Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 179 Wait a minute! I'm not from Wuhan University, I'm fucking...
A ripple spread through the air, and the temple fair street returned to calm. No one in the bustling crowd noticed that someone was missing from their side.

Two young scholars, their hair adorned with flowers and dressed in overly flamboyant attire, strolled to the place where "Zheng Jin" had disappeared, waving flower and bird folding fans and holding a copy of "The Loyal and Righteous Water Margin (Volume 3)".

"Haha, the last person on the list, Young Master Zheng of the Five Tigers Shipyard, Zheng Jin, is finally complete."

It was also our brothers' good luck; we only had to wait for a day before we bumped into the real target.

At first, I thought he was worried about his younger brother's safety because he seemed preoccupied. But when he saw the woman in white, he was overjoyed and wanted to strike up a conversation.

He's obviously a lecherous womanizer!

The younger man beside him pointed to the spot where Ah Xiao had been standing under the fringe tree, and said somewhat guiltily:

"Senior Brother Tao, it seems we've inadvertently dragged a passerby into this again."

That's the woman Zheng Jin wanted to talk to; she happened to be standing under the fringe tree, too close to her target.

Senior Brother Tao smiled and patted his junior brother on the shoulder, telling him to calm down:
“Junior Brother Cao, you are new to the industry and lack experience. You tend to panic when something goes wrong.”

I think that person was no ordinary passerby.

I have a photographic memory, and I had seen this woman once before!
Do you remember a few days ago when we went with Master to the upper reaches of the Jiulong River and captured the reincarnation of a spirit? That self-proclaimed "Turtle Spirit Goddess," a fifth-rank celestial official, the "Six Ren Taoist."

As we were leaving, we brushed past the woman at the entrance of her temple.

She is most likely a relative or acquaintance of the Turtle Spirit Goddess, and is currently visiting the crime scenes of the recent series of disappearances in an attempt to find clues.

In short, it's never a bad thing to capture her together; we might even unintentionally save our master a lot of trouble.

Upon hearing this, Junior Brother Cao bowed deeply in admiration and said with clasped hands:
"Brother Tao is truly a great talent!"
My master has many disciples. The reason he brought me along on this official business is because my father is the prefectural governor of Minzhou, in charge of the prefecture's schools and academies.

Senior brother is different; your real skill is being able to serve Master at his side.

I hope you will not hesitate to offer your guidance in the future.

He was indeed inexperienced and unaware that for every job, there needed to be at least one capable assistant to help someone like him with connections.

Otherwise, who will help them make contributions, take the blame, and promote them?
Senior Brother Tao comes from an ordinary background and has long been clear about his position. Last time, it was clearly Junior Brother Cao who arrested the wrong person, but he took the blame himself.
He casually took the novel manuscript from his junior brother and shared his experience with him:

“Junior Brother Cao, Master said that only by holding his talisman and entering the world of the book can one avoid being assimilated by the storyline and move freely.”

Without his talisman, one would be randomly assigned an identity and forcibly integrated into the storyline.

The criteria are based on appearance, status, experience, destiny, official position, and so on, and the one with the highest compatibility is selected.

For example, Zheng Qian was punished in place of his brother and was subsequently made Wu Erlang.

The longer these people stay inside, the more deeply they are assimilated, eventually becoming part of the world in the book and forgetting their original selves.

It's almost time; we should go and gather those codebreakers trapped inside the books.

Let me see who this eldest son of the Zheng family has become!

As soon as Senior Brother Tao turned the page and glanced at the world within the book, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise:

"Junior Brother Cao, you've made another mistake, you careless fellow."

The ritual I performed just now was too forceful; instead of sending Zheng Da into "Water Margin," I threw him into the deeper story of "Jin Ping Mei"!

We've accidentally turned him into our master's exclusive character! Oh no, oh no, we've gotten ourselves into trouble!

Junior Brother Cao whispered a reminder:
"My father was the Provincial Education Commissioner of Minzhou."

Senior Brother Tao quickly swallowed his words and, with a mournful face, corrected himself:

"I've gotten into trouble again."

The world within the book.

Since Wang Cheng dared to act as bait alone, he must have done his homework thoroughly.

Master Shen Yuting once deduced that to achieve an effect similar to a blessed land where people could be easily taken away, it would be necessary to...

The worlds in the novels of the novelists, the landscapes and grottoes of the painters, and the Green Snail Dojo passed down by the living gods and ghosts of the third rank could all be realized, making them extra cautious.

Therefore, the moment Wang Cheng accidentally stumbled upon the book's pages, he recognized it as the novelist's trick, and the thought of the treasure he had just obtained immediately put his mind at ease.

But upon hearing that extremely familiar line, he was instantly terrified.

"Wait a minute! Wasn't it said that deciphering nautical charts wouldn't be life-threatening? What's going on?"

I was just impersonating Zheng Qian's older brother, the eldest son of the Zheng family, but I'm not the real Zheng Da. I have absolutely no affinity for this role.

Wang Cheng had also heard about the rules of the world in the novelist's book; the pattern of randomly assigning characters in different novels was actually quite similar.

But in all the contingency plans, as a young, wealthy, handsome, strong, and capable Prince Jinghai, he never imagined that he would encounter such a disastrous start.

After a long breath, Wang Cheng finally overcame the initial daze of the changing world, calmed his mind, and suddenly opened his eyes.

"hiss!"

Just as he had expected, a stunningly beautiful woman appeared before him, a beauty beyond words.

Her eyebrows resembled willow leaves in early spring, often carrying a hint of sorrow and melancholy; her face was like peach blossoms in March, subtly conveying a sense of romance and tenderness.

Her slender waist swayed gracefully, her movements as languid and unrestrained as a swallow or a nightingale; her delicate lips stirred bees and butterflies into a frenzy. Her jade-like face was enchanting, as if flowers could speak; her fragrant countenance exuded a sweet aroma.

What a seductive and alluring woman!

It was none other than Pan Jinlian, who left a significant mark on the history of Chinese literature!
After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly realized that he had just used his "eye in his mind" to see the whole scene. In reality, the beauty was facing away from him, and he couldn't see anything from her front. All he could see was one plump peach that made her pomegranate-colored dress look round and trembling, making him feel aroused.

The bowl of medicine she was holding wasn't for feeding herself, but for feeding to a short, ugly man lying on the bed.

The victim didn't seem to want to drink the medicine, but he had been seriously injured by a kick to the chest earlier and was unable to resist.

The alluring woman used only one hand to forcefully hold down her husband and forcefully poured the medicine down his throat.

"Ho ho."

The short, ugly boy on the bed stared wide-eyed, bloodshot eyes, let out a few weak moans from his throat, and before he could catch his breath, he kicked his legs and died.

Wang Cheng didn't have time to stop it.

Amidst the lingering fear, doubts also arose:

"If he's Wu Dalang, then who am I?"

Turning his head to look at a bronze mirror in the room, he saw a person reflected in the mirror, accompanied by a description in flamboyant calligraphy:
She wore a tasseled hat, a golden bell hairpin, and a golden well and jade railing ring on her head; she had a long waist and wore a green silk pleated dress.
He wore fine-soled Chenqiao shoes and plain cloth socks; in his hand he waved a gold-flecked fan, which made him appear even more like Zhang Sheng and Pan An.

Before he could deduce the identity from the text and the scene.

A sweet, delicate voice called out to him:

"My lord Ximen! I have poisoned that short, ugly pancake seller. From now on, we can live happily ever after."

A tremendous shock ran through Wang Cheng's mind.

The identity he had assumed was none other than Ximen Da Guanren, a fifth-rank official in charge of criminal investigation, a general bestowed with the title of Martial Strategy, and the richest man in Qinghe County, Dongping Prefecture!
It's not Ximen Qing from "Water Margin", but from another once-popular fan fiction book that was banned.

Why was Wang Cheng able to make this conclusion?
Because he possesses a bookworm spirit that can navigate the sea of ​​books, instantly searching for the full text of all documents.

It is clear that the novel *Water Margin* only used the word "alluring" to simply describe Pan Jinlian, and did not even mention Ximen Qing's appearance.

Since there are descriptions of someone as handsome as Zhang Sheng and Pan An, it can only be the latter.

"The world only knows that the author of Jin Ping Mei called himself 'Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng,' but no one knows his true identity."

In retrospect, the person who orchestrated the kidnapping of officials in the world of the book is very likely the author of "Jin Ping Mei" himself.

Since he possessed the original manuscript of "The Loyal and Righteous Water Margin," his status in the literary world was definitely not simple; he was probably one of the key figures of the "pure stream" faction!

However, Wang Cheng still felt a bit of a toothache looking at Pan Jinlian in his arms.

A quick comparison reveals that Ximen Qing, as an outstanding representative of "Pan, Donkey, Deng, Xiao, and Xian," truly matches his own qualities.

Even their official rank was only fifth grade.

"What are you thinking about, my lord?"

Pan Jinlian looked up at her handsome and wealthy lover, recalling his dissolute past, and suddenly said shyly and timidly:

"If my lord wishes to have some fun in front of that dead ghost's spirit, I will do as you say."

A set of mourning clothes has already been bought. I'll change into them and let my lord see if I look pretty or not.

Before Wang Cheng could reply, she took out a set of mourning clothes and began to undress, revealing her beautiful arms and legs.

It has to be said that there is a reason why "Jin Ping Mei" is so incredibly popular now.

Food and sex!

Huang's vow to never reconcile with gambling and drugs has gained widespread acceptance, which speaks volumes.

"But I've heard that many novelists have a quirk: they like to write about the opposite sex they can't have in their books."

Once the world in the book takes shape, you can then immerse yourself in the protagonist's world, indulging in fantasies and even revelry.

Based solely on the title of "Number One Imperial Uncle Under Heaven" in *Jin Ping Mei*, rather than believing that this Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng is a virtuous gentleman, it's better to believe that I, Lord Wang, can remain unmoved like Liu Xiahui with a woman in my lap."

Wang Cheng dared not stay in the same room with Pan Jinlian any longer, and turned to leave.

He had just seen that A Xiao had also been drawn into the world of the book, but he didn't know whether she had entered "Water Margin" or "Jin Ping Mei" or which character she had taken on.

Worried that something might happen to her, I wanted to go find her and meet up with her first.

As for the third senior brother Zheng Qian, who has been missing for many days, he can only be ranked second. Anyway, he has been missing for so long, so a few more days won't make a difference.

"Third senior brother, after we get out, I'll treat you to a song at the brothel."

Just as he was about to leave Pan Jinlian, whose clothes were half undressed, he pushed open the door and went out.

Suddenly, someone shouted in the street:

"Our tiger-fighting hero from Yanggu County is back!"

"Why is Captain Wu back so early today!"

Then a figure rushed up the two-story building with lightning speed.

Bang!
The door was pushed open, and a tall, burly man carrying wine and meat rushed in like the wind.

"Brother, sister-in-law, Wu Song is back."

The next moment, the room became eerily quiet.

(End of this chapter)