Chapter XXIV. Two ritual vessels
These two magic weapons, I saw them for the first time that day. But that's not the point, because I don't quite understand what Jiama Dan meant by suddenly showing me these things.
Jia Ma Dan pointed to the copper ball and said to me, this thing, called the "Yin Yang Soul Locking Furnace", is a copper ball on the outside, and in the middle is a threaded device, don't look at it as a hollow shape, the ghost caught in by my hand can't escape no matter what, because the inner wall inside is engraved with a cross flag mantra, and the ghost is inside, as if it is in a furnace, if you don't give in to me, you are doomed to ashes, a dead end.
After that, Jia Ma Dan pointed to the "horse rope" and said, this thing is called "stumbling soul rope", the scales at both ends are divided into the sun and moon, yin and yang, and there is a spell of our Qiang tribe on the belt in the middle, as long as the ghost is entangled in it, it cannot break free, and can only sit and wait for death. These are the same things that saved you and your brother last night. Maybe you don't understand why I want to show you these things at this time, in fact, I just want to tell you that I don't necessarily have many opponents in terms of ability, but I can save the two of you in a square inch at such a time, although I caught these ghosts for sale, but everyone has their own unspeakable secrets, maybe you really think that the existence of this ghost market is unreasonable, so since it is so unreasonable, why has it existed for so many years.
I still didn't speak, thinking in my heart the words of Kamadan. In fact, the people who come here to sell ghosts are desperate if they are not really happy, and this may be the only way for them to survive, in fact, everyone knows that such behavior is wrong, but what can be done, why we have fallen to such a point, you people who are cold bystanders, will never know.
I replied, if you will speak, we will also listen. When an argument arises, we naturally have to think of ways to convince the other side. Today I also told Brother Jiama about our true purpose, we are in this industry, originally under the shadow of the sun, if you don't do your part, you will make some money today, but what you lack is the yin virtue behind you. I deliberately looked like I was bitter, and in fact, these words were actually those words that Master had said when he was piling up my bitter words in the early years. And presumably Jiama Dan knew in his heart, I knew that he was very conflicted at the moment, on the one hand, he also knew that this was not good for him, and on the other hand, he had to continue to live with it.
Jia Ma Dan didn't continue to ask me, but was silent for a long time, looking at the two magic weapons he placed on the ground, silently in a daze. Da Mao and I are in a daze with him on the side, because if I want to say more at this moment, I can't say why, and in fact, if Da Mao didn't tell me about this matter, maybe I wouldn't have paid attention to it, I came to meddle in this matter, it was originally a bit nosy, after all, everyone has their own way of choosing their own life, I cut off other people's financial routes, maybe, people will also cut off my way of life.
Jiama looked at his magic weapon and thought for a long time, maybe he was moved by my words, he began to think about why he had a skill, but he came to do the business of buying and selling ghosts, these days when I talked to Jiama Dan many times, I could feel that he had an innate pride, although he did such a thing, but he didn't like to be talked about, and the reason why he didn't like it was because he also felt wrong, but he had to continue like this. After a long time, he raised his head and said to me, okay, I promise you, help you lure out this person behind the scenes, but the rest of the things have nothing to do with me, sell this ghost, I will disappear here, no one can find me, this ghost place, I will not come again.
I'm glad he said yes, but at the same time I feel a little guilty. Jiama Dan can be regarded as saving my life, and the way I repay him is to ask him to help me again. The rules of the rivers and lakes, this is not reasonable in any way. But I didn't say it at the moment, I was afraid that if I said more, Jiama would be shaken, and finally stop helping.
Jia Ma Dan asked me what I needed to help me, and I said that it would take about two days for my injury to recover, and you can sell me the ghosts in your hands in these two days, although I don't have much money left, but I think your remaining ghosts will not be particularly expensive, I bought them anyway, and let them temporarily line up the soldiers and horses, and after the cycle of Sundays, I will send them away. Actually, you don't have to set up a stall anymore, and you can do it after I recover. Jia Ma Dan agreed to me, and then said that I will get rid of the remaining ghosts except for the female ghost, since you are giving them a good place to go, I also believe that Qin Bukong's apprentice will not promise casually, I will sell it to you together, as for how much money you give me, then it is up to you, you give me 180,000, I will accept it in full, you give me ten yuan and eight yuan, I will not say a word.
The master of the ethnic minority is so happy, so I took out all the money on my body, except for the money that Da Mao and I had to spend, such as buying food and the fare for the return trip, the rest was given to Jia Ma Dan, who was a great help, and my ability was limited, and I couldn't let the other party feel that we were disadvantaged.
That night he fulfilled his promise and did not come out to set up a stall, and I was lying idly in the stinking room because of my limited mobility. Da Mao went out shopping at night instead of me, and because his face was injured, I also asked Da Mao to cover his face well, so as not to let the stupid girl recognize him. And that night Da Mao returned to the house very late, and when he came back, his face was flushed, just like a child who had done something bad and was caught in the bag, I asked him why he went so late to come back, Da Mao couldn't say clearly, and then hid behind him with one hand. I asked him to show me what he had in his hand, and he smirked and reached out, and I saw a small pocket in his hand with a little candy left.
So I knew that Da Mao, this stinky boy, didn't come back to sleep at night and went to a private meeting with that stupid girl, Da Mao argued in a panic, just wanted to find out more information, and didn't do the rest. Then I'm not interested, but as a big brother, I told Da Mao that I know that this person's feelings are a very strange thing, but you have to think about it, if you really like this silly girl, you must first accept the fact that she is a fool. I hope you like it, not a sympathy.
Da Mao looked very flustered, but I know this kid's temperament too well, but I'm worried that even if we find out the final truth smoothly, we will never be able to give this stupid girl a stable living environment, this is a living person after all, the purpose of my words is just to let Da Mao think clearly during this period, don't let yourself regret it, and don't delay others.
By the next day, I noticed that I had recovered a lot, and although I was still in a lot of pain, I was able to stand up on my own, and the injury on my foot was a little more severe, but I was able to jump around on my other foot. Since Jia Ma Dan stopped setting up a stall, his life was completely disrupted, and he began to have nothing to do, and when he was bored, he came to me, said something boring to me, and talked about what he had seen and heard in the rivers and lakes before. I learned from his conversation that this person used to be a relatively famous master in northern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi, because there are not many masters of the Qiang people, and the methods are different from those in other regions, and even do not communicate with each other at all, so our exchanges are often just to listen to the excitement, and I don't know what is powerful. He probably knew that we might not see each other again, so he told me the reason for his downfall.
It turns out that Jia Ma Dan, like me, also had a very sad memory, which is the injustice brought to us by this era. And Jia Ma Dan was not as lucky as me, because I still had people to rescue, but Jia Ma Dan was forced to be locked up in the cowshed for two years. After it was released, it was pulled out from time to time by those hairy children to insult and criticize, and this kind of log lasted for seven years. In the end, he couldn't help it, so he took advantage of the night to leave his hometown and came to the Shuzhong region. Relying on the selling of Chinese herbal medicine delivery shops, he barely survived, but because he needed to go into the mountains to collect medicines, he went in and out of the mountains and forests more often, and became familiar with the local people, and from time to time he would use his own skills to solve difficulties for the villagers. But the good times didn't last long, but he was said to have leaked his mouth and told him about it. At that time, the situation was very unstable, and he was afraid of being reported, so he fled again. I've been wandering outside until this year, and I heard that there is a ghost market here, so I took the ghosts I caught over the years and came here to live for a few months.
Jia Ma Dan thinks that this is the so-called "downfall", but to me, although it is tragic, it is actually similar to me. We are people who have lived without fear in those years. So I started sharing my story with him, and I had the same reasons as him, because we wouldn't see each other again.
This chat, from the afternoon of the same day, to the next day, the ghost market closed the stall.