Liaozhai Great Sage

Chapter 187 Ghost Smell
Just when Li Xiuyuan entered Hua County.

At this moment, in Guobei City.

It was noon today, and the sky over Guobei City was cloudless and blue, and the bright sunshine seemed to dispel the gloom and sadness in the hearts of the people in the city.

However, in the Li Mansion in the city, he was in public.

A Taoist priest in sloppy robes was sitting casually in the yard. Next to him was a vermilion pen, yellow paper, and scissors, constantly folding and sketching something.

"Master Dao, the coffin you want is here. There have been a lot of funerals in the city recently, and there are not enough coffins. The shopkeeper of the coffin shop heard that our Li family needs to use it, so he gave up a good coffin he had prepared for himself. , haven’t received the money yet.” At this moment, Lu Bo came over and saluted the Mu Taoist, after which several workers brought in a heavy coffin.

This coffin is covered with dust, it looks like it has not been used for a long time, but the wood is extremely exquisite, extremely thick, it is a rare and good coffin.

"Hey, Poor Dao's merit is shallow, and he can only enjoy a thin coffin. This coffin is too thick, and it will be wasted at that time."

Mu Taoist patted his buttocks and stood up, patted the heavy coffin, and couldn't help laughing.

"The Daoist was joking. Thin coffins rot quickly and are easy to damage corpses. But any wealthy family will prepare a thick coffin. Our Li family is not short of money. How can we buy a thin coffin? Wouldn't it make outsiders look down on our Li family." Lu Bo said.

Mu Dao said: "Forget it, let's make a thick coffin thicker, it doesn't matter, the poor Taoist folded some armor and swords out of yellow paper yesterday, and you burned those things at night, your Yin soldiers from the Li family can use them, anyway, the poor There is not much time left, so if you can help a little, it will count as a little."

After speaking, he pointed to the pile of yellow paper on the ground.

Those yellow papers were folded into armor and swords, with some incomprehensible talismans drawn on them with a Chinese ink brush, and there was a faint red light coming out during the day.

Lu Bo was a little puzzled, but he still responded respectfully.

"Boom~!"

At this moment, there was a thunderous sound above the clear sky, low and loud.

Mu Taoist looked up at the sky and said: "The catastrophe of the poor Taoist seems to be ahead of schedule, hey, can't even one day allow the poor Taoist? Not necessarily."

After finishing speaking, he pushed the coffin away and lay down in it, with a brocade robe covering his body.

The brocade clothes belonged to Li Xiuyuan, Taoist Mu asked Li Xiuyuan for them two days ago.

Before the lid of the coffin was closed, a thunderbolt suddenly flashed in the sky, and then a thunderbolt suddenly fell, and it accurately got into the coffin in front of everyone.

"Boom~!" A burst of flames and thick smoke rose from the coffin, which also carried a strong smell of sulfur.

Lu Bo who was next to him turned pale with shock when he saw this, and hurriedly backed away in fright.

Before he could take a few more steps, another thunderbolt fell from the sky. The entire coffin was struck with a loud noise, and it shook violently. Cracked.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The thunder kept ringing, and in the blink of an eye, three thunders fell down, and each thunder went into the coffin.

All of a sudden, thick smoke billowed around and flames blazed.

Those who didn't know thought there was a fire here.

The thunder and lightning came and went quickly. From the beginning to now, after five strikes in succession, the thunder stopped falling.

But the coffin was torn apart by lightning, and a flame was lit on it, and a thick smoke lingered inside the coffin for a long time.

"Taoist." It took Lu Bo a long time to come back to his senses.

Only then did I remember that the Taoist priest was still lying in the coffin just now, and immediately panicked, he hurriedly fetched water to put out the fire, to see how the Taoist priest was doing, and if he was struck to death by lightning.

If he was really hacked to death, he still doesn't know how to explain to the young master after he returns.

This Daoist is the uncle of the young master, a master of Taoism, and the young master respects him very much on weekdays. If there is a problem, I really don't know what to do.

Soon, Lu Bo took water and put out the fire on the coffin.

Originally, a heavy coffin was struck by lightning five times, and after the shock cracked, it was burned again. In the end, only a thin piece of charred black coffin was left. Enjoy a thin coffin.

After Lu Bo waved away the thick smoke, he looked inside the coffin, and his expression was shocked.

But he saw that there was only the young master's coat left in the coffin, and the figure of Taoist Mu had disappeared.

"Why did it disappear?"

Lu Bo took out Li Xiuyuan's coat and shook it, but saw that the ordinary brocade coat was struck by lightning five times in a row, but there was not a single trace left behind.

Neither scorched nor tattered, it is still brand new.

It's hard to believe that this dress was struck by lightning and burned by fire just now.

But the coffin only saw the clothes, but no person.

"Could it be that the Taoist priest was turned into smoke by lightning?" Lu Bo couldn't help thinking a little frightened.

If this is the case, wouldn't there be no bones left.

But before Lu Bo could think about it, suddenly there was a crowing sound from the young master's study, and a fiery red rooster jumped out of nowhere, flapping its wings and rushing towards here. .

Before Lu Bo could react, the big rooster opened its mouth and pecked, picked up Li Xiuyuan's brocade clothes and ran away.

As the big rooster flapped its wings a few times, the rooster easily flew over the tall courtyard wall, and disappeared without a trace in a blink of an eye. It disappeared to nowhere.

However, Li Xiuyuan still doesn't know about the weird things happening here.

He has now entered Hua County and is walking on the streets of Hua County.

"This Hua County is far worse than Guobei County." Li Xiuyuan glanced around and said.

The faces of the common people on the street were all disheveled, obviously their lives were not very good. In addition, he also found that the hawkers and shops on the street mainly sold sacrificial items.

Such as joss sticks, paper money, paper people, paper houses, paper sedan chairs and the like.

"Young master, Guobei County is supported by our Li family. I don't know how much tax has been blocked for the people. The life of the people is naturally good, but other places are not so lucky." The guard was quite proud, as if for I am very proud to live in Guobei County.

But it does have capital to be proud of.

The lives of the people in Guobei County are indeed much better than those in other places.

It is precisely because of this that there are more and more people in Guobei County, and it has vaguely developed into a prosperous city.

"Young master, these paper figurines and paper sedan chairs look like the ones we encountered on the road when we came here." Another guard said.

Li Xiuyuan nodded and said: "Go and find out where Qiao's family is. Let's send this Qiao girl back first."

"Yes, young master."

The guard responded, and quickly asked the nearby peddler for the location of Qiao's house.

The county town is not big, so some things are easy to ask. Soon, a guard came back and said, "Young master, I have asked you clearly. Qiao's house is in the alley on the street over there."

"Go, visit and visit." Li Xiuyuan said.

After a while, he came to the mansion of an ordinary family.

After knocking on the door, an old servant from Qiao's mansion opened the door. Seeing Li Xiuyuan and the others' unfamiliar faces, he couldn't help feeling a little vigilant: "My lord, who are you looking for?"

If it weren't for Li Xiuyuan's handsome appearance, extraordinary temperament, and his attire of a scholar and noble son, this old servant seemed unwilling to ask more questions.

Li Xiuyuan gave a salute and said: "Li Xiuyuan in Xiaguobei County, I have something to call on Mr. Qiao in Qiao's residence, please let him know. By the way, this matter is related to Mrs. Qiao."

The old servant of Qiao's family looked at Li Xiuyuan again, seeing that he should not be a bad person, he just nodded and said: "My lord, wait a moment, I will inform my master right away."

After speaking, he closed the door of the mansion and left quickly.

After a while, the old servant of Qiao's family opened the door again: "Mr. Li, my master has an invitation."

"I'm sorry." After being polite, Li Xiuyuan entered Qiao's mansion.

As soon as he entered the mansion, he could smell a stench in the air.

"There are ghosts in this house."

Li Xiuyuan's eyes narrowed slightly. He had been in contact with ghosts a lot, so he was inevitably a little sensitive. What's more, he also encountered a ghost last night, so he still had some ability to distinguish the smell of ghosts.

For example, when you meet a water ghost, you will smell a fishy smell.

If you encounter an ordinary ghost, there will be a smell of paper ashes, which means that this ghost is enshrined by someone, not an anonymous ghost.

If you encounter a lonely ghost, it will emit a stench, almost a rotten smell. This is because the lonely ghost has not been enshrined, the grave is unattended, and the bones are soaked in water, which is rotten and smelly.

Of course, if you meet the god of the temple, you will smell the incense.

There is only ghost difference, which is between the two, with the smell of paper ashes and incense.

Li Xiuyuan came down to the lobby of Qiao's house led by the old servant of Qiao's house.

But at this time, a 50-year-old man with white temples and a square scarf was standing in the lobby, ready to welcome Li Xiuyuan's arrival.

"Late student Li Xiuyuan, I met Master Qiao." Li Xiuyuan saluted.

This Master Qiao is dressed as a scholar, obviously he is also a scholar.

"Late student? Are you also a scholar?" Master Qiao put away his contempt, turned serious and returned a salute.

"The late student is a Tongsheng from Guobei County, and he just finished the hospital examination last month." Li Xiuyuan said.

When Master Qiao heard that Li Xiuyuan was a child student and was about to pass the examination for a scholar, his face became more amiable: "What is the last essay in this college examination?"

"It's an article about governing the country." Li Xiuyuan said.

"It's still the same old style, without any new tricks." Master Qiao shook his head and smiled, "How did you write it?"

"Cultivating one's mind, cultivating one's morality, regulating one's family, governing one's family, and bringing peace to the world, is the most important thing in late life. Since ancient times, governing a country is governing people, and governing people is governing their minds. Disruption of the mind is the root of all disasters. If the minds of officials are not correct, corruption will breed. If there are too many, the people will suffer, and if the people suffer, the world will be in chaos."

Li Xiuyuan said.

Master Qiao nodded and said, "It's quite satisfactory, there's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing outstanding about it. If there's nothing wrong with it in other places, it's not difficult to be a talent this time."

"For the first hospital exam, don't seek coincidence, just seek stability." Li Xiuyuan said.

"Not in a hurry, not bad." Master Qiao nodded in satisfaction.

Seeing that Li Xiuyuan, who came to visit suddenly, was only fifteen or sixteen years old, he could be so dignified at such a young age, and his achievements in the future might be limitless.

After some conversations, the relationship between Li Xiuyuan and Master Qiao became much closer.

After all, scholars have topics for scholars.

"Mr. Li, please sit down. Come, let's have some good tea." After talking for a while, Master Qiao started to entertain Li Xiuyuan.

Just after Li Xiuyuan sat down, Master Qiao asked again; "Just now, when the old man listened to Mr. Li's notification, Mr. Li said that this visit was for the old man's daughter?"

"It's for your daughter's sake." Li Xiuyuan said.

"Is it for marriage proposal?"

Master Qiao said: "If it's because of this matter, Mr. Li, you are a step late. Something happened in the house. The old man's daughter has suffered from dementia a few days ago, and there is no cure for it. Now she can't see anyone."

After that, he sighed.

It seems that from the conversation just now, he was very satisfied with Li Xiuyuan, but also suffered from the special situation of his own family, so he had no choice but to reject Li Xiuyuan.

"Master Qiao misunderstood. Wansheng came to visit and didn't propose a marriage, but just to send your daughter back."

After Li Xiuyuan finished speaking, he gestured to the guards waiting outside the door.

　I owe two shifts, and I will make up for it tomorrow, so I won't forget it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)