Folklore and Strange Tales: At the Start, You Retrieve the Sea-Suppressing Black Iron

At night, it finally got warm in Master Ma's courtyard.

The meat porridge at Huguo Temple simmered until the afternoon, and the neighbors scraped the bottom of the pot clean. Cheng Xiaojin was left with a mountain of debt, but in return, the well remained silent for a whole day.

Back in the courtyard, Tang Wanqing pressed him down at the table to practice his skills, with a small dish of peanuts in front of him.

I took off my two thick cotton gloves and put on thin cloth finger cots. My fingertips were bluish-black, and touching anything felt like touching a layer of dead skin.

Tang Wanqing asked him to use chopsticks to pick up peanuts, but for every one he picked up, three would fall out.

Tieguai Li sat to the side watching the excitement, saying, "The best appraiser in Panjiayuan, now even picking peanuts requires paying homage to his ancestor."

Cheng Xiaojin picked up a peanut, but it slipped when she brought it to her mouth, and the peanut rolled under the table.

He looked at the ground and sighed, "This one has a rebellious streak; it's better not to eat it."

Tong Kexin brought the medicine out of the kitchen. "Stop blaming Peanuts. With your hands ruined like this, you still want to go to Liulichang?"

"I didn't mean to."

"Your ears are practically pointing west."

Zhou Banxian leaned back in his chair, holding the compass. The needle was still tilted seven. "It's no use if he doesn't want to. The aura from Liulichang has already reached inside the Second Ring Road. The antique dealers who can sleep tonight probably have their ancestral graves buried in their gallbladders."

Master Ma sat in the main room, the tea in the tea mug had been changed to hot tea, and tea foam floated on top.

Just as he picked it up, Cheng Xiaojin's phone rang in his pocket.

The bell rang twice in the yard, even more annoying than the old brass bell.

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the screen and said, "Han Shaobai."

Tieguai Li chuckled, "Master Ma was right, the sucker just walked right into our door."

Cheng Xiaojin answered the call, but before he could even speak, the other end burst into tears.

"Brother Cheng, help! My Buddha has turned around!"

Cheng Xiaojin held his phone away and picked at his ear. "Young Master Han, what you said is unlucky. The fact that Buddha turned to look at you means it's fate."

"What a load of rubbish!" Han Shaobai's voice cracked. "That Ming Dynasty gilded bronze Buddha statue in the underground vault was facing south this afternoon. Old Feng, the night watchman, just went down to patrol and found it looking towards the door! Old Feng's pants were all wet, and he's still crying upstairs now."

Cheng Xiaojin glanced at Master Ma, but Master Ma didn't say anything.

It was chaotic on the other end of the phone; some people were chanting Buddhist prayers, some were shouting to close the door, and others were urging the master to come quickly.

Han Shaobai lowered his voice, "Brother Cheng, come over here, the money is negotiable."

Cheng Xiaojin put down her chopsticks. "I can't go."

Han Shao paused for a moment, then asked, "Why?"

"I'm injured. Besides, a place like Boguzhai is elegant and sophisticated. You have to go to the authentic places like Longhushan, Maoshan, or Wutaishan."

Tieguai Li was trying not to laugh, but Tong Kexin glared at him.

Han Shaobai was almost in tears. "I've already looked for them all. They'll be here tomorrow morning, but what am I supposed to do tonight? That Buddha is a watchdog; I don't even dare to look at the security cameras."

Cheng Xiaojin said slowly, "Then don't look."

"Brother Cheng!"

"Young Master Han, this job is too risky. If I go there now, I can only observe at most."

Han Shaobai immediately said, "You can take a look, just one glance is fine."

"You'll be charged even if you just look at it and don't care."

"How many?"

Cheng Xiaojin gently pushed the peanut dish with the heel of his uninjured hand. "You can open it yourself."

Han Shaobai gritted his teeth, "Two hundred thousand."

Cheng Xiaojin sighed, "Young Master Han, are you expecting me to watch a horror movie while I'm injured?"

"thirty."

"I'm a scaredy-cat, so I need to buy insurance when I go out at night."

"Five hundred thousand! Just come, five hundred thousand, with a deposit of one hundred thousand upfront."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at Tong Kexin and said, "Did you hear that? The money for the porridge at Huguo Temple has been secured."

Tong Kexin said coldly, "If you dare to go, I'll use your deposit to buy a coffin."

Han Shaobai overheard this on the phone: "Brother Cheng, is your wife coming too? Come on, everyone come! I'll give you extra money."

Tong Kexin picked up the medicine bowl. "Who's your sister-in-law?"

Cheng Xiaojin quickly coughed, "Young Master Han, tomorrow morning, we'll only see what the master you hired does first. Don't tell anyone I'll be doing it."

Why?

"I'm afraid that the orthodox masters will see my inferiority complex."

Tieguai Li spat out his tea.

Han Shaobai was so anxious he couldn't even joke around anymore. "Okay, whatever you say, Brother Cheng, that Buddha in the vault just made another sound, and it felt like something was rubbing against its neck. Do you think it might stand up?"

Cheng Xiaojin's cheeky expression faded. "Don't let anyone touch it, don't splash it with black dog blood, don't stick talismans on the Buddha, and especially don't let it look in a mirror."

Why?

"You'll have to pay extra if you take the picture."

"I won't look in it. I'll have all the mirrors removed right away."

The phone call ended, and the courtyard fell silent.

Tang Wanqing placed the bowl of medicine in front of Cheng Xiaojin. "Are you really going tomorrow?"

"Just watch." Cheng Xiaojin raised both hands. "With my setup, no one would dare buy a ticket even if I tried."

Tang Wanqing stared at him. "The underground vault of Boguzhai is full of old items and bronzes. The Buddha statues are also tainted by the aura of the seventh gate. Once you go in, Xin Jin will be drawn away."

Zhou Banxian said, "We have no choice but to go. The seventh plot is like a coffin with a crack in it. We need to know where the crack is."

Tieguai Li touched the wrench and said, "I'll follow along. If Xiao Jinzi won't touch it, I will."

Tong Kexin immediately retorted, "You think it's safe just because you touch it? Your prosthetic leg is made of iron too."

"Scrap metal has a tough life." Tieguai Li patted his leg. "Even ghosts would find it hard to swallow."

Master Ma's hand, holding the teacup, froze in mid-air.

The teacup wasn't placed steadily and slid half an inch onto the edge of the table.

Everyone looked over.

The cylinder lid was covered in moisture, and water droplets gathered along the chipped edge towards the center, forming a crooked and twisted character.

escape……

Tong Kexin's face turned pale. "Who wrote this?"

Zhou Banxian put the compass on, and the needle slipped after pressing down to the seventh position. "It wasn't written by a person, it's an old character brought out by the moisture."

Tang Wanqing whispered, "Cheng Shouyi?"

Cheng Xiaojin stared at the word, reaching out to touch the teacup, but Tong Kexin pushed it away with her chopsticks.

"I told you not to touch it."

He withdrew his hand, took out a cigarette from behind his ear, held it between his fingers, but didn't light it.

Cheng Xiaojin tapped his cigarette on the table twice. "That Buddha statue at Boguzhai, I'm afraid its spirit has undergone some other changes."

Master Ma stared at the word "escape" on the teacup. Tea flowed down the side of the cup, washing away half of the word.

"Your father visited Boguzhai once twenty years ago."

Cheng Xiaojin looked up. "Why are you only telling me now?"

"Back then, Boguzhai wasn't called the Han family's business." Master Ma straightened the teacup. "After he came out, he only said four words: 'The Buddha's belly hides the gate.'"

Zhou Bansian sat up straight. "The Buddha's Belly Hidden Gate? The Seventh Gate?"

"I initially thought he was investigating smuggling hidden compartments," Master Ma said, looking at Cheng Xiaojin. "Then he disappeared, and that was the last thing I said."

Tieguai Li scolded, "Can't you people of your generation stop leaving things unsaid? Now it's all turned into a disaster."

Master Ma did not reply.

Cheng Xiaojin tucked the cigarette behind his ear. "Tomorrow, not only will I go, but Master Ma will go too. Tang Wanqing will bring the Red Thread Formation, Zhou Banxian will guard the gate, Brother Li will bring the tools, and Kexin will stay at Huguo Temple."

Tong Kexin immediately objected, "Why should I stay?"

"Someone needs to guard the well at Huguosi Temple." Cheng Xiaojin looked at her. "Sister Zhou's stall is still there; we can't let the anchor of life be broken."

Tong Kexin's chest heaved slightly, and finally she pushed the medicine bowl to his lips, "Drink."

"bitter."

"Only after drinking the bitter drink will you have a chance to see the Buddha tomorrow."

Cheng Xiaojin couldn't hold the bowl, so Tong Kexin fed him while holding it.

He took a sip, and his face scrunched up like a bitter gourd.

Tieguai Li clicked his tongue from the side, "This money was well spent. Five hundred thousand to send you to suffer."

The wind rustled through the pomegranate tree outside the courtyard.

The steam from the teacup on the table had dissipated, leaving only a trace of water on the character "escape".

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the watermarks and slowly said, "There's no escaping it."

No one responded.

From the direction of Liulichang in the distance, another copper bell rang.

This time, the sound of a wooden fish was mixed in after the bell.