Chapter 22: Master and Servant Sing Again

Cang Ming walked into the third block of Xiyuan with his hands behind his back, and saw the thin, shriveled and wretched-looking Zhong Wuqi at first sight.

When Zhong Wuqi saw her, he shuddered without saying a word, shaking the puppets around him.

Cang Ming groaned and said contemptuously, "The Holy Immortal sent a group of disciples to chase me back then, but I never fought back. How could you be so scared?"

Zhong Wuqi lowered his brows and said humbly, "That's all in the past. The Tongduo Sect can't even muster more than ten disciples these days. General Wu, please be magnanimous and don't send anyone to trouble me again."

Cang Ming lifted his skirt, sat on the bench, and said coldly: "Say it again, who is causing trouble for you?"

Zhong Wuqi immediately changed his words and said, "Yes, you didn't cause me any trouble. It was just some unknown wild boys who came here to fight and kill..."

Xi Sheng asked in a low voice: "You said you didn't fight back... Then what about the four major schools..."

Wu Lu, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly raised his head and stared at Zhong Wu Qi: "What are you doing here?"

Zhong Wuqi took a sip from his teacup, smiling without saying anything. The puppet Dingguang spoke up, "Not long ago, my master saw a streak of fireworks rising from the horizon. It seemed like a Taoist priest's distress signal, so he came to help."

Cang Ming laughed loudly.

Xisheng said, "How long ago did that happen? There was a great flood in the city, and some young Taoist priests sent out a signal. The divine immortal is truly belated."

Cang Ming echoed her: "No wonder, the carriage of the sacred immortal fell apart at the drop of a hat. It doesn't look like it can go very fast."

A look of cowardly anger appeared on Zhong Wuqi's face.

Wu Lu held the crutch tightly, with wrinkles all over his hands, and it looked like he wanted to finish him off with a hammer.

Xisheng smacked his lips and said, "Go ahead and hit me."

Cang Ming chimed in, "Let's put aside your sect's rules and regulations for now and fight first."

A gaze of lawless hatred enveloped the sacred immortal, causing him to turn his head unnecessarily to pluck the dangling strings of the puppet.

Zhong Wuqi said, "A few days ago, I went to visit my father's grave and said a few prayers for you."

With just these words, Wu Lu suddenly lost all his strength and sat down dejectedly.

Zhong Wuqi added, "As long as I am here, I will remain the headmaster passed down by my father. The hope of our sect's revitalization rests entirely on me."

Wu Lu said solemnly, "I, the Music Fairy Wu Lu, order you to get out and never let me see you again."

Zhong Wuqi snorted, and the puppet beside him said, "My master's carriage broke down on the way, so I had no choice but to come here to stay. I never thought that this little inn belonged to you..."

Wu Lu swung his crutch violently, and a gust of wind like a thousand-pound copper bar was swung up, and Zhong Wuqi and the puppet flew out together.

Xunyan ran over and closed the door. Zhong Wuqi shouted outside the door that his puppet had fallen apart.

Wu Lu leaned on his cane and said angrily, "Why are you pretending to be a wealthy master? Who are you trying to show off to?"

Cang Ming and Xi Sheng both tried their best to suppress their laughter. Cang Ming asked, "Where's Wei Qiang? Why haven't I seen him these past few days?"

Xun Yan said with a smile: "Master Wei said that the plague in the city has been cleared in the past few days, and he wants to go shopping somewhere else."

"Then let's not wait for him, let's eat!" Cang Ming patted Wu Lu's shoulder and went to the kitchen to warm up the wine, "Why bother thinking about that old guy Zhong Wuqi anymore."

The door of a guest room upstairs suddenly opened, and Mi Xia, who was always quiet and reserved, ran down the stairs and shouted as if announcing good news: "Shopkeeper——"

Everyone looked up at her in surprise. She announced loudly, "Master Hua Yi is speaking!"

…

Xisheng, Wulu and Cangming gathered around the bed, staring intently at Huayi lying on the bed.

Hua Yi's face was pale and she looked at the three strange people in front of her with fear.

Wu Lu said softly, "Don't scare the child."

Cang Ming said, "You are the scariest one."

Xisheng asked Huayi: "I heard that you spoke just now. What did you say?" His tone was flat.

Hua Yi said with difficulty, like someone who had just learned to speak, "Go home."

"Do you want to go home?" Cang Ming bent down and said gently, "Where is your home? I'll take you back."

Hua Yi said: "Xian Zhenyu."

"Xian Zhenyu?" Cang Ming looked at the other two people, and they shook their heads to indicate that they had never heard of it.

Cang Ming asked Hua Yi: "Where is Xian Zhenyu?"

He said, "In...Micro City."

"Micro City?" Wu Lu leaned back, saying in disbelief, "That Micro City?"

"What a familiar name." Xisheng fell into deep thought, his upturned phoenix eyes filled with mist.

"Micro City is the underworld. You have been there, do you remember?" Wu Lu clicked his tongue.

Cang Ming was so shocked that his heart was broken, but he asked kindly on the surface: "Little brother, do you live in the underworld?"

"I've lived there since I was a child." Hua Yi seemed afraid of being discriminated against and whispered, "But I'm a living person."

"The underworld is nothing. I'll just take you there." Cang Ming comforted him, "Is there anyone waiting for you at home?"

"Yes, my mother."

Cang Ming looked out the window. It was night, not yet midnight. The window to the underworld in the ancient building had not yet closed.

Wu Lu said, "That unlucky Zhong Wuqi is in the city, so I need to go out and hide. I'll go with you."

Xisheng said, "What's the point of me staying here alone? Of course I'll go with you."

"Then let's go now." Cang Ming held Hua Yi up, took a cloth bag from Mi Xia, and followed Xi Sheng and Wu Lu. Their figures slowly walked into the night, like a pair of intimate and quiet siblings.

At the back door of the ancient building, Cang Ming stopped and applied a thin layer of lipstick.

Hua Yi stood there woodenly, ignoring her strange and abrupt behavior, while Xisheng and Wu Lu exchanged incomprehensible and incredible looks.

Wu Lu said, "How many times a day do you come? Do you still need to touch up your makeup?"

Cang Ming carefully put away his lipstick, gathered his thoughts, and tentatively called out, "Wei Ci? Are you there?"

"General? I'm here." Wei Ci's voice immediately sounded in his mind, sounding unexpectedly uncharacteristic and full of surprise.

"Wei Ci, I'm downstairs from you. I brought a few people with me. Can you open a back door for me..." Cang Ming said shamelessly.

"Well, the waiter has come to report. I'll pick you up." As Wei Ci finished speaking, the back door opened, and his bright face appeared under the night sky. He even changed into a new set of clothes. The silver-white embroidered robe with light blue snowflake patterns made Wei Ci look even more elegant and handsome.

Cang Ming ignored Xi Sheng and Wu Lu's smacking of their lips and said guiltily, "This is the second time I've come to you on my own initiative, but it's for something else..."

Before she could say goodbye, a waiter had already helped Hua Yi into the ancient building. Inside, there were only four bare walls, and the level of shabby condition surpassed even that of the three courtyards in Xiyuan.

He smiled at Cang Ming: "As long as the general comes to see me, it's good, no matter what it is."

Cang Ming blinked and said, "This dress suits you very well, with your belt and hair ribbon..."

Wu Lu coughed dryly, and Cang Ming changed the subject, telling Wei Ci that Hua Yi was going home. He said it briefly and to the point in a few words.

Wei Ci said "oh" without any concern and said to Cang Ming: "General, it's cold at night. This cloak is for you."

Then he said, "General, have a cup of hot tea to warm yourself up before we set off again?"

Xisheng and Wulu stood behind with expressionless faces, both with their arms folded.

As Cang Ming accepted the steaming cup of tea, he caught a glimpse of a figure hiding in the forest outside the door. The winter night was long and windy, yet the figure was thinly dressed and bony, like a strange rock in the forest.

Cang Ming lowered his head to sip his tea, chuckling quietly. Perhaps the sound of his laughter had also spread, and Wei Ci also chuckled softly. The back door of the ancient building closed, and two men grabbed Hua Yi, one on each side, and held her hostage.

Cang Ming said to the other two, "We don't know the password, so we all have to hold hands."

Xisheng stretched out two fingertips to hold Cangming's arm, while Wulu reluctantly put his arm around Weici's arm, and they both shuddered in disgust.

The four of them maintained a stiff formation, sandwiching Hua Yi in the middle, and flew towards the window together.

Weird buildings stand in rows, demons and ghosts run rampant. Micro City is fine, but under the lake-green sky, demonic auras and ghostly voices drift around, giving people a noisy and damp feeling.

After landing, several people immediately let go of each other's hands and distanced themselves from each other. Cang Ming asked, "Hua Yi, how do we get to the island where your family lives?"

Hua Yi looked at the river in the distance and said, "Spring and Autumn Ferry."

Cang Ming asked curiously, "Is this the Spring and Autumn Ferry? It turns out that the Spring and Autumn Ferry leads from the human world to the underworld."

Wu Lu snorted, "How else can new ghosts enter the underworld?"

Cang Ming said: "I'm curious, if the river freezes in winter, how will the new ghosts swim over?"

Wu Lu said, "This isn't outside the Great Wall. Do you think the river would be frozen for several feet? Of course there's water flowing under the ice."

"Ha." Cang Ming nodded in thanks, then asked Hua Yi, "Should we go downstream or upstream?"

Hua Yi was at a loss: "I don't know, where is this place?"

Wu Lu said to Wei Ci, "Brother Huo, you are very resourceful, aren't you? How do we get there?"

Wei Ci smiled and spread his hands: "I don't know. I just came here to play."

Wu Lu said dissatisfiedly: "Are you hoping that we can't find the way so that you can stay with Cang Ming for a few more days?"

Wei Ci said, "I am the general's follower. Wherever the general goes, I will go."

Wu Lu stared, while Cang Ming pretended not to hear anything.

Xisheng silently took out a piece of cloth and covered his head and face: "When you go out to do things, don't show your face."

Cang Ming also put on the rabbit mask and cloak hood. Under the hood, the rabbit face shone with pearls, and the three-petal mouth smiled slightly, which was very strange.

Wu Lu wiped his face casually and laughed, "Haha, I have practiced the art of disguise, you didn't expect that." His face changed into a face that could not be remembered no matter what. He saw the chin but forgot the forehead, and saw the eyes but forgot the nose.

Only Wei Ci was too lazy to cover himself up and just changed into a set of coarse cloth clothes, but it couldn't hide his handsome and elegant look, and added a sense of simplicity and freshness. Cang Ming couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.

Cang Ming stopped a female ghost carrying a bamboo basket and asked politely, "Sir, do you know how to get to Xian Zhen Island?"

The female ghost picked up the bamboo basket and asked quietly, "Do you want to buy a killing pill?"

“…”

Cang Ming then asked a few dark monsters on the roadside, "Friends, do you know where Xian Zhenyu is?"

The little demons shrieked, "What is that? We don't know."

Cang Ming nodded and said, "Excuse me."

When she turned around, Wu Lu and Xi Sheng looked at her in surprise.

Xisheng asked, "Can you understand what they say?"

Wu Lu asked: "Can they understand you?"

"What?" Cang Ming was stunned. "Don't you understand?"

Wei Ci's voice entered his mind: "General, those little demons spoke bird language."

Cang Ming suddenly realized: "Earrings and lipstick... can actually have such miraculous effects?"

She was answered with a smug chuckle.

Cang Ming came to his senses again: "Then wasn't I just...calling a bird?"

Wei Ci replied: "It's quite cute."

Cang Ming pretended not to hear his voice and asked in a voice transmission: "What did you just say?"

Wei Ci paused for a moment and said sheepishly, "Very cute."

Cang Ming pretended not to hear him again and asked, "What? Who are you talking about?" As he said that, he looked at him with a smile on his face.

Wei Ci smiled helplessly, and a flash of blood appeared on his face.

Cang Ming gently touched his earring and thought, "The underworld is vast, and most of the demons and ghosts live in secret places. I really don't know where to find this place."

A group of gray ghosts rushed to the other end of the street, shouting to each other: "More money is being distributed, hurry up and grab it!"

"Look, how can this boat run on the ground?" Wu Lu pointed his crutch at a place not far away and exclaimed in surprise.

Cang Ming looked up and saw the evil purple ghost ship slowly gliding through the market. When it reached the narrow part, the winding buildings all moved backwards to avoid it.