Chapter 25: Earthen Border Encircled by Lamps, Changing Hidden Sword

The autumn rain in Yizhou either doesn't fall, or if it does, it falls for several days.

The rain scene this morning, however, was quite rare.

The sun in the east had already risen, like a bright white pearl, illuminating the green mountains and the town, but the rain was still falling.

The cook and assistants in the restaurant were settled their wages by Shopkeeper Ma and given a long vacation.

But Zhong Jinqiu was the one cooking breakfast today.

On the long stove in the kitchen, Zhong Jinqiu had scraped a large fish. He pressed his fingers lightly, and every time he pressed, the fish's small bones would pop out.

He used two fingernails to pinch the tips and pull them out along the grain of the fish meat.

Chu Tianshu crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway, his eyes looking quite distrustful.

Uncle Zhong's martial arts were worth believing, and the fish bones would definitely be removed cleanly, but good martial arts didn't mean good cooking.

The chicken Chu Tianshu tapped to break the bones last night didn't taste very good when eaten.

Shopkeeper Ma said: "Why, don't you believe in his cooking? I invited him to be the chef back then, but he was stingy and didn't have the patience to cook for others. Only when cooking for himself would he be willing to work on it carefully."

Chu Tianshu said: "But these days, he would rather use dried radishes to drink with wine than enter the kitchen."

"Are dried radishes not good to eat?"

Zhong Jinqiu pulled out a larger fish bone, threw it directly into his mouth, and said, "When you practice 'Food as Immortal', you will understand. If you can find something that suits your taste at that time, you won't get tired of eating it for a lifetime."

While speaking, Zhong Jinqiu's fish had already been processed and fried in the pot, and the iron pot next to it also started to be lit.

Chu Tianshu and Shopkeeper Ma went over to help, and several pots were stir-frying together.

It was just a moment's work, and five small dishes were put on plates. The fried fish was braised with sauce, then skewered with bamboo sticks. A pot was lifted, revealing the firelight below.

The large fish was placed directly on the fire to reduce the sauce, and within a few breaths, it was also put on a plate.

The three of them each filled a bowl of rice and didn't go to the table, just standing next to the stove.

Chu Tianshu took a bite of fish, and his expression changed immediately.

"Uncle Zhong, is this dish a bit too small? It's not even half of my usual breakfast!"

Zhong Jinqiu shoveled rice into his mouth: "Don't eat too full before killing someone."

Chu Tianshu laughed: "Cleaning up some disgusting things, I will only have a better appetite after cleaning them up, and I won't feel nauseous."

"I mean..."

Zhong Jinqiu didn't look up, picking up a bite of vegetables.

"Eating too full puts a burden on the internal organs, and the force exerted isn't as agile, so the killing won't be as smooth."

Chu Tianshu said "Oh" and obediently ate.

The dishes were indeed not enough, and with three people eating, it was even faster.

The two old men put down their bowls first, and Chu Tianshu cleared the plates.

Shopkeeper Ma took a sip of hot tea, closed his eyes to sense his sparrows, and opened them after a while, saying: "They are already far enough from the town."

Chu Tianshu drank two sips of tea: "Heh, I don't think they won't run back. Let's hurry up and get to work."

Shopkeeper Ma was the first to go out.

He carried a bamboo box, wore a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat, and walked alone. He didn't go to the large residence, but instead went to the south of the town.

Passing through the fruit orchard and arriving at the hillside, seven or eight people were already waiting there, all holding umbrellas in one hand and kerosene lamps in the other.

Shopkeeper Ma scanned them; none of them were younger than fifty, and the leader was Meng Lianfa.

"Why did you come over? Where is Meng Shuangjiang?"

Meng Lianfa was a son-in-law living in his wife's house. His wife's family originally had several relatives, and their children also worked in Meng Lianfa's factory.

But the female evil sorceress who entered the Meng family's door back then didn't just harm Meng Lianfa's direct children.

Several relatives hated Meng Lianfa deeply because of this and often didn't associate with him. Unexpectedly, all those old people had arrived here today.

"Meng Xiao Bao is already the only seedling of our families, so we all came."

Meng Lianfa looked a bit haggard, but his back was very straight, "As for Shuangjiang, I gave all the cash in the house to him and his wife, and let them hide."

"In troubled times, people kill people, and warlords kill warlords. If we can't succeed today, let's see if he can make money with money, and if there will be a day when he can buy the heads of his enemies with his family business!"

Shopkeeper Ma was slightly stunned and laughed: "Sure enough, that's something Meng Lianfa would say."

Meng Lianfa closed his eyes and said: "I received great kindness from Master Ma back then, and now three masters are taking risks. I really don't know how to repay..."

"Since we encountered it, we can't just watch a child be a sacrifice, let alone watch a large group of children be slaughtered. This matter is not your fault, let alone ours... Hey, don't think about kowtowing, don't give me bad omens at such a time."

Shopkeeper Ma pointed to the crowd, "Don't cause any trouble for me, just do things honestly according to what I say!"

He walked behind the crowd, where the soil had already been dug open.

The place where the coffin was buried a few days ago was filled in very sloppily, just some broken wood and tree roots thrown in, covered with a layer of floating soil.

Now it was easily dug out, revealing the original appearance of the coffin pit.

Shopkeeper Ma threw his straw raincoat into it first.

Several old men immediately surrounded it, the edges of their umbrellas overlapping, high and low, instantly covering the sky above the entire pit.

Shopkeeper Ma opened his box, took out a straw mat, and shook it open.

The straw mat had a cinnabar spell as tall as a person pasted on it, spread out on the raincoat at the bottom of the pit.

Shopkeeper Ma jumped into the pit, directed the old men to place the kerosene lamps around the pit, and then yawned and lay down.

"Don't move, just wait here."

Shopkeeper Ma pasted a yellow talisman on his forehead, folded his hands to form a seal, placed it on his lower abdomen, and began to chant in a low, vague voice.

The people holding the umbrellas all had tense faces, surrounding the pit without moving.

The mountain wind blew, occasionally with rain threads drifting through the gaps between them, falling on Shopkeeper Ma's face.

Southwest of the town, the back hall of the large residence.

The old eunuch felt a chill on his face and reached out to touch it. It was probably damp air from outside blowing into the hall.

With a glance, the servant walked over and closed the two carved wooden doors of the back hall.

Sunlight could still shine in through the window paper, but it felt dimmer. The old eunuch felt sleepy and couldn't help but yawn.

He had slept directly next to the jade coffin yesterday, trying to cultivate closeness, but now it seemed he hadn't slept very comfortably.

"Tell Si Niang not to hang her voice this morning... our family wants some quiet..."

The servant responded, but the old eunuch didn't hear it. He leaned on the table with one hand, propped up his head, and fell into a deep sleep.

At this time, Chu Tianshu and Zhong Jinqiu were walking on the road and could already see the large residence with closed vermilion gates.

Zhong Jinqiu wore a bamboo hat and carried a bamboo pole.

Chu Tianshu held an umbrella in his left hand and a sword hanging from his waist.

He had wrapped a thin chain around his waist today, and there was a flat copper ring on the chain.

The peach wood sword, thick at the top and thin at the bottom, would be caught when passing through the copper ring, but it wasn't caught tightly.

If he had to deal with an intangible evil spirit, he should use the wooden sword. He could reach out and pull the entire peach wood sword out of the copper ring.

If he had to use an iron sword, the moment he gripped the hilt and exerted a bit of force to vibrate, the iron sword would unsheathe, and that layer of peach wood shell would still be hung on the copper ring.

"Which direction should we sneak in from?"

Chu Tianshu whispered as he walked, "Chu Tian is in the southeast, which is my lucky direction. Which side does Uncle Zhong like?"

Zhong Jinqiu said: "I don't care. Many people like to guard against the direction from which outsiders might sneak in, so sneaking in from any direction might make no difference."

Chu Tianshu was thoughtful: "Is that so."

His steps were a bit ahead, so he simply walked straight, arrived at the gate, stepped onto the stone steps, and reached out to knock on the bronze ring.

"Who is it?"

Footsteps came from the courtyard, along with a few complaints, "At least two soldiers should have been left to guard the gate. Now we have to open it ourselves..."

The gate opened, and inside was a martial student in his prime, wearing a soft silk hat and fast clothes, with his back to the screen wall.

Whoosh!!

An arm snaked out like a poisonous snake, resting on the martial student's throat, his finger strength already snapping the throat bone.

"I'm here to find Brother Zhou."

Chu Tianshu's voice was smiling, enthusiastic and open, squeezing into the gate.

The martial student with the broken throat stared wide-eyed, and was shaken forward by him, leaning gently against the screen wall.

The peach wood sword was pulled out entirely, inserted into the umbrella, the umbrella closed, left hand reversed, and sleeves covered.

"Brother Zhou invited me to play a few days ago. Seeing that the rain and sun are out today, the scenery is unique, so I also invited him to go out for a walk."

Chu Tianshu's words didn't stop, and his footsteps had already bypassed the screen wall and entered the front courtyard.

Everyone in the front hall looked over, all with somewhat displeased expressions.

Chen Banzhu was used to smiling, so he hurriedly braved the light rain and greeted him, cupping his hands.

"You came at an inconvenient time. Adjutant Zhou has already returned to the city this morning..."

In the corridor on one side of the courtyard, Liu Si Niang frowned, seeing the troupe leader and the guest by the large lotus vat, about to meet.

She loved to sing and listen, and since it was inconvenient to hang her voice this morning, she was listening to the rain in the corridor.

That martial student who opened the door was usually a noisy character, but after two sentences, he didn't make a sound.

The sound stopped a bit... too cleanly.

She suddenly realized: "Careful!"

Screech!!

A cold light flashed out from Chu Tianshu's umbrella.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 26 =====