Chapter 654: Treasures of the Inn

Like Blood Gourd, several hunters had their tattered leather coats torn into rags.

They were so panicked that their legs and feet became weak and they rolled down the hillside.

“The tiger monster is eating people!”

A strong peasant woman saw this and immediately started howling at the top of her lungs.

This immediately caused the entire market to explode.

The old man selling candied haws nearby trembled, the straw target fell apart, and the hawthorn balls rolled into the donkey dung pile.

The burly man who was performing the stone-breaking with his chest move had just swung the hammer when the bluestone slab below “cracked” and broke into two pieces.

It’s not that he knows how to use the Gang Jin, but the people coordinating with him have shaking hands.

The monkey troupe was even worse off. Seven or eight monkeys screamed and rushed into the crowd, dragging their chains, knocking over the steamers at the bun shop and tearing up the shed of the “Wu Family Shaobing”…

The market was already crowded, and the chaos triggered a chain reaction.

Many people heard it as “a tiger demon came down the mountain to eat people”, and seeing that others were running, they quickly picked up their children and squeezed out in a panic. Some people stood on tiptoe to watch the excitement, but were knocked off balance…

Sharifei and his companions were not idle either.

Seeing a child being knocked over and falling to the ground being trampled by the crowd, Sharifei stepped forward, crossed his hands, used his clever strength to separate the crowd, and held the crying child in his arms.

Wu Ba had amazing strength. With one palm, he slapped the boiling oil pan back to its original position, and then he single-handedly held up the thick wooden banner that was about to collapse.

But faced with this chaotic crowd, what they could do was just a drop in the bucket.

At this moment, Long Yaner suddenly took action.

She made hand gestures and her white sleeves fluttered. Dense swarms of “frost moths” suddenly rose up. The fluorescent light on their tails was used to confuse people. Although it was difficult to work in the daytime, the scales from the flapping wings were sprinkled on the crowd.

Ordinary practitioners cannot withstand her witchcraft, let alone these ordinary people.

Soon, a strange scene appeared in the market:
The originally panicked people all stood there with dull eyes and drooling.

And the scope is still expanding.

“Be bold!”

From the inn in the distance, there was a roar: “How dare you use witchcraft to hurt people in broad daylight!”

Before he finished speaking, the window on the second floor of the inn shattered and a figure flew out.

Although he looked big, his movements were very agile, and when he landed, he touched the ground with his toes like a horse stepping on a flying swallow. After two steps on the awning support, he jumped directly above the crowd and slapped Long Yaner on the head.

Long Yan’er was maintaining the witchcraft, so she glanced at him and ignored him.

She knew that the other party couldn’t hurt her at all.

Sure enough, Sharifei behind him was holding the child in one hand, and with the other hand he had reached to his waist and pulled out his flintlock rifle.

Of course the man knew what it was, and quickly pulled his hand away, then forced himself to do a somersault and back off.

“mean!”

After landing, he yelled in anger.

He was a tall man in a brocade robe, with hands reaching below his knees.

He was born with a strange appearance and his skills are not simple.

Sharifei was not willing to tolerate this and directly scolded him, “You are so blind, can’t you see that I am saving people?”

Wow~
A group of people came from a distance, all of them were martial artists, holding knives, guns, sticks and clubs, and surrounded everyone.

At the same time, several men from the Cao Gang also came to their senses.

“Misunderstandings are all misunderstandings!”

They were sweating profusely and quickly stood in the middle to persuade them.

“Master Shi, these are the helmsman’s distinguished guests…”

“Master Sha, this is our helmsman’s junior brother…”

After some persuasion and explanation, both sides put away their weapons.

Sharifei muttered a few words and still stayed beside Long Yaner, while Wu Ba also grinned foolishly and quietly separated the people around him. It was obvious that he would not let down his guard just because of their relationship.

The man in front of him was none other than Chen San’s junior fellow apprentice. His surname was Shi and his given name was Heilong. It was rumored that he was a descendant of Shi Qian, the flea on the drum. He was very skilled in martial arts and had a quick mind. He opened the Jingyang Ridge Inn and made himself known as the legacy of Liangshan. He was considered a local hero.

It is because of him that the Jingyanggang Temple Fair has developed over the years.

When he heard the whispers of his Cao Gang brothers, Shi Heilong’s face was quite surprised.

“My dear heroes, I am sorry for my recklessness.”

Shi Heilong didn’t try to be stubborn and just clasped his fists to apologize.

“Easy to say.”

Sharifei grinned and dealt with it.

Once the misunderstanding is resolved, things will naturally become easier.

Long Yan’er made hand gestures and released the illusion, while the people from the Cao Gang and Shi Heilong’s brothers comforted the panicked people and carried the injured away to the clinic.

At that time, Heilong was the convener of the big market, and he made a lot of money every year, both openly and secretly.

If not handled properly, this fair may never be able to resume.

After a while, the chaotic market finally dispersed.

The timid people had already left this dangerous place with their elderly and children.

The brave ones, including many street performers, stood on tiptoe to watch the fun.

“Everyone, go away, stop talking nonsense to me!”

Shi Heilong glared at the people around him and said, “What tiger monster? It’s probably a tiger that escaped from the mountains. Don’t worry, I’ll go up to the mountain and cut off the tiger’s penis to drink with. The government has said that anyone who spreads evil words to confuse the people will be executed in the autumn!”

His words, a combination of coaxing and intimidation, finally dispersed the onlookers.

After all, if it really became a big deal, even he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

After doing all this, Shi Heilong immediately turned around and walked towards the inn.

The injured hunter is still inside, and we have to find out what happened first.

Sharifei winked and several people followed behind.

Firstly, I was a little curious, and secondly, I also wanted to take a look and see if I could get any business.

When Heilong saw this, his heart moved slightly, but he did not stop it.

It is obvious that a lot of effort has been put into the layout of Jingyanggang Inn.

A faded tiger-head wine flag hangs in the lobby, and a peach wood carved screen with the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger is inserted diagonally next to the elm counter. Coarse pottery bowls are stacked in a tower shape, with rubbings of “Water Margin” opera texts pressed on them, giving it the feel of a themed inn.

However, it is a long time ago.

The copper kettle hanging over the fire pit had been smoked black, and the aroma of burnt wine mixed with the smell of pine resin.

The beams and pillars were nailed with furs deposited by hunters, the replicas of copper whistles in the corners were covered with cobwebs, and even the words “Three bowls and you’re not past the hill” pasted on the mottled wall were blurred by the smoke.

Several hunters had been simply bandaged and were sitting on the benches in the lobby.

Everyone’s face was pale and they were drinking to calm themselves down.

“Master!”

When they saw Black Dragon coming in, they all stood up quickly.

Jingyanggang Inn is famous for its strong liquor and fine game.

If they only relied on others to deliver the game, there would inevitably be a shortage of supply, so at this time Black Dragon specially hired a few hunters to travel in the mountains all year round to help the inn supply game.

“Don’t be polite, sit down, what’s going on?”

Shi Heilong pulled over a bench and sat down, asking with a serious expression.

“Boss, you scared us to death…”

The hunter, Old Zhang, shuddered as he drank the yellow wine, the foam dripping down his beard:

“We stayed in the mountains for a night. In the early morning, the forest was eerily quiet, without even a bird chirping. Erlangzi insisted that he had seen a lame deer. We followed the bloody deer to Laosongpo and suddenly smelled a sweet and fishy smell…”

Shi Heilong frowned, “Sweet taste… Aren’t beasts smelly?”

“it is true!”

Old Zhang quickly explained: “It’s like… like the smell of rotten peaches in the dog days of summer, mixed with the smell of incense from the temple!”

Sharifi, who was standing nearby, narrowed his eyes when he heard this, and the other hunters also started talking at once.

“That beast oozed out from the shadow of the tree…”

“Yes, in broad daylight, its eyes are green, and when it looks at you it’s like scraping your bones with ice.”

“Why do you call it a tiger demon?”

“When Sanwazi shot an arrow, the arrow shaft broke into wood chips as soon as it left the string. The breath he exhaled froze our fur coats, and they made a rustling sound when we ran.”

“There was fog in the mountains. We fled to a mass grave. Suddenly, an old man in shrouds appeared from behind a tombstone. His face was as pale as a mirror and he smiled at us. But that laughter… was clearly the roar of a tiger!”

Listening to what everyone said, Shi Heilong also felt uneasy.

He knew these hunters. They had all been running around in the mountains since they were young. It was inevitable that they had seen some strange things. It must be an extraordinary person to be able to scare them like this.

Thinking of this, Shi Heilong asked carefully: “Did you break any taboo?”

Hearing this, Old Zhang said with a bitter face: “Boss, we brothers are all veterans, how could we do anything reckless.”

“I burned incense before going up the mountain, and was careful about what I said. I kept in mind what I should do and what I shouldn’t do…”

As he said that, his expression suddenly changed, “It can’t be that thing.”

“What did you do? Tell me quickly!”

Shi Heilong glared with his eyes wide open and scolded in a deep voice.

Hunter Lao Zhang looked at the others and shook his head, saying, “The Wusong Temple on the mountain has been in disrepair for a long time and is a bit deserted. Let’s simply clean it up. Shan Wazi made another wish and said he wanted to kill a few tigers.”

Shi Heilong’s face darkened, “Is it my fault?”

Most of the fame of Jingyang Ridge comes from the story of Wu Song fighting the tiger.

The tiger meat in the inn is naturally the best.

At that time, Heilong also deliberately raised the price, doubling the reward for hunting a tiger.

“Don’t blame me, Boss.”

Several hunters quickly confessed their crimes.

Shi Heilong was not really angry, but pondered for a moment, then turned his head to look at Sha Lifei next to him, and with an idea in his mind, he bowed respectfully and said, “My dear heroes, I am sorry for the inconvenience.”

“I have also heard of the name of the Twelve Yuanchen. Can I…”

“of course can.”

Sharifei smiled slightly, “It’s just that our reward is a bit expensive.”

Shi Heilong patted his chest and said, “It doesn’t matter how expensive it is. As long as you can get rid of this problem, I will not treat you unfairly. Just give your price.”

“Arrogant!”

Sharifei gave a thumbs up and said, “The reward for helping someone in Ezhou is 30,000 taels. Our current market price is naturally more than that, but since you are Junior Brother Chen San, let’s calculate it based on this.”

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar around.

“Thirty thousand taels!”

“That’s really a big mouth. We might as well go grab it!”

“Please invite Master Liu from Yanggu County. Three thousand taels is enough!”

Listening to these people’s complaints, Sharifei smiled slightly without explaining.

Shi Heilong had just recognized the witchcraft, but he still dared to deal with Long Yaner alone.

Although the misunderstanding has been resolved, we still need to test it out.

If the other party agrees immediately, then there must be something wrong with this person!

What tiger monster is harming people? It could also be a trap…

“Shut up, everyone!”

Shi Heilong’s face was grim. He glared at the Cao Gang disciples who followed him, then clasped his fists and said, “Everyone, I’m sorry, I will handle this matter myself.”

After hearing this, Sharifei was completely confirmed.

This person is just a fool. He knows some esoteric things, but he doesn’t understand much.

Considering Twelve Yuanchen’s current reputation, thirty thousand taels of silver is really not expensive.

Of course, this is the common remuneration for the entire team. If they just do it, it will definitely be cheaper, but it is also a price that these people in the underworld cannot accept.

Thinking of this, Sharifei prepared to take his people away.

They either volunteer to eliminate demons or follow market conditions.

In short, you can’t take jobs casually, which will ruin the identity of the Twelve Yuanchen.

This is the human heart.

If you ask for something cheap, people will look down on you.

As for the tiger monster, it is easy to deal with.

There is a City God Temple in Zhangqiu Town, and there are many Taoists nearby.

As long as you report it, someone will handle it.

But at this moment, Zhao Luzi, who had been silent before, suddenly tugged at his clothes, stepped forward and said, “Brother Sha is joking. We will do it, and the reward is easy to negotiate. What you want is something from the inn.”

There is a treasure here!

When Sharifei heard this, he immediately understood. He also touched his big bald head and laughed, “That’s right, I was just joking. Since you know Chen San, forget about the reward or not.”

Zhao Luzi still couldn’t speak, so he made a patch.

Sure enough, when Shi Heilong heard it, he immediately shook his head, stood up and raised his hand and said, “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you even ask? I’m not that stingy. Just take whatever you have in the store!”

To be honest, he is not a fool.

It was obvious from the looks of Sharifei and the other man that they had discovered something.

But he was not a member of the Taoist sect, and he really didn’t want to report to the City God Temple.

After all, people’s words are scary. Even if the monster is caught, the business in Jingyang Ridge will probably be over.

I could only deal with it myself and then tell others that it was a rumor.

He was also very curious about what was in the store that caught these people’s attention.

“it is good!”

Sharifei agreed immediately and then looked at Zhao Luzi.

Zhao Luzi was not in a hurry. Under the gaze of everyone, he walked around the lobby a few times, then ran to the kitchen and took out a fat tabby cat.

Shi Heilong was stunned, “Did you guys like this cat?”

He was a little surprised that there were several cats in the inn to drive away mice.

This one is the laziest. It doesn’t even catch mice and likes to run to the kitchen to steal food.

If he hadn’t been raised from childhood, he would have been thrown away long ago.

Zhao Luzi still didn’t say anything. He walked a few steps in the lobby holding the tabby cat. Suddenly, he exerted force with his legs, jumped onto the table and flew into the air, throwing the tabby cat in his hands into the air.

“Meow!”

The tabby cat was thrown directly onto the beam, but after landing, it did not move. Instead, its fur stood on end, its back arched, and it kept screaming at the corner of the beam, as if it had seen something terrible.

Zhao Luzi also jumped onto the beam like a monkey, pulled out a red rope from his arms, and with his hands flying, as fast as light, he tied something tightly, and then jumped down.

When everyone looked, they saw that it was an old copper candlestick.

Shi Heilong was surprised, “Who put the candlestick on the beam?”

Obviously, he didn’t know there was such a thing on the beam. He was curious and couldn’t help asking, “Everyone, I’m a man of my words, but I just want to ask, what is this treasure?”

Looking at Zhao Luzi’s actions, he had guessed that he was a treasure-hoarder, and he couldn’t help but feel itchy.

“This is the ‘eternal lamp’ in the tomb.”

Zhao Luzi glanced at it and said, “What’s the use? You won’t understand even if I tell you, and you can’t use it, but someone put this thing on the beam to curse you.”

“When you sleep at night, do you dream about anything?”

As soon as these words came out, the faces of several people, including Shi Heilong, suddenly changed…

(End of this chapter)