Before I came back, I met Professor Fan and his apprentice. They were intercepted by Dai Tou Ji before they left the city with the Second Hades. Fortunately, Dai Tou Ji remembered my life-saving grace and did not do anything to them. He just sent someone to lock them up in his rented house. When I called, Dai Tou Ji was right in front of me, and Professor Fan was forced to tell a lie. Later, the Second Hades was taken away, and the people guarding them disappeared the next day, so they were finally freed.
This time they almost lost their lives, which made me feel very sorry and I kept thanking them. Although Professor Fan and his colleagues were intellectuals, they took justice very seriously and said that we saved their three lives from the Death Valley, and what they had experienced in the past few days was nothing compared to this.
After saying goodbye to them, I returned to the provincial capital with sadness and regret. The Chinese New Year was only more than half a month away!
During this trip to Gansu, I lost two of my closest comrades. Although they are alive, they are already dead in my heart. This sadness is hard for others to understand. And this regret is that I failed to exterminate the Gate of Life and Death in the end, but instead the three taboos were united. I don't know what the world will be like in the future.
I stayed in the provincial capital for only one night, and the next day I packed up and returned to Shangcheng Town. Firstly, my mother was still not used to living in a city building, and it would be more convenient to have a small courtyard. Secondly, I was in a hurry to go back and reopen the store, and this was also to reassure my ancestors who were exiled to the two Woshi ruins.
We called Lu Fei and the others before we came back. They cleaned their house and shop yesterday and lined up at the village entrance in the morning to welcome our return.
Lu Fei, Qu Mo, Wang Zijun and Ma Yunxi helped us move our luggage into the house, chattering loudly. Shen Bing worked with them, while my mother and I burned incense and kowtowed in front of the ancestral tablets. After being away from home for so long, the first thing I did when I came back was to pay my respects to my ancestors. Although my mother still worshipped her ancestors on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month in the provincial capital, the tablets at home were the roots of our ancestors, so that was different.
Mom said she would cook a few dishes and we should all have lunch at home. But Houzai and Lu Fei were clamoring to go out for a drink, so Mom didn't come out with us to avoid making everyone feel awkward.
We walked to Uncle Yinzi's restaurant, ordered a few dishes, and opened two bottles of Erguotou. I was in a bad mood, and seeing Ma Yunxi made me even more upset. Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset because Ma Yunxi likes me, but because of her damn mother Mei Ruoqi. Although I know that Ma Yunxi is definitely not aware of the good things her bastard mother has done, but when I see her, I can't help but think of this damn woman.
So I was too lazy to speak, and Shen Bing told me everything that happened in Gansu. However, when I winked at Shen Bing, she didn't let on that we went to the underworld, and she replaced Mei Ruoqi with Long Shaohui. This experience in Gansu was full of ups and downs, full of dangers, and could be written into a thriller. They gritted their teeth and sighed. Especially the fact that their ancestor was exiled to Woshi in the northwest made them very angry.
But we were pardoned by the underworld and can live a normal life again, which is worth celebrating. After everyone drank a glass, Lu Fei leaned over and asked me: "Brother Xi, is it true that nothing happened between you and that afterimage?"
I blinked and said, "Nonsense, how can we get to know each other without a thrilling struggle?"
Wang Zijun said "Oh" and continued, "This is what they call "no fight, no acquaintance". Back then, Xue Dingshan had to fight Fan Lihua three times before he could embrace her..."
Damn, this guy is so careless that he dragged me and the stupid guy into this. I hurriedly coughed twice to interrupt him: "What are you talking about? Drink some wine."
Qu Mo also tried to smooth things over. While looking at Shen Bing who looked unhappy, he raised his glass and said, "Let's toast to Xi Feng for reopening his shop tonight!"
After drinking a glass of wine, Qu Mo talked about some interesting things that happened at home in the past few days. Shen Bing listened with great interest and finally got over the embarrassing incident with Dai Tou Ji.
Among these interesting stories, one is that someone asked Lu Fei to find a scapegoat for the deceased. There is a saying among the people about this scapegoat. Those who died an unnatural death, such as hanging or jumping into a river, drinking poison, or died unjustly, are also called sudden deaths. The underworld will not accept them, so they need to find a scapegoat to help them escape the sea of sin and get a chance to reincarnate.
In fact, these are all legends. Only those of us who work in this field know that the underworld accepts all kinds of ghosts. Those who come up with those things are nothing more than dirty tricks of charlatans to cheat people out of money. Just like the burning of paper invented by Brother Cai Lun, it was passed down and took root among the people, so the people took it to heart and thought it was true. However, Brother Cai Lun also made contributions to the underworld by creating the currency that circulated between the Yin and Yang worlds.
But catching a scapegoat is quite abominable. Some bad sorcerers will let the ghost of a person who died suddenly stand at the intersection to harm pedestrians, resulting in another wrongful death. In the end, he found out that it was a lie when he entered the underworld, because he was punished by the underworld for harming others and went to hell.
The client's family was quite wealthy, and it was precisely because of their wealth that this incident happened. The man was a real estate agent, and he bought a piece of land near the county town and built a villa himself, complete with a garden and a swimming pool, very luxurious. One day, the couple went out, leaving only a nanny and their two-year-old daughter at home. When the nanny went to the toilet, the little girl ran out of the house to play, and when the nanny came out, she found that the child had drowned in the swimming pool.
The nanny was taken away by the police for investigation. It was said that the man knew that it was not the nanny who killed his daughter, but because of the pain of losing his daughter, he could not forgive her. He used his connections with the police to try every means to accuse the nanny of murder. He also heard that the underworld would not accept people who drowned for no reason, so he had to find a scapegoat, so he asked the famous Master Lu Fei in the county for help.
When Shen Bing heard the three words of Master Lu, she couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the water she just drank sprayed all over me. I couldn't help but smile, and my depressed mood became a little brighter.
Lu Fei said to us with a bitter face: "What do you mean, are you so jealous just because someone calls me Master Lu?"
"Bah, is that jealousy? That's just a joke on you, you shit master!" Wang Zijun took the opportunity to retaliate.
"Damn, don't forget that you are working for me now. If you make me angry, I will fire you immediately and owe you wages for a hundred years!" Lu Fei said gritting his teeth.
"Why are you so arrogant? You don't have to fire me. I'm going to work for my master in the ghost shop tonight. I don't want the money you owe me. I'll use it as money for your coffin. I curse you not to live more than two years..." Wang Zijun shouted with a pair of cross-eyed eyes.
"Hey, New Year's Day is almost here, stop talking nonsense. How can you curse people like that?" Qu Mo scolded with a cold face.
Wang Zijun snorted and then kept silent.
Ma Yunxi said to Lu Fei with both anger and amusement, "You too, always bullying Zijun."
Lu Fei scratched his head and said, "It's this kid who always challenges my bottom line. You can't blame me."
Shen Bing was anxious to hear what happened next, so she asked Lu Fei, "Did you agree to help that person find a scapegoat?"
Lu Fei flapped his head and said, "How could a young man like me who is full of justice and passion do such a wicked thing? But I showed him a way out. I will hold a ceremony to pray for the souls of the dead. This way, the underworld will accept his daughter's ghost."
"What happened later? Did he agree to let you, Master Lu, perform a ritual?" Shen Bing asked, holding her chin with both hands and blinking her beautiful eyes.
The boy was flattered by Master Lu's three words and said with a smug look on his face: "Of course... he didn't agree!"
"Why?" Shen Bing asked curiously.
"Because..." Lu Fei opened his mouth but couldn't continue.
Wang Zijun sneered: "Let me speak for you. People don't believe him at all..."
"How do you know that people don't believe me? They were so polite to me before leaving." Lu Fei said with his eyes wide open.
"What did I say to you before I left?" Wang Zijun smiled maliciously.
"I said... two words. I'm so grateful that I don't know what to say." When Lu Fei said this, he blushed and lowered his head.
"What are the two words?" Shen Bing asked in surprise.
"Liar!" Wang Zijun laughed.