Chapter 71 Grandpa’s Friends

Chapter 71 Grandpa’s Friends

Chapter 71 Grandpa's Friends (I)

The disaster at Qianyang Mountain was finally over, and Chen Shi also relaxed. He had been tense and nervous these days, and only now that he relaxed did he feel tired.

I slept very well that night.

In the middle of the night, he suddenly woke up, sat up abruptly, and saw several people beside his bed.

He was startled and looked carefully. It was Xiao Wangsun, Li Jindou and others. His grandfather was standing in the corner, still holding a green umbrella in his hand.

The five people looked at him with strange eyes, staring intently.

"No illness tonight."

Grandpa shook his head and walked out with an umbrella.

The other four also sighed with regret and walked out of Chen Shi's room one after another. Granny Sha asked, "Could it be that we can't eat the souls of those killed by artillery shells?"

Chen Shi was confused. They came to his room and watched him sleep, just to see him have an attack?

The next morning, Chen Shi got up to pay respect to his godmother, and saw that some people were already working in the fields. Although the demonic transformation was fierce and terrifying, and many people died, life went on.

By the third day, all villages had basically returned to normal and even opened markets.

Because there were five more mouths to feed in the family, including Li Jindou, Granny Sha, Jin Hongying and Xiao Wangsun, who were all sick, and Chen Shi himself had to make and take medicine, the Chen family soon ran out of money.

Granny Sha has always been very poor. She can only earn a little money by acting as a fortune teller for the villagers. And some time ago, she treated Chen Shi like his own son, but was eaten up by Chen Shi and went bankrupt.

Although Li Jindou was from the Li family in Quanzhou, judging from his elegant yet simple clothes, he probably didn't have much money. Moreover, when he came to Lao Chen's house to pay for his temporary stay, he only took out three taels of silver, which showed that both the grandfather and grandson were in financial difficulties.

When Xiao Wangsun was driving at night, he would stop to pick up ten taels of silver when he saw them on the road. It was estimated that he spent most of his money on maintaining his demeanor.

The richest person here is Jin Hongying, a military officer of the Shenjiying, who has a very high salary.

But after Jin Hongying was injured, she started dressing like a country girl, which shows that she spends money lavishly on a daily basis and only regrets having enough money when she needs it. She is also the kind of person who eats whatever she goes wherever she goes.

To borrow the local dialect, this is called being poor and penniless.

The medicinal herbs they and Chen Shi used every day were worth more than twenty taels of silver. Their family was so poor that they could barely make ends meet, so Chen Shi thought about taking the tortoise shell in his room to the market to sell it.

He found the tortoise shell when he was cleaning the tiger temple. It was incredibly hard and he thought it could be sold for a lot of money.

Grandpa also wanted to go out to buy medicinal herbs, so he took Chen Shi with him.

Chen Shi picked up the turtle shell and put it on the car. The father and son got in, with Hei Guo leading the way.

Chen Shi looked at his grandfather's green umbrella. It was strange to say, but ever since the magic transformation ended, his grandfather had been holding this green umbrella and had never let it go, and the umbrella had never been closed.

Even at night, he still held an umbrella.

Chen Shi also saw that last night, Xuanshan in black came to their village for some reason and stood outside his house. He left after dawn.

"Heiguo, have you noticed that there is something strange about grandpa and Xuanshan?" Chen Shi said to Gouzi.

Hei Guo hesitated and didn't dare to say anything.

The wooden cart started and drove towards Qiaowan Town.

Qiaowan Town was still very lively after the disaster. Qiaowan Town was not big, with only a few hundred households, but it was extremely prosperous and located on the way to Xinxiang County. If you go east for another 30 miles, you will reach Xinxiang County, and if you go northeast for 32 miles, you will reach Shuiniu County, so people traveling between the two counties would stay here.

In Qiaowan Town, the most common people you see are people coming out of the mountains, usually men or women in their forties or fifties, not tall but strong, wearing only short coats, with patches of bronze skin exposed, covered with sweat, and carrying hundreds of pounds of goods.

They would often put down their burdens in Qiaowan Town, drink a bowl of tea that cost five cents, and then pick up their mountain products again and set off towards the county town thirty miles away.

They would walk back and forth every day just to earn a few dozen coins.

Sometimes, one may even lose his life when encountering dangerous streams, dangerous bridges, cliffs, or wild animals.

But such is the life of ordinary country folk.

It has always been like this for generations.

Just after the disaster, many families were short of money, so many men carried mountain products to the city to exchange for money.

Seeing this, Chen Shi thought of how Li Xiaoding had asked him to draw a peach blossom talisman and had given him fifty taels of silver, and he felt that something was wrong here.

As for what was wrong, he couldn't tell.

Grandpa went to the herbal medicine shop in the town to buy medicine first, while Chen Shi planned to find an empty spot at the market, but he arrived late and the stalls at the market were already crowded. However, when they saw Chen Shi coming, the simple villagers turned pale and hurriedly squeezed together to make room for him.

Those who came here to trade were all folks from all over the place. They were all familiar faces and recognized Chen Shi.

Chen Shi expressed his gratitude to them for their kindness, put down his turtle shell, and waited for business to come.

"What a big turtle shell! Is this dog for sale?" A talisman master from another place passed by and was very concerned about the blame.

"Not for sale!" Chen Shi refused bluntly.

"What a pity. We could get a lot of black dog blood by killing it." Master Fu shook his head and continued to look at other stalls.

At the market in Qiaowan Town, there would be many monks from the city picking out things. Some things that looked ordinary in the countryside were good things in their eyes, and they would often buy them at a good price.

Chen Shi waited for a while, and the talisman master came back and said, "How about I buy your dog for ten taels of silver?"

Chen Shi shook his head: "The dog cannot be sold."

The talisman master gritted his teeth, as if in great pain, and said, "I'll give you another two taels, twelve taels of silver, plus this tortoise shell!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar all around, and the villagers looked at Chen Shi with envy.

Dogs in the countryside are not worth much. Twelve taels can buy dozens of black dogs.

Chen Shi's heart was moved, and he shook his head and said, "I don't sell dogs, I only sell turtle shells."

The talisman master gritted his teeth again and said, "I really like this dog. How about this? I'll give you another three taels of silver, fifteen taels of silver, this dog plus this tortoise shell! I'm a talisman master, I need to use dog blood to draw talismans. You can give me this tortoise shell as a bonus, how about that?"

"Sell it, sell it!" said the villagers around.

Chen Shi shook his head: "The dog cannot be sold."

The talisman master left unhappily, constantly looking back at the black pot and sighing as he walked.

Chen Shi was suspicious and whispered, "Black Pot, I don't think he wants to buy you, but the tortoise shell."

Hei Guo hesitated for a moment and said he didn't dare to disagree.

I am obviously valuable too.

What good is this tattered turtle shell? I can't even bite it.

After a while, another well-dressed monk from the city came to Chen Shi's stall, looked at him with pretended reserve, and wanted to buy a dog, and gave him the tortoise shell as a gift.

Chen Shi became more and more certain of his idea and flatly refused.

Several more groups of people came, and many of them set their sights on the tortoise shell. Gradually, the price of the black pot became higher and higher, and soon rose to twenty-four taels of silver.

They claimed that they liked the black pot and wanted to buy the dog, and as for the turtle shell, they would sell it for half and give it away for free. "Could this turtle shell really be some great treasure?" Chen Shi was even more confused.

The turtle shell weighs over 100 pounds and is very heavy.

He punched it, making a sound like metal and stone, and a stream of light overflowed, but the tortoise shell was not broken at all.

He was shocked. He practiced the Seven Refinements of the Big Dipper every day and developed a body of saintliness. His strength was much greater than before, but he still couldn't break the tortoise shell. This showed how tough the tortoise shell was!

Chen Shi was planning to throw a few more punches to test the limit of the tortoise shell, when a voice laughed and said, "Stop hitting it. If you really break it, this tortoise shell will be worthless."

Chen Shi looked up and saw a scholar in blue coming to his stall. He had delicate features, a high and round forehead, and looked very heroic. He wore a pair of black oil boots on his feet, but there was not a speck of dust on them.

"This person uses the Jia Ma Talisman when walking, so his feet never touch the ground, so naturally there is no dust on his shoes."

Chen Shi thought to himself, "He is very rich!"

Although Chen Shi himself is also a talisman master, he seldom uses the Jia Ma Talisman. Even if he does, it is only when fighting for life and death.

This person came from the city, and there was no dust on his shoes, which meant that he had been using the Jia Ma Fu to travel. His feet had not even touched the ground, so he must be a rich man.

"Sir, do you recognize turtle shells and know their value?" Chen Shi asked.

The scholar in green said with a smile, "A turtle that lives for a hundred years is called Ao, a thousand years is called Bixi, five thousand years is called Baxia, and ten thousand years is called Xuanwu. Ao's shell is four feet wide, Bixi's shell is five feet wide, and Baxia's shell is seven feet wide. But ordinary turtles can't live that long. Most of them are turtles in temples. They have absorbed the extraordinary power contained in the incense and can live so long."

Chen Shi roughly measured the turtle shell and found it was a little over six feet long.

The scholar in green took out an iron ruler and measured it carefully bit by bit, saying, "This tortoise shell is six feet and five centimeters wide."

Some talisman masters from the city gathered around, and one of them said, "This tortoise shell is the shell of a Bixi. It is not as old as Baxia, and is at most more than a thousand years old."

The scholar in green shook his head and said, "The Bixi is five feet wide, and the Baxia is seven feet wide, which means that the older the turtles get, the slower they grow. This turtle must have lived for at least two thousand years, or even more! Its shell has been soaked in the scent of incense and tempered by extraordinary power for more than two thousand years, and it is extremely solid! This kind of treasure can be ground into medicine, or refined into a treasure. This thing is most valuable when it is alive, and it is hard to say how much the shell is worth after it dies. However, I am willing to pay a thousand taels of silver."

Chen Shi was overjoyed. A thousand taels of silver was an astronomical figure for him. It was enough to pay for the medical treatment of poor people like Jin Hongying. The rest could be used to support his grandfather in his old age, and he could also marry many wives in the countryside!

"A thousand taels of silver!"

The talisman masters all shook their heads and turned away: "Even if there is money to be made, it won't be much. Besides, who has nothing better to do than carry a thousand taels of silver with them?"

The scholar in blue took out a banknote worth one hundred taels from his sleeve and was about to hand it to Chen Shi when a voice said, "Great stuff! I'll give you two thousand taels!"

Chen Shi was even happier. He looked at the person who came and saw that he was a short and fat man with triangular eyes, a sharp nose and a strange face. He smiled and said, "I only have two hundred taels of silver notes on me. Little brother, come with me to get them. My home is not far away."

The blue-clothed scholar's face suddenly changed, and he shouted, "Where did you get this thing? You are trying to get something from me, but you are blinding me! Get out!"

The short and fat man's face turned red and he sneered, "I offered a higher price, but you still force me to buy it. Be careful to get struck by lightning!" After that, he walked into the crowd while cursing.

The scholar in green waited for him to walk away, then he said to Chen Shi: "This man has bad intentions. He told you two thousand taels of silver, but said he didn't have that much money, and asked you to follow him. He would kill you outside the town and take the silver and tortoise shells for himself. I have seen this kind of thing many times, so I scolded him, not forcing him to buy or sell."

Chen Shi's eyes lit up, and his breathing became a little rapid: "Is there such a good thing?"

The scholar in blue was surprised and didn't know why he said it was a cheap thing.

Chen Shi felt quite regretful. If he had agreed to the man's request, wouldn't he have picked up two hundred taels of silver for nothing? And he could still sell the tortoise shell, which was the best of both worlds!
He took the banknote and said, "This tortoise shell is yours. You must be careful. If he can't rob me, he will definitely rob you."

The scholar in green said with a smile: "It's not easy to snatch the tortoise shell from me, but there is no guarantee that someone will covet the thousand taels of silver in your hand. You should be more careful."

Chen Shi had a favorable impression of him and said with a smile, "My name is Chen Shi, and my nickname is Xiao Shi. What's your name?"

"Xinxiang Shao Jing."

The scholar in green said with a smile, "If you are going to the county town, you can go to Juxian Tower and tell me my name. That is my family's property."

Shao Jing clapped his hands, and two strong men walked out of the crowd and lifted the turtle shell together.

Shao Jing smiled and said, "By the way, Chen Shi, can you tell me which temple you got this tortoise shell from?"

Chen Shi smiled and shook his head.

Shao Jing understood and said with a smile, "It's better not to tell me. If you have any other discoveries, you can send them to Juxian Tower." After that, he left with the two strong men.

Chen Shi's heart was moved, and he thought of the stone box he found with the tortoise shell. The stone box had been placed under his bed and had never been moved.

Could it be that the stone box is also a treasure?

But this stone box is very hard, how can we open it?

Not long after, my grandfather came back from buying medicine and asked, "How much did you sell it for?"

Chen Shi told the truth. Grandpa was surprised and said, "This Shao Jing is an interesting person. He didn't make much from you. There are twenty-four pearls in this tortoise shell, which contain the spiritual power of the old tortoise when it was alive, and can be used to refine treasures. If each pearl is worth one hundred taels, it can be sold for two thousand four hundred taels. It is fair for him to give you one thousand taels. Didn't he let you smash the tortoise shell? If you smash it, the pearls will roll out, and the price will naturally be higher."

Chen Shi was shocked and wanted to go find Shao Jing to settle the score.

"You picked it up, so one thousand taels is not a small amount. He is carrying the tortoise shell back to the county town. On the way, someone will intercept him and steal the treasure. He has to take the risk."

Grandpa threw the purchased herbs into the car and said, "Get in the car. We are going to the county town to buy some medicine. There are not enough herbs in the town."

Chen Shi climbed into the car, Hei Guo led the way, and the car rolled towards Xinxiang County.

In the afternoon, they arrived at Xinxiang County. Xinxiang County was not shrouded by the Demon Realm, so the impact was not great. After purchasing the medicinal materials, the car was already full of them.

"I have a few friends in the suburbs of Xinxiang County. I'll take you to meet them."

In the car, Grandpa took out a prescription and said, "Xiao Shi, remember this prescription. This is the prescription for your illness. You must memorize it and never forget it."

Chen Shi said yes and memorized the recipe. He was very curious: "Grandpa's friends? Xiao Wangsun and Granny Sha, Grandpa didn't even call them friends. How can there be friends in the suburbs? I've never heard Grandpa talk about them before."

As it was getting dark, they arrived at a village called Youcai Village on the outskirts of the county. The village was famous for its rapeseed flowers.

When the rape blossoms bloom, the whole mountain is covered with bright yellow flowers, and it is almost impossible to find a path. People from Xinxiang and several nearby counties and cities come here to enjoy the rape blossoms.

Chen Shi and his friends arrived at an unlucky time; the rape flowers had already withered, and the fields were full of lush green rape.

The sky was red and the sun had closed its eyes.

The moon is about to open its eyes.

Under the gaze of the villagers, the wooden cart drove past the village and stopped in front of a haunted house outside the village.

The sea of ​​fire in the sky went out, and the moon revealed a crescent moon, like a willow leaf, slowly expanding and becoming rounder and rounder.

"It seems like they're going to a haunted house!" someone exclaimed.

"The evil spirits there are very vicious, they are courting death!"

Chen Shi was shocked when he heard this: "Grandpa's friend is an evil spirit? Is Grandpa going to show his true form? Wait, my grandpa is an evil spirit, am I also an evil spirit? Am I going to show my true form too?"

Inadvertently, he saw Xuanshan in black again, standing in the middle of the rapeseed field, watching them from afar.

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(End of this chapter)