Folklore and Strange Tales: At the Start, You Retrieve the Sea-Suppressing Black Iron

Chapter 130 A fake effeminate voice can't open the Cheng family's jar; a steamed bun wrapper containing dirty money is nailed with black thread instead.

"Hold the paper down!"

Tang Wanqing flicked out the red thread, which wrapped around the wet paper at Xiaoxing's feet. The paper bulged with sharp nail shadows, making the copper coins on the bun skin hot.

Xiaoxing's wrists were numb, and tears streamed down her chin.

Tong Kexin squatted down behind her, pressing the long spoon handle against the edge of the copper coin.

"Don't let go."

Xiao Xing nodded, trembling.

"I won't."

Sun Daqiang lay on the ground, his eyes shining.

"It's open, and once it's open, it's all mine."

Tieguai Li cursed from half a street away.

"Go to hell!"

He wanted to go back to the pot, but the wooden sign in the crack of the willow shop door was still pushing outwards, and the wrench was stuck in the crack, unable to be pulled out.

Cheng Xiaojin did not turn around.

"Shaobai, place the account book behind her heels so she doesn't bump into the nail."

Han Shaobai ran over with the account book in his arms.

As soon as the ledger hit the ground, He Xiulan's page turned to itself, and the ink-written characters covered Xiao Xing's shadow.

The nail shadow shrank down by half a point.

The compass needle of Zhou Banxian wandered aimlessly, eventually piercing the copper coin with the character "Lin".

"The black thread is still attached, the mother coin is wrapped in the dumpling skin, and the daughter coin is hidden in the knot."

Tong Kexin looked at the neck of the red-clothed vengeful corpse.

"Sister Xiulan, give me the rope."

He Xiulan raised her hand and pulled the rope, burning off half of her finger with black oil, but she quickly replaced it.

Xiao Xing cried out.

"Mom, don't touch it, it hurts."

He Xiulan's empty eye sockets turned to the child.

She tore the broken rope off little by little, revealing half a coin hidden in the knot.

The character "林" is crooked, and the spaces between the characters are full of black oil.

Cheng Xiaojin stood in front of the willow shop, three sounds overlapping in his ears.

The nail shadow in Xiaoxing's shadow, the nail hole on the willow shop's wooden sign, and the sound of nail caps in the ashtray's interlayer all swirled into a single, subtle sound.

Before Shen Jiulou's copper plate made any sound, Boss Lin had already secretly used his coin to pave the way.

"Kexin, don't take a cut."

Tong Kexin stopped her wrist.

"How do I do it?"

"Make Sun Daqiang admit responsibility."

Sun Daqiang wiped the rag out of his mouth, turned his head and shouted.

"I don't acknowledge it, it has nothing to do with me."

"Iron-Crutch Li roared."

"Han Shaobai, pry his mouth open."

Han Shaobai gritted his teeth, picked up the rolling pin, and squatted down in front of Sun Daqiang.

"Sun Daqiang, you harmed He Xiulan, kidnapped Xiaoxing, and even used a corpse's rope to make soup. Do you admit to these crimes?"

Sun Daqiang spat in his face.

"Boss Han, you're the one who asked me to set up this stall."

Han Shaobai wiped the saliva off his face, his ears turning bright red.

"I'm offering a live meal."

He turned to Sun Daqiang's page in the ledger and pressed his finger on the stall name.

"You've got a bad taste in your mouth."

Sun Daqiang sneered.

"If I'm not in trouble, the seventh gate will open sooner."

Han Shaobai gripped the rolling pin, his hand trembled twice, then he steadied it.

"I'll treat you to ten more hot meals."

He slapped the page of the ledger in front of Sun Daqiang's face.

"Your attempt to kill off your family doesn't count."

The red-clad vengeful corpse dragged forward with a broken rope, and Zi Qianying aimed at Sun Daqiang's forehead.

Sun Daqiang shrank his neck.

"Sister-in-law, I was wrong."

Cheng Xiaojin immediately spoke up.

"Call out their full names."

Sun Daqiang's throat bobbed.

"He Xiulan, I was wrong."

Zhou Banxian pointed his tobacco pipe at the bottom of the pot.

"Where did we go wrong?"

Sun Daqiang's eyes darted around as the broken rope was pressed against his throat.

"I have the property certificate, and I also took the stall stamp."

Tong Kexin tilted the long spoon to one side.

"then."

"I burned the rope and the stool."

"then."

"I put the ash into the mutton soup."

Zi Qianying moved half an inch closer to his brow.

Sun Daqiang looked at Xiaoxing, his face twitching.

"I drew blood from the child."

The copper coin wrapper in Xiaoxing's hand was getting hot, and black oil from the character "Lin" seeped out from inside the wrapper.

Tong Kexin pressed it back down with the long spoon handle.

Cheng Xiaojin asked.

"Who will receive the blood?"

Sun Daqiang gritted his teeth.

The broken rope was pressed against his throat.

He immediately shouted it out.

"Boss Lin!"

"Where was it given to you?"

"Outside the ghost market, at the back door of the old teahouse."

"How many times?"

"Three times."

"What does he need the blood for?"

Sun Daqiang closed his eyes and squeezed out air from his throat.

He said the child's blood and sweat were pure, which would allow him to recognize the small mouth first at the seventh gate.

Zhou Banxian nearly dropped the compass while cursing.

Tang Wanqing stared at Xiao Xing's feet.

"Dingying has quit."

The small peak in the middle of the wet paper gradually flattens out.

But the wooden sign inside the willow shop protruded an inch further.

The wrench in Tieguai Li's hand was bent by the pressure.

"Cheng Xiaojin, we can't hold them off here!"

Liu Bai pressed half her face against the crack in the door, and a bluish-white light leaked out from behind her shoulder.

The fake Lu Mingzhu's voice came out from inside the door again.

"Xiao Jin, Mom was wrong."

Cheng Xiaojin stared at the crack in the door.

"What's wrong?"

There was a pause inside the door.

"Mom shouldn't have left."

Cheng Xiaojin chuckled.

"You learn very quickly."

Tang Wanqing wrapped a red thread around his sleeve.

"Don't say anything."

"It's mimicking my family's dialect, so I have to listen carefully."

The doorway softened again.

"There's someone knocking on the door in the ashtray, don't you want to check?"

Cheng Xiaojin asked.

What is my mom wearing on her left wrist?

The person inside answered quickly.

"Silver bracelet."

Tang Wanqing looked at him.

"Is it right?"

"wrong."

Cheng Xiaojin looked up.

"Lu Mingzhu sold a silver bracelet and bought me cotton shoes."

"Later, she only wore a red string on her wrist, with a copper buckle on it."

There was no sound from inside the door.

Liu Bai spoke with difficulty.

"It digs up old stories, but it can't uncover the truth."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.

"You know quite a lot."

Liu Bai did not answer.

The fake Lu Mingzhu changed the subject again.

"Xiao Jin, Liu Bai wants to use the Heart-Piercing Nail to save the Liu family's ancestor."

Tieguai Li's wrench creaked.

"Hey, that sounds kind of true."

Liu Bai's lips were bloodless.

"The seventh gate needs to be repaired, and the life of the Liu family member must be saved."

Tang Wanqing said coldly.

"Whose lives are being sacrificed to save them?"

Liu Bai looked at Cheng Xiaojin.

"Back then, Cheng Shouyi didn't fully explain the price he would pay."

Cheng Xiaojin pulled the red thread on her cuff back an inch, but instead took a half step back.

"Brother Li, loosen the wrench."

Tieguai Li glared.

"Open the door once it's loosened."

Loosen it by half an inch.

Tang Wanqing frowned.

"Too dangerous."

Cheng Xiaojin stared at the wooden sign peeking through the crack in the door.

"The wooden sign has three nail holes, but the nail in the middle is missing."

"It wants to suck the shadow nail under Xiaoxing's feet."

"Don't give it Xiaoxing."

Tong Kexin called out from beside the pot.

"What should we give it?"

Cheng Xiaojin flicked the tip of her shoe, and Lin Zimu's money, which was wrapped in a bun skin, rolled halfway around.

"Give it this dirty nail."

Zhou Banxian's eyes lit up.

"Put it back on?"

"They borrow money to lure the nail's shadow, and we use money to plug the nail's hole."

Tieguai Li grinned.

"Five cents pliers to sever a puppet corpse, a steamed bun skin nail to the seventh gate, our business is getting more and more shabby."

Han Shaobai asked urgently.

"Who stuffed it?"

The streets quieted down.

Cheng Xiaojin is off-limits.

Tang Wanqing couldn't let the red thread touch the character "Lin" (林).

Liu Bai is not credible.

Tong Kexin wants to protect Xiao Xing.

Tieguai Li was blocking the door.

Little Apricot looked up.

"I'll do it."

Tong Kexin held her down.

"no."

Xiaoxing wiped away her tears.

"It was attracted by my blood, I can press it back."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.

Are you scared?

"Afraid."

"Only those who are afraid yet still dare to do it can be considered alive."

"6

Tong Kexin's eyes were red, but she didn't let go of her hand.

"Cheng Xiaojin, she's still a child."

"That's why we don't let her touch money."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at Aunt Wang.

Do you have steamer clips?

Aunt Wang immediately turned over the stall and took out a pair of bamboo clips.

"Pick up the steamed buns."

"Wrap the dumpling skin in another layer, hold it with bamboo clips, and let the child hold only the end of the bamboo."

Han Shaobai wrapped Lin Ziqian's money in a steamed bun wrapper and then used the edge of an account book to pad it.

Aunt Wang picked it up with bamboo tongs and handed it to Xiao Xing.

Xiao Xing supported Zhu Wei, and Tong Kexin held her wrist behind her head.

Cheng Xiaojin shouted at Liupu.

"Brother Li, loosen it by half an inch."

Tieguai Li gritted his teeth and pulled the wrench away.

The wooden sign emerged from the crack in the door, with three nail holes on it. The middle one was so dark and shiny that it seemed to be drawn towards the nail shadows at Xiaoxing's feet.

The wet paper made a rustling sound.

Tang Wanqing tightened the red thread around the corner of the paper, and the veins on the back of her hand bulged.

"quick!"

Xiao Xing held up the bamboo clamp, her legs too weak to stand up straight.

Tong Kexin supported her back.

"Look through the nail hole, not through the door."

The fake Lu Mingzhu shouted again.

"Xiaoxing, come here, Auntie will give you candy."

Xiao Xing cried and cursed.

"I don't want your candy!"

The bamboo clips were pushed forward.

The coins wrapped in the dumpling skin were perfectly inserted into the nail hole in the middle of the wooden sign.

Black oil spurted out of the nail hole and was absorbed by the bun skin.

The copper coin with the character "林" spun halfway around inside the wooden plaque and then got stuck.

A muffled groan came from inside the willow shop.

That voice wasn't Liu Bai's.

It's a man.

Cheng Xiaojin's ears immediately perked up.

The muffled groan carried the echo of the bronze plate from Deshengmen.

Boss Lin suffered a backlash on the other end.

Tieguai Li laughed loudly.

"It's done!"

The compass needle of Zhou Banxian swung back, and the broken meal ticket cabinet door snapped shut an inch and a half later.

The nail shadows beneath Xiaoxing's feet sank into the shadows.

The wet paper burned a black hole, leaving only a corner pressed onto the account book.

He Xiulan took a step forward, her palm hovering above Xiao Xing's head.

This time, no black oil dripped down.

Xiao Xing looked up and cried.

"mom."

He Xiulan's hand didn't actually fall; she only lightly touched it through the steam of the old soup.

Sun Daqiang curled up into a ball, still muttering to himself.

"Boss Lin will come to save me, but Master Shen won't let you get away with this."

Cheng Xiaojin turned her face away.

"Shen Jiulou will not bail out a bad debt."

As soon as he finished speaking, the broken rope around Sun Daqiang's neck tightened on its own.

Tieguai Li rushed over and grabbed the knot in the rope.

"Who moved it?"

Cheng Xiaojin heard the last bit of money inside the broken rope shatter.

He Xiulan did not make a move.

Lin Ziqian was stuffed into the wooden sign, the money was cut off, and it backfired on Sun Daqiang.

Tang Wanqing swung out the red thread, which tangled with the broken rope and dragged her out.

"We can't let him die."

Tong Kexin poured a spoonful of soup onto the knotted rope.

Sun Daqiang gasped for breath, his face turning ashen.

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the wooden sign inside the willow shop.

Lin Ziqian got stuck in the nail hole, and black oil slowly seeped out to form a new character.

Shen.

Liu Bai pressed half of his face against the crack in the door, his lips moving slightly.

"This coin doesn't belong to Boss Lin."

Cheng Xiaojin tapped lightly inside his sleeve with his fingertips.

Deep within the willow grove, the voice of the fake Lu Mingzhu chuckled against the door panel.

"Cheng Xiaokou, this nail's surname is Shen."

"So what if your surname is Shen? You still have to pay me back first!"

As Cheng Xiaojin finished speaking, the coin in the middle of the wooden plaque turned halfway through the nail hole, the bun skin turned black, and the oil from the meat filling seeped down the wood grain, revealing the character "Shen".

Tieguai Li used a wrench to wed the crack in the door of Liupu, his arm veins bulging.

"Cheng Xiaojin, this lousy sign is just eating money away."

"Let it eat!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"Dirty money going into dirty eyes, too much of it will make you choke!"

Inside the willow shop, the fake Lu Mingzhu's smile clung to the door panel, trying to climb out.

"Xiao Jin, you're still so stingy."

Cheng Xiaojin twirled the cigarette between his fingers halfway through. "You dare to come back after calling the wrong number once? You've got some nerve."

Inside the door, the address changed to "Cheng Xiaokou" (meaning "Cheng the Stingy").

The final syllable rises slightly, evoking a sense of antiquity.

Tang Wanqing finished reeling in the red thread, pulling the end of the thread to reveal a small gold cuff.

"Don't let it trick you into revealing information."

"Don't worry, when my mom scolds me for being stingy, she'll add the second half of that sentence."

Tieguai Li shouted.

"What should I supplement?"

"Don't skimp on food money, we can't let people go hungry."

There was silence inside the door, and Tong Kexin sneered by the pot.

"Even a real mother can't fully imitate a man, and a fake one saves on labor. It's outrageous."

Xiao Xing knelt beside the account book, her hand resting on the end of the bamboo clip. The dumpling skin on the end of the clip had turned black, and the copper coin was stuck in the wooden sign without falling out.

Han Shaobai held the account book, ink staining half of his sleeve.

"Brother Cheng, He Xiulan's page is...it has a fever!"

"Don't close it!"

"When my dad saw this ledger, he assumed I had used it to make mutton soup."

Zhou Banxian placed the compass face down on the ground and tapped the edge of the compass twice with his pipe.

"Shen Ziqian is cunning; this is a job that Boss Lin can't handle."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "He doesn't have that skill. Boss Lin is the pimp, and Shen Jiulou collects the money."

Sun Daqiang lay on the ground, the broken rope steaming from being soaked in the old soup, and he even rubbed his face against the bottom of the pot with the blue bricks.

"Master Shen, Master Shen will come, humph!"

Tong Kexin touched the tip of his nose with a long spoon.

"What's he here for? To collect your corpse or help you pack up your stall? You wish!

Cheng Xiaojin stopped half a step away, his toes touching a drop of black oil on the ground.

There was a faint sound coming from under the black oil: three times, paused once, then three more times.

"Sun Daqiang, what kind of needle did you use when you drew blood from the child?"

Sun Daqiang gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Tong Kexin raised her hand to slap him.

Cheng Xiaojin said, "Don't hit him. If you hurt him, he'll talk nonsense, and the door will suffer the consequences."

"How can we get him to talk?"

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the mutton soup pot, "Let him smell the soup you made yourself."

Sun Daqiang's expression changed.

"You dare!"

Tieguai Li was amused.

"Getting impatient? Aren't you the one who sells mutton soup?"

Han Shaobai moved the account book behind him.

"Brother Li, there's ash in this soup."

"He put it in himself, hmm—this is called using the original broth to digest the original food."

Aunt Wang pulled Xiaoxing into her arms.

"Xiao Xing, don't look."

Xiao Xing didn't close her eyes, and bit her lip, leaving a mark.

"I want to hear what he has to say."

Tong Kexin scooped up half a spoonful of soup. The soup was dark in color, with ink floating on top of the falsified document.

Sun Daqiang shrank back, but the broken rope tightened, and he fell back to the ground.

Tieguai Li grabbed his chin.

Open your mouth.

"I won't drink it."

Tang Shun drooled from the corner of his mouth, bubbling as he landed.

Cheng Xiaojin said, "No need to force-feed him anymore, that blister on his lip is enough."

Zhou Banxian leaned closer, his compass needle pointing back and forth at the bubbles in the soup.

There are blood streaks in the blister.

Cheng Xiaojin bent down and listened for a moment.

"The needle is hollow, with black thread wrapped around its end. It's pulled out once, rinsed once, and ends up next to the mutton soup pot three times."

Xiao Xing whispered, "Three times—"

The first time I said I'd buy candy, the second time I said I'd get vaccinated, and the third time I said I was being disobedient and needed a prick to behave.

Tong Kexin rubbed a shiny mark on the edge of the pot with a long spoon.

"Sun Daqiang".

She only called his name, and Sun Daqiang was already trembling.

Tang Wanqing stared at Xiao Xing's feet.

"The nail shadow retreated half a step."

Han Shaobai's pen tip landed on the account page.

"The child's blood was drawn three times, and Boss Lin took it."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "Write it clearly: the outer perimeter of the Ghost Market, the back door of the old teahouse."

Han Shaobai added the location.

"The seventh gate acknowledges the debts and also recognizes old cases."

As soon as the ink touched the paper, the Shen character on the wooden sign rattled, and half of the bun's skin split open.

Liu Bai groaned inside the door, half his face hitting the door frame, dust smearing from his forehead.

"It's going to spit out money."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "You can't vomit."

Tang Wanqing flicked the red thread, and as soon as it touched the outer edge of the wooden sign, the thread turned black, pulling her wrist forward an inch.

Liu Bai became anxious.

"Don't touch the cards!"

Cheng Xiaojin stepped on the end of the red line.

"Break!"

Tang Wanqing used a silver needle to cut the thread with her backhand; the black thread fell to the ground and disappeared into the crack between the bricks.

Tong Kexin poured a spoonful of old soup over, and smoke rose from the cracks in the bricks, while the black line stopped moving.

Tieguai Li's wrench was about to give way.

"Cheng Xiaojin, the sign is in my hand."

"Let it out an inch."

Tieguai Li cursed Song Li, and a wooden sign peeked out from the crack in the door an inch and a half ahead.

Three strands of hair were pasted on the back of the wooden sign: one was yellowish and oily, one was grayish-white with rope dust, and the other was short with dried blood hanging from the end.

Xiao Xing snuggled into Aunt Wang's arms.

"That's...that should be mine."

Cheng Xiaojin's eyelids drooped down.

"Don't be afraid, your hair is here, it's better than it being in someone else's hands."

Han Shaobai asked, "Cut it off?"

"Don't cut it, just steam it."

Aunt Wang gripped the lid of the steamer basket.

"Which end should we steam?"

"Steam your hair."

Tieguai Li laughed out loud.

"Shen Jiulou displays copper platters, we display steamers—a Beijing specialty."

Aunt Wang brought over the steamer lid, and Tong Kexin carried the steaming buns to the door. The steam rose upwards, and the aroma of the buns pushed back the cold, bluish-white air seeping through the crack in the door by half an inch.

Liu Bai's expression changed.

"Don't let the hot steam get too deep into Liupu."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.

"What are you afraid of?"

"If I were half inside, the hot steam would hit my waist and my bones would crack."

Tang Wanqing said, "That's the steamed card face."

Tieguai Li used a wrench to hold the bottom edge of the wooden sign horizontally, Aunt Wang tilted the steamer lid up, and Tong Kexin ladled hot soup onto the edge of the lid.

White steam was placed on the back of the wooden sign along the seam of the lid, and three strands of hair began to curl.

Sun Daqiang's yellowish hair first oozed black oil, which dripped onto the bun skin, and a fishy smell immediately came out.

Han Shaobai covered his nose.

"This smell is even stronger than the dead rats in my warehouse, it's amazing."

Tieguai Li glanced at him.

"Young master, your storeroom isn't clean either."

With a shake of its gray hair, the red-clad vengeful corpse took a step forward, its neck snapped and fell to the ground.

He Xiulan raised her hand and pointed to the gray hair on the back of the wooden sign.

Cheng Xiaojin said, "That was hair stuck to the rope; she never gave it to me."

Zhou Banxian smeared tobacco oil on the edge of the compass and flicked the wooden tablet.

When the oil droplet landed, the gray hair snapped in two with a sizzle.

The black liquid on the red-clad vengeful corpse receded slightly, and its hand pressed against the edge of the mutton soup pot, causing the green flame at the bottom of the pot to turn yellow.

A tiny red star appeared from the wick of the seventh extinguished lamp.

Han Shaobai's eyes lit up. "The lamp is coming back?"

Liu Bai stared at the short hair. "The child's bloody hair hasn't been cut off yet."

The short hair curled into small circles in the white steam, the center of the circles aligned with the nail hole of the wooden sign, and the Shen character money was pushed outwards.

Cheng Xiaojin heard the faint sobs hidden in the short hair, the sound of blood being drawn away three times.

He held the cigarette between his fingers, and his fingertips trembled slightly.

Tong Kexin immediately started scolding.

"Cheng Xiaojin, don't be foolish."

I won't touch it.

"Your eyes are restless."

"I'm poor, my eyesight isn't worth much."

Tang Wanqing applied a silver needle to his sleeve.

"Speak the law."

Cheng Xiaojin raised his chin and pointed to the steamed bun key in Xiaoxing's hand.

"After the child finished eating, the key recognized her and let the key's shadow bite her short hair."

Aunt Wang handed the key to Xiao Xing. The key was still wrapped in half of the bun, and the meat filling was oily and sticky.

Cheng Xiaojin said, "Don't take it out. Put the buns under the seventh lamp."

Xiao Xing carried the steamed buns forward, while Tong Kexin supported her back with one hand and used a long spoon to block the gap in the door with the other.

The fake Lu Mingzhu spoke again, "Xiao Xing, give the key to Auntie."

Xiao Xing gritted her teeth.

"I know, the adults told me you're not a real aunt."

"I'll buy you candy."

Xiaoxing shook her head in refusal, tears still streaming down her face.

The steamed bun was placed under the seventh lamp, and the red star of the lamp wick was stuck to the bun's skin. The shadow of the key fell obliquely onto the back of the wooden sign, right on top of that short hair.

My short hair made me feel flustered.

Cheng Xiaojin immediately said, "The neighbors are calling her by her name."

2

Aunt Wang called out first, "Sun Xiaoxing, dinner's ready."

Grandpa Li continued, "Sun Xiaoxing, back to your stall."

Old Zhao, the shoe repairman, called out, "Sun Xiaoxing, the shoes haven't been repaired yet."

Tong Kexin bent down to get closer to the child.

"Sun Xiaoxing, hold onto the key tightly, don't give it to any unscrupulous people."

Xiao Xing nodded vigorously, and the shadow of the key bit forward.

My short hair broke.

The character "沈" was stuck in the nail hole of the wooden sign, and black oil flowed back into the coin's seam, so the character "林" could no longer be seen, leaving only a crooked "沈".

A muffled thud came from inside the willow shop gate as a bronze plate overturned.

Cheng Xiaojin tilted his ear to the side and said, "Boss Lin is spitting blood."

Tieguai Li grinned, "How many steamed buns did this cost?"

Aunt Wang had a cold face.

"One steamed bun, two yuan and fifty cents."

Tieguai Li hoisted the wrench onto his shoulder.

"Two yuan and fifty cents to slap Shen Men, that's too good for his grandma."

Liu Bai pressed half his face against the crack in the door, his gaze falling on Xiao Xing's feet.

"Dingying has gone back."

""

Tang Wanqing stared at the wet, torn edge of the paper.

"We're almost out of paper."

Just as Cheng Xiaojingang was about to speak, the dilapidated meal ticket cabinet exhaled a breath of cold air.

A hand with neatly manicured nails reached out from the crack in the cabinet door again.

This time it didn't offer paper; instead, it offered a small brass button covered in cigarette ash.

A red rope, half-stranded, was attached to the brass buckle. The cigarette in Cheng Xiaojin's hand fell to the ground with a thud.

"Don't touch it!"

Tang Wanqing swung the red thread around Cheng Xiaojin's waist, and Tong Kexin looked up from the pot, pointing with a long spoon.

"Cheng Xiaojin, if you dare to reach out, I'll slap you back to Panjiayuan with a spoon."

Cheng Xiaojin stood still, his toes grinding against the cigarette on the ground.

Through the crack in the broken meal ticket locker door, slender fingers held a small brass clasp. The clasp's edges were worn round, the broken red rope was dark, and the clasp was smeared with cigarette ash, with white dust falling down.

Han Shaobai held the account book, his neck sticking out halfway before pulling back in.

"Brother Cheng, this time you got it right?"

Cheng Xiaojin did not reply.

Tieguai Li, holding the wooden sign with a wrench, also turned to look at him.

Cheng Xiaojin swallowed hard and stubbed out his cigarette in the crack between the bricks.

"A pair of brass buckles."

Tang Wanqing looked at the copper buckle, and the red thread tightened by half an inch.

"Oh, and we can't touch it either."

"I know."

"If you know it, then stop staring at it."

Cheng Xiaojin tugged at the red thread on her cuff.

"I'm poor, so I always take a second look at the old things in my house."

Tong Kexin gritted her teeth.

"You can look, but put your hands behind your back."

Cheng Xiaojin hid his hands behind his back, and Tieguai Li laughed.

"How rare, Cheng Xiaojin only listens to the two of you."

"Stop talking nonsense and don't loosen the wrench."

Liu Bai pressed half his face against the crack in the door, his gaze fixed on the brass door knocker.

"Lu Mingzhu's?"

Cheng Xiaojin looked at him.

"Do you know him?"

Liu Bai's fingertips dug into the door frame, blood and ash clinging to his nails.

"She visited Liulichang twenty years ago."

Tieguai Li cursed, "It's been twenty years again! Don't you people have any other years to talk about?"

Zhou Banxian tapped the compass with his tobacco pipe.

"Let him speak."

Cheng Xiaojin asked, "Did she come to Liupu?"

Liu Bai nodded.

"Didn't go inside."

"What are you here for?"

"Find Cheng Shouyi."

The voice of the fake Lu Mingzhu emerged from the depths of Liupu.

"Xiao Jin, get the copper buckle, Mom will help you open the vat."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the hand in the crack of the cabinet.

"What's your rush?"

The voices inside the door softened.

"Mom is cold in the vat."

Tong Kexin sneered.

"If your mom is really cold, she'll scold your dad, then you. She has no right to play the victim with you."

Cheng Xiaojin turned her head to look at her.

"That makes sense."

Tang Wanqing looked at the seam of the cabinet.

"That hand was dry, and there was no Liu family wood ash on it."

Zhou Banxian pushed the compass forward half a foot, and the needle did not point to the copper buckle, but instead pointed to the account book.

"It recognizes the ledger."

Han Shao's face fell.

"They're using my family's account books again? Do you think I'll even make it back alive?"

Cheng Xiaojin said, "The ledger has a copper clasp."

Han Shaobai took half a step back.

"No, my hands are expensive, really expensive."

Tieguai Li glared at him.

"You said the same thing last time when I put wet paper in my hand."

"Wet paper is wet paper, but this is Brother Cheng's family matter."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at him.

"Young Bai".

Han Shaobai immediately stood up straight.

"Why."

Are you scared?

Han Shaobai glanced at the hand hidden in the crack of the cabinet, then at Xiao Xing. Xiao Xing was holding the steamed bun and key, her eyes red, but she didn't look away.

"Afraid."

Han Shaobai slapped the account book against his chest.

Just as Tieguai Li was about to scold him, he opened the account book again, saying, "But we can't lose to a child."

Aunt Wang snorted, "I didn't expect that she still has some humanity."

Han Shaobai used a blank page from the ledger to hold the brass clasp shut, preventing his hand from touching it. The slender fingers in the crack of the cabinet loosened and retreated into the darkness.

As soon as the copper buckle entered the ledger, the heat on He Xiulan's page subsided slightly, while the blank page on the other side was covered in cigarette ash.

The tobacco ash first disperses, then gathers into a half-vertical hook.

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the pen, its end sticking outwards; this time, it was correct.

Tieguai Li noticed the change in his expression.

"Is this your Zheng Gou?"

"Um."

The fake Lu Mingzhu stopped laughing inside the door, and Liu Bai also looked at the account book with a tight smile.

"This musty smell shouldn't be in the closet."

Cheng Xiaojin asked, "Then where should it be?"

Ashtray.

Tang Wanqing immediately said, "It's trying to lure you back to the ashtray."

Cheng Xiaojin nodded, "Then I won't go back."

The fake Lu Mingzhu's voice came through the crack in the door, sharp for a second.

"Aren't you going to save Mom?"

"save."

Tang Wanqing's red thread tightened, and Tong Kexin also raised her long spoon.

Cheng Xiaojin continued, "But saving people requires checking the accounts. I can't just hand over my entire savings to anyone who says they're my mother. I have to verify their identity."

Tieguai Li laughed and scolded, "That's the real Cheng Xiaokou."

The voice from inside the door uttered three words.

"Cheng Xiaokou" (a nickname implying someone who is stingy or cheap).

Cheng Xiaojin suddenly asked, "After my mother scolds Cheng Xiaokou (a nickname), who does she most like to make pay the bill?"

There was a pause inside the door. "Your dad."

Cheng Xiaojin shook his head.

"wrong."

Tong Kexin was stunned. "Not your dad?"

"She told me to ask Master Ma for credit."

Zhou Banxian exhaled a puff of smoke, "Lu Mingzhu's methods are quite unconventional."

Cheng Xiaojin peered through the crack in the door.

She said Cheng Shouyi was cleaner than his face, and Ma Wenchang was too proud to admit his shortcomings, so she was sure he would agree to pay on credit.

Tieguai Li slapped his thigh, "Now this is more like a mother's touch."

The fake Lu Mingzhu fell silent.

The brass clasp in the broken meal ticket cabinet was burned in the ledger, and the vertical hook of the cigarette ash filled in half a stroke.

Han Shaobai looked down, his throat weak.

"Brother Cheng, more words have appeared next to us."

"Don't let it get trapped in the jar—"

Tang Wanqing frowned.

"Can't you put the ashtray back in its place?"

Zhou Banxian's compass needle pierced the wooden sign of Liupu, then pierced back into the account book.

"If the copper buckle is put into the vat, it will form a bridge with the human heart nail."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "Shen Jiulou not only wants me to open the vat, but also wants me to send my mother's old belongings in."

Tong Kexin pressed the fire.

"He used your dad to hook you up, he used your mom to hook you up, is he going to bring out your kitchen spatula next?"

Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.

"My family used to be poor and didn't have spatulas."

Liu Bai suddenly spoke up, "Give me the copper buckle first."

Tieguai Li's wrench tilted to one side.

"Your face is fucking huge."

Dust dripped from Liu Bai's fingertips. "Liu Pu can block the air from entering through a door."

Tang Wanqing said coldly, "You've been half-eaten by the door, and you still expect me to breathe through it?"

"Because I was eaten, there are my bones inside the door."

Cheng Xiaojin asked, "What do you need the brass buttons for?"

Liu Bai looked at the red rope and copper buckle on the account book.

"Confirm which door Lu Mingzhu visited."

"The Buddha's belly at Boguzhai is the outer shell, the old Liu family shop is the back of the door latch, and the broken meal ticket cabinet is the account opening."

Tieguai Li grew impatient and said, "Speak like a human."

Liu Bai looked at Cheng Xiaojin.

"Twenty years ago, there was a half-door that was used to store old things of living people, but not living people."

1

The fake Lu Mingzhu's laughter emerged from behind the wooden sign; this time, she wasn't pretending, and her voice became dry and harsh.

"Liu Bai, you talk too much."

The character "沈" (Shen) in the middle of the wooden plaque sank inwards, the bun skin was squeezed into black dregs, and a thin black line protruded from the nail hole, heading straight for the copper clasp in the ledger.

Han Shaobai's hand trembled, and the account book almost slipped from his grasp.

Tang Wanqing used the red thread to block it, but the black thread brushed around the edge of the red thread and went straight into the blank page.

Cheng Xiaojin shouted: "Collect the ledger!"

Han Shaobai snapped the book shut, the black thread stuck between the pages, the cover bulging, revealing a jumble of things bulging inside.

"It bit my ledger!"

Han Shao's face turned pale.

Tieguai Li cursed, "I'll pay for the damaged ledger, but don't let go!"

Han Shaobai fell silent, clutching the ledger with both hands and pressing his knees against the cover.

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the margins of the account book.

"Shaobai, I need to check your family's accounts and get the official seal."

"On the first page."

"The page with the brass clasp."

"The ledgers are closed!"

"Separator cap".

Han Shaobai took out the red stamp, his fingertips covered in ink.

"What character is covered?"

"Boguzhai has been checked."

Tieguai Li laughed as he propped up the door.

"This is the first time the finance department has audited this weird thing."

Han Shaobai gritted his teeth, aimed the red stamp at the bulge, and pressed down hard.

Snapped!

The red seal shines through the cover, and the black lines in the ledger dart about haphazardly.

"Cover it again."

Snapped!

"Again?"

"Cover it until they acknowledge it."

Han Shaobai stamped the book three times, the last time knocking the red stamp askew. The black thread twitched twice in the ledger before retracting back to the wooden sign.

Cheng Xiaojin immediately said, "Aunt Wang, steamed bun lid."

Aunt Wang lifted the steamer lid and placed it on the ledger.

As the steam from the hot noodles rose, white smoke billowed from the cover of the account book, and the red rope and copper clasp inside jingled.

The compass needle of Zhou Banxian swings back and forth.

"It's blocked."

Han Shaobai slumped to the ground, clutching the account book tightly.

"If my ancestors knew that the Boguzhai red stamp could ward off evil spirits, would they climb out of their coffins and beat me?"

Cheng Xiaojin said, "Let your dad be the first to smoke, and then the ancestors will line up."

Xiao Xing suddenly spoke up.

"Uncle Cheng, the light is on."

The seventh nightlight at the entrance of Liupu was lit again.

The fire was only the size of a soybean, yet it pushed back the half-palm shadow under the threshold by half an inch.

The vengeful corpse in red, He Xiulan, stood beside the mutton soup pot. The black water on her body had receded considerably, revealing the worn texture of her red clothes, which had been stained by smoke.

She looked at Xiaoxing, and her lips moved.

"meal----"

Tong Kexin immediately picked up the steamed bun.

"Keep it for her."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "Don't feed it to the vengeful corpses. Put it by the pot and make a record of the food for the living."

Han Shaobai hurriedly flipped through the account book, but couldn't turn it through the steamer lid, so he anxiously tried to pry it open.

"The ledgers are locked up."

"6

"Then use your mouth to remember."

Han Shaobai looked up and said, "He Xiulan is the stall owner, Sun Xiaoxing is the key holder, Aunt Wang is the witness, Uncle Li is the witness, Tong Kexin is the witness, and Han Shaobai bought steamed buns on credit for two yuan and fifty cents."

Tieguai Li raised an eyebrow.

"That last sentence is acceptable."

Cheng Xiaojin listened to the wooden sign inside the willow shop.

After the Shen character coin was struck by the red stamp and the steamed bun, the sound lingered and sank deep into the wooden plaque.

There was a hole there, and of the three nail holes, only one fake coin hole had been patched up. The sound was still echoing deep inside.

The sound of nails scraping against porcelain, the sound from the ashtray, echoed across Liulichang.

Cheng Xiaojin looked up at Liu Bai, "You just said that ashtrays are door dust."

Liu Bai's face turned ashen.

"Yes."

"Who took it out?"

Liu Bai's lips moved slightly, the tattered meal ticket cabinet shook on its own, and the brass clasp under the account book jingled twice.

Zhou Banxian's expression changed.

"The copper plate at Deshengmen is receiving the bill."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the account book in Han Shaobai's arms.

The red stamp on the cover of the ledger is turning black.

An address emerged from the black mark.

Outside the ghost market, at the back door of the old teahouse.