Merchant of the Underworld

"That's right." The old man said: "The owner of this art of war is Zhang Liang, the first counselor of the Han Dynasty. It has been passed down from generation to generation in my family. This thing has spirituality and has been with me for seventy years, so in this life I haven’t encountered any major disasters..."

"My ancestors warned that the spirit of Taigong resides in "The Art of War" and is designed to deal with scum who disrespect the elderly, so I want to teach this little city manager a lesson."

"Then why did we divert water to flood my father's grave?" I asked.

"At first I didn't want to use "Tai Gong's Art of War" to teach him a lesson. I just wanted to divert water to flood his father's coffin and let his father teach his son a lesson in person. But who would have thought that this kid would not repent and would go to the streets to bully us every day? Poor little vendor. It happened that he moved his grave again, so I used "Tai Gong's Art of War" to make him realize his mistake." The old man explained.

I suddenly realized that no wonder it was Li Mingming’s father who caused trouble in the past two days and even lectured Li Mingming.

Later, his father disappeared again and turned into an old man with a white beard.

"Sure enough, it's you." Li Mingming was furious: "My father has been laid to rest, why are you so cruel and want to alarm my father!"

"I can't help it. Who said your father didn't educate you well? I just want your father to come out and educate you again to see if you know how to repent. But I see that your kid hasn't gone to the street to bully you in the past few days. Those small vendors, so I wanted to take away "Tai Gong's Art of War", but I didn't expect to meet you."

"Do you think it will be okay if you take away "Tai Gong's Art of War"?" I looked at the old man coldly: "The undead among the ghosts all exist based on obsession and have no reason at all. Since You have cursed Li Mingming with "Tai Gong's Art of War", and the undead inside will definitely not stop dying..."

I thought of the old man with a white beard in the dream about looking at the grave. Needless to say, he must be the spirit of the Taigong who lives in the Art of War.

His warning to the grave-seekers at that time is still echoing in my mind.

Just from that sentence, I knew that the other party was fighting to the death with Li Mingming!

The old man was a little surprised: "What do you mean? You said there is a ghost in this ancient book? This kid must be killed? Impossible. If there really is a ghost, why hasn't it been haunted by me for so long? I My ancestors have never seen ancient books haunted."

I smiled helplessly and said: "Beside you, if there is no Yin Qi to activate it, there will be no problem. And Li Mingming's father's coffin has just been flooded, and his resentment is soaring. It would be strange not to activate the undead in the ancient book."

Li Mingming glared at the old man fiercely: "Look at the good things you have done."

The old man was not to be outdone: "Didn't you ask for it? If you respected the old man, would you have caused such a big trouble?"

I had a headache from the quarrel between the two of them, so I stopped them immediately: "Okay, the most important thing now is to find a way to deal with the evil things. You guys will only waste time arguing like this."

I guess the old man felt guilty, and actually asked me if there was anything I needed his help with.

It would be best to have this evil master around. At least I can guarantee that our lives will not be in danger with him around.

So I immediately said: "Okay, you can stay with us tonight. You have a greater chance of success with me."

The old man agreed immediately.

I already have a proper solution in mind. Since the other party insists on fighting to death, let him see Li Mingming's 'death'.

We did not go home directly, but found a nearby vegetable market and bought a big rooster, two pounds of millet, a butcher's knife and a lot of messy things, all of which we would use tonight.

Everything is ready, just waiting for the thing to appear tonight.

The old man and Li Mingming seemed to have a big beef. They were bickering all the way. It made me very annoyed and I couldn't stop them, so I had to pretend to be indifferent.

The two seemed to have started a debate on whether urban management could collect things on the street. The old man stood from the perspective of a small businessman who supports his family, and Li Mingming stood from the perspective of the appearance of the city. The quarrel became more and more intense, and finally they almost started fighting, but I stopped them.

The old man finally asked me, which one of them is right?

"You said that I am an old man with no other skills. I don't have much land to farm. It's a problem to eat. If you don't let me set up a stall, isn't it obvious that I will starve to death? Your government will watch us survive. Are you happy if you starve to death?"

"Those are just minor problems for you. Think about it, in a city, there are small traders and hawkers everywhere, which affects the traffic and the city appearance. What do you think of the people who rent the store? How can you be convinced? Then this city still has Do you want development? Do you want this country to develop? Then it won’t be a feudal society.”

"Don't bullshit me. I don't care about city-states. I just want to not be hungry. If we can't even provide food and clothing, what's the difference between us and the old feudal society?"

Alas, this kind of thing is the mother-in-law saying that the mother-in-law is right and the father-in-law saying the public is right. This kind of contradiction has existed since ancient times, and no one has ever been able to solve it. The two people represent China's biggest contradiction from the side. Even if the problems of two people can be solved, what about thousands of other people like this? Can it be solved?

At night, the moonlight was like frost. I stood at the window, looking at the bustling city, feeling the cool breeze blowing, and looking at the still busy and hardworking people, and I felt filled with emotion.

It's all about living. Some people just want a mouthful of food, but they want to rest when the sun rises and the sun sets. Some people even deprive others of their chance in life. This world is really cruel.

A dark cloud came quietly, and the moon was looming in it.

This is the moment when yin and yang take over. As the saying goes, when yin declines, it must flourish. This is also the moment when yin energy is at its strongest. "Tai Gong's Art of War" is likely to be waiting for the opportunity!

I immediately threw "Tai Gong's Art of War" on the windowsill, letting the looming moonlight shine on it, and asked the old man and Li Mingming to get ready.

Li Mingming picked up a red rope and tied one end to his leg and the other end to the rooster's neck. Then he cut his finger and applied it on the rooster's eyes, and finally held the rooster in his arms.

The old man grabbed the butcher's knife, scattered the millet around the living room, and huddled in the corner.

I nodded to Li Mingming, who immediately started walking back and forth along the living room, stepping on millet with every step.

As he walked, he counted the steps in his mouth.

I told him to take thirty-six full steps. Thirty-six is ​​the number of Tiangang steps, which can play a protective role.

"One, two, three..." He carefully circled the room. The big rooster in his arms was as quiet as a dead thing, but the two pairs of blood-smeared eyes were emitting a faint red light. .

"Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-six..."

He wandered around in circles for more than a dozen times, and it was still calm and nothing unusual.

However, the vision soon happened. On the seventeenth lap, when Li Mingming counted to thirty-four, the last two steps were taken together, so he only took thirty-five steps in this lap.

"Don't move!" I immediately shouted to Li Mingming.

Li Mingming stood there, motionless.

At the same time, the big rooster Li Mingming held in his arms shook his head restlessly, his eyes began to blur, and he kept lowering his head and then raising it, as if he was pecking at rice.

I immediately looked at "Tai Gong's Art of War".

At some point, a layer of fog enveloped "Tai Gong's Art of War". The layer of mist was very light, a little red, and was seeping into the room little by little.

I took a deep breath and knew that "Tai Gong's Art of War" was beginning to appear!