Chapter 43: Puppet Monkey, Soul-Shaking Drum

In the Divine Land, the site selection for Daoist temples and shrines is very particular.

Building them on the peaks of famous mountains or in the depths of great rivers, where human traces are rare, usually means focusing on the Great Dao and staying away from the mortal world……

Building them halfway up the mountain means half a step in the mortal world, half a step as an immortal…

And building them at the foot of the mountain is for mortal cultivation and building good relationships…

If built in a city, there is undoubtedly no lack of incense, focusing on popularity.

Therefore, the surroundings of temples in the city are usually commercially developed and popular.

West City, old street near the Niangniang Temple.

The shops on both sides of the street here are also lined up, but unlike the area near the City God Temple where incense and red-and-white event shops gather, most of the shops here are various craftsmen's shops.

Leather workers, goldsmiths, carpenters, stone masons are just trades. The types of shops derived from this are more numerous, such as those specializing in horse gear, those helping people make shadow puppets, those making furniture, and those helping artists make various musical instruments.

Several men of the White Ape Gang walked in a hurry.

Unlike the Iron Saber Gang, this Yuan Qu grew up in a brothel and was used to all kinds of scenes, focusing on pomp. Therefore, his subordinates were dressed neatly and uniformly, all in black jackets, martial boots, and cowhide waist guards as thick as a palm.

Each one was big and burly, looking even more fierce walking together.

Seeing them along the way, the common people all looked fearful and avoided them one after another.

Soon, they arrived in front of a remote shop.

Outside the shop, many wooden puppets were hanging, all dressed in theatrical costumes, with faces painted with masks—Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, Chou, each one vivid and lifelike.

This was a shop making wooden puppets.

Puppet shows, also known as "small plays," originated in the Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. Even the Tang Emperor wrote poems: "Carving wood and pulling threads to make an old man, the chicken skin and crane hair are the same as the real one."

The reason it is called "small" is because when performing, a small stage is set up, with curtains covering the bottom. The artist is below, relying on clever hands and singing skills to interpret joys and sorrows in a square inch.

Xianyang's puppet shows are also famous.

Only two or three people are needed to go to various rural temple fairs to perform, so there are quite a few people engaged in this line of work, and there are also shops specializing in making puppets.

Inside the old shop, a middle-aged man was carving a puppet.

He was dressed in white, with black hair draped over his shoulders, long and narrow eyes, and a cold expression. His fingers were slender and powerful. As the carving knife slid past, wood chips scattered.

For some reason, he felt a bit out of place with the old shop.

Even hearing the footsteps, he remained fully focused, as if no one was there.

Several men of the White Ape Gang didn't even dare to enter the door. They stood outside the door, bowing in unison, cupping their hands respectfully:

"Chen Dashi, our Gang Leader wants to invite you to take action."

The man in white didn't lift his head, still focusing on carving.

"What about the things I want?"

"Chen Dashi, rest assured, only one is missing. The Gang Leader said that there are too many eyes during the day, so we will send them to your mansion together at night…"

…………

Two hours later, Yuan Family Mansion.

Unlike Zheng Heibei of the Iron Saber Gang, Yuan Qu made a fortune and was a completely different style, buying a large mansion, building courtyards, with the style of a wealthy squire.

Perhaps because he was poor when he was young, now he is as extravagant as possible.

"Young Master Zhou, please!"

Outside the main gate, a man led the way respectfully.

Behind him followed a youth, tall and straight, with thick brows and big eyes, a square face, dressed in a brocade robe, and wearing a jade thumb ring on his finger.

His eyes were bright and spirited, quite tiger-like.

Entering the mansion, Yuan Qu greeted him with a smile, "Zhou Bai, you are really hard to invite. Could it be that after getting the Master's true transmission, you look down on your Uncle Yuan?"

The visitor was Zhou Bai, the talent of the Zhou family.

"Uncle is joking."

The youth Zhou Bai was clearly impatient. He cupped his hands slightly, looked around, and shook his head, "Uncle, your garden is even more beautiful. My Uncle said that if you weren't addicted to these worldly possessions, your kung fu would definitely be more than this."

"Hahaha…"

Hearing this, Yuan Qu showed no anger, but laughed, "I'm old and can't compare to you young people's brave progress. I'll be satisfied when I hear of your fame in the Jianghu in the future."

Zhou Bai didn't commit himself, "Why did Uncle call me here?"

"You'll know when you go in."

Yuan Qu smiled mysteriously and brought Zhou Bai into the main hall.

He saw a large macaque squatting on a chair in the hall, its neck tied with an iron chain, holding a live chicken in its hand and tearing at it, eating with its mouth full of blood.

It looked human-like, but fierce light flickered in its eyes.

And on a chair on the other side sat a middle-aged man in white, with black hair draped over his shoulders, a cold expression, playing with the prayer beads in his hand and closing his eyes to rest.

Seeing them arrive, he only gave a faint glance.

Yuan Qu introduced quickly, "Zhou Bai, let me introduce you. This is Chen Dashi Fa-Kui, a high-ranking expert of the Nine Yuan Sect's Dharma lineage."

"Seen Chen Dashi."

Zhou Bai was shocked and greeted respectfully.

Among the various sects of the Jianghu, the Gold Sect is the head, and the Mystic Sect is transcendent.

The Tai-Xuan Orthodox Sect is the state religion, and those they deal with are mostly high officials and nobles. The most these Jianghu people can come into contact with are the Dharma lineages in various places.

The Nine Yuan Sect originated from Lishan and is also an ancient sect. It is said that they are the descendants of the craftsmen who built the First Emperor's mausoleum and obtained the inheritance of the alchemists at that time, having great influence throughout Guanzhong.

And the characteristic of the Dharma lineage is that the true disciples have the word "Fa" in their names.

This Chen Fa-Kui goes without saying, he is a true Dharma lineage sorcerer! Why let himself see a sorcerer?

Zhou Bai was suspicious in his heart, then looked at the large macaque and frowned, "Uncle, why is Uncle's fist beast here?"

There are many types of monkey fists. There is one branch in the Red Fist system, but it is considered unrefined and is called "Child Fist."

Zhou Pan is an expert in this, and he also learned the Tongbei Monkey Fist, absorbing the strengths of both families, studying hard, and then stepped into the Dark Energy.

He caught two large macaques near Zhongnan Mountain, which were quite spiritual. When practicing boxing, he observed their forms and actually taught the two macaques boxing techniques.

Zhou Pan liked them very much and called them fist beasts.

Since becoming the leader of the Divine Fist Association, he has become famous, and people often come to the door to duel. Zhou Pan was annoyed by it, so he set a rule: beat the macaque first, then fight him.

This is also one of the sources of his notoriety.

On weekdays, these two macaques have always been with Zhou Pan. Appearing here now couldn't help but make Zhou Bai suspicious.

"Naturally, I begged Master to send them."

Yuan Qu smiled slightly, "The duel is imminent. Although you have the monkey form, you lack a bit of agility and fierceness. So I paid a great price to invite Chen Dashi to use secret methods to help you understand, and Master has already agreed."

Hearing this, Zhou Bai felt unhappy and shook his head, "Just a country brat, does Uncle have no confidence in me?"

!.

Yuan Qu smiled, "I naturally have confidence in you."

"But you also know that old thing Zhang Yuanshang has always been at odds with Master. If that brat is vulnerable, why would he take the initiative to organize it?"

"So, you not only have to win, but win cleanly!"

"If you easily beat Li Hu's son to death, Master might be happy and let you leave to roam the Jianghu and make a name for yourself."

Hearing this, Zhou Bai's eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Could that be fake!"

Yuan Qu smiled very sincerely.

That sorcerer Chen Fa-Kui had been watching coldly. Seeing Zhou Bai agree, he stepped forward directly, took a tuft of hair from Zhou Bai and the macaque respectively, wrapped them in yellow talismans, and stuffed them into the mouths of the person and the monkey alternately.

Zhou Bai watched all this, feeling terrified in his heart.

Sorcerers' harm to people is impossible to guard against, so there is a rumor in the Jianghu that when dealing with these people, whether it is the eight characters, fingernails, or hair, they cannot be handed over easily.

If it weren't for Zhou Pan's agreement, he would never let the other party get close.

Sensing Zhou Bai's caution, Chen Fa-Kui didn't care at all.

He immediately took out a rattle drum painted with the Eight Trigrams, shaking it while stepping on the Big Dipper, swinging his head, black hair dancing wildly, and his eyes gradually turning white.

He was chanting words in his mouth, but the speed was extremely fast, and he couldn't hear clearly at all.

And with the sound of the rattle drum, Zhou Bai began to show strange symptoms.

He could feel that his surroundings were filled with the breath of that macaque.

This breath rushed into his body, making his body twitch and pull involuntarily. His knees gradually bent, and he scratched his head with his backhand, starting to make faces, actually exactly the same as the macaque's movements.

Then, the person and the monkey started playing monkey fist in the hall.

Each move was fierce, each punch was ruthless.

And Zhou Bai's eyes also had a few more wild, fierce spirits.

Crack!

Reaching out to grab, the thick beam was torn with claw marks.

The youth let out a cheer, scurrying about on all fours like a monkey, occasionally baring his teeth and snarling at Yuan Qu, his whole body exuding a wild, untamed nature.

"Good!"

Yuan Qu applauded and cheered, but his eyes were full of mockery…

…………

Unknowingly, night fell.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Old alley near the City God Temple, the drum sound was still ringing.

Intermittent, each sound was like thunder.

On the bluestone street, Wang Daoxuan walked by with a lantern, lifted his foot to enter the Ask-Dao Hall, looked at Li Yan who was like a madman in the courtyard, and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

Sha Lifei was crouching on the steps, holding a jar of old wine, and the oil paper bag spread out beside him was full of boiled peanuts and braised beef.

"Daoist, have a drink?"

Seeing Wang Daoxuan come in, he raised the jar and asked in a low voice.

Wang Dao-xuan shook his head in refusal, "No, it's already the Hour of the Bo (9-11 PM), the time when people settle down. Drinking causes the blood and Qi to surge, which goes against the natural order. If I drink, I fear I won't be able to cultivate later."

"Still practicing a fart…"

Sha Lifei muttered, "This drum beating, how can I sleep!"

Wang Daoxuan was also helpless, "Just greeted the neighbors, they don't care, why do you have to complain."

"I don't dare to complain, just worried."

Sha Lifei retorted quickly, shaking his head, "This has been beating all day, without eating or drinking. The day after tomorrow is the arena duel, aren't you afraid of problems?"

Wang Daoxuan looked at Li Yan, who was oblivious to everything in the courtyard, and thought thoughtfully, "This is the state of self-forgetfulness. Little Brother Yan has already given instructions, meaning he has a plan in mind."

"Let's just wait with peace of mind."

That night, the people in the old street suffered.

But what made them strange was that the drum sound that previously felt annoying actually sounded a bit pleasant in the second half of the night.

And that night, they also slept exceptionally peacefully……

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 44 =====