Chapter 287 Square Copper Coins
Although the dream was strange and terrifying, Zhou Xuan did not wake up. He looked at the accountants in his dream, clicking their abacuses.

And he could only watch quietly in his dream, unable to move his hands and feet.

When he woke up the next morning, he found that the sheets and mattress on the bed were soaked with sweat.

Zhou Xuan went to the closet, moved new cotton wool and bedding, changed them, and took the soaked sheets and quilt covers downstairs to wash.
As for the wet cotton wool, he could only ask Fu Zi to wait until the sun reached high in the sky and then take it to the backyard to dry.

While Zhou Xuan was happily washing the quilt, Zhao Wuya’s voice, accompanied by the aroma of fried cakes, floated over.

“Brother Xuan, we have to go shopping today, we can’t break the appointment.”

Zhou Xuan raised his head and glanced at Zhao Wuya, and almost laughed out loud.

Zhao Wuya wore two robes, a monk’s robe inside and a Taoist robe outside.

The monk’s robe was wide and had long cuffs, which protruded abruptly from the sleeves of the Taoist robe.

“Your beliefs are so mixed, you believe in both Buddhism and Taoism. What’s wrong? Are you trying to use the philosophy of ‘Buddha is Taoism’ with me?”

Zhou Xuan reached out and grabbed Zhao Wuya’s collar, but Zhao Wuya gently pushed it away.

“Donor, please don’t touch me. We are monks and we abstain from sex.”

“Stop it, old Yun will hear you and give your plump ass a beating.”

Zhou Xuan took the soap, rubbed it hard on the sheets, and then rubbed it rhythmically.

“Your eldest master still washes his own clothes?”

“What are you looking at? This is a quilt.”

“You still wash the quilt yourself?”

“Well, you don’t wash anything yourself. Even when I go out to the toilet, I have to pay someone to take off my pants… You don’t speak like a human being. Labor is the most glorious thing.”

Zhou Xuan rubbed the sheets while making a sarcastic expression. When he was almost done, he took two basins of water and washed the sheets twice. Then he waved to Zhao Wuya, “Come on, Yazi, you have nothing to do anyway. Come and untwist the quilt for me.”

Zhao Wuya and Zhou Xuan held the two ends of the sheet respectively and twisted it in opposite directions, twisting the sheet into a twist. Both of them were martial artists who practiced underworld tactics and had much greater strength than ordinary people. The water rushed out along the folds.

“Hold it, I’ll pour the water.”

Zhou Xuan poured out the water in the basin, rinsed it twice, and then put the wrung-out quilt into a clean basin.

“Just wait for Fuzi to get up and hang it up for me.”

Zhou Xuan wiped his hands with a towel, washed up for a while, and then went to the lobby of the store.

Zhao Wuya followed up by saying, “Sister Cui slaughtered a sheep last night and started selling sheep soup today. When I was buying some cakes just now, I smelled them and they were delicious.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I want you to treat me to mutton soup.”

When Zhou Xuan heard this, he turned around, tugged at Zhao Wuya’s monk robe, and said, “You are already half a Buddhist, can you give up meat and fish?”

“I am a fake monk, what am I afraid of?”

Zhao Wuya’s carefree look made Zhou Xuan feel that it was unnecessary for him to wear that monk robe.

Apart from Zhao Wuya, Lu Mingkun was helping Yun Ziliang replace the wires of the record player. When he saw Zhou Xuan, the fifth senior brother greeted him and said, “Junior brother, you became famous yesterday. It’s said in the medical school that you broke through the Eight Incense Sticks and killed the three-headed stone Buddha with one sword.”

“Is your medical school so well-informed?”

“We are all old men. We heard about it right before it happened.” Lu Mingkun gave Zhou Xuan a thumbs up and praised him, “The Zhou family has always been known as the descendants of the Nuo God.
But the name is just a name, and it has always left outsiders with an impression that it is not worthy of the name. In yesterday’s battle, you and the class leader succeeded with one sword. From now on, no one will dare to look down on our Zhou Family Class.”

Although the fifth brother was a coroner, he grew up in the Zhou family troupe and had long regarded the Zhou family troupe as his own home.
He was proud and happy that the Zhou family was in the spotlight.

While praising Zhou Xuan, he cut off a section of burnt wire and then reconnected a new section of wire.

“Lao Yun, this record player is like a person, it also needs a rest. If you leave it alone for a whole day, let alone whether the people in the store can bear it, the cable can’t bear it. The machine has only been used for a short time and it has burned out.”

After Lu Mingkun wrapped the electrical wires with tape, he sealed the record cabinet and taught Yun Ziliang a lesson – no matter how good the record player is, it should be used sparingly.

“It’s okay. You’re here with me. Next time the line breaks, I’ll ask you to fix it.”

“You’re a stickler, aren’t you?”

Lu Mingkun smiled and went to the copper basin to wash his hands.

Zhou Xuan invited him to have breakfast.

“Fifth Brother, let’s go have a bowl of mutton soup together?”

“I have to go to work. I bought some fried dough sticks and I’ll just make do with it.”

After Lu Mingkun finished and wiped his hands, he took the fried dough cake, said hello to Zhou Xuan, and strode out.

Yun Ziliang was singing again with a silly smile, and Zhou Xuan pulled him back.

“Lao Yun, stop fiddling with your record player. Let’s go and have some mutton soup together.”

“well.”

Yun Ziliang reluctantly put down the leather bag containing the records in his hand and followed Zhou Xuan and Zhao Wuya to Sister Cui’s stall.

“Sister Cui, two bowls of mutton soup.”

“Okay, shall we put mutton or mutton offal?”

“Lamb.”

After Zhou Xuan finished speaking, Sister Cui put half a bowl of mutton in the bowl and poured the boiling milky white soup on it.

After a while, three bowls of mutton soup and two baskets of sugar cakes were served on the table.

The weather in Mingjiang Prefecture had turned cooler. The streets were misty and wet and cold. After Zhou Xuan drank the mutton soup, he felt a little warmer.

He held the bowl in one hand and pinched the sugar cake in the other, and said to Yun Ziliang: “Old Yun, can you interpret dreams?”

“Which Taoist priest wouldn’t know that?”

“I had a strange dream yesterday. In the dream, there were several accountants who were calculating when I would die.”

“This dream seems like a prophecy. I’m afraid something is quietly working on you.”

Zhou Xuan nodded and said, “I coughed up blood for no reason yesterday. At that time, I was 90% sure that Bifang used the Book of Will on me.

With this strange dream and your interpretation, it is 100% certain.”

The only thing that could quietly work on Zhou Xuan could be the Book of Will.

“Didn’t you say last time that in order to fulfill the wishes in the Book of Will, it would require the approval of many gods?

Bifang uses the Book of Will to harm you, will the other gods agree?”

Yun Ziliang took a sip of the soup, looked thoughtful, and asked Zhou Xuan softly.

“Of the crows in a nest, not a single white one can be born. The three gods who wanted to destroy the world in Mingjiang Mansion are still fresh in our memory.”

“The Book of Will, is there a solution?”

“It’s not clear at the moment. This thing is too mysterious.” Zhou Xuan said frankly.

If it weren’t for Mr. Youfeng, which storyteller alive would have heard of the “Book of Will”?

“First, condense the Heavenly Book and understand its characteristics, then you can think of the solution to the Heavenly Book.”

Zhou Xuan had finished the mutton soup in front of him. He put the bowl on the table, took out a few bills, and said, “Lao Yun, take your time eating. I’m going to tell fortunes with Yazi.”

“I have to remind you that you don’t have to tell fortunes for normal clients, but if you meet an abnormal client, you can’t refuse his fortune-telling. That’s a chance to find a dragon.”

When Zhou Xuan heard that there was such a trick for finding dragons and fortune-telling, he just stood up and sat down again and asked, “What is an abnormal client?”

“When he sees you, he will say one thing: The King of Hell is telling your fortune. Sir, don’t refuse.”

“Why did he say that?” Zhou Xuan got to the bottom of it.

“I received some kind of guidance. This guidance may come from dreams, hallucinations, or the blessing of faith. In short, when you hear this sentence, you know that this is the right person.”

“Then I understand.”

Zhou Xuan and Zhao Wuya turned to leave, but after taking two steps, they turned back and stretched out their hand to Yun Ziliang and said, “Give it to me.”

“What to take?” Yun Ziliang pretended not to know.

“Master Yun is really a master at playing dumb.” Zhou Xuan smiled and said, “Since the customer was guided and came to me for fortune-telling, I can’t just randomly open the stall. I must have received some kind of guidance to go to where I should go.

You must have a magical tool to guide the stall, but you haven’t given it to me yet.”

Zhou Xuan’s words convinced Yun Zi.

“You are such a smart boy. I can’t hide anything from you.”

Yun Ziliang took out a row of copper coins from his pocket and placed them on the table. He said, “Four copper coins are our four-sided coins of the induction sect, corresponding to the east, west, south, and north. Every time you walk to an intersection, shake the coins and a copper coin will fly out.
The direction in which the money is flying out is the direction you should go at this intersection.”

Zhou Xuan took the money on the table in his hand.

The four copper coins were engraved with “The Great Emperor of the South Sky”, “The God of the North Platform”, “The Leader of the East Palace” and “The True Lord of the West Valley” respectively.

Every title contains a “direction”.

Zhou Xuan clenched his fist, but it was not solid, and there was some emptiness in the middle. He shook the copper coins in his palm. After a series of tinkling sounds, a coin like an oiled loach flew out from between Zhou Xuan’s fingers and fell to the ground.

He bent down to pick it up and saw that it had “Beitai Fengshen” printed on it.

Zhou Xuan changed his direction from heading south to heading towards North Street.

“Xuan brother, wait a minute, I haven’t untied the donkey rope yet.”

“Then hurry up.” Zhou Xuan was waiting for Zhao Wuya.

Zhao Wuya trotted to the door of Jingyi Shop, untied the donkey rope tied to the stone pillar at the door, rode the donkey, and walked north.

“Aren’t you coming up?” Zhao Wuya asked Zhou Xuan.

“Two people riding on one donkey, let alone whether your donkey can carry us, passers-by will think we are a pair of rabbits if they see us.”

“…” Zhao Wuya.

“But if you don’t get on the donkey, people will think you are my servant who leads the donkey.”

“That’s better than a rabbit.”

In this way, Zhao Wuya and his “donkey-leading servant” set off on their journey.

……

“I can predict all the predestined events in the world, and I can predict the people who will encounter troubles in the world.”

Zhou Xuan was holding a fortune-telling booth and shouting out his improvised “advertising slogan”.
While shouting “Zhaozi”, he hurried on the road, attracting the attention of passers-by from time to time.

“Brother Xuan, you shouted the slogan well. Your voice is loud and clear, and you are not stage-frightened at all. If I stand in front of you, I will be deafened by you. How did you practice that?”

“You don’t need to practice. You will learn it when you are extremely poor.”

After graduating from university in his previous life, Zhou Xuan worked as a salesman. What kind of situations had he not seen?

“You’re so stage-frightened and shy, it’s all because you’re rich. When you’re poor, you’ll be willing to give up everything… Wait, I won’t talk nonsense with you anymore, a guest is coming.”

“There are no guests.” Zhao Wuya sat up straight and looked around, but didn’t see anyone coming to ask for divination.

Zhou Xuan walked towards the curb, where a girl in a floral dress was sitting in a tea room.

This girl had a hesitant expression on her face, and occasionally glanced at Zhou Xuan and Zhao Wuya.

It can be said that Zhou Xuan’s eyes were honed by his work in his previous life. He knew at a glance that the girl wanted to ask a question, but the topic she wanted to ask was probably too embarrassing and she was too embarrassed to ask.

Faced with such customers with “consumption desire”, Zhou Xuan, as a fortune teller, still has to take the initiative.

He gently shook the cloth canopy and shouted in a low voice: “I can predict all the predestined events in the world and predict the people who will encounter disasters in the world…”

That’s what he shouted at the girl.

Finally, the girl overcame her inner shyness and waved to Zhou Xuan: “Fortune teller… here… here…”

When Zhou Xuan turned around, the girl asked in a very low voice, “Sir, I want you to tell my fortune for me.”

“I am a small mountain man who travels all over the country. I cannot bear the word ‘you’. You can just call me a mountain man.”

Zhou Xuan walked closer to the girl and said, “You run a teahouse, so you must not be very introverted on weekdays. Today, you spoke very quietly. I’m afraid what you asked me about is about marriage and love, which are difficult to talk about.”

“Oh, you are a great man, please take a seat.”

The girl hurriedly led Zhou Xuan into the tea room.

The teahouse was simple and did not sell any famous or fine tea, but just some ordinary tea to quench the thirst of passers-by.

But the way the girl makes tea seriously is more precious than those famous teas.

Zhou Xuan sat and waited for tea, his posture was very particular, he did not sit upright, if his manners were too formal, it would make the girl feel timid.
Of course, he didn’t do anything vulgar like tilting his head, because he was a mountain man after all.

Zhou Xuan slightly bent his waist, his shoulders relaxed a little, not keeping people at a distance, nor did he make people feel that he was frivolous. This is often the case when doing business. If there are some mistakes in the details, it will make the relationship awkward…

……

“We’ve got in touch so quickly?”

“Can you still come into the house?”

“Have you had your tea?”

Zhao Wuya, who was sitting on the black donkey, widened his eyes when he saw that Zhou Xuan’s business was progressing too smoothly.

For a moment, he couldn’t even tell who was the rookie in the gang who was starting the dragon hunt today.

“It turns out that I’m the rookie.”

Zhao Wuya lay on the black donkey, paying close attention to what was going on in the tea room. He wanted to learn something from the rookie Zhou Xuan.

……

The fragrance of tea filled the air. The girl took the tea bowl and handed it to Zhou Xuan, saying, “Hermit, my name is Xu Qing. I run this small teahouse. It’s called a teahouse, but it’s actually just a tea shed.”

“The teahouse is simple, but the tea is good.”

Zhou Xuan sipped his tea and praised softly.

“You’re kidding, it’s just a bowl of tea to quench your thirst.” Although Xu Qing said this, she couldn’t help but feel happy.
Who doesn’t want customers to praise their cooking skills?

“Miss Xu, you want to ask about marriage and love. Can you tell me the details?”

“Of course, of course.” Xu Qing saw Zhou Xuan had finished drinking most of the tea, so she picked up the teapot and helped to refill it. She said, “My husband’s name is Zhang Sheng. He runs a cloth shoe store on South Street. We have always had a good relationship, but in recent months, he has changed his attitude.”

“What kind of attitude?”

Zhou Xuan asked again.

“Oh, three months ago, I… I… my period didn’t come, so I told him, and he understood that since I didn’t have my period, it meant I was pregnant.” Xu Qing’s face turned red when she talked about “period.”

Such a private matter was actually told to an outsider, and the other party was a young man, which made her blush.

Zhou Xuan had no expression on his face. He knew in his heart that the more expressionless he was, the less shy the other party would be.

“This is a happy event,” he added.

“But he looked very distressed and asked me if I was pregnant.”

Xu Qing continued, “I think I’m pregnant, but I can’t say for sure. My period doesn’t come at an exact time. Sometimes it comes once a month, sometimes it’s a month and ten days. The longest time I didn’t have a period was probably forty-five or forty-six days.

When my husband heard this, he became happy and told me to observe and see if my period would come back in the next few days.
That night, I couldn’t sleep and heard some rustling noises in the living room. I put on my clothes, got up and took a peek. I saw my husband making a wish to Buddha, wishing that I would never get pregnant.

She kept talking, and Zhou Xuan was listening attentively, very seriously the whole time, without even a hint of a smile on his face.

His seriousness made the girl go from blushing at first to speaking freely now.

Zhou Xuan asked, “What do you think after listening to your husband’s prayer?”

“I find it very strange.”

Xu Qing said: “I couldn’t help it at the time and asked him why he didn’t want me to get pregnant. Wasn’t I his legitimate wife?
A large sedan chair with four carriages was used to carry me into the house. I am his legal wife, not his mistress. If she is pregnant, she should just give birth to the baby. Why should she pray to the gods and Buddhas to stop her from getting pregnant? “

“Do you have any children?”

“No, no.” Xu Qing said again.

When Zhou Xuan heard this, he found it strange. Since they were married, they must have been prepared to have a baby. If she got pregnant, it should be a happy thing. Why did her husband worship Buddha and pray that his wife would not get pregnant?

“Then what?” Zhou Xuan couldn’t figure out the connection, so he continued to ask.

“Then, he waited for news about my period. Every night when he came back to the room, he would ask me if I had my period. He made me annoyed.

I was so angry that I argued with him for a few words, and he slammed the door and left. “

Xu Qing continued, “After a few days, he came back and asked me if I had my period. I said no, and he kept asking me until a month ago. Finally, he gave up.
I’ve never been without my period for so long, I made sure I was pregnant,

He also accepted that he was going to be a father, and there was nothing unusual afterwards, but just two days ago, he suddenly disappeared from home and the store was closed. “

Xu Qing was full of worry when she said this. His hometown is in Xiqiao Town, 20 miles away from here. I went to his hometown to look for him, but his parents said he was nowhere to be found.

“You want me to help you figure out where your husband is now?”

“Exactly, exactly.”

Xu Qing said, “I want to find him and ask him face to face why he ran away from home. If he really doesn’t want the baby in my belly, he can just say it clearly, and then I won’t look for him anymore. He’s hiding and not saying anything openly. I’m stuck in this dilemma and can’t get over it.”

“Then I’ll divination a coat for you. Your husband’s name is…”

“Zhang Sheng, the cloth shoe seller.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you your fortune now.”

Zhou Xuan remembered the name and characteristics that Xu Qing mentioned, then he took out the four square coins from his arms, shook them in his hand for a while, and then sprinkled them on the table.

Looking at the four copper coins, Zhou Xuan closed his eyes and concentrated, and then… his soul wandered.

……

Huang Xi was the manager of the Huangmen in Dongshi Street. After many days of interactions, Zhou Xuan had already figured out everything about her… She usually ran a “brothel” and she was the boss.

Zhou Xuan’s soul fell into the hall of the “Sixi Building”.

Huang Xi sat on the recliner, munching on a pear and humming a tune, feeling very comfortable.

“Boss Huang, life is very comfortable.”

“Hey, Brother Xuan.”

Huang Xi saw Zhou Xuan’s spirit and quickly stood up, smiling and saying, “Yesterday in Pengjia Town, although your knife hit the stone Buddha’s body, why do I feel like you hit my heart? My gentle heart is always thinking about you.”

“Don’t give me that, Mr. Huang. I’m looking for you because I’m looking for someone.” Zhou Xuan said.

The so-called fortune-teller predicted that Zhang Sheng was just a spirit wandering around, and came to ask Huangmen for help…

(End of this chapter)