Chapter 991

Sixty-eight-year-old Ou Yezi Wang stood on the floating bridge of the tax barrier, with no one around, only his group lighting a fire basin on the bridge.

Ever since that day when the Red Building ghost ship collided with this place and the bridge piers were covered with tax clerks, no one dared to walk on this floating bridge at night anymore.

Ou Yezi Wang wore a new white jacket, had a new haircut with his temples shaved clean, and took gold paper to send into the fire basin.

"The craftsmanship of this Paper-Cutting Wang is unusual. His family's gold paper is made of oak bark, paired with dozens of types of fragrant medicines, and made through a secret method of nine thousand nine hundred hammerings; it is the most efficacious. Half of Zhigu city buys paper from him, but this genuine product! He only sells it to experts. We underworld walkers have many rituals and ghosts don't find it strange; it's better to be cumbersome, and the tools must be complete. You never know, it might save your life..."

"In previous years for such a big job, we would have had to prepare the three sacrificial animals and six rituals!"

Ou Yezi Wang babbled to the young man beside him, and the young man looked troubled: "Dad!"

He called out loudly, then whispered: "That Paper-Cutting Wang is a rebel of the White Lotus Sect, and his shop has been sealed by the government! Speak more quietly, don't let the people from the government office hear you!"

Ou Yezi Wang's hand trembled, and he smiled bitterly: "That's true. You inherited my incense, which can be considered leaving a successor for our old Wang family. This evil business of walking the underworld, don't do it anymore!"

Ou Yezi Wang carefully took off a pair of black cloth shoes, stepped on the ground with new white socks, and threw the two shoes up.

He saw the two shoes one in front and one behind, flipped over, with one resting on top of the other.

Ou Yezi Wang was slightly stunned, picked them up, and threw them again. The next time, the exact same situation appeared before the old man again.

This happened three times, and the result was exactly the same. The old man's hands trembled slightly.

Beside him, the bespectacled Daoist Four-Eyes sighed, turned his head, and whispered to Zhang Sanzhi: "In the south, we have people who throw divination blocks; one yin and one yang is a holy cup, representing the god's agreement! Like this, is it that the god does not agree to him walking the underworld?"

Zhang Sanzhi's expression was complex: "There is a rule for walking the underworld: when crossing the underworld, the two shoes under the couch must be one facing up and one facing down. If both shoes face up, then one will die and never return!"

Daoist Four-Eyes looked at Ou Yezi Wang, whose hands were trembling as he threw the shoes again and again, and showed an expression of unbearable pity: "The god does not agree; this is a sign of great misfortune! Why force it?"

Zhang Sanzhi did not speak, only coldly watching Ou Yezi Wang, who was covered in sweat, as the cloth shoes fell again and again, each time inevitably both facing down. After eighteen times in a row, without exception, Ou Yezi Wang was soul-lost, his pale hair was wet, and the cold river wind could not blow it dry.

He knelt down tremblingly and kowtowed: "Ancestors above!"

"Unfilial descendant Wang Qiongsheng, poor and widowed without a successor, is a great sin that cuts off the ancestral bloodline! After death, I have no face to see the ancestors. Now I have entrusted someone to find a bit of bloodline to continue the human ethics. Entrusted by others, I am walking the underworld path for the last time. I dare not ask for the ancestors' protection... I only ask the ancestors to see that the Wang family has incense again! My death is not worth regretting, but I hope the ancestors protect the Wang family's incense to continue. If there are descendants who are virtuous or unfilial and fail to inherit the bloodline, or those who harm the Wang family's descendants, I will fall into the Nine Netherworlds even after death and turn into a fierce ghost to entangle them!"

The more Ou Yezi Wang spoke, the more urgent and sharp his voice became, and the children and grandchildren behind him trembled upon hearing this.

He threw the shoes for the nineteenth time with determination. This time, they were finally one facing up and one facing down. Wang Qiongsheng kowtowed heavily, and fresh blood stained that stone brick.

Zhang Sanzhi watched this scene coldly, with no movement in his eyes, until Ou Yezi Wang picked up the soul-startling gong, put on the human-skin clothes, and carried a white lantern. The filial son behind him led a six or seven-year-old boy, holding a small package.

The boy looked at this scene and called out timidly: "Grandpa!"

Ou Yezi Wang's expression softened a little, he touched his grandson's head, and ordered: "Invite the eldest grandfather out!"

Only then did the boy take a porcelain doll out of the small package in his arms. It looked naive and cute, with a white porcelain body and black eyebrows and eyes drawn on it. Under the pale candlelight of the white lantern beside it, it looked even colder.

The vivid and cute eyebrows and eyes of the mud doll looked so strange and lifeless at this moment.

The red thread tied to the doll also became a black ink thread, with one end tied to the doll and the other end carefully tied to Ou Yezi Wang's wrist by the boy.

"Light the lantern!"

Zhang Sanzhi ordered coldly. On both banks of the canal, white lanterns lit up one after another.

Rows of white lanterns were reflected on the water surface. He saw the river water rippling, just like heavy cargo ships breaking the water surface, and the waves raised were like nine sharp arrows breaking the calm water surface of the Nanyunhe from afar.

The disciples of the Cao Gang raised white linen banners, guiding the water as usual, pointing to the invisible ghost ship to dock at the pier.

"Unload the cargo!"

A roar from the Cao Gang disciples, and one after another, the bare-bodied foot-transporting Green Skins carried heavy loads. But when the river wind blew open a corner covered by black cloth, they were clearly just paper-cut gold, silver, jewelry, cars, ships, horses, and buildings.

Ou Yezi Wang only took one look and looked up slightly in surprise.

Zhang Sanzhi nodded: "Old Ou Yezi, these are all for you to handle things on the road. That Paper-Cutting Wang is indeed a strong dragon, but we local snakes aren't just messing around either. I destroyed that Paper-Cutting Wang's shop, and the thirty years of accumulated underworld treasures are all here!"

The foot-transporting disciples carried the shoulder poles, came to the pier, and jumped into the river one after another. They didn't even raise a splash before sinking into the pitch-black river surface.

Something seemed to be churning under the river surface.

Two loads were put down, and the paper-cut chicken, duck, fish, meat, rattle-drums, tiger-head hats, foreign pictures, and small clothes on them were piled full in two baskets.

Accompanied by a spark falling, dots of phosphorus fire immediately surrounded them, and the entire load was reduced to ashes, with paper ash and incense smoke falling all over the sky.

Zhang Sanzhi spat out a mouthful of cigarette ash, but saw several child-like figures shuttling through the smoke on the floating bridge of the tax barrier, and the laughter of children echoed from time to time on the empty river surface.

Zhang Sanzhi carried a willow branch and shouted at the night sky: "Move aside!"

The willow branch swung through the air, making a whistling sound like a whip.

Only then did the children's laughter disappear, and the entire floating bridge of the tax barrier suddenly made a creaking sound.

Four large roosters, as big as children and majestic, had their wings tied and were thrown into the river. Accompanied by the roosters flapping on the water surface, a one-horned snake head the size of a millstone flew past the water surface quickly. It was pitch black all over, as if cast in iron.

The roosters flapped their wings desperately, struggling to escape on the water surface, but their tied wings meant they could only flap on the water surface.

Accompanied by a muffled sound, four huge black shadows rushed from under the bridge toward the roosters floating on the Sanchahe estuary. At this moment, the blood medicine fed to the roosters stimulated them, and the four roosters suddenly broke free from the ropes and flew up.

Four huge snake heads rushed out of the water surface. Under the floating bridge of the tax barrier, the huge iron ship moved, and the entire floating bridge was split into two, cleaved at the waist.

"Foreigners have their mechanical iron bridges, and we have our ghost god bridges!" Zhang Sanzhi's eyes shot out brilliant light, and he shouted sharply at Ou Yezi Wang beside him: "The ship is here, why not get on the road?"

In the middle of the disconnected floating bridge of the tax barrier, under the water surface, a huge dragon ship sailed slowly past.

Behind it, the fleet arranged in rows could not be seen to the end.

A wealthy-looking man wearing a brocade robe stood at the bow of the ship, with no blood on his face, smiling and cupping his hands at the crowd.

Ou Yezi Wang gave a miserable laugh and fell into the water.

When the Nine Dragon fleet passed the bridge, eighteen Green Skins jumped down from both banks with a crackling sound.

Daoist Four-Eyes also leaned over to take a look. He was originally a Daoist from South Maoshan and had transported corpse kings for the imperial court; there was no evil thing he hadn't seen, but after taking this look, his heart really skipped a beat.

Those nine dragon ships were clearly old ships with complete sails, ropes, masts, anchors, and flags, with tung oil painted hulls, and painted with an exquisitely embroidered dragon flag. The secret codes of the Cao Gang were all complete, and the sailors on the ship were also complete, with soldiers escorting and sailors operating the ship, with over a hundred people on each ship.

At this time, even if Daoist Four-Eyes had only heard of it, he should have recognized these Nine Dragon Treasure Ships.

These were clearly the famous copper ships of Zhigu that transported Yunnan copper to the capital every year for the Treasure Bureau.

The nine treasure ships that Zhang Sanzhi sank in the river were the result of blood-washing the copper ship fleet, sinking them into the Nanyunhe along with the treasures on board, burying not only a wealthy master but also thousands of people on the fleet, sending them to see the Heavenly Queen Mother!

Daoist Four-Eyes adjusted the glasses on his face, speaking incoherently: "This, this..."

Zhang Sanzhi smiled: "Daoist, don't panic. The copper ships this year have already passed. These nine dragon ships are not Yunnan copper entering the capital, but treasure goods collected by His Majesty from the south to refine pills. Originally, he wanted to hide them from the public and enter the capital along with the copper ships, but the news leaked, and thieves wanted to rob the ships, so they were delayed, preparing to attract the attention of the world while the foreigners transported the longevity medicine to the capital, and then secretly transport them into the capital."

"But the brothers still found out!"

Zhang Sanzhi smiled slightly: "Originally, robbing these ships would have attracted the attention of the world, and we might not have been able to bear it."

"But the leader of the Profound Truth Sect has descended to the world, and the one above is also unable to sit still..."

Daoist Four-Eyes did not speak. Such a feat could not have been accomplished by a small Green Skin Guild. Even if the White Lotus Sect wanted to do such a big thing, they would have to exhaust all their strength. For a mere ghost lawsuit, who could have such a feat? It goes without saying.

But why would the imperial court be willing to pay such a price? Could it be... could it really just be for...

"Who exactly is the leader of the Profound Truth Sect?" Daoist Four-Eyes said blankly: "Could it be someone like Liu Xiu or Zhu Yuanzhang..."

Zhang Sanzhi saw the hesitation of Daoist Four-Eyes at a glance, and he shook his head and smiled: "Daoist, don't think too much. Guangwu and Hongwu might not even compare to his status!"

"He is a figure who descended from heaven. What does our Emperor want to do by refining longevity medicine? Isn't it just to ascend to immortality? Nowadays, what longevity medicine can compare to a living reincarnated immortal god?"

"They are all refining medicine, and they are all medicinal materials. Is there any difference between throwing them into that pill furnace in the capital and throwing them into this pill furnace in Zhigu?"

Zhang Sanzhi smiled.

"These nine ships of treasure goods, even if they can't win a glance from the Heavenly Queen Mother, are enough to suppress the Dragon Abyss and sink into the Sanchahe estuary!"

"In the past, our Green Skin Guild patriarch had a river-sinking competition, with iron chains as thick as arms tied to his feet, and millstone-sized stones tied to them. Now, what is tied to the river-sinking is nine treasure ships of tens of thousands of shi."

"I don't know if this kind of weight can sink to the bottom? Can it smash open the legendary bottomless Dragon Abyss!"

The Nine Dragon fleet slowly sailed into the Sanchahe estuary. At the confluence of the three rivers, the Heavenly Queen's Palace on the bank was reflected on the river surface with the moonlight, just like a dragon palace treasure palace in the water...