I played the world alone

Chapter 476: Speculation of True Identity (-in-)

The shopkeeper lowered his head and looked at the portrait carefully, and subconsciously thought that it must be a way of making money that these officers and soldiers had come up with, similar to forced buying and selling. After all, how could he save his life with this piece of scrap paper?

He couldn't help but frown, and secretly cursed twice for being shameless. He even wanted to scrape some money out of such a small business, but there was nothing he could do.

After thinking about it, I could only ask cautiously with a smiling face: "Master, I wonder how much this thing costs? You also know that our business has not been good due to the ghosts and ghosts in the past two days. We really don't have much money left in our account..."

Before he could finish speaking, the officers and soldiers waved their hands impatiently: "What nonsense are you talking about? These are kindly given to you by the governor, to protect you against ghosts."

"You should keep it for yourselves. This thing is so precious now that it doesn't have much at all. If you lose it, you will be killed by ghosts at night and you will be worthy of death."

"what?!"

The teahouse manager suddenly opened his mouth, looking shocked.

I lowered my head and looked at the portrait again, feeling unreliable no matter how I thought about it.

But seeing those officers and soldiers leaving in a hurry immediately after finishing speaking, and indeed having no intention of collecting money, I couldn't help but feel relieved secretly.

He quickly closed the door and put the bolt in place, then turned around and threw the seemingly useless portrait to the clerk.

It was difficult for the two of them to stand firm.

It rang several times in succession, attracting both of their attention.

Although the clerk couldn't read, he could still understand the portrait. He just looked up and down carefully and couldn't see anything, so he couldn't help but feel a little confused.

Tables, chairs, bowls, chopsticks and benches were all thrown away.

He didn't want to offend the customer, maybe it was just a drunkard passing by who wanted to ask for a cup of tea, so he didn't use a harsh tone.

The shopkeeper yawned and said impatiently: "Who knows if it's true or not, but this portrait is really not that good. It's not as heroic and mighty as the door god posted on our wall."

"Ah! Ghost!"

"The people outside don't seem to be ordinary people..."

"Could it be true?!"

The two people inside also realized that something was wrong, and took two steps back with fearful expressions.

"But you can't just throw it away. It won't be good if the officers and soldiers come to check again tomorrow..." He touched his beard and considered it carefully before finally making a decision.

The painting was done very quickly, and they didn't even have time to think about it. In the next second, they saw the red light quickly condensed into a rather temporary human shape, dressed in a mighty red robe, with an amazing momentum. Just one look at it made people's eyes wander. It hurts slightly, as if looking directly at the sun!

Immediately, the human figure roared angrily, and the invisible sound wave actually started a strong wind, making the window curtains and the flags outside rustle, as if they would be blown apart at any time.

"Boom boom boom!"

This horrifying scene frightened the two of them, and they screamed and ran towards the back.

The shopkeeper looked confused. He looked back at the old man who suddenly stopped and seemed to be running away. He couldn't help but ask the waiter in a low voice.

The person standing outside the door before was an old man in mourning clothes. His whole body was pale and there was no trace of blood, and he was stained with a lot of mud. He looked like he had just crawled out of the grave.

"Shopkeeper, do you think this portrait is real or fake? An official as big as the Governor shouldn't make fun of us casually."

The next second, a burst of intense red light suddenly burst out from the portrait, almost covering up the light of the candles, and instantly attracted the attention of the two shopkeepers.

"Boom boom boom!"

The two of them were so frightened that they couldn't care less about anything else. They threw everything at hand just to get a chance to survive.

The shopkeeper took two steps forward and shouted.

"This...I don't know either." The man was even more stunned.

"If the door god doesn't even use it, then this thing is probably useless."

And the scene outside the door was completely revealed in front of them.

The old man immediately chased after them, but he was jumping up and down like a zombie, with his hands stretched out in front of him, but his speed was not slow at all, and he was almost catching up with them in the blink of an eye!

"Life-saving thing..."

"what happened?"

However, the old man's speed did not slow down at all, but became faster and faster as if he was irritated!

Seeing that the old man's fingers were almost poking him, the guy who was running a little behind could almost feel the biting coldness behind his back, and subconsciously threw away the portrait he just brought along with him. Got out.

"Just post it here, make it more conspicuous, so that if the officers and soldiers come to check tomorrow, they can see it and save some trouble."

The man nodded and was about to do as he was told when he suddenly heard a heavy and rhythmic knock on the door that had just been closed.

"Guest, we're closed here. Come back tomorrow morning!"

The wooden door, which was not very strong in the first place, suddenly crumbled amidst the series of banging sounds.

Originally, he had no hope at all, but to his surprise, the old man who had been moving forward just now seemed to have encountered something terrible after being hit by the portrait. The dead man's face, which had not changed just now, suddenly changed. He took several steps back.

"I'm so cold down there, can you come and stay with me..."

What's strange is that even after saying that, the person at the door not only didn't stop knocking on the door, but instead knocked more and more fiercely. In the end, it was like smashing the door.

The shopkeeper swallowed inadvertently and looked at the portrait with red light with wide eyes.

The sudden change in the portrait was completely unexpected, and he just suddenly recalled what the officer and soldier said before.

Suddenly, the old man raised his head and stared at them with only white eyes, as if he had seen prey.

The sound was hoarse and unpleasant, like iron plates rubbing against each other.

Even from their current distance, they could still smell the smell of the food and wine at the funeral banquet and the ashes burned by the sacrifices.

No, to be more precise, the people outside are not human at all!

The rickety door finally failed to hold up and collapsed after the last knock, stirring up a cloud of dust.

But when he looked up again, he happened to see the corpse of the terrifying old man who had almost killed them just now, screaming silently and miserably. At the same time, he was put into the hands of the red-robed humanoid and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterwards, the human form did not stay for long, and turned into a red light again and retracted into the portrait.

The two of them felt that in a flash, everything returned to calm. Only the chaos around them and the collapsed door seemed to tell them that everything just now was not an illusion.

……

And this situation is not limited here. As these thousands of portraits were distributed, a considerable number of people successfully saw the power of this portrait and developed enough awe and gratitude.

So much so that even though the person in the portrait looked ugly, they respected him so much that they even tore off the original door god stickers and put these up instead. The effect was also very obvious. There were no ghosts to harass me tonight.

Early the next morning, the news spread among those who had witnessed the shocking scene last night, and more people in Yongzhou City began to know about this magical portrait.

After learning that this kind of portrait could resist or even directly kill ghosts, the whole city went crazy!

They began to think of ways to buy these portraits from other people. However, the people who already owned them only had one for their family, so how could they sell them at will?

Is it possible that the person who sold his house is left to die?

No selling, no matter what!

No matter how much money you have, it will be of no use in front of ghosts and monsters. You have to live to spend it.

Even though some people tried to use various means to forcefully obtain a few, the number was too small compared to the city's needs, so some people soon began to inquire about the source behind it.

However, it was quickly discovered that the main messenger behind this was actually the governor, which frightened many people and immediately gave up the idea of ​​​​taking it by force.

Fortunately, they also know that the governor is producing a large number of similar portraits, and presumably rich and powerful people will soon be able to obtain them through their own channels.

So they are not in a hurry at this moment.

But although they are not in a hurry, the poor people cannot afford to wait.

There are hundreds of thousands of people in the city waiting for food. Even if the printers supervise the work non-stop day and night, it is impossible for them to produce one in a short time.

Even one per household is almost impossible to achieve.

After all, many people will rely on their own power to get a few more, and some even plan to hoard them and sell them at a high price. Anyone who wants to be protected from ghosts and monsters must buy one.

In this case, poor people began to think of their own solutions.

Some so-called "pirated" portraits began to spread among the people.

Although the quality is poor, even a little blurry, and looks skewed, it at least has some charm, which makes people feel at ease.

They are looking forward to posting these pictures that will replace the original door god portraits, hoping that they will have a similar effect.

Even if the effect is slightly less, as long as it allows them to sleep peacefully, it will be a huge thank you.

Although this matter had been reported to the governor, Yu Hongyan had already received a hint from the old god, so he turned a blind eye to it, and even secretly encouraged it.

Anyway, they are distributed free of charge, and the people who spend their own money, paper and energy to do it naturally make him more worry-free.

The only question is, do these actually work?

And as night fell again, the uneasiness in the hearts of the people was finally verified.

The ghosts that had scared them so much a few days ago didn't even approach their house when they saw a red light flash on the portraits.

The next second, a miserable ghostly howl was heard outside the house. It didn't last long before disappearing without a trace, and the red light dimmed again.

When the excited and restless people had the courage to quietly open the door to observe, they saw that the outside had returned to calm, leaving only the ugly-looking portrait, but now there were a few more inexplicable things. Divine power.

Seeing that these were actually effective, countless excited people immediately knelt down to the portrait and kowtowed in thanks.

The attitude is guaranteed to be more pious than those worshiping in the temple.

After all, no matter how much you kowtow and pray in the temple, it is just illusory things, and it is of no use at all when you encounter ghosts, but the current benefits are real!

They firmly believed that this must be the god who came to save them!

And this situation will become more widespread when dawn comes.

Some people burned incense directly in front of the portrait to worship, some began to carve a statue of the old god, and some educated people began to guess the origin of the god and try to make up a reasonable story for him.

However, there has never been a conclusion on this matter. Everyone has their own speculations and no one can convince anyone.

Some think he is the Jade Emperor, but others say he is not that ugly, some think he is Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, others say he is not bald, and some think he is a certain god...

The current mythological system is far from as complete and developed as that of later generations. In short, even if you talk to yourself, you may feel that it is reasonable or ridiculous.

At the end of the quarrel, some even started fighting.

And this matter soon reached the governor's side.

Yu Hongyan was waiting happily to see the old immortal when he suddenly heard the people below making noise and couldn't help but feel speechless.

But speaking of this, he was actually quite curious about the old god's true identity.

It's just that he has actually asked, but the old god just smiled mysteriously, as if to say that the secret must not be revealed.

Yu Hongyan couldn't help but ponder for a while, and suddenly asked the subordinates around him: "What do you think the origin of this old god is?"

Several people looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.

After a moment of silence, someone suddenly said hesitantly: "Sir, I have a guess."

"Say." Yu Hongyan turned around and saw a rather old man.

"I wonder if your Excellency has ever heard of Zhong Kui?" the other party asked.

Yu Hongyan frowned slightly: "I have heard of this folk legend. It is said that a certain number one scholar was disqualified because of his ugly appearance and hit a pillar and died on the spot. There are even rumors that His Majesty also dreamed of Zhong Kui killing ghosts. famous."

Then he shook his head again: "But as far as I know, Zhong Kui is not among the people who have been able to enter the palace examination in recent decades. Those rumors are probably just stories made up by some unsuccessful scholars..."

The subordinate lowered his head and said respectfully: "But have you ever observed, my lord, that the appearance of this immortal's portrait is quite similar to the appearance of Zhong Kui in the legend, and he is also ugly and even scary, and he can also catch people. ghost……"

"This is too much of a coincidence..."

"hiss……"

Yu Hongyan took a breath instantly and his expression gradually became serious.

"Thinking about it carefully, what you said seems to make sense..."

He turned his head and looked at the old immortal's position, feeling solemnly in his heart: "Is it possible that the legend of Zhong Kui is true?!"

Maybe the incident of running into the emperor and dying in front of him was an exaggeration, but maybe this person actually existed?

And he really has great powers!

This has been witnessed by countless people, and it can never be false!

(End of this chapter)