Chapter 161: Rats have rat ways, officials have official thefts

The so-called rat recruiting a son-in-law, also known as rats marrying off a daughter, rat marriage, etc., is a folk belief that is widely circulated.

Because of this, many rat-worshipping activities were born.

In the Jiangnan area, people often say that rats are pests and are not auspicious, so they marry them off on the night of the New Year's Eve to ensure peace and auspiciousness in the coming year.

Further south, in some places, when rats marry off their daughters, they have to stir-fry sesame sugar, saying it is to prepare "congratulatory candies" for the rats' marriage.

And as long as the rats eat the candies, they won't come out to harm people anymore.

Some places also use the custom of the rat marrying off its daughter to perform the "blessing child witchcraft."

The rat is the Zi rat, which implies that it can bring offspring. Families who perform the blessing child witchcraft will make rat buns when the rat marries off its daughter.

It is said that as long as the new daughter-in-law who has just passed the door that year eats the tail of the rat bun, she can become pregnant.

In Jinmen, there is also the belief of rats recruiting a son-in-law, but the date is usually during the first lunar month. Now it is not the New Year or the festival, so which family's daughter is the demon rat in the grain warehouse recruiting?

Facing Xu Qing's question, the leading big rat chirped again.

The granary official was surprised and asked: "What is it saying? Could it be that you understand the language of birds and beasts?"

Who is a beast? How can you scold people!

Xu Qing turned his head and looked at the granary official with a smile: "These rats said that their king is old and urgently needs to recruit a capable son-in-law to inherit this grain warehouse."

"Official, if we want to subdue the demon rat, we must first find a way to enter the rat house."

"What do you want to do?"

Seeing Xu Qing's smile, the granary official looked around. If there was anything wrong, he would call for help.

Xu Qing grabbed the granary official's official sleeve and said: "The task of subduing the demon is on the official's head. The official is the main official of this grain warehouse. It is clear that you are the most capable person here. As long as the official is willing to marry the rat king's daughter, are you afraid that you won't be able to enter the rat house?"

"The rat king is afraid that he will welcome the official with eight sedan chairs to the bridal chamber!"

"Who wants to enter the rat hole?" A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. The granary official shook off Xu Qing and said: "This official invited you to subdue demons, not to take himself as bait. Furthermore, subduing demons is the job assigned to you. This official is not in his position, so why put himself in danger!"

"You go and subdue the demon, this official will wait for you outside!"

Beside, Guo Dongyang tried to be eager: "Brother Xu, look at me."

"You? You are an old man approaching fifty, what are you joining in the fun for? If you know, the rat king is recruiting a son-in-law, if you don't know, you think it's recruiting a living father!"

"..."

Seeing that the people who were in the way were finally driven away, Xu Qing was happy in his heart.

"Official, no need to worry. As the saying goes, the chicken tells the time, the cat catches the rat, and the dog guards the house, each performing its own duties. Since we have taken the task of treating rats, we should solve it ourselves."

Watching the few big rats leading Xu Qing away, the granary official always felt that something was not quite right.

The cat catches the rat, the dog guards the house. Isn't this a roundabout way of scolding him as a dog official!

Here, Xu Qing followed behind a few big rats, with Xuan Yu and Dazhuang inseparable.

The leading big rat was trembling with fear, but it didn't dare to have any thoughts of running away.

One zombie and two cats, a few rats wandered around the granary passage and finally arrived at an idle granary room used for miscellaneous items on the east side of the warehouse.

The big rats chirped, saying that the rats welcoming the marriage couldn't see the cat, otherwise they were afraid they wouldn't open the door to welcome them.

Xu Qing looked around, but didn't see the so-called door.

After thinking for a moment, he let Dazhuang guard outside the door.

Xuan Yu felt it was fun, but was afraid that it would also be sent away, so it raised its head and looked at Xu Qing very seriously, saying: "Those rats are cunning. If you marry into them, they might not let you come back."

Xu Qing laughed: "Can rats be smarter than cats? You go with me later, won't it be fine?"

Xuan Yu's eyes brightened, and then hesitated: "Then what should the rats welcoming the marriage do?"

Xu Qing opened his clothes in front of the big rats, signaling Xuan Yu to hide in his clothes.

"..."

Xuan Yu stared at Xu Qing's open chest, which had a white lining inside and an open collar outside.

Several big rats were clearly disappointed when they saw this, but remembering the big cat that had been sent away, their minds became active again.

Seeing Xuan Yu hesitate, Xu Qing tempted: "If Xuan Yu doesn't hide, then you can only watch the warehouse door."

As soon as Xu Qing's words fell, there was a smooth touch from his chest.

The collar tightened, and the black cat poked its head out. The warm and furry top of its head happened to touch Xu Qing's neck and chin.

Reaching out and stuffing Xuan Yu's exposed head back, Xu Qing's pectoral muscles looked exceptionally developed at this time.

"Now you can't see the cat. You guys lead the way quickly. If you dare to have crooked thoughts..." As he spoke, Xu Qing pulled down his collar, and Xuan Yu cooperated by baring its teeth and hissing.

The big rat's fat trembled, and it had to obediently chirp around the ground.

About three or five breaths, the ground rammed with hard soil suddenly sank like quicksand, and in a short while, there was a one-foot-wide hole in the ground.

Feeling the demonic energy coming from the hole, Xu Qing was surprised in his heart.

Although the demon rat didn't necessarily have a high cultivation base, its ability to build a rat house and change the terrain was extraordinary.

At the entrance of the hole, there were scouts holding small drums coming out to explore. The big rat beside Xu Qing talked to them for a while, and the scout went back to report happily.

Xu Qing waited quietly. After two incense sticks, the one-foot-wide hole sank again. This time, it opened a passage that could accommodate a sedan chair.

There was a team of black-faced, short-handed, narrow-faced, and long-mouthed dwarfs, wearing human clothes, welcoming out of the hole.

Xu Qing looked at the welcoming team in front of him and subconsciously opened the Qi-gazing technique. He saw those dwarfs, men and women, instantly turn into big gray rats.

These rats standing like humans carried pots and pans, welcomed Xu Qing into the sedan chair, and knocked and beat all the way, which was really like a human welcoming a marriage.

"The son-in-law is here—"

"Please invite the son-in-law into the mansion!"

When the sedan chair stopped, Xu Qing walked down, and saw a large mansion covering a vast area in front of him.

The mansion was built deep underground, with no sun, moon, or stars visible overhead.

At the main gate of the mansion, two red paper lanterns were hung, and the plaque in the middle was written with the two gold-lacquered characters "Gu Mansion."

Xu Qing followed the welcoming team into the mansion. Before entering the hall, the sound of noisy cutting entered his ears.

Guests and servants used their palms to knock on pots and pans, and the movement was like knocking on gongs and drums.

In the hall, tables and chairs were moved, and guests wearing gray jackets and black robes were drinking and asking for cups, and they were congratulating the owner of the mansion sitting in the main seat of the hall.

"Congratulations to the owner for getting a new son-in-law!"

"Brother Zixu, congratulations..."

Xu Qing looked at the main seat. He saw an old man wearing a white hat and a white hat with two eight-character mustaches on his face, sitting in the chief seat with a red face.

"Please invite the son-in-law to take a seat!"

There were a pair of black-faced children who led Xu Qing to the banquet.

On the banquet, a bowl of raw rice, a basin of white flour, a plate of peanuts, and some millet and grains looked like four dishes and eight bowls, which was very rich.

There were guests coming to toast.

"Since you can get into Brother Zixu's eyes, I think you have some skills. Today is a good day, why don't you show it, so that we can be convinced."

Xu Qing looked at the middle-aged man wearing a scholar's robe and a scholar's hat, and laughed: "Reasonable. Since it's a happy day, I should give the owner some face."

While speaking, Xu Qing let the waiter take the stone, and then he chanted the mantra and performed the method of borrowing soil to generate gold and turning all things into gold on the stone.

After the spell was finished, Xu Qing pointed at the stone, and the ordinary stone suddenly shone with golden light and turned into dazzling gold.

"Good skill! Brother Zixu's vision is indeed extraordinary. You have this skill, you should be a good son-in-law of the Gu Mansion!"

After the middle-aged man wearing a scholar's robe said this, he bowed and left his seat.

Beside, there were chirping discussions: "Young Master Lou has been thinking about Miss Gu for a long time. This is good, it was snatched away by the new son-in-law."

"Young Master Lou only knows how to move money, where is the new son-in-law's skill of turning into gold powerful..."

In the main seat, Gu Zixu's smile became more enthusiastic. He reached out and summoned the waiter and whispered a few words.

Not long after, a bride wearing a vermilion veil but wearing white clothes came to the hall surrounded by waiters.

Xu Qing looked at the bride who was graceful and came slowly, and his smile became wider.

Getting up and coming to the hall, Xu Qing held the tray and said to Gu Zixu in the main seat: "Father-in-law, son-in-law has a congratulatory gift to offer."

This child is good, polite!

"Son-in-law has a heart." Gu Zixu stroked his beard and nodded, then looked at the empty tray in Xu Qing's hand, somewhat curious: "I don't know what the gift is?"

Xu Qing smiled slightly, holding the tray against his chest. The other hand reached into his arms and tore open the tightly wrapped collar!

A black cat with an arched back and hissing mouth jumped onto the tray.

Mother! On this happy day, why would a cat run to make trouble!

In the noisy hall, the sound of pots and pans being overturned and the movement of tables and chairs being knocked over suddenly became a piece.

Xu Qing looked sideways, only to see those human-like guests and servants turning into big black rats in a blink of an eye, fleeing outside the hall one after another.

In the blink of an eye, there were only a few big rats shrinking in the corner, a few waiters, and Gu Zixu and the bride whose name was unknown left in the hall.

Gu Zixu's eyelids jumped. It looked at the black cat locked on itself, and there was an indescribable shock in its heart.

Xu Qing sat down on the chair unhurriedly. Catch the thief first, catch the king. Guan Dazhuang was guarding the ground, no matter how the small rats and small demons ran, they couldn't escape this underground cave.

Putting the tray on his thigh, Xu Qing said slowly:

"Do you know what I came here for?"

Gu Zixu let out a long sigh and said: "You are the dharma master invited by the grain official here, and you are the high person of the Cat Immortal Hall."

"Oh?" Xu Qing raised his eyebrows: "Did you know before welcoming the marriage, or did you guess it now?"

Gu Zixu didn't answer the question: "I have long heard of the Cat Immortal Hall. My cultivation is not as good as it. If I am stared at by it, the rat group I protect will have no peace."

"If you don't make a sound, Fellow Daoist, I really want to form a father-in-law and son-in-law relationship with you."

"..." 【161-

Xu Qing reached out to soothe the restless Xuan Yu and laughed, "Stealing official grain is a capital offense. Are you trying to bribe me with wealth and beauty? Can a human really become in-laws with a rat?"

Gu Zixu frowned and said, "You only know I stole official grain, but do you know why I would come here to steal, knowing it was a crime?"

Xu Qing's heart stirred slightly, and he waited quietly for what followed.

"I was once an immortal practitioner too. Over these years, natural and man-made disasters have been constant. The imperial court set up relief granaries in Jinmen, and because of this, I once ordered all the rats not to go near the grain storage."

"Where in the world is there a granary without rats? Yet for two years, Jinmen never once suffered a rat plague!"

"But when the refugees increased and it was time to open the granaries to distribute grain, the grain official claimed there was a rat plague in the Jinmen granaries. Never mind the relief grain, even the grain in the other storage granaries was mostly ruined by the plague."

"Without grain, they couldn't open the granaries to distribute food, and my hall instead became a rat crossing the street, shouted at by everyone."

"At that time, the commoners tore down my temple, and I had no more incense to use. You tell me, why did I have to come here to steal official grain?"

(End of this chapter)