I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 61: The ear reports that God is alive, today is bad
The neighbors had already seen it and had been discussing it for a long time.

Jiang She looked up and saw that the old woman was wearing a dark blue silk dress with a plain half-sleeved outer garment. Her skin was tanned and wrinkled, and she looked like an old lady from a rural family.

The man beside her was dressed in coarse clothes, short brown robes, long trousers with a belt, and straw sandals; he was probably her servant.

He nodded.

"Exactly."

The old woman breathed a sigh of relief: "The matchmaker told me that the house has already been rented out, and the deed was delivered to me some time ago."

"But the money still hasn't arrived, and I'm having trouble getting in touch with the broker here..."

"I don't know if the young master hasn't paid yet, or if something happened in between."

"I've come to visit."

The old woman spoke quite politely.

At first, seeing that the door was locked and there was no sign of anyone, she assumed that the person had already run away. She almost fainted on the spot.

Fortunately, a neighbor told me that someone lives in this house. They heard people washing up and talking this morning, so they must have gone out.

It's only now that we've waited this long.

Jiang She thought for a moment.

"The rent has already been paid; it's a bolt of silk, worth five strings of cash on the market."

"I received over five hundred extra coins, which the broker delivered to me the next day."

The old woman sized up the young man. He seemed to be a refined and handsome man. Living in Jixianfang, he must be a scholar.

He had previously stood on tiptoe to see two horses in the stable in the yard, which were quite valuable.

I doubt he would covet her few coins for rent.

The old woman was starting to believe it, and frowned: "That's a broker..."

Li Bai, standing nearby, said, "I saw that broker at noon today. Was his name Qiu Nei? He was buying something at the puppet show stall. I wonder what he wanted to do."

The old woman hurriedly asked:

Which stall? Where is it located?

"Over there on the south gate street of Jixianfang," Li Bai recalled. "We left very quickly."

“If Grandma knows where he lives, she can go and find him. He left a long time ago when we were having tea upstairs, so we probably won’t be able to find him even if we go over there.”

The old woman was dejected.

"My problem is that I don't know where to stay!"

The eldest son bought this house. Houses in Luoyang are expensive, and he couldn't sell it, so it just sat there renting out to people. His mother kept the money, which was a source of income for her.

Four strings of cash would be enough to live on in the countryside for half a year. If you bought rice, it would be enough to buy more than two hundred bushels, enough to last for several years.

Unexpectedly, the four thousand coins disappeared for several days.

That's it.

The old woman was extremely anxious and came to the door.

She knew in her heart that the broker had probably run off with the money, and her old face turned ashen.

He almost lost his footing and was helped up by the servants.

The neighbors all craned their necks to look over, wondering what had happened, and kept muttering to themselves.

Jiang She pushed open the door.

He invited the old woman and servants inside first, as being outside in the scorching summer heat could easily harm their health given their age.

Once the people came in, the door was closed, cutting off the neighbors' view.

Yuan Danqiu poured tea, but instead of serving the old lady the master's fine tea, he simply went to the kitchen and brewed some coarse tea without adding any spices or grains, just a little salt to moisten her throat.

Bring it to the courtyard.

The old woman sat opposite Jiang She, clutching her chest, her face filled with anxiety.

Yuan Danqiu said, "I saw that broker a couple of days ago. He knew all about the food in Jixianfang, and he even said that he often went to Qingyuan Temple to get free ice cream. Maybe he lives in Jixianfang."

Jiang She seemed to be deep in thought.

Seeing that the old woman was extremely anxious, her hands trembled violently as she picked up the teacup several times.

He reassured her, saying:

"Madam, don't worry. Let's find that broker first and get the money back."

The old woman nodded repeatedly, tears welling in her eyes, unable to speak for a moment.

……

……

Qiu Nei stared intently at the puppet.

It is wrapped with five kinds of silk threads: red, black, white, blue, and yellow. These threads not only have to be these five colors, but they also have to be soaked in the powder residue of the five stones.

This was the first time he had realized that these colorful stones were so expensive. Even the smallest one cost several hundred dollars.

He had almost run out of money; not only had all his spare change been spent, but he had also diverted the money owed to his employer. These past two days, he hadn't dared to stay home much, fearing his wife would become suspicious and delay their grand plan. He spent his days and nights huddled in the porter's dilapidated hut, studying the divination tool together.

The puppet seemed different from the one I had seen that day; it appeared much more spiritual.

The facial features that were originally drawn were closed, but these past few days they've been nourished with chicken blood and dog blood.

His eyes gradually opened a crack.

His dark pupils were revealed.

It's like he could come back to life in the next second.

Qiu Nei dared not look any longer, sensing an inexplicable eeriness emanating from the scene, and quickly averted her gaze. "I've bought these little clothes, what else do I need?"

The porter was carrying a wine bowl.

Your blood!

Qiu Nei was startled, and the man carrying the foot burst into laughter upon seeing him like this.

"What are you afraid of? It's just a needle prick to squeeze out a few drops. Do you think I'm going to eat you up?"

The porter walked over, drinking heavily.

"I came to you because those five-colored stones are too expensive and need to be replaced every day. I'm short of money these days, and I saw that you still have some savings."

Qiu Nei lowered his head and smiled.

He wouldn't say that most of what he used was rent money, and he hadn't even shared it with his landlord yet.

But wait for the messenger to speak.

If he can earn the money back, everything will be fine!
The porter's shack didn't even have a needle and thread, so Qiu Nei steeled himself, bit his finger hard, and watched the blood flow down before quickly smearing it on the puppet.

Drop by drop.

a drop.

Seeing the half-closed eyes painted on the wood, trembling slightly, as if about to open wide, Qiu Nei steeled himself and squeezed his fingers hard.

The puppet drank the blood, trembled, as if trying to break free from its ropes.

Qiu was startled and hurriedly asked.

"Did the old man give you this thing or anything else in return?"

"Is it really that miraculous?"

The porter scoffed and said, "With the rope binding him, the informant can't escape. You don't need to worry either; this treasure is quite powerful. You'll see in a moment."

"That's a highly accomplished master, why are you still doubting him?"

Qiu Nei kept squeezing his fingers until they turned white and purple, and the wound gradually congealed and began to heal.

He understood why this porter who moved goods had chosen him; bleeding like this every day, even the strongest man's body couldn't take it.

Qiu Nei hardened his heart and bit open another wound.

The puppet looked strange, with most of its pupils showing, dark and lifeless.

a drop.

a drop.

……

"They've opened their eyes! They've opened their eyes!"

Qiu Nei was staring at the puppet when this startled him, and he instinctively moved away.

Then you hear the puppet open its mouth and make a clicking sound.

He slowly looked at Qiu Nei, who had hidden away.

The black pupils filled the entire eye, with no whites visible.

It made its first sound in these few days:
"Today is fierce——"

Upon hearing what the thing said, Qiu Nei's face turned deathly pale. He looked at the person moving the feet, his lips trembling, his heart filled with fear.

"Brother, this..."

The person carrying the load didn't care at all.

"What are you afraid of? Today you've already lost money, and now you're bleeding and facing a bloody disaster. What else could it be but bad luck?"

He grabbed Qiu Nei and pulled him up.

"Let's go, bring the informant along, let's go to the gambling den. Cockfighting only costs a few dollars, let's go straight to the gambling table and see how powerful this treasure really is."

"Make a fortune and earn back all the money you lost before."

"Ha ha……"

Qiu Nei glanced at it, thinking about the money he had lost and the expenses he had incurred over the past few days. He steeled himself, picked up the whistleblower from the table, and carefully tucked it into his pocket.

With a pale face and a hunched back, he walked towards the gambling den.

　Thank you "槂韥" for the donation =v=
　　
　
(End of this chapter)