Knife splashing

Chapter 65 Longchang Theater
"It happened in the middle of the night!"

In the room, Sha Lifei had a bitter face. "I heard a noise, and when I woke up, I found that the Taoist priest had fallen off the kang. No matter how I called him, he wouldn't wake up. I thought he had an acute illness, so I quickly took people to find a village doctor."

"The doctor was also confused. It was an old carpenter from the Wan family who noticed something was wrong and quickly sent someone back to the city to ask Senior Wan for help. Only then did they realize that they had been ambushed..."

Listening to Sharifei's story, Li Yan's face turned cold.

On the bed opposite, Wang Daoxuan clenched his teeth, clenched his fists, and his whole body was tense. Around him, twelve oil lamps were lit in the positions of the twelve Earthly Branches.

Manager Wan had a solemn expression on his face, holding half a bowl of water in his left hand, three chopsticks in his right hand, and muttering something.

Then he picked up a chopstick, tapped Wang Daoxuan's forehead three times, dipped it in some water, and inserted it into the center of the bowl.

pat!

The chopsticks did not stand upright and fell to the ground.

Shopkeeper Wan narrowed his eyes slightly and continued to use this method.

Li Yan knew that this method was called "tomb measurement", or "standing chopsticks" in the local dialect, and was a widely spread folk witchcraft.

Wang Daoxuan told him about this method, which was a kind of divination.

pat!pat!
As the remaining two chopsticks fell, Manager Wan finally sighed and shook his head, saying, "No reaction, the living soul has been detained."

As he said this, he looked at Wang Daoxuan who was lying on the bed. "Fortunately, Daoist Master Wang was smart and saw the situation was not good. He used the method of locking the spirit platform before the soul left the body, so that the body was not occupied by other things."

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "Senior, do you know who did it?"

"I know that."

Shopkeeper Wan snorted coldly, "The one who did it is called Chen Fakui, a disciple of the Lishan Jiuyuan Sect. I don't know when he sneaked into Xianyang City, and he is also colluding with the White Ape Gang. He is the one who wants to use evil magic to break through the barrier!"

"I rushed to the City God Temple yesterday. The temple keeper, Taoist Qingyangzi, was very angry, but in order to find the mastermind behind the incident, he did not make a big fuss, but instead ambushed with us in Menggu Village."

"Sure enough, someone went there in the middle of the night. After we caught him and questioned him, we found out that he was a gangster from the White Ape Gang. Then we followed the clues and found out that it was Zhou Peide and Yuan Qu from the Zhou family who were working together for Chen Fakui."

"That night, the White Ape Gang was surrounded and suppressed by soldiers sent by the government. Taoist Qingyangzi personally set up an altar and summoned soldiers to patrol the area at night, but no trace of them was found."

"Zhou Peide has been taken to jail. According to his confession, Chen Fakui's actions were intended to lure Brother Li out of the village and then surround and kill him."

Sharifei said angrily: "This Zhou family is really despicable!"

"The Zhou family is finished."

Shopkeeper Wan shook his head and said, "The evil method of borrowing luck to break through the barrier has violated the taboos of the Xuanmen Sect. The Jiuyuan Sect will send people to clean up the sect, and the Taixuan Orthodox Sect's Law Enforcement Hall will also take action. Chen Fakui will definitely die."

"As for the Zhou family, if something like this happens, the left councillor Lu behind them will immediately distance himself from the matter. Although the Zhou monkeys were not involved in this matter, they have no backing and will fall apart sooner or later..."

"We'll contact them about the Zhou family later!"

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "The most urgent task is to save Taoist Wang. Does the senior have any solution?"

Shopkeeper Wan shook his head and said, "To detain the living soul, we need to use a magical instrument such as the Wandering Soul Jar. We must first find this item. If that Chen Fagui destroys the Wandering Soul Jar, Taoist Wang's soul will also be scattered."

When Sharifei heard this, he immediately panicked, "The Wandering Soul Jar is in Chen Fakui's hands, and I don't know where that kid is hiding. I can't even find him in the City God Temple. What should I do?"

"Don't worry, there is another way."

Manager Wan said, "There are many strange people in Xianyang City. There is a Wu Chou in the Longsheng Opera Troupe named Wu Laosi. Although he is inconspicuous in the troupe, he is actually a Taoist sorcerer. He has opened his mind and is proficient in the art of passing through the Yin."

"He had an accident when he was young, and he became discouraged and no longer helped others. He concealed his identity and hid in a troupe, but he once owed me a favor."

"I will write a letter right now, asking him to help. Although I cannot summon Master Wang's soul back, I can roughly determine his location. With the help of Brother Li's magical powers, I should be able to find him."

"Remember, when dealing with the Jiuyuan Sect disciples, never attack at night."

"One more thing. I will use a secret method to protect Fellow Daoist Wang's body, but within seven days, your soul must be found, otherwise it will be too late..."

…………

The Longsheng Opera Troupe is the leading opera troupe in Xianyang City.

Different from those wild troupes that travel from village to village and set up temporary tents, the Longsheng Opera Troupe has a history of one hundred years and performs all year round in the Longsheng Garden near the Confucian Temple in Xianyang City.

People in Guanzhong love to listen to opera, and tickets for opera troupes are often hard to come by.

咣 咣 咣!
Today, before the show even started, a servant rang the bell at the theater entrance.

A curious person looked at the sign at the door and saw that it was blank, so he asked curiously, "What play is being performed today?"

"Is that so? How come there's no name?"

There were many wealthy and idle people in Xianyang City, and a crowd had already blocked the entrance. The servant replied loudly: "Today, the Luo Troupe Master is in a good mood and will perform "Drunken Monkey" for three consecutive days, and he doesn't charge any money, so everyone can watch it for free!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was immediately dissatisfied.

A fat young man shook his head and said, "Forget it. Everyone knows that this play 'Drunken Monkey Fighting' was written by Luo Banzhu himself. When it was performed before, the White Ape Gang blocked the door and made it look bad."

"What's going on? Are you going to act again after seeing the Zhou family in trouble?"

"Let Mr. Luo calm down. What we want to watch are "Stealing the Immortal Grass" and "Deep Palace Grudge". Miss Lu has just become famous. If she wants to become a famous actress, she can't do without our support..."

"That's right, we don't want to watch monkey fighting!"

The servant bowed and smiled, "Please forgive me, you all know the temper of Mr. Luo. If he is unhappy, he might even close the theater."

When these words were spoken, everyone thought it was bad luck.

The biggest drama fanatic in Xianyang City is none other than Luo Shihai, the leader of the Luo Troupe.

This man's ancestors were important officials in the imperial court. After returning home, they became local tycoons. Several streets in Xianyang City belonged to him. In addition, there were many fertile fields, which his descendants could never spend all.

Luo Shihai himself was an outstanding writer when he was young, and he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, but he had no interest in officialdom. Instead, he liked boxing and became the leader of the Xianyang Bagua Sect.

It can be said that he was born to enjoy a life of luxury and lacked nothing.

The only thing is that he is obsessed with drama.

Others like to listen to operas, and at most they spend every day in the theater.

He, on the other hand, simply bought the troupe and became its owner.

As for the origin of "Drunken Monkey King", many people know it.

Troupe Master Luo trained a proud young actress, and wanted her to become famous in Chang'an and compete with those opera houses. However, she hanged herself because of a child from the Zhou family.

This incident caused quite a stir at the time.

Luo Banzhu, who didn't care about the affairs of the martial arts world, almost fought with someone. It was only with the mediation of others that he resolved the matter by fighting with Zhou Pan in the arena.

Although Master Luo has outstanding talents and has become the head of the Bagua Sect, he is still a little behind Zhou Pan, who is risking his life for his future.

Feeling angry after the defeat, he wrote this play called "Drunken Fighting the Monkey King".

The whole scene was nothing but scolding and beating, purely for venting anger.

They don't like to see it.

But seeing the servant's firm attitude, everyone was helpless and dispersed.

These rich young men had plenty of entertainment to do and didn't care about the free tickets, but the poor did. When they heard that Longsheng Theater offered free tickets, they came from all directions.

Li Yan and Sha Lifei were also squeezed in the crowd.

Li Yan was not here to listen to the opera. He came to the servant, bowed and said in a deep voice: "Excuse me, is Senior Wu Laosi, the Wuchou from your troupe, here?"

"Oh?"

The servant saw the Guanshan knife on Li Yan's waist, and then looked at Li Yan's face. Suddenly he remembered something, his face straightened, and he made a strange gesture with his hands: "It turns out to be Brother Li. I wonder if you are here to pay a visit or just to take a stroll?"

It turns out that this young man is also a member of the Liu Clan.

Li Yan said in a deep voice: "Don't be nervous, brother. I got a post from a senior and came to ask Senior Wu for a favor."

As he said this, he handed over the visiting card.

Wu Laosi?

The Wuchou in the team is so useless that he can't do anything even with three sticks. He is usually taciturn. How could he be related to Li Yan, the swordsman?
"Brother Li, wait a moment."

Although he felt strange, the servant still turned around and ran inside with the visiting card. After a while, he came out quickly and said, "Brother Li, please go in first. The show is about to start. Wu Laosi said he will find you after it's over."

"Okay, thank you for your help."

Li Yan nodded and went into the theater with Sha Lifei.

The servant behind them watched them go in, frowned, and whispered: "No, this kid is full of troubles. We have to tell the boss to prevent him from getting into trouble."

After saying that, he turned around and left in a hurry...

(End of this chapter)