Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

At night, it was silent, with only a faint moonlight shining on the ground. Xu Damao rode his bicycle, the wheels spinning rapidly, bringing a cool breeze. He rushed forward anxiously, as if there was something important waiting for him to complete.

Lou Xiao'e, who was sitting in the back seat, held on to the seat tightly and shouted anxiously: "Hey, Damao, slow down! It's dark now, why are you riding so fast? What if you hit someone?" Her voice echoed in the quiet street, sounding particularly clear.

After hearing what Lou Xiao'e said, Xu Damao immediately slowed down his pace, but he still pretended to be calm and replied, "Hey, okay, I'll slow down right away. The main reason is that I'm so familiar with the roads in this area that I can walk with my eyes closed. Besides, it's the middle of the night, and there aren't many people on the street, so don't worry."

The main reason for riding so fast is that Xu Damao has the ability to do night market, but he can't tell Lou Xiaoe clearly, so he can only vaguely pass it over...

As the bicycles moved forward, the two gradually moved away from the bustling city and entered a remote alley. After crossing the alley, they came to a main road. After riding for about twenty minutes, they finally arrived at their destination.

Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e slowly got off their bicycles and walked forward side by side.

Within Lou Xiao'e's field of vision, the scenery ahead was like a mysterious and strange painting: in the pitch-black night, there were countless flickering light spots floating around like a swarm of large fireflies. These light spots came from the light emitted by the lanterns held in the hands of people in the ghost market.

"Let's go and find a suitable place to set up the stall." Xu Damao turned to Lou Xiao'e beside him and said while pushing the bicycle.

"Okay." Lou Xiao'e responded softly.

Suddenly, Lou Xiao'e noticed that some of the stall owners were holding a box tightly in their arms, while others were squatting to protect a package. She approached Xu Damao curiously and asked in a low voice: "Da Mao, look at those people over there, they are squatting on the ground holding boxes or packages like that, is this considered setting up a stall?"

Xu Damao nodded and explained, "Yes, they also set up stalls. But you have to be careful, most of these people are scammers. You know, before liberation, some people often stole valuable things from home and then sold them at the ghost market in exchange for opium or money to squander." There was a hint of vigilance in his tone.

Then, this is what happens: some visitors to the ghost market are so lucky that they come across priceless, extremely rare and precious antiques, or ancient precious porcelain that is hard to find on weekdays, or ancient celebrity calligraphy and paintings that have been passed down through the ages, etc. They only need to spend a dozen or twenty dollars to buy them, and in the blink of an eye, they can resell them to others at a high price of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars!

However, the good times did not last long, after the news was accidentally leaked, a group of people with ulterior motives emerged at both ends of the ghost market. They held fake and shoddy goods and disguised themselves as dandy boys who stole property from their homes, or pretended that they had accidentally obtained a rare treasure, waiting for the so-called "predestined people" to take the bait.

"Oh, so that's it!" Lou Xiao'e exclaimed as if she had just woken up from a dream.

"Xiao'e, if you are still skeptical, you can just find a vendor to ask about the price. Let me tell you, these guys are all experts at making up stories. Even if you don't buy anything in the end, it's still fun to just listen to them tell a fascinating story."

"I'm not going! You go there knowing there's a tiger there? You jump into the fire even though you know the other party is a liar. Let's find a place to set up a stall." Lou Xiao'e curled her lips with disdain and rolled her eyes.

"Why are you in such a hurry? You need to change your impatient temper. You need to be patient when doing business. Don't rush into it. Let's walk around and get a feel for the market first. Who knows, you might be able to find some bargains." Xu Damao pushed the cart forward slowly. When he saw someone selling lanterns on the roadside, he picked up two and handed one to Lou Xiao'e. He then looked at the various stalls on both sides of the road as he walked.

These stalls are dazzling and have everything: some sell food with a fragrant smell; some sell medicinal herbs, the real ones are hard to tell; some sell old clothes with different styles; and some sell all kinds of old furniture and strange gadgets, which are dazzling.

"Hey, Xiao'e, don't walk so fast, wait for me for a while. I saw something interesting, go and take a look." Xu Damao said to Lou Xiao'e in a low voice, and then walked to a stall and squatted down. He raised the lantern in his hand and carefully examined the objects on the ground with the weak light.

The stall owner was a burly middle-aged man, wrapped in a thick cotton-padded jacket, as if to completely cover himself against the cold. He crossed his hands into his wide sleeves, wore a large cotton hat on his head, and sat quietly on a small and exquisite stool.

When Xu Damao squatted down to check the items, the middle-aged man just raised his head slightly and took a look, then continued to remain silent, seeming indifferent to everything around him.

Xu Damao searched through the pile of miscellaneous items for a while, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he reached out and fished out a golden box. He held up the box pretentiously and examined it carefully with the help of the weak light of the lantern.

"What is this?" Lou Xiao'e, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but ask softly, with a hint of curiosity in her tone.

Xu Damao replied proudly: "This is just an ordinary brass box, but look at the inscription on the back. This is not an ordinary item, but a rare magic weapon!"

"Magic weapon? What is it used for?" Lou Xiao'e became more and more confused and asked.

"Don't worry, I'll explain it to you slowly later." Xu Damao kept the secret, then picked up a few old copper coins from the stall and put them under the lantern for a closer look. The surface of these copper coins was covered with traces of time, exuding a mysterious atmosphere.

These copper coins are unique and amazing. On one side of the square hole on the front side, the word "mountain ghost" is engraved, and on the other side, there are dense words such as "Taishang Laojun is urgent as the law order", "pardon!", "thunder", "kill ghosts and subdue spirits", etc., and a long string of difficult to recognize words extends below, almost occupying the entire surface of the coin. Turning over the back, a mysterious Bagua pattern is presented.