Eternal madness

Chapter 49 Master, You're Very Valuable (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Wang Tiaodeng died, and Zhang Laifu asked Li Yunsheng how to retrieve the scalp.

“Each sect has its own methods; my sect uses talismanic water.” Li Yunsheng took a talisman, soaked it in water, sprinkled it on Wang Tiaodeng, and began chanting an incantation:

"A single word of truth can summon the soul back; on this narrow path between Yin and Yang, listen to my words. We have no enmity or great grudge; though this body is cold, my heart is at peace. If you entrust me with this precious treasure, I will add a chapter to your merit. Do not grieve as your soul departs for the Yellow Springs; leave this item to ease your suffering."

"Old Wang, leave the good stuff to me. I'll burn you extra paper money and ingots; you won't be shortchanged."

Zhang Laifu said, "Brother Yunsheng, you said that the spirits of the dead cannot understand your incantations."

"He's not a ghost yet; his soul is still inside his body and hasn't left. He can still barely understand what I'm saying."

The master craftsman's skill follows the soul. As long as the soul hasn't left the body, every trade has a way to obtain the master craftsman's skill. However, if you wait three to five hours, the soul will leave the body, and then you'll have to find someone from a special trade to retrieve the master craftsman's skill.

As he spoke, Wang Tiaodeng's body convulsed, and a paper lantern the size of a palm emerged from his forehead.

Despite its small size, the lantern's shade and pole are very neatly made. Inside the shade, there's a small candle; it's not lit, but the candle tip flickers faintly.

Li Yunsheng said, "This is a finely crafted and valuable item. I'm sure Brother Laifu has seen it before."

How much is it worth?

"There's a market for it, but it's priceless. There are many people who want skilled craftsmen, but skilled craftsmen are not easy to deal with. Brother Laifu, you're new to the business, so it won't be easy to find out if we want to pick your skills."

Especially for someone like Wang Tiaodeng, who is eager to change careers, having a highly skilled craft can drive them to take desperate measures, because there's nowhere to buy this kind of thing no matter how much money they offer.

"This is for you." Zhang Laifu had already become a craftsman, so the "Craftsmanship Mastery" was naturally useless to him, and besides, he still had a "Craftsmanship Mastery" in his hand.

Li Yunsheng shook his head repeatedly: "I can't accept such a heavy gift."

"This isn't a gift, it's a thank you. I owe you everything this time."

"This doesn't count as helping. I owe you my life, and I should repay it anyway."

"Friendship is friendship, and business is business. If we keep going on like this, we'll get sidetracked."

Zhang Laifu insisted on giving it to him, and Li Yunsheng accepted it, saying, "It's good to have a big tree to lean on; this divination is truly accurate."

"Here's another three hundred silver dollars, you can have it all."

"No, thank you! I've already given you a reward; I absolutely cannot accept this."

"Then let's split it in half, consider it a business partnership."

Li Yunsheng couldn't persuade Zhang Laifu otherwise, so the two split the silver dollars.

After deducting the expenses incurred during this period, Zhang Laifu now has 361 silver dollars and more than 200 copper coins, which is equivalent to the income of a novice apprentice for two or three years.

After the money was distributed, there was still a bowl and a box of books left.

The box of books definitely belonged to Zhang Laifu, and the bowl, which Li Yunsheng refused to keep, also ended up with Zhang Laifu.

"Brother Yunsheng, could you help me take a look and tell me what color this bowl is?"

Li Yunsheng placed the oil lamp on the table, observed for a moment, and said to Zhang Laifu, "Judging by the size of a bowl is a skill that requires real expertise, and everyone's methods are different."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Laifu understood: "Brother Yunsheng, are you afraid I'll steal your skills? Then I won't watch!"

"It's alright to look. This is a skill that most people can't learn. Some people appraise bowls to look at the craftsmanship, some to explore the origin, some to look at the spirituality, and some to look at the materials. I'm different from them. I appraise bowls by looking at luck!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yunsheng took out eight copper coins and threw them onto the edge of the bowl. Six of the coins landed head up!

Li Yunsheng gave a thumbs-up and nodded, saying, "Good bowl!"

Zhang Laifu paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay!" After a moment of silence, Li Yunsheng said in a low voice, "Brother Laifu, I'm really not good at appraising bowls. You should keep it for now. The bowl that Wang Tiaodeng picked out must be a good one."

After clearing away the bowls, Zhang Laifu took out the bottle of paste.

As Wang Tiaodeng lay dying, he kept trying to throw the bottle of paste at Zhang Laifu, but Zhang Laifu snatched the paste away from him.

Zhang Laifu opened the lid of the paste container and examined it carefully for a while, but couldn't find anything unusual.

Li Yunsheng dipped a brush in some paste and examined it carefully for a moment: "Brother Laifu, this should be the police station."

Zhang Laifu didn't quite understand, so Li Yunsheng explained, "This is just like the incense I use. My incense can deceive people. I can't say for sure what this paste is for right now. Anyway, keep it safe for now. This is definitely not an ordinary thing."

Zhang Laifu collected the paste and then searched Wang Tiaodeng's room. He had prepared a lot of lantern-making materials in the room, as he needed to make lanterns on the spot to show off his skills, and he always kept these materials with him.

After collecting these materials, Zhang Laifu found nothing else of use.

Li Yunsheng sprinkled some medicine on Wang Tiaodeng's corpse. Zhang Laifu thought the corpse would quickly start smoking and then turn into pus and blood, but in reality, the corpse did not start smoking and instead dried up quickly.

Not a drop of water or oil remained. Wang Tiaodeng's corpse lay seemingly intact on the bed. Li Yunsheng took out a folding fan and gently fanned it, and the entire corpse turned into dust, drifting into the air.

With everything settled, Li Yunsheng asked Zhang Laifu about his next plans.

Zhang Laifu hesitated for a moment. To be honest, he really liked the old lighthouse.

Li Yunsheng warned, "Wang Tiaodeng is dead. The paper lantern guild will definitely not let this go. If they come knocking, Lao Liang may not be able to withstand them."

"Once things escalate, word will spread, and whether the police or bandits arrive, it will likely be detrimental to Brother Laifu."

Zhang Laifu also felt that Lao Liang was unreliable: "Let's see how things go first. If it really doesn't work out, we'll leave Heishakou."

Li Yunsheng pondered for a long time: "Brother Laifu, if you want to leave Heishakou, you'll probably have to get past Hunlongzhai. The waterways and roads won't be easy to travel."

“I know the road is difficult, but I am a craftsman. Ordinary henchmen can't stop me, and I can escape from skilled ones.”

Li Yunsheng thought for a moment and said, "Let me find out some information first. Come to Zhuzi Street to find me tomorrow afternoon."

The two cleaned up the bloodstains and tidied up the clutter before leaving the house together. Suddenly, they saw Chen Xiaowang rubbing his eyes and standing in the yard.

"Brother Laifu, what's going on here..." Xiao Wang was about to get up to use the restroom when he unexpectedly bumped into Zhang Laifu.

Zhang Laifu took two silver dollars and stuffed them into Chen Xiaowang's hand: "I just went to the outhouse, you haven't seen me tonight."

Before Chen Xiaowang could understand what Zhang Laifu meant, Li Yunsheng took a bean and stuffed it into Chen Xiaowang's nostril: "Sleepy bug, sleepy bug, a bug makes sweet dreams come true."

Xiao Wang felt extremely sleepy, went to the outhouse, and then, in a daze, returned to his room and collapsed onto his bed to sleep.

Lao Liang wasn't asleep; he could hear the noises in the yard, but he didn't dare to make a sound.

Zhang Laifu escorted Li Yunsheng to the street. Tonight, the candle oil road was different from usual; it was exceptionally clean, and even the ash pits on the side of the street had been cleaned up.

Zhang Laifu also found it strange: "Why are you cleaning so diligently today, especially since it's the middle of the night?"

Li Yunsheng remembered something: "These days everyone's been saying the Marshal is coming, it seems he really is coming tomorrow."

"Which general?"

Li Yunsheng's face lit up with joy: "Commander Qiao, the Southern Commander, Heishakou is the Southern Commander's territory. Now that the Commander has come, those people from Hunlongzhai should not dare to show their faces in the city. No matter how arrogant they are, they will not dare to act wildly in front of a commander."

This is a good opportunity to leave Heishakou, Brother Laifu. Wait for my news tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)