Chapter 13: Sister Yu, this is the guardian goddess of science and society, Sister Yu
Faton and Tan Yin looked at each other, and Tan Yin asked directly: "Master Zhao, who is this old prince?"
Zhao Guihua stepped forward, bowed respectfully to the shrine, and whispered, "This is the founder of the opera industry, the Bodhisattva Prince of Drama."
Faton frowned, "Why is it enshrined in the house of the dead?"
“This, this…”
Boss Zhao hesitated.
Tan Yin looked up at the bloodstained wooden sign hanging on the wall and asked, "What is this?"
The lights were bright, and everyone could clearly see that the wooden sign was about two feet long and seven inches wide, with black background and gold characters, blood splattered on the top of the sign, and a circle of clouds, orchids, pomegranates and other patterns carved around it, and four words in the middle:
Osmanthus fragrans Society
"This is Miss Yu, the goddess of the Science and Society Nursing Class." Class leader Zhao said slowly and leisurely.
It turns out that according to the old custom of the opera troupe, they must take over the troupe nameplate and return it to the troupe for offering on the first day of the first lunar month or the birthday of Prince Bodhisattva before a performance.
This class of cards is made from a section of the roof beam used by a woman who hanged herself, or from the coffin lid of a woman who died a violent death and was already buried.
The name of the class is carved on the front of the nameplate, and a small hole is left on the back. The name and birth date of the deceased are stuffed into the hole, and then weighed down with tea, salt, rice and beans, and a Taoist priest is asked to perform a ritual to liberate the soul. The hanged ghost then becomes the guardian god of the class.
The blood on the plaque is the chicken blood left over from the ritual.
"Are the guard gods also enshrined in the house of the dead?" Tan Yin gave an intriguing smile. "Master Zhao, are these two gods here to protect the class or to suppress evil?"
Zhao Guihua sighed, "Prince Bodhisattva, you are too nosy. Miss Yu was defiled on the way here and is now in a bad mood, which is why Sister Hua's ghost is staying here."
He said earnestly, "It would be bad if the dead soul stayed in the human world for too long and delayed reincarnation. If you masters can send her away as soon as possible, wouldn't it be a good deed?"
Upon hearing this, Fadun chanted a Buddhist name: "What the donor said makes sense."
Tan Yin was suspicious: "You said that, don't you want us to work for nothing?"
“I dare not.” Zhao Guihua’s face froze, and she said awkwardly, “It was agreed that she would give ten taels of silver to whoever can help her to transcend. How dare I lie to the masters, hehe…”
He laughed awkwardly a few times and hid his purse without making a sound.
Li Zhou, who had been silent for a long time, felt his appetite growing stronger and stronger, and said thoughtfully: "Does it include food and lodging?"
If she stayed in this haunted house any longer, she was really afraid that she would climb onto the altar and gnaw on the tablet.
I don’t know why the more I smell this Prince Bodhisattva, the more fragrant it becomes.
On the surface, she was listening attentively, but in fact, all her thoughts were on fighting her appetite.
"Look at my memory. I haven't had dinner yet. Let's eat first and talk about it after we finish eating." Zhao Guihua was not stingy about adding a few more sets of bowls and chopsticks. He turned around and called out to his disciples, "Sulan, why don't you go and light the fire and cook?"
A pretty girl who looked about thirteen or fourteen years old answered and took people to the kitchen.
The apprentices were quick and skillful and soon set up a table for dinner.
The staple food is soup noodles, a plate of pickled cabbage and a bowl of soybean paste, which is the dinner of Osmanthus Science Society.
As the saying goes, a young boy can eat his father out of poverty. The apprentices are at the age when they can eat the most. Singing and practicing martial arts are both physically demanding, so when they eat, they gobble up food like a hungry tiger.
Tan Yin and Fadun ate more politely without even tasting the side dishes, while Li Zhou hadn't even touched his chopsticks.
Zhao Guihua felt that it was not right and she couldn't face it. After struggling for a long time, she went back to the house, brought out a jar of pickled fish, scooped out a plate, looked at her apprentices who were swallowing their saliva eagerly, sighed, and scooped out another plate with a sad face.
He specially pushed one of the plates in front of Li Zhou and the others, and said with a smile: "Masters, this is the salted fish I pickled myself, would you like to try it?"
Tan Yin looked at the dead fish eyes that were staring at him, then looked at Boss Zhao and frowned.
She was about to speak, but she saw Monk Fadun say "Amitabha", picked up the chopsticks and started eating with relish.
Tan Yin's face immediately changed: "Greedy bald donkey, may the Buddha have mercy on you, how dare you break the precepts and eat meat?"
She was not ashamed of the word bald, as if her own bald head was different from Fatton's.
Zhao Guihua cried out in pain and broke out in a cold sweat. It turned out that her flattery had hit the horse's leg.
Fadun's expression remained unchanged, and he continued to eat heartily, mumbling: "Have you not heard that 'Bodhicitta is the cause, and skill is the ultimate'? I keep the precepts in my heart, how can the Buddha blame me?"
He patted his belly and said, "This pickled fish is delicious. Only if you taste it carefully, you will live up to its and the Guihua owner's kindness."
Tan Yin snorted coldly: "Quibbling!"
She stood up with the bowl of noodles and sat at the other end, far away from the salted fish, out of sight, out of mind.
Master Fadun dresses simply but does not observe the precepts. Master Tanyin seems to be extravagant but is a cautious ascetic. Zhao Guihua thought to herself that one cannot judge a person by his appearance.
Where is that innocent and handsome little Taoist priest?
He turned his gaze to Li Zhou, only to see her fiddling with the soup noodles with a lack of interest. She was the one who was hungry, and she was also the one who ate most reluctantly.
I'm afraid it's because he's never been out of the Monster Hunting Bureau before and this is his first time to experience the world and he's not used to this hard life.
Boss Zhao looked away and pretended not to see Li Zhou's expression. He was reluctant to spend money to add more dishes.
Just like that, after the meal, it was getting late. Artists had to get up early to practice and go to bed early, but Sister Hua's ghost never showed up. I don't know if she sensed the presence of a master and hid herself.
Tan Yin pulled Li Zhou over and said, "How about we sleep in that room tonight?"
Li Zhou was afraid that he would not be able to resist eating the prince's shrine, but he could not forget the sweet fragrance emanating from the shrine. He hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Okay."
"That's great." Guihua's boss breathed a sigh of relief. With them in charge, he could sleep well tonight. He looked at Faton, "Master Faton..."
"I have my own destination." Fadun looked at Tanyin who was leaning on Li Zhou and said, "Venerable, there are some things that we should avoid."
"Oh," Tan Yin said, "you are talking about me now?"
There was actually some tension between the two of them.
Li Zhou said, "Don't quarrel over me." She patted Tan Yin's hand soothingly, and looked at the frowning Fadun. Alas, there was nothing she could do about them. They all wanted to win her over, and she was afraid of being isolated again. "Master Fadun, if you are worried, just sleep on the floor in the main hall."
Tan Yin paused, and looked at Li Zhou with a more inquiring look: "You know everything?"
This little Taoist priest is really a hidden talent. I can hear her and Faton talking from such a distance.
Li Zhou laughed, looked at her with eyes that saw through everything, shook his head and said, "I'm going to sleep first."
She yawned and returned to her room impatiently. She probably couldn't eat for the time being, but the smell was pretty good.
As she passed the prince's shrine, she sniffed hard a few times.
She didn't know that after everyone in the Osmanthus Society had dispersed, Tan Yin was still pondering the look in her eyes before she left: "Bald donkey, what do you think?"
Fadun said: "The little Taoist priest has nothing to do with us, why bother her?"
"Hmm." Tan Yin said, "Actually, you were scared by her, right? She just mentioned your name specifically. Does that mean that neither of us can escape?"
Faton sighed: "She walks in the world in human skin and dares to intimidate us. She must have something to rely on."
Tan Yin looked down on him: "What a coward."
Faton said, "Are you going to take her?"
Tan Yin said, "I don't dare either."
Faton: “…”
The two men looked at each other, the former took off his robes and fell asleep on the ground, while the latter jumped onto the roof and sat cross-legged in meditation.
No one was willing to enter the room where Li Zhou was staying.
…
Li Zhou didn't know that she had isolated the two masters again. She went into the room, found a bed, and lay down on it obediently.
Through the door curtain, the fragrance of the prince's shrine didn't seem so good anymore. She closed her eyes, touched her hungry stomach, and felt that the bowl of noodles she had that night was in vain.
He should eat something that can actually fill his stomach, Li Zhou swallowed his saliva, and the half-demon Taoist's body fell into a deep sleep, and his consciousness woke up in the baby Li Zhou.
Li Sheng was telling Yue Niang about Li Zhou scaring off the Taoist priest at Yuquan Temple. Yue Niang wept and said, "My dear, if it really doesn't work, just let me go. I... am her mother after all."
"I don't want my mother to leave." Dalang hugged Yue Niang tightly. The changes in the family made the three-year-old boy grow up quickly. How could he not understand that his mother was willing to sacrifice herself to feed the tiger for the sake of the family.
Li Sheng also said hurriedly: "How can it be this serious? I will go to Ciyu Temple again tomorrow. If the Taoist priests can't help her, maybe the monks can subdue her."
How could he know that two Buddhist masters had already met Li Zhou, but neither of them dared to provoke her.
"Are you sure, my husband?"
"This..." To reassure his wife, Li Sheng gritted his teeth and said, "Leave it to me."
With hope, Yue Niang's brows finally relaxed a little. Li Sheng hugged her in his arms. Suddenly, he heard a gurgling sound. He looked down and saw Yue Niang's face full of shyness.
"Are you hungry?" Li Sheng said softly, "I'll ask the cook to make some supper."
Yue Niang nodded gently, and Li Sheng told Da Lang: "Stay here and look after your mother. I'll be back soon."
On the day Yue Niang gave birth, the maids serving in the room all saw Li Zhou's appearance. Afterwards, this group of people either asked for leave or redeemed themselves and left home one after another.
The other servants only knew that their wife had given birth to a monster, but they didn't know the details, so they didn't run away with them.
Li Sheng originally wanted to find a pawnbroker to hire some more servants, but was stopped by Yue Niang. If he found new ones, wouldn’t he be scared away by Li Zhou again?
It's just right now. There are no outsiders in the inner house, so it's quiet and peaceful. It also prevents family matters from being spread out and people from talking behind our backs.
When Mr. Li heard this, he realized that this made sense, so he followed his wife's instructions and did more of the housework himself.
Fortunately, Li Zhou is not like ordinary babies who cry all day long, sometimes wanting to be fed and sometimes needing to have their diapers changed. She sleeps quietly, which makes people feel at ease.
Li Shengcai shook his head when he thought of this. He was really stupid to think that it was a good thing that Li Zhou was different from ordinary babies.
Thinking of his wife who was weak after giving birth, he quickly quickened his pace.
Yue Niang had been lying in bed for a few days and was a little bored. She asked Da Lang to get a storybook from the bookshelf: "Da Lang, do you want to listen to a story?"
"think."
"Come." Yue Niang hugged him into her arms and opened the storybook. "Legend has it that a long time ago, humans, demons, ghosts, and gods all lived on the earth. Humans were the most numerous, but had the lowest status. They were often enslaved by demons, ghosts, and gods, and sometimes even became their food..."
"…There was a person named Li who was determined to change the status of humans. She created a unique dance that attracted the gods to watch. When the gods were completely attracted by the dance, she drew out a sword named 'Sui' and killed the gods…"
"...The demons and ghosts were conquered by Li's bravery and strength. They swore to Li that the demons would hide in the mountains and forests, and the ghosts would sink into the underworld. The demons and ghosts would no longer set foot in the human world, and the human race would prosper day by day..."
Yue Niang was originally telling a story to Da Lang, but as she was telling the story, she became immersed in it. She had never read this story before. Was this book bought by her husband?
She was about to turn the page when she heard Dalang whisper, "Mom."
"What's wrong?"
She looked up and saw Dalang staring out the window without blinking.
There was a shadow standing outside the window, and judging by its figure, it was about the same height as Mr. Li.
Why doesn't my husband come in?
Yue Niang put down the book in confusion and was about to speak when she heard two "knock knocks". The shadow knocked on the window frame and said in a strange voice, pinching his throat: "Yue Niang, can I come in?"
What's wrong with that?
Yue Niang was wondering and was about to speak when she was suddenly hugged by Dalang.
His little body was shaking, and he cried timidly, "Mom, I'm scared."
What are you afraid of? That's your father.
Yue Niang touched Dalang's head. He had encountered too many things recently, so it was normal for the child to be timid.
"Husband, you..."
"Yue Niang, be careful!" Li Sheng's voice came from farther away, "That's an evil spirit! Don't let it into the house!"
Yue Niang was startled, and when she looked at her reflection in the window again, she felt dizzy.
The shadow lost its human form at some point and lay on the window paper like mud, with bright red blood slowly flowing along the window cracks.
"Yue Niang, why don't you let me in?" it continued in that shrill voice.
Li Sheng shouted anxiously from a distance: "Don't believe it, Yue Niang, I'm coming soon. How are you and Da Lang? If you are okay, please respond!"
Yue Niang hugged Da Lang tightly, shrank back into the bed, and wanted to take Li Sheng back.
She just opened her mouth, but suddenly stopped. She realized a terrible problem and her heart sank.
Her husband was so anxious, but she didn't hear any footsteps. Was the husband who tried so hard to remind her and asked her to respond his real husband?
The wind from outside blew in through the window, causing the candlelight to sway wildly and it might be blown out at any time.
Yue Niang had an illusion that she was on a lonely boat, surrounded by strong winds and heavy rains, and could capsize at any time.
Lying on the bed surrounded by a gauze curtain, Li Zhou raised her head and sniffed. She smelled a fragrance similar to that of the prince's throne. Although it was not as sweet, it would fill her stomach if she could eat it.
She rolled around happily for a few times, her shadow flowing beneath her, tentacles extending towards the east courtyard where Yue Niang was.
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