Merchant of the Underworld

As the donkey cart approached the village, the barking of the dogs became increasingly clear.

As expected, the dogs in the village were just like Uncle Chen said. They were all barking hysterically, with a hint of panic mixed in with their barks, as if something big was about to happen.

I couldn't help but frown and asked Uncle Chen when the dog started barking? After all, he has been selling tofu for so many years. It is impossible that he only discovered it now. Uncle Chen thought for a while and then said slowly: "I can't remember exactly when, but it must have started like this last year."

It seems that something has been brought into the village in the past two years, or some major feng shui changes have been made in the village, otherwise the puppy would not be barking so happily. Dogs are psychic animals. They will bark when they sense the presence of ghost spirits. Therefore, many rural people keep puppies, not only to prevent thieves but also to prevent ghost spirits from entering their homes.

I can’t imagine what it was that scared so many puppies at the same time, but it must have been something big! My intuition told me that this matter was not as easy to solve as the previous business deals, so I called Li Mazi and asked Li Mazi to send me the Madonna's Staff and Umbrella.

Seeing how cautious I was, Uncle Chen's face became solemn, and he asked me in a deep voice if I felt anything.

"This dog barks really fiercely."

I frowned and said, then stood up from the donkey cart and looked at Xiaoliu Village. It was dusk at the moment, the time when yin and yang alternated in the day; so if there was dirt in the village, there would be clues in the air, even if it was No matter how well it is hidden, I can still feel the abnormality through the airflow.

But until the donkey cart arrived at the entrance of the village, I didn't see anything. I even felt that this village was more peaceful than other places. I felt an inexplicable sense of solidity when I came here.

Perhaps to prevent outside trucks from damaging the road, two large stone piers were piled at the entrance of Xiaoliu Village. The gap in the middle can only allow small vehicles to pass. Uncle Chen was worried that the donkey cart would get stuck, so he got out of the cart early. I followed him down and ran behind to help him push it up.

After passing the stone pier, I was just about to get on the bus, but I found that there were already many people around, looking at us and pointing, but most of them had no malice on their faces, but just looked a little worried. At this time, a middle-aged man came out of the crowd. He came to the donkey cart and handed Uncle Chen a cigarette. Then he said with a grimace: "Brother Chen, the dogs in the village are barking all the time. I see you still……"

"Old Liu, I'm not here to sell tofu, but to help."

This man made it clear that he wanted to drive us away, but Uncle Chen was not angry. He took a puff of cigarette and said seriously.

After hearing this, Lao Liu was stunned, then looked at me and the yellow cloth bag on my back. A trace of panic flashed in his eyes, and he asked unnaturally: "Brother, what do you mean by this?"

"Uncle Chen thought there was a problem at home, so he came to me for help, but I went to his house and checked carefully, and there was nothing wrong. So I guessed that there might be a problem in the village, so I came to take a look. If you If you don't believe me, I can leave." I said calmly.

This old Liu looked at me very rudely, so I was rude.

After hearing this, Lao Liu's expression changed, he looked at Uncle Chen and me seriously, then turned and shouted to the crowd behind him: "Stop standing around, go home and eat!"

After he said that, the people really dispersed. It seemed that he was very prestigious in the village. After the crowd was gone, he smiled wryly and stretched out his hand to me, proactively saying, "Hello, my name is Liu Dali, and I am the village chief."

Then he told us the truth apologetically. It turned out that he also knew that the problem was not with Uncle Chen, because even if Uncle Chen did not sell tofu in the village, the dogs would bark as long as there were people in the village eating tofu, but the noise was not that loud. That’s all.

As the village chief, Liu Dali must consider the psychological problems of the villagers, so he can only bite the bullet and put the responsibility on Uncle Chen. He has also secretly sought out some Feng Shui masters recently, but when those people came, they either made a lot of gestures, but the results were ineffective; or they changed their faces after observing the village, slapped their butts and left; or they were ready to take over, But Liu Dali was required to pay a considerable sum of money.

And Liu Dali himself hid it from the villagers, and he couldn't call on everyone to raise funds, so in the end it was nothing...

At the end of the sentence, he sighed, took my arm and said, "Little master, if you hadn't come here, I would have banned everyone from eating tofu in the future! Please help the folks."

"Huh!" Before I could say anything, Uncle Chen snorted coldly, turned the donkey cart around and left.

It seemed that he was very upset about Liu Dali making him a scapegoat. The two of us quickly stopped him. Unexpectedly, the old man was very stubborn and insisted on leaving. In desperation, I had no choice but to say to him: "Uncle Chen, since the fuss this time is related to tofu, your tofu will definitely be used tonight. I think you'd better not leave..."

"The old man just kept the tofu. Zhang Daxian, please show it to the village and don't let that thing harm anyone again."

After speaking, Uncle Chen glared at Liu Dali again and left angrily without even asking for the donkey cart. I spread my hands and looked at Liu Dali with some embarrassment. He also smiled helplessly and said that Chen Doufu was good at everything, but his temper was too stubborn.

After this little episode, it was completely dark. Liu Dali and I drove the donkey cart to the firewood pile behind his house. He warmly invited me home to have dinner together. Anyway, I still had to wait for Li Mazi to come over. I agreed to give him something.

It just so happened that Liu Dali's family also had a dog. As soon as I entered the yard, I saw it lying on the ground with four paws, its whole body curled up, only its head tilted to one side, whining continuously, but it was indifferent to me, a stranger who broke into the yard. .

I frowned and walked forward, trying to see where it was looking to determine where the dirty things were. Unexpectedly, as soon as I got closer to it, the puppy pounced on me. Fortunately, his dog leash was strong enough, otherwise I would have been hit!

Seeing me stop, the puppy ignored me and continued to lie on the ground, and also changed its direction. I tried it several times in a row and found that its posture after landing was different every time. It seemed that my method failed.

I thought for a while that I could only wait until tonight to talk about it. Since that thing is so interested in tofu, I don’t believe it won’t come out.

Liu Dali has a cute little girl at home, about four or five years old. He said this is his granddaughter, who is currently attending kindergarten in the village. After dinner, the little girl sat obediently by the side and did her homework. When she encountered a topic she didn't know, she asked Liu Dali to teach her. And I like children better, so I took the initiative to play with her.

After the little girl finished her homework, Dali's wife carried her back to the back room to sleep. I looked up at the watch and found that it was already eight o'clock in the evening. Then I remembered that Li Mazi hadn't come yet, so I quickly took out my mobile phone to call him. , but has been unable to get through.

I couldn't help but frown, took out the Emei Thorn from my bag and ran outside. Liu Dali quickly caught up with me and asked me what was wrong.

"Uncle Liu, you wait in the room, I'll pick up a friend."

As I said that, I ran towards the entrance of the village without looking back. I heard dogs barking all the way, and then I realized that the situation might be more serious than I thought. Because these dogs have been barking for more than two hours and should have run out of energy by now. What makes them roar so hard?

I didn't remember to call Ruxue until I reached the village entrance, but she told me that Mazi had left immediately after receiving my call. Calculating this, Li Mazi had already left home for three hours, but the journey could take up to an hour!

"Li Mazi, are you in the village? Li Mazi."

I was stunned for a moment, and then shouted at the top of my lungs, but my voice seemed so weak under the barking of the dog, not to mention that Li Mazi was definitely not in the village, or he would definitely contact me. I think he must have accidentally fallen into the trap of that thing. It might be okay for ordinary people to enter the village, but he carries two powerful weapons, the Madonna Staff and the Yin-Pang Umbrella, so he will automatically be regarded as an enemy by dirty things.

Thinking of this, I slapped my thigh with some annoyance, and vaguely thought of a way in my mind. I could chant a spell to wake up the Holy Mother's Staff. When the Holy Mother's Staff emits golden light all over the sky, I will know the location of Li Mazi.

Casting a spell from the air requires a lot of mana, but this was the only way to save Li Mazi. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to prepare to cast the spell. But at this moment Liu Dali called me. We exchanged phone numbers while eating before, so I have his number.

"Uncle Liu, what's wrong?" I thought he was asking me where I had been, so I casually said that I was at the entrance of the village, while keeping looking around.

Unexpectedly, Liu Dali said in a trembling voice on the other end of the phone: "Little master, come back quickly! There is something wrong at home... there is something wrong at home..."