I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 4: Ghost Recognition and Taboos

Pei Ju stood at the entrance of the Mountain God Temple, looking around. Behind him was the wind blowing from outside the temple, bringing with it a chill from the mountains.

This place is so real.

Look at the weathered skin on the faces of the two peddlers, the clothes they wear, the leggings and shoes on their feet, the two loads of goods, and the wear and tear on the legs of the shelves; they are all so real.

He stood at the door without moving, but the two peddlers were looking at him.

He also looked at the two of them, trying to figure out which one of them was the 'ghost'.

Although he was only fifteen years old, he had never been a timid person since he was a child. Moreover, at this critical moment of life and death, he took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and turned it into motivation at this moment.

Some people will tremble when they are afraid, and will hide and dare not move like quails, but some people will bounce back with great power after their fear and worry.

However, he did not speak rashly, but the older peddler took the initiative to speak.

"It's late at night and the dew is heavy. Sir, come to the fire and warm yourself up to drive away the cold." The old peddler greeted Pei Ju. The wrinkles on his face made people feel friendly, just like an uncle next door.

The young peddler just looked up at Pei Ju and moved his butt as if trying to make some room, but actually did not move much.

"Okay, thank you." Pei Ju said politely, moved closer to the fire, and took off the book basket on his back.

"Hey, sir, what's your accent? You're not from this area, are you?" the old peddler asked in surprise.

Pei Ju quickly realized that although he could understand what was said here, the accent was different. This peddler was doing business in this area and must be very familiar with it.

The taboos of the entire ritual of [Staying Overnight at the Mountain God Temple] flashed through his mind.

Grandpa said that if you go in and your identity is suspected, you might be mistaken for a "ghost" by others. Once you are mistaken for a "ghost", the real ghost will bewitch others and kill you.

His current identity is a scholar who can rebuke ghosts, expose ghosts, and make them appear, and then he is killed by the tiger here.

The other swordsman also has the ability to slay ghosts with his sword.

Throughout the entire [Night Stay at the Mountain Temple], there are two people who never change, the swordsman and the scholar.

Of course, the tiger won't change.

But Grandpa also warned that we must never treat the tiger as a human, because it is also a "spirit", and a powerful spirit at that, it is just imprisoned. If it gets the chance, it will definitely retaliate.

"Spirit" is just a more unified and pleasant name nowadays. There are various names for it in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad, such as ghost, monster, spirit, charm, devil, demon, monster, and ghost.

Except for the scholar and the swordsman, the identities of the others are uncertain.

He vaguely remembered his grandfather once saying that it was bad for peddlers to appear in the Mountain God Temple, because peddlers traveled around the world, and were both good and evil. They might also know some evil magic. They would go from village to village to sell things, and if they had the chance, they would even kidnap women and children.

Thinking of this, Pei Ju became more wary of the peddler's friendly smile.

But now that the other party asked him if he was from this area, he knew even more clearly that he had to deal with it well.

But he came with his own memory, not the scholar's memory, so he was not clear about the geography of the place and did not dare to say much, because he knew very well that if he gave a wrong answer, something bad would happen.

However, he didn't know the geography of the place, but he knew some taboos about entering the Shanjun Temple.

For example: You cannot say "tiger", you cannot say "伥", you cannot point at the tiger statue, and you should not turn your back to the tiger statue.

None of them sat with their backs to the tiger statue, obviously they knew.

Grandpa also said, "In the temple, when you show a flaw, the 'ghost' will often jump out and attack you first." Pei Ju's mind changed. Because he was not familiar with geography, he only responded vaguely, saying, "Yes, I walked for many days to go to the capital to take the exam."

"Oh, so you are a young man with a good reputation. However, the roads to the capital are now blocked. How can you go to the capital to take the imperial examination? Young Master, why don't you tell me when you were born?"

When the old peddler said this, his eyes seemed to be shining in the firelight, and his hand had reached into his arms, as if he was grasping something.

Pei Ju couldn't answer for a moment.

At this time, the peddler seemed to come to his senses, shrank back, and said, "You are not a ghost, are you, ghost scholar? Are you a ghost scholar?"

Pei Ju was certainly not some ghost scholar, but that didn't stop him from feeling the danger, especially when the old peddler's eyes suddenly became dangerous.

He felt that if the thing in the other person's arms was taken out, he would die.

He glanced at the peddler, and in the light of the fire on the ground, he found that there was no fear in the peddler's eyes. His eyes were a little crooked and not straight, and his expression was strange, as if he had seen some prey.

Comparing the contents of the chapter on identifying ghosts in Pei's book "Essentials of Killing Ghosts" at home, he already had a vague answer in his mind.

Moreover, the 'ghost' will often attack first, and sometimes will frame others first.

When he saw this scene, his first thought was, "Is this little peddler a ghost?"

He felt like scolding and exposing the other party, but he was afraid of making a mistake because he only had one chance.

Scholars don't have much energy to begin with, and in a place like this, it's already quite rare for them to dare to confront ghosts. As soon as he hesitated, the energy subsided, as if it had never existed.

Because he didn't answer for a moment, the old peddler's eyes became more and more dangerous, as if there was a sword in his arms that he was about to pull out.

As soon as he felt this, he immediately realized that the peddler's posture was very familiar. Wasn't this the starting move of his family's swordsmanship?

But now he was half-squatting, not the standard sideways sword-drawing style, but the feeling was the same, and he was ready to draw his sword and cut off his head at any time.

Am I going to die here at the hands of my grandfather?

When he was nervous, he became calmer instead. He immediately turned around and looked at the sloppy swordsman leaning there. The swordsman was still leaning against the wall motionless, with his head tilted as if he was sleeping. Even now, there was still no movement.

Wasn't this exactly what Mrs. Wen looked like when she sat down at the Eight Immortals Table? She was being controlled by Xiaoqiu, and she had been controlled as well, but after coming here, Xiaoqiu's control over her was lifted.

Thinking of this, he immediately turned around, pointed at the peddler and shouted, "I think you are the ghost!"

As he pointed and scolded, a majestic scholar's spirit surged from the bottom of his heart, and as he pointed, it seemed to rush into the peddler's heart.

The peddler was visibly panicked, and then he stuttered and argued, "You, you, can't, you wrongly accuse a good person. How could I be a ghost? My master and I carry goods in this area, and my master can testify for me."

After hearing this, Pei Ju became even more certain.

But at this moment, the old peddler who was half-squatting on the ground suddenly stood up, and at the same time a clear sword light burst out from his arms.

It turned out that he had a dagger hidden in his arms.

He is the swordsman.

Thanks to the leader of the push, Xiaozhu, I am going to add another chapter today, which means there are two chapters left.

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(End of this chapter)