"boom!"
The sound of the wooden nail breaking and the cracking of the coffin lid came from the darkness at the same time!
The wood chips were thrown into the air by the force of the explosion, and the dark red liquid that originally covered the surface of the coffin, like layers of moss, also splashed to the surroundings!
In the instant that "Zhou Ying"'s memory was conveyed, the originally silent mass graves were now surrounded by a thick layer of blood mist. Thick and continuous blood red to almost black liquid filled the entire deep pit and spread to the surroundings.
It was like a spider web, and also like thousands of tentacles, pulling all the corpses on the mass grave into this deep pit like a bloody whirlpool.
This pitch-black coffin was originally half sunk in the center of this vortex, reflecting the bleak moonlight, but at this moment...
It was forcibly broken from the middle!
Sitting up from the coffin was a young man with black hair and snow skin.
He stood in the coffin, raised his chin and looked at the moonlight in midair. He tilted his head, seemed to be feeling something, and then...
He casually threw the black cloth covering his body into the air.
The black cloth unfolded in the air, like dark clouds covering the moon, and the billowing blood-red hem was blown up by the wind.
Before the black cloth fell to the ground, that red shadow also disappeared.
All that was left was the silent mass graves, and the black shadow that suddenly appeared beside the coffin after Hong Ying left.
The slender shadow was wearing a pitch-black cloak, and it stood in front of the blood-red vortex, seemingly thinking about something.
The female ghost originally hidden in the coffin crawled out of the coffin after the black shadow appeared: "My lord..."
She seemed to be very familiar with Hei Ying, but her voice seemed to be frightened by the other party's unexpected behavior: "Why... are you here?"
"I want to change the game."
The black shadow's voice was extremely cold, and after a while, it stretched out its right hand.
It was supposed to be an extremely beautiful hand, with skin whiter than snow, soft as if there were no bones, but...
On the fingers that should have been peeling the roots of onions, not only were there many scars, but also—
Not even a nail!
The black shadow stuck its hand into the vortex, closed its eyes, and slowly sank along with the other corpses.
There are no other voices on the mass grave.
Three months later, in the city.
Three months ago, two major events occurred in the city.
One is General Zhao'an, who was very famous for a while, after he left Bincheng in a hurry, he was ordained and became a monk, and converted to Buddha from body to heart, even without the emperor's reward. General Zhao'an has always been a master of meat and vegetables, but suddenly he has no desires and no love, which really makes people's jaws drop.
The weirdest thing about this incident is that the general voluntarily cut off his own Jinjiang on the night he converted to Buddhism, and put it in a box for public display to express his determination to abandon the emotions and desires. It is said that the abbot of Buddhism was deeply moved by his spirit of converting to Buddhism without seeking fame and wealth, and bestowed the Dharma title "Bajie" on him. Afterwards, the emperor felt it in a dream, and when he got up the next day, he claimed to have received the will of heaven, and gave General You the surname "Zhu" to express his affirmation of his act of becoming a monk.
The other thing was that the Lingyun class, which was like cooking oil in a raging fire, completely collapsed. After Tai Zhuzi disappeared, Huang He, the boss of Lingyun Class, could no longer hold on. He became addicted to gambling inexplicably, and owed 350 million in just one month. The gangsters who came to collect debts took away everything that could be taken away from Lingyun Class. In the end, Huang He was alone and could only run away with the last small chair.
His fate is unknown. It is said that when a fellow villager saw him for the last time outside, he had changed his name to Huang Jingguan in order to avoid debts, and was a helper for a good-hearted captor who took him in. It is said that the local area has always been famous for picking (chrysanthemum) flower thieves. When the fellow villagers saw Huang Jingguan, he was about to go out to "fish" and vowed to catch the local dark group...
The roots of these two incidents are closely related to the same incident—that is, Zhou Ying, a popular actress in Lingyun Class—
Zhou Ying ran away with someone! Ran!
According to the rumors, the bandit formerly named Zhu Bajie and formerly General You fell in love with him, and tried to force him to submit by using dirty methods. Unexpectedly, Zhou Yingning was unyielding and ran away with someone that night.
Because of this, General You loved his own palace, and Lingyun Ban completely closed down. It can be seen that Zhou Ying is indeed a troublesome concubine, and her name moves the world.
In a blink of an eye, the winter wind is chilling, and the Shangyuan is approaching. The incident that had been boiling for a while gradually cooled down as time went by.
Every Lantern Festival, there will be lantern festivals in the city. At this time, even a young lady raised in a deep boudoir can put on a mask and go out to play.
Su Qing, who was supposed to study hard at home, also went out on this day.
One year spent similar, each year is different. Standing on the brightly lit street, Su Qing was in a daze for a moment.
A few years ago, he was just a shabby scholar. Apart from his "proud" body, he only had a shriveled wallet.
Su Qing, like many young and self-proclaimed scholars, regards the five words "don't bully the young and poor" as his life creed. People who adhere to this life creed and soar into the sky because of this, either have extraordinary talents, or have self-esteem that refuses to give up. Su Qing's luck and tragedy is that he got a little bit of both sides, but he failed to achieve the ultimate in both sides.
He has a bit of talent, but he is sour, looks down on others, and is extremely jealous of talents. He thinks he is lofty, so he refuses to bend down to do some business and business, he would rather eat chaff and swallow vegetables, and never do things that put his dignity down.
Fortunately, his family still has a few acres of Susukida, and Su Qing can't handle it, but it is enough to maintain a modest life by handing it over to others for rent.
Su Qing always spent the lantern festivals at home alone. The house was quiet and cold, so he looked for some old vernacular books to read. The beautiful women in the storybook, whether they are boudoir ladies, brothel courtesans, or wild fox demons, often recognize heroes with their eyesight, and not only have sex with poor scholars, but also give him money. When a scholar soars into the sky, he will be a gifted scholar and a beautiful woman, and his career will go straight up.
Three years ago, on an accidental trip, he also met such a beautiful woman at the Lantern Festival.
"Brother Su, what are you thinking?"
Wanying's voice interrupted Su Qing's thoughts.
"No, nothing."
He stammered a little, pulling his eyes away from the mask booth. The figure in the white dress embroidered with golden chrysanthemums flashed through his thoughts.
"I told my father that you will send your article to the mansion in three days. The prince and the father are also from Fangcheng. You are also very curious." Wanying said enthusiastically, "With his recommendation, you can..."
A great official career is in front of him, and the gentle beauty is also by his side. Su Qing couldn't help saying, "Yingying, you're so kind."
When he said the word "Yingying", he was in a daze for a while.
-What are you thinking? He shook his head in his heart, although Zhou Ying... But Zhou Ying is a low-level actor after all, and also...
If Zhou Ying was alive, he would naturally be able to accept Zhou Ying when he entered the court as an official, but Zhou Ying's identity, everything about Zhou Ying... can only make Zhou Ying a concubine!
Not to mention elopement...
"Look?" Wanying's voice rang in his ears again, "Look at this mask, isn't it beautiful?"
She holds up a mask with fox ears. The mask stall owner, sitting behind the overlapping masks, is wearing a mask himself. He was sitting on a wooden chair, resting his chin, seemingly bored.
Su Qing looked at his figure, and felt for a moment... that she seemed to have seen him somewhere.
"looks good?"
Wanying was still holding that mask. Su Qing replied subconsciously: "It looks good."
"Just look good."
A slightly lazy voice sounded from behind the booth. The stall owner wore a white cat mask with the corners of his mouth raised, and shook the folding fan in his hand: "Every mask here is carefully crafted by me. There is no better mask than mine in this whole lantern festival."
"You have a nice voice, but your tone is quite loud." Wanying replied innocently, "How is your mask different from other masks?"
"This mask of mine is different. Ordinary masks, no matter how delicate they are, can make people feel bored." The stall owner said slowly, "But this mask of mine is quite breathable."
"what?"
"Moreover, it's quite soft and won't touch your skin. If you don't believe me, you can try it on."
Wanying was skeptical, she put the mask on her face, and suddenly said pleasantly: "It's really breathable and soft, I've never worn such a comfortable mask..."
"It's different from other masks." The cat mask raised the corners of its lips, "My mask is a mask that can breathe. I also call it—"
"A person's second skin."
For some reason, Su Qing always felt that the stall owner seemed to be looking at him, and such staring made his hair stand on end.
There are masks hanging on the stalls, the masks are extremely soft, some are crying faces, some are smiling faces, and there are only red and white colors on them. In order to ensure people's walking, the eyes of the mask are hollowed out. Pairs of black eyes were hung on the rope, and Su Qing felt for a moment that they were all silently watching him.
The mask swayed gently in the wind, and he couldn't help shivering.
Wanying loves this mask so much that after she puts it on, she has no intention of taking it off. Seeing that she liked her so much, Su Qing decided to please the eldest lady.
So he endured this weird discomfort and decided to be generous. He took out his money bag: "How much? I bought it."
He has done many things to please the eldest lady. Wanying was born in a noble family, and correspondingly she has no idea about money, spending money like water, which made him very heartbroken at first. Fortunately, he had an income later, so besides the green jade ring that was originally supposed to be bought for Zhou Ying, he was able to be more generous.
"I don't need money to buy the masks here." The stall owner said softly.
"If you don't need money, what will you use?"
Wanying became more and more curious about this stall owner.
"Use time, or..." The stall owner looked at Su Qing's fingers, "Use your nails."
"You..." Su Qing was furious, "Ridiculous!"
For some reason, this stall owner gave him an extremely weird feeling. He immediately turned around and was about to leave, but Wanying was displeased: "Su Qing, why did you change your face so quickly?"
After all, it is necessary to please the eldest lady. Su Qing could only discuss with the stall owner nicely. The stall owner replied with some answers, and at the end, he waved his hands as if bored: "That's five taels of silver."
"Five taels—" Su Qing was dumbfounded, "Are you robbing?"
He just opened his mouth and wanted to grind the price, but Wanying was completely displeased: "Su Qing, what do you want? Why are you so poor?"
The word "poor" deeply hurt Su Qing's heart. Gritting his teeth, Dang even took out his money bag.
"Five taels is five taels, it's not like I can't afford—"
This amount of money was an astronomical figure for Su Qing in the past, but after having that sum of money and the great career in front of him, Su Qing could only grit his teeth and endure it.
After getting the money bag, Su Qing felt something was wrong.
His money bag was bulging, and it seemed to be more bulging than before he brought it out.
However, I don't know why, but the things inside are rustling when pinched.
"Su Qing, hurry up," Wanying was still urging, "I want to catch goldfish..."
"Immediately, immediately."
Replying like this, Su Qing opened the bag.
The next moment, he let out a scream!
What appeared in front of his eyes was not broken silver, but...
A whole bag packed full of—
Bloody nails!