The patrolling messengers of the underworld are usually composed of two ghost messengers. They are divided into left and right messengers according to the strength of the underworld of the city god and the depth of the Taoism and magical powers of the city god. The simplest ones are divided into left and right messengers. The more complicated ones, such as Juntianfu City, patrol day and night and are divided into left and right messengers, with a total of eight messengers, including the main and deputy messengers.
The ones patrolling past the house of the shop owner at this moment were the left and right deputy envoys. They saw that although the house was different, it was splendid and upright, and definitely not evil.
"Whose residence is this? I think there must be some adventure here!"
"It must be nothing evil. Let's go in and check it out together!"
The two Yin messengers walked through the gate and wall on the gloomy wind, entered this fairly nice house, and came to the outside of the owner's study.
Due to the hot weather, the doors and windows of the study were not closed, and the envoy could see a middle-aged man in casual clothes. It was Pang Su, the owner of the writing shop, who was writing at the desk.
When I got here, I didn't see anything unusual, and not even a trace of light was left.
The two Yin envoys looked at each other and wanted to walk in. However, the moment they stepped into the study, the Yin Qi on their Yin uniforms blurred for a moment, as if an invisible ripple passed by, and then they entered the study.
Even though the feeling just now was extremely faint, as a patrol envoy, he was very alert and knew what had definitely happened.
Approaching the person writing calligraphy, I saw a hidden and heavy aura on the copybook spread out in front of the desk, while the four large characters "evil cannot prevail over good" on it presented a sense of uprightness and justice, making it difficult for the ghost to look at it for long.
It is said that seeing the handwriting is like seeing the person. The depth of the writer's character is hard to fathom, but one can get a glimpse of his artistic conception and character.
The two Yin masters felt a chill in their hearts and took two steps back. After looking at each other again, they actually bowed slightly towards the copybook before leaving the study.
It was not until the two ghost messengers left that the shop owner, who was copying, finally realized what was happening and looked outside the door.
"Hey, isn't it a little cooler now? The wind is so short..."
Because the calligraphy was there, the owner of the writing shop did not feel cold like ordinary people when the evil spirit came close to him. Instead, he felt the coolness that he longed for in the summer.
. . .
In the west of Juntianfu City, Ji Yuan was still wandering alone on the street. At this time, the sky was as if the sun had just set. Although it was dark, a trace of sunset glow could still be seen on the western horizon, and the sky above was already filled with stars.
The days are long now and it is actually getting late. In the short time since Ji Yuan had been watching the cake vendor from afar outside the gambling house, the number of hurried passers-by on the road has decreased by more than half.
Even though it is peaceful now and Juntianfu has not implemented a curfew for a long time, there are still not many people wandering the streets at night.
Ji Yuan moved his bag and reached out to take out a wine bottle. It was the same one that Chunhui Mansion used to buy Qianrizui. However, what was now filled in it was just green fruit wine bought from an ordinary wine shop in Juntian Mansion, which only cost twenty cents per pound.
Ji Yuan pulled out the cork tied with red cloth, took a sip of wine, and walked towards an inn in the distance. His plan was to rest for a night, look for it carefully tomorrow, and try to ask the government in the city. If he still had no clue in the end, he might have to shamelessly seek some special help.
In the city of Juntianfu, the shops that close the latest at night include brothels, gambling houses, and a small number of inns.
Inside the Hong'an Inn, there were still people drinking and eating in the lobby on the first floor. The light from the lamplight in the hall was quite sufficient, and the shopkeeper was fiddling with an abacus behind the counter.
When Ji Yuan came in, the innkeeper had just finished calculating the bill. He looked up and smiled at the guests before putting the abacus beads back in place.
"Boss, is there any vacant room in the inn?"
"Yes, yes. We have both Tianzi rooms and Xuanzi rooms. The Tianzi room costs 120 wen, and the Xuanzi room costs 80 wen."
The shopkeeper has already opened the notebook and picked up the pen, ready to enter the information.
"Okay, just give me a Xuan room. I don't know how many days I'll stay there. I'll put this ingot of silver on the account first."
"Okay, okay, sir, please wait a moment. By the way, sir, is there anything you are afraid of?"
"No big deal."
The shopkeeper nodded, weighed the silver in front of Ji Yuan, and then wrote on the notebook: Xuanzi Room 2, one male, no taboos...
The shopkeeper looked at the notebook and shouted something.
"Youfu, take this guest to Xuanzi Room No. 2~~"
A response came from the kitchen.
"Coming right up~~"
Ji Yuan took this opportunity to chat with the shopkeeper.
"Boss, your inn has been open for a long time, right?"
"Hey, it's an old brand. It's been renovated and rebuilt once. It was passed down from my grandfather."
"Oh, that's true. So the shopkeeper should be very familiar with this area in the west of the city?"
After writing the record, the shopkeeper smiled at Ji Yuan.
"Of course, sir, where would you like to go? If you don't know the way, feel free to ask me. If you don't know where to go, I can give you some suggestions."
"Hahaha... That's exactly what I meant. To be honest, I am also half a Jianghu man. I heard that Juntian Prefecture gave birth to a Zuo Jianxian several decades ago. I wanted to pay my respects to him but couldn't find the Zuo family. It's not a big deal, but it's a rare trip to Juntian Prefecture, so I feel a little regretful."
It’s not easy to travel far away, and this is a resonant topic in this era.
"Zuo Jianxian?"
The shopkeeper took another closer look at Ji Yuan, then looked closely at the thing wrapped in cloth on his back, guessing it should be a weapon.
"Not many people ask about the Zuo family nowadays. To be honest, when I was young, the Zuo family was a well-known and prestigious family. Unfortunately, it gradually died out... I am not a man of the world, so I don't know many things. I only know that during the most difficult years, the Zuo family had funerals every month and every year... Alas...!"
Ji Yuan frowned. After asking for a whole day, he finally found someone who knew something about the Zuo family. However, the news he got was very bad. The shopkeeper said it lightly, but Ji Yuan put himself in the Zuo family's shoes and could feel the depression and heaviness of that year.
"Does the Zuo family have any descendants?"
"Maybe they are all dead, or maybe there are still some. After all, the Zuo family was so big back then, it's not surprising to have a few illegitimate children."
After thinking for a while, the shopkeeper continued to speak to Ji Yuan.
"It is impossible for you to visit the Zuo family's mansion. It has been changed a long time ago. However, there is a sword forging shop outside the city. Although it has only made some kitchen items and is not well-known in recent years, it is said that all the weapons used by the Zuo family in the past were made there, including the weapons of Zuo Jianxian!"
Ji Yuan's eyes lit up and he bowed to the shopkeeper to express his gratitude.
"Thank you for the notice, shopkeeper!"
"You're welcome!"
The shopkeeper bowed in return.
At this moment, a young servant wearing a turban finally ran out from the kitchen and greeted Ji Yuan warmly.
"Sir, follow me. Please go upstairs, please go upstairs!"
"It took you so long to come. Are you going to the bathroom?"
The shopkeeper cursed with a stern face.
…
The room upstairs was quite ordinary. After a tip of five Tongbao coins was given to the servant, he happily and skillfully fetched water and filled a bucket for Ji Yuan who was preparing to take a bath. While pouring the water, Ji Yuan kept chatting with the servant, but the servant had never heard anything about the Zuo family.
At dawn the next day, after leaving the inn, Ji Yuan found a shop and bought some meat buns. He was ready to leave the city. Of course, he was not going to leave Juntian Prefecture, but to go to the sword-making shop in Yuanzi River outside the city. Well, it was now an ordinary blacksmith shop that mainly forged farm tools and kitchen utensils.
Since the original form of Zuo Li's sword, Ji Yuan's current Qingteng Sword, might have been forged there, it is naturally the most valuable place to explore.
But when he was walking towards the city gate, he met the man selling pancakes again, but when the man saw Ji Yuan, he ran away with his load on his shoulder.
Ji Yuan just glanced at the figure carrying the load from afar as he passed by, and then kept walking out of the city.
Even real gods have personalities and tempers, let alone someone like Ji. In the case of the hawker, all we can say is that good fortune and misfortune come from one's own actions. There are so many things in the world that Ji cannot manage them all.