Sang Que very briefly and quickly told Qin Ze the thod to ta evil spirits. Qin Ze was stunned for a long ti. It wasn’t until Sang Que left with Xia Chan outside the county governnt building that Qin Ze reacted.
He felt a bit ashad for his previous underestimation of Sang Que.
If the thod Sang Que just ntioned was useful, it was much less costly and easier than the other two thods of taming evil spirits.
"Miss Sang’s great kindness, Qin Ze will never forget!"
Qin Ze clasped his hands together and bowed in the direction of the main door, hurriedly going back to try the thod Sang Que ntioned. Perhaps he was lucky, as he had a fairly comprehensive understanding of the evil spirits he tad.
Sang Que took Xia Chan and Xuan Yu to a shady corner of the east market in Bailong County, where they found Yao Zhen’s fortune-telling stall.
A red cloth with Eight Diagrams drawn on it was spread on the ground, weighed down with a few stones, looking very simple.
Yao Zhen sat cross-legged against the wall, with people bustling around and the sounds of hawking incessant, but she remained as still as a statue, her breathing long and naturally ditative.
Except for her hair and the corners of her clothes, she did not move at all.
Sang Que walked over, and before she could speak, Yao Zhen said with her eyes closed, "I predicted you would co today."
Sang Que gave Xia Chan a copper coin, instructing her to buy so food nearby, then squatted down in front of the fortune-telling stall.
"I still want to ask about Pinghu Village regarding Kun Dao."
Yao Zhen opened her eyes, "Sister Mulan, I’ve told you everything I can. I’m not clear about the situation in Pinghu Village. I was unlucky and got lost, ending up there with a peddler. At the village entrance, the peddler borrowed a bowl of water to drink, but I wasn’t thirsty, so I didn’t drink."
"Eventually, I sensed sothing was wrong and called the peddler to leave together, but we lost each other in the fog. I got out using the stone-throwing thod to find the direction, waited for the peddler a while, didn’t see him co out, calculated a fortune, and knew he wouldn’t make it out."
Sang Que took out a scale that Xuan Yu found from her bag and handed it to Yao Zhen, "Kun Dao, have you seen fish scales like this?"
Yao Zhen took it, "Such a large scale, that fish must be..."
Yao Zhen gestured a person’s size, then imdiately frowned and pondered.
"My master traveled far and wide back in the day and heard many stories about oddities. She ntioned a few kinds of lake monsters to , among them, besides the rfolk in the sea, there’s an aquatic creature, called ’Fish Woman’."
Sang Que’s eyes brightened, did the Deceit Dynasty actually have rfolk?
Yao Zhen glanced around, leaned closer to Sang Que, and whispered, "I’ll tell you this because we click, just listen and don’t spread it around, and definitely don’t write it down anywhere, understand?"
Sang Que nodded, and Yao Zhen gestured for her to bring her ear closer.
After Yao Zhen spoke a few words quickly, Sang Que was greatly shocked, a Fish Woman could actually bring people back to life.
This information was crucial, Sang Que carefully morized it, going over it several tis to ensure nothing was missed.
Moreover, she felt she mostly understood what was going on, just that...
It’s hard to say, her mind was a bit stuck and not smooth, so areas still lacked evidence. Once inside Pinghu Village, everything would naturally beco clear.
Seeing that Yao Zhen’s fortune-telling stall had no business, Sang Que said, "I plan to go to Pinghu Village tomorrow, can you calculate the fortune for ?"
Yao Zhen waved her hand, a bit impatiently, "I won’t calculate, I won’t. I never predict life-threatening events for others. If the result is good, it might make you complacent. If bad, it could make you cautious and hesitant. Only when the road ahead is unknown do people maintain sufficient vigilance, enough courage, and reverence for Ghost Gods."
Sang Que nodded slightly, feeling that Yao Zhen made sense.
Just as she was about to take her leave, Yao Zhen added, "Which Ghost God do you believe in?"
Sang Que was puzzled, she believed in herself, her mother, and the grandpas on the red bills, nothing else.
Yao Zhen sized Sang Que up and down, "Before you set out, why not offer an incense stick to the Ghost God you believe in, sincerely pray for their protection, it might be of great use at a critical mont."
"Thank you."
"No need to thank, five cents!"
Yao Zhen extended her hand, and Sang Que hesitated for a mont, "I thought we were friends now."
"Even siblings have clear accounts, Sister Mulan, pay up!"
Sang Que sighed, took out five copper coins, gave them to Yao Zhen, stood up ready to leave, and squatted down again.
"Starting from tomorrow, if I don’t co back in three days, I hope Kun Dao goes to Pinghu Village to fetch , I will pay Kun Dao three taels of gold afterward, as long as I’m alive."
One tael of gold is roughly seven taels of silver, equivalent to seven thousand coins, three taels of gold are twenty-one thousand coins.
Earning this amount of money wasn’t hard for Sang Que, dealing in glutinous rice, vermillion, and glassware would suffice. She wasn’t in dire need of money, so she hadn’t acted on it.
Yao Zhen’s pupils obviously contracted, inhaling sharply, "You’re making it hard for to refuse."
Sang Que didn’t say much more, stood up and clasped her hands in a bow.
She found Xia Chan and Xuan Yu, bought so dry food, and planned to eat only the food and water they brought once inside Pinghu Village.
*
In the backyard of the county governnt.
Xu San stood in front of He Buning, reporting everything to him.
He Buning frowned tightly, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table, "This matter is more complicated than I imagined. If it involves that ancient dwelling at the lake’s bottom, I’m afraid they alone won’t be able to handle it."
Xiao Liu and Xiao Wu still stood behind He Buning, Xiao Liu turned his head and mouthed to Xiao Wu, asking what the ’ancient dwelling at the lake’s bottom’ was.
Xiao Wu pursed his lips and shook his head, unsure if he ant he didn’t know or to not speak.
He Buning explained, "That matter happened so long ago, I only heard there was such an ancient dwelling that appeared. The Evil Suppression Bureau dispatched nearly a hundred people to clear out those Stone Cocoons, dismantled the ancient dwelling, and after that, I don’t know."
"If we need to go underwater, vermillion talismans and such will be useless... Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu, take out your daggers."
Xiao Liu hesitated for a mont, Xiao Wu imdiately took the dagger from his waist sheath, reversed it, and placed it in He Buning’s hand, then used his eyes to signal Xiao Liu to hurry up.
Xiao Liu, while taking out his dagger, said, "These daggers are for Night Travelers only, boss, are you planning to let them use it?"
He Buning also took out his own dagger, placing the three daggers on the table.
Xu San’s eyes shone, constantly staring at the daggers.
That’s a dagger made from a whole piece of supre Ten Victory Stone, carved bit by bit, sharp and hard.
Ten Victory Stone is born from the Earth Vein Fire, inherently containing strong Yang Fire Power, which most effectively restrains evil and ghostly beings, needing no blessing from Buddhist Sect disciples to harm evil spirits and Evil Ghosts.
This dagger only needs to be carried, ordinary evil spirits wouldn’t dare co close.
Ten Victory Stone has always been a treasure of the Buddhist Sect, mostly used in making Buddhist Sect’s Buddha pendants and Buddha Statues and other Magic Artifacts.
He Buning said, "If we need to go underwater, each of you and Qin Ze will take one, the other one goes to Sang Mulan. Rember, only dive at Noon, find out the situation at the lake’s bottom, if the ancient dwelling is still there, exit imdiately, use signal smoke to notify , I’ll handle the rest."
"Yes!"
...
All preparations complete, on the night before departure, everyone went back to rest early, all worshiping their respective Ghost Gods.
Sang Que sat in the room, holding the Mountain Ghost Token, looking at the incense candle and Yellow Paper by her hand, hesitating on whether to follow local customs and worship too.
After thinking it over, Sang Que still stood the Token on the table, casually lit a candle, burned three sticks of incense, and got up to bow three tis to the Mountain Ghost Token.
After doing all this, she did not feel anything different.
"Forget it! It’s better to believe in myself!"
Sang Que put away the Token, practiced with the knife in the room for a while, then went to bed early.
Who knows where the wind ca from, it blew the smoke from the three incense sticks in the incense burner, one after another they extinguished.
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