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

"Twenty years ago, I was still wearing open-crotch pants. If I had touched this copper ruler of yours, then I would have had international business since I was a child. Panjiayuan should give me an award for outstanding cross-border business."

The secretary held her briefcase in front of her.

"Mr. Lin, please pack your things first."

Cheng Xiaojin smiled.

"It's pointless to accept it. The ruler is yours, the latch is yours, and the people are yours. Now that the Cheng family's mark has fallen out of the ruler, we have to lay it all out."

With a flick of his fingers, Boss Lin pressed a shallow imprint onto the black wax coating.

Cheng Xiaojin immediately raised his chin.

"Don't squeeze it. What you break might not be wax; it could be something you've been searching for for twenty years."

The wax pellet was still damp and warm from the old copper ruler, carrying the scent of spices from the bottom of a trunk, and the lingering smell of cold ash left by Cheng Shouyi.

Even from three steps away, Cheng Xiaojin felt a tightness in his chest.

Tang Wanqing raised her chin. "Don't touch it, there's a fire inside the wax."

"Know."

Cheng Xiaojin licked the tip of his tongue until it bled, and his brows furrowed in pain.

"If I touch it now, I'll probably see my dad having tea with Mr. Lin's former boss. I don't like watching the Bureau of Commerce; it'll give me a sty."

Tong Kexin swallowed the curse words that were about to come out.

Mr. Lin placed the wax pellet back in his palm. "What does Mr. Cheng want?"

Cheng Xiaojin pointed to the second floor of Rongbaozhai.

"Call down the witnesses and open the pill in front of everyone."

The secretary sneered.

"Are you trying to stall for time?"

"What are you dragging for? Want me to drag it to the wall of the stationery store and slam it against your boss's back?"

Cheng Xiaojin glanced at the broken copper piece.

"Mr. Lin, this wax pellet fell out of your copper ruler. It has the Cheng family's mark engraved on its surface. Either it was left by my father, or it was a forgery by an old man from Southeast Asia. Neither of these paths looks good."

Boss Lin rubbed his thumb against the silver ring, and the black line at the base of the wall receded by half an inch.

Zhou Banxian squatted next to the trash can, muttering to himself.

"Open it. If the wax pill isn't opened, our ancestors won't sleep soundly at night."

Tieguai Li raised his face.

"Use my sword to open the scroll."

The secretary immediately stopped her.

"no."

"Then bite it with your teeth?"

Tieguai Li put the wrench back at the repair stall.

"If this thing is poisonous, has a curse, or is cursed, your boss will be the first to fall for it. My knife is clean, with a white cotton cloth underneath, so it won't get your hands dirty."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at Boss Lin.

"People who run big businesses wouldn't be afraid of a car repair tool, would they?"

After a moment of silence, Boss Lin placed the wax pellet on the white handkerchief handed to him by his secretary.

"Please come down, Mr. Wang."

Two minutes later, the side door of Rongbaozhai opened.

Wearing white cotton gloves, King Glasses walked into the back alley. He looked at the twisted copper ruler and then at the black wax ball, and his brows furrowed.

"Did it fall out from a crack in the ruler?"

Cheng Xiaojin said, "You can see clearly from upstairs, don't pretend you just woke up."

The man with glasses ignored him, shone a small lamp on the wax surface, and then used a magnifying glass to examine the edge of the vertical hook.

Boss Lin asked, "How is it?"

The Glasses King stared at it for a long time.

"The seal is old; there's verdigris and tobacco ash inside the wax layer. The vertical hook isn't newly carved; the knife edge is covered by the wax layer, so it must be at least twenty years old."

The secretary's expression changed.

"Twenty years?"

Cheng Xiaojin patted his sleeve.

"Did you hear that, Mr. Lin? Twenty years ago, I was still chasing dogs in the alleys. You can't say that dog was a spy I sent to Southeast Asia, can you?"

Boss Lin looked at the wax pellets.

"open."

Tieguai Li took out his clockwork knife and wiped the blade with wine.

Tang Wanqing wrapped the white handkerchief with red thread and pressed copper coins down at the four corners.

The bespectacled man advised, "Choose from the sealed end."

The knife tip followed the seal of the wax pellet as it went deeper into the alley. The wind had died down, and the old brass lock on the back door of the stationery shop swayed slightly.

Cheng Xiaojin's throat was dry.

He took out the copper-bodied ashtray, placed it on the ground with the bottom facing up, revealing three short lines and a vertical hook.

The black wax pellet was still a foot away from the ashtray, and fine cracks had already appeared on its surface.

Tang Wanqing raised her hand.

"stop."

Tieguai Li sheathed his sword, and the black wax split in two on its own.

There were no paper slips, bamboo sticks, or blood talismans inside, only a very thin copper membrane curled up on a white handkerchief.

The man with glasses used tweezers to hold one corner and placed it under the light.

The copper film is pressed with water ripple markings, and between the water ripples is a half-line engraving.

The three guides return to the ruler, and the ruler returns...

The back half was ground too thin, and the characters were pressed into the copper sheet, requiring a different light to see them clearly.

Boss Lin reached out to take it, but Tang Wanqing held the copper coin to the edge of the white handkerchief.

"Don't touch it, the energy from the door hasn't dissipated yet."

Boss Lin looked at her.

"Miss Tang, the thing came out of my copper ruler."

Cheng Xiaojin bent down to look at the copper membrane, his cold eyes suppressing his smile.

"The three guides return to the ruler, and the ruler returns to the living."

Everyone in the alley was looking at him.

Cheng Xiaojin looked up.

"Mr. Lin, you've kept my dad's keys for twenty years and then charged me 800,000 yuan for a hot pot base. I feel really bad about it."

The man with the nasal scar's expression changed completely, his gaze shifting from the third array diagram in Boss Lin's hand to the broken copper ruler.

The secretary gripped her briefcase tightly, while Boss Lin stood still, his silver ring pressed against his palm, saying nothing.

Cheng Xiaojin didn't give him a chance to recover.

"Your Nanyang snake bone ruler, on the surface it is a door measuring tool, but inside it is my Cheng family's vertical hook. Today you used the door latch to measure the seventh one, and the door did not recognize you. The copper ruler spat out the copper film left by my father."

Zhou Banxian stood up and patted his military overcoat.

"The three guides return to the ruler, the ruler returns to the living, the ruler recognizes the person who holds it, the ouroboros has been holding the ruler for twenty years and still hasn't figured it out, the guardian has already tied its tail to you."

Boss Lin turned to look at him.

Zhou Banxian hid the wine pot behind his back.

"Why are you looking at me? I'm just a ragpicker."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the bespectacled king.

"Teacher Wang, please give me a testimony: the wax pill wasn't inserted tonight, the copper film wasn't rubbed by me just now, and the vertical hook wasn't scratched by me with my fingernail."

King Glasses took off one of the white cotton gloves and put it back on.

"The wax is old, and the copper film is old too. The edges of the copper film have been subjected to pressure from inside the ruler. It has been inside the copper ruler for quite some time, so we can't put it in tonight."

Boss Lin closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, his face was once again adorned with that polite expression.

"Mr. Cheng, your father is very capable."

Cheng Xiaojin took the ashtray back.

"Nonsense, if my dad wasn't amazing, would he have given birth to a son as good at bargaining as me?"

Boss Lin looked at him.

"I'll take the copper foil with me."

"no."

The secretary stepped forward, and Tong Kexin handed over the thermos flask in her hand, the lid clicking open.

Cheng Xiaojin looked down.

"Boss lady, please don't spill the ginger soup. Mr. Lin is a very important guest. If he gets burned, we'll have to pay for his medical expenses."

Tong Kexin stared at her secretary.

"I can afford to pay for it."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at Boss Lin.

"Leave the copper membrane here, and don't rush to collect the third array diagram. You need to give me a deposit for tonight's matter."

Boss Lin smiled.

"Mr. Cheng wants my array diagram guide?"

"Yes, I want to. I dream about it."

Cheng Xiaojin nodded.

"But I follow the rules and won't steal it. You can use the third array diagram as collateral, and the copper membrane will make a copy in front of everyone. Teacher Wang will keep the original for now. You can take it back as collateral after we've discussed the conditions for returning the array."

The secretary asked coldly, "On what grounds?"

Cheng Xiaojin pointed to the broken copper ruler at the base of the wall.

"Based on the fact that your boss just used a fake seventh key to pry open the door and almost sent his men in, based on the fact that I reminded him twice and we were the ones who saved him, based on this wax pill as proof that my dad had already investigated your line of work twenty years ago."

He paused.

"To be honest, if President Lin tries to forcibly take it now, the doorman in the back alley is still awake. Whoever touches the copper membrane first will be the first to claim kinship with the doorman."

Tang Wanqing pushed the compass forward half an inch, the needle touching the copper film and pressing against the edge of the dead gate.

The scarred nose got up from the ground, a piece of its sleeve was bitten off by the shadow of the wall, and its wrist was bruised.

He glanced at the green circle, then turned his gaze to Boss Lin.

The movement was very brief; Cheng Xiaojin saw it, and so did Boss Lin.

Mr. Lin put the third array diagram back into his briefcase.

That's all for tonight.

Cheng Xiaojin didn't stop it, and now it's too late to take it back.

What he wants is a crack, a crack in people's hearts, which will crack faster than a copper ruler.

King Glasses clipped the copper foil into the small white box.

"I will keep the original for one night. Tomorrow morning, both parties will come to see it on the second floor of Rongbaozhai."

Boss Lin did not object.

The secretary put away the broken copper pieces and briefcase, while the man with the nasal scar bent down to pick up the black cloth, his movements much slower than when he arrived.

Before leaving, Boss Lin stopped in front of Cheng Xiaojin.

"Mr. Cheng, your father may have left behind more than just this one item."

Cheng Xiaojin raised her face.

"Then you'd better do a thorough search of your family's coffers; you might even have an IOU written by my dad under your pillow."

The taillights of the van disappeared at the alley entrance, and the black lines on the back wall of the stationery shop receded into the brick seams.

Tong Kexin put down the thermos and finally loosened her grip.

Tieguai Li picked up a small piece of copper ruler fragment and wrapped it in paper.

Tang Wanqing looked at the base of the wall.

"The door was awakened tonight, so we can't try the seventh one."

Cheng Xiaojin gazed in the direction Boss Lin had left.

"He doesn't dare to try it easily anymore."

Zhou Banxian leaned closer to the small white box in Glasses King's hand.

"The ruler returns to the living, but who is the living?"

No one responded.