She was very lucky that even though she had learned dance at Qiandui and Dijiang for a period of time, Mu Ji had never performed in front of others.
Teacher Di Jiang also repeatedly encouraged her to perform on stage, but Mu Ji was young at the time and hated the feeling of making eye contact with others.
But dance that truly touches people's hearts is never a one-man show by the performer.
Seeing that Mu Yi was very excited, Tu Shanyue promptly poured a basin of cold water on him.
"Can you dance?"
"Yes! The teacher who taught me how to dance said I was very talented!"
"Then can you dance Noh dance?"
"Won't!"
"...Don't give me the confidence to say no!!"
"But I really don't know how! I'm not from your country of the sea!"
"Even if you have mastered some dance basics, if you fail to perform to the satisfaction of those big names after going on stage, not only will you be hacked to death, but I will also be implicated!"
"Teach me Yueyue then! I learn quickly!"
"...You just want me to beat you up, right?"
He is also known as the dance genius of Flower Street, but it took him three years to learn it. It is impossible for a famous performance to tolerate low-level dancing.
The original plan was for this woman to wear a neng mask and sneak into the performance team, but she actually wanted to perform on stage!
"I hope you won't hit me!"
Mu Yi fully displayed the rogue nature he inherited from Quan Quan. Introducing a blacksmith to the daimyo was also a good thing for Tu Shanyue, and he had no reason to reject her.
"Come on, you eat something first and I'll make arrangements. If you really want to learn, come to the room opposite tonight."
Talking to Mu Yi gave him a headache. Tu Shanyue put his forehead on his head and pushed open the door. Mu Yi took off his robe and lay on the mattress, dazed.
"Well... I'm so sleepy... I'll take a nap first..."
She fixed the mask on her face, found a comfortable position, lay down in the room where the incense was lit, and fell into a dream.
In the middle of the night, a burst of chaotic footsteps suddenly sounded. Mu Yi suddenly opened his eyes. The next moment, the demonic power surged in his body. He looked around, but found no enemy.
She didn't think it was an illusion, got up and put on her clothes, her eyes locked on the courtyard under the moonlight.
The door screen reflected the shadow of a child wearing a kimono. His laughter was like a crisp silver bell, but Mu Ji could clearly see the horns on the shadow's forehead.
what?
There should be no pure-blood dragons here...and only pure-blood dragons can turn into human form at such a young age...
He silently approached the shadow, but the child seemed to be aware of Mu Yi's presence and ran away quickly.
Opening the door, the moonlight was a bit dazzling. Mu Yi squinted his eyes and looked at the empty corridor. He was confused, but he didn't intend to pursue it.
"Forget it, I probably won't come back—"
Just as she was about to turn around and go back to catch up on her sleep, she yawned and heard a scream and the sound of falling into the water.
"Ouch!!!!"
Mu Yi frowned slightly and opened the door again, looking unhappy.
"You are sincerely preventing me from sleeping..."
She casually walked to the edge of the pond in the courtyard. A pair of pale little hands were flapping on the water, and she let out a scream of unknown meaning.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Mu Yi didn't want to save this guy at all. How could a demon clan that could transform into another form be drowned in such a small puddle?
She waited for a while, but not only did the other party not come up, but he seemed to slowly sink because of exhaustion of strength.
"Hey, hey, hey?!" Mu Yi was frightened by the child's sinking, and without waiting any longer, he stretched out his hand to pick him up. He looked at this unusually petite monster and frowned.
"There is no demonic power at all...and apart from the horns...there are no other demonic characteristics..."
As she spoke, she reached out and poked his pair of protruding horns.
"That child is not a monster, he is a ghost."
Tu Shanyue suddenly appeared behind her, not wearing a nightgown, but an exquisite and gorgeous performance costume.
"What? Ghost?!"
Mu Yi's expression was as if she had seen a ghost. She threw the little boy away with a strange look on her face.
"The land of Haiguo has been conquered for many years, and the blood is very heavy. The transportation is blocked, and the people's ideas and beliefs are very backward."
Tu Shanyue walked aside and lifted the boy up.
"This kind of ghost is called Zashiki Warashi. It is a kind of ghost that protects the peace of the home. Generally, it can only be recognized by children."
Mu Yi simply sat on the ground and started to figure it out——
"No...you call this thing a ghost? Aren't ghosts dead people?"
"I have said that this is the local name of the Sea Kingdom. Don't other countries in your spiritual world also call this kind of existence that is not a living thing a god?" Tu Shanyue twitched the corner of his mouth, "It is a collection of thoughts and wills.
This kind of existence has no physical body, the conditions for its appearance are also very harsh, and its appearance is different."
"You...you mean that Haiguo has many more meanings besides this little devil?"
Tu Shanyue did not deny it—nor did he answer Mu Yu's question directly.
"Zashiki Warashi are the souls of children from poor families after they die. They don't want other families to make the same mistakes, so they will haunt the house at night to bless the family with good fortune for many years to come."
"If you say so, dead people can exist in this form...how many ghosts are there in your country?"
"It's not that dead people will turn into ghosts. It only happens when the death is extremely miserable or the obsession is too deep. Not all ghosts are the incarnations of dead people's obsessions."
He felt that it was necessary to spread knowledge in this area with Mu Ji. After all, when he took her to the capital, it was extremely common for ghosts and monsters to coexist.
When this guy without common sense makes some trouble, he will suffer too!
"For example, the Killing Ghost is said to have been transformed by the demon slayer who killed all the demons in Haiguo when his wife and children were killed by the demons. He has no consciousness, but will kill demons everywhere. Thousands of demons died in his hands."
Mu Yi also felt that what Tu Shanyue said was very interesting and sat on the lawn and listened to him quietly.
"There are also pipe foxes, which were possessed by humans when they were still active in the Sea Kingdom. People possessed by them will completely change their eating habits and cannot live without miso soup for three meals."
"This is very convenient!" Mu Yi's interest always left Tu Shanyue speechless, "Then if I can possess a rich person, I won't just drink soup, a good meal of wine and meat is my life!
"
"Not all ghosts are divided into good and evil. According to rumors, Nue is a ghost that can judge good and evil. If it is judged as evil, it will be killed. If it is good, it will be protected."
"We also have a similar monster over there!" Mu Ji interjected, "It's called Qiongqi! But it's a complete bad guy! It becomes stupid when it sees good people, and it helps evil people when it sees them!"
"You won't live here for a long time, but you still need to understand some necessary customs." Tu Shanyue stopped standing and sat next to her and began to explain.
"The weather in Haiguo is changeable. If it snows recently, don't get close to an old man wearing a white kimono, especially if he is holding a big umbrella on his head and a cane and a wine bottle in his hand."
"Why? Is that a ghost too?"
Tu Shanyue continued to explain——
"This kind of ghost, known as the White Pink Lady, usually appears as an amiable old lady and likes to deceive pretty girls."
"I've been wearing a mask, so it's okay?"
He rolled his eyes at her. Even without looking at her face, she could tell with her eyes that Mu Yi would be a very beautiful woman.
It's just that he naturally wouldn't say this.
"It's true that nothing will happen, but I think you will be cheated."
He touched Zashiki Warashi's belly. The boy spit out a large amount of water and then woke up.
Tu Shanyue let Zashiki Warashi rub his fingertips, and then said——
"When women without makeup happen to meet a white powder lady on the road, she will trick them into using a white powder she made to paint their faces, claiming that this powder can make the skin fairer and more beautiful."
Mu Yi was also very interested in what was going on. He hugged his knees and squatted next to Tu Shanyue. The two of them looked at the particularly quiet moonlight.
"So you said that white powder is drugged? Will you fall into coma after applying it?"
He chuckled disdainfully——
"The entire face of a girl who is smeared with this kind of white powder will fall off, and the white powder lady will use the girl's face for her own use, and then look for the next target!"
Even Mu Ji, who has been fighting monsters all year round, shuddered when he heard this answer.
Tu Shanyue seemed to have no intention of stopping, and Mu Yi became more and more excited.
This feeling of listening to someone telling ghost stories in the middle of the night is actually quite good!
"The ghost known as the Hand was a blind artist during his lifetime. He went to a restaurant to play the piano every day and lived on the charity of the guests. One night, when he went home with the piano and the charity he earned during the day, he was killed by a robber.
, and robbed him of his money."
Zashiki Warashi also listened with rapt attention. He followed Mu Ji's hair and lay on her head. One big and one little girl sat in front of this magnificent person, just like two students listening to the lecture.
"What happened to the artist after he died? Did he become a ghost to take revenge?"
The description given by Tu Shanyue is specious.
"After the artist dies, he transforms into the eyes of the hands. The eyes on the face of this ghost are still blind, but two eyes grow on each hand."
After saying this, Tu Shanyue gestured as if he was deliberately trying to intimidate the two of them, and Mu Yi also shrank into a ball seriously.
"The Eye of the Hand wanders around for revenge. When he 'sees' the suspected murderer, he rushes forward and strangles him to death."
"So he can see after death? Then turning into a ghost isn't all bad!"
He shook his head and continued to describe the tragic fate of this kind of ghost——
"Because he was blind during his lifetime, it was impossible to find the murderer through his "eyes", so those who happened to be hit by him could only consider themselves unlucky..."
"You...you mean..."
Mu Yi's face turned pale. She didn't know how to deal with ghosts. Fortunately, Tu Shanyue explained it before setting off. If she really encountered this, she didn't know how she would die!
"The Eye of the Hand will attack the people in front of it indiscriminately, just like the robber who killed him indiscriminately, taking away the lives of others at will..."
His expression was both sad and strangely terrifying under the moonlight. Mu Yi firmly believed that as long as Tu Shanyue was around, the ghosts would not be able to do anything to her, so he asked Tu Shanyue to tell various local ghost legends one after another -
"Is there more? I don't often hear stories like this in the spirit world! Tell me more about it!"
"These ghosts are still wandering in the sea at night! Do you think it's a fairy tale!?"
Tu Shanyue could not resist Mu Ji's shining eyes. Anyway, it had been many years... no one was willing to listen to him talk like this.
They came for his looks and singing voice, but they were unwilling to say a word to him.
Mu Yi is a very good listener and is very respectful to him. He can occasionally retort, which is quite interesting.
"Prajna is said to be an evil spirit formed by women's strong jealousy and resentment. They usually live in the mountains and eat people every midnight. They are a kind of female ghost that specializes in robbing children to eat, and they also make a creepy and scary laugh.
Voice."
"Then how do you usually distinguish between Prajna and ordinary monsters?"
Mu Ji picked up the Zashiki boy on his head and poked his face, which was just like an ordinary person.
It seems that many ghosts and monsters are similar to the bodies of monsters. Will they really be discovered if they blend in with the crowd like this?
Tu Yue also noticed her doubt——
"Those dead women had jealousy and hatred during their lives. The more beautiful they were, the uglier they became when they transformed into Prajna. And the deeper the resentment when they died, the longer the horns on Prajna's head would be."
"Oh! So in fact, the birth postures of ghosts in your sea country correspond to the cause and effect of their lifetimes!"
Mu Yi looked enlightened, which made Tu Shanyue even more speechless.
"If you only rely on this as a criterion for judgment, I'm afraid you won't even know how you died in the capital area..."
"Eh? Is there anything else?!"
"Of course - for example, there are ghosts in our Flower Street."
"There are still ghosts in your flower street?! What are you doing?"
"A common flower trick is called...a new bride..."
Tu Shanyue didn't quite remember to ask the names of the flower girls other than herself, so she thought about it and then said——
"We here call her Nigura. It used to be said that she was a spider that transformed into a human form. It usually seduced men. When the man fell asleep three days after being seduced, his head was taken away and eaten."
"Then! Then you still dare to let her be a flower girl? Wouldn't it make you lose customers?"
"Nowadays, there are more delicious things than humans. The bride is quite beautiful. The money she spends serving those ronin can buy a lot of high-quality food, so why eat humans?"
"Are there any other beautiful ghosts who work as flower tricks in the flower street?" Mu Ji asked another extremely unnecessary question, "Are you good-looking, Yueyue?"
Naturally, he ignored the last sentence——
"The snow girl who recently moved from the mountains is also very beautiful. She used to attract men who entered the snow mountains to deserted places, kiss him, and at the same time completely freeze him and take away his soul to eat.
"
"The soul is what we commonly call the divine soul over there...but it seems to be a little different..."
Tu Shanyue ignored her nagging——
"The child of a snow girl is called a snow boy. In our place, we think that the snow boy is the ghost that brings the first snow in winter. The snow girl hunts in the mountains, partly to protect the child, but also to raise him."
Regarding the fact that Hua Ji had a child, Mu Ji was already used to it in the countries of the spiritual world, so he was not very surprised.
"The monsters in your spiritual world also appear in the ghost list," he thought for a moment. "According to legend, the phoenix fire is the form of the flames that fall around the sea country after the death of the sacred bird in your spiritual world. Once it and Shiranui appear in the town,
There will be a fire that cannot be extinguished."
"The flames after the death of the phoenix will turn into ghosts on your side!"
Mu Yi thought it was these ghosts and monsters that were special at first, but now it seems that it is this land that is special!
"Then how did the fire go out? Are Shiranui and Phoenix Fire inactive now?"
He denied this speculation——
"Huo Xiaopo is a ghost that feeds on fire. Sometimes when Shiranui is causing trouble, local residents will offer tributes to Huo Xiaopo to relieve the disaster."
"Sounds so convenient!"
"Not all those who benefit you are good ghosts!" The smile on his face also grew stronger during the conversation with Mu Yi, "Qing Xingdeng is a little ghost from hell. He often wanders around the gate of the underworld and becomes a familiar prey at night. He instigates people to play a game called Baigui Lantern based on his appearance."
"Hundred Ghost Lanterns? Are you putting out river lanterns?"
Tu Shanyue didn't care about her unwarranted associations that were always wrong——
"The Hundred Ghost Lantern is to light 100 white candles, and then everyone tells a strange and terrifying thing that they have experienced in turn. After each story, they blow out a candle, and the 100th story is told by a little ghost disguised as the host. speak!"
His expression was also particularly gloomy, and the atmosphere became increasingly terrifying——
"When the last candle goes out, everyone participating in the game will be taken to hell. Qingxing Lantern is this kind of dangerous ghost that pulls people into the hell!"
"According to what you say, most ghosts and monsters can't survive in the current society of Haiguo, right? Otherwise, you will have a lot of casualties!"
Tu Shanyue's words always overturned Mu Yi's judgment time and time again——
"No, on the contrary, the ghosts and the monsters of the sea country live in harmony. Otherwise, why do you think the bride and the snow girl dare to solicit customers in the flower street?"
Mu Yi thought for a moment and finally came up with an answer that was closer to the truth——
"You have said so much... and also let me understand the taboos and knowledge of ghosts. Does this mean that there are actually ghosts in the name of the sea country? Maintain the previous order of ghosts and monsters and prevent them from doing evil?"
"Not too stupid," Tu Shanyue's expression suddenly became solemn, "The leader of the hundred ghosts is called Hua Laiao, also known as the God of Guests. He is the daimyo of the current capital territory and the leader who rules the hundred ghosts."
"Kelai God? What kind of god is this?"
In Mu Yu's understanding of gods, there is no such thing as Lao Shizi's guest coming to the gods!
"The so-called Ke Lai Shen is an old man who wears a black haori and has a self-defense sword stuck at his waist near dusk. He has a majestic posture. Generally speaking, if you see him, you must not let him in."
"What will happen if I enter the door? Will I eat you?"
"As soon as the old man sat down, he never wanted to get up again. He just relied on the guests to come and stay. He was like a slippery ladle."
"Pfft..."
Mu Yi couldn't help laughing. Just now Tu Shanyue talked about so many ferocious ghosts. This Hua Lao, who is known as the leader of a hundred ghosts, not only sounds like nothing... but is no different from the common scoundrels in the market!
"Don't underestimate Lord Huaxiao. He quickly led the ghost clan after the demise of the human race, avoiding the previous fight between the monster clan and the ghosts in the Sea Kingdom. He also occupied a large area of land in the capital and built a building where the ghosts and monsters can be completely integrated. The city in which we live has made great contributions.”
"That's also a powerful person...well..."
Mu Yi spoke enthusiastically and halfway through, his voice gradually became quieter.
She thought of Qiandian, her hometown, the ideals and gradually realized goals of Qiandian's ancestors in the past, and the prosperous city that was destroyed in the Black Dragon Rebellion.
Thinking of the home she can never go back to...
Once upon a time, generations of Qiandui's ancestors also hoped to create a paradise where demons and half-demon could coexist, without discrimination or inferiority, and only with their own labor and hard work to create a happy life.
In fact...if it weren't for the fire and those monsters that destroyed everything, that dream would have been mostly fulfilled!
Tu Shanyue did not continue speaking. He noticed that Mu Yi's mood was a little abnormal, so he reached out and patted her shoulder.
"Are you okay? What did I... say that made you unhappy?"
Mu Yi shook his head, trying not to let his sense of loss be noticed by him.
There is no need for him to know these things, and there is no need for him to notice them.
When she successfully meets the great names of Haiguo and fully demonstrates her value, the mutual use of Tu Shanyue will come to an end. Now having too many bonds is not a good thing.
He and she can talk freely, but they both understand what can and cannot be said.
"No, it's just... I just think Hua Lao is amazing, but I can't even match it!"
Tu Shanyue naturally wouldn't believe her perfunctory answer now, but he didn't want to delve into the deeper meaning of her sudden change in attitude.
Mu Yi knows how to keep her distance, and of course he knows better than she does!
The purpose of telling Haiguo's anecdotes was to prevent her from causing trouble for him, but if he talked about it too much, it would go beyond his plan, and it was not what Mu Yi needed to know.
"Master Hua Piao is a famous person who has lived for more than three thousand years. How can you compare with your status and experience?"
He didn't pursue it, but he didn't forget to ridicule her.
"I'm not that old...but Yueyue, you're not very old either, right?"
Mu Yi was a little angry when he was told that, and he retorted slightly.
I always feel that he is a bit relying on his old age and showing off...
"Me? I also have a thousand-year-old promise. I think the demonic power in you is not even if you are five hundred years old, right?"
He looked at Mu Yu very proudly. The demon clan has a long lifespan, and he didn't care much about life span, but since Mu Yu wanted to argue, he didn't mind hitting her!
I still want to discuss seniority with him, Xiao Nizi is very tender!
"You are over a thousand years old?!"
Mu Yi's mask trembled——
"The fox demon...can the fox demon live that long?!"
"Of course you fox demons in the spirit world can't. Even the fox demons in the sea country, most of them can't live as long as me!"
While he was bragging, he suddenly remembered that Mu Yi should have seen the nine tails behind him before.
"You...don't you know that I am a nine-tailed demon fox?"
Only then did Mu Yi remember it and nodded.
"What happened to Kyuubi?"
Most of the knowledge she usually learns at Qiandeng is related to forging production, but she has very little knowledge about the demon clan, and most of it comes from Mu Xuanji.
The nine-tailed demon fox...is there anything special about it?
"Are you really living in the spirit world?"
Tu Shanyue thought that the reputation of the nine-tailed demon fox was known to everyone in the entire spiritual world. It seems that he was wrong!