Chapter 111: Great Disaster at the Burial Mound!
Zhu Bocheng hurriedly took a taxi and rushed to the airport. Perhaps because Sister Shuyan was too generous today and he had eaten a full meal early in the morning, but Zhu Bocheng was in a very good mood. He sat leisurely in the back of the car and had nothing to do, so he simply called his best friend, Qi Zhenbai. As soon as the other party picked up, he immediately teased, “Zhenbai, guess where I am now?”
Zhu Bocheng was originally in a good mood, but his best friend, Zhenbai, didn’t give him any face at all. Hearing his idle and boring words, his thin lips spat out coldly, “I’m busy, I’m hanging up.”
Seeing that his best friend was as much a workaholic as ever without the slightest interest in gossip, Zhu Bocheng roasted him in his heart, but still said hurriedly, “Zhenbai, I just saw your wife.”
Qi Zhenbai paused.
Zhu Bocheng continued, “Do you know how virtuous your wife is? The porridge and the sauce she makes are simply superb. You’re really blessed in the future. Zhenbai, as a good friend, you two must not forget me, the important matchmaker, in the future! You must give me gratitude for whatever good things you have, understand?”
Qi Zhenbai’s face sank, especially when he heard that Chi Shuyan, that woman, had cooked for another man. He hadn’t tasted that woman’s cooking yet, so his eyes grew deeper, but his tone was eerily calm. “Really?”
The two were good friends. While Zhu Bocheng wouldn’t say that he knew everything about his best friend, he still knew him quite well. Hearing his calm tone, he suddenly shivered. Fearing that his friend was being randomly jealous, Zhu Bocheng didn’t dare tease him. He quickly found an honest excuse and explained, “Okay, okay, I’m scared of you. I didn’t come to Fuzhou to steal your girl, but to get talismans. I also put in a good word for you on the way. Your wife gave me face and also gave me a lot of delicious pickled vegetables! They really taste superb. Zhenbai, you’ve long tasted them, right?”
Qi Zhenbai’s face, which had just relaxed, immediately sank fiercely when he heard the last sentence that jabbed at his sore spot. He recalled the last time he saw her; not to mention eating that woman’s cooking, the two had parted on completely bad terms. But even before, when they got along okay, that woman had probably never thought of cooking for him.
The more Qi Zhenbai thought about it, the darker his face became. He felt suffocated in his heart and the coldness around him became even more alarming.
He didn’t say much. Before he hung up, he told Zhu Bocheng to bring over all the pickled vegetables for him after he returned to the capital. If he dared to steal a bottle for himself, he could just wait and see.
Zhu Bocheng wanted to cry when the call cut off. He wished he could turn back time; he would rather be beaten to death than give Zhenbai that damned phone call.
These pickled vegetables were really tasty and Zhenbai wouldn’t even leave him a bottle; how could Zhu Bocheng bear to part with them?
Zhu Bocheng arrived at the Qi house in the capital just as Qi Hao and his companions were about to set out on their adventure. Fortunately, he had been quick enough to arrive in time.
When he entered the hall of the Qi house, Zhu Bocheng promptly stuffed the talismans he had just gotten into Qi Hao’s hands, indicating that he had bought these talismans with difficulty from his good friend, a true Celestial Master.
Qi Hao’s companions only believed in the talismans they bought and didn’t take Zhu Bocheng’s talismans seriously at all.
Qi Hao looked impatient and stuffed them back into Zhu Bocheng’s hands. He frowned and said, “Brother Zhu, how much did you spend on these fake talismans? Which swindler tricked you? I’ve told you before that I’ve already bought a lot of talismans from a real Celestial Master. Don’t be silly and be fooled by a swindler. Don’t give me these fake goods. If worst comes to worst, leave them for yourself as a memento.”
“That’s right, Brother Bocheng, don’t worry blindly. With so many of us, how can we not know if they’re real or fake? But you bought these from that charlatan swindler?” Wang Xuewen said nonchalantly as he glanced casually at the stack of talismans in Zhu Bocheng’s hands.
“You rascal, of course the talismans are real. Any one of Master’s talismans costs 35,000 yuan, and this is the best quality Master gave me on account of our friendship. These high-level talismans cost at least 60,000 to 70,000 yuan each,” Zhu Bocheng kicked Wang Xuewen and snapped.
He wanted to use the price to make Qi Hao and the others know how valuable these talismans were, but he didn’t expect it to backfire. Si Yinghua and the others shouted in fright.
“Oh my god, an ordinary piece costs 35,000 yuan, so expensive! What the hell did he use to make it? Does one rotten piece of paper still need to cost so much? It’s simply more expensive than an ancient imperial edict!” Si Yinghua stared incredulously. “Brother Bocheng, you’ve made a huge loss. For that price, I can sell this paper wholesale and in bulk.”
“That’s right, that price can cover a few wholesale batches. Brother Bocheng, you’re so hopeless. Aren’t you giving money away to swindlers for nothing?” Lu Chengfu shook his head in disapproval.
Seeing Sister Shuyan being treated as a swindler by these bastards, Zhu Bocheng was so angry that smoke rose from his head. These bastards didn’t know how powerful Shuyan was. If they did, wouldn’t they be pestering her all the time?
How dare they suspect that Sister Shuyan was a liar?
Zhu Bocheng’s hands were really itchy and he really wanted to beat someone up, feeling that these brats’ eyes weren’t good. They would suffer sooner or later if they didn’t listen to this old man.
These were the talismans for which he had traveled thousands of miles to find Master Chi; how did they turn into worthless scraps of paper in the mouths of these brats?
Zhu Bocheng didn’t want to say more, so he snuck the talismans into Qi Hao’s bag before the rascals ran off. He was afraid that the rascals would discover them halfway and carelessly throw them away; that would really make him vomit blood.
As they slipped away, Zhu Bocheng grabbed Qi Hao, who was the last to leave, and reminded him repeatedly that these were his good intentions. It was fine not to tell anyone else, but he couldn’t throw them away.
That was the end of it!
On the other side, after Zhu Bocheng left and Chi Shuyan was taking a walk, her right eyelid twitched and throbbed with some pain. This had never happened before, even when she sensed an extremely tragic calamity.
She thought long and hard about how Zhu Bocheng had asked her for talismans early in the morning for Qi Zhenbai’s cousin. Originally, she couldn’t sense the calamity that would befall the person, but since Zhu Bocheng had asked her for talismans for Qi Zhenbai’s cousin, she and Qi Zhenbai’s cousin could just barely be considered to have some karma.
But this karma was too forced. She couldn’t directly interfere, but she could sense the danger. If it were anyone else, she really wouldn’t interfere, because if she forcefully interfered, it could backfire, unless the person involved personally looked for her.
Chi Shuyan returned home with a grave expression. In the end, she was still worried. She once again went against Heaven’s Will and did a divination. This time, just as she finished it, pu! She directly spat out a mouthful of blood, her face deathly pale.
Chi Shuyan wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and leaned to the side to recover, only to see that the divination pattern was becoming more and more ominous. Moreover, Qi Zhenbai’s cousin was drawing close to the ominous spot; it was clear that he had already set off, and it was still his fate for his soul to be scattered.
Chi Shuyan’s heart sank and she dialed Zhu Bocheng’s number right away. As soon as the call went through, Chi Shuyan still had a glimmer of hope in her heart as she probed, “Young Master Zhu, didn’t I say before that if you’re free, bring Young Master Qi’s cousin over and I’ll do a reading for him so that you can rest easy?”
Zhu Bocheng replied happily, “Sister Shuyan, you’re giving me too much face, but those brats don’t have the patience. I really wanted to bring them over for you to read their fortunes, but those brats escaped long ago!”
“When did they leave?”
“They should have already arrived!”
Chi Shuyan’s face changed drastically. On the other side, Zhu Bocheng didn’t hear the seriousness in her tone and asked casually, “What? Sister Shuyan, those brats are just pretending to be tomb robbers. They can’t stir up any trouble, right?”
Chi Shuyan’s face really sank this time, and she tried to talk to Zhu Bocheng as calmly as possible. “Young Master Zhu, listen carefully to what I’m going to say next. First, book three tickets to Yongning County’s ancient city at once. No matter what, you have to book the tickets. Qi Zhenbai’s cousin isn’t going to a tomb, but to a burial mound. Second, call Qi Zhenbai immediately and tell him to go to the airport. I’ll be waiting for the both of you at the airport. Third, don’t ask anything yet. I previously defied Heaven’s Will to do a divination for Qi Zhenbai’s cousin, and it was an extremely ominous reading: all their souls will fly away and scatter. So, notify Qi Zhenbai at once and book the tickets. Otherwise, even the Great Principle Immortal can’t save them!”
Zhu Bocheng, who was originally sitting indolently on the sofa and munching on an apple, suddenly heard the words “souls will fly away and scatter,” and was so scared that his vision turned black. He fell back onto the sofa as he broke out in a cold sweat and his heart pounded with fear. He couldn’t come back to his senses for a long time. His lips trembled and his throat was blocked by the cold air that poured in, making him unable to utter a word. His voice cracked and stuck in his throat as he stuttered with difficulty, “Sister… Shuyan, you’re… you’re lying, right?”
Chi Shuyan couldn’t care less about Zhu Bocheng’s unusual behavior and spat out, “I’ll wait for your news,” before she hung up.