A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

Uncle Jiu was walking behind the curtain with the corpse that had regained his tranquility. Seeing his cowering look, he said angrily, "Aren't you here to help?"

Qiu Sheng quickly agreed, and Ikab, who followed behind him, also came in to help move the corpse.

Several people worked for a long time before re-pasting the talismans on the foreheads of the zombies; the four-eyed Taoist priest lit the oil lamp, put on his Taoist robes, and was about to go on the road at night... If you stay any longer, these two stinky Sooner or later the kid plays his clients badly.

Ikabu silently followed Uncle Jiu to see off the spooky four-eyed priest, looked at his back for a while, and then said to Uncle Jiu: "...I also want to learn about Taoism .”

"It's no problem." Uncle Jiu agreed very happily, "Master Ren's business, you can just follow me."

Chapter 7 Six bridges have roads

In the next few days, besides the two apprentices, Uncle Nine followed another foreigner.

Whether it was discussing business, setting up ostentatious outfits, hiring someone or something else, this foreigner would always stand a few steps behind him, holding a pencil, writing and drawing in a small notebook, writing and drawing at the same time.

Even when Uncle Jiu came to Ren's private residence and ordered everyone to put down the altar, this man was writing furiously beside him.

Uncle Jiu lit a joss stick and said to Master Ren, "This cave is called Dragonfly Pointing Water Cave. It is three feet four feet long and only four feet is usable, and one foot three feet wide is only three feet usable. Therefore, the coffin cannot be buried horizontally, and must be buried legally. "

Ikab wrote in a small book at the back: "Uncle Jiu's Taoism is first of all to master the environment. The Chinese call it Fengshui. From the mountain, the direction of the river, the airflow, and the humidity, you can infer whether the cemetery is good or bad. If the time and method of burial conform to the characteristics of Feng Shui, then the offspring of the owner of the tomb will have good luck, be healthier, richer, or have more offspring.... This at least means that the Taoist system believes that there is a relationship between ancestors and offspring. Life and death cannot break the connection that transcends time and space."

After a while, Uncle Jiu said again: "...Mr. Feng Shui must have had a feud with your Ren family, otherwise why would he ask you to cover the entire tomb with cement? Snowflakes cover the top, it's just superficial!"

Iqab nodded frequently, and wrote: "The interpretation of Feng Shui relies heavily on Chinese aesthetics and synaesthesia. When Uncle Jiu explained the tomb of 'Dragonfly Touching Water', he seemed to be comparing 'wealth luck' to an invisible dragonfly." , affect the offspring of the owner of the tomb by landing in a specific place, if the original form of the land is excessively damaged, it will obviously block the transmission of this influence."

On the other side, Master Ren's daughter, Ren Tingting, was also standing under the sun, wiping away her sweat.

Spring is not over yet, Renjia Town is already getting hot, especially under the noon sun, and there is no shade around, the sun hits the face for a while, making people sweat thinly.

Uncle Ninth's two apprentices, Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng, had met this young lady a few days ago, especially Qiu Sheng, who was furious and slapped because of his indiscriminate words.

Looking at that pretty side face now, Qiu Sheng, who is exactly the age of the young Muai, couldn't help but feel a little crazy, poked Wen Cai on the side, and said in a low voice: "You said that we were so rude the day before yesterday, why don't you take this opportunity to tell me?" sorry?"

"...You want to please others, so just say it straight." Wen Cai was only a little slow to react, but he wasn't stupid, and he knew what his fellow apprentices wanted to do as soon as he heard it.But Miss Ren is indeed beautiful, with big eyes and small mouth, delicate bridge of nose and fair face, she raised her head like a proud little nightingale, reminding him of the aria from the play that Master loved to hear, " There is nothing to be pitiful about when you look at him with emerald green eyebrows, when you look at him with a smile or anger and resentment."

Thinking about it, he couldn't help feeling agitated in his heart, and sighed: "I heard that there are no males in this generation of the Ren family, only Miss Ren has a daughter. With such a large family property, I really don't know who should take advantage of it."

"Anyway, it won't be cheaper for you, but I still have a little chance." Qiu Sheng said stinkingly.

"If I can't do it, you are no better than me. His ancestors were the governor of a province, and our town is all with his family name. Thirty-five percent of the fields outside the town belong to his family. At least the toad wants to eat swans." meat."

Wen Cai immediately hit his self-confidence, but as he talked, even he felt sorry for himself.

If someone from a high-ranking family has money and status, who will send the child to Yizhuang?People in this era would call a nun bad luck if they met a nun on the road. If Uncle Jiu hadn't helped many people in the local area and established his prestige, no one would have looked at his apprentice with eyes.

Of course, these two apprentices are not local talents. Wencai was an orphan since he was a child. Although the aunt in the gouache shop has no father or mother, at least she has a home to return to, which is much better than Wencai. The two of them went to help the aunt move before.

Thinking about what he had experienced since he was a child, this mature-looking young man couldn't help complaining: "The same person has different fate, and the same cover has different handles. Grandma, look at that brat wearing glasses over there, wearing a The yellow dog skin has become aggressive and scolded me just now. Everyone has two eyes, one mouth, two hands and one pair of legs, why do we have to work so hard to make a living?"

"Why do you need to earn a living? Since we were young, we ate, wore, and slept with Master's clothes. When did we earn money, and when did it become our turn to spend it?" Qiu Sheng retorted nonchalantly, his eyes dripping. Turning around, he hugged Wencai's shoulder and said, "Hey, don't say I don't take care of you. I'm studying Feng Shui recently, do you want me to help you change your luck?"

Wencai sneered and didn't believe his nonsense: "You? You haven't even finished reading the "Zhaijing", and you have been scolded by the master several times, and you still talk about Fengshui."

Qiu Sheng smiled and blinked: "Schools should treat each other with admiration for three days. Now I know a lot. Do you know why Mr. Ren has to be buried for the old man after only 20 years? The Ninth National Games has a total of 180 years, and the first one should be exactly 20 years. Time changes and things change..."

"No learning, no skills!" Uncle Jiu came over after finishing his business, and he scolded angrily when he heard this: "Three Yuan and Nine Lucks are Tianxing Fengshui. It is said that there are nine stars in the sky and nine palaces in the earth. Tianxing Fengshui masters everything in the world." , is the fortune of life, so it belongs to yang and movement; the tomb belongs to yin and tranquility, and has its own rules. How can it be compared with the Fengshui used in the world?... You two are fine, right? Hurry up and clean up Things, remember that three sticks of incense must be placed in each cemetery!"

The two looked up, only to find that the hired laborer had already picked up the coffin and followed the team down the mountain. The beautiful Miss Ren Tingting was also sitting on the sliding pole with an umbrella, and she was almost out of sight.

The two apprentices who hadn't slipped away didn't know what happened just now and why the master's face was so heavy, but they didn't dare to ask, so they hurriedly agreed and went to get down to business.

Fortunately, Ikab, who finished taking notes, also rolled up his sleeves and came to help.

Everyone has long been used to this little foreigner's temperament, knowing that he didn't think about anything messy, just wanted to reach out his hand when he saw others working, and he would feel embarrassed if you persuaded him, so they didn't care about him, what to do or what to do .

While offering incense to Old Master Ren's empty tomb, Wen Cai asked Ikab next to him who was packing for the show: "Yika, why does Master have such a bad face?"

Ikab also frowned, seeing that no one was approaching, so he approached, and said in a low voice, "Gentleman Ren has been buried for 20 years, but when he was dug out, he was so lifelike that the nails on both hands grew several inches. Not only In this way, I also saw a black air rising from his blue and yellow face, and even the carrion crows fled far away... I don't know enough about 'Taoism', so I don't understand what happened, but I I'm sure this is not normal!"

Although Wen Cai is usually clumsy and full of jokes, he is more solid than Qiu Sheng in Taoism.When he heard what Ichab said, he was frightened into a cold sweat, and said: "The face is pale gold, the nails protrude, and it will not rot for a long time. This is to become a zombie!"

Looking back, only one of the three sticks of incense in front of Old Master Ren's tomb was extinguished, and I don't know if it was blown out by the inexplicable wind in the four-foot-square hole, or by the sudden coldness in the air.

Wencai was excited, and hurried to pull out the incense, called Ikabu and backed away, bumping into Qiusheng who was staggering towards him.

Qiu Sheng was also full of fear, grabbed the two of them and said, "Yes, there are ghosts..."

"Ghost? Where is it? Let me see?" Ichab regained his energy all of a sudden, and the two young men knew his temperament, so they hurriedly dragged him down the mountain with difficulty.

In the evening, several people gathered in the morgue of Yizhuang again, and offered incense and tribute to Old Master Ren.

Uncle Jiu stared at the incense that Wencai brought back and sighed, and said: "People are most afraid of three things and two things, and incense is afraid of two things and one thing. If there is this incense in the family, someone must be mourned!"

Ikab took the opportunity to ask: "Uncle Nine, I heard from Wen Cai that Mrs. Ren has turned into a 'zombie', is it true?"

Uncle Jiu's face darkened even more, he nodded, put down the incense and said, "That's right...it can also be called a 'corpse transformation'. Old Mrs. Ren had accumulated too much corpse gas in the yin house because of the cement roof, which made the corpse not bad. As soon as we dug him out and saw the light, his corpse's aura dissipated partly but could not be completely dissipated, and it would bounce back more violently like a wind-up clockwork, causing him to develop evil spirits, desires, etc. To suck human blood. To make matters worse, he has lost his sanity at this time, and will instinctively go to his blood relatives first..."

"...But the corpses brought by Taoist Master Four Eyes a few days ago can also bite people, are they also 'zombies'?" Ikab nodded frequently, but asked a new question.

"Those are different. Those 'clients' of the four eyes have not been dead for a long time, and their corpse energy is insufficient. It is all because he first uses Maoshan technique to stabilize his soul before he can keep moving. The bloodthirsty desire is not so strong, even if he leaves it alone, ninety-nine After 81 days, it will naturally return to normal. Naturally generated zombies are naturally hard and powerful, and they can also generate corpse energy by themselves, and turn people who are scratched and bitten by it into zombies... If my expectations are correct, now I am the old man His body should have swollen and stinking, and soon the putrid gas will be expelled, the corpse gas will be condensed, and the body will become harder."

After hearing Uncle Jiu's words, Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng looked at each other, hurriedly stepped forward to push the coffin lid, and then turned around and shouted: "As expected, Master, Mrs. Ren is swollen!"

"...Get ready for chicken blood and ink fountain."

Uncle Jiu closed his eyes and sighed wearily.

This business is really too much trouble. Originally, he just needs to be cremated on the spot, but Mr. Ren said that his father is most afraid of fire, and he will refuse to say anything... Don't you be afraid of zombies?

What's more troublesome is that at this time, Ikab's scientific spirit surged up again. Not only was he no longer afraid, but he also began to ask: "Mo Dou cures zombies? What is the principle?"

Chapter 8 Nothing matters

Late at night, the lights in Yizhuang's guest room were still on.

Ichab sharpened his pencil by the light of the kerosene lamp and scribbled in his notebook.

"Uncle Jiu used a new method to 'control' supernatural creatures. In the process of dealing with this kind of 'Chinese vampire', he asked his disciples to use ink mixed with chicken blood, and to use a tool called an ink fountain to surround the coffin. Draw a straight line. Although he said that chicken blood is positive "Yang" and zombie is negative "Yin", so it is very effective; but my intuition tells me that the form of this ink stroke is also very important.

"To sum up today's discovery: From the point of view of Taoism theory, or 'occultism' theory, as long as the correlation between two things exists, it can continue to exist without mechanics, electromagnetism, and all known physical laws.

"As long as they have been father and son, even if the father dies, his cemetery will have an impact on his children and grandchildren; even Uncle Jiu said that some cemeteries have such good geomantic omen that they can span several generations, and they can be used for a person who has never seen his ancestors. The descendants of him will bring blessings.

"This 'correlation' can even be metaphysical. In front of Gentleman Ren's tomb, the burning speed of the three unique Chinese incense sticks is completely different. This seems to be because the changes produced by Gentleman Ren's corpse are connected at an as yet unexplored level' Burning' the act itself."

After writing the last few words, Ichab rubbed his shoulders, put down his pen and closed his notebook, and turned the knob on the side of the kerosene lamp a few times to dim it.

He lived in an era that didn't have this thing, and after using it once here, he immediately fell in love with it.Of course, this is considered a rare item in China in this day and age. If it weren't for Uncle Jiu who had some spare money, he wouldn't have left this lamp in the guest room for him to use.When he doesn't need to read, write or entertain guests, Uncle Jiu also lights candles and puts on lampshades.

Unlike other things in Yizhuang, both this lamp and kerosene are products of science.Without the discovery of petroleum and the invention of fractional distillation technology, where would there be kerosene to burn?

Obviously, science is also applicable in this world, and friction and gravity also exist as usual, so that he can walk as usual, and the carriage has round wheels.But other things are not necessarily... Do the laws of mysticism that exist in this world still exist in his own world?

Or, does he wish it to exist, or does he wish it not to exist?

After blowing out the lamp, Ichab fell into a deep sleep.That night, he dreamed of a caged bird.

On the other side of the town, Ren's mansion was brightly lit.Master Ren's study room was facing the garden, and the electric light above the desk emitted a light hundreds of times brighter than the scattered candles outside the courtyard.

However, Mr. Ren, who was extravagant to use electricity until midnight, was not happy. He sighed for a while looking at the ledger and abacus in front of him.

In the past 20 years, the business of the Ren family has been worse than every year, and half of the properties in the town have had to be sold at a discount. Even so, they can't make ends meet.The business in the provincial capital was a failure, and the sugar factory was still getting better, but this year, the disgusting thing came again...

Master Ren Fa, who was grey-haired, suddenly heard the sound of the study door, looked up, and it turned out that it was a good daughter who walked in.

"Father, why aren't you sleeping? I made soup for you, drink it while it's hot."

Tingting came in with a porcelain bowl, and she didn't forget to blow the hot soup in the bowl, so as not to scald her father.

Seeing this scene, Master Ren couldn't help but feel very relieved, and said with emotion: "Hey, Tingting is still sensible. If you are willing to learn how to do business, Dad can rest assured that the family business will be handed over to you. "

"Dad, people like to make up." Tingting handed the bowl of soup to her father, and said coquettishly, "And you still have the business?"

"I'm not too young this year." Ren Fa shook his head and stopped discussing these cruel things with his daughter. She is still young, and maybe one day she will realize that life is not easy.

While drinking the soup, thinking about the current business situation, he couldn't help but sigh again.

Ren Tingting felt distressed when she saw it, and quickly said to her father: "Father, just tell me if you have anything to do. Although I don't understand these things, I can always help you share your worries."

"It's true, my good daughter has always been so caring." Ren Fa smiled and sighed: "It is getting more and more difficult to do business in this world, and there is no way to go through the chaos of war. How can there be no reason not to lose money? Our province is peaceful. , but 'God' did not give way... When you came back last month, news came from the provincial capital that the Kong family wanted to take a stake in the sugar factory."

"The Kong family? Whose family? Isn't that helping us by paying for the shares?" Tingting asked ignorantly.

Half of the country's financial power falls into the hands of one family. It would be great if such a person is willing to pay... Even if he is just a cousin, his leg hair is thicker than his master Ren's waist.

Thinking of this, Ren Fa became more and more worried: I don't know if the family business can survive this year.If it doesn't work, he has no choice but to learn from the wisdom of his predecessors, sell all the businesses outside the town, return to the town to acquire land, recruit tenants to collect rent, and let's talk about when the world is peaceful.

He has done a lot of business in this life, but unexpectedly found that "Tian" is the most secure.

While thinking about this, he drank the soup in the bowl, closed the account book and stood up: "Okay, it's no use worrying about gray hair, it's better to rest early. Tingting, you go back to your room too Let's rest, Uncle Jiu and the others will come to discuss the matter of choosing a private house tomorrow, so don't yawn so much."

Moving the yin house is the same as moving the yang house, you have to move out from one place and then move in to another place.

No matter how much money is spent this time, as long as Uncle Jiu can choose a new cemetery with excellent Fengshui, he will accept it; if the business continues to lose, he can't stand it.

The older you get, the more you believe in your fate. He has been careful and careful in the past 20 years, and his friends have helped a lot. However, the restaurant caught fire, the theater was built, the theater was haunted, and the stock speculation was even worse. At the end of the tenth year of the Republic of China, he almost killed him. .It's not Feng Shui, what else could be the reason?

... Last time I heard Master Zhou from the provincial capital say that there is a "Nine Yin Accumulation Point" that is very useful. Do you want to ask Uncle Jiu?

"The theory of Fengshui certainly has its truth...but most people believe in Fengshui just to find an excuse for their own failure. Even the dragon veins in China are constantly changing with the trend of the century. ’, ‘Living Dragon’; how can the yin houses and ancestral graves of our ordinary people avoid the shift of feng shui?”

In the tavern, Uncle Jiu had a blush on his face after drinking a cup, and the conversation became more and more lively.

Today he didn't bring Ikab with him, but came by himself, and told Xue Li that he wanted to try other flavors, so Boss Xue brought him a glass of gin...also known as gin or gin.

"Uncle Jiu, you are a Taoist priest, why do you say such things that ruin your job?"

Hearing Uncle Jiu talking about Feng Shui like this, Xue Li poured him another glass and made fun of him.

Uncle Jiu shook his head indifferently: "Even if the feng shui of the ancestral grave is only for one year, there are still a lot of unworthy descendants who are willing to ask their parents to move every year. There are also those who say they don't believe in feng shui. If something bad happens, I will still touch the decorations at home and find a Taoist priest to make a fortune; even if I really don’t believe it, most of them are willing to spend money to listen to a few auspicious words from a fake fortune-teller. They are all words for 'get rich'... People, it's the same at any time."

"That's true." Xue Li nodded, playing with the few silver coins brought by Uncle Jiu this time.

These coins are much more familiar than Spanish silver dollars. They are still engraved with Chinese characters. On the front, there is an image of ears of wheat enclosing the word "two cents", and the words "17 years of the Republic of China" and "Made in Guangdong Province" are engraved around them. On the back is the head of the president.

Strictly speaking, this is not a "silver dollar". From the face of the coin, each coin is worth [-] cents; he doesn't know how to convert it to modern currency, and he doesn't care about it, as long as Uncle Jiu thinks it is not a loss.Hey, is there such a talkative tavern in the world?

Uncle Jiu just drank until he was slightly tipsy, so he covered the cup and stopped letting Xue Li pour the wine. His eyes were clear and he spoke clearly, "Drinking less can relieve your mood, and drinking too much will only delay things. Let's stop here for today."

"You decide." Xue Li shrugged, capped the wine bottle and put it back in the cabinet, and served Jiu Shu a plate of salted peanuts.

…This thing can be made with hands. When Max bought the peanuts back yesterday, he was still sighing that he could finally light up the spotless kitchen.

But Uncle Jiu obviously didn't think so. He squeezed a peanut and took a bite. The facial features on his face immediately squeezed together, and he couldn't spit it out. After a long time, he opened his eyes and asked Boss Xue in surprise: "You...how much salt did you put?"

"Cough, I don't remember that." Xue Li glanced back at Max who couldn't help laughing at the window, and replied embarrassingly: "...No one in our tavern knows how to cook, I made you laugh."

Uncle Jiu took the water he handed him, rinsed his mouth, twitched his beard, and couldn't help smiling, and said: "Three thousand worlds are connected, and everyone in this square inch has to obey the rules... I thought Xue The boss is like a god, so it is unexpected that he also has worldly troubles."

"I can't be considered a god... How can a god charge money for selling wine? If a chef comes to cook, I can be happy for a whole year." Xue Li responded, and then asked Uncle Jiu: "Uncle Jiu There must be something troublesome, let’s talk about it. We are familiar with each other now, helping each other is the meaning of friends."

By the way, let me do a task to upgrade or something... This tavern restores the memory only after solving the problems of the guests!

"I'm already at this age. I already knew what I was going to do and how I was going to do it." Uncle Jiu shook his head. I often come here to drink, and although my apprentices are stubborn, they can still be taught, so what troubles do they have? ... Ahem ... I dare not eat Boss Xue's peanuts. I have something to do tomorrow, so I will leave, I will leave."

After saying this, he arched his hands, picked up the cigarette pouch that was put aside, opened the door and went out.

Chapter 9 Parting here is like falling leaves

Not long after, Uncle Jiu began to regret the big talk he had let go in the tavern.

"It's not good, it's not good, there's a murder case in Ren's mansion!"

Just after the early morning of this day, Uncle Jiu, who had just had morning tea with Ikab, heard someone on the street beating a gong and shouting.

He has been running around for the past few days, looking for a new tomb with good geomantic omen for Mrs. Ren, and has not returned to Yizhuang very often. When he heard the news, it was like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, and he hurried to Ren's mansion.

"Could it be... no, the coffin has been flicked with ink fountain thread, it's impossible!"

Thinking of this, Uncle Jiu hurried to Ren's mansion, not forgetting to tell Ikab next to him: "Go and find my two apprentices, they should be at Aunt Qiusheng's rouge shop today... remember to bring them first." Let's go back to Yizhuang to have a look, I'm afraid something happened to Mrs. Ren's body!"

Ikab responded and went in another direction. After a while, he has already familiarized himself with every road in this small town.

When he arrived at Ren's mansion and saw Master Ren's dead body, Uncle Jiu, who already had a premonition of something ominous, was even more in a bad mood.

[24. No. 24]

"It's really a good spirit that doesn't work badly. The wound on the neck is clearly injured by a zombie!"

Uncle Jiu thought to himself, but he didn't see a figure in a yellow military uniform approaching from behind and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, old guy, what are you doing here, don't spoil the scene!"

The one who spoke was Mr. Ren’s nephew, Awei, who was only in his early twenties this year. With the help of his family’s financial resources, he bought a small captain’s official position. He is currently stationed in Renjia Township, responsible for local security and "suppression of bandits".

Normally, this young man is used to bullying and pretending to be powerful, and he looks down on Uncle Jiu who is with the dead in Kaiyi Village in every way; Some people are here to examine the corpse, and feel even more upset: Good guy, my uncle's bones are not cold yet, so you come to measure the size, you want to make money and you want to go crazy!