Turbid World: Martial Arts Master of the Republic of China Era, I Cultivate Immortality!

Chapter 114 No Swinging Indoors! (Please Subscribe!)

Yuxing Pear Garden, north of Anping County.

Yuxing Pear Garden is a long-established brand, and there are simply not as many entertainment options available in this era as there are in later generations.

Add to that the pink scene from last night!

The opera house was already packed to capacity, with every seat filled, both under the eaves and beside the stage. It was difficult to even turn around.

The stage was brightly lit by kerosene lamps hanging high, as if it were daytime, and the red gauze on the carved beams swayed gently in the wind.

On stage, gongs, drums, and string instruments resounded, the actors' sleeves fluttered, and their singing was melodious and graceful. The opera troupe waiters carried copper-spouted teapots and quickly moved among the audience, serving tea and water to the spectators.

Vendors, carrying bamboo baskets or flat wooden boxes on their backs, squeezed through the crowd, hawking candied hawthorns, roasted peanuts, cigarettes, and other items. The aromas and the stench from the crowds mingled with the warm, cozy atmosphere, filling the entire pear orchard.

The audience leaned forward, their eyes fixed on the stage. As soon as the song ended, the sound of clapping and applause filled the room.

Cheers rose and fell, some raised their arms and shouted for another song, while others waved their hands and said they would reward him handsomely.

"It's quite lively—"

Zhao Zheng stood at the entrance, looking at the lively scene inside the pear orchard, and wondered why a ghost would appear in such a lively place.

However, seeing that the yin energy was mainly concentrated in the backstage area of ​​the pear garden, he understood and was about to take out his money to buy a ticket.

By the way, I should mention that at this time, there is basically no such thing as buying tickets; what you pay for is tea.

It includes the cost of tea and a seat!

Of course, this is on the premise that there are still seats available in the pear garden. If there are no seats, the price will be lower. The price of tea is generally around two to four copper coins, which can be paid to the gatekeeper.

Of course, there are times when Peking Opera prices rise, such as when a famous performer comes to perform.

Zhao Zhengzhi knew these things mainly because the original owner of this body used to often bring his followers to book entire theaters, even though the original owner couldn't understand the plays.

But not understanding doesn't mean you won't play.

Just like a child without a mother has many mothers!

Just as Zhao Zheng was about to pay, the gatekeeper from the opera troupe looked him over carefully and said with a look of surprise.

"Young Master Zheng, you've arrived! It's been three whole years since I last saw you! Young Master Zheng, please come in, please come in. Your private room has been reserved for you!" The waiter from the opera house quickly stood up and said respectfully.

Before Zhao Zheng could speak, he turned and shouted into the pear garden, "Quickly, quickly, Young Master Zheng is here! Prepare the main room on the second floor, brew the finest Biluochun tea!"

As he spoke, the waiter turned to Zhao Zheng with a fawning smile: "Young Master Zheng, am I mistaken about the tea? I remember you like Biluochun the most."

I'm here to catch ghosts!

Looking at the crowd and three acquaintances looking towards him from inside the pear garden, Zhao Zheng opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He simply nodded and tossed away the few copper coins he was about to take out, replacing them with silver dollars.

Alas, we've fallen into decadence!

A few minutes later, in the main room on the second floor of the Pear Garden.

With a wide view, one could clearly see inside the box where the stage was being set up. Zhao Zheng, sitting in a grand chair, looked at the three familiar faces beside him.

"————That's how it is, but you guys really—you really came to watch the opera?" As he spoke, he looked at Li Feng, one of the three acquaintances.

Zhao Zheng ignored Cheng Qingqing, who had come with him, and he also ignored Zhang Daozhang. He looked at Li Feng, who chuckled awkwardly at Zhao Zheng's gaze. He couldn't very well say that he had come specifically to watch that kind of erotic drama, could he?

Speaking of pink plays, we have to blame the pink play that happened in Ping'an County yesterday, because the rumors about that pink play were too stimulating.

That's why Li Feng came to Yuxing Pear Garden during his holiday. Of course, he didn't intend to bring Cheng Qingqing; he only brought Zhang Daoshi, whom he got along exceptionally well with.

Cheng Qingqing insisted on coming along.

Although Zhao Zheng didn't look at Master Zhang, Master Zhang still looked embarrassed, his face slightly red, and he lowered his head in shame.

Seeing this, Zhao Zheng roughly understood why the two had come. He glanced at them speechlessly, then turned to look at Cheng Qingqing, who was sitting on the armchair to his left, clinging tightly to his arm because she had heard about the ghost story.

"What are you doing here? Do you even know anything about opera?"

"How boring! But Zheng-ge, is this pear orchard really haunted?" Cheng Qingqing asked in a low voice, looking scared.

"Yes, it's definitely haunted."

Zhao Zheng spoke up, saying that the clues about demons and monsters Su Ming had given him mentioned that a ghost had been killing people in this pear orchard.

As for why this opera house is still open despite all the deaths, it's simple: the deaths have been suppressed. After all, human life is the least valuable thing in this era.

"This place is haunted? That can't be right, can it?"

The speaker was Master Zhang, who looked down at the stage and the audience with a puzzled expression. He said it shouldn't be like this, mainly because the audience in the opera house was too lively, and ghosts should have avoided it.

Just like the saying goes, "People are afraid of ghosts three parts, but ghosts are afraid of people seven parts." The "seven parts" in "ghosts are afraid of people seven parts" actually refers to the "qi" in "human energy."

Popularity can not only harm the corpse energy of a walking corpse, but it can also make ghosts retreat. This is why some Taoist priests often say that when you feel something is wrong, you should go to crowded places.

With so many ordinary people in the opera troupe, and such a vibrant atmosphere, he thought only a fool would come here to suffer.

"It's backstage, not here!"

Zhao Zheng pointed to the back of the stage, and Zhang Daoshi's eyes showed understanding. He said, "I see." Li Feng then spoke up.

"Zheng-ge, what do we do next?"

"Yeah, Zheng-ge, should we chase them all away?" Cheng Qingqing asked eagerly, no longer afraid.

She wasn't afraid of ghosts mainly because she remembered that there were two Taoist priests beside her: Zhao Zheng and Master Zhang.

With two Taoist priests, one from the Maoshan sect and the other from the Longhu Mountain sect, she felt she shouldn't be afraid.

"Catching a ghost doesn't need to be so complicated. Besides, the ghost isn't stupid enough to run to the front desk where there are the most people."

Zhao Zheng rolled his eyes at Cheng Qingqing, but to be on the safe side, he still used magic to summon a fellow cultivator.

Not long after, half an hour later, they were still in the private room.

Zhao Zheng, Zhang Daoren, and the other two, along with Lu Chengyuan, who had been summoned by Zhao Zheng and was expressionless and taciturn, went backstage under the guidance of the opera house owner.

"No one died?"

Lu Chengyuan frowned as he listened to the owner of the opera house and asked a question in return. His eyes, which shone with a light that was hard for ordinary people to see, could see the faint resentment in the backstage area.

This is clearly something left behind by someone who died with resentment!

Master Zhang, who also noticed the resentment, frowned and looked at the owner of the opera troupe. The owner, with a forced smile on his face, subconsciously looked at Zhao Zheng, his eyes showing a pleading expression.

"Just say it, some things can't be hidden anymore!"

Zhao Zheng spoke, and the owner of the opera house sighed, stopped, looked around, and began to recount what had happened.

"To be honest, this is partly my fault—"

The first person to die, who is also the ghost in the haunting incident, was a male actor named Xiao Lu from the Peking Opera troupe. He died because he was competing with another male actor named Lu Cheng to become the leading actor.

"This kind of thing happens often. Uh, I mean, vying to be the star performer. But who knew that Lu Cheng would be so stubborn? I only let Lu Cheng perform one show, and he thought he had lost to Lu Cheng. In a fit of anger, he hanged himself."

The opera troupe owner said helplessly, then paused and continued, "Everyone was shocked when they saw his body. They all said he was stubborn, so I even hired a Taoist priest to perform a ritual for him—"

"But who knew that strange things would happen backstage after his death? Sometimes we'd hear opera singing in the middle of the night, or costumes would be thrown around. At first, we thought it was a thief or something, but we soon realized it wasn't a thief, but a ghost, because—Xiao You was killed by him—"

The identical method of hanging themselves caused widespread panic throughout the Peking Opera world. However, the opera troupe owners, for the sake of their livelihood, spent money to suppress the matter.

"I've paid all the compensation I owe—"

The owner of the opera house emphasized this point and continued his story. He then invited a Taoist priest, and the opera house was quiet for a few days at first, but that was only for a few days.

The haunting continued, but since no one was harmed again, and there were only some disturbances, the owner of the opera troupe simply stopped paying attention.

"No, you're just going to ignore it? He's already killed someone! How can you just leave him like this? You should continue to have a monk perform rituals to help him pass on to the afterlife!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Qingqing's eyes widened, and Li Feng echoed her sentiment. The owner of the opera troupe looked helpless: "How dare I invite them again? The deaths of Xiao You and Xiao Lu have already caused my opera troupe to have almost no business for a long time—"

In short, it's all about money!

Just like the well-known saying that there are no secrets that stay hidden forever, the owner of the opera house had tried his best to suppress the matter between Xiao Lu and his companion.

However, the people of Anping County still learned about the ghost story. It was only because of the opera performance in Ping'an County last night that the people were interested; otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many people at the opera house.

"Are you sure it wasn't Lu Cheng who killed Xiao Lu?"

Zhao Zheng spoke up, simply because he felt the situation resembled a drama of killing a rival for promotion.

"No, no, Lu Cheng would never do something so reckless as to disregard human life. Besides, he's always been very kind and gentle to everyone—" the pear orchard owner shook his head.

"Let's go check backstage first."

Master Zhang spoke, and everyone nodded. The owner of the opera house looked at Zhao Zheng, who seemed to be the leader of the group. Seeing that Zhao Zheng did not object, he led everyone to the backstage of the opera house.

It seemed that because the owner of the opera house had informed everyone in advance, there were not many outsiders in the backstage area except for some actors who were about to take the stage.

The owner of the opera house led everyone to an area that had obviously been empty for a long time and had hardly any clutter. He pointed to the roof beams with some fear and said...

"This is where Xiao Lu hanged himself!"

"————"×3

Zhao Zheng and the other two did not speak; they simply looked at Xiao Lu, who was swinging on the swing in a hanging position, with different expressions.

Perhaps because there were too many people, or perhaps because the opera troupe owner talked too much, Xiao Lu stopped swinging on the swing, floated down, and started making faces in front of everyone.

"???" x3

Is this thing definitely used to kill someone?

Zhao Zheng was puzzled, as were Zhang Daoshi and Lu Chengyuan. However, the three of them exchanged glances instead of saying anything.

"receive!"

Without saying a word, Lu Chengyuan, who was usually quiet, took out a jade pendant from his pocket, pinched it, and pointed it at Xiao Lu while performing a ghost-collecting spell.

There was no sound, only a few terrified screams, which frightened the opera house owner, who hid behind Zhao Zheng and his two companions with a look of fear on his face.

"That's it?!"

Cheng Qingqing asked in surprise, while Li Feng stared blankly at the ghost-catching scene before him, which was completely different from what he had imagined.

"It has never harmed anyone!"

The speaker was Master Zhang, who had discovered that Xiao Lu did not possess the malevolent aura that often emanates from ghosts. After Master Zhang finished speaking, Zhao Zheng and the others looked at the owner of the opera troupe, who was taken aback by what he heard.

"That's impossible! It killed Xiaoyou?"

"I didn't kill him, it was Lu Cheng who killed him, he framed me—" Little Lu in the jade pendant quickly spoke up upon hearing this.

Having said that, it seemed to have guessed that Zhao Zheng and the other two were not Taoist priests hired by the opera troupe owner to deal with it, but rather to help it, and continued, "Please, Taoist priest, find the murderer who killed me—"

Zhao Zheng and the other two frowned upon hearing this. A dozen minutes later, in the backstage cubicle, as Xiao Lu appeared in front of everyone, the current star performer Lu Cheng was so frightened that he told the truth about what happened that day.

The story is very cliché. Although Xiao Lu was not killed by Lu Cheng, he was still connected to Lu Cheng because of framing and extortion.

To put it simply, the gambling addict Xiao You wanted to frame Lu Cheng and extort money from him by killing Xiao Lu.

After all, the two were vying to become the star performer, and Xiao You thought that Lu Cheng would definitely be willing to spend money to avoid trouble. Of course, just to be on the safe side, Xiao You deliberately drugged Lu Cheng and dragged him to the crime scene.

That is, they dragged it to the place where Xiao Lu hanged himself, but Xiao You underestimated Lu Cheng's ruthlessness and how terrible people can do when they are afraid.

In particular, Xiaoyou made the biggest mistake in a series of extortion attempts, so Xiaoyou's second extortion attempt not only failed.

He even got into a state of swinging wildly indoors, and Lu Cheng took the opportunity to blame Xiao You's death on Xiao Lu.

Everyone in the opera troupe also believed that it was Xiao Lu's ghost that killed Xiao You. The story was so bizarre that everyone was stunned.

"You didn't kill me?"

Xiao Lu was about to strangle Lu Cheng, but the truth made her eyes widen, and she looked at Lu Cheng, who was slumped on the ground, with a blank expression.

"Why would I kill you over a spotlight? Besides, we've never even argued!" Lu Cheng said with a wry smile as he slumped to the ground.

"So, not only did you not kill me, but you also became my benefactor who avenged me?" Xiao Lu looked completely bewildered, his expression one of utter disbelief.

"Yes—but I didn't intend to kill him. I just pushed him, and who knew he'd be so unlucky as to bump into the table!"

Lu Cheng smiled bitterly. When Xiao You tried to extort him for the second time, he just wanted to show that he was not someone to be trifled with. But who knew that Xiao You would be so unlucky as to be pushed over and hit his head on the wooden box.

He was so scared that he fabricated the story of Xiao You's suicide by hanging, pinning Xiao You's death on Xiao Lu, who had already become a ghost.

"You really didn't kill me?"

Xiao Lu continued speaking. It didn't mean anything by it; it was just that it was prepared to strangle Lu Cheng, so it couldn't just let it go like that.

"No, I told you, I never intended to kill anyone. Besides, we're fellow disciples, even though we had a bit of a falling out over competing to become the main performer—"

Lu Cheng gave a wry smile, and Zhang Daoren and the others exchanged glances. Cheng Qingqing's expression was strange: "So this Lu Cheng not only didn't harm anyone, but he also rid the people of a scourge?"

"Yes, yes, yes, they've rid the people of a scourge!"

"Yes, Brother Lu has rid the people of a scourge!"

The pear orchard owner and others spoke up one after another. Just as they were trying to wash away the stain on Lu Cheng's body, a howling gust of cold wind suddenly appeared.

At the same time, the yellow light bulbs in the backstage area of ​​the Peking Opera troupe began to go out one by one with a clicking sound. As they went out, a voice familiar to everyone in the Peking Opera rang out.

"I died a terrible death, I want you all to come with me to the underworld—" Xiao You, who had finally escaped from the underworld, arrived at the room where everyone was.

The first thing that catches the eye is Zhao Zheng, whose body is glowing with a dazzling golden light, followed by Zhang Daoshi holding a peach wood sword, and Lu Chengyuan, who is frowning and holding a jade pendant that emits a golden light.

"————"XN

The scene fell silent instantly. Xiao You removed the deliberately exaggerated gruesome appearance he had shown before his death and spoke with a smirk.

"Haha, the moon is really big tonight!"

"————"XN

"Master Rao—"

Xiao You quickly slid down to his knees, but just as he was halfway down and said the word "forgive," he turned around and tried to run away.

But it underestimated Zhao Zheng's fist!

Boom! Skill Points +1 —