novelapdf Chapter 414: Dried Fish Resurrected?
Chapter 414: Dried Fish Resurrected?
Mo Chengyue pulled a blank talisman from the table, used the array hook to pick up the blood energy at the edge of the red lines on his palm, and let that bit of red energy fall onto the corner of the paper.
The talisman did not burn, but tiny water droplets appeared on its surface. When the water droplets touched the edge of the feather talisman, they were immediately locked at the base of the feather by the golden-blue halo.
Whether she gets angry or not is another matter, but first let the living know that someone is digging up old dirt.
The woman's voice through the paper eyes carried the sound of the tide.
"Your embroidery boat is designed to make it recognize the second shore."
Mo Chengyue folded the talisman into the feather root and covered it with a water-repelling talisman on the outside.
"So they only excavate the corners, without providing house numbers."
Shopkeeper Hu stared at the sealed talisman packet.
"Can it be brought out of the fog?"
"No guarantee."
Mo Chengyue looked up at the paper.
"But it doesn't like it."
Old Zhou tucked the old ship's license plate into his pocket and lit the oil lamp.
"The less it likes it, the more correct the path is."
The woman's voice suddenly became shrill in the paper eyes.
"You can't send it out."
Mo Chengyue pushed the talisman fire further inside the paper hole.
"You're getting impatient, which means the feedback from the trial is good."
Old Zheng felt a chill run down his spine.
"Master, where should we send this thing? We can't let anyone go out; if we open the door, the fog outside will kill us."
"Nobody is going out."
Mo Chengyue hung the sealing talisman on the end of the array hook, then looked at Old Zheng.
Which boats will be setting sail tomorrow morning?
Old Zheng immediately replied, "Boss Fan's dry cargo ship goes downstream to exchange salt. The ship is full of dried fish, so salty that even dogs avoid it."
Xiao Liu quickly raised his hand.
"The second row of blue cloth baskets, with three pieces of gray cloth patched on top of the blue cloth, I know."
Mo Chengyue raised an eyebrow.
"You even remember this?"
Xiao Liu bit into his steamed bun, speaking with a straight face.
"He wouldn't let me buy dried fish on credit, so I hold a grudge."
Old Zheng cursed, "Useless."
Mo Chengyue nodded.
Holding a grudge can sometimes save your life.
Just as Xiao Liu was about to straighten his back, Lao Zheng's iron spoon was already pressed against his back.
"Don't lift your head."
Shopkeeper Hu dragged an old hemp rope from the corner of the wall and handed it to Mo Chengyue.
"There is a rope for hanging a night watchman's sign at the back window of the watchtower, which can be used to send goods to the eaves of the shed, but the doors and windows cannot be opened wide."
Old Zhou moved the oil lamp to the back window. The flame was dimmed by the red mist, but was supported by the clear sound of Yin Xinpei.
"The shed is on the right, and the wind isn't favorable, so the rope has to run close to the wall."
Mo Chengyue tied the hemp rope to the array hook, and the Yin-Yang True Energy spread along the rope, with the thin thread probing outwards along the window frame.
Old Zheng reached out to help, but the moment his fingertips touched the rope, he was frozen by the yin energy and withdrew his hand.
"This rope doesn't feel right."
Mo Chengyue placed the soul-protecting talisman on the back of his hand.
"Don't confront it head-on, help me check the fog."
Old Zheng gripped the iron ladle tightly and looked outside.
"The fog rolls to the right, the sound of water is on the left, and there are no lights at the other end of the warehouse."
Xiao Liu leaned closer and said cautiously, "Boss Fan's blue cloth basket is at the back, next to a wooden bucket for seaweed. The lid of the bucket is torn at one corner."
Old Zheng gave him a sidelong glance.
"Are you holding a grudge again?"
"Seaweed is not available on credit."
Manager Hu, who had been keeping a straight face, lost his grip on the lamp cord upon hearing this, and the copper coin tapped against the table with a soft sound.
A sinister female voice spoke through the paper eyes.
"It's not mentioned in the file that you would use a mortar to deliver letters."
Mo Chengyue watched as the rope slid outwards.
"This indicates that the person who wrote the case file is not very competent."
Old Zhou glanced towards the warehouse and warned in a low voice, "What if the mole knows about this feather talisman?"
Mo Chengyue pushed the array plate with his fingers, and the sealing talisman slid down the outer wall, while the water-repelling talisman glowed faintly in the red mist.
"Then he'll know first that I already know someone is looking at the case files."
The room fell silent.
Old Zheng gripped the iron ladle, and after a long pause, he finally managed to stammer out, "Immortal Master, is investigating internal traitors in your immortal sect this terrifying?"
Mo Chengyue slowly released the hemp rope.
"The traitors who aren't scary live long."
Xiao Liu touched the calming talisman on his forehead.
"What about the scary ones?"
"Let's see how fast he runs."
The woman's voice through the paper eyes was broken and intermittent due to the burning of the talisman fire.
"If you can't get it out, the red light will accept your blood; there are roads both on and under the water."
Mo Chengyue ignored it. The hook descended along the sliding rope to the eaves of the shed. With a gentle turn of the hook's tail, the seal was released and fell into the second row of blue cloth fish baskets.
Manager Hu immediately asked, "Is it done?"
As Mo Chengyue looked at the remaining golden-blue light spots on the array plate and was about to reel in the wires, he heard the sound of bamboo baskets being pushed from the inside of the shed.
Old Zhou moved the oil lamp closer to the window.
There is no wind.
Old Zheng held the iron spoon horizontally in front of his chest.
"Boss Fan's dried fish can't possibly still be alive, can it?"
Xiao Liu's face turned pale, and he forgot to swallow the steamed bun in his mouth.
"If it survives, will Boss Fan still charge for the fish?"
Mo Chengyue looked down at the red pattern on his palm. The red pattern was burning hot against his skin. He held the thunder talisman between his fingers and pressed his other hand against the edge of the array plate.
The blue cloth in the shed bulged from the inside, and the dry, hard fish scales rubbed against the bamboo basket, making a dense, soft sound.
After the blue cloth was pushed aside, all the dead fish in the basket turned over at the same time. Their dry, hard gills opened and closed, and small red dots appeared in their turbid eyes as they stared at Mo Chengyue's hand.
The blue cloth in the warehouse was pushed up and down, and the red dots in the dried fish's eyes formed a continuous line, staring through the mist at the back window of the watchtower.
Old Zheng held the iron spoon to his chest, his face tense.
"Master, why is that fish looking at your hands?"
With the calming talisman on his head, Xiao Liu finally swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth, but his voice was hoarse and weak.
"Do they want to eat people?"
Mo Chengyue looked down at the red pattern on his palm. The red light didn't pierce outwards; instead, it circled around his skin, as if searching for another path.
He fastened the array plate to the windowsill, and the runes slid along the wooden frame, first sealing the window cracks, and then retracting the array hook back into the room.
"Fish don't eat people, but boats do."
Xiao Liu turned pale upon hearing this.
"Then it's better to eat fish, at least fish are small."
Old Zheng raised his hand to hit him on the head, but halfway up the iron spoon, he was afraid of making a noise that would attract attention, so he could only grit his teeth and curse.
"Can't you say something that a living person would like to hear?"
Shopkeeper Hu stared at the shed, the lamp cord wrapped around his wrist, the blackened coin swaying gently.
"The sealing talisman has already fallen into the fish basket. If they can really find it, it means that the red lantern boat is not targeting the talisman, but the route for delivering the talisman."
Old Zhou moved the oil lamp to the back window. The lamplight was dimmed by the red mist, casting shadows at everyone's feet and stretching them to the base of the wall.
"If the road is not clean, the people walking on it will get dirty first."
Xiao Liu was about to ask another question when the light stretched the shadow beneath her feet, and at the end of the shadow, close to the corner of the wall, slowly appeared a pair of small red embroidered shoes.
The shoes were embroidered with old-fashioned twin flowers, the uppers were soaked, and dark red water stains seeped into the stitches. They were placed squarely on Xiao Liu's shadow's feet.
Xiao Liu looked down and saw that the kitchen knife in his hand slid to the ground, and the back of the blade hit the wooden board.
Uncle Zheng.
Old Zheng followed his gaze and his expression changed instantly.
"Don't move."
Xiao Liu's lips trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I didn't move, it moved."
The tips of the red embroidered shoes gently turned towards the door of the watchtower. Although Xiao Liu's feet were still on the same spot, his shadow was dragged by the shoes toward the crack in the door.
Mo Chengyue held the Heart-Cleansing Talisman between his fingertips, raised his hand and pressed it onto the old talisman on Xiao Liu's forehead. The old talisman was softened by sweat, so he replaced it with a new one, the tail of which hung down to cover half of Xiao Liu's eyebrow.
"It's okay to cry, but don't call out my name."
Xiao Liu had tears on her face and was sobbing so hard she didn't dare make a sound, only wiping them haphazardly with her sleeve.
"Immortal Master, am I going to die?"
Mo Chengyue placed the hook at his feet, the tip of the hook not touching the red embroidered shoe, but only picking at the wet, dark edge next to the shadow.
"It's temporarily unavailable; the final payment hasn't been made yet."
Xiao Liu asked, gasping for breath.
"You still want the final payment after dragging my soul away?"
Old Zheng was so angry that he reached out and pulled him back, but Xiao Liu's body could move backward while his shadow was nailed to the ground by his shoe. With a tug on his shoulder, he bent over in pain.
Manager Hu immediately raised his hand to stop Old Zheng.
"Don't pull, his soul is being trampled by the shoe."
Old Zheng's fingers stopped on Xiao Liu's collar, then he put his hand on Xiao Liu's shoulder, his voice becoming hoarse.
"Immortal Master, why don't I deliver it instead? Anyway, I'm old and frail, so it won't be a loss if I'm dragged along."
The sound of Xiao Liu crying was stuck in his throat, and he turned his head to scold him.
"Uncle Zheng, stop talking nonsense. You still owe me half a basket of dried fish."
Old Zheng glared at him.
"You're about to lose your life, and you're still thinking about dried fish?"
Xiao Liu said, wiping away her tears.
"Those who owe debts and don't pay them back will die without dignity."