Chapter 28: Republican Love, Nine Out of Ten Sorrowful

Zhao Zixun's hand gripped a blood-dripping Língchí dāo……

Língchí dāo!

Could it be the very one Mei Lin Shuang had when she entered?

Extremely likely!

The town record is the clue provided by Mei Lin Shuang, which led us to find it in the past.

The town record was recorded by Dong Pian; it is his relic.

Dong Pian's relic was entrusted to Mei Lin Shuang for safekeeping, indicating that there are countless ties between Dong Pian and Mei Lin Shuang.

Everything seems to have become connected.

Thus, a bloody fact is laid before me—Mei Lin Shuang's skin is very likely to have been peeled off by Zhao Zixun!

Moreover, Mei Lin Shuang should not be the first victim.

When Dong Pian saw Zhao Zixun, Zhao Zixun's Língchí dāo was dripping blood, indicating that someone had already been killed.

And Mei Lin Shuang at least died after Dong Pian.

No, no, what else have I overlooked?

Xiao Jiu, stay calm, think slowly, don't miss any possible clue.

I again went through the town record from beginning to end, listing all the useful information that has been preserved, gradually forming a relatively complete timeline.

Wufu Town experienced turmoil; Chen Ping led troops to pacify it and was called Marshal.

Zhao Zixun was given important responsibility.

Chen Ping led troops out to fight, and Zhao Zixun followed.

The turning point came in July 1920; Chen Ping suffered defeat, but shortly thereafter, within about a week, he turned defeat into victory.

How did he do that?

Why, at almost the same time, did Zhao Zixun appear again in Wufu Town, beginning the brutal skinning incidents?

So what connection is there between Zhao Zixun's skinning and Chen Ping's turn from defeat to victory?

Why does Zhao Zixun kill and skin people?

Undoubtedly, part of the skins peeled off are used in the Red Coffin.

Yes, the Red Coffin!

The Town Mayor said, Wufu Town must sacrifice a pure-yin body every thirty years to quell its curse, and I am the ninth.

Calculating this way, from the first Red Coffin's appearance to today, there should be 270 years.

But Zhao Zixun's killing and skinning occurred a hundred years ago; why is there such a long gap?

That's it, that's it!

It is precisely this gap of nearly 170 years that demonstrates one point: the Wufu Town curse is a complete fraud.

It is a facade fabricated by someone to conceal something even more terrible!

My temples throbbed, and I could no longer calm down.

No wonder the broken mailbox at the Dang Pu entrance must not be touched, for it holds a letter that can never be sent, and a girl's longing love.

Fu Wan is the fuse, the cover-up, and the key to opening Pandora's Box!

And Liu Junyan, in this whole affair, is a completely innocent victim.

It's not hard to imagine that the sins of Wufu Town were about to overwhelm it, and just then Liu Junyan faced the tribulation of ascending as a flood dragon.

And the site of her tribulation just happened to be in the Pearl Plate River west of Wufu Town.

He was temporarily drawn into this dispute, so he does not understand Wufu Town.

He was trapped in the Dang Pu, constantly consuming his Merit to ferry away evil spirits and resentful souls, until the moment his oil ran out and his lamp went dry.

So, who is behind all this, pulling the strings?

Could it be the guy who destroyed the broken mailbox?

Who is he?

One question after another came up; I wrapped the town record with that half-sleeve, placed it back in the box, and hid it.

With a feeling of suffocation in my chest, I paced to the corridor, looked up at the faint green spark within the Hexagonal Palace Lamp, and sighed endlessly.

Fu Wan waited for Zhao Zixun for over a hundred years!

But if one day she discovers that Zhao Zixun has long become a completely evil demon who kills and skins people, what would she do?

She would probably go mad.

It is said that Republican-era love, nine out of ten are sorrowful.

But someone as tragically fateful as Fu Wan is also exceedingly rare, right?

I took a long breath, turned and stepped back two steps, raised my eyes to gaze directly at the large pawn character on the Dang Pu's door plaque.

A thought quietly arose.

When was this Dang Pu established?

Who is its owner?

Or rather, besides us nine chosen sacrifices, does this Dang Pu have any other proprietors?

If so, is he still alive?

Does he…… know all that has happened in Wufu Town?

Thinking of this, I returned to the Dang Pu, sat behind the counter, took out all the past pawn tickets, laid them on the counter, and flipped through them page by page.

The day I opened the two doors of Nan Shu Fang, I also went through these pawn tickets.

Back then my focus was entirely on the pawned items, while today I am looking at the signatures and seals.

This process is dull and lengthy, but what I lack the least is patience.

This looks like two days.

On the pawn ticket, the signatures and seals, without exception, are all the pawnshop's seals.

No useful information was found.

How could this be?

Who exactly deliberately erased information about the pawnshop itself?

But the more this is the case, the more I feel there's cat grease.

I suddenly recalled the last time I went to Gui Shi, when buying a pawn ticket, what the clerk said.

He said, it's been many years, finally someone came to buy a pawn ticket again, little girl, do well.

So this is an old clerk; he likely had dealings with previous generations of managers of the Wufu Town Pawnshop.

Next time I go to Gui Shi, can I ask him alone?

Just then, a knocking sound came from the door.

Knock knock.

I immediately looked up and saw a tall, thin person standing at the doorway, smiling at me.

He wore a black felt hat, a black suit, and because he was too thin, the suit didn't fit well.

He held a black leather bag under his left armpit, and the right pocket of his suit was bulging, unknown what's inside.

Our eyes met, he lifted his foot over the threshold and walked forward.

As he walked, a faint medicinal fragrance seemed to come.

I stood up from the counter, put on a professional smile: "Sir, may I help you?"

The man was also amiable, he said: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I've come upon reputation, I want to pawn something with you."

I frowned.

Come upon reputation?

Since the pawnshop reopened, most of the business I've done are yin pawns, temporarily impossible to spread outside; the only yang pawn business is Sun Laiding's.

Sun Laiding is still a child; this man probably wouldn't notice her.

So coming upon reputation... is a bit far-fetched.

The man seeing I didn't speak, smiled: "On the fifteenth of this month, in front of the Earth God's Temple, Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, do you have any impression of me?"

Upon his saying that, I suddenly realized.

Back then, someone who entered with us seemed to really exist.

The reason I noticed him was because that day he kept coughing, covering his mouth with a handkerchief, faintly there were bloodstains.

I immediately replied: "I remember, I remember, what would you like to pawn?"

The man opened his leather bag, held out a square box, carefully placed it on the counter, and opened it.

Inside was actually a three-legged bronze cauldron emitting sandalwood fragrance all over!

The man said: "After entering Gui Shi that day, I actually happened to meet Xiao Jiu Zhanggui again, seeing you had taken in a fine-quality tiger penis, I thought this incense burner might also catch your eye, so I made inquiries everywhere, finally found the pawnshop, and came to try."

I suddenly realized.

I took that tiger penis because it is a pure yang object, suitable for offering to Liu Junyan.

And this bronze cauldron also has a similar effect……