bacchusnovels Chapter 461 The Shopkeeper's Scolding
Chapter 461 The Shopkeeper's Scolding
Mo Chengyue took the iron pot and had Lao Zhou turn it upside down next to the third fire on the shore. He then used the Rain Flower Sword to lift a corner of the wet red register.
As soon as the roster was moved, red liquid immediately oozed from the pages and seeped into the dry ash.
The Seventh Eye laughed a wet laugh from the bottom of the wrecked ship.
"If you dare to roast it, the one in the water will dare to call your name."
Shopkeeper Hu moved the white paper lantern forward, its light illuminating the Soul-Sealing Box, preventing the voice from getting close to Ah Sui.
"Stop relaying messages for that one in the water; you've lost your eyes now."
Red bubbles bubbled out of the seventh hollow eye.
"The eyes are gone, but the account remains."
Mo Chengyue stuffed the roster under the inverted iron pot, the bottom of the pot pressing down on the edges of the wet pages, and the ashes from the pot slowly licked up from all sides.
"It's good that the bill is in the account; otherwise, I can't collect it properly."
Yu Lin Hong's lingering resentment peeked out a wisp of cold red energy from the depths of the blood-stained talisman in Mo Chengyue's right sleeve, pushing it outwards along with the talisman ash.
"Mo Chengyue, you've even switched your sword to your left hand, and you still want to follow in my footsteps?"
Mo Chengyue hung his right arm down, his left hand pressing down on the edge of the pot.
"You're getting impatient."
Yu Lin Hong's voice drifted out amidst the smoke and fire.
"I just don't want to see you roast yourself."
Manager Hu immediately looked up and resumed the act.
"His right hand is useless, so he should cook that side first. You're being nosy."
Mo Chengyue glanced sideways.
"Manager Hu, you could tone that down a bit."
"You told me to curse."
"I didn't expect you to make your insults so lifelike."
Old Zhou heard the pot stick almost fall off course, but he forced the metal to continue the clanging sound.
"Master Mo, is there enough fire?"
"Enough, don't make it too hot, roast it slowly."
Xiao Liu squatted by the ashes, his eyes fixed on the cracks at the bottom of the pot.
"Why bake it slowly?"
Mo Chengyue used the tip of his sword to dab some wet ink into the talisman ash, and then scraped off a bit of ash stained with blood from the outside of his right sleeve.
"If the heat is too high, the wet ink will spread; a slow heat will force it to release its moisture."
Accountant Chen raised his head, his voice choked in the dust.
"The steam you exhale can find its way."
Mo Chengyue looked at him.
"Have you met him before?"
"I saw it once. After the former accountant died, I was flipping through the half-page of the account he left behind to fill in the gaps. A spark touched it, and the shadow of a white crane appeared on the paper."
The veins on the back of Lao Zheng's hand were bulging.
"Then you still dare to continue?"
Accountant Chen shut his mouth and pressed his forehead back to the ground.
"I was afraid that the next page would feature my story."
Old Zheng raised the wok stick, but Old Zhou pressed down on his wrist.
Old Zhou said, "Knock on the pot, don't let him die now."
Thin white steam began to rise from the bottom of the pot. Instead of dissipating upwards, the steam swirled along the edge of the pot, carrying with it the old pine scent of a damp wooden box.
Mo Chengyue scraped the remaining frost pattern from the corner of the broken talisman, mixed it with wet ink and talisman ash, and then pressed a wisp of the dirty odor of the wedding boat post on the outermost layer.
Manager Hu frowned as he looked at him.
"Can these three items be put together to form a talisman?"
"If the proper talisman won't work, the dirty road will suffice."
"Will it backfire?"
"meeting."
Shopkeeper Hu was about to touch the small box when his fingertips touched the gap in the lampshade, so he pulled his hand back into his sleeve.
"Then why are you still doing it?"
Mo Chengyue pressed the base of his left hand against the edge of the pot, the ashes of the pot reflecting half of his face. The red pattern inside his right sleeve was covered by the talisman ash, leaving only small heat marks on the fabric.
"When they are all unclean and they dislike each other, the path will be revealed."
Yu Lin Hong, with a regretful expression, sneered as she pasted the blood-stained bandage.
"You're including my wedding invitation in the calculation?"
Mo Chengyue nodded.
"Since you're already here, you can't just sit here for nothing."
Manager Hu immediately added a sentence.
"The cost of the meal will be deducted from her account."
The chubby shopkeeper subconsciously looked up.
"Then you'll have to keep track of it."
Everyone looked at him.
The chubby shopkeeper raised the wok stick and banged it against the pot.
"I was just talking nonsense, I'll knock."
Suddenly, steam billowed out from the bottom of the pot, forcing the third fire on the bank to sag, and the smoke curled along the ground towards the culvert.
A heavy thud came from the unlit ship. The black water outside the dock swelled up, and a blurry hand reached out from the bottom of the ship, grabbing towards the shore fire.
Old Zheng shouted, "The boat is moving!"
Old Zhou pressed the old ship's license plate firmly into the soot.
"Knock on the pot, don't look at the water!"
The Seventh Eye shrieked with laughter from the bottom of the wrecked ship.
"It's going to destroy the roster."
Shopkeeper Hu hugged the small box tightly. The flame of the white paper lamp turned bluish from the moisture, but she did not back down.
"Mo Chengyue, can the pot still be weighed down?"
Mo Chengyue thrust his left-hand sword into the gray talisman on the threshold, and the residual light of the Small Sumeru Vajra Array pushed out along the gray line, blocking the first stream of black water.
"Old Zhou, put the pot in the fire."
The fat shopkeeper looked bitter.
"My pot."
Old Zhou picked up the pot by the handle, his hand immediately turning red from the heat, but he still pushed the inverted iron pot onto the fire on the shore.
"If your pot survives today, I'll put up a sign for it."
The fat shopkeeper gritted his teeth and banged on the pot.
"Don't write my name on that sign."
Xiao Liu lifted the copper basin above his head and smashed it against the side of the iron pot.
"Uncle Zhou, the moisture needs to escape!"
Mo Chengyue pinched a talisman with his left hand, his fingertips still damp with the lingering frost-like energy, and drew a crooked half-circle of talisman on the edge of the pot.
"Manager Hu, keep cursing."
Manager Hu was taken aback for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening.
"Mo Chengyue, your hand is so crooked you can't even draw a talisman properly, yet you dare to try and steal the path from the water?"
Mo Chengyue replied, "Even a crooked talisman is more pleasing to the eye than their messy accounts."
Manager Hu enunciated each word clearly.
"Don't try to hold on any longer, or you won't be able to hold the sword."
The last page of the roster made a sound of wet paper curling under the pot, and the black water inside the paper was forced out by the smoke from the fire, gathering into a wisp of white and reddish steam along the edge of the pot.
Yu Lin Hong finally stopped laughing, filled with regret.
Stop.
Mo Chengyue watched as the water vapor formed lines.
"You're too late."
The unlit boat pressed against the shore, its shadow pressed against the wooden planks, its cries shattered by the sound of boiling water, as black water surged towards the overturned iron pot.
Old Zhou shouted, "Put out the fire!"
Mo Chengyue slammed the Rain Flower Sword into the ground with his left hand, and the sword's blade lit up with lightning and fire, while the talismanic lines were stretched into golden arcs.
"Old Zheng, gray."
Old Zheng grabbed some soot and sprinkled it near the fire.
"Xiao Liu, basin."
Xiao Liu turned the copper basin upside down at the entrance of the culvert and lay down on it.
"I'm holding it down."
Shopkeeper Hu stuck the white paper lantern onto the small box and shouted towards the shore.
"Don't let the water stick to the pot; underneath the pot is a roster, and within that roster lies the path."
The fat shopkeeper banged and cursed at the same time.
"Whose good road is hidden under the pot? Master Mo, you really know how to save space."
Upon hearing this, Mo Chengyue still had time to look at him.
"Fat shopkeeper, once this is over, you can switch to storytelling."
The fat shopkeeper's face twitched.
"I'm afraid the audience is all in the water."
The steam at the bottom of the pot was finally baked into a ball, and creases gradually emerged from the ball, first the two wings, then the sharp beak, and finally condensed into a pale white paper crane print.
When Chen the accountant saw the mark, he shrank back and dug his heels into the dusty ground.
"That's it, that's the one for sending the replacement pages."
Old Zheng pulled him back.
"Look carefully."
The accountant's teeth made a soft clicking sound.
"I saw it clearly, it even has markings on its wingtips."
Mo Chengyue didn't speak. With the tip of his sword, he picked up the wisp of water vapor, the residual frost pattern, and the filth from the wedding boat invitation, and simultaneously wrapped it around the paper crane seal, fixing it above the ashes of the pot.
Manager Hu took a closer look, and the words of scolding he was about to utter suddenly stopped.
She hugged the small box even tighter, the edge of the lampshade digging into her palm.
"What chapter is that?"
Mo Chengyue looked at the incomplete red marks on the paper crane seal. The numbness in his right palm inside his sleeve was gradually pushed away by the Yin-Yang True Essence, and his fingertips were finally able to bend gently inside his clothes.
He didn't let anyone see him do this.
Old Zhou squinted to make out the sound; the rod of the pot was hanging above the iron pot, and the sound of metal being struck was taken over by someone else.
"Like a sect seal."
The fat shopkeeper stretched his neck out, then immediately pulled it back in.
"From the immortal sects?"
Mo Chengyue used the tip of his sword to press the moisture into the smoke, making the corner of the paper crane seal even clearer from the heat.
The incomplete seal only has half a circle of cinnabar left, with three missing parts on the outer edge, revealing the remaining strokes of the two characters "Hehuan" inside, and the three small characters "Waiwutang" next to it are crooked due to being soaked in water.
Manager Hu looked at Mo Chengyue.
"From your sect?"
Mo Chengyue's right sleeve hung down, his left hand steadied the tip of the sword, and the firelight in his eyes was obscured by the soot from the pot.
"Hehuan Sect External Affairs Hall".