The more people listened, the more frightened they became, and they couldn't help but look at each other, and no one spoke for a while.

Shopkeeper Hu glanced at Lao Yan, showed a grateful expression, and then said to Li Qiufeng and the others: "Several masters, as well as this great monk, this dead ghost suddenly fell ill and died, everyone has seen it with your own eyes, and it has nothing to do with the villain. Besides, although he ordered food, the kitchen was not ready, and it was absolutely impossible for him to die suddenly because he ate the wine and food of the small shop. If the official messenger comes to inquire, I hope that the guest officials will give the villain a proof, and the villain will naturally be grateful......"

Li Qiufeng and the others listened to him ramble and said a lot of words, and their hearts were bright. Knowing that Shopkeeper Hu was worried about a lawsuit, he grovelled to everyone, for fear that everyone would say something unfavorable to him. Situ Qiao smiled and said, "As long as you don't deliberately deceive us, we will naturally not be embarrassed by you." ”

Shopkeeper Hu relieved his mind a little, walked out from behind the counter, came to Li Qiufeng and the others, and said with a smile: "There is one more thing, I also want to trouble the uncles." Although this dead ghost died of a violent illness, he did not die horizontally, but he died in a small shop, and he spread it, and he didn't know what strange theories would be arranged. After leaving the shop, please don't talk about it, otherwise the reputation of our shop will be somewhat unfavorable. ”

The eldest grandson Guangming laughed and said, "Old Hu, are you begging us to fail?"

The shopkeeper Hu was full of joy, nodded and said: "The uncles are the parents of the villain's food and clothing, so naturally they ask a few uncles to raise their noble hands and reward the villain with a bite to eat." ”

When he said this, he patted his chest and said, "Today's meal is even if it is a villain's invitation." Later, I will send four bowls and eight plates to the four uncles, and talk about the villain's gratitude. ”

After he finished speaking, he turned his head to the monk Xuanji and said, "Great monk, we don't take a penny from your vegetarian meal, so we should have a good relationship with the Buddha." When the big monk leaves, the villain still has incense money. In the future, when the great monk comes to turn his fate again, the villain must give a lot. ”

Li Qiufeng listened to the shopkeeper Hu talking to everyone, and suddenly remembered something in his heart, so he immediately said: "Just now, when we mentioned the Skeleton King Temple, the shopkeeper was very frightened. I don't know what is strange about this Skeleton King Temple?"

Shopkeeper Hu only cared about getting married to everyone, hoping that everyone would not be embarrassed by him, and he had already left the matter of the Skeleton King Temple behind. At this time, he suddenly heard Li Qiufeng mention this matter, his body trembled slightly, and he said in a trembling voice: "Uncle, you are not a local, and you don't know how powerful the Skeleton King Temple is." It is said that thousands of years ago, the Qin and Zhao kingdoms fought in our area. Zhao sent a fool to be a marshal, but he was defeated by Qin, and 300,000 or 400,000 people were captured by Qin. The Qin people were afraid that these captives would cause trouble, so they buried all these people alive. I heard that the place where the body was buried was near Taniguchi Village.

"Uncles, you might as well think about it, that's 300,000 or 400,000 lives, and if you die in our Gaoping, it can be said that you are angry. For thousands of years, we have been circulating the legend of these dead ghosts who were buried alive. Later, in the Tang Dynasty, there was an emperor named Li Xuanzong who sat in the world, and I heard that this person was not very authentic, and he picked up ashes behind his back and got his daughter-in-law. This old man came to us one year to play, and when he saw that there were bones everywhere, he felt pity and asked the county magistrate of Gaoping County to clean up these bones. Later, the bones were buried on the hillside next to the provincial valley, where a temple was built to honor the ownerless ghosts. I heard that the body of the Marshal of Zhao who died in battle was originally going to be sent to the temple, but his body could not be found anywhere. The county magistrate had no choice but to find the tallest skeleton from the collected bones and send it to the main hall of the temple, and put the skeleton with armor and became the god of sacrifice in the temple. I heard that the old man also wrote a tablet for this god, called the Skeleton King, and later this temple was called the Skeleton King Temple.

"Since the Skeleton Temple, there have been a lot less hauntings in this area. However, the Skeleton King Temple is cloudy and windy, and even if it passes by in broad daylight, it is cold. Legend has it that one day there was a sudden storm, and a flash of lightning struck the roof of the main hall of the Skeleton Temple, and then the temple ignited a fire, burning the Skeleton Temple to the ground. Those unjust souls have lost their shelter and come out again to plague the people. So for thousands of years, no one here dared to mention the Skull King Temple. Uncle Fang Cai suddenly asked about the Skeleton King Temple, and the villain was scared to death, but he was a little out of shape, and asked the uncle to forgive him. ”

After Shopkeeper Hu finished speaking, he made a gesture at Li Qiufeng. Li Qiufeng saw that he didn't seem to be a fake, so he nodded. Shopkeeper Hu let out a sigh, turned his head, and said to the shopkeeper who had just struggled to stand up: "Why don't you go to the back room to urge Lao Li, make four bowls and eight plates, and then send them to a few uncles!"

The shopkeeper agreed, and hurriedly ran to the back room. It's just that when he passed by the corpse of the gray-clothed man, he made a big circle and slipped into the back room. Shopkeeper Hu said to Li Qiufeng and the others: "The corpse of this dead ghost is placed here, how can you uncles have the appetite to eat?" Why don't you invite a few people to the back hall, although the place is narrower, it can be regarded as clean......

Situ Qiao didn't wait for the shopkeeper Hu to finish speaking, so he smiled and said: "Lao Hu, you have a fart for so much effort! Listening to Lao Tzu's words, he quickly dragged this dead man out and threw it on the side of the road where no one was around. When someone finds out and reports to the government, only if this person dies of a violent illness, no one will suspect that it is related to Taibaiju, and you have saved a lot of trouble. Why do you want to stay here and wait for the official messenger to come to the door? Those officials still want to find out the oil and water when they have nothing to do, if they know that Taibaiju has died, and they don't blackmail you to the point of bankruptcy, how can they let you go?!"

Shopkeeper Hu was dumbfounded when he heard this, and said in a trembling voice: "Isn't it a bit bad to do this? If the government knows that the villain threw his body away, I'm afraid that the villain will be asked a felony......

Situ Qiao snorted and said: "This dead ghost has no injuries on his body, even if the body is found and reported to the government, at most it will be sentenced to a 'violent death', and Taibaiju will not be implicated." As long as you don't talk nonsense, let's not talk about it, the ghost will know that this corpse was carried out from Taibaiju. ”

The shopkeeper Hu's face was blue and white for a while, and after a while, I saw him bite his teeth and say in a trembling voice: "Life and death depend on the words of the uncle." ”

After finishing speaking, he shook at the old Yan who was standing on the side, and said, "Old Yan, the small shop has been buying herbs from your old man for more than ten years. In the past ten years, my old Hu Ke has never offended you. Every time, we settle in cash and never default. I'm in trouble today, and Elder Yan can't die without help. Let's say that in the future, if you send herbs again, let's add three for every two, what do you think?"

Lao Yan listened to the words of the shopkeeper Hu, looked at the corpse on the ground again, and was silent for a while. Shopkeeper Hu only said that he didn't think he had much money, gritted his teeth, and said in a trembling voice: "That's it, let's not bargain." I will add five wen for every two, and the herb of dry notoginseng will also be taken from you in the future, can you see how it will be?"

Lao Yan sighed and said, "Shopkeeper Hu, we have been friends for many years, and I don't care about money or not." Don't worry, I won't talk about today's events to outsiders. I'm just afraid of ......."

When Lao Yan said this, he looked up at Li Qiufeng and the others. Shopkeeper Hu naturally understood what Lao Yan meant, he was worried that Li Qiufeng and others would leak out, and after the government knew about it, he would inevitably be implicated. It's just that the shopkeeper Hu has a plan. He is a person who has been in the tavern business for many years, and he welcomes and sends people every day, so it can be said that he is extremely accurate. Li Qiufeng and the others were dusty, and they spoke with a foreign accent, and they looked like they were just passing merchants. And these people are acting strangely, maybe they can't be Jiang Yang thieves. listened to the appearance of a few people talking and doing things, but they didn't want to deal with the government, and they only wanted more than less. It was because the shopkeeper Hu was not worried about Li Qiufeng and others, but he was even more afraid that Lao Yan, who was quite famous in the local area, would leak the matter. At this time, seeing that Lao Yan had already loosened his mouth, the shopkeeper Hu put his heart back in his stomach, and said to Lao Yan with a happy face: "These uncles are all very good people, they are just passing by our remote place, patting their butts and leaving after eating, and they will not stay here for a while." What's more, more things are better than less things, so these masters won't pay attention to these things. Otherwise, when the government officials arrive, they will have to interrogate a few masters, and they will not be troublesome, right? As long as you, Elder Yan, help me with this, I don't have to worry about other things. ”

Situ Qiao thought to himself, this shopkeeper is really an old fox. These words were openly said to Lao Yan, but secretly warned everyone that if the government knew about it, it would definitely take everyone to interrogate them together, and at that time, everyone would be in trouble. It was Situ Qiao who sneered and glanced at the shopkeeper, but did not speak.

Shopkeeper Hu knew that Situ Qiao had seen through his thoughts, but he didn't feel embarrassed. As for the mysterious monk, he didn't pay attention to it at all. This is because after Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne, he has always worshiped Taoism and suppressed Buddha. Knowing the emperor's thoughts, the local government also vigorously supported the Taoist priests, and severely denounced Buddhism. It is because the monks are careful everywhere, for fear of offending the government and causing big trouble. Shopkeeper Hu thought to himself that this monk was just here to ask for a full meal, and when he left, he would send dozens of yuan, which would naturally seal his mouth.

Lao Yan nodded and said: "This person's death has nothing to do with Shopkeeper Hu, and it is understandable to carry his body out. ”

Shopkeeper Hu finally put his heart back in his stomach and said with a smile: "With Yan Lao's words, I can rest assured." But there's one thing that still bothers Elder Yan......"

Shopkeeper Hu looked at Lao Yan as he spoke, as if he wanted to see through Lao Yan's thoughts. I only heard him continue: "If there is no flaw in this matter, the corpse of this dead ghost can only be carried out, and cannot be dragged on the ground, otherwise it is very easy to leave traces." Erhu was busy giving Lao Li a hand, but I, Lao Hu, couldn't move the corpse alone, so I couldn't ask a few uncles to help......"

When the shopkeeper Hu said this, he showed a begging look. Lao Yan said: "Okay, little old man take the handle, let's carry this corpse out together." ”