Firelight appeared, carrying warmth into the darkness.
Er Gou first breathed a sigh of relief, but when he saw the scene before him, his heart leaped into his throat again. His back turned ice-cold, and his hands and feet went limp.
Ahead lay a valley, though it was not very large.
Near the rear of the valley stood the Mountain God Temple. It had fallen into disrepair long ago and was already dilapidated beyond recognition. Several strong, brawny beggars stood guard outside, each of them greasy all over and covered in sores.
Around the ruined temple were tents of all sizes.
Campfires burned everywhere, with pot after pot set over them.
At least several hundred beggars had gathered there.
The old ones had white hair and withered faces, their eyes rolled white as they squatted there like corpses, without the slightest trace of life...
The youngest were no more than seven or eight years old. Every one of them wore ragged clothes, their faces black with grime. Some were even disabled. They crowded around the large pots, fanning the flames with all their might...
These West Traveling Beggars had their own way of cooking.
They gathered all the food they had begged for. Whether steamed buns, moldy cakes, or even leftovers from restaurants, everything was dumped into a large pot and boiled together.
A great deal of it had already turned sour, so one could imagine the stench it gave off.
Even so, the beggars squatted beside the fire, swallowing hungrily.
What made Er Gou's hair stand on end was something else entirely.
There was an empty patch of ground on the other side. All the strong beggars had gathered there, each holding a Dog Beating Stick. They formed a large circle and kept pounding the ground.
In the center of the clearing, a wild dog darted about in all directions.
Wild dogs from Mass Burial Grounds ate corpses. Their eyes grew blood-red from it, and their size was no smaller than that of starving wolves. Their heads were covered in great lumps formed from years of smashing against coffins. They were ferocious to the extreme.
Yet now, it was panic-stricken, letting out whimper after whimper.
Amid the dense pounding of the Dog Beating Sticks, it seemed to have lost its mind. Like a ghost trapped in a wall, it circled around and around, refusing to run out.
All around it were venomous snakes, raising their heads and baring their fangs with hissing tongues. Whenever they found an opening, they struck the wild dog.
It was not long before the wild dog was poisoned and collapsed, its body rigid and trembling.
The snakes around it swarmed over at once, crawling into its mouth and the seven apertures of its face...
Er Gou had never seen such an eerie sight. He stood rooted to the spot, his hands and feet ice-cold, not daring to move an inch.
"Move. What are you waiting for?"
The old beggar leading the way saw this and barked at him.
"Yes, yes."
Er Gou hurried after him, hunching his neck and keeping an extremely low profile.
He followed close behind the old beggar into the ruined temple.
"Grandfather, the man is here."
The old beggar bowed as he reported, then retreated to the side.
Er Gou swallowed and secretly lifted his eyes to look around.
On the Stone Platform where the deity's statue had once stood, the statue of the Mountain Lord had long since been removed. In its place sat a fat-headed, big-eared beggar.
He had a huge body and a bare chest. Layers upon layers of fat piled up over his belly, while his bald head gleamed with oil.
He lay on his side atop it, his body likewise covered in sores.
This man was the Beggar Chief of the West Traveling Beggars in Xianyang.
He was mysterious by nature and had put down roots in Xianyang many years ago. He rarely dealt with the gangs in the city, and the beggars all called him Mountain Lord.
A pungent stench surged over. Er Gou felt sick enough to vomit, but he did not dare show the slightest abnormality. He respectfully cupped his hands and said, "This lowly one pays his respects to Mountain Lord!"
"Mm."
The Beggar Chief, Mountain Lord, was enormously fat. His eyelids bulged like lightbulbs, and even when he tried his hardest to open his eyes, it looked to others as though he had opened them only a sliver.
He sized up Er Gou below and said indifferently, "The Iron Saber Gang's leader is that Old Monkey's disciple, right?"
"I have never interfered with your affairs, so why have you come here?"
Er Gou quickly cupped his hands. Without wasting words, he said, "Our leader wants to ask you to deal with a few people. They are outsiders and do not understand the rules..."
After recounting everything that had happened, he took several banknotes from his robes and smiled obsequiously. "For you, this is nothing more than a flick of the hand. This is our token of respect."
The banknotes totaled three hundred taels.
To be honest, it was more than what he had extorted from the son of the Spring Breeze Troupe's master.
But by now, it was no longer a question of money.
Zheng HeiBei would rather spend some silver to put the matter to rest.
The Beggar Chief, Mountain Lord, glanced at the banknotes, apparently uninterested. He waved his hand. "Leave. People from poor households cannot keep money, but neither are they other people's hired muscle."
"This..."
Er Gou grew anxious. "Mountain Lord, we all make our living in Xianyang. We cannot avoid crossing paths. Please lend us a hand, and the Iron Saber Gang will certainly remember this favor."
The Beggar Chief pondered for a moment. "Whether it is a favor or not does not matter. Take the banknotes back, but you must help me find someone."
Er Gou was somewhat puzzled. He forced a dry laugh. "Mountain Lord, surely you jest. Your disciples and descendants are spread throughout all of Xianyang. When it comes to information, your Spiritual Light is probably sharper than ours."
The Beggar Chief said flatly, "We are people from poor households, not the old thieves of the Rong Family Gate. Our ancestral rule is that we cannot enter people's homes. We walk through a thousand families and visit ten thousand households, but we only dare circle around outside other people's doors."
"Besides, there are places where we get driven away the moment we approach."
The man immediately understood. "Who do you want to find?"
The Beggar Chief, Mountain Lord, slowly rose and scratched his greasy, enormous belly.
"A few months ago, GuShui Village outside the city was attacked by bandits. The entire village was reduced to ashes. Have you heard about it?"
"This lowly one has."
The man smiled. "That incident was a case of an insider joining forces with outside bandits. The funny thing was that Landlord Lu's concubine went on a land-selling spree and cheated several families at the same time. Her methods were truly something."
"You want to find her?"
"To tell you the truth, we are looking for that fat sheep as well."
"Not her."
The Beggar Chief said blandly, "It is another concubine. If I am not mistaken, she is still hiding in Xianyang City!"
Just as Wang Dao Xuan had said, the rain stopped the next day, and the sky cleared.
Early that morning, the three of them arrived at the Spring Breeze Troupe's compound.
Today, Wang Dao Xuan had changed into a clean Taoist robe. All his equipment was packed into a back basket resembling a scholar's book chest, which Sha LiFei carried over his shoulder.
By the time they arrived, everyone from the Spring Breeze Troupe had already gathered.
After the Iron Saber Gang's men left yesterday, they had not come back again, allowing everyone to sleep peacefully for once. But everyone knew that the matter was not over.
No matter how innocent the troupe master's son was or how badly he had been swindled, the IOUs written by the Iron Saber Gang were watertight. Wherever they went, the gang was in the right.
Even if they did not come to harass them, the troupe would still be unable to escape trouble if the matter was taken to the authorities.
Anger, helplessness, and fury were all useless. Reality was simply like this.
People like them usually had to dodge whenever they saw an official. How could they compare with those who moved between the black and white worlds?
The Guo Huo in Jinmen even dared to cheat the granaries and embezzle the storehouses, squeezing resettlement fees out of the imperial court!
Thus, they had only one road left to take:
Perform ghost operas!
There was no shortage of work like this. Some places suffered frequent disturbances, some ancestral shrines were unsettled, and sometimes something went wrong at a wedding or funeral. When matters had not yet reached the point of inviting the Orthodox Xuan Gate to perform rituals and suppress evil, people would invite performers to sing ghost operas to appease the spirits. The payment was quite generous.
The first step was to invite an Underworld Deity capable of holding down the scene.
Looking at the Spring Breeze Troupe members' resolute faces, Wang Dao Xuan sighed inwardly, but his expression grew even more solemn. "Everyone, do you know the rules?"
"I will explain them once more."
"We set out at noon and arrive at the Mass Burial Grounds at night. Once we find the place, everyone must wash their hands. During my ritual, silently chant the invocation for inviting the gods..."
"Remember, after going up the mountain, if you encounter any animal, you must not call it by its name. A tiger is a 'tiger,' a bear is 'Old Master,' an eagle is 'Seat Grandfather,' a hedgehog is 'White Second Grandfather,' a fox is 'Third Grandfather,' and a ghost or spirit is 'Gentle Breeze Grandfather'..."
"I do not know what I will invite, so be courteous to all of them. You never know which one may have cultivated some ability and awakened spiritual awareness, only to come make trouble for you..."
"Also, not a single word may be spoken during the ritual."
"When I say 'They are here,' all of you must shout together, 'Catch them!' Then immediately go down the mountain. No matter what sounds you hear behind you, you must not look back..."
Wang Dao Xuan explained everything with great care, not daring to overlook the slightest detail.
To be honest, many opera troupes knew this method of invoking the gods. Some even came once every year, and there were explanations and omens associated with it.
Sheep, dogs, oxen, and gentle breezes were auspicious signs. Encountering a wild boar was best of all, symbolizing that everything would go smoothly.
If they encountered rabbits or flying birds, however, it meant they would be rushing about all year.
Of course, most of the time they came on their own. The moment they heard an animal cry, they ran, without knowing whether they had actually invited anything. For some, it was merely a ritual.
The Spring Breeze Troupe, however, was different.
If they wanted to invite an Underworld Deity capable of holding down the scene without causing any deaths, there could not be the slightest mistake. Even taboos that were not entirely clear had to be observed.
While Wang Dao Xuan explained, Sha LiFei drew close to Li Yan. With worry written across his face, he lowered his voice and said, "I went to the teahouse this morning and heard some news."
"That Old Monkey, Zhou Pan, has already reached Transformed Strength, so he naturally will not act personally. But he has several disciples under him, all of whom have mastered Hidden Strength. They all want to beat you to death and curry favor with Old Monkey."
"I also found out something else. When your father, Li Hu, was alive, he was extremely close to Guan WanChe, the chief constable of the Xianyang government office. Why not ask him to help mediate..."
"Guan WanChe?"
Li Yan frowned when he heard that, then sneered. "My father never mentioned this person while he was alive. He never came to our home in all these years, either. Even if they knew each other, their relationship was probably ordinary."
"I can only rely on myself for this challenge!"
"Rely on yourself?"
Sha LiFei was furious. "How old are you? Even if you have potential, you are only at the Peak of Manifested Strength. With a single raise of his hand, the man can send Martial Power through your internal organs and beat you until you vomit blood."
"How are you supposed to fight him? Go up there and seek death?!"
Li Yan said nothing. Instead, he stared at his own palm, then gently placed it against a small tree beside him. He took a deep breath and suddenly pressed down.
Rustle, rustle!
The leaves and branches throughout the tree came tumbling down...
Before you continue