Although Magu Hutong in Dongcheng District is located in a messy area, it is a place that people from all walks of life have some respect for.

There lived a fairy lady who was famous far and wide. It was said that she could communicate with ghosts and gods. Even wealthy families would secretly invite her to perform rituals when they encountered difficult problems.

A handsome young man looked around curiously.

The low and dilapidated houses, the debris piled up in the corners, the sewage flowing on the ground, and the occasional sounds of children crying and laughing, all of these seemed novel to the boy.

This novelty is concealed by caution.

Those bored men sitting at the wall and casting their eyes at the boy forced him to be careful.

This was a place he had never been to, and a scenery he had never seen before.

But when he reached a fork in the road, the boy stopped, with a look of confusion in his eyes.

The boy stopped for a moment, then walked to the side of the road and asked a woman who was walking back with a wash basin, "Auntie, how do I get to Magu Hutong?"

The woman took a look at the boy. She saw that he had a clean and handsome face, but his clothes were ordinary. Her eyes suddenly became subtle, and she said, "Just go that way."

The young man thanked her and walked in the direction the woman pointed.

The woman tightened her grip on the wash basin, looked at the boy's back, and seemed to want to say something, but finally shook her head and walked quickly towards home.

The boy had only walked about ten feet away when a young man in his early twenties spat out the grass roots in his mouth onto the ground, stood in front of the boy, and said with a fake smile: "Where are you going, little brother? Stay and play with me."

The boy frowned for a moment.

The girl reminded her to change into men's clothes when coming to a place like this, otherwise she would get into trouble. Could this man be blind? Why would he want a "bad boy" like her to stay and have fun?

It turns out that this young man is Ah Man disguised as a man.

Ah Man is tall, in his teens, and does not look out of place in men's clothes.

Well, the girl also said that if someone still comes out to cause trouble even if you dress up as a man, then you should spend money to eliminate the disaster.

Ah Man remembered his daughter's instructions very well, and took out a few copper coins from his purse and stuffed them into the young man's hand.

The young man was stunned for a moment, then he picked up a copper coin, blew on it, and said with a smile: "Little brother, you are quite knowledgeable, but I am not looking for you for money."

That's because there's not enough money!

Ah Man took out a string of copper coins and put them in the young man's hand, but he felt a little regretful.

It's a pity that the girl repeatedly reminded him not to cause trouble if he could, otherwise she could pick up the weak chicken in front of her with one hand and throw it against the wall.

The young man obviously did not expect that this ordinary-dressed boy could extort so much money.

Even though the money given by Ah Man are all copper coins, you should know that this is where the poor gather and most of them live a life of hunger. These copper coins are enough for one person to eat meat buns for several days.

The young man stared at the purse hanging around Ah Man's waist and reached out to pull it down without hesitation.

Ah Man clenched his fists, suppressed his anger and said, "I've given you all the money, can I go through now?"

The young man laughed again: "Don't worry, little brother, I'm not doing this for the money."

But he also wants the money.

"Then why are you doing this?" Ah Man asked, catching a glimpse of a few idle men not far away staring at him covetously.

"It's because of you, little brother. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you." The young man obviously became more and more unscrupulous because of Ah Man's constant concessions.

Ah Man looked at the young man coldly and held up three fingers.

"What do you mean?"

"My master said that things should never happen more than three times." Ah Man took a step forward expressionlessly and closed the distance between the two of them.

The young man felt something piercing his body.

The feeling was very mysterious. He could clearly feel the resistance of his flesh and blood to the object, but he did not feel any pain at all.

The young man lowered his head and saw a golden hairpin piercing his lower abdomen, with most of the hairpin left outside. The lifelike magnolia flower on the hairpin head seemed to have a fragrance.

At this moment, a thought suddenly crossed the young man's mind: If he runs away now, the golden hairpin will belong to him, right?

But for some reason, the young man's legs were firmly nailed to the ground and he didn't move at all.

"It doesn't hurt, does it?" Ah Man's tone was grim, and it sounded extremely strange to the young man's ears.

The young man's head buzzed, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

It didn't hurt. He really didn't feel any pain.

Why doesn't it hurt? How can it not hurt?

The young man did not feel scared by the half of the gold hairpin left in his lower abdomen. He was a street thug and this injury was nothing to him. However, he felt scared because he saw the blood but did not feel any pain at all.

In broad daylight, could it be that he encountered a ghost?

This place is not far from Magu Hutong. The fairy lady living in Magu Hutong can communicate with ghosts and gods, so it is not impossible to encounter a ghost occasionally, right?

"It doesn't hurt, does it?" Ah Man's calm voice sounded again.

"No, it doesn't hurt--" The young man's tongue was tied up.

"It's good that it doesn't hurt. It will hurt at midnight tonight, and it will hurt more and more at that time every day." Ah Man's voice became lower and lower, like an invisible thread tightening the young man's throat, making him feel like he couldn't breathe.

Turns out he's a coward. I don't know why the girl would want to use a guy like him.

Ah Man's eyes flashed with contempt, and his voice was as thin as a mosquito: "If you don't want to die in pain in the end, remember to take this golden hairpin and go to the second private room on the second floor of Wufu Teahouse at noon three days later."

The young man did not wake up from his dream until Ah Man turned into the alley ahead.

"Ah Fei, why are you standing there like an idiot?" People who usually hang out together came over.

"Nothing--" The young man quickly pushed away the person who patted him on the shoulder and ran away.

Regardless of whether what the strange boy said was true or false, we must not let anyone see this golden hairpin!

"Is Ah Fei sick?" the person who was pushed away cursed.

"Look!" One of them pointed at the ground and said excitedly.

When they looked down and saw the bloodstains on the ground, their faces changed.

"My goodness, Ah Fei, have you run into a tough guy?"

"I've long felt that Ah Fei's hot temper would cause trouble. Let's all go our separate ways. Let's all go our separate ways."

A few people walked back to the wall and resumed their idle behavior.

Ah Man walked into Magu Hutong and stopped in front of a house with a jade rabbit lantern hanging on it.

The house is quite old, and although it looks relatively intact, the wooden door bears deep marks of age.

Ah Man went forward and knocked on the door, and soon a little girl opened it.

"I'm here to look for the fairy."

The girl was obviously used to this, she opened the door and said, "Come in."

Ah Man followed the girl into the house.

The room was filled with smoke. A middle-aged woman with a Taoist bun on her hair was sitting cross-legged with her eyes slightly closed. She looked quite like an immortal.

Hearing the noise, the woman opened her eyes and asked, "What do you want?"

"Are you Liu Xiangu?" Ah Man came up to the woman and asked calmly.