Painter

Chapter 88: Life and Death
Qingyin Lane and Gantang Lane are both in Changlefang, less than half an hour away from each other.

When Xu Yingqiu and Li Chan came to Gu Jiuniang's residence, they saw a few safety symbols in black and white letters messily pasted on the closed door. Strips of white linen hanging from the beams of the door vaguely wrote "Tai Shang" and "You Guang" on them. "Wait for cinnabar words.It's the Taoist peace mantra, but the dark red handwriting doesn't make people feel safe, and it looks a little weird instead.

Gu Jiuniang had been nicknamed a dumb woman before she was alive, but on the day she died strangely, the neighbors heard strange singing coming from the house.

Standing at the door of the house, Xu Yingqiu saw several rays of sunlight coming from nowhere and reflected on the wooden door.He followed the light and saw that the houses on the opposite side of the alley had Eight Diagrams mirrors hanging at the door to drive away evil spirits.He asked: "That night when I saw Jiuniang's performance, she didn't seem to be suffering from a serious illness. Why did she pass away suddenly after not seeing her for a few days?"

Li Chan looked at the peace talismans, these talismans were obviously posted by neighbors, he replied: "Recently, Xuan is not very peaceful."

Xu Yingqiu twitched his eyebrows, took a deep look at Li Chan, and changed the topic: "Where is she buried?"

Li Chan said: "It's not far away, come with me."

Li Chan walked to the west of Gantang Lane, Xu Yingqiu stepped up to follow, then looked back at the door, sighing inwardly.

……

To the north of Changlefang is Yanshoufang, where Liquan Temple is located.

Li Chan and Xu Yingqiu walked through the stele, bypassed the release pond, and arrived at the Buddha Hall.The novice monk who was cleaning under the three-body Buddha asked the two of them why they came, and then led them to the Drum Tower on the west side of the Buddha Hall.

Behind the Drum Tower, there is a forest of pagodas, and the Lingjiu Pagoda stands among the ancient cypresses and stone pagodas.The space inside the tower is spacious and the light is bright. Even in the daytime, the yellow candles on the candle holders are not economized.In the large stone incense burner in the center of the pagoda, there are 33 incense sticks as thick as a child's arm, and countless small incense sticks.

The sandalwood smoke is like haze, and the yellow-robed monks are chanting scriptures in it, and the sound echoes between the walls of the tower, back and forth endlessly.

Xu Yingqiu looked up at the bottom of the pagoda, from the bottom to the top of the pagoda, the walls were densely packed with people's names and birthdays and death dates.The words on the bottom floor are engraved on the wall, and there are tablets on the top floor.The prices of the names of people engraved on the walls are calculated according to the number of layers, and the cheapest one costs 50 taels of silver.

On the side of the bottom of the tower, Li Chan looked at the two names on the wall of the tower, and said: "Jiu Niang played the piano in the Jiaofang Division in the early years, and learned a whole body of music skills. Waste your skills. Nie Sanlang has always wanted to cure the mute's voice, but after years of hard work, it didn't work, so he found another way and invited a demon god."

Xu Yingqiu said: "The demon god can cure her throat?"

Li Chan shook her head, "It can only be cured for a while. The demon god can let her finish singing a song at the fish and dragon meeting, but the price of singing this song is to completely destroy her voice. At first I thought Jiu Niang was unwilling to admit defeat, but it turns out , she played the pipa for him. Something happened to Nie Sanlang, and Jiuniang died in love."

Xu Yingqiu has been lingering for many years, looking at Gu Jiuniang's name, it seems to bring back memories of the past.After a long silence, he sighed: "The firework woman's chastity is not in her skin."

Li Chan went to the monk who was chanting sutras, brought three sticks of incense sticks, and put them in the incense cauldron.The monks of Liquan Temple said that after a person dies, he is still dying in the world for 49 days, and his soul can be eaten.The service of offering incense and incense is naturally included in the 50 taels of money.

After burning the incense, Li Chan called Xu Yingqiu to leave the Vulture Pagoda.Sandalwood smoke filled the air behind Xu Yingqiu, and Sanskrit sounds echoed, faintly, as if outside the human world.

He said melancholy: "I promised to write lyrics for Gu Jiuniang, but unexpectedly it became a deadly poem. After Xue Jian left, few people could play the five-string pipa. It was a chance to hear Jiuniang's pipa. Now Jiuniang Once we go, it will be difficult for anyone to play that song. Does Jiuniang have any descendants?"

"I gave birth to a daughter, who is already 16 years old."

"That girl suddenly lost her parents...how did her father die?"

Li Chan walked into the Tallinn, stopped and looked at Shifutu next to him, "The person who killed Nie Sanlang has a lot of power behind him. In the eyes of that person, Nie Sanlang is just a Hulang in the West City. If you kill him, you will kill him." I won't take it to heart. But Nie Sanlang is my good friend, I can't let Nie Sanlang die in vain."

Xu Yingqiu asked: "Who killed him?"

Li Chan asked back: "Does Xu Lang know that there are demons haunting Xuandu City recently, killing gods and disrupting the market?"

Xu Yingqiu pondered for a while, "I heard a little bit."

Li Chan said: "Nie Sanlang died because of this."

Xu Yingqiu's expression became serious, and he realized what Li Chan was pointing at.He appreciates Li Chan's superb painting skills, but he doesn't think Li Chan can draw his sword against the unpredictable enemy.If the relationship between the two is limited to calligraphy, painting and poetry, Xu Yingqiu can keep the friendship between gentlemen as light as water, but if it involves too many entanglements, it is difficult for him to imitate the heroic feelings of the three cups of turmoil.

The east wind is blowing, and the ancient cypresses are gloomy.The two were silent for a while under the Vulture Tower.

Li Chan broke the silence: "Although I have many helpers, none of them are very visible. So I want to ask Xu Lang for a favor."

Xu Yingqiu said: "I'm just a scholar."

Li Chan said: "I heard that Xu Lang's teacher is a great scholar of the Yangmen, and that Shen Heyi is also a great scholar of the Yangmen. I have heard that the people of the Yangmen have great spirit and can fight dragons and snakes with their bare hands. Xu Lang will definitely not sit back and watch the monster do it for him." Disaster Xuandu."

Xu Yingqiu fixed his eyes on Li Chan, and said solemnly: "Do you want to avenge Nie Sanlang and Gu Jiuniang, or is someone wanting you to avenge them?"

Li Chan said: "Xu Lang doesn't need to think about anything. I only went to Qingque Palace to see the mountain gate for two years. I couldn't climb up to Cui Zhao's family, and I couldn't get into the eyes of King Zhenxi. I came from Taodu Mountain, except me. I am not with anyone."

Taodu Mountain?Xu Yingqiu raised his eyebrows, and recalled in his heart whether there was any Li family who committed a serious crime and was exiled to Taodu Mountain in the past [-] years.

At this time, Li Chan said: "Since Xu Lang agreed to write the lyrics for the score, don't you want to listen to the whole piece? At the Fish and Dragon Meeting the day after tomorrow, Xu Lang can finish listening to this piece, but if there are twists and turns in the piece, please let me know." Help Xu Lang, take down the place."

Xu Yingqiu couldn't help but glanced at the Vulture Pagoda, wondering: "The man is dead, why should the song continue?"

Li Chan said: "What if you die and come back to life?"

(End of this chapter)