.
Cheng Yu turned around and saw that the man had a tired look on his face and was about forty years old.
Behind him was a delicate and thin woman, who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old. She carefully shrank behind the man and quietly poked her head into the courtyard to take a look.
"Madam! I'm back!"
Cheng Yu suddenly smiled bitterly in his heart when he heard this. It was a coincidence that the head of the family came back at this juncture.
Sure enough, the quarrels in the room suddenly stopped, and then Mrs. Liu was heard whispering in panic:
"What a disaster! My Liu Dalang, who is suffering from the plague, comes back at this time. You... you quickly find a place to hide."
Then there was a sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets inside the house, but the two people outside the courtyard did not enter the house directly.
Especially the leading man, who just stood in the courtyard and looked into the main room.
Logically speaking, the head of a family should just go into the house without hesitation after returning home, but he looked cautious and cautious, as if he had done something wrong and felt guilty.
After a short effort, Mrs. Liu arranged her clothes and stepped out:
"Why did Dalang... Huh? Who is this?"
She looked up and saw two people standing in the courtyard. She paused for a moment, pointed at the thin woman behind her husband and asked.
"Hey! Madam, you are polite and have a lot of work to do at home. This is...hehe, come on, I have met your mistress."
As the man spoke, he pulled out the woman hiding behind him. Madam Liu frowned when she heard this:
"Mother? Liu Dalang, what do you mean by this?"
"Madam, don't be anxious, listen to me carefully, hehe! This is the slave I bought from Huazidui when I went to Suzhou in the north. It's cheap! She only uses five kilograms of aged millet to look like this...
I was thinking that it would be hard for you to take care of yourself at home, so I bought her to be a maid for you. I will tell others that she is your long-lost sister. I will go to the land security office to spend a few dollars to get registered as soon as possible."
Madam Liu circled around the thin woman and looked at her. Although her face was yellow and thin, her facial features were indeed much better than hers, but...
"Da Lang has been out for nearly half a year. It was quite hard to eat and sleep in the open all the way. It's all thanks to this sister's care. Let me ask you..."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As she spoke, she suddenly turned to the woman, pointed to her slightly bulging belly and asked:
"How many months have you been pregnant?"
"This... Hehe, I still don't understand her Mandarin... Madam, please don't make a fuss. I'm alone outside, it's a long road, lonely, just lonely...
Let me go inside first to talk, eh? What kind of makeup did you put on me? How come it has such a strange fragrance?"
"Go away, why are you in the mood to put on makeup and makeup? Huh? That's right, why is this strange smell suddenly coming? It's because you got involved with women from outside."
Liu Dalang saw that the sentence thrown out by the other party was neither light nor serious, and it was obvious that he had no intention of going into the details. He was instantly happy, and he didn't care about many other things. He held hands one by one and was about to enter the house. Madam Liu threw her away and just followed.
The two of them walked towards the main room behind them.
Before Liu Dalang entered the room and sat down, he heard Madam Liu say quietly:
"Da Lang, I have been in your family for more than four years, but I have never given birth to a son and a half daughter for you. I am very ashamed. Since this sister has taken the first step for me, I will give birth to Lin'er in the future.
I am increasingly out of my position, and I am not very interesting as a mistress, so I might as well... you and I just make peace with each other, and the Dalang will give me a letter of release from my wife, and I will go back to my parents' house and live on my own."
"kindness?"
Liu Dalang was very surprised when he heard this. He thought that the other party was retreating in order to advance. He was about to stand up and say a few words of comfort when he suddenly heard a shaking sound in the inner room.
Looking at Madam Liu, her expression suddenly changed. Liu Dalang frowned and walked towards the bedroom.
When I walked into the inner room, I saw a huge red lacquered wardrobe standing in the corner, shaking gently.
Liu Dalang glanced at Madam Liu who was standing in front of him, and saw that her face was pale and bloodless, and her eyes were evasive. Thinking of the words of reconciliation just now, he felt a "thump" in his heart, pushed her away, and walked to the cabinet in two steps.
At that time, he hesitated.
At this time, I happened to catch a glimpse of a clay wax stand on the window sill next to me, so I picked it up.
With the thing in his hand, Liu Dalang dared to reach out and pull the cabinet door handle. Unexpectedly, before his hand could reach it, the cabinet door "squeaked" and slowly opened on its own.
"Plop!" With a sound, a large man fell out from inside, almost hitting Liu Dalang.
I saw the big man getting up from the ground, paying no attention to everyone present, just lowering his head and looking around, and muttering something in his mouth: