The ultimate master in the city

Chapter 56: Let's find out the situation first.

There's a saying among the people, "ghosts have blinded you," which means that you're so bewitched by a ghost that you think you've experienced a lot, but you might not have actually been standing still at all.

The situation just now was similar. Monk Yuanzhi and Zhou Fengchen wanted to ask the ghost messengers to appear, but the ghost messengers invited them into their dreams instead. It was a real slap in the face.

Zhou Fengchen blushed and said, "I was careless. I thought that as a ghost messenger from the underworld, I wouldn't do these things. I didn't even realize I'd fallen for it. How embarrassing!"

Monk Yuanzhi also felt very embarrassed and asked Zhou Fengchen what happened after he left. Zhou Fengchen then told him about the exchange with the ghost messenger.

Monk Yuanzhi gave a wry smile, waved his hand, and called Sun Zhenguo and his family out. "The matter has been resolved. It's alright now. Pay up!"

Sun Zhenguo was skeptical, saying, "Really? I didn't see anything."

Monk Yuanzhi was furious. "We've taken all the blame and made a mess of things, and you still don't believe me? What do you want?"

Zhou Fengchen coughed and said to Sun Zhenguo, "That ghost messenger was about 1.75 meters tall, wearing a gray woolen robe, holding a book printed with spider lilies, and... had a thin, long face, a pale complexion, a hooked nose, and a small mustache, right?"

Sun Zhenguo was taken aback. Zhou Fengchen's description was exactly the same as the ghost messenger he had seen before. How could he dare to doubt it? He quickly took out all the money in his house and stuffed it into Monk Yuanzhi's hands, saying that this was all the money he had and that he had no savings.

Monk Yuanzhi counted the money—around eight thousand—and said with a long face, "Not enough!"

Then the whole family started pooling their money, in small amounts, including five cents and ten cents.

Monk Yuanzhi's face twitched as he looked on, and he said to Zhou Fengchen, "This deal is a huge loss!"

Zhou Fengchen said, "This family is poor enough. Maybe... we should ask for less. That little boy has already given us the money he used to buy candy, and he's crying now."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Sun Zhenguo's daughter, a very pretty girl, said with a stern face, "Why are you all acting like thieves? We're having trouble even eating tomorrow."

Monk Yuanzhi sneered, "As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a favor without a reason. It is only right to pay money to avoid trouble. Moreover, there is an inexplicable cause and effect relationship involved. The more money we ask for, the less you owe us."

The girl was speechless. Sun Zhenguo respectfully handed over the thousand or so yuan he had scraped together.

Zhou Fengchen took the money, thought for a moment, and added, "Sun Zhenguo, don't be so smug when you're broke. What's the point of traveling or going on adventures?"

……

After leaving Sun Zhenguo's house, the two men each had four or five thousand yuan in their pockets, but they still felt very depressed. Sun Zhenguo was fine, but their matter was not over yet.

Back at their rented room, it was almost dawn. The two bought breakfast and ate while pondering. They definitely had to do what the ghost messenger had said, otherwise all their hard work that night would be for nothing, and they would have to be on guard against the other party's revenge all day long—it was too tiring.

The key question now is, what kind of place is Guihua Village? They've never even heard of it.

After breakfast, the two slept soundly. Before nine o'clock in the morning, they rushed to the small restaurant together. Zhou Fengchen asked the proprietress for leave and inquired about Guihua Village. However, the proprietress and Lao Li had never heard of the place either.

As they left the small restaurant, Zhou Fengchen scratched his head, looking at the crowds coming and going on the street. He said dejectedly, "I suspect these ghost messengers are deliberately making things difficult for us. There are too many problems here. We don't even know where Osmanthus Village is. Even if we did, which ghost would we catch? What ghosts are in the village? There isn't even anyone to guide us. If we sneak into the village like this, it's no wonder we'll be mistaken for thieves."

Monk Yuanzhi pondered for a while, "Then we need to make a plan. First, find this place, then find a way to find out the situation, and finally think about how to take action."

Zhou Fengchen asked, "How do we find it first?"

Monk Yuanzhi thought for a moment, "Judging from the name, this place can't be in the city. It should be outside the city, and not too far away. The ghost messengers aren't idiots, otherwise, how the hell would we get there if it were in Malaysia? I suggest... we search for it at an internet cafe."

……

The two found an internet cafe. Zhou Fengchen had never used a computer before, and Monk Yuanzhi was also struggling, so they asked the female manager to help them. As a result, when they searched online, they actually found this place.

Guihua Village is a small mountain village, 47 kilometers away from Donghai City. The village has a lot of osmanthus trees and a master craftsman who has passed down the art of making osmanthus cakes. It is quite famous in the area.

"This is it!"

The two men perked up and, after a brief discussion, decided to strike while the iron was hot, first going to scout out the situation according to plan, and then making their move that night.

Back at their rented room, they grabbed their gear and ran to the nearby pedestrian street, catching a candied hawthorn vendor completely thwarted. Zhou Fengchen disguised himself as a candied hawthorn vendor, while Monk Yuanzhi played himself, pretending to be a passing wandering monk.

The two carried their belongings to the station, boarded a vehicle bound for the vicinity of Guihua Village, set off at 11 a.m., and arrived at the village around 2 or 3 p.m.

The location here is very remote. Not far away is a large river, and in front is a continuous range of low mountains with only one road in between. Guihua Village is located in those low mountains. Standing on the road, it is difficult to find without careful observation.

It was October, and the air was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms. There were countless osmanthus trees in Osmanthus Village, and the fragrance was so strong that it was almost cloying.

Zhou Fengchen and Monk Yuanzhi each ate a skewer of candied hawthorns, standing on tiptoe to look towards Osmanthus Village, occasionally making smacking and popping sounds.

Monk Yuanzhi pointed to the front of Guihua Village and said, "See that big tree in the ravine in front of the village? Let's split up first. I'll go from the west, and you go from the east. Try to be as natural as possible, find out which family has had strange occurrences, and then meet up under that big tree to discuss it together."

"All done!" Zhou Fengchen hoisted the candied hawthorn skewer onto his shoulder, started walking, then turned back after a few steps and called out, "How much is a candied hawthorn skewer?"

Monk Yuanzhi nearly tripped and fell. "My little brother, sell it to me for five cents or a dollar, it's up to you!"

……

"Looking at the mountain is exhausting," Zhou Fengchen said. Carrying a skewer of candied hawthorns, dressed in tattered clothes, and with a magic tool bag slung over his waist, he walked for more than an hour before finally reaching the village. His first impression of the village was that there were too many osmanthus trees, almost none of them, and the fragrance was a bit pungent.

There were quite a few people in the village, many of whom were sitting under the shade of the trees playing cards, and quite a few children were running around.

Zhou Fengchen coughed, gathered his emotions, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Candied hawthorns! One yuan each!"

That shout was quite something; a whole bunch of children came running over, and quite a few adults followed.

"How much is one?"

"piece!"

"So expensive? Can I trade it for a wine bottle?"

"The bottle...heh, no way!"

"Two, please!"

"Three, please!"

……

Ten minutes later, Zhou Fengchen stared dumbfounded at the bare skewers of candied hawthorns. They were all sold out in one go. How could he possibly get any information?

He looked around, wondering where Monk Yuanzhi had gone. When no one was looking, he pretended to take a candied hawthorn from his magic tool bag, and then walked towards the village. He would peek into each house he passed, and casually make a hand seal to sense if there was any yin energy.

I wandered around for a bit, but didn't encounter anything unusual, so I simply went to a big tree and watched people play cards.

The people playing cards were three women and an old man. As they played, a middle-aged woman casually remarked, "That kid Tsui Hark is really lucky. He picked up a wife on the street, and she's so beautiful."

Another woman chimed in, "Don't listen to his nonsense. How can you pick up a woman on the street? Even if you did, what are the chances that she'd come back with him to be his wife? I suspect he and his father bought her from somewhere."

The woman smiled and didn't continue.

Zhou Fengchen pondered for a moment, "Is it really such a coincidence?" He wanted to ask what was going on, but he was too embarrassed to speak. So he turned around and went to the big tree where he had arranged to meet Monk Yuanzhi to see if he had gained anything.

Monk Yuanzhi had returned and was happily munching on something. Seeing Zhou Fengchen approach, he went up to him mysteriously and said, "I've found out the way. What about you?"