Strange Tale

Yancheng is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with green water flowing down the mountain, but in recent years, there has always been wind and sand, even if there is no wind, it is still yellow everywhere, and the flowers, plants and trees along the street are all gray and lifeless.

The summer solstice is approaching, the cicadas are singing, and the weather is not too hot.Just after noon, the sleepiness after a full meal makes people drowsy.There were not many pedestrians on the road: two Western priests were standing in the shade of a tree chatting, not far away were vendors from the Western Regions setting up stalls along the street, and some local women in jackets and skirts surrounded one of the stalls, bargaining.Occasionally, carriages and cars pass by and raise a little dust.

It's not a good view, but it's peaceful and quiet.

The Buji Pavilion is just opposite a steeple church, and there is a stone square next to it.In the open store across the street, an old man with disheveled hair, a round blind goggle, and a straight shirt with a cross-collared white beard sat upright. A pair of flies piled together on the tip of his nose. move.

Two people, tall and short, wrapped in burlap cloaks and headscarves walked out of a car. They stretched their necks and looked into the shop for a while.The old man sat like this before lunch, and when they came back after dinner, he was still sitting like this, without changing his posture.

"It's better to find the older ones, let's go here." The shorter one said.

One tall and one short entered the Buji Pavilion, but the old man was still as stable as a rock.

The short one sat across the table, "Old sir?"

The old man didn't move.

The man frowned: "Don't care about me?"

"Sir?"

Still not moving.

Do you think it's impolite for me to cover my face?The man speculated secretly again, and then he untied his hood, revealing a handsome young man's face, "Old sir?"

Still not moving.

Isn't it dead?He took out a white handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose, and probed for a closer look.

The person standing on the side couldn't help but suddenly roared: "Mr.!"

The old man trembled and almost fell off the chair, "Ah! Who?!"

It turned out to be asleep.

The old man sat upright again, groping for a little grooming.

At this moment, the two guests saw the situation in the room clearly: a plaque with the words "God's Fortune" hung crookedly in the middle of the hall, there were faintly visible cobwebs and dirt in the corners of the walls and in the crevices of the floor, and the worn-out tables and chairs were unused. For hundreds of years, there are still two oil soup marks on the oblique front of the old man's clothes...

Now that you've come in, it's not good to leave immediately.The person who sat down reported their names and identities, "Old man, my name is Long Jiu, this is my follower, Ye Chang. We have something to do and pass by Yancheng."

"Oh?" The old man responded first, and then stroked his beard pretending to be deep, as if he wanted to save some face for the gaffe just now, "Then what do you want to ask here?"

"Uh..." Long Jiu raised his head and looked at him, often hesitating whether he should reveal his intention.

He often winked, signaling that they had better find an excuse to leave quickly.

Long Jiu understood, but suddenly felt something was wrong: Why is the voice of this "old gentleman" so full of air?Not at all like an old man.Turning back, he took a closer look: there seemed to be no wrinkles on the face covered by sunglasses, beard and gray messy hair.

Is it the legendary Hefatongyan?Long Jiu paused for a while, his curiosity made him give up the idea of ​​getting up immediately, and he stretched out his hand to shake in front of the black mirror, "Let's look at the horoscope first. What's the name of the old man?"

The old man was unmoved, as if he really couldn't see it, "Old Si Ren, you can just call me Mr. Si. Ba Zi, right? When was the son born?"

Long Jiu looked at him carefully, a little absent-minded, "This...is not easy to say."

Si Ren "Old Mister" blinked his eyes behind the lens, "How old is that young man?"

"What do you think?"

"..."

"What month were you born in?"

"Can't remember."

"When?"

"Not quite sure."

"..."

"You don't know anything, how can I give you a horoscope?"

"I know the hour."

Si Ren really wanted to pat the table, but he held back, "The horoscope is for the year, month, day and time, you only know the time and I can't approve it."

"Then... just look at the picture."

"..."

"I'm sorry, just touch the bone."

Who wants to touch you?Si Ren gritted his teeth, but held back because he hadn't made any money for half a month, "I don't know how to feel the bones, why don't you test the characters?"

Long Jiu smiled, the smile was very sweet, "Whatever, I'm actually here to ask about good and bad luck."

Si Ren put his hand on the table, "Write here."

Looking at the smooth and slender fingers in front of him, Long Jiu became more and more sure of his guess.He wrote "good" on the palm with his index finger.

Si Ren withdrew his hand, "What is it about?"

"Well... I have a very important thing to do tonight, but someone advised me not to act rashly. I just want to ask you to see if it can be done?"

"Can you be more specific?"

"No."

Si Ren took out six ancient coins, "Then shake it again."

Long Jiu shook a hurdle and left.

Si Ren stretched out his hand to touch it, "Weiji, Heng. The little fox, Qianji, humiliated his tail. There is no profit. At the beginning..."

"Don't talk about hexagrams, I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"It can be done, but..."

"Hahahaha!" Before Si Ren could finish speaking, Long Jiu laughed suddenly, his voice was shrill and weird, "How is it? It's not uncommon. If I say yes, I will do it!"

Also often a little nervous, ignoring Long Jiu's complacency, leaning over to look at Si Ren, "But what?"

Such a nervous "prince" and such an unruly "follower".The eyes behind the lens often glanced, "The things in front of me can be accomplished, but I am afraid that there will be endless troubles in the future, so there is no joy."

"Can you make it clearer?"

"The secret cannot be leaked."

"I hate this sentence the most! What is..." Ye Chang wanted to continue asking.

Long Jiu stopped him, "I can do it if I can, I don't care about anything else."

As he spoke, he stood up, took out a wad of money and placed it on the table deliberately without making any noise, "Thank you, sir, and we will take our leave first."

"Walk slowly, don't send."

The two stopped at the door for a while, and Long Jiu suddenly turned around with a smile on his face, "Does Mr. Si like to ask people for free fortune-telling?"

Si Ren looked at the money on the table and then at Long Jiu, knowing that he had been found out again.He had no choice but to stand up and take off his glasses, revealing a pair of deep and piercing eyes, "Yes, I can see."

Long Jiu stared at him with a half-smile and didn't speak.

Si Ren sighed, and tore off his beard and wig again.He was actually a handsome and tall young man with long hair as black as ink.

"Yes, I'm not an 'old man' either. It's just that it's not convincing to say what I said in my original form, so... But the results I calculated for you just now are all true."

Long Jiu walked back to Si Ren with a smile and looked up at him, "It's okay, I only care about the result, as long as everything goes well tonight, I will give you double rewards. But, in case something goes wrong..."

Wow--before Si Yan could react, Yechang had already raised a long knife and put it on his neck.This one also often wraps his body in a cloak all the time, but he didn't expect to hide a knife in it.

He also often stared at Si Ren fiercely.Long Jiu didn't move, and his smiling expression didn't change, "The consequences, I think you should already understand."

I didn't notice it when I was sitting just now, but when I stood across from him, Si Ren realized that this Long Jiu was short and thin, but he spoke in an aggressive manner.

He squeezed out a smile, "Understood."

He often put away the knife, and Long Jiu rewrapped his turban like when he first came in, only showing his eyes.The two turned around to leave, when suddenly a yellow shadow came in from the door and jumped onto Si Ren's shoulder.

Long Jiu frowned and looked at the thing with two small black bean eyes, "What is this?"

"My pet, Qilin."

"Don't insult my IQ, this is clearly a weasel."

Know and ask?Si Ren was already holding back his anger, "I didn't say it was a unicorn, it was just a name I gave it."

"Cut!" Ye Chang sneered, "Ah...young master, it's getting late, let's go."

Long Jiuhe often got in the car and walked away, Si Ren immediately ran over to close the store door, "Xiao Lin, hurry up! Pack up your things, we have to leave here quickly, and leave tonight."

Qilin has turned into a six-year-old boy, sitting on the table dangling his two legs, "Why? Because of those two guys just now?"

"Well, they said, if the calculation is not accurate, it will kill me."

"Oh? You also have times when you are not sure? Are you also afraid?"

"It's not right or wrong, it's..."

"what?"

"That Dragon Nine made me feel very uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable? Isn't it just two 'people'?"

"Human? Is your practice for hundreds of years just eating?"

"Then what did you say?"

"That's the problem, I don't see it. Going anyway."

"Oh, it's really annoying. I thought I'd finally be able to settle down here for a while. Besides, whether it's a blessing or a curse, you won't be able to leave..."

Si Ren walked over and grabbed Qilin by the neck and lifted him off the table, "Stop nagging, go and help me tidy up."

Before landing, the boy turned into a weasel and jumped back onto the table, "Hey! Is this how you treat your own fairy?!"

Si Ren had no choice but to say, "Okay, old goblin, can you please help the villain pack his things?"

Qilin turned his buttocks and rushed towards Si Ren with his tail, "Impossible."

"why?!"

"It's useless to clean up, you can't leave tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"The secret cannot be leaked."

"do not learn from me!"

As expected, Si Ren and Qi Lin failed to make it.That night, an army from outside captured Yancheng, the original city owner was killed, and the city gates in three directions were all sealed by the Musketeers.It wasn't until two days later that Si Ren knew that the city lord had been replaced by a general.

The general is called Long Jiu, and the deputy is called Ye Chang.

The author has something to say: Tangxian: that is, Baojiaxian.Generally, they are Hu and Huang Erxian, that is, foxes and weasels who have become refined.