Chapter 8 of Ming Niang Yang
Old Gao and his men surrounded Jie Qianchou, while Mrs. Gao sat on the ground crying. Gao Wang rushed in and raised his hand to hit Jie Qianchou. Jie Qianchou's wrist was tightly grasped by Old Gao, and Gao Wang's slap was about to hit her face.
The moment the slap landed, Yan Ran reached out and grabbed Gao Wang: "What are you doing!"
Gao Wang said angrily: "What are you doing? I'm going to beat you two liars to death!"
Old Gao then shouted: "Thank goodness we treated you to delicious food and drinks, but you said you could catch ghosts, so how did my daughter-in-law die? I think it's because you are incompetent, and it's because you angered the female ghost that killed my daughter-in-law!"
Old Mrs. Gao's wails rose eight degrees outside the circle. "My poor daughter-in-law, how could you leave like this? You must see clearly that it was those two swindlers who harmed you."
As Old Man Gao came over, several villagers joined in the commotion, with spit and finger shadows flying around Jie Qianchou and the other man. For a moment, Jie Qianchou and the other man became the target of public criticism.
Yan Ran understood that the Gao family was looking for Jie Qianchou to question him because he couldn't catch the ghost. Jie Qianchou had collected money during the day to eat pork elbows, and at night the daughter-in-law was frightened to death by the white-skeletal bride. Now the Gao family wanted Jie Qianchou to give an explanation, which was indeed understandable.
Yan Ran pushed Gao Wang away forcefully: "No matter what, you can't hit people. If you think he's a scammer, you can call the police."
Gao Wang pointed at the tip of Yan Ran's nose and shouted, "Stop talking bullshit to me! When the police came, I told them you two were liars and fake masters. Did they do anything?"
Yan Ran understood. No wonder Bu Kui was so detailed and fierce when he asked questions. It turned out to be because Gao Wang had reported him.
Yan Ran brushed aside Gao Wang's finger, saying, "The police didn't ignore it. They've verified he's a genuine Taoist priest, not a liar. If you don't believe me, you can call the police! I have nothing to do with him. Please, please be careful with your tone. I'm a doctor, not a master or a liar! I understand how you feel, but please move aside now, or I'll call the police."
Gao Wang sneered and moved the finger that Yan Ran had just pushed away to the tip of Yan Ran's nose again: "You are his son, do you think we are blind?"
Yan Ran was furious at being wrongly accused. Before she could explain, a hand pushed Gao Wang's fingers away for her.
Jie Qianchou stood in front of Yan Ran and asked, "What do you want?"
Gao Wang sneered, "Compensation!"
Jie Qianchou quickly retreated behind Yan Ran.
Gao Wang continued, "Pay us three thousand, oh no! Pay us six thousand, and I'll let you go today. Otherwise, hmph."
Yan Ran was puzzled. She had wanted to explain that while she and Jie Qianchou knew each other, they hadn't seen each other in years. Jie Qianchou's interruption didn't imply that they were in cahoots? And what did this guy mean by hiding behind her when he heard about paying? Did he want to pay for it himself?
Gao Wang's finger moved closer again, almost poking Yan Ran in the face. "Give me the money! Otherwise, I'll beat you into a pig's head."
鄢燃生气了。解千愁默默从包里拿出一把长柄雨伞递到鄢燃手上。鄢燃一挥雨伞弹开高旺手指，随后伞尖狠狠戳在高旺咽喉下方锁骨中间。高旺疼的发出猪叫，他捂着自己脖子就倒地不起。高老头众人眼见高旺吃亏了，那还得了，纷纷上前要揍鄢燃。
Yan Ran held the umbrella in one hand and held it upright in front of her chest. She then took a bow step forward and threw the umbrella one by one. Each time she threw the umbrella, she hit the villagers' vital points. In a short while, the ground was full of people lying on it.
Gao Wang sat on the ground, stunned. "Huang Feihong?"
Jie Qianchou put his hands behind his back and said calmly, "It's Charlotte, the Charlotte from Samurai Shodown."
Yan Ran had been practicing fencing since childhood, winning the National Fencing League Championship in middle school. Few dared to provoke him back then, as he always managed to defeat everyone with his umbrella. This was one of the reasons Yan Ran had the confidence to follow Wang Jinhua to such a remote location.
Jie Qianchou stepped over the villagers lying on the ground wailing and walked to Gao Wang: "You have been deceived by the ghost."
Gao Wang opened his mouth wide and looked at Jie Qianchou in confusion. Jie Qianchou did not explain much and turned to walk to the side of Mrs. Gao.
Jie Qianchou asked, "Do you know what the Bone Bride is afraid of?"
Old Mrs. Gao shook her head helplessly.
Jie Qianchou walked back to Old Man Gao and pulled him up from the ground.
Jie Qianchou held Old Man Gao's hand tightly and asked, "Do you know who the Bone Bride is going to kill next?"
Old Gao looked bewildered. Would this ghost never stop killing people?
Xie Qianchou smiled faintly, waved his right hand, and took out a piece of talisman paper between his two fingers. Xie Qianchou snapped his left hand, and the talisman paper began to burn.
Jie Qianchou quickly formed seals with his hands, muttering to himself, "The setting sun and the bright moon shone through the sky, and the divine power spanned the endless years. The dead souls have no chance of returning, and life and death are at the gates of hell. Command!"
As soon as the spell fell, Jie Qianchou let go of his hand. The talisman paper in his hand did not fall to the ground but slowly flew up into the sky. This move once again stunned everyone. The talisman paper burned into a ball of ash in the sky and slowly fell down. Jie Qianchou caught the ashes and then slapped the back of Old Gao's hand. Old Gao was startled by his slap and quickly pulled his hand away. But he saw the ash forming the word "death" on the back of Old Gao's hand.
Old Gao was so frightened that he sat down on the ground again. The people who were close to him, after seeing the word "death", rolled and crawled to the side, fearing that they would be implicated by Old Gao.
Jie Qianchou took Old Man Gao's hand and gently helped him up: "Your death is approaching, so eat whatever you want these few days."
Jie Qianchou let go of Old Man Gao's hand, and the words on the back of Old Man Gao's hand instantly turned into ashes and dissipated around.
Gao Wang sat on the ground and pointed at Jie Qianchou, cursing, "Stop playing tricks on me! Do you think we'll fall for your tricks? Beat him up! Let's do it together!"
Gao Wang turned his head and looked at everyone, but no one paid any attention to him, not even Old Gao.
Xie Qianchou nodded to Gao Wang: "You are right."
Jie Qianchou took out a wad of money and handed it to Old Man Gao: "Since our fate has come to an end, I will take my leave today."
After saying that, Jie Qianchou pulled Yan Ran up and was about to leave.
Old Gao grabbed Jie Qianchou and said, "Master, can I still save him?"
Jie Qianchou frowned and remained silent for a long time. Old Gao held his hand tighter, sweat breaking out on his face. Old Gao couldn't find a reliable Taoist priest anytime soon. It could be said that Jie Qianchou was his only hope now.
Xie Qianchou sighed, "It's not that I can't defeat the Skeleton Bride, it's just that she possessed one of you, and her Yin energy was completely obscured by your Yang energy, making it impossible for me to find her."
After saying this, Jie Qianchou looked at everyone present with a serious look.
Old Lady Gao came over and asked, "You said that the female ghost is among us?"
When everyone heard her words, a mountain breeze blew through, sending a chill down their spines. They looked at each other, and although they still had doubts about Jie Qianchou's words, they also became more wary of their companions.
Xie Qianchou continued, "If that weren't the case, how could I not catch her? Besides, every time she sees me, she always runs away."
At this point, everyone nodded repeatedly. Those who had watched from afar last night saw that it was Jie Qianchou who stood in front of the Gao family's wife and drove the female ghost away. If it weren't for Jie Qianchou, who knows if the female ghost would have gone on a killing spree and stormed into the town? And the Gao family's wife was frightened to death. What does this have to do with Master Jie?
Old Gao stuffed the money back into Jie Qianchou's hands and said, "Master, Master, please help me! Can you help us see who this female ghost is hiding on?"
Jie Qianchou spoke righteously, looking into the distance: "Exorcising demons is our duty. But to find that female ghost, I need your help. I have to search house by house. There is no other way."
When everyone heard this, they thought, it’s just a matter of going to the house to check, so there must be no problem.
Old Gao said to the crowd, "Master, feel free to search. Whoever won't let you in, whoever won't let you look, has a ghost! We will definitely not let him off! Don't you agree?"
Who could deny the group of people Old Gao brought with him? What if the Skeleton Bride's next target was him?
Listening to everyone's opinions, Jie Qianchou's expression returned to his usual calmness: "In that case, please go back first. I need to tell fortunes here and cannot be disturbed by outsiders."
Just like that, Old Gao and his men left just as they came.
Watching everyone walk away, Yan Ran handed the umbrella to Jie Qianchou: "Are you ready to run away?"
Jie Qianchou pushed the umbrella back: "You can take the bus back. This will be more useful if you keep it with you."
Yan Ran was a little surprised: "What do you mean, you want to run away first?"
Xie Qianchou curled his lips and said, "I'm not leaving. I want to find that skeleton bride."
Yan Ran was very surprised: "Didn't you plan to run away the first two times? Why did you change your mind now?"
Xie Qianchou turned around and faced Yan Ran with his back: "I am willing, it's none of your business."
Yan Ran hit Jie Qianchou on the head with an umbrella, causing Jie Qianchou to scream in pain.
Xie Qianchou said angrily: "Tieji, what are you doing?"
Yan Ran retracted the umbrella. "You want to get rid of me after you've used me, right? There's no such thing as a good thing! Tell me, what exactly are you planning on doing? What exactly do you want to do by staying here?"
Jie Qianchou rubbed his head and said, "I just want to find the female ghost. I want to find the murderer!"
Yan Ran circled around Jie Qianchou and asked, "So, you have a clue?"
Jie Qianchou said helplessly: "It can't be called a clue, it's just some, some doubts."
Yan Ran held up his umbrella and said, "Don't keep me in suspense. If you don't explain clearly today, you know the consequences."
Xie Qianchou silently took two steps back: "When Zhu Li died, did you smell a strange smell?"
Yan Ran recalled the scene: Zhu Li's face had been sucked into a mummy-like state by the Skeleton Bride, while his body remained normal. Yan Ran smelled a sweet, fishy smell at the time, and Zhu Li's distorted face still had a faint, glistening reflection, like glass powder reflecting the red sunlight.
Xie Qianchou said, "That's the smell when quicklime burns on the skin. Those reflective things on Zhu Li's face are probably the crystal particles formed when quicklime meets water."
Yan Ran slammed his fist into his palm: "So you just told the police that it was calcium oxide that caused Zhu Li's face to become dehydrated!"
Calcium oxide is quicklime. It is very absorbent and is often used as a moisture barrier.
Jie Qianchou nodded. "Actually, I wasn't sure it was quicklime. I was just trying to trick him at the time, but I didn't expect my guess to be right. Magicians sometimes use quicklime as props. I've been burned by quicklime before, so I still remember the smell. I just didn't expect someone would use quicklime in a magic trick like this."
Yan Ran frowned and said, "That's not right. If quicklime was used to drain all the moisture and blood from Zhu Li's face, there should be a large area of burns on his face. The villagers should have noticed it at the time."
Xie Qianchou said, "That's because Zhu Li's face was already disfigured. He was scalded with boiling water as a child, and his entire face was distorted. Plus, the Skeleton Bride's hand was on Zhu Li's face at the time. From the villagers' perspective, it's only natural that his face would be somewhat burned and deformed."
Yan Ran continued to ask, "That's true, but don't forget, someone saw Zhu Li during the day. How did the Skeleton Bride manage to suck Zhu Li's face dry with quicklime in just one day?"
Jie Qianchou laughed: "So I have to go door to door looking for ghosts."
Yan Ran already understood Jie Qianchou's thinking: "Whoever has a large amount of quicklime and large drying tools at home is the murderer!"
Jie Qianchou added, "At least it means he has the props to perform this trick. But, killing someone is such a simple thing, but he has to make it so complicated. It shouldn't be hard to find someone with such a strong desire for performance."
How can killing someone be so easy... Yan Ran was completely confused.
Xie Qianchou stared at Yan Ran and said, "You'd better not get involved in finding the murderer. Go home."
Yan Ran also looked at Jie Qianchou. She thought for a moment and said, "I have another patient. Only by finding that ghost can we untie the knot in his heart. So, you know my temper. If you don't let me go with you, I will have to go find the Skeleton Bride by myself. Also, don't think I don't know that you deliberately let me serve as your gun to beat down those villagers just now."
Jie Qianchou spread his hands and said, "Who made you so powerful?"
Yan Ran pointed at Jie Qianchou's bag and said, "Also, what's with that flying paper of yours?"
Jie Qianchou pretended to be mysterious: "This is the secret technique of my Fu Famen."
Yan Ran shook the umbrella in his hand and looked at Jie Qianchou with a bad look.
Jie Qianchou swallowed his saliva and said, "That's the paper prop I made. It will fly up by itself when it's lit."
Yan Ran asked again: "What's with the words that suddenly appeared on the back of my hand?"
Jie Qianchou took out a glue stick and said, "It's very simple. I wrote words on the palm of my hand with glue in advance. When I pulled the old man up, I deliberately pressed the palm of my hand with the words on it on the back of his hand. Then I covered the back of his hand with paper ashes. The paper ashes were stuck to the glue, and it looked like the word 'death' appeared. He was so scared that he was sweating all over and didn't even notice the sticky liquid on my hand."
Yan Ran recalled what happened at that time. No wonder Jie Qianchou immediately grabbed Old Man Gao's hand after the word "death" was revealed. It was just to destroy the evidence.
Yan Ran looked at Jie Qianchou: "However, is it okay to fool others like this? You know yourself that there are no ghosts here."
"Of course there are none, aren't ghosts in people's hearts?" Jie Qianchou looked towards the town: "Bone Bride, let's see how far you can run this time."
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