Merchant of the Underworld

My heart skipped a beat after hearing this, and I gritted my teeth and ran back to Liu Dali's house.

When I walked in, I didn't hear the dog barking. When I got to the yard, I found that the dog was dead, with its body curled up together, and blood slowly oozing out of the corners of its mouth. For some reason, I suddenly felt very bad. I hurried into the house and found Liu Dali fainted on the ground.

The situation was urgent and I didn't care so much. I poured a bowl of cold water from the tank and poured it on his head. Liu Dali shook violently and then opened his eyes and asked me in confusion what was going on.

"What happened at home?" I said.

"It's okay. Where is your friend?" Liu Dali didn't notice the water on his body and looked behind me with some hysteria.

I was stunned for a moment and asked eagerly: "Didn't you call me just now?"

He was also stunned after hearing this, then shook his head and said that he suddenly felt very sleepy after returning to the room just now, so he sat on a chair and rested until now.

"Damn it, I fell into a trap."

I cursed inwardly, feeling like a fool for running back and forth, but I had to run. Since that thing used a trick to trick me back from the village entrance, it means that Li Mazi was near the village entrance just now!

When I ran out of the yard, I accidentally glanced at the donkey cart beside me. I was shocked to find that the donkey fell to the ground and the donkey cart also overturned. I subconsciously ran over to see if the tofu was still there in the car, but I found that there were only bare drawers left in the car, and all the tofu on them had disappeared, not even the dregs were left.

"This...is that thing already here?"

Liu Dali followed from behind. When he saw this scene, his feet softened and he sat on the ground, his eyes dull and he said.

After he reminded me like this, I suddenly realized: the dogs in the village no longer roar.

I pulled him up, thought about it and said seriously: "It seems that the thing left after eating the tofu. It shouldn't show up again today. Uncle Liu, please go back to your room and rest first."

After saying that, I hurried towards the entrance of the village, feeling very aggrieved. My opponent unknowingly kidnapped Li Mazi, ate all the tofu under our noses, and even played with it for me. I made false claims in the east and west, but I couldn't find any clues.

Just when I was racking my brains to think of a way to rescue Li Mazi, he called me. My first feeling was that Li Mazi was being controlled by that thing, so I said coldly: "Who are you and what do you want to do?"

"Brother Zhang, I am Li Mazi, where are you?"

As soon as I finished speaking, Li Mazi's voice came over. It seemed that it was really him. I asked him eagerly how he was doing. Li Mazi smiled and said he was fine, and then said he was under the stone pier at the entrance of the village and asked me to go. Find him.

After hanging up the phone, I quickly ran towards the entrance of the village, and sure enough I saw Li Mazi standing under the stone pier holding the Madonna's staff. When he saw me, he ran up to me and said with a smile: "Brother Zhang, what are we doing here?" I’ll get rich again.”

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me where you were just now."

Seeing that Li Mazi was still in the mood to joke with me, I couldn't help but feel relieved, but I still asked with concern.

Li Mazi didn't say anything. He took out a flawless white jade pendant from his pocket and handed it to me. He smiled and asked me if I could tell the age of the jade.

This piece of jade is square in shape, and you can feel the warmth radiating from it when you hold it in your hand. The front is extremely smooth, but the back has many small pits like honeycombs.

I couldn't help frowning and said: "The jade is a good piece of jade, and it is also very warm. Judging from the color and texture, it should be from the Qin and Han Dynasties. It's a pity that there are these small honeycombs at the back, otherwise it must be worth a lot of money."

"As expected of the Zhang family's little brother, he has good eyesight."

Li Mazi couldn't help but give me a thumbs up, and then he kept playing with the jade, letting my eyes wander between the front and back. After a while, he asked again: "What do you think this jade looks like?"

"Like tofu!"

I said subconsciously, because the honeycomb-like spots really resembled the bubbles in tofu. At this time, an idea flashed in my mind, and I said incredulously: "Could it be..."

"you guessed right."

Li Mazi interrupted me directly, and then told me excitedly.

It turned out that it was completely dark after he arrived in the village, and he wanted to call me. At this time, an old man in brocade came up and asked him where he was going. Because Li Mazi knew that I was at the village chief's house, he didn't call and asked directly how to get to the village chief's house. Unexpectedly, the old man offered to lead Li Mazi, so Li Mazi followed him. As a result, the old man didn't stop after walking for a long time. By this time, there were no buildings around. Li Mazi realized something was wrong, gritted his teeth and walked. I want to fight the old man with the Holy Mother's staff.

"Don't be afraid, kid, I just want to tell you a story."

The brocade old man waved his hand gently, and the Madonna's Staff automatically broke away from Li Mazi's hand. Li Mazi knew that he was no match for the old man, and the old man really didn't mean to hurt him, so he simply listened patiently.

The old man said that he lived in the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago and was the king of Huainan at that time, but he had no interest in being a prince at all. Instead, he liked to cook a lot of delicious food. In the process of grinding soybeans, he accidentally discovered the secret of making tofu with gypsum, and produced tofu, a white, tender and delicious delicacy, and became the recognized founder of tofu in China.

In order to commend his invention, the emperor at that time specially made a jade pendant shaped like tofu for him. From then on, he wore the jade pendant around him and never wanted to leave it. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Later, the imperial court issued an order to reduce the vassalage and divided his fiefdom into several areas. Although he had no intention of participating in politics, he eventually became a victim of political struggle and was accused of treason and died in hatred.

"Liu An, he is actually the King of Huainan, Liu An!"

My body trembled with excitement when I heard this. The greatest achievement in Huainan Wang Liu An's life was the invention of tofu, and tofu also represents his lifelong pursuit, so it is not difficult to understand why as long as there is tofu in the village, he will Appear. As for the barking of the dog, I think I just felt the royal blood in Liu An and was shocked.

But I was very curious about why Liu An came out recently and why he gave this piece of tofu jade given by the emperor to Li Mazi, so I motioned to Li Mazi to continue.

"I don't know what happened, but the old man took out this jade pendant and threw it to me while he was talking. Before leaving, he only left one sentence: Fame and wealth will go with the smoke, and he will start over again after reincarnation!"

Li Mazi's face was full of doubts when he said this, and he asked weakly: "What do he mean by these two sentences?"

"Fame and fortune go with the smoke, but reincarnation will start over again."

I recited Liu An's words silently several times, and a warmth suddenly rose in my heart. What he meant was that fame and fortune were not that important. Everything would start over again when a person dies. What kind of open-mindedness is this?

He was relieved, and at the same time he voluntarily put down his honor during his lifetime. I think he will not come again, or if he could have eaten the tofu earlier, I am afraid this matter would not have caused such trouble at all.

I thought of a poem by Li Bai: When things are done, take off your clothes and hide your merits and fame.

Liu An did it. After sleeping underground for thousands of years, he truly managed to neither be sad nor happy. I admire him!

"Do you remember where he took you?" After a long time, I came back to my senses and asked softly.

Li Mazi thought for a long time before nodding, but before he could answer, I suddenly interrupted: "Stop talking, he himself has already settled down, so why should we bother him anymore?"

Yes, I originally wanted to find his ghost and pay homage to him, but then I thought, not disturbing him is the greatest respect.

From then on, no matter how much people fought for fame and wealth, no one would ever think that Liu An, the tofu king with royal blood flowing through his veins, would be buried in a shabby place called Xiaoliu Village.

Let him stay in this pure land and look at the world with a smile!

(ps: Because the Spring Festival is approaching and the author also has to celebrate the New Year, it is tentatively planned to update two chapters every day and resume after the Spring Festival. In addition, the author’s WeChat public account is open. Readers are welcome to follow! WeChat--Add---Search: Daomen Laojiu , that’s it. Anyone who wants to communicate with the author can follow and leave a message.)