Chapter 14: Wind and Rain, Seventeen Smoke
The flood rushed in from the west with great force, submerging the roofs of thousands of houses and causing the city to be filled with the howling of ghosts and wolves.
Many door panels floated on the water, with adults and children sitting on them, clinging to the pillars of the houses. Some people also put their children, chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs into wooden barrels and basins, tying them together with ropes.
Cang Ming pointed in the direction of Xiyuan Sanfang and shouted, "Leave all your belongings behind and take your family to the inn! There is a barrier there!" Cries rose up from all sides, "No! All my belongings are here. If I leave, everything will be gone..."
There was also an old man riding on a cow and shouting: "Old cow, old cow, please don't leave. We will plow the fields next year..."
Before he could finish his words, the water level rose above the old cow's eyes. The cow's hooves loosened, and both the man and the cow drifted away.
At this moment, the woman who had fought with someone during the day came riding on a coffin lid, cutting through the waves. A few young Taoist priests who once exorcised evil spirits all over the city were floating down the river, holding onto a fallen tree trunk.
Cang Ming suddenly felt like he had seen a savior. He flew up the tree and shouted to them, "Can you, capable people, help organize everyone to go to the Xiyuan Sanfang Inn? I will continue to the west to check the situation."
The woman's face turned pale as she screamed, "No! I...I want to go...my daughter..."
Several young Taoist priests sobbed and said, "It's all over, it's all over! Send a signal quickly, let Master, Brothers, Uncles, Aunts..."
Cang Ming sighed and plucked a handful of leaves, sweeping them in all directions. The yellow talismans transformed from the leaves landed on the creatures in the water, transforming into a powerful force that pushed them towards the inn.
As they drifted, those people cried more and more miserably, as if it would be worse to be drowned than to abandon the property accumulated by their ancestors.
The woman went to look for her daughter on her own. Cang Ming said loudly, "I'll go find her. Sister-in-law, you go to the inn and take shelter first!"
The woman said angrily, "What do you care about me? Who the hell do you think you are?"
Cang Ming was speechless: "I, I am a ghost catcher..."
From afar, a whirlpool was swirling in the lowest part of the city, sucking people and livestock into it and swallowing them up, as if the underworld had opened a door in the human world.
The barrier surrounding Xiyuan Sanfang was packed with panicked people. Xunyan and Mixia arranged the endless stream of new arrivals to a corner of the lobby. "Auntie, please stand on the steps. Young man, please stand aside...Okay, big brother, please stand in this space..."
When Cang Ming returned to the door of the inn exhausted, he found Wu Lu and Xi Sheng still struggling to climb onto the roof with their feet on a few bricks.
Cang Ming flew onto the roof and pulled them up one by one. Xi Sheng lay down on the beam as soon as he got there, silently reciting the spell.
Wu Lu panted and said, "What are you looking at? We are not martial immortals."
Cang Ming said puzzledly: "Then why do you insist on coming up?"
Wu Lu stood up with the help of crutches, stood upright on the roof, raised his arms and shouted: "It is God's will that we can all rely on each other today. From now on, anyone who comes to our inn will receive a free pot of good wine. Please spread the word!"
No one paid any attention.
Cang Ming and Xi Sheng were maintaining the barrier together, when they suddenly felt something was wrong: "Are all the people in the city here?"
The young Taoist priests who claimed to be touring the city to exorcise ghosts spat out the dirty water in their mouths and said, "How is that possible? Those with tuberculosis can't escape."
"Tuberculosis?" Cang Ming was stunned. "When did tuberculosis appear in the city?"
"My fellow Taoist, don't you know?" The young Taoist priest, who looked like the eldest brother, shook his head and smacked his lips. "This Beginning of Winter is so strange. First, there are evil spirits hiding in the vegetables, then many elderly people fell ill in the same afternoon, and then there was a flood at night..."
Someone else shouted, "Vegetables! The vegetables in the city are all shipped from the west. They are poisonous! They are... the poison of the plague!"
Wu Lu yelled, repeatedly calling out to Xun Yan: "Hurry up and throw lime water into the inn! I'm afraid the family Miss Xi went to this afternoon died of plague!"
Xisheng: "Yes."
"After a great disaster, there will always be a great epidemic. When the flood recedes, the dirt accumulates, and the corpses rot, then the plague will occur." Cang Ming, with his hands behind his back, looked down at the turbulent water, full of doubts, "Why is there a plague first and then a flood today?"
Xisheng suddenly opened his eyes, lay on his back, stared at the night sky, and said quietly, "There's a ghost."
"Yes, there's something fishy going on here, but I don't know where it comes from. I was planning to take a break after defeating the giant snow sculpture." Wu Lu complained loudly, and then said to Cang Ming, "You go ahead. Xi Sheng and I will stay here to protect the formation."
Cang Ming suddenly remembered that night that the embroidered shoes had seen through her inner weakness and sang one little song after another, and even threatened her by saying that after the great epidemic... there would be a great disaster.
"Perhaps the giant snow sculpture knew long ago that plague and floods were coming to the city." She couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Or perhaps I really am a jinx, otherwise why would disaster follow wherever I go..."
Xisheng closed his eyes again and said expressionlessly, "Don't underestimate yourself. If you had this much power, you would be a god, but a god of misfortune."
Wu Lu smacked his lips and said, "That's also a god."
Needless to say, Cang Ming drew out the Ice Blade Sword, flew on the sword, went upstream, and traced the source of the flood to the west.
After leaving the city, the river flew out for another twenty or thirty miles. The water did not show any signs of flooding, but instead gradually narrowed into an ordinary river.
Cang Ming picked up a leaf, conjured up a talisman for weather, and held it high towards the west: "Observe the sky." Under the moonlight, the yellow talisman shattered into a handful of dry powder. It seemed that not only was it not going to rain in the west, but it was also going to be dry.
Just when he was at his wit's end, a shout suddenly came from afar: "Ghost Buster!"
Cang Ming raised his head and agreed reflexively: "Catching a small ghost costs fifty cents, and a big ghost costs one hundred -"
A ball of red shot towards him like a cannonball. When he looked closely, Wei Qiang was standing in front of him, with a scratcher stuck in the back of his collar and his face was dusty and weather-beaten.
Cang Ming grabbed his arm and said excitedly, "You came at the perfect time, kid! Fengyan City has suffered a flood and a plague..."
Wei Qiang pulled out his tickler and slashed at the air, saying indignantly, "Yes, I saw the Taoist's fireworks signal. I think someone nearby is calling for help."
Cang Ming said, "There wasn't a heavy rain in the west that caused the dam to burst, yet this flood came from the west and became wider and wider. It must have been caused by some evil spell."
Wei Qiang said with a sullen face, "Sure enough, it's the west again. Ghost Buster, you may not know that there's a famous old ghost in the west who usually lives in seclusion in a deserted village. Last time I went to collect herbs, I almost fell into his trap, but luckily I was saved by Tian Xinshu."
Cang Ming asked curiously, "What kind of old ghost is this? Why would he bother a Taoist like you?"
Wei Qiang's face turned pale as he said, "That old ghost wanted to kidnap me... kidnap... this, that..."
He talked for a long time but nothing came out, so he said, "Forget it, you don't have to wait for me, I won't talk anymore..."
Cang Ming agreed and said, "I won't wait for you. I'm going to go along the river to the west to have a look. Brother Wei, if it's not too much trouble, could you go to the city and get some herbal medicine for the patient?"
Wei Qiang nodded righteously and said, "That's exactly what I meant. My sect has always been dedicated to healing the world and saving lives. This is our way. Ghost Buster, be careful heading west. That village is called... Seventeen Smoke."
When Cang Ming stepped into the village of Shiqiyan, he felt his whole body shaking and immediately understood the uncontrollable facial twitching of Wei Qiang when he mentioned the name of this village.
It was already bright outside, but the sky above Shiqiyan seemed to be covered by a lake green glass cover, and the air was filled with turbid green smoke, like rain and fog.
The whole village was silent and there was no one in sight. It was hard to imagine that Wei Qiang would run to such a barren place to collect herbs.
Stone houses stood on the ground, and in the center a stone fort rose from the ground. Cang Ming muttered to himself, "This old ghost is establishing a state here."
The source of the flood came to an abrupt end before the stone fort.
Cang Ming was worried that the old ghost was playing the empty city trick, and was about to use his signature skill to crawl into the stone fortress when a whistle sounded not far away in his ears.
A silver-white figure landed gently beside her, graceful and elegant, tall and straight. Cang Ming was startled, then rushed over in surprise: "Wei Ci, why are you here?"
"I was just passing by." Wei Ci crossed his arms and said, "The general was busy saving people, but he forgot to save me from the antique shop."
Cang Ming finally remembered and had to tell the truth: "I guess you don't need my help, so I'll just forget about you."
Wei Ci raised an eyebrow and said, "Who said I didn't need to be rescued? I was so scared at that time."
Cang Ming also folded his hands and said with a half smile: "I haven't asked you yet, isn't your antique shop called Wuming? How did it become Cang Ming?"
Wei Ci said calmly, "It's up to me to decide what to call you. Please, General."
"Be careful of hidden weapons or arrows flying by." Cang Ming said very experiencedly, "Let's crawl in. I'll lead you, you follow closely..."
Wei Ci smiled and said, "Next time, let me learn a few moves next time." Then he gently held her arm and led her through the village, turning around and around, and walked into a long and narrow stone building.
Seeing him marching straight in with such confidence, Cang Ming couldn't help but lower his voice and ask, "Did you rent this building?"
Wei Ci said, "I once requisitioned this building. I casually set up a barrier there, and it's still usable. Outsiders can't get in, so don't worry, General."
Cang Ming asked tentatively, "But you came here... to pick herbs too?"
Wei Ci said politely, "I'm here to grab the Weiyang crown."
“…”
"Don't you believe it?" Wei Ci closed the heavy stone door of the stone room. "A few years ago, the Weiyang Crown briefly appeared here, and I came here because of its reputation."
"Antique shop owners really do love to hide treasures." Cang Ming smiled faintly, "Anyway, you probably aren't trying to gain power."
Wei Ci looked back at her and asked, "Why?"
Cang Ming pretended to think for a moment and said, "Because you don't lack gold, silver, and treasures."
Wei Ci smiled lightly and snapped his fingers. A brocade bag appeared in mid-air. "The general's dress is wet. I brought a new one. Change into it."
Cang Ming sucked in a breath of cold air and looked down at his blue robe. It was covered in mud and water stains, a horrible sight. Although he could fix it with a little trick, Cang Ming still felt very embarrassed.
She picked up the sachet and teleported into the room, closing the door. "Okay, thank you!"
Inside the brocade bag was a light gauze dress that fitted Cang Ming perfectly, with wide sleeves fluttering up and down, the gauze ribbons always flowing high behind him, as if held up by the wind.
Cang Ming looked into the dusty mirror. Her pale blue dress was like waves on the sea, while the red-orange cuffs and ribbons resembled the sunset. She felt a shudder in her heart.
But I've never heard of Wei Ci having a penchant for wearing women's clothing. Could this young woman's outfit belong to... his wife?
When Cang Ming opened the door and walked out, Wei Ci's eyes lit up. He stared at her for a while before realizing that there was a faint sense of death on her face.
Wei Ci asked cautiously, "You don't like this dress?"
Cang Ming said, "This dress shouldn't be something from an antique shop."
Wei Ci hesitated for a moment and said, "It's not a commodity. It belongs to... an important person."
Cang Ming snapped his fingers, gathered up his changed clothes, and said simply, "Let's go find that old ghost. If the flood and plague are really his doing, then we have to put an end to his evil magic."
Wei Ci was still observing her expression: "Is this dress... too tight?"
"nonsense!"
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