Yilier showed a look of surprise. He Simu looked at his expression and smiled as if he realized that he had said something wrong: "It seems that you don't know yet, then just pretend I didn't say anything. Since the contract between the Ghost Palace Master and you is still in place, you can't raise my ghost."
Iriel looked unhappy, but still smiled and said, "I don't have to raise him myself. This evil ghost brother is by my side, so I naturally have a better place for him."
Duan Xu thought it was no wonder that those nobles who had worshipped the sacred objects of the Iriel family had good luck when they returned. It turned out that it was him who introduced the evil ghost to them.
He Simu asked while eating the food: "You want my ghost, do you have anything in exchange?"
"Gold, silver, and jewelry..."
“Boring.”
"What does the girl want?"
"I heard that Master Iriel has a garden with all kinds of exotic flowers and plants. It is spring now, and the fragrance is everywhere."
"That's the back garden of my house."
"Then give me your mansion in exchange."
Iriel was silent for a moment, then said, "We have lived here since we arrived in Fujian City, for more than thirty years."
"Well, then give me this mansion where you have lived for more than thirty years."
He Simu said smoothly and without any disapproval.
Iriel's face was stiff for a moment, then he smiled and said, "Let me think about this matter again. You can stay at my house first. Regardless of whether the matter is successful or not, just think of it as making another friend."
He Simu put down his chopsticks and looked at Iril. She tilted her head and smiled, her silver hair tassel brushing across her forehead.
"I don't make friends. But the mansion, yes? You can go."
Iril's face changed several times. He had always been a flatterer in Fujian City, but he had never been treated so lightly by such a Han civilian. He clenched his fist and looked at He Simu, but finally smiled and said, "Okay. I have another thing I want to ask you, young lady. You just mentioned that the Lord of the Ghost Palace is in trouble. What is it? Can you tell me a little bit?"
He Simu tapped his fingers on the table, and after a moment of silence, he said nonchalantly, "He has offended their king and is now on the run. He will probably be caught and executed soon."
After a pause, she smiled and said, "You probably haven't received any response from him recently, right? Actually, this is an unexpected disaster for you. I heard that the battles in the ghost world often last for decades. If he has been on the run for decades, and he doesn't respond when you call him, and you can't make a contract with him by exchanging ghosts, then his life will also pass. If I were you, I would probably hope that he would turn to ashes as soon as possible so that you can find a new ghost."
Iril's face was not good to begin with, and after hearing what He Simu said, it became even worse. But He Simu seemed to have not noticed at all, and stood up and said with a smile: "Didn't you say you wanted to invite me to your mansion as a guest? Let's go."
Then she snapped her fingers to let Duan Xu follow, and walked out of the door leisurely. Yilier had probably never seen such impoliteness before, and was stunned for a long time before calling a servant to lead the way.
Duan Xu lifted a slit of the black veil of his hat, turned his head to look at Yilier, then turned his head and whispered to He Simu with a smile: "I don't think I am born in the Year of the Rat, but more like a fish bait. Qin Shuai uses me as bait, and you can use me as bait too."
He Simu glanced at him, smiled meaningfully, and said nothing.
Fujian City is known as the Flower City. As the most wealthy family in the entire Fujian City, Ilir's garden is also the best and most natural one. Famous flowers and rare plants are scattered all over the garden. It is said that it costs tens of thousands of dollars a year just to take care of and maintain this garden.
As soon as He Simu arrived at Yili's house, she plunged into his garden without any hesitation, looking here and smelling there, as if she wanted to identify all the smells one by one. Duan Xu was beside her, folding his arms and looking at the famous glazed tower in the middle of the garden.
The glazed tower was emerald green all over, with bells hanging on every corner. They were crystal clear and tinkled in the sunlight, entangled by fine threads of wind. Although it was just a tower for storing holy objects, if it was not explained, one would think that the glazed tower was the holy object itself.
"Iriel worships evil ghosts and also worships sacred objects of the God of the Sky. If the high priest knew about this, then God would..." Duan Xu said as he turned his head, only to see His Majesty the Ghost King squatting on the ground, holding a bunch of precious white peonies called 'Lingxie Luxue', with his face almost buried in the flowers.
Duan Xu couldn't help laughing and said, "Don't bury it. Your ability to smell is so bad that even the best nose will be ruined by it. Go to the woodshed and smell the firewood later. Only then will your sense of smell recover a little."
He Simu frowned, stood up and said, "Mortals are really troublesome."
Duan Xu laughed and brought the topic back to the topic: "The Ghost Palace Master was also a Han Chinese when he was alive."
He Simu said nonchalantly, "The number of Han people is more than 300 times that of Huqi people, and the same is true in the ghost world. The twenty-four ghost palace masters were all Han people when they were alive. The laws of the ghost world have nothing to do with ethnicity, but the Han evil ghosts see that their descendants are now being bullied, so naturally they will not be very kind to the Huqi evil ghosts. In the ghost world, the Huqi ghosts have a hard time."
"The reversal of life and death situations, the world is really interesting."
"Hatred breeds hatred, hatred breeds hatred. This is common sense."
"If we can cut off the hatred of the living, will the hatred of the dead stop?"
He Simu smiled gently. She walked towards the back door of the garden and said, "The hatred of the living can be cut off because the living will die. The painful memories of several generations of dead people will disappear, and the hatred will naturally end. But the dead will not die for thousands of years, and the hatred here will never end. Otherwise, why do you think it is a punishment for people to fall into evil ghosts?"
Duan Xu looked at her back and called out, "Where are you going?"
He Simu didn't even turn his head: "Go to the woodshed and smell the fireworks."
Duan Xu couldn't help laughing. It really seemed like she came to Iril's mansion specifically to collect scents instead of looking for the trace of the Ghost Palace Master. He whispered, "She's really cute."
Duan Xu's eyes, which could distinguish yin and yang thanks to the Ghost King Lamp, could tell that the ghost energy in Yili'er Mansion was well contained, and it was almost unnoticeable unless one entered the glazed tower in the garden. Even the wandering souls that could be seen outside were not seen in this mansion.
I heard that the glazed tower enshrines the sacred object of the Cang God, but he could not see any spiritual energy in the glazed tower. Instead, there was a ghostly aura lingering in the tower. I guess this tower is not for enshrining sacred objects, but for enshrining the master of the Ghost Palace. Could it be that the sacred object is fake, or that Iriel enshrined it somewhere else
Duan Xu followed to the woodshed while thinking about it, and saw two old maids leaning against the door and chatting in low voices. They said that the master had invited a strange guest, a pretty girl, who actually ran to the woodshed to smell the firewood.
Duan Xu smiled and was about to go in when he heard one of the women say, "I think this girl is about the same age as Master Lu Da. If Master Lu Da was at home, I would have thought she was the daughter-in-law that Master Lu Da was looking for."
Duan Xu stopped walking.
Another woman said, "The young master has never come back since he went to the capital when he was ten years old. I think the master doesn't seem to want him to come back."
"What are you talking about? The master only has two children left, how could he not wish for..."
Duan Xu walked past them and entered the firewood room, and asked He Simu who was squatting on the ground carrying firewood: "Simu, the youngest son of Yilier who is a high-ranking official in Shangjing... is Luda?"
He Simu was holding a piece of firewood, he looked up at him and said, "Why, it's your old acquaintance again?"
Duan Xu's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled and said, "Old acquaintances are really beyond my reach. Our Danzhi High Priest's favorite disciple - Junior Priest Luda, who in the Danzhi Royal Court doesn't know him? He probably doesn't know me."
During his life as a dead soldier, he occasionally followed his master to visit the high priest, and he would see Luda every time. Luda was three or four years older than him, and he looked elegant and otherworldly. He always sat quietly beside the high priest, looking down at the parchment scroll, as if he was reading it seriously or wandering in the sky.
Luda looks very "empty", and it is said that this "emptiness" is the most important quality of a god.
Iriel's youngest son turned out to be Luda? The son of a family that raised a ghost turned out to be the young priest of a country - and he might even be the high priest in the future.
This world is really outrageous.
"If it's Luda... As long as he asks, the high priest will be reluctant to give him anything. Maybe Iril really has a holy object." Thinking of Iril's fat body and comparing it with Luda's handsome appearance in his memory, Duan Xu couldn't help but sigh: "Time is really a butcher's knife."
He Simu took a whiff of the fresh scent of firewood and said calmly, "Time will kill you like this, too."
Duan Xu leaned forward and said, "Time should be kinder to me. After all, I am a person who can turn misfortune into fortune. Becoming ugly is a great misfortune."
His eyes appeared and disappeared in the gaps between the black veil. Even though you couldn't see his expression through the veil, you could still hear the smile in his words.
He Simu raised his eyes to look at him.
Sometimes, she, the curse-maker, was very well-behaved. She asked him to wear a veil and hide from the world, and he never took off the veil in public. But sometimes...
He Simu frowned, pushed him away, stood up, and said lightly: "Let's go."
When she walked out of the woodshed, the two women bowed hurriedly. After she turned around, they whispered to each other, discussing whether the girl had just pushed the air, whether she had just talked to herself, and why the girl seemed a little weird.
Duan Xu laughed and followed her out the door.
Iriel has a huge industry to manage and various relationships and personal connections to deal with, so he is very busy on weekdays, but he still takes time to take care of the two guests staying in his house, especially Duan Xu.
He was very interested in Duan Xu, the obedient "evil ghost", and always asked Duan Xu indirectly how he and He Simu had formed a curse. He also hinted to Duan Xu about the various benefits that would come from coming to his side, and how the noble people he knew were wealthy and powerful.
Duan Xu expressed his surprise at the right time, but he remained vague about his name, origin and attitude.
It seems that this man and this ghost are here to eat, drink and use the garden for free.
Three days after they arrived at Yili'er's house, Yili'er suddenly came to He Simu and Duan Xu in a hurry and said, "Seventeenth Miss, I want to ask you for help with something."
He Simu weighed a sandalwood fan that he got from somewhere and said, "What's the matter?"
"My son Lu Da will come back to Fujian City to visit me soon. Can you ask this evil ghost brother to stop him and let him return to the capital?"