The time was a little after nine o'clock in the evening.
Huangyang Street is quite lively, with many pedestrians strolling in front of the numerous shops.
No. 38 is a two-story building that retains the architectural features of the Republic of China period.
As soon as our car arrived here, I saw Lou Xiaoman and Fatty Li standing at the bottom of the small building from a distance. I didn't think it was a big deal to see Lou Xiaoman. But Fatty Li appeared here at this time. This surprised me.
As soon as we parked the car, Lou Xiaoman and Fatty Li came over.
After opening the car door, Wang Jiuyang, Yuquan and I got out.
Lou Xiaoman was a little surprised to see the three of us getting off the car.
I hurriedly introduced him, "Master Lou, this is my uncle Wang Jiuyang, you can just call him Taoist Jiuyang. That's my friend, the young monk Yuquan."
Lou Xiaoman was not as old as Wang Jiuyang, so she could feel how unfathomable Wang Jiuyang was. Then, Lou Xiaoman bowed to Wang Jiuyang with some joy.
Fatty Li also bowed slightly to Wang Jiuyang and smiled at the little monk Yuquan.
Wang Jiuyang nodded but said nothing.
I asked Lou Xiaoman curiously, "Master Lou, since Sister Xilan has confirmed that it is in Longtan Town, Wenshan City, Yun Province, we can just go there directly. Why are you here on Huangyang Street?"
Lou Xiaoman looked at Fatty Li, then turned to me and explained, "It's like this, Tianyi, I was originally thinking of going directly to Wenshan City in Yun Province to look for your sister Xilan, but just now Li Renyi suddenly called me and said that your sister Xilan had been to Qiansuanju to look for the Calculator Wu Bokang before leaving Jiangbin City."
"So, Li Renyi and I rushed here. I want to know what your sister Xilan was doing in Longtan Town!?"
Fatty Li’s real name is Li Renyi, as mentioned earlier.
The "Qiansuanju" mentioned by Lou Xiaoman refers to the small building No. 38 behind them. Its name is "Qiansuanju". This small building is not only used for living, but also for business.
There is a plaque and a couplet hanging on the small building.
couplet:
The first couplet is, fortune-telling and divination can calculate all the disasters and blessings in the world.
The second line is, calculate and choose the best day according to the ecliptic in the world.
The horizontal banner reads, turn misfortune into good fortune.
Therefore, we know at a glance that this "Qiansuanju" is a place for fortune-telling and divination. And the fortune-teller Wu Laoliu mentioned by Lou Xiaoman refers to Wu Bokang, the owner of this "Qiansuanju".
Wu Bokang's nickname is Wu Laoliu.
"So that's how it is. Then, Master Lou, without further ado, let's go meet that Wu Bokang first."
Lou Xiaoman nodded.
Then, under the guidance of Fatty Li, our group walked into No. 38 Qiansuanju.
Qiansuanju is antique and its decoration adopts the decoration of ancient times, which looks simple and natural.
As soon as we entered Qiansuanju, a young man came over.
The young man had a flat head and fair complexion, was very tall, and wore a jacket.
When he saw us, he bowed slightly and asked, "Ladies and gentlemen, are you here to tell fortunes?"
Before Lou Xiaoman could speak, Fatty Li said, "We are here to look for your master, Master Wu. Go and report us, and say that we are the apprentices of an old friend who came to visit us."
The young man looked at Fatty Li for a few times but did not move.
"What? Why aren't you going yet? Is there something wrong?"
Fatty Li said with some dissatisfaction. Fatty Li and his master Long Yuanda had been to Qiansuanju before, and it was the young man in front of them who took them upstairs to meet Wu Bokang.
of.
The young man was afraid of offending Fatty Li, so he hurriedly said, "No, no, no, you misunderstood. It's not that I don't want to take you in, but my master has already gone to bed. If I go there at this time, I will disturb him."
"So if you don't have anything important to do, please come back tomorrow."
Oh my god, this fishing rod will last until tomorrow.
After hearing this, Lou Xiaoman, who was extremely anxious, couldn't accept it.
Lou Xiaoman stepped forward and said politely, "Young man, please go over and report. We do have important matters to discuss with Master Wu, and we hope to see him soon."
Having said this, Lou Xiaoman took out a bulging brown paper envelope from her waist and handed it to the young man.
There is no doubt that there is money in the brown paper envelope.
The young man looked polite, but he was actually a greedy person.
After receiving the envelope, the young man touched it and said to our group more politely without even looking at it: "Ladies and gentlemen, please tell me your names first. I will go and ask my master to come in later."
Then we all gave our names one by one.
The young man took the piece of paper with our names on it and went upstairs with a clatter.
Standing on the first floor, we looked at each other for a few times but didn't say anything.
Soon, the young man appeared at the stairs on the second floor.
He turned towards us and said in a loud voice, "Excuse me for waiting for you. My master wants you to come in. You can go upstairs now."
He invited us in so quickly, his master must have gone to bed. It seems that what the young man said just now was mostly lies, and his purpose was to cheat us out of some money.
Soon we went up to the second floor via the stairs on the first floor.
Under the guidance of the young man, we came to a room in the middle of the second floor.
The young man knocked gently on the wooden door of the room and reported: "Master, the guests have arrived."
Then a voice came from inside, "Let them all come in."
"Yes, Master!"
After the young man replied, he turned his head to look at us and said, "Everyone, you can go in!"
To be honest, I was actually a little excited at that time.
After saying that, the young man turned and left.
He didn't open the door for us.
Lou Xiaoman looked at Fatty Li and said, "Renyi, go open the door."
Fatty Li nodded and came to the door.
He casually pushed open the door of the room.
We followed Fatty Li into the room.
The room was very large, about 50 to 60 square meters. There were many painted wooden shelves around the room, on which were placed some antiques, calligraphy and paintings.
In the middle of those shelves, a person was sitting at a retro long table drinking tea.
There are many tea sets on the long table.
There was no one else in the room, so this person must be the "swindler" Wu Bokang.
But he looked to be in his seventies or eighties. His hair, eyebrows, and beard were all white. His hair looked like wool and fluffy. But he had a silver hairpin on top of his head, so he looked neat.
His face was still very fair, without even a single age spot.
This Qian Suanzi really seems like an otherworldly expert.
"I am Wu Bokang! Now that you are here, please take a seat."
Wu Bokang spoke in a calm and steady voice.
On the left and right sides of his long table, there were three chairs made of some unknown wood.
When we heard the sound, we walked over slowly.
Sat on the wooden chair.
I found that ever since that scheming Wu Boyong raised his head, his gaze had been fixed on Wang Jiuyang and had never shifted.
We had just sat down, and before Lou Xiaoman could speak, the fortune teller Wu Boyong turned his eyes to Wang Jiuyang and asked softly, "Excuse me, are you Wang Jiuyang, the second disciple of Master Zhang?"
I noticed that Wang Jiuyang frowned slightly after hearing what Wu Bokang, the Calculator, said.
After a while, Wang Jiuyang replied: "Yes, senior is right, I am Wang Jiuyang, the second disciple of my master Zhang Maochang."
Who would have known that after hearing the three words "Wang Jiuyang", the scheming Wu Boyong suddenly stood up from the chair behind the long table.
After he stood up, he bowed to Wang Jiuyang and said politely, "So you are my benefactor's disciple. I, Wu Boyong, greet Daoist Fellow Jiuyang."
Wang Jiuyang was also confused by Wu Boyong's action.
He asked in confusion: "Senior Qian Suanzi, what do you mean?"
Wu Boyong then stood up and explained, "You may not know that your master and I are of the same generation. Fifty-six years ago, when we were discussing Taoism in Mount Longhu, it was your master who saved my life. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have been burned to death in the fire by those evil Taoist priests."
Wang Jiuyang was very surprised and continued, "You said that my master saved you fifty years ago? You and my master are of the same generation. If that's the case, then you are more than 120 years old now!"
Wu Boyong smiled, nodded and said, "Yes, I am already 128 years old this year!"
The words of Wu Boyong, the Calculator, shocked everyone.
We all had expressions of horror on our faces.
I originally thought that this senior Qian Suanzi was only in his 70s or 80s. I didn't expect that he was already 128 years old. Doesn't this mean that Wu Bokang was already alive during the Qing Dynasty
To me, this con man Wu Bokang is definitely an antique.
Wang Jiuyang is knowledgeable, but he was also shocked by Wu Boyong's words.
Seeing how horrified we were, Wu Boyong didn't care.
He turned to Wang Jiuyang and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Jiuyang, I wonder how your master Taoist Zhang is doing now?"
Wang Jiuyang put away his shock, stood up, bowed to Wu Boyong, and said respectfully, "Senior Wu, to be honest, my master has already returned to heaven and is no longer in this world."
"What? Taoist Zhang is dead!"
Wu Boyong showed surprise on his face and asked hurriedly, "How did my benefactor die? Was he killed by someone?"
When I heard this, I noticed that Wang Jiuyang's eyebrows actually raised slightly. But he concealed it very well.
Wang Jiuyang shook his head and said to Wu Boyong: "No, Senior, my master's life span has come to an end. He passed away naturally! He died of old age!"
"His life span has ended? How is that possible? ... When I told your master about his fortune, he said he could live to be 150 years old. How could he die so soon? That's impossible!"
Then Wu Boyong talked to Wang Jiuyang about some things about the deceased Zhang Maochang.
Listening to their statements, I began to feel uneasy. I had never thought that Zhang Maochang also had a pure yang constitution, and had cultivated to the state of "selflessness", and had created many Taoist techniques, and even surpassed the limit of the Yin De accumulated by the ghost-catching Taoist priests, and mastered the existence of "spirits".
In other words, Zhang Maochang, or you can say my ancestor, actually sensed the existence of "spirit" from the energy of hidden virtue.
This is incredible.
(to be continued)
(End of this chapter) (End of this chapter)