Chapter 13: Encountering the Demon on the Beginning of Winter Night
The sky was still hazy as Cang Ming walked along the long street to the market. Before sunrise, vendors from the city arrived here pushing wooden carts and driving donkey carts, discussing the wind, frost, rain, and snow, and hawking the coming winter.
For several days, Cang Ming went out early and returned late, searching for traces of the embroidered shoe demon and the pearl crown. However, the shoe demon hid itself well, and no ghost stories happened in the city. The city ushered in the most rare period of peace in more than a decade.
According to Wu Lu's scattered informants, the Black Mountain in the Underworld was razed to the ground overnight, as if it had never existed. Xi Sheng, convinced that Tian Xinshu had blown up the cave overnight and then fled, would be hopeless in the Underworld. He advised Cang Ming not to ask the peddler for the key.
The shouts came one after another, the ground was covered with vegetable leaves, and the whole city was noisy. Fengyan City showed a rare popularity at this time.
"Cabbage, cabbage, the freshest cabbage in the whole market!"
"Girl, take a look at the winter melon?"
Cang Ming was able to get along with both sides, dealing with the vendors on both sides, nodding and saying, "Thank you very much, I will remember you. If I want to buy anything, I will come to you--"
After walking a little further, an old man in tattered clothes shouted loudly: "Gourd - Fu Lu, one ten cents, two fifteen -"
The sister-in-law across the street was not to be outdone. She rolled up her sleeves twice, revealing her cylindrical wrists, and shouted over the old man in a protest: "Evil-repelling lock, peace amulet, walnut wood—"
Soon her shouts were drowned out by a young man's roar: "The blessed Door God statue! The blessed Zhong Kui! The blessed Kitchen God!"
"Young people nowadays have fathers who give birth but no fathers who raise them." The old man frowned and spat at the sky with resentment. "Can't you sell your products somewhere else? Why are you trying to steal my business?"
The eldest sister-in-law immediately became unhappy: "This street is not yours, I can sell it wherever I want!"
Her words caused laughter from several nearby vegetable farmers: "Listen, she's going to sell it!"
"Fuck you!" The eldest sister-in-law cursed back with a frown, her head thrown back, her hands on her hips, and she shouted, "When I was giving birth, you were still drinking milk!"
The young man on the other side cursed with a sullen face: "Why are you howling? Don't delay my business!" After hearing this, the eldest sister-in-law rushed forward, rammed into him head-on, and let out a long, earth-shattering roar: "Son of a bitch!"
The young man was hit directly by her iron head. He staggered back, holding his stomach with one hand, and swung the shovel with the other hand, shouting hysterically: "Why are you bullying me? Why are you bullying me?"
"You bully us orphans and widows!"
"You are useless in bullying an old man like me!"
"I can't pay back the debt I owe! Do you know why you all want to harm me? Why do you still want to go against me..."
Cang Ming cast a brief spell, separating the men battling each other, and watched for a moment with dejection. When people's livelihoods decline, the people become impoverished. When the people become impoverished, merchants fail. When merchants fail, people's livelihoods decline...
Cang Ming reached into his pocket and smiled a wistful smile. He only had a few copper coins, and presumably everyone else at the market had the same. Since he was so short of money, he couldn't buy other people's things. If he didn't buy other people's things, how could he get them to buy his own things?
Cang Ming crossed his arms and sighed, "I don't know where the money went."
A small vegetable farmer nearby said to Cang Ming, "Miss, would you like to buy some squash? It's the beginning of winter and we're going to have something good to eat!"
Cang Ming said casually: "Okay, please cut a piece, not too wide..."
"Okay." The young vegetable farmer picked up the tool swiftly, cut off a piece of the squash with a sharp knife, and then screamed in fright.
Cang Ming raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"
The vegetable farmer trembled as he lifted up a cut squash. On the freshly cut surface, juicy and hollow, were the squash's seeds. And then there was the face of a skull.
People say that Fengyan City is a city of ghosts, and this time I really saw a ghost.
On this day, when all the families in the city cut open cucumbers, squash, radishes, and steamed buns, a clear and terrifying skull face was revealed.
Cang Ming sat in the lobby of Xiyuan Sanfang, pinching his brows and muttering to himself, "This is really one wave after another."
She spent the entire day walking the streets of the city, visiting her neighbors and examining the skeletons one by one. The more she visited, the more frightened she became, because there was no end to the visits.
Many families even rushed to the market, grabbed the vendors selling talismans, and cursed them as swindlers. Consequently, Cang Ming also took on the task of mediating neighborhood disputes, becoming busier than the local officials.
"How about dumplings tonight?" Wu Lu didn't care if there were any skeletons among the fruits and vegetables. He picked up the kitchen knife and started chopping them. Then he asked Cang Ming, "What are you worried about? If you catch ghosts, won't you make money?"
"That being said," Cang Ming said with a firm look, "I would rather there were no ghosts in the world than to be afraid of the Taoist sword being covered in dust!"
Wu Lu snorted loudly: "When the time comes, you can beg on the street and I will give you food."
"Get lost," Cang Ming said with a headache. "Are there any skeletons that parasitize fruits and vegetables? Could the skeletons in fruits and vegetables also be one of the ones in Tian Xinshu's skeleton formation?"
"Who knows?" Wu Lu threw a tattered booklet over. "This is the Jianghu manual I got from the little devil. You can check it yourself."
Cang Ming picked up the dusty book with two fingertips and said with disdain, "What is this? Is it a handwritten copy?"
On the cover were three concise and expressive characters: Top 100.
Cang Ming casually turned a page and read:
The Weiyang Crown, while not a demon or devil, is a profoundly evil object, crafted by unknown individuals through unknown methods. When placed on a living person, it absorbs their intelligence and experience, effectively acting as a magical refining tool. Once the device is refined, it can be placed on the head of a deceased person, allowing them to act on behalf of the living.
Cang Ming was caught off guard when he saw the annotation on Weiyang Crown. His heart suddenly started beating wildly and he quickly reached out to hold it down.
The legendary Weiyang Crown is of exquisite craftsmanship, radiating an ethereal aura. Its presence is known only in name, never seen. Those crowned with it are said to possess a status comparable to the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady, possessing boundless power and commanding the entire world's respect. However, Cang Ming has never personally examined it, and he has no idea of its true power. If even a fraction of what is written in this insane book is true, the Weiyang Crown is akin to a vicious demon, stealing the wisdom and experience of the people and replacing their own strength. By then, the working people might not even be able to afford a winter melon.
In comparison, she, the unlucky star who destroys the world, is no big deal.
Cang Ming took out the account book and added a new item under "embroidered shoes", "thousand-year floating corpse", "Tianxinshu golden bead skull", and "fruit and vegetable skull": Weiyang crown.
After looking at the list for a while with a headache, Cang Ming put down the account book and picked up the tattered notebook and flipped through a page. It read:
General Wu, the Ghost-Catching General, also known as the Peerless Death Star, single-handedly disrupted the four major schools of cultivation, completely reshuffling the world of immortal cultivation. He once performed folk rituals and performed as a shaman, concealing his true identity while secretly plotting his ultimate domination. Legend has it that General Wu rode a red crab capable of climbing mountains and navigating the seas. He had 109 brothers, all skilled tomb raiders.
Cang Ming cursed and threw the book aside, then picked up the pen and wrote on the account book in a frantic and flowing style: Looking for the top 100 composers.
After flipping through the Top 100 list, I couldn't find any trace of embroidered shoes or the Skull Formation. Even the demon king and peerless talent Tian Xinshu didn't make the list. There was a page that mentioned Nakano Hiou, but it contained only two words: "What strength?"
When the dumplings stuffed with winter melon and skull filling came out of the pot, Xisheng, holding the suona, returned tiredly to the lobby of Xiyuan Sanfang.
Cang Ming waved at her and said, "Let's eat. Today is the beginning of winter, and Wu Lu and the others made dumplings stuffed with winter melon. Well, even though the filling is soupy, it's still edible."
Wu Lu said: "It doesn't matter, Xisheng has no sense of taste."
Xisheng picked up his bowl, a look of dissatisfaction on his face: "What's going on lately? Every day is a funeral. Not a single family that hired me is holding a wedding banquet."
Cang Ming said sympathetically, "I guess you have experienced many different ways of wailing."
Xisheng said: "Haha."
Wu Luze asked with concern: "How much did you earn?"
Xisheng put down his bowl, looking exhausted and exhausted: "I played music for two families today, but didn't get a penny."
"What? Who owes you money?" Cang Ming was shocked and slammed the table to defend himself, "Tell me the address and I'll go and get it for you!"
Xisheng said, "I can't get it. The first family I met was an official, and their servants said I blew too loudly and was gloating over someone else's misfortune, so they only paid me half my wages. I had no choice but to help with the mourning in exchange for the other half, but they said my crying was too hoarse, so they couldn't give me the half I had earned."
Wu Lu said indignantly, "What's too loud or too dumb? It was that cunning servant who wanted to embezzle the money."
Cang Ming asked, "What about the second household?"
Xisheng said, "As for the second household, I just walked to the door and found that the last person in this house was also dead. I had no choice but to bury them with the others..."
"this……"
"Forget it, drink the soup, drink the soup." Wu Lu picked up the dumpling soup and drank it with relish, smacking his lips.
"Wulü, could you be more polite?" Cang Ming frowned and said, "After all, you come from a noble family. Don't shout like a raging wind and a flood."
"It even has an echo. The boss is so awesome." Xunyan gave a thumbs up.
"Hey, big sister, that's not the sound I made when I drank." Wu Lu laughed in anger, "It came from outside the door..."
Xisheng listened attentively: "Be careful, this is not good."
Cang Ming ran to the door and shouted, "Oh no!"
The street in front of the door was already flooded, with iron pots and flower pots floating on the water, and someone's ducks and geese also swam out.
A massive flood is coming.
The water was turbid and violent, easily flooding the steps, flowing over the threshold, and pouring into the inn with a loud splash.
"Everyone, take your positions and resist with all your might!" Cang Ming shouted, his mind shifting as his hand gestures shifted. A wall of white smoke surrounded the inn, hissing like clouds rising from a bonfire, instantly drying up all the water around it.
The circle barely remained dry, but the flood outside was getting more and more turbulent. Huge waves rushed towards the white smoke, almost breaking through the barrier.
Wu Lu used his crutch to create a strong wind, pushing the waves away, and asked loudly, "Where did you get the cigarette?"
Cang Ming wiped the sweat from his head and said, "I borrowed it from someone else's fire!" At this moment, there must be many people whose stoves have gone out inexplicably, which is not a long-term solution.
Xunyan and Mixia were getting anxious: "Miss Cang, can't you be a little more versatile?"
Cang Ming said awkwardly, "No, you can't make something out of thin air, not even a steamed bun."
Xisheng stood with his hands behind his back, staring out the door. He said in a deep voice, "All things in the universe are interdependent and subject to the limits of fate. If a great hero appears one day who can conjure things out of thin air, then a great villain will appear who can kill him. Otherwise, the world will be in chaos."
Cang Ming said: "Yes, that's right, that's it."
Wu Lu collapsed and said, "Stop chatting, my inn, my inn is going to be taken away..."
Xisheng pulled out a stack of yellow paper from his sleeve and threw it over the paper: "Shui Ding!"
Paper money fluttered down.
Xi Sheng was startled: "Oh, sorry, this is what I didn't use up at the funeral today."
As she spoke, she raised her sleeves and searched with her hands, then took out another handful of talismans: "Shui Ding!"
The talisman paper left his hand and flew in eight directions, surrounding the inn tightly and guarding it, complementing the wall of smoke.
"Thank you." Wu Lu was so moved that he almost cried.
Xisheng said, "The talisman and barrier won't hold out for long. We are not gods who control all the water in the world, nor are we a sect that specializes in directing water and creating magic arrays."
Cang Ming raised his hand and pointed at the roof: "You guys go up there and take shelter, I'll go save people."
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