Merchant of the Underworld

This time, I was even more confused.

But these brothers didn't want to say anything at all. After insulting me continuously, they spat, rolled their eyes, and left in an instant, as if it was a shame to stay with me for a while longer. thing.

I was stunned for a long time, forgetting about being thirsty, and walked straight to the boss's house.

Lao leaned his head against the door and looked at me with a bitter look on his face, without making any sound.

"Old man, what happened?" I knelt down and asked.

This old man is an old man. He has been traveling on the canal with his Caobang brothers for most of his life, and he has never seen any storms. To force him into such a miserable state, something serious must have happened.

"Brother, Sanmanzi is dead." Before the old man could say anything, Li Mazi walked out of the house and said sadly.

"What?" When I heard this, I immediately woke up from the drunkenness of Suye, and asked in great surprise: "What's going on?"

"Early this morning, Sanmanzi said he was going to take a trip to the waterway. He took two people and went past the place where you killed the water ghost yesterday. Then...then the boat capsized. In order to save the other two people, Sanmanzi went again. He couldn’t float either.”

With a bang, the kettle I was carrying fell to the ground and shattered.

"How is this possible!" I said in disbelief, "Yesterday I clearly sealed the iron ox inhabited by the water ghost! Nothing will happen again."

"Besides, even if I didn't subdue it, didn't it just hold up wooden boats and not let you pass? Why did it kill people this time?"

Li Mazi glanced at me and said with some lack of confidence: "Maybe... maybe the water ghost was beaten by you and became angry, so maybe he went on a killing spree."

Now I finally understood why those brothers just ignored me and even said nasty things to me.

They certainly think so. I thought that instead of subduing the water ghost, I aroused its anger, which was passed on to Sanmanzi, causing him to lose his life.

"Old man, did Sanmanzi really die where he was yesterday?" I asked still in disbelief.

"It's not there..." The old man shook his head feebly and said, "But it's not far from there. The couple who heard back said that there was a large whirlpool more than thirty meters below, rising from the surface of the water. Nothing could be seen from the top, but as soon as the boat arrived, it was immediately sucked in. According to boating experience, you will always punt in the opposite direction and twist the bow of the boat, but this vortex is very strange, it goes against the current. The boat was filled in just in time, and it was too late to run away! At the last moment, Sanmanzi threw them both out one by one, but he himself..."

"It just sank to the bottom of the water."

"I went to see it in the morning. The place was so dangerous that I couldn't even fish out a body." The old boss sighed.

"Master Zhang, you don't have to feel guilty. This has nothing to do with you. Sanmanzi did not die on the water ghost this time, but fell on the waterway. As the saying goes, kill the stubborn one and drown the one who knows how to swim. Since we From the moment I stepped on the boat and joined the Cao Gang, I was destined to live on water for the rest of my life, and I would definitely die on the waterway in the end. I have been like this for many lifetimes, and there are so many ancestors lying in the canal."

The boss said nothing, and he didn't mean to blame me at all. He didn't talk to me just now, but the news of Sanmanzi's death made him a little heartbroken.

Even so, I felt very uncomfortable.

At the beginning, it was precisely because I accidentally threw a small stone that hit the three barbarians and caused a fierce fight, thus strengthening this group of honest Caobang men. Even yesterday, we were having a drink together.

In the blink of an eye, there is a separation between Yin and Yang...

Maybe the boss is right. The three barbarians didn't die because of me, or because of the water ghost.

But if I hadn't sealed Tieniu, he wouldn't have been able to pass through that body of water, let alone encounter that strange whirlpool, and he wouldn't have died.

Now, he is dead and his body is still in the canal, but there is nothing I can do!

"Old man, I want to go to the river to see if there is any way to fish out Manzi's body."

"Don't go, this is his life too." The old leader sighed and said: "We in Caogang don't want to be buried. Let alone die in the canal, even if he died at home, he would be thrown into the river. Just think of it as...just think of him as taking the first step and standing in front of me, an old man."

"Old man, let me go and have a look. What if the whirlpool is really evil? You can't just watch it harm others, right?"

When the boss heard this, he stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go with you!"

When the two of us were leaving, the other Caobang brothers looked at me with shame.

I don't blame them at all. Sanmanzi was their good brother, and it was very sad to die suddenly. They couldn't blame the whirlpool and hate the river, right? If all this hatred can be piled on me and they will feel better, I would rather bear it.

In fact, how can I feel better in my heart?

The old man and I rowed the boat and rowed towards the water again.

Far away, I felt an extremely strong Yin energy gathering in front of me, much stronger than when I first came!

"No! Turn around quickly." I screamed.

Click!

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck in the clear sky!

The lightning was neither slanted nor deflected, and struck right in the center of the body of water in front of it.

boom!

The water surged, and a large water column several meters thick suddenly rose into the sky, rising more than 20 meters above the water! At the top of the wave, stood a huge iron bull covered in black.

It's as if they are staring at us with their horns raised!

Immediately afterwards, the iron bull entered the water, splashing a large wave as high as a person, and rolled towards us.

With just one breath, the boat was launched very far!

The falling river water soaked both of us, and we quickly rowed toward the shore, and the water surface became calm again.

This is the seal being broken!

The seven or eight seals I put on Tieniu yesterday have lost their effect, and the evil ghost has reappeared in the world!

As soon as I landed on the shore, I said to the boss in front of many Cao Gang brothers: "Old man, you saw it too! The evil ghost has been born again, and I must destroy it."

"What to destroy?" said the bearded man in the crowd: "You said you destroyed it yesterday, but what was the result?"

"That's right, forget it! How many lives do you still want to get in?"

"You big liar, get out of here!"

"If I didn't put you in the river to feed the bastard, you would have taken advantage of me. Why are you here to lie to others? Where did you come from? Get out of here."

…

"Shut up, everyone!" the old boss yelled angrily.

Everyone was silent, but everyone looked at me with anger written in their eyes!

"Think about it, what did they want? We are begging for food on this waterway, but as for others, there is no need to take this risk. It is true that Sanmanzi died in the river, but can you blame others? "

"What did the old rules say? Evil spirits were eliminated, three animal sacrifices were made, water channels were opened, and the fortune teller's will was opened. When he went to go to the water, did he ask the fortune teller? He found it himself, and he couldn't blame others! Now you are like this For others, he could have turned around and left without hurting his reputation or profit. But he insists on staying and continuing to help us eradicate evil spirits. If you don't listen honestly, how can you have the face to say something to me? Four! Why don’t you apologize!"

When everyone saw that the old man was angry, they quickly bowed their hands and saluted.

But I can tell that although they feel a little guilty, this apology is not very real. At least he doesn't respect me as much as he did before.

"I believe you! If this evil ghost is not eliminated, it will be a disaster sooner or later. Just tell me how to eliminate it!" The boss looked at me seriously and said.