It took Yin Zhaoxian and Shi Yusheng a while to calm down. The owner of the study supplies stall nearby said to them with a chuckle.
"You two are lucky. Anyone who dares to act like that in Zhuangyuan Ferry is definitely someone that ordinary people cannot afford to offend. I didn't even dare to warn you. Let's go quickly, or do you want to take a look at the Four Treasures of the Study?"
Still frightened, Yin Zhaoxian and Shi Yusheng repeatedly said "thank you" to the stall owner, then packed up their book boxes and walked to the north.
When they arrived at the small pier at the edge, they quickly found the black-sailed boat. Ji Yuan was not wearing a straw raincoat or a hat. He sat at the bow of the boat reading a book, looking even more elegant than the scholars passing by.
Yin Zhaoxian felt relieved when he saw Ji Yuan. He took Shi Yusheng and carried the book box on his back, squeezed through the crowd and hurried to the dock. Ji Yuan also put down the book at the right time.
"Mr. Ji, just now we..."
Ji Yuan reached out to stop Yin Zhaoxian.
"Okay, the two of you don't need to discuss this anymore. Let's get on the boat and cross the river."
After hearing this, Yin Zhaoxian realized that Mr. Ji must know the whole story, so he said no more and got on the boat with Shi Yusheng.
With yesterday's experience, the two of them were much more adaptable to riding in the sailboat today.
The small boat left the harbor and looked back to see that the large ferries at Zhuangyuan Ferry were still waiting for passengers. It was estimated that the fastest one would take another hour to depart.
As the boat moved forward, the view became farther and farther away, and the two always felt that the Zhuangyuan Ferry was blurring a little too quickly.
Ji Yuan rowed at the bow, watching the two people frequently looking back at Zhuangyuan Ferry, and said with a smile:
"Master Yin, Master Shi, our boat is small but we are the first to cross the river. We have the upper hand. Don't look back. Look ahead. Gyeonggi Prefecture is ahead!"
The two turned around upon hearing this and were immediately surprised to find that they were almost reaching the other side.
The black-sailed boat did not land at the big pier, but stopped at a smaller staircase on the side. After the two scholars stepped on the slightly swaying bow of the boat to get ashore, Ji Yuan bowed and said goodbye to them.
"Master Yin, Master Shi, it's only a dozen miles west to Jingji Prefecture. I wish you both success in the imperial examinations!"
When Yin Zhaoxian and Shi Yusheng were returning the gifts and saying goodbye, the former suddenly remembered something and took out a small black wooden sign from his arms.
"Mr. Ji, this is..."
After a pause, Yin Zhaoxian looked at Shi Yusheng, then stepped back onto the peng boat, leaned close to Ji Yuan and whispered.
"Mr. Ji, this is something that the City God of Chunhui Prefecture asked me to pass on to you."
Ji Yuan frowned and took it solemnly. Perhaps because of his great righteousness, he was unable to notice the tiny wooden token of Yin energy in Yin Zhaoxian's arms.
Only after Ji Yuan took the wooden sign did Yin Zhaoxian go ashore again.
After the three of them said goodbye again, the two scholars walked towards the pier, where they could charter a carriage to go to the capital of Gyeonggi Province, while Ji Yuan stood on the black-sailed boat and took a closer look at the small wooden sign.
This is the Yin wood that records events by using objects to convey spirits. This method can be found on several jade sticks borrowed from Lao Long.
"What does the City God of Chunhui Mansion want to see me about?"
Ji Yuan thought and sat down, concentrating on activating the information on the wooden sign. Scenes of the underworld appeared one after another, among which there was a snake soul tied up tightly in a dark red execution chamber.
The chief officer of the Punishment Department personally swung a red and black whip at the snake soul, causing it to scream in extreme pain with each swipe. During this time, a ghost officer used a knife to cut its scales, and released a kind of insect that could make people with trypophobia collapse to bite the snake soul that had lost its soul scales...
Even Ji Yuan felt a little nervous when he saw this. The snake soul's screams never stopped, but the pain could not end. The chief officer of the Punishment Department sneered and told the snake demon that it still needed to be punished with 120 punishments, and only if it confessed could its sentence be reduced.
The worst thing is that the snake demon has already said everything he could say, and in the end only twenty sentences were reduced. The remaining punishments will last for half a year. Until the last punishment is completed, its demon soul will no longer be able to hold on and will dissipate, all turning into yin spiritual energy to replenish the underworld.
But the torture of the demon soul is secondary. The main thing is what the demon confesses during the torture.
One of the magical features of transmitting information through objects is that it can allow the viewer to finish reading something that takes a long time in a short period of time. When Ji Yuan finished reading the contents on the Yin Wood, it only took the outside world a dozen breaths of time.
"Alas, I am powerless now for things other than Dazhen. Zhao Chenghuang, you really think highly of me..."
Muttering something, Ji Yuan stuffed the wooden sign into his arms, then took the oars, walked to the shore, and rowed the boat back to Chenjia Village.
On the second and third days, in the Tongtian River Water Palace, Dragon Son Ying Feng received reports from Yaksha for two consecutive days, saying that the special fisherman on the river could no longer be found. Ying Feng was so anxious that he could not help but swim hundreds of miles in that section of the river himself, but he really could not find his father's friend.
. . .
How could Ji Yuan from Gyeonggi Prefecture not come for a stroll? However, unlike Yin Zhaoxian and Shi Yusheng who were looking for houses to rent from ordinary people to prepare for the exam, he did not have any set goals, nor did he necessarily need a bed to sleep in. He just wandered around the city based on his feelings.
The streets and alleys are well-organized, shops and houses are lined up, and the wide roads and prosperous business are the first impression of Jiyuan.
The crisscrossing main roads in the city are the noisiest places, mixed with the noise of carriages and wooden wheels rolling on the ground, as well as the sounds of hawking and shouting. Merchants and tourists from all over the world gather here. Even Chunhui Mansion cannot compare with this place.
Gyeonggi Prefecture has a total of 81 wards, with a population of nearly 400,000, making it the undisputed capital of Dazhen.
In the busy city, Ji Yuan, who was just strolling around, was suddenly attracted by something.
On a street full of shops, a Japanese parade passed by, followed by a charmer wearing a tall hat and holding an umbrella. It did not walk to the end of the street, but turned into an alley.
Ji Yuan's mind moved. It must be that someone with a surplus of life span was about to die, and the underworld had come to take his soul!
This kind of thing was something he and Ji had never seen before. Out of curiosity, he wanted to go and see what it was like, so he naturally followed.
Avoiding the crowds on the street and dodging the cars and horses, Ji Yuan quickly turned into the alley. Although he could no longer see the people from the underworld, even with his magical eyes, he could smell traces of Yin energy with just a sniff, so it was not difficult to find the right place.
This block is called "Jin'an Block". Although it is not as big as the mansions along the street like those of princes and nobles, the people living here are either rich or noble. At least the houses around Ji Yuan have been following are not small. This is in the capital city where every inch of land is worth a lot of money.
After about a cup of tea, Ji Yuan caught up with the ghost messenger from the underworld. They were standing outside a mansion with the words "Zhou Mansion" written on it.
The words on the plaque are so large that they can still be distinguished even if they are blurry.
The underworld officials seemed to be waiting for something, while Ji Yuan stared at the interior of the mansion from afar with his eyes wide open, and could vaguely see the rising aura of the people in the mansion.
"Um?"
Ji Yuan suddenly sensed something unusual. He endured the pain and opened his eyes wider again. The aura of the Zhou Mansion suddenly became more vivid and clear. Among the auras, there was actually a hint of special smell, which was hard to tell whether it was demonic aura or something else.
At this time, the servants from the underworld probably realized that the time was almost up and they all came in through the door.
Although the books of the underworld can sense the conditions of the recorded people, it is not a book of life and death. It is impossible to know exactly when you will die as soon as you are born. It can only sense the reduction of a person's lifespan and the changes in the fortune, luck and karma of the recorded person. At the appropriate time, it can make the underworld aware that the person is about to die. It is somewhat similar to vague fortune-telling, but more intuitive.
Ji Yuan thought for a moment and used a sleight of hand to lightly jump into Zhou's mansion.
In a bedroom of a large house in the backyard of Zhou's residence, a pale-faced man in his sixties was lying on the bed, surrounded by a circle of men and women, and the atmosphere was very depressing.
"The doctor said, I... I'll just have these two days... After I die... the eldest son will manage the family business... Remember the family motto, don't do anything to..."
The eldest son, who was kneeling beside the bed with red eyes, suddenly stood up and walked out of the door.
"Father! It must be that bitch who harmed you. You took her in for many years out of kindness, but she repaid your kindness with hatred. I will never forgive her!"
"Yiqing! Cough cough cough..."
The dying man on the bed suddenly became agitated and shouted at his son.
"You, you are repaying kindness with enmity by doing this... it is our Zhou family!"
At this time, the door opened, and a woman in white with a white velvet flower on her head walked in. She walked straight to the bed without even looking at the eldest son of the Zhou family.
The eldest son of the Zhou family had a look of anger on his face the moment before, but now he immediately took a few steps back, somewhat afraid to look the woman in the face.
The woman walked to Mr. Zhou's bed and sat down, a trace of sadness on her face. She reached out her hand and gently stroked the face of the old man on the bed.
"I shouldn't have come here today. If someone from the underworld sees me, they will definitely not let me off easily. But... you've been in love with me for more than 30 years, so today I will accompany you for the last time!"
The woman said thirty years, but her face was beautiful and youthful, without any signs of aging.
The old man who was about to die seemed to have a last burst of life at this moment. His face became a little rosy and his expression was extremely excited.
It seemed that other people in the room had known about this for a long time, and they all moved away with a little fear, not daring to speak.
At this moment, the soul-catcher from the underworld came here on a gust of dark wind, but he failed to notice anything unusual about the woman beside the bed.
Two soul-collecting messengers stepped forward and said to the master of the Zhou family, "Zhou Niansheng, your life span has come to an end. Come with us!"
If he had really walked away like this, there would have been no problem. Unfortunately, there were two Sun Gods outside the door at this time. While the soul-catcher was performing his duties, the Sun God entered the room after his routine inspection of the Zhou Mansion. He was startled and immediately focused his attention on the woman beside the bed. The latter also looked at the two Sun Gods calmly.