Chapter 144: Evil Godmother

Chapter 144: Evil Godmother

Chapter 144: Evil Godmother
The Governor's Academy is located in the west of Gongzhou City. From afar, you can see the smoke of incense burning. Next to the academy is the Confucian Temple, which is dedicated to Confucius.

When Chen Shi and Hu Feifei arrived outside the Governor's Academy, they saw that there were already many scholars from various counties in Gongzhou and Xinxiang queuing up to report and wait for arrangements.

The two of them lined up, leaving the dog and the car outside.

Hu Feifei was very excited. She looked around, looking for a scholar she liked. She whispered, "The scholars here are not the little brats from Xinxiang County. I'm sure I can find a suitable husband!"

Chen Shi said: "It's useless for you to choose now. You won't know who will be the winner until the autumn exam results are announced."

Hu Feifei was a little worried and said, "If we fox girls can't choose a husband of our dreams before passing the imperial examination, we will be laughed at by our sisters. They will say that we have no vision and no ability, and the husband we choose is the one they left over. If we want to choose, we must choose before passing the imperial examination, then we have good vision."

Chen Shi didn't know that the fox tribe had such rules.

"If I can pass the Asian exam, I will have a unique vision. If I can pass the Jieyuan exam, I will stand out among the sisters of the Fox Clan."

Hu Feifei told him about the strange rules of the fox tribe, and said, "If you win three prizes in a row, your ancestors' graves will be filled with smoke, and all your sisters will be extremely envious. You can be called the great grandmother in the tribe."

Chen Shi asked, "What if the man you chose doesn't pass the imperial examination?"

Hu Feifei was a little nervous and shook her head, "I will definitely pass! My vision is definitely not bad! Even if I don't pass this time, I can take the exam again next time!"

"What if I still fail the exam next time?" Chen Shi asked again.

Hu Feifei was very uneasy, with anxiety in her eyes: "Then I'll take the test again next time!"

Chen Shi wanted to avenge her ridicule, so he pressed on, "What if I still don't pass? What if I never pass in my life?"

Hu Feifei's face was pale and she was absent-minded. She murmured, "Yes, if I can't pass the imperial examination in my whole life, if I am only a scholar for my whole life, how can I hold my head up in front of my sisters? I will call them grandma..."

Finally it was their turn, but the reporting officer was not the education commissioner but the education councilor.

The two white-haired counselors asked the two men their names, read their documents, and checked their native places and the origins of their teachers. They then stamped their documents and said, "From now on, you will live in the post station in the east of the city, separated by men and women, and provide your own food and drink."

Chen Shi and Hu Feifei thanked them and walked towards the east of the city. On the way, they heard many scholars complaining that the Governor's Academy was in the west of the city, but the post station was in the east, which was clearly a hassle.

Hu Feifei is a cheerful person. She laughs and jokes with Chen Shi all the way, making fun of her for being sold out. Chen Shi, on the other hand, attacks her by saying that her future husband might fail the imperial examination. Both of them have weapons that can accurately hit each other, and they hurt each other along the way.

Suddenly, people wrapped in red cloth came over here, beating gongs and drums, and shouted as they walked, "Hongshan Hall, Hongshan Hall! Burn a stick of incense at Hongshan, and offer it to the goddess, and there will be no disaster!"

"Dang~dang!"

"Hongshan Hall, Hongshan Hall! Three sticks of Hongshan incense are offered to the Queen Mother without paying taxes!"

"Dang~dang!"

"Hongshan Hall, Hongshan Hall! The goddess is worshipped in the Hongshan Temple, and the Hongshan goddess is famous!"

Chen Shi and Hu Feifei stood on the side of the road and saw people on both sides of the street opening their doors, lighting incense sticks and putting them in the incense burner held by the leader of the group.

"It looks like he's a missionary." Hu Feifei looked around and said.

A scholar in his twenties beside them said with a smile, "This is Hongshan Hall asking for incense and offerings. Hongshan Hall is a talisman master association in Gongzhou. The people inside are all talisman masters, and they worship Hongshan Goddess. They don't preach, they just ask for incense and offerings from hundreds of families. But Hongshan Goddess is indeed efficacious. If you prepare the right offerings, and pray for children, blessings, and wealth, it will all come true."

When Chen Shi heard that it was the Talisman Master Association, he quickly asked, "How do the Talisman Masters of Hongshan Hall make a living?"

The scholar said, "Go to each county and town to exorcise evil spirits. Hongshan Hall has spies in every place. They will be the first to know where there are evil spirits, and then send the talisman master to exorcise the evil spirits. After the evil spirits are exorcised, they can go to the government to collect the reward money. I heard that when they exorcise evil spirits, the Goddess of Hongshan will also help."

When Chen Shi heard this, he couldn't help but yearn for it.

The money he had was enough to last until the autumn exam, after which he would be penniless. If he made money by selling talismans, he wouldn't make much, not enough to cover his daily expenses for medicinal materials.

Moreover, in provincial capitals like Gongzhou, talisman masters are as numerous as ants, talismans are cheap, and competition is fierce.

Joining Hongshantang and making money by exorcising evil spirits is at least a way to make a living.

"Besides Hongshan Hall, are there any other similar halls in Gongzhou?" Hu Feifei asked.

The scholar said, "There are also the Cao Lao Hui and the Yan Lao Hui, which are very large. One is in charge of the grain transport, controlling the Minjiang River's river transport and boats and rafts, and the other is in charge of salt mining. Both of them have government backgrounds. Some people say that the Salt Transport Commissioner is behind the Yan Lao Hui, but I don't know if it's true."

Chen Shi thanked him for the advice and asked, "What's your name, Senior Brother?"

The scholar said, "I dare not. I am Zhao Kaiyun."

When Chen Shi heard the last name Zhao, he felt unhappy and pulled Hu Feifei away from him.

Zhao Kaiyun was puzzled.

The two continued to laugh and joke. Suddenly, Chen Shi stopped and looked towards a big house.

When Hu Feifei saw him stop, she also stopped immediately and followed his gaze, wondering, "Brother Chen, what are you looking at?"

Chen Shi pointed to the mansion and said, "Use the Sky Eye Talisman to take a look."

Hu Feifei hurriedly searched for the Heavenly Eye Talisman in her luggage. Chen Shi could see clearly with his naked eyes that the mansion was filled with incense. The aroma gathered into clouds, floating above the mansion. Under the fragrant clouds was a thick and sinister demonic aura.

Next to the mansion is the Minjiang River (prototype: Delaware River), and there is a waterway connecting to the Minjiang River. The river is quite wide, about sixty or seventy meters wide.

At this moment, there were dozens of people, each of whom slapped the Yellow Turban Warrior Talisman on their bodies. Each of them was over ten feet tall and had infinite strength. They were shouting slogans and pulling the sluice gate with all their might, slowly raising the huge iron gate.

Chen Shi looked and saw that the surface of the Minjiang River suddenly bulged, and there seemed to be some huge monster swimming under the water at a very fast speed!

"call--"

The river water rose seven or eight feet high, poured into the waterway, and entered the mansion through the sluice gate.

Beneath the fragrant clouds of the mansion, two blood-red lanterns lit up, floating in the air, puffing out smoke.

Hu Feifei took out the Sky Eye Talisman and activated it. She also saw this scene and was horrified. She whispered, "Evil spirit?" Chen Shi lowered his voice and said, "It should be. Strange, isn't there a Ten Thousand Souls Banner in the city? How could there be an evil spirit entering the city?"

Zhao Kaiyun came up and said with a smile: "The one in the river just now is the Minjiang Grandma of the Cao Lao Association. She was originally an evil spirit in the Minjiang River. Later, she was worshipped by many people. Over time, she became spiritual and was able to protect the area. So the people of Gongzhou worshipped Minjiang Grandma as their godmother and established the Cao Lao Association."

Chen Shi was extremely surprised and asked, "Can an evil spirit become a godmother?"

Zhao Kaiyun said: "The more incense you receive, the more evil your nature will be suppressed. Without the evil nature, the one who protects the person who burns the incense will naturally become your godmother."

Chen Shi's impression of him couldn't help but improve.

Zhao Kaiyun continued, "The boatmen of the Cao Lao Hui were going to the Minjiang River to sail and raft. Without the protection of Gongzhou City, there were evil spirits outside. If it weren't for the protection of Grandma Minjiang, I'm afraid the boatmen of the Cao Lao Hui would have died long ago. With Grandma Minjiang, the people of the Cao Lao Hui were able to survive."

Chen Shi said: "I see."

At this time, a pleasure boat floated by on the river. Chen Shi looked and saw a father and daughter on the pleasure boat. They were the father and daughter on the pleasure boat in Xinxiang County.

"Why are you here?" Chen Shi was extremely surprised.

The boat girl smiled and said, "Recently, many scholars in the city are going to Gongzhou to take the imperial examinations, so we are ferrying people on the Minjiang River, going upstream from the lower reaches to here to earn some hard-earned money. Scholar, I wish you success in the imperial examinations!"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Thanks for your kind words. There is a Canal Elders Association in Gongzhou that controls the canal transportation. You should be careful that they may cause trouble to you."

The boat girl said, "We have made arrangements. There won't be any trouble."

The father and daughter rowed away in the boat.

At the main temple of the Cao Lao Hui, the temple master Cao Yunshen looked at the Minjiang Grandma who was breathing in the aroma of incense. Suddenly, he couldn't help coughing violently, coughing up blood, and his face turned pale.

The divine appearance of Minjiang Grandma was revealed. She was an old woman with a turban on her head, leaning on a wooden stick that was two or three times taller than herself, and she was also coughing up blood continuously.

"Who is the other party? Why is his strength so terrifying?"

The leader of the altar, Cao Yunshen, looked terrified and whispered, "My grandmother and I worked together but we were unable to hurt the father and daughter at all. Instead, we were severely injured by them! When did such a pair of masters come to Gongzhou City?"

The Cao Lao Hui controlled the canal transportation, and this father and daughter actually ran a ferry on the Minjiang River, stealing the business of the Cao Lao Hui, which caused dissatisfaction among the members. So some people brought many boats to intercept the father and daughter, intending to teach them a lesson.

Unexpectedly, he was beaten.

The incense master of the Cao Lao Society stepped forward, but was also beaten back.

The leader of the forum, Cao Yunshen, knew that the person who came was no ordinary person, but the Cao Laohui could not lose face, so he invited Minjiang Grandma to fight with him personally. Unexpectedly, he was still beaten by the other party!
He couldn't even see the other party's background!

Chen Shi had met Chuan Gu and his daughter twice, and he quite liked Chuan Gu's boldness.

It's a rare opportunity to meet them here, and Chen Shi is very happy.

At this moment, he let out another exclamation, and saw a large house. The house was filled with blood and dark red. A mountain of flesh was lying there, and the blood was emanating from the mountain of flesh.

However, ordinary people cannot see this scene with their naked eyes.

"This mansion is the headquarters of Hongshan Hall."

Zhao Kaiyun said, "Hongshan Hall enshrines Hongshan Goddess. The meat mountain you saw is Hongshan Goddess!"

Chen Shi was confused and asked, "Who exactly is the Goddess of Hongshan?"

Zhao Kaiyun did not use the Sky Eye Talisman, and with his mortal eyes, he could not see the Goddess of Hongshan. He said, "I can't bear to buy the Sky Eye Talisman, so I can't see the Goddess of Hongshan. But I heard that the Goddess of Hongshan is a blood Tai Sui, and I heard that she was dug out from the mountain. When she was dug out, all the people and animals within a ten-mile radius died."

Chen Shi was surprised and asked, "The talisman master of Hongshan Hall worships such evil spirits?"

Zhao Kaiyun said: "As long as Goddess Hongshan has received incense, she is not considered evil."

When he arrived at the east of the city, along the way, Chen Shi actually saw four or five places with a strong demonic aura and a lot of incense!

However, these places are often the powerful forces of Gongzhou.

"There are so many people in Gongzhou, and they all worship evil spirits. They have become powerful and each one is as strong as Black Mountain Grandma! Some are even stronger than Black Mountain Grandma!"

He was secretly shocked, "Isn't Gongzhou afraid of the moon rising and the evil spirits changing?"

Black Mountain Granny was extremely powerful. Chen Shi killed the evil spirit with a beam from the Tiger Temple when its statue was shattered. At that time, Black Mountain Granny's power was only one tenth of what it was.

And in Gongzhou City, there are six people who are not weaker than Heishan Grandma!

"In the past, we could use incense to suppress evil, but now there is a moon in the daytime, so we need more incense. I'm afraid these evil godmothers will cause big trouble sooner or later!" Chen Shi whispered.

Zhao Kaiyun said with a smile, "With the government here, what kind of trouble can there be? In Gongzhou City, there are the governor, the governor-general, the general, the inspector, the three officials, the eunuchs who guard the city, the salt transport official, the salt frying official, the tea and horse official, how many officials are there? These officials are from powerful families and have great abilities. How can there be trouble?"

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "It is definitely not a good thing to let evil spirits enter the city. Even if there are so many experts guarding Gongzhou City, I am afraid there will be a day when they are careless."

When they arrived at the post station, Chen Shi and Hu Feifei separated, only to see that the post station was already overcrowded, with four or five scholars often crammed into one room.

Chen Shi and Zhao Kaiyun lived in a four-person room under the guidance of the guards of the post station.

Chen Shi put away his things, tidied up, boiled some medicine for dinner, and at night, he saw some people reading by lamplight.

Chen Shi fell asleep, and in the middle of the night he suddenly woke up in a cold wind. He opened his eyes and, with the help of the light, he vaguely saw a dark shadow in the room eating the feet of a scholar in the same room. The shadow had already gnawed the scholar's right leg until only the bones were left.

The scholar was still sleeping soundly, unaware of anything, and snoring could be heard from his mouth.

——Chapter 2 is here, sorry it’s a little late.

(End of this chapter)