After the Skyfall

Chapter 544 The Art of Making Animals
Li Yi continued to stroll around, and he saw someone selling a big rooster for one hundred taels of silver.

The big rooster had bright red feathers that showed five colors in the sunlight. It looked extraordinary and had a pair of bright and lively eyes. It didn't look like an ordinary poultry, but rather like a fairy.

After he paused for a moment, he realized why this big rooster was so expensive.

It turns out that some old and dilapidated houses in the city are often rumored to be haunted. After the pawnbroker buys these haunted houses at a low price, they need to invite such a big rooster back and put it in the haunted house for a few days. In this way, they can drive away the ghosts and make the house clean. In addition, if there is an elderly person in the family who is about to die, tying such a big rooster to the head of the bed can scare away the ghost who is taking souls, and use the pure yang energy of the big rooster to suppress the soul that is about to leave the body, forcibly extending the life of the elderly for a few more days.

There was also a man who was selling a box of three-colored soil in a wooden box similar to a coffin. The price was even higher, at five hundred taels of gold.

This alone attracted many wealthy businessmen to stop and discuss.

Li Yi leaned over to listen, and finally got a general idea.

It turns out that they are not selling three-colored soil, but tombs.

The man was a Feng Shui master who specialized in finding dragon points. He spent ten years finding a good Feng Shui site. He dug out a handful of three-colored soil, put it in a box, and sold it.

As long as there is a buyer who buys this box of three-colored soil, the Feng Shui master will tell the buyer the location of the tomb.

"It's really varied. There's everything."

Li Yi felt a little emotional. The culture of this world was indeed unique, with gods, ghosts, and monsters mixed together. Even ordinary people were very familiar with these things.

"Make way, make way, the Taoist priest in front, please make way."

Unconsciously, they walked to a place in the city. At this time, a shepherd came out from the alley on the street with a dozen sheep. Perhaps because Li Yi was blocking the way, he shouted loudly to ask him to make way.

Li Yi stood at the intersection. Although he was wearing a Taoist robe, he was extremely tall. Just standing there, the dozen or so sheep in the alley didn't dare to approach him and bleated at him.

Coming back to his senses, Li Yi was about to move, but he noticed something again and immediately stared at the dozen or so sheep.

The sheep looked at Li Yi with some fear. They gathered together and suddenly didn't dare to call out.

"Master, please make way. You are scaring my sheep and they dare not cross the road." The shepherd hurriedly stepped forward and said.

"What I want to know is, why do your sheep all exude a human aura? What kind of magic is this that can turn people into sheep?" Li Yi suddenly asked.

As soon as these words came out, the shepherd's face suddenly changed. He subconsciously wanted to run away, but when he saw that there was no one around, he immediately lowered his voice and said, "Master, I see that you are a capable person. Don't embarrass me, and I won't embarrass you either. How about this, I'll pick a beautiful sheep for you, and you can just pretend that you didn't see anything. How about that?"

Li Yi shook his head.

"Two?" the shepherd asked again.

Li Yi still shook his head.

"Two at most, no more." The shepherd gritted his teeth and said, "I am also a deliveryman, the owner is not me. Taoist priest, you'd better stop while you are ahead and don't cause unnecessary trouble."

Li Yi said at this moment: "Well, two is two, forget it this time, but if I meet it next time, it won't be enough to get rid of it with just two sheep. But I don't want sheep, I want people."

The shepherd heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this: "Okay, I will change him back to the Taoist priest, but you have to discipline him. If he escapes and reports to the authorities, don't blame me if he is arrested."

As he said this, he went to choose two sheep.

Li Yi pointed and said, "Those two sheep over there look familiar to me. They are the ones."

"Okay, as you say, Taoist Priest." The shepherd followed Li Yi's instructions and took the two sheep out of the flock. Then he took off the water bag from his waist and fed the two sheep with water.

The water seemed to be magic water that could dispel the spell of turning into a sheep.

After drinking two gulps of water, the two sheep turned into two women in a very short time.

One woman was dressed in a silk dress and had an elegant appearance. She looked dignified and mature, like a wealthy lady. The other woman was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with unkempt hair and a face covered with incense ash. Although she looked dirty, she had a good figure and good looks.

Li Yi looked at the second woman, a little surprised: "It's really you."

"Master, save me." The disheveled woman knelt down crying.

This person was none other than the young woman who had traveled with Old Liu and his group before.

Li Yi didn't know her name, but he recognized her face. The incense ash on her face was the one she had applied when she was in the mountain temple, and it had not been wiped off until now.

"No wonder I felt the aura was somewhat familiar. I didn't expect that you were turned into a sheep and taken to Xinzhou City. As expected, what Old Liu said is right. It is indeed dangerous for a girl to go out. You were not murdered by ghosts and monsters, but sold by someone. It seems that sometimes human hearts are more terrifying than ghosts." Li Yi shook his head slightly.

"Wow!" The woman just cried, not knowing what to do.

The beautiful woman at the side was much calmer. She begged, "I beg the Taoist priest to save me."

"Master, these two people are yours. Please make way for us. We will never meet again." The shepherd didn't want to get entangled any more and just wanted to leave quickly.

His business is shady. If he is discovered, he will be beheaded if caught.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so generous as to give away two sheep.

"Come with me." Li Yi signaled the two women. The beautiful woman and the young girl stood up quickly and fled away from the shepherd, not daring to stay for a moment.

Li Yi didn't say much, just turned around and left.

The shepherd immediately breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Taoist was quite trustworthy, so he sent the two sheep away.

But unexpectedly, Li Yi stopped after walking a few steps, then turned around and said, "Excuse me, we meet again. What did I say just now? If we meet again, it won't be enough to just send two sheep away. This time I want all your sheep. You should have no objection, right?"

"." The shepherd was startled at first, then he became furious: "Are you playing tricks on me?"

But he had just spoken.

Boom!

A silver lightning bolt struck down from the sky and landed precisely in front of him.

The shepherd was immediately shocked and stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the bottomless pit in front of him.

If this thing hits me, I'll be dead.

"What did you say just now?" Li Yi looked at him seriously: "I'll give you a chance to say it again."

The shepherd immediately knelt down with a plop. He kowtowed and slapped himself in the face: "Master, please spare my life. I was blind and shouldn't have offended you. I deserve to die. I will never do such a heinous thing again. Please give me a chance to reform and forgive me this time."

He knew very well that he had met a true master. If he did not beg for mercy, he would not survive the night.

"Stop talking nonsense, follow me and take the other sheep with you. If you dare to run or walk too slowly, I will strike you to death with a bolt of lightning." Li Yi glanced at them, then turned and left.

The shepherd did not dare to disobey, and quickly stood up trembling, then drove the sheep to follow, fearing that he would be struck to death.

The beautiful woman and the young woman also followed them. Although they didn't understand why, they didn't dare to leave.

Li Yi then asked some more questions.

The young woman who was traveling with them was named Zhang Liumei. She came to Xinzhou to seek refuge with her cousin, but when she arrived at the designated location outside the city, she did not see her cousin but met the shepherd instead. She was then turned into a sheep and sent into the city.

"Silly girl, your cousin sold you." The beautiful woman said immediately after hearing this.

Zhang Liumei just lowered her head and sobbed without saying a word.

Li Yi asked, "Who is this man's cousin? She even wants to harm her own relatives."

The shepherd said respectfully, "Master, there was a prostitute who asked a middleman to find me. She wanted to sell me her sister for ten taels of silver. I paid two taels as a deposit and went outside the city to receive the goods. I don't know the rest of the story."

"I didn't expect there are scams in this world." Li Yi nodded slightly, and he understood what was going on. Then he asked, "My lady, how did you turn into a sheep and enter Xinzhou City?"

"My name is Wang, and I am the wife of a wealthy businessman outside the city. A few days ago, I went out and was taken to a secluded place by my housekeeper. Before I knew what was going on, I had already turned into a sheep. If it weren't for the Taoist priest who rescued me, I would have been in great danger." Wang also became sad.

Li Yi glanced at it and said, "Is that the case?"

"Master, that's not the case. This woman was clearly sold to me by her husband, and I paid her twelve taels of silver. If I were lying, I would be struck to death by lightning immediately." The shepherd said hurriedly.

"Nonsense, my husband has been dead for three years. That man is not my husband at all, he is the housekeeper of the mansion." Wang was anxious and angry.

Li Yi said: "It seems that the housekeeper has set his sights on your family property, so he sold you out."

"Master, you are right. It must be so." Wang then started crying again.

Li Yi shook his head slightly.

I'm not afraid of bad people, I'm afraid of people harming me. This is indeed true.

We continued walking for a while.

At this time, the shepherd realized something was wrong: "Master, where are you going? This is not the way out of the city."

He thought Li Yi was going to rob his fellow thieves and monopolize all the sheep, but as he walked along, he found that this was not the case.

"Of course I'll report it to the authorities. This matter is under the jurisdiction of the government. I have other things to do, so I won't worry about it." Li Yi said.

"Master, this, this is not necessary." The shepherd said with a guilty conscience, "You are a master, why don't you just treat me as a fart? I promise that I will never do this kind of business again, and I will also give you my animal-raising skills. What do you think? Besides, it would be a pity to give these dozen beautiful sheep back. It would be better for you to take them back home and make them concubines or maids."

"Since you call me Taoist priest, why would I need concubines or maids? I must cultivate Taoism and become an immortal." Li Yi said expressionlessly; "If you cooperate, make up for your crime and make meritorious contributions, you may be able to survive. If you resist, you can die now."

The shepherd looked at the government office not far ahead, feeling terrified at the moment. He hurriedly said, "Master, it would be fine if I turned myself in, but I'm afraid that I would implicate so many ladies. They have been in my hands, and if they are sent back by the government, I'm afraid people will gossip about them, and they might not be able to bear the humiliation and commit suicide."

"I have already done them a great favor by saving their lives. What does it have to do with me if they commit suicide?" Li Yi remained unmoved.

(End of this chapter)