Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 77 Wang Banjie: What? Fenglinzhai is also my family's business?
That night, several evil spirits were dealt with by the Mountain and Sea Society, and order was restored in Moon Harbor.

However, an unexpected incident occurred at the disposal site near the Chengnan Wharf area.

The evil spirit possessing the Zhang family patriarch, after causing the deaths of several young men in the family through kowtowing, was finally subdued by the stewards.

A local official, known as "Mountain Chaser," stepped forward with a stick bearing a Ganoderma lucidum mushroom at the end, preparing to use the "Mushroom-Startling Technique," a unique skill passed down from the patriarch Wu Sangong, to eliminate Master Zhang and the evil spirit within him.

This technique is also called "striking the wood to startle the mushrooms." Before setting up the mushroom log, the cross-sections at both ends of the log are struck with a hammer to encourage the mycelium to grow rapidly and stimulate the mushrooms to sprout.

A poem says: "Yellow clouds pile up, mushrooms are nowhere to be seen; seek a teacher and be surprised by the mushrooms, do not blame Heaven."

Once someone is affected by the Fungi Spell, their soul and the person will be completely consumed by the specially cultivated mycelium, preventing any chance for the evil spirit to rise again.

Even if the folk legends corresponding to evil spirits give rise to entirely new counterparts, they will have no relation to them at this time.

Just when he had a sure chance to strike, his second wife suddenly pounced on him and clung to him, ruining the whole thing.

Murder!

You treat human life like dirt. You haven't even driven the evil spirit out of my master's body yet, how can you directly exorcise it?
Even if the evil spirits were attracted by my master's obsession with living, according to the laws of the Great Zhao Dynasty, killing one's son as a father is not a capital offense.

There's always trouble in a grand mansion.

This kind of second wife, who came from a brothel and was knowledgeable but had no background, and who had never borne any children, was no match for the Zhang family's descendants once her husband died.

They will soon be kicked out and meet a miserable end.

Besides, she was very satisfied with this old man who was several years younger than before and had regained his virility, so even though the Zhang family's descendants had all run away, she still protected the culprit to the death.

However, regardless of the other party's motives, the manager could not possibly beat and kill this foolish woman in front of everyone.

In the blink of an eye, the immobilization charm on Master Zhang's body was ripped off by the other party.

This allowed the evil spirit, who had been kowtowing to borrow lifespan, to escape from the body and disappear into the night with a "whoosh".

Just a few breaths later, in Osmanthus Lane, just two streets away.

An old man surnamed Wang, who had already fallen asleep, suddenly opened his eyes.

A quick glance around the room revealed steel knives and iron spears hanging on the walls, confirming that this was a military household.

On the table in the room was an open Wang family genealogy book, and at the end of the line with the youngest generation name, a name was clearly written: "Wang Fugui".

The next day, Wang Cheng hurriedly left before dawn, bidding farewell to Sister Axiao, who lived in the same courtyard.

He first went to Yutongshun, a large money exchange with the name Yuan, Heng, Li, and Zhen, and read out the secret code to receive the token. He then received the first batch of assets left to him by his father.

The property, valued at 30,000 taels, was just pocket change in the old father's eyes, but for Wang Cheng now, it was a huge sum of money that could serve as start-up capital for his business.

Among them are more than a dozen prime location shops that were entrusted to brokers after contracts were signed, and there is a continuous income every month, which is collected by the brokers on their behalf;
Coincidentally, these shops were all located on the antique street where Fenglinzhai was located, and Master Wang suddenly became the well-known "Wang Half Street"!
He casually took off the "hooligan" hat from his head.

These days, those without land are called "vagrants," those without property are called "rogues," and those with neither are called "rogues." Wasn't Wang Cheng, who had nothing before today, a rogue?

What excited him most was that his master's pawnshop, Fenglinzhai, was also among them!
Perhaps because of his years of wandering, the old man, though wealthy, disliked owning real estate, which led Wang Cheng to become his master's landlord by chance.

In any case, everyone in the entire Fenglinzhai had a job that was done for him, and it was a guaranteed income regardless of the circumstances.

“Master, from now on we’ll address each other separately. I’ll call you Master, and you call me Master Wang! Hehehe.” He felt great just thinking about it.

In addition, there was a papermaking workshop, a blacksmith shop, and a small shipyard called Qianzhou Shipyard.

The profits from these industries, totaling several thousand taels of silver in Yutongshun, were also available for Wang Cheng to withdraw.

Shipyards are the most valuable, capable of building small to medium-sized three-masted fishing boats.

I asked Zhang Wen, and he said that their ship, "Zhang Fushun," came from this Qianzhou Shipyard.

After inspecting his various businesses, Wang Cheng immediately took over the shipyard.

Liu Laoshi, a seventh-rank official [carpenter] who was nearing sixty and planned to spend his remaining years here, had a meal with a group of craftsmen to get acquainted with them.

With the reputation of being a disciple of a high-ranking official, and having thoroughly investigated the background of these people using the "rare commodity" method, it is entirely possible to build the envisioned shipping agency around this core.

In the afternoon, I quickly took the cash and went through the Shan Hai Guild's inventory, hoping to find a top-quality refining material.

The result was a great disappointment to him. He had quite a few snake molts that were commonly used when practicing the water-gathering method, but none of them were worthy of his attention.

On the third day, he went to Han Zechang, the "River Rat," to beg for money again.

Without any hesitation, they plundered all the materials used in the practice of the Western Star-Tracing Technique from the Han family.

After having a sumptuous dinner together, Han Zechang personally and warmly saw them off at the door, treating them like honored guests.

"If someone is thin-skinned, even if they have saved someone's life, they are likely to be too embarrassed to ask for anything in return, thinking it's an act of taking advantage of someone's kindness. This is a big mistake!"

If you have connections, you must use them; if you have external help, you must borrow it.

The relationship between people can only become more and more stable through mutual exchange, help and support, and frequent interaction.

Why is it that kinship ties are strong in the countryside, but severing ties with relatives is becoming increasingly common in the city?
It's because in the countryside, harvesting crops, building houses, weddings and funerals all depend on the help of fellow villagers.

In the city, a family or even just one person can live a very comfortable life, so there's naturally no need to go to great lengths to maintain these kinship relationships, or even marital relationships.

Ultimately, it's not a matter of family ties, but rather an economic issue.

Wang Cheng thanked the generous River-Turning Rat, and his form of address naturally changed to:
"Uncle Han, please wait. Another day, after we have cleared away the evil atmosphere in Yuegang, I will host a banquet for you and Shenlou to celebrate my formal apprenticeship."

"Haha, even if my nephew doesn't invite me, I, Old Han, will still bring Shushu along and shamelessly mooch a drink."

After leaving the Han family, Wang Cheng took stock of the materials he had collected:

"A celestial map used to decorate the Haotian Chengxiang Altar."

Although it can't compare to my master's painting, it's still a rare treasure that money can't buy on the market, and it's perfectly capable of being used in the middle to third grade.

Two merman-scented candles.

Not to mention maintaining the ritual for seven days, it could burn for a hundred years without ever going out.

Just like there's no wife in wife cake, there's no mermaid in mermaid candlesticks; the raw material is some kind of alien whale.

The talisman paper is also of superior quality, made using the "Golden Armored Deity Holding Yellow Paper Talisman Edict Method," and has been offered for more than three years in the ancestral temple of the flourishing Cai Shui lineage, undergoing the purification of incense offerings.
"Right now, we only have the main material for the training method; we still can't determine the source of the snake's shed skin, which possesses spirituality."

This time, we obtained a blue-ringed sea serpent that was half a century old from the Han family.

Having lived for so many years, it has shown signs of becoming a spirit or monster. It's not that it can't be used, but it's still not quite there yet.

What are the hidden taboos of a technique? What precautions should be taken when selecting materials for practice? How to borrow external forces? These are all profound questions that cannot be put into writing. You will never discover them without practical experience.

As the head of both the Cai Shui Wang family and the Shan Hai Hui, Wang Cheng naturally wanted to achieve perfection.

Both traditions say that the main materials for the refining method of the "Overseas Star-Tracing Technique" are very important, as they are related to the quality of the "Dragon Robe". Some special varieties with symbolic significance can also give officials additional unique skills.

Besides being venomous, this blue-ringed snake is very common in the southeastern coastal areas, and it is not very old, so its spiritual charm is just average.

If there were a beautiful snake that could call people by their names, I wouldn't hesitate and would choose it on the spot.

If all else fails, try looking in the antique street.
The chances are slim. Snake molts are commonly used in water collection methods, and high-quality specimens are hard to come by.

Alternatively, I could start with a slightly inferior beginner's item and then switch to a better one once I reach the second level of the 'Four Symbols' in the middle three grades.

If I were still alive at that time, I would have definitely helped that Lady Yan get through the crisis, and with the help of Sister A Xiao, the temple keeper, I would have lent her her 'inner garment'.
"Ugh, I feel like I'm still going to get beaten to death. Even Sister Axiao can't save my life."

As he walked, the bald eagle Aji, which had been circling above his head, cawed.

Wang Cheng suddenly stopped in his tracks.

It was already dark, and there were no pedestrians on the road, but a somewhat hunched figure appeared on his way back to Fenglinzhai.

His hands and feet were large and rough, and he was wearing a black cloth jacket. His almost completely white hair proved that he was an elderly man.

A quick glance in my mind and eyes revealed that this was someone I knew.

When he returned to Yuegang under the identity of "Wang Fugui", he made a special visit to several distant relatives of the Wang family, including this great-grandfather who was the most senior member of the family.

At this moment, Wang Cheng immediately realized that "he" was not human!

[Evil spirits: Bowing to borrow lifespan]

The evil spirit that should have been eliminated under the master's command actually possessed Wang Fugui's family and even came after him.

When Wang Cheng saw the other person, the distance between them was about thirty steps.

The middle is open and unobstructed.

An old voice rang out: "Fugui, please have mercy and lend your lifespan to the old master."

Pfft!
Without the slightest hesitation, the old master of the Wang family knelt down.

Thump! Thump! Thump! He kowtowed three times to Wang Cheng.

(End of this chapter)