I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 43 Encountering a Ghost
Jiang She and the others looked over.

There were quite a few people in the post station, including a caravan with goods on their carts, and two scholars sitting with them. They were probably affiliated with the caravan and traveling with them to ensure safety on the road.

There was even a monk with a shaved head, dressed in monk's robes, bowing his head and waiting for his meal.

Horses need to eat hay, which incurs additional costs.

If it were an official coming, and his entourage was within the prescribed limits, then this expense would naturally be paid by the imperial court. Li Bai didn't care about this small amount of money. While Mr. Jiang went to the stables to check on the horses, he had his servants bring out a string of coins from a box and hand it to the postman.

Are there any upper rooms available?

The young courier looked at these people; they were dressed in rich clothes and were traveling on horseback with so many trunks.

Having received the money, he became even more respectful and said:
"There are three...two rooms left."

Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu exchanged a glance.

He chatted casually, saying, "Then we'll have a room for each of us, and the rest of us can have a room. We'll have the best food and wine. Is that enough?"

"Enough, enough..."

Yuan Danqiu, dressed in a Taoist robe, asked, "The innkeeper just said there were three rooms, why did he suddenly change his mind and say there were only two?"

The courier glanced at his clothes.

He hesitated.

He didn't want to offend these guests. Most of the post station workers were miscellaneous workers or from foreign post stations; apart from the postmaster who received a subsidy, the others didn't get paid. Most of their annual earnings came from the lodging fees of ordinary people and merchants, as well as tips from travelers. Earning money was truly difficult.

The people in front of us are very generous.

The courier stared at Yuan Danqiu's Taoist robe.

After thinking for a moment, he said in a low voice, "I'll tell you this in private, but please don't tell anyone."

"I don't want to hide it from the guests, but there's always a strange noise coming from this inn, like it's haunted. That room, which used to be the best one at the back, is no longer available for guests."

Yuan Danqiu was puzzled.

"So why did you initially say there were three superior rooms? This isn't the first time it's been haunted, is it?"

The courier was somewhat embarrassed.

"The house prices upstairs are higher than those elsewhere..."

As he spoke, he quickly apologized, hoping that these distinguished guests would not take offense.

The courier added a few more words: the haunted superior room was at the very back; if guests heard any noises at night, it was nothing to worry about, just don't go out to avoid causing any trouble.

Unexpectedly, it was because the price of the house was too high.

Yuan Danqiu was speechless for a moment.

Finally, the story shifts back to the two rooms; these post station workers still have some conscience.

When Jiang She returned, Yuan Danqiu shared these words with everyone at the dinner table.

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Bai, knowing that the guy could now see things that others couldn't, and urged him to go out and take a look that night.

Jiang She lowered his head and watched the cat eat meat.

This cat slept all day, but became energetic at night. It was also quite bold, trying to climb onto the table and staring intently at the fish on it.

That fish was bigger than a cat.

The merchants at the next table were quite curious to see this person bringing a cat along, so they glanced at him a few more times. When they saw the cat staring intently at the fish, looking somewhat eager to try it, they all laughed.

"This cat is amazing!"

"He has traveled more roads than my son."

"How old is it? Two months? It looks so small, and it's quite greedy... Oh! It's also a bit fierce. It will definitely be a good mouse catcher in the future."

Jiang She gently pressed the cat's head down, moving it away from the fish.

The old deer mountain god watched from the side, unable to resist stroking his beard and smiling slightly.

He hadn't sat in a mansion or inn for a hundred or two hundred years, eating with people in a lively atmosphere, so the experience was quite novel. His hair and beard were completely white, and he moved with a trembling gait, drawing much attention from others, even the most outspoken merchant among them held him in high esteem.

Jiang She asked:
"I heard this place is haunted? What's the story behind that?"

When the traveling merchant mentioned the ghost stories in the post station, the smile on his face disappeared, his brows furrowed, and fear arose in his heart.

"I only heard about this after I arrived. I asked around, but the couriers were stammering and couldn't explain what was going on."

He cursed.

"Once tonight is over, we'll leave. If I had known this would happen, I would have traveled a little further; there's a lodge ten miles ahead..."

Jiang She could tell that the group of people were very regretful.

He asked, "I just heard them say that there's a guy named Wang San who suddenly went mad in the last two years?" Li Bai, holding his wine cup, raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this.

The merchant asked, "Wang San was the postman before this post station?"

"No, I heard he's a butcher, skilled at slaughtering pigs."

"I don't know. There are many people with the surname Wang in the world, and even more who are the third son. I'll ask around for you later."

The merchant lowered his head to eat his food, then talked to the person next to him, complaining that the scholar he had brought along had delayed them during the day and prevented them from going to the next place earlier. Otherwise, they would rather stay in the wilderness than stay in this haunted place.

As they spoke, the merchants glanced at Yuan Danqiu, who was dressed in a Taoist robe.

Then he looked at the monks eating quietly inside the room.

There was a faint expectation.

Staying with these two, one Buddhist and one Taoist, should be safe, right...?

They were all unaware that there was a true deity in this house.

When the courier in the shop was serving the dishes, he also heard these words. He turned around and went into the kitchen, feeling flustered, and discussed the matter with the others.

"What should we do if they find out this place is haunted?"

The middle-aged courier, listening to the conversation in the main room, looked away and said, "Turn a blind eye."

"Alas?"

"We've already paid, do you think they'll run away?" the middle-aged courier laughed. "There are no courier stations in the world that offer refunds! If they dare to ask us for a refund, the laws of the Great Tang Dynasty will deal with them."

The courier asked, "What if they run away tonight?"

"We've already taken the money, so why should we care if they run away or not? At least we'll spare a few customers."

The young courier was completely convinced; Old Zhou was indeed a veteran, always able to remain calm and collected in the face of adversity.

It seems he still has a lot to learn.

Outside the kitchen at this moment.

The Old Deer Mountain God looked at Jiang She, took a sip of the slightly sour, cloudy wine, and smiled.

"These mortals are quite interesting."

“Everyone has their own way of surviving,” Jiang She said.

I lowered my head and stroked the cat, who still wanted to eat fish, and then used clean chopsticks to put some fish into the cat's own bowl.

The cat purred softly as it ate.

Unlike the postmen, Jiang She and his group were initially indifferent to the trip, but after hearing that the place was haunted, they found it interesting and decided to venture forward.

For business people, money is the most important thing. Once the merchants have paid, they certainly won't want to leave tonight.

The next residence was ten miles away, and the two scholars, lacking courage, naturally dared not travel alone in the dead of night.

As darkness fell, the clouds hung low, and the wind rustled through the woods.

Two couriers stood together and lit lanterns at the entrance.

They looked outside, but seeing no one coming, they closed the door and bolted it shut.

Today we met some generous guests and received a string of cash. After deducting the cost of food and lodging, we still had quite a bit left. They were unusually generous, even lighting lamps and candles inside the house.

The candlelight was gently swayed by the wind.

It flickered faintly, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

After everyone finished dinner, the table was a mess. For some reason, none of the people who had eaten in the main room left.

The monk was looking down at a book.

The two scholars sat together, very close together, leaning against each other, as if afraid that some ghostly wind might sneak in.

The merchants, who were the most numerous, spoke in increasingly lower voices, picking up the leftover scraps with their chopsticks and eating them without tasting them, occasionally taking a sip of wine.

Drive away the chill in your heart.

The main room, where people eat, is where most people gather. Once you return to your lodgings, you part ways with everyone.

Jiang She sized up the merchants, noticing their increasingly grim expressions.

Li Bai, always bold, held his wine cup and looked around.

Yuan Danqiu lowered his voice.

"Well, what did you see?"

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(End of this chapter)