A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1034: A very good fortune! (Please subscribe to the full version!)
PS: It’s even later, but don’t worry brothers, today will be updated normally. This chapter is counted as before midnight.

At Renjia Town Charity House, Hua Shier and Xu Baijiu tied up their horses in front of the door and went to knock on the door. Soon the door opened and an ugly but not annoying face was revealed:

"Who are you looking for?"

Seeing that Hua Shier and Xu Baijiu did not look like ordinary people in their attire, the man smiled and spoke politely.

Hua Twelve recognized that this was Uncle Jiu's apprentice Wencai and said immediately:

"We are friends of Taoist Simu, and we have come here specially to visit Taoist Simu and the owner of this place!"

"Looking for my uncle, then please come in. My uncle and my master are in the morning class, but it will be over soon. Please wait for a while!"

Wencai opened the door completely and invited the two to come in. Hua Shier and Xu Baijiu thanked him and walked in.

The yard is not big. After a few steps into the door, you will enter a hall. There is a row of coffins on both sides of the hall. On both sides of the coffins, against the wall, there are two rows of zombies with talismans on their foreheads. As expected, these are the corpses that Taoist Simu drove away last night.

Wencai did not stop and led the two through the hall to the backyard, which was the living area of ​​the charity cemetery. The main room was the Patriarch's Hall, where the founder of Maoshan was enshrined. Taoist Simu and another square-faced and heroic middle-aged man were chanting morning scriptures in front of the ancestor's statue.

The middle-aged man was Uncle Jiu.

When Hua Twelve saw this scene, his expression was a little strange. After all, he was also an authentic Taoist disciple, a descendant of Master Yuqing, but he had never performed formal Taoist morning classes. In this sense, he was really unqualified.

Wencai led the two of them to sit on a chair nearby, then ran to make two cups of tea and motioned for them to wait.

Hua Shier nodded to express his gratitude, and then he and Xu Baijiu drank tea while waiting quietly.

After about a quarter of an hour, Uncle Jiu and Taoist Simu finished their morning prayers, and Wencai hurried forward:
"Master, these two gentlemen said they came to visit you and your uncle!"

As soon as they turned around, they smiled and introduced the two parties:

"Brother, these two are the chief constables in the county!"

Xu Baijiu and Hua Shier each gave their names.

Simu introduced Hua Twelve and the other two, "This is my senior brother, Lin Jiu from the Maoshan Sect. Just ask him about your matter!"

After saying this, he smiled awkwardly and explained:
"I traveled all night last night and came to the charity cemetery to catch up on some sleep. I haven't had time to talk to my senior brother in detail yet!"

Lin Jiu made a gesture of invitation: "Please take a seat, both of you. Let's sit down and talk!"

After sitting down again, Simu was about to speak when a lively young man ran in from outside. Upon seeing Hua Twelve and Xu Baijiu, he exclaimed:
"We have guests!"

Uncle Jiu introduced them to everyone: "This is my young disciple Qiu Sheng, and the one over there is called Wen Cai, they are both my disciples!"

After saying that, he glared at the young man and said, "Why don't you show respect to your uncle and the guests?"

"Oh!" Qiu Sheng stuck out his tongue, then saluted to Simu: "Greetings, Uncle Master!"

He nodded to Hua Twelve and the other man and said, "Greetings, guests!"

After saying that, he ran to Wencai and stood beside him with a smile.

Simu continued talking and told Lin Jiu what happened last night.

When Lin Jiu heard that Hua Twelve killed three fox spirits with one sword, he was a little surprised, but didn't say anything. Wencai and Qiu Sheng, on the other hand, were very excited and even interrupted to ask whether the fox spirits were pretty, but were severely scolded by Uncle Jiu.

Hua Twelve said to Uncle Jiu: "This time we are here to investigate the smuggling of Fushou Cream by driving corpses. I wonder if Uncle Jiu has any clues?"

Uncle Jiu pondered for a moment and said, "As for using living people disguised as zombies to transport the longevity cream, I have never found one. There are not many corpse drivers in the Xuanmen. There are only three people who travel from Xiangxi to Sichuan. My junior brother is one of them. The remaining two families have passed down the trade from their ancestors."

Hua Twelve: "A corpse-driving family?"

Uncle Jiu smiled and said, "That's right, it's a corpse-driving family. This kind of family has strict rules and would never smuggle longevity cream!"

Xu Baijiu interrupted, "Then are they driven by profit? It's not uncommon for them to break the rules when they are obsessed with profit!"

Uncle Jiu and Simu both laughed, and the former said decisively:

"Absolutely impossible!"

This made Xu Baijiu feel surprised: "How can the Taoist priest be so sure?"

Simu said, "Let me explain this. Actually, driving corpses is not a popular profession in Xuanmen. Few people in Xuanmen would do this. But why do I do it? One of the reasons is to make money. Let alone other things, you have seen those walking corpses during my trip, right? As long as I send them back to Sichuan, I will give them a gold bar for each corpse. Do you think I can make money?"

When he said this, Wencai and Qiusheng beside Uncle Jiu were drooling: "So driving corpses is so profitable, Uncle Master, can you teach us?"

Lin Jiu snorted coldly: "Did I treat you unfairly?"

Wencai and Qiu Sheng stopped talking immediately.

Hua Shier suddenly realized. He remembered a movie called "Uncle Zombie". Simu was a neighbor of a monk. Because the monk kept beating a wooden fish and chanting before dawn, Simu got angry and went to the neighbor with a box of gold bars. He asked the monk to name a price directly, and wanted to buy the monk's house.

Now that I think about it, Simu’s wealth must be due to the money he earned from corpse-carrying.

Uncle Jiu said to Hua Twelve and Xu Baijiu:
"So, you see, corpse-carrying makes so much money. Those corpse-carrying families have been doing this for generations, and they are all very wealthy. How could they break the rules of their ancestors just for the sake of profit?"

Xu Baijiu frowned and nodded: "What the Taoist said is true, but according to our information, some people do use corpse-driving to smuggle the longevity cream, which is strange!"

Uncle Jiu pondered and said, "It is said that corpse drivers sleep during the day and travel at night, so they must have a place to stay during the day. As long as they pass by within a hundred miles, they will not be able to escape from my charity cemetery, unless..."

Xu Baijiu understood immediately: "Unless someone comes to pick us up, there are other places to stay!"

"Not bad!"

Uncle Jiu said to the two of them, "How about this, I will keep an eye out for you two, and if there are any clues, I will inform you two, how about that?"

Hua Twelve suddenly raised something: "Master, according to our intelligence, the people smuggling the longevity cream will pass by here in the next few days. Can you let us stay at your place for two days?"

He took out a gold bar and said, "Please help me add some incense to the founder of your sect!"

Wencai and Qiu Sheng’s eyes lit up when they saw the gold bars, and they nodded repeatedly to their master.

Uncle Jiu glared at his two apprentices, then nodded and said:
"Since you two are so sincere, I will accept it on behalf of the Grandmaster. Please follow me to burn some incense for the Grandmaster. Qiu Sheng, come and get the incense!"

The statue enshrined in the hall is the statue of Mao Ying, the founder of Maoshan.

Qiu Sheng brought two incense sticks. As the eldest brother, Xu Baijiu respectfully offered incense to the founder of Maoshan, bowed three times, and then made way.

Hua Shier also took three incense sticks and burned them according to etiquette. However, as soon as he bowed, the statue of Mao Ying actually moved half a foot to the side and made way for the front.

"This"

Uncle Jiu and Simu were both shocked. They had been practicing Taoism all their lives and had never encountered anything like this.

Hua Shier suddenly remembered that when he first joined the Qingcheng Sect and worshipped the founder's statue, the founder had the same reaction.

It seemed like these gods didn't like him very much.

He refused to believe it, and turned around to bow to the statue of Mao Ying again, but Mao Ying moved back horizontally and avoided the front. Hua bowed twelve times, Mao Ying dodged, bowed again, and dodged again, and Uncle Jiu quickly grabbed her:
"Alright, alright, since the Grand Master won't accept your courtesy, don't force it!"

Hua Shier had no choice but to give up and reluctantly put the incense into the incense burner.

Click!

The moment the incense was inserted into the incense burner, the incense burner shattered.

Uncle Jiu cried out, looking heartbroken:
“My Xuande furnace!”

Hua Twelve was shocked: "Gods also try to scam people, right? I didn't even use any strength!"

Uncle Jiu looked at Hua Twelve with a complicated expression:
"Don't worry, you don't have to pay for it. Hey, Junior Brother, can you please arrange a room for the two of you? I'll tell you the fortune first to see if it's a good omen or a bad omen!"

Simu was also a little speechless, feeling that today's events were a little strange. He led Hua Twelve and Xu Baijiu to the guest room, and comforted them on the way:

"Don't worry, my brother is definitely not a scammer. Although he loves money, he values ​​rules more than I do. Otherwise, he would have become a corpse driver long ago!"

Xu Baijiu asked curiously, "From the Taoist's tone, it seems like this corpse-driving is not popular among people?"

Simu nodded and said, "Of course. Even if you are a cultivator, who wants to deal with corpses all day long? Moreover, driving corpses requires transforming corpses into zombies that can move on their own. Living with evil spirits all day long, even if you cultivate true energy, you will lose many years of life. I earn money by selling my life!"

He pointed at himself and said, "Guess how old I am?"

Hua Shier really wanted to say, "Guess whether I want to guess or not."

Xu Baijiu saw that although Taoist Simu looked young, he already had gray hair on his temples. He guessed, "Looking at the Taoist's age, he should be no more than 60 years old!"

Simu was startled, and took out a bronze Bagua mirror from his arms and looked carefully:

"Fuck, last year someone said I looked 45, and this year I'm almost 60, so I've aged a lot!"

He put away the bronze mirror and sighed:

"I started practicing Taoism with my master when I was ten years old. I have been practicing Taoism for ten years and it has also been ten years since I became a disciple. Now I am just thirty years old. It is because I have been with the evil spirit all day that I look so old!"

Hua Twelve asked curiously, "Since driving corpses will affect one's life span, how can you, Taoist priest?"

Four Eyes waved his hands and said, "Everything in the world has one yin and one yang. There are disadvantages, but there are also advantages. Bringing people who died in a foreign land back to their hometown and letting them rest in peace can also accumulate Yin merit. I also want this merit so that if I can't cultivate the Tao, I can become a ghost fairy or a ghost messenger after death. At the very least, I can be reborn into a good family in the next life!"

Xu Baijiu nodded suddenly.

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the guest room. Simu pushed open the door:
"This is it. Although the conditions are average, it's simple yet not shabby. What do you think? Oh, there's another room next door that's similar to this one. You can each take one!"

The guest room was very clean and there was no musty smell. It looked like someone was taking care of it regularly.

Simu called out to the two of them, "You two take a break first. I'll go see how Senior Brother is doing with his fortune-telling!"

Xu Baijiu hurriedly thanked him, Simu nodded and was about to leave, but Hua Twelve stopped him:

"Master, I think that people who practice Taoism should be brave and diligent, especially those who practice Taoism in this life. Only when they have the perseverance and courage to leap over the dragon gate can they achieve something. It is not the way of businessmen to worry about failure before thinking about victory. People who practice Taoism should fight for their lives with the heavens and have the courage to decide their own fate. Do you agree with me?"

Simu's body was shocked. He could tell that Hua Twelve was talking about him.

His talent for cultivating the Tao is not as good as his senior and junior brothers. Just as Hua Shier said, he is the one who worries about defeat before thinking about victory. Although he is affected by the evil spirit and ages faster than ordinary people, he is often complacent because he has accumulated enough Yin merit. If he does not choose to reincarnate after his death, he will also have a place in the underworld.

After listening to Hua Twelve's words now, it was like a wake-up call. He realized that perhaps when he was thinking of leaving a way out and taking shortcuts, he was doomed to fail in his cultivation.

He smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Mr. Hua is right, but it is not easy to make great progress and leap forward, not to mention that this is the Dharma Ending Age. It's hard to put it into words, hard to put it into words!"

He shook his head and walked away, feeling depressed all the way. When he arrived at the Patriarch's Hall, he saw Lin Jiu sitting there with a strange look on his face. He looked at Lin Jiu curiously and asked:

"Brother, did you tell fortunes? What's the result?"

Uncle Jiu shook his head: "I can't tell by divination!"

"Can't figure it out?"

Uncle Jiu nodded and said, "Everything related to this person is a sign of chaos and uncertainty. Unless I am willing to sacrifice my life and endure the backlash, I may still be able to glimpse the secrets of heaven. Otherwise, I will not be able to predict the result!"

Simu didn't quite believe it, so he did some divination himself, and the result was the same as Uncle Jiu's.

"I don't believe it anymore!"

Simu took out the Lu Zu Oracle and the Wen Wang Oracle, which were used by Uncle Jiu to tell people's fortunes.

"If you can't figure it out with the hexagrams, then use the fortune sticks. You can always figure something out from the text on the sticks!"

Uncle Jiu's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea, let's try it together!"

The two men did what they said. They first burned incense and kowtowed to the ancestor. Then, one of them held the Lu Zu lottery stick and the other held the King Wen lottery stick. They shook the lottery stick box respectively. After a few shakes, a Lu Zu lottery stick and a King Wen lottery stick fell down almost at the same time.

The two picked up the oracle sticks on the ground and saw that the words on Lü Zu's oracle sticks were:

'The jade peaches in the east palace of Penglai are fragrant, and the immortals give the recipe for sailing down the river.'

'Yi Nan is just right for the whole plan, there is no need to look for a place to grow up.'

The Lingwen of King Wen is:
'He walks alone towards the clouds, the first among the thousands of officials in the Jade Palace.'

'Wealth and honor are bestowed upon you by heaven, and happiness as vast as the East Sea and longevity as long as the mountains.'

Simu was surprised and said with some envy, "This kid is lucky, all the luck is good, no wonder he said such sensible words!"

Uncle Jiu also showed envy:
"It's more than good. Junior brother, didn't you notice that these two lots are both the first lot? For others, this is the best lot, but for that person, it may not be the case!"

Simu was a little confused: "Brother, what do you mean by this?"

Uncle Jiu had a complicated expression: "What I mean is that these two lots are the limit of the fortune, but they may not be the limit of that person's fate!"

Simu took a deep breath and said, "I understand. It's like we both ate two bowls of rice. You ate two bowls of rice because you could only eat two bowls of rice and couldn't eat any more, but I ate two bowls of rice because I only had two bowls of rice. What kind of fate is this!"

Uncle Jiu's eyes gradually brightened. "Just now he worshipped the ancestor, but the ancestor didn't accept his worship. I originally thought that this person was unlucky, but now it seems that this person is very important. The ancestor didn't accept his worship. You and I must make friends with this person, help him if we can, and it would be best if we can respond to his every request. If we accept this good relationship, he will definitely be of great help in the future!"

Simu's little eyes lit up and he told Uncle Jiu what Hua Twelve had just said to him. This gave Uncle Jiu a lot of insights and made him feel more and more that Hua Twelve was not an ordinary person.

It was noon soon after Hua Shier and Xu Baijiu settled in. Wencai invited them to have lunch. While eating, they found that Uncle Jiu and Taoist Simu suddenly became very polite to them.

It’s not that he was impolite before, but now he is a little too polite, which makes both of them a little uncomfortable.

Hua Shier proposed to go to Renjia Town's richest man, Mr. Ren, to discuss something in the afternoon. Uncle Jiu said:

"Master Ren is not in town today. I heard that he went to the county to pick up his daughter who has returned from studying abroad. But he has invited me to drink foreign tea tomorrow, so why don't we go together then!"

Thanks to: 08a, Brother Xiao Xiaohu in the Demon World for the reward, and thanks to the brothers who voted for monthly votes and recommendation votes, thank you very much.