Chapter 31: The Sacrificial Hall
The cat-faced old lady trembled and held the jade plate in her turbid eyes and carefully observed, her wrinkled palm slowly rubbed the surface of the jade card, and the jade card flashed as if it was responding to the old lady's touch.
"Where did you get this jade plaque" The old lady held the jade plaque in her hand and looked at Jiang Pingchuan, her hideous cat face was changing, slowly changing towards a normal person's face.
"A cemetery, given to me by an old man, I didn't expect you to have something to do with this jade plaque" Jiang Pingchuan once again spread his true qi all over his body, and the stains on his white robe turned into powder and scattered in the rain and turned into silt again.
"It's not just a connection," the old lady returned the jade card in her hand to Jiang Pingchuan and shook her head with a sigh.
"Young man, let's go, you don't belong here" The old lady said faintly, turning around and walking into the darkness, Jiang Pingchuan was a little confused when he heard the old lady's words.
Seeing the old lady disappear completely, he realized that he really didn't belong here, this was no longer the Yuanwu Continent where he lived, this was a strange and new world.
Jiang Pingchuan looked at the endless hazy night in front of him, the rain was still falling to the ground and splashing in circles, Jiang Pingchuan returned to Zhou's house along the original road.
He walked this road for a long time without seeing the lights, and he dragged his tired body slowly and walked slowly.
In his mind, he kept thinking about everything he had done in Maoshan Road, and he regretted why he had entered the Scripture Pavilion, if he hadn't entered the Scripture Pavilion.
At least there are more than ten years to be able to accompany his relatives in Maoshan, but now he can't find Maoshan and has no relatives.
He became very confused, without a Taoist heart, without faith.
When Jiang Pingchuan walked into the market town of Sanjiang County, the bluestone slab-paved ground was empty of stagnant water, and a huge sun hung overhead.
All kinds of people in the entire market town had no connection with him, and unconsciously he approached the Zhou family noodle restaurant.
Xiao Wu was looking at the door, and when he saw Jiang Pingchuan, Xiao Wu's frowning brows were like a butterfly breaking out of a cocoon, fluttering its wings and slowly stretching out.
"Brother Hirakawa, where did you go last night, come in"
Xiao Wu patted Jiang Pingchuan's shoulder and said with a smile, Jiang Pingchuan smiled slightly and was pulled into the noodle restaurant by Xiao Wu's shoulder.
Jiang Pingchuan sat next to the oily black table, the noodle restaurant was very good today, it was full, Xiao Wu brought out a bowl of hot Yangchun noodles from the room and put it in front of Jiang Pingchuan.
Jiang Pingchuan picked up the chopsticks and picked a bite of noodles and put them in his mouth, this bowl of noodles is different from yesterday's bowl of noodles, the same thing is that they are all delicious, the difference is that he ate a faint fragrance from this bowl of noodles.
"Everyone is here, Zhou has something to say today"
Shopkeeper Zhou walked out of the back hall, stood beside Jiang Pingchuan, glanced at the people in the noodle restaurant, and shouted happily.
The diners in the noodle restaurant all raised their heads and looked at Jiang Pingchuan next to Shopkeeper Zhou with a smile, Jiang Pingchuan swallowed the noodles in his mouth and looked at Shopkeeper Zhou next to him curiously.
"Fathers and fellow villagers, everyone also knows that my little daughter Ning Er, Zhou Fu, has been entangled by some evil things during this time, but now the little girl has gotten rid of the entanglement of those ghostly things, and all of this depends on the profound magic of Brother Pingchuan."
Shopkeeper Zhou patted Jiang Pingchuan's shoulder with a smile, the diners in the noodle restaurant were slightly stunned, and then applauded, Jiang Pingchuan quickly got up and arched his hand towards everyone.
He didn't expect Shopkeeper Zhou to tell him about it, he thought that people here were more taboo about these godly things, just like Xiao Wu.
The people here don't seem to believe in any ghosts and gods in this world, and they are forced to encounter something that they can't solve before they ask the so-called Taoist and other warlocks to exorcise ghosts and evil spirits.
"Everyone, give a bit, after the Pingchuan brothers cast the spell last night, the little girl has completely returned to normal, all the Yangchun noodles are free today, everyone enjoy them"
Shopkeeper Zhou laughed, his thick black beard churned up and down with Shopkeeper Zhou's smile.
"There is another thing here, we don't believe in any ghosts and gods on weekdays, but this little girl's incident made me realize that the sacrificial hall that we haven't opened for a long time needs to be opened again, we need the protection of the gods, so many years have passed, and the previous gods can no longer protect us"
Shopkeeper Zhou looked very serious when he said these words, and Jiang Pingchuan noticed that the diners in the noodle restaurant also looked serious.
It turns out that they also believe in ghosts and gods here, but I don't know why they no longer believe in gods.
"Shopkeeper Zhou, the resumption of the sacrificial hall requires the consent of the county official."
Among the many diners, a strong man in a coarse cloth short coat said with a low and listless expression, and the rest of the diners also nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it's been decades, and the sacrificial hall has been closed since the county official came to Qinghe County."
"It was also the day the county official closed the sacrificial hall, and since then, our Sanjiang County has been full of strange things."
Jiang Pingchuan listened to the diners in the noodle restaurant and kept talking about the county officials and the sacrificial hall, and Jiang Pingchuan felt that the sacrificial hall in their mouths was like his own worship shop on Maoshan Road.
It's just that their Maoshan Dao is worshipping a Taoist character, and Jiang Pingchuan can hear from these people's mouths that they are worshipping a god.
"Everyone also knows that the sacrificial hall was originally left by the ancestors to protect us, but now the sacrificial hall has been broken for decades, and the ancestors no longer shelter us, and now strange things continue, fortunately the appearance of the little brother Pingchuan, Zhou thought about it all night and felt that we should continue the incense of the sacrificial hall"
Shopkeeper Zhou looked at Jiang Pingchuan and said in a deep voice, he is also a figure with a head and a face in Sanjiang County, and most people agree with what he said.
After all, Sanjiang County has indeed been full of strange things over the years, and at the beginning, Shopkeeper Zhou didn't believe that it was done by any ghosts.
But knowing that he heard the conversation in his daughter's house last night, he completely understood that their world was just like his father told him, there were gods on his head, and people were watching the sky.
"Shopkeeper Zhou, what do you say we should do, without the consent of the county magistrate, I'm afraid it's inappropriate for us to open the sacrificial hall privately."
Everyone was also muttering in their hearts when they heard Zhou Fu's words, they had believed that there were gods in the world they were in since they were children, but the new county magistrate told them that there was nothing in this world
The county magistrate is an honest and honest parent official, but he is reluctant to discipline his son harshly, but his son has become a scourge in Sanjiang County.
"Don't worry, now that Brother Pingchuan is in our town, I believe that Brother Pingchuan will help us solve all the evil things, and when the time comes, I'm not afraid that the county officials will not believe in the existence of this ghost and god."
Did Shopkeeper Zhou mention Jiang Pingchuan again, the eyes of the diners were focused on Jiang Pingchuan, and Jiang Pingchuan frowned slightly.
He could see the eagerness and hesitation in the eyes of these people, and he felt that there must be some ghostly things in this town.
The ghost that mysteriously disappeared last night, the black bead with a dead breath, and the strange old lady with a cat face.
All this made him feel that there must be some uninvited guests in this town.