There is a trick

Chapter 13: Garden Tour

The furnishings in the wing room where Bai Xiu'e temporarily lived were even simpler than those in the main room.

The wooden bed by the window was made entirely of planks and stones. Against the wall was a clumsy wooden table, but the table was missing a leg, so it had to be supported by bricks and stones.

Bai Xiu'e moved the high stool from the corner to the table. She sat down at the table, looking a little panicked.

The old man outside the door kept asking her where her home was. Several times she couldn't help but want to tell him - but when she thought about the situations she would face after returning home, she was terrified. So she was in such a dilemma, pretending to be thick-skinned and turning a deaf ear to Zhou Duangong's questions.

Fortunately, that young man was willing to help me out...

But this is not a solution.

If Zhou Duangong had been more careful and asked around on the streets for a few days, he would have known where his home was sooner or later. What would he do then?
The girl's eyes were full of sorrow. She sighed softly, raised her eyes slightly, and stared blankly at a mirror on the table.

There was a black cloth covering the mirror, but at some point, the black cloth slipped off the mirror.

On the wall next to this mirror, there is a string of copper bells hanging.

"You must ring a bell after looking in the mirror for three breaths." This is a folk taboo mentioned in the "Purity Sutra" of Qingyi Town.

There are hundreds of folk taboos mentioned in the Purity Sutra. If a person abides by all the folk taboos, he can only lie in bed and sleep. Therefore, no one will completely abide by the rules of the Purity Sutra, but people will always avoid some things according to the content of the Purity Sutra.

For example, the one about 'ringing a bell in front of a mirror'.

If you look in the mirror for more than three breaths, you need to ring the bell to remind yourself. If you don't follow the rules, unpredictable situations may occur.

Bai Xiu'e's home was near Qingyi Town, and they also followed the custom of getting up at five o'clock every morning to chant sutras. She knew the rules of ringing a bell in front of a mirror, so when she saw the black cloth on the mirror slip off and her face was reflected inside, her first reaction was to get up and ring the bell.

But she was still a step slow.

Within three breaths, it is enough to cause some unexpected changes.

In the mirror, the right half of Bai Xiu'e's face was rippling like the water surface, and half of her bright and charming face floated out from under the "water surface" and looked at Bai Xiu'e with a smile.

"Shameless." The charming face that had appeared on the yellow paper smiled and scolded Bai Xiu'e.

Bai Xiu'e's face turned pale. She looked at the "paper face" in the mirror with fear, pursed her lips and said nothing.

There was no smile in the paper face's eyes, but the corners of its lips were raised, and half of its face became extremely lively, which made people think of the idiom "smiling like a flower". It stared at Bai Xiu'e and continued to speak softly: "You have no relatives or friends with the Zhou family, and you are a 'half-married' woman. How can you have the nerve to stay in someone else's house?

If such a thing gets out, wouldn't it bring shame to your family?
Have you forgotten your elder sister? She was caught having an affair with a man outside her family, but she was stripped naked and paraded through the streets, and finally thrown into a pig cage. You are living in the home of two men, but your behavior is more serious than that of your elder sister..."

Zhilian seemed to know Bai Xiu'e's past in great detail.

Its words were like knives stabbing into Bai Xiu'e's heart. Bai Xiu'e bit her lips until they turned white, tears accumulated in her eyes, and the panic on her face gradually turned into anger. She actually retorted to Paper Face: "I, I have been married twice - I have returned my life to my parents, I don't owe them anything!
When I was alive, my father married me to a nobleman in the city as a concubine.

I hanged myself, and the nobles in the city sold my body to the townspeople as a pawn - I paid them back everything I could, so why are they still chasing me? ! "

Her angry retort only earned her a sneer from Paper Face.

Paper Face still used that vague tone: "Who told you that although you were dead, you were not completely dead and came back to life?

When you are alive, you belong to someone else's family; when you die, you become someone else's ghost. This is your fate... Even if you don't owe them anything, don't you owe those six little sisters who were hanged with you?

The day before your wedding, you agreed with them to hang yourself together in the "Bride's Pond" and go to the "Flower Garden" together.

But all six of them died, but you are still alive and well... Can you still fulfill the promise you made to them?
They are still waiting for you to visit the garden together..."

The gentle voice of words lingered in Bai Xiu'e's ears. She thought of the six little sisters who hanged themselves with her. Tears rolled down her eyes. She suddenly felt a strong itch on her face, so she reached out to scratch it. Her claws scratched across her face, bringing down large chunks of skin and flesh.

In the mirror, Bai Xiu'e had scratched large areas of skin on her face, exposing the muscle texture underneath.

Between the bright red facial muscles, black holes like lotus root holes suddenly appeared, and strands of lotus root silk flowed out from those holes, transforming into white and slender arms, waving in front of Bai Xiu'e: "Xiu'e, Xiu'e..."

"Come on……"

"Let's go to the garden together..."

……

As it was getting close to dusk, Zhou Chang heard the sound of donkeys and mules braying outside, followed by the sounds of banging on the gate, opening the door, and greetings.

The noise outside gradually became quieter, and Zhou Chang guessed that it was Zhou Sanji's senior brother who came over.

He leaned against the head of the bed, used his mind to control his arms, and slowly moved his body so that he could sit more upright.

After adjusting his posture, Zhou Chang looked towards the door, waiting for Zhou Sanji and his senior brother to push the door open.

Even though he could use Bai Xiu'e's help to increase his 'thought threads' and allow himself to gain a certain degree of mobility, relying on thought threads to control this body was not a long-term solution after all.

Zhou Chang still hopes that he can be like a normal person.

After turning back into a normal person, he could travel around and look for the whereabouts of "Lishan Lao Niang".

Lishan Grandmother and Yinsheng Old Mother are the key to whether he can return to his hometown. There may also be the answer to the mystery of why his life experiences are so similar to Zhou Chang's.

His hope of becoming a normal person again now rests with Zhou Sanji's senior brother.

But he looked at the door for a long time, and it didn't open.

Outside the house.

In the corridor behind the courtyard gate.

A tall and thin old man wearing patched clothes, holding a boy of about 11 or 12 years old in one hand, stretched out his other hand to Zhou Sanji. He wore a pair of round sunglasses on his nose, grinned, and opened his palm to Zhou Sanji: "The fare is ten copper coins!"

Zhou Sanji's face changed and he glared at the tall old man, but finally he gritted his teeth and took out ten copper coins and threw them into the old man's hand.

Old Gao turned around and threw a few copper coins to the mule driver waiting outside the courtyard gate. He also kept one and put it in his sleeve. He smiled and said to the mule driver, "On this way, I chanted the names of your family members 130 times to the Lord of Wantianchuan, so that the old man would remember it and protect your family. So I will take a copper coin from you as incense money. It's not much, right?"

"Not much, not much..." The mule driver looked very depressed, but he still had to smile apologetically to Old Man Gao.

After all, the other party said so, what else can he say?
"Then why don't you thank me?" Old Gao took off his round sunglasses and stared at the mule driver with wide eyes.

The mule driver felt even more suffocated. He thanked the driver repeatedly and drove the carriage away.

At this time, Zhou Sanji stopped the mule cart and gave the driver another copper coin. After the driver left with many thanks, Zhou Sanji turned back and glared at Old Gao, his senior brother, and said angrily, "Three copper coins can buy a large piece of tender tofu, and one copper coin can buy a pound of brown rice. Others drove dozens of miles to bring you here, and you had to worry all the time on the road, and you even deducted their money!

We are all ordinary people, we should take care of each other!
How can we bully each other?"

(End of this chapter)