This Liao Zhai is not right

Only by taking advantage of an opportunity like we did in Yangzhou can we achieve stability in the world.

This was a great opportunity for her to find out the other party's strengths and weaknesses.

As if unaware of Su Su's ulterior motives, Chang'e slowly turned her body and transformed into a handsome scholar in black under Su Su's gaze.

"My magical power is very limited, and the body I conjured is not as good as the Dharma body you created with the power of the Yang God. It may be enough to fool ordinary people or ordinary ghosts, but if I encounter the gods in the city, I will be exposed."

Not right.

Something is very wrong.

Su Su was able to see through the black-clothed scholar's form transformed by Chang'e, which was indeed a simple trick that she could break with a flick of her fingers, which was completely consistent with Chang'e's description of his insignificant magical powers.

"You're trying to show weakness and lure me in again. How could I fall for the same trick twice?"

Su Su, who had suffered a series of lessons, could see that this was a deliberate trap set by Chang'e. However, judging from the faint divine light that overflowed when the other party transformed into the form of a black-clothed scholar, the divine power that was absorbed in order to deal with the Yin God's clone who forcibly descended to the world of the living by Black Mountain Lord was already very little.

As long as Chang'e has used up the remaining protective divine power and comes to me to absorb the divine power, it will be a godsend opportunity for her to do whatever she wants.

Su Su was secretly delighted when he realized this, and thought to himself, "Then wait and see how I can control you!"

Zhenjiang Prefecture City is an east-west structure. The prefectural government offices are all on the east bank of the canal. The city is surrounded by a network of waterways, and many major buildings are built on the hills. The Tiewengcheng in the northeast of the city is where the prefectural government office is located. The Dantu County Office, which is close to the prefectural city, is located in the southeast corner of the prefectural government office. There are scattered buildings such as the prefectural school, the examination hall, and the drum tower. The Zhenjiang Prefecture City God Temple is located at the southern foot of Yuehua Mountain two or three streets west of the Dantu County Office. It is made of blue bricks and black tiles, with flying eaves and corners, and is surrounded by lush pine trees.

Although the autumn examination was approaching, Zhenjiang Prefecture only had three counties under its jurisdiction: Dantu, Danyang and Jintan, and not many students came here to prepare for the provincial examination.

Su Su and Chang'e walked in the city for a long time dressed as scholars, but they did not see many scholars in Confucian hats and robes. Instead, on the street near the Dantu County Government Office, they saw many people riding carts loaded with incense, candles, and paper money heading to the City God Temple. The creaking sound of the wooden wheels of the carts told them that there were at least several hundred kilograms of paper money loaded on them.

There were as many as six or seven carts loaded with incense, candles, and paper money.

They stopped not far from the City God Temple and imitated the local people by knocking on the door of a roadside restaurant. The waiter inside hurriedly stepped forward to lift the board and let Su Fu and Chang'e in.

"What would you two gentlemen like to eat?" He led Su Su and Chang'e into the store and sat down upstairs. The waiter brought tea, bowls and chopsticks, and stood carefully by the side, waiting for their order.

"We are new to Zhenjiang, so of course we want something that we can't eat anywhere else."

Hearing this, the waiter standing nearby quickly named the local specialties.

In the morning, there were not many people in the restaurant. On the entire second floor, there was only Su Su's table of diners. Through the hollow carved window pillars, one could see the Zhenjiang City God Temple built on the southern foot of Yuehua Mountain in the distance.

In front of the temple, people were kneeling on the ground holding incense, candles and paper money, burning incense and paper. As the fire burned, wisps of incense smoke went straight up into the sky, and were soon absorbed by the statue of the City God of Zhenjiang Prefecture in the main hall of the Temple. The statue was wearing a red robe and had a gilded face, like a whale sucking water, and nothing was left.

There was a bright light in the sky above the City God Temple, but there was no sign of the gods wandering around day and night.

Not only that, the number of gods under the command of the City God enshrined in the City God Temple of Zhenjiang Prefecture is pitifully small.

"The City God of a mere prefecture has ten times more incense and vows than Yangzhou, and he doesn't have four guards who patrol the day and night and record the cause and effect of good and evil in the world. How can he bear such a huge amount of incense and vows?"

The karmic fire on the red flower ornament between Su Su's brows trembled. In her sight, the divine light that shone through the sky above the City God Temple strangely revealed a lingering cold black air, emitting a strong ominous aura.

"There is a layer of divine light on the surface, but the rest is all demonic energy. What on earth is this Zhenjiang City God?"

Chapter 181 Anecdotes

"I never thought that Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, separated by only a river, have very different folk customs."

Su Su pointed to several carts loaded with incense, candles, and paper money going up the mountain in the distance, and pretended to be surprised and said, "Today is not the first or fifteenth day of the month, but there are so many people going to the City God Temple to offer sacrifices. There are at least several thousand kilograms of paper money on these carts. With such piety, it's no wonder that the paper-making shops in Zhenjiang City open their doors for business before dawn."

Knowing full well that the people who went to the City God Temple to burn incense and paper were being blackmailed by ghosts and gods, Su Su said that their actions were due to their piety, obviously trying to get some information out of the waiter.

Seeing this, Chang'e, who was standing by, also echoed, "It must be that the City God of Zhenjiang Prefecture is very effective. It is not unusual for believers to burn several thousand kilograms of paper money to fulfill their vows."

As the two of them sang in unison, the waiter, who was still announcing the dishes, began to look increasingly frightened.

"You two young masters have just arrived in Zhenjiang, so don't speak carelessly. There are gods above your heads. Even if you speak without intending, the listener may take it seriously. If you spread it carelessly, it may cause trouble."

The waiter was obviously frightened by what Su Shu and Chang'e said about the City God of Zhenjiang Prefecture. He was stunned for a long time with a look of panic on his face before he spoke out to stop them.

Is there a god above our heads?

Causing trouble?

Hearing the waiter's words, Su Su knew that the strange phenomenon in Zhenjiang City was indeed related to the Zhenjiang City God. She subconsciously exchanged a glance with Chang'e, who understood and said, "There are gods above us. This saying is used to persuade others not to do things that would offend their conscience, lest the gods punish us. We are new here, and we just arrived in Zhenjiang City this morning. We have not done anything that would offend our conscience, so why should we be afraid of rumors and worry about causing trouble?"

"Hey... Sir, please keep your voice down. Please keep your voice down."

The waiter was so frightened that he waved his hands hastily, but his eyes drifted to the outside of the hollow carved window frame, and he quickly stepped forward to close the curtains.

Covering up the light coming through the window, the waiter reluctantly breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and opened his mouth with a tangled look, but finally just lowered his voice and said, "You two gentlemen will not live in Zhenjiang for a long time, so of course I don't know where this taboo comes from. Some things are better left unclear. If you plan to live in Zhenjiang for a long time, I will not tell you, and you two gentlemen will know the reason in no time."

The tone was vague and evasive, and it was obvious that he was cautious.

"I wonder if the two gentlemen have decided on what kind of meals they want?" The waiter wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The fear in his heart made him dare not say anything more about this topic.

After a few words, seeing that the waiter was so scared, Su Su had to give up the idea of asking any more questions.

His eyes casually swept around the empty and deserted surroundings. Not only were there no other diners in the restaurant, there were also no ghost messengers under the command of the City God of Zhenjiang Prefecture. The fact that the waiter was so cautious when ghosts and gods were still acting in broad daylight was enough to show how harmful they were.

"Braised pork, soup dumplings, and white sauce catfish."

After ordering a few dishes with Zhenjiang local specialties, Su Su waved his hand and asked the waiter to go downstairs to prepare the dishes.

Seeing that Su Su and Chang'e finally gave up the idea of asking more questions, the waiter didn't dare to stay any longer and hurried downstairs to the kitchen.

"The waiter wanted to say something but didn't dare to. He must be afraid of retaliation. It seems that the water in Zhenjiang is much deeper than what we saw outside the city."

Hearing the waiter's footsteps fading away, Su Su stood up, drew open the curtains, leaned against the window and looked out. He saw that as it was almost 9 o'clock, a few people from the city gradually appeared on the street. Looking at their expressions, they did not look like they were in a hurry in the morning and did not dare to stay outside for long.

Glancing left and right, I saw that shops on the street were open for business in twos and threes, and there was at least a hint of the prosperity of the capital city.

More and more diners came into the restaurant and sat in the private rooms on the second floor. From time to time, footsteps could be heard outside the door and the voices of other diners could be vaguely heard. After a short while, the private rooms by the windows on both sides and the tables and chairs outside the private rooms were all full.

At one of the tables, several scholars were drinking and chatting together. In those days, the probability of scholars and talents studying abroad encountering ghosts and monsters was extremely high, and they were much more well-informed than ordinary people. However, listening to their conversations, most of them were related to the autumn provincial examinations, which had nothing to do with the news that Su Fu wanted to find out.

During this time, the dishes ordered by Su Su were served one after another.

The braised meat is smooth and translucent, with red meat and white skin, just like crystal. After a few bites, you can smell the fragrance in your mouth and the mellow meat flavor. The soup dumplings are also full of juice and have a sweet aftertaste. It is indeed a rare delicacy.

Su Su was in a good mood and even asked the waiter to bring a few pots of rice wine. While paying attention to the movements of the City God Temple in Zhenjiang Prefecture in the distance, he and Chang'e raised their glasses to drink together. It was just like the scholars of today who get together to chat about all sorts of irrelevant nonsense.

The voices of the scholars at the table outside the private room were getting louder and louder. They were in high spirits. One of them suddenly said, "The autumn exam is approaching. Why are you saying these depressing words? I have a strange story. I wonder if you would like to hear it?" (q裙#$流(陆)二[６()*灵%羽(巴~!2//>弍*(

"Brother Mei, don't keep us in suspense. Tell us what's going on!"

"Speak quickly, speak quickly."

The drunken scholars at the table all turned their eyes to the scholar named Mei, and urged him to tell them the next sentence.

The scholar surnamed Mei pointed to the west of Zhenjiang City and burped. He said, "There is a village called Shiliyi about 20 to 30 miles west of the city. Last year, a villager married his son. The villagers came to congratulate him. After drinking for more than a day, the groom suddenly disappeared. They searched for him all night but couldn't find him. The groom's parents thought he had an accident and cried bitterly. Unexpectedly, half a year later, the bride wanted to remarry and even took the case to the county government. As a result, the groom who disappeared for half a year was found that night. He said that he had lived in the bride's house for half a year. When he was sent back home by his parents-in-law today, he looked back and saw that there were only high tombs and graves left in the original house and courtyard. Afterwards, the groom went to his parents-in-law to ask about this matter, but it turned out that he had never existed. Tell me, is this strange?"

"He disappeared on the wedding night, and was sent home by his parents-in-law six months later. Could it be that this groom from Shiliyi has been possessed by evil spirits?"

"If he had been possessed by evil spirits, he would have been buried in the wilderness after being away for half a year. How could he be found again? In my opinion, the groom must have left on purpose, and it was not until the bride intended to remarry that the two families took the case to the county government, and the truth could no longer be hidden that he made up an excuse."

"In ancient times, there was a dream in Nanke. Chunyu Fen slept under a locust tree, married a princess, became the governor of Nanke, and enjoyed all the splendor and wealth. This groom must have had a beautiful dream for half a year and just woke up today."

The voices of the scholars became louder and louder, and they were chatting animatedly.