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

The waiters in the lobby were pale-faced and stood behind the cashier, afraid to move.

She couldn't understand what the fish were doing; all she saw was a tank full of dead fish, all neatly arranged.

Cheng Xiaojin understood; the Yin Water Demon was catching up.

It doesn't just focus on the three wells in Panjiayuan, nor just on the original pile locations throughout the city; it searches for people along the waterways.

Fish tanks, teacups, water pipes, and even gray water seeping from carpets—anything with water can be used as a door crack.

The ashtray had brought out the lingering remnants of his father's energy, and also revealed the metallic aura emanating from his fingertips, which was like lighting a lamp in the room.

Cheng Xiaojin walked to the fish tank, put his left hand in his sleeve, and took out a Qianlong Tongbao coin from his chest with his right hand.

As soon as the copper coin appeared, the water level in the fish tank dropped by an inch, and the koi with their white bellies turned their heads, their dozen or so mouths opening and closing in his direction.

"Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty..."

Cheng Xiaojin felt a chill run down his spine and pressed the Qianlong Tongbao coin against the glass of the fish tank.

The moment the copper coin was placed on the surface, white frost immediately appeared on the edges. The frost crawled outwards along the copper hole, as if cold fingers had run around the copper surface.

Blood immediately seeped through the gauze on the back of Cheng Xiaojin's hand. He gritted his teeth and didn't pull his hand back.

"Fish lords, that's enough."

He lowered his voice and stared at the water as he spoke.

"I've had enough of talking with President Lin today, I don't have time to hold a memorial service for you."

The next moment, the aeration tube in the fish tank emitted a string of bubbles, with dark red foam mixed in with them.

The foam stuck to the glass and slowly formed a number.

One hundred and thirty-five.

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Cheng Xiaojin pressed the copper coin even tighter, and the bluish-black color of his fingertips peeked out from the edge of the gauze.

The little faces in the fish tank were pressed even closer, and one of the white koi spat out half a red thread from its mouth.

The red thread was a red hair tie used by children to tie their hair. It had darkened from being soaked in water and was wrapped around the fish teeth. When Cheng Xiaojin saw the red hair tie, his heart sank.

The resentment of the red chopstick on Huguosi Street hadn't completely dissipated when something in the water awakened it from its slumber.

Cheng Xiaojin pressed the Qianlong Tongbao coin down.

"Stop fooling around."

These words were spoken to the fish, and also to the girl hidden in the red chopsticks and resentful powder.

"I promised, the score with the living will be settled sooner or later, don't be impatient."

The fish mouth paused for a beat.

The water in the fish tank slowly receded from a rusty color to a murky yellow, and a dozen or so koi floated belly up, completely still.

Only the red string was still hanging in the fish's mouth, swaying gently.

Cheng Xiaojin took back the copper coin. The white frost on the coin turned into water, and a little grayish-white fluff floated out of the water. It landed on his sleeve and immediately spread.

He didn't dare look any longer and turned to walk out.

The waiter asked quietly from behind, "Sir, this fish...?"

Cheng Xiaojin paused.

"Don't scoop it out, don't touch it with water, cover the fish tank with a red cloth."

The waiter nodded and then asked, "What should we do if we don't have red cloth?"

Cheng Xiaojin turned to look at her.

"Then let's use a big red 'double happiness' character."

The waiter was stunned.

Cheng Xiaojin sighed.

"Red can suppress the water's yin energy. Don't bring white cloth. If you bring white cloth, the whole building will have to listen to the fish counting tonight."

The waiter's eyes were red, and he quickly turned around to rummage through the cabinets.

As Cheng Xiaojin walked out of the club, the night breeze from Houhai made the coolness of the ashtray on his chest even more pronounced.

Half a paper box at the waist, those four words kept swirling in his mind.

The most important thing he should do right now is to go to Master Ma's place immediately and pry open the waistband of that old wooden box.

But there was a black Land Rover parked at the street corner, its headlights off and the window rolled down half a finger.

A man with a nose scar and short hair sat in the driver's seat, his hands on the steering wheel, his face cut in half by the streetlights.

Cheng Xiaojin didn't look in that direction a second time.

He took the cigarette from behind his ear, tapped it twice on the bottom of the cigarette pack, and then tucked it back behind his ear. The little trick his father taught him actually helped him stay steady in a pinch.

Only those who can run away can come back for a second meal.

Cheng Xiaojin lifted his foot and walked towards Yandai Xiejie.

He had visited this alleyway around Houhai many times with his grandfather when he was a child.

He knew exactly which houses had easy doors, which alley led to Yinding Bridge, and which wall harbored a grumpy old dog.

The black Land Rover followed slowly behind.

Cheng Xiaojin walked to the door of a small shop selling old snuff bottles and stopped to look at the window.

A green snuff bottle was displayed in the shop window, with a lady painted on its body. The lady's face gradually turned white in the reflection of the glass.

Cheng Xiaojin pretended not to see it, took out her phone, and looked down at the message.

The Land Rover also stopped, but the man with the nose scar and short hair didn't get out.

Cheng Xiaojin lowered his head, sent a blank text message to Master Qi, and then deleted it.

What he really had to do was leave a road sign for Master Ma. There was a loose blue brick in the corner next to him, and the cracks between the bricks were always stuffed with cigarette butts and penises.

He squatted down to tie his shoelaces, his fingernail lightly scratching the plaster on the wall.

Vertical hook.

But this hook has its opening facing the opposite direction.

In the Cheng family's secret code, a straight hook represents the path, while a reverse hook represents the tail.

The hooked tail pointing west means to be keeping watch at the street corner.

He had just gotten up when a small window in the alley opened, and an old woman's head peeked out.

"Hey young man, don't pee there."

Cheng Xiaojin almost choked on his breath.

"Grandma, I'm tying my shoelaces. I don't squat to pee!"

The old lady squinted at the pair of cloth shoes without laces on his feet.

"Do you think I'm blind?"

Cheng Xiaojin looked down.

Okay, I'm wearing slip-on shoes today.

He immediately smiled apologetically.

"I'll practice first, so I won't be unsure how to tie shoelaces when I buy them later."

The old lady stared at him for two seconds, then slammed the window shut. A wet face slowly emerged from the closed windowpane.

The little girl's face had her hair plastered to her forehead and her lips pale.

She pressed herself against the glass, staring straight at him.

His mouth moved slightly.

"Is the water tank full?"

Cheng Xiaojin felt a chill run down the back of his neck.

He raised his hand and pressed it against the ashtray on his chest, the black grime at the bottom of the ashtray sloshing gently inside his clothes.

The Land Rover door opened briefly and then closed again. The man with the short hair and nose scar probably noticed that he had been parked for too long and was about to follow.

Cheng Xiaojin didn't look at the window again and turned into a narrower alley next to it.

Half a row of clothes were hanging out to dry in the alley, their trouser legs and sleeves swaying in the night wind. There was puddles on the ground, and when you stepped into them, ripples appeared on the surface.

When those circles come together, you have to start counting them again.

Cheng Xiaojin cursed, "Is this never going to end?"

He held the Qianlong Tongbao coin in his palm, pressing his thumb against the copper hole, and walked quickly along the base of the wall.

The Land Rover couldn't get into the alley, so the man with the nose scar had to get out.

Cheng Xiaojin heard footsteps behind him.

It's very light; I've practiced with it.

He walked to the end of the alley; to his left was a dead end, and to his right was Gulou Street.

A normal person would walk on the right, but Cheng Xiaojin leans towards the left.

At the end of the dead end, there is an abandoned public toilet with a broken lock and a half-open ventilation window in the back wall.

He crawled through this place when he was a child, but he hasn't crawled through it since he grew up.

The taste is too strong.

Cheng Xiaojin pinched his nose and crawled inside. The ashtray pressed against his ribs, causing him a sharp pain.

The man with the nose scar stopped at the alley entrance, not expecting that he would actually go into the public toilet.

Cheng Xiaojin stepped on the broken water tank, climbed out of the ventilation window, and landed on the narrow path behind the other side of the courtyard wall.

When he landed, his right hand hit the wall, and the blood from the gauze smeared into the cracks between the bricks.

A small stream of cool water immediately seeped out from the cracks in the bricks.

A small bubble rose from the water.

"Forty-one."

Cheng Xiaojin looked down.

"You keep counting, I'm on my way."

He endured the pain in his hand, went out along the alley, and hailed a taxi at the street corner.

The driver was a middle-aged man who was listening to a storyteller. Cheng Xiaojin opened the car door and got in.

"Master, go to the back of the Drum Tower, hurry up."

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

"Oh, so you got chased by a dog."

Cheng Xiaojin pressed the ashtray closer to his chest.

"More troublesome than a dog, because the capitalists chase after them."

The driver chuckled, turned the steering wheel, and drove off.

The car had only driven about ten meters when Cheng Xiaojin saw a black Land Rover turn out from the other end in the rearview mirror. It didn't have its lights on and was following closely along the side of the road.

The man with the nose scar didn't get lost.

Cheng Xiaojin took out his phone and sent two words to Tieguai Li.

Tail.

After sending it, I added another one.

Black Land Rover, nose scar, don't try to fight it head-on.

The moment the message was sent out, the temperature inside the car dropped by half.

The driver rubbed his arms.

"Who turned the air conditioning down so low?"

Cheng Xiaojin remained silent.

He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that, besides himself, there was a little girl, all wet, in the back seat.

She leaned against his shoulder, water droplets from her hair falling onto the seat, her red hair tie clinging to her face, which was deathly pale.

The little girl whispered in his ear, "Uncle, is the water tank full?"