Aoyama

Chapter 210 Taotie
In the darkness, a small ball of paper was thrown over the high wall of the Chen Mansion and landed in an obscure alley outside the wall. In the darkness, a calloused hand caught it steadily.

A middle-aged man who was carrying a shoulder pole and selling hot tofu pudding on the streets put down the shoulder pole and carefully unfolded the paper. The calluses on his hands made a rustling sound when they rubbed against the paper. When he could see the content on the paper clearly, he put down the shoulder pole immediately.

There are two wooden boxes on the shoulder pole. The front box contains a small ceramic stove, which keeps the tofu pudding warm over a low fire; the back box contains pots, pans, and utensils. These are all the belongings a peddler needs to make a living.

The middle-aged man opened the wooden box at the back, rummaged around for a long time, and actually took out a gray carrier pigeon.

He tied a ball of paper to the legs of a carrier pigeon, raised his hand suddenly and released it into the air. The pigeon flapped its wings and flew over many buildings towards the north.

Watching the pigeon disappear in the night sky, the middle-aged man picked up his shoulder pole again and staggered out of the alley.

On the distant roof, dark, furry clouds rose up and followed quietly behind, the pads of their paws stepping on the grey tiles without making a sound.

The middle-aged man was unaware.

However, when he was about to walk out of the alley, he suddenly turned back. His eyes no longer had the simplicity and honesty of a hawker, but were instead as sharp as an eagle: "Who?"

The dark cloud stopped and huddled into a ball.

It was confused. Was it discovered? Impossible. It was several feet away. How could the other party discover it? Moreover, the direction the other party was looking at was not in its direction.

Wuyun thought that perhaps this middle-aged man wanted to trick the person who was following him secretly and search for him in the air.

The next moment, the middle-aged man shook his shoulders slightly, and the two wooden boxes on the carrying pole fell to the ground.

He held the pole and threw it with all his might. The pole made of bamboo was thrown into the darkness like a spear. But the pole fell into the darkness and disappeared without a trace.

The alley was silent, as if the carrying pole had disappeared into the void.

The dark cloud was looking down from the roof of a distant building. It was startled and looked left and right... Where was the shoulder pole? Could there really be someone else in that alley?
In the blink of an eye, there was a buzzing sound, and the carrying pole went away and came back again. It came back as fast as it went away.

The middle-aged man's face changed and he picked up the wooden box beside him to resist.

With a bang, the front end of the carrying pole pierced into the wooden box, smashing the ceramic stove and iron pot inside. The back end could not withstand the huge force, and it bent and broke into bamboo strips, which were twisted into a dough twist.

After being hit by this blow, the middle-aged man staggered back five or six steps before stopping.

There really are other people in the alley!

Wu Yun was a little confused. Not only was Chen Ji being targeted as soon as he returned to the Chen Mansion, but who was the other person in the alley?

Who is monitoring Chen Ji? Who is trying to figure out the identity of the monitor like himself?

Wuyun was confused. Where did these people come from?
At this time, a black shadow as tall as a person walked out of the darkness in the alley step by step to the moonlight. Wuyun widened his eyes. It turned out that the person who walked out was not a person, but a strange-looking black monster.

It has a sheep's body and a human face, with the human face growing on the chest and abdomen. It has a bloody mouth that extends from the left armpit to the right armpit. The black hair on its four hooves curls up like four black auspicious clouds.

The monster was covered in black mist, as if it had just walked out of the underworld.

The middle-aged man was shocked: "Tantric Mandala Seal?"

After saying that, he turned and ran.

The black monster jumped lightly onto the roof and followed closely.

It was late at night and the man was walking through the alleys, but he could not shake off the black monster on the roof. The monster was like an antelope, walking on the undulating roof as if it were flat ground.

Very fierce!
The dark clouds didn't dare to get too close and could only follow from a distance.

But the man ran for a long time and was out of breath. He took out a short knife from his sleeve and turned around to face the monster, panting.

The dark monster stood on the eaves, quietly looking at the man, as if thinking about how to deal with him.

A moment later, the monster suddenly pounced down, opened its bloody mouth, and swallowed the middle-aged man and the dagger whole.

……

……

In Mingquan Garden, Xiaoman, who was curled up on a small bench, burped.

The burp was so loud and deep that it woke her up.

Xiaoman opened her tired eyes, turned her head and looked at the honey three knives on the table, and muttered in annoyance: "I can't eat it anymore... The master said it would cause indigestion."

But even though he said this, he still stood up on tiptoe, picked up three honey pills from the table and stuffed them into his mouth: "Hehe, I won't have food accumulation."

Xiaoman rolled her eyes and puffed her cheeks as she looked at Chen Ji who was sleeping soundly on the bed. She tiptoed to the bed and waved her palm back and forth on Chen Ji's face.

Seeing that Chen Ji didn't respond, she raised her lips slightly, and carefully turned to the clothes rack and fumbled for Chen Ji's clothes. While fumbling, she looked back vigilantly. On the bed, Chen Ji opened his eyes and looked at Xiao Man's back. When Xiao Man looked back, he closed his eyes again.

After a while, Xiaoman took out two strings of Buddhist Tongbao from Chen Ji's clothes. One string was given by Prince Jing for two thousand five hundred taels, and the other was given by Chen Wenzong, which was the remaining one thousand one hundred taels after Chen Ji bought the ginseng.

She carefully touched the micro-carved patterns on the Tongbao and kissed it on the lips. Then, with a tangled look in her eyes, she stuffed the Buddhist Tongbao back.

Xiaoman sat back on the small stool in frustration, holding her face with both hands, looking at the flickering charcoal fire, and muttered softly: "Don't let yourself be fooled again..."

As he was speaking, the window moved, and dark clouds came in through the gap like a stream of liquid.

Xiaoman put her finger to her lips and hushed, "Be quiet, the young master is still sleeping."

Wuyun glanced at Xiaoman, jumped lightly out of the window, then jumped onto Chenji's bed and meowed softly.

Xiaoman glared at it: "Didn't I tell you not to disturb the young master's sleep? You're not cute if you do that!"

Just at this moment, a rooster crowed outside the house, and then someone in Cuiyun Lane set off firecrackers, and the crackling sound tore through the night.

Chen Ji stood up and asked in confusion, "Who is setting off firecrackers so early in the morning?"

Xiaoman explained, "My lord, have you forgotten? Today is the promotion banquet for the Zhang and Chen families. According to the rules, to celebrate a big event, you should set off a string of firecrackers at the hour of Mao, a string of firecrackers at noon, and another string of firecrackers at midnight. The meaning is the same as setting off firecrackers on New Year's Day, which means bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, and taking up a new position."

Chen Ji let out a long "oh".

At this time, Xiaoman rolled her eyes and asked knowingly, "Sir, I heard that you received 2,500 taels of silver from the Construction Engineering Bureau. Is that true?"

Chen Ji looked at Xiao Man with a half-smile: "It's true, what's wrong?"

Xiaoman suddenly looked up at Chen Ji expectantly and said, "Why don't you let me take care of this money?"

Chen Ji was startled. He didn't expect Xiao Man to speak so directly: "What are you going to do with so much money?"

Xiaoman lowered her head and looked at her toes. "I'm really worried that someone will cheat you out of your money again. When the time comes, you won't be able to afford the betrothal gift if you want to marry someone else's daughter. Nanny Li said that I could have married into a small family as a wife, but I married into the Chen family as a concubine just to give you a better family background and support."

Chen Ji remained silent. He knew that it was not so easy for Lu to marry into the Chen family. Back then, a minister of the Ministry of Revenue died in the Chen family.

Xiaoman counted on her fingers, "You want to marry the daughter of a rich family, not to mention the dowry, first the gift silver is 6,400 taels, the welcoming gift is 80 taels, the knock on the door is 40 taels, the net increase is 60 taels, the calligraphy gift is 10 taels, and the welcoming letter is 8 taels. Then there are eight gold items, two wild geese, four chickens and ducks, two cows and sheep, twelve rolls of silk... The master and the mistress will definitely not prepare so much for you, you have to save some money yourself."

Chen Ji was dumbfounded: "Stop, stop, why do you need so much?"

Xiaoman looked at him suspiciously: "This is the rule among the wealthy families in the capital. This is called respectability. But don't worry, the dowry brought by the bride will not be less than your betrothal gift."

Chen Ji waved his hand: "Stop talking, I have no plans to get married, let alone marry the daughter of a wealthy family."

Xiaoman thought for a moment and said, "You don't have to marry a daughter of a rich family. You can marry a girl from a small family. I will help you manage your money, buy some good farmland and shops, and you can be a rich man for the rest of your life... Can you let me take care of your money? It doesn't have to be much. When we get to the capital, you can give me 500 taels of silver. If I can make money for you, you can let me manage the rest."

Chen Ji refused mercilessly: "No, forget it, I can manage it myself. Besides, maybe one day when I become a high official, I will take back my aunt's property."

Xiaoman was full of anticipation: "Really? I feel bad for you for those businesses. I feel so choked up."

Chen Ji hummed.

Xiaoman rolled her eyes again: "How about I help you manage your property when you get it back?"

Chen Ji sighed: "Why are you so persistent?"

Xiaoman muttered quietly, "It's been hard for a while now. I'm so worried because I don't have any money... Forget it, I'll go boil some water for you to wash your face and comb your hair. Many important people are coming today. I heard that the Zhang family brought back several trucks of fish from the East Market yesterday, as well as palm-sized shrimps and crabs. You will take me with you, right?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take you with me."

Xiao Man hummed a song and skipped out of the house. Chen Ji watched her from behind and asked Wu Yun in a low voice, "Sheep body, human face?"

Wuyun meowed, "It's absolutely true."

Chen Ji lowered his head and thought for a moment: "Taotie?"

The Classic of Mountains and Seas records that Taotie is shaped like a sheep with a human face, its face is under its armpits, it has tiger teeth and human claws, and it sounds like a baby. This monster that appeared out of nowhere is very similar to the description of Taotie.

But who drives this Taotie?
I have no relatives around me in this world. Who was the first to discover that someone was monitoring me and wanted to find out who was behind it?

While I was thinking, the sound of Xiaoman humming a ballad floated in from the right ear room.

Chen Ji seemed to be thinking about something.

(End of this chapter)