Chapter 1: Zhong Kui Chewing Ghosts Daqian Qingzhou, Yunhe County. Under the setting sun, light golden waves floated on the water surface, and willows on the shore swayed like smoke. People passing by couldn't help but look at a certain place, and then shook their heads, with either pity or suspicion in their eyes. Under the tree was a young fortune teller, wearing a green cloth suit with patches on some parts, but it was washed very clean. He had a handsome and elegant face and an air of scholarliness. "To judge the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, look at the sun and the moon in your palm." "Measure Feng Shui and explore the six directions, and you will know the world in your sleeves." The flag danced in the wind, in stark contrast to the glorious words on it. However, no one was interested in the stall after a day of setting it up. However, Zhang Jiuyang was not in a hurry. Instead, he leaned under the willow tree and closed his eyes to rest. In his mind, a picture was shining and emitting a bright luster. The painting shows a majestic man with an iron face and curly beard. He is wearing an official robe, a sword hanging from his waist, eyes like bronze bells, and he is holding an evil ghost in his hand as if swallowing it. He is truly murderous and awe-inspiring! Ten ancient seal characters beside the portrait glowed with golden light. Bless the Holy Lord and Heavenly Master Zhong Kui who protects the house!
Looking at the picture of "Zhong Kui Chewing a Ghost", Zhang Jiuyang sighed in his heart. In fact, he was not from this world, but came from the earth. In his previous life, he was a college student. When he was about to graduate, he suddenly received the sad news that his grandfather had passed away. When he went back to pack up his grandfather's belongings, he unexpectedly found a purple Taoist robe and Taoist certificate in the sandalwood box under the old man's bed. Only then did he know that his grandfather, who had been a barefoot doctor in the mountain village for decades, was actually a Zhengyi Taoist priest. There was also a picture album at the bottom of the sandalwood box, titled "The Chart of the True Spirit's Position and Origin". Zhang Jiuyang checked on the Internet at that time and found that Tao Hongjing, a famous Taoist priest in the Southern Dynasty, had once written a book called "The Chart of the True Spirit's Position and Origin" to rank the Taoist gods, but it was completely different from the "Chart of the True Spirit's Position and Origin" left by his grandfather. The book left by my grandfather contains pictures of gods and Buddhas with few words. It is not limited to Taoism, but also includes some popular gods in Buddhism, such as Arhat Subduing the Dragon and Guanyin Bodhisattva. Zhang Jiuyang usually likes to paint. He thinks the paintings of gods and Buddhas are extraordinary, so he feels like he has found a treasure. He studies and copies them all day long. As a result, he accidentally falls asleep. When he wakes up again, he travels to this world and possesses the body of a person with the same name and surname as him. Speaking of which, the original owner of this body was also very pitiful. He was an orphan and was adopted and raised by the county fortune teller Lin the Blind. Not long ago, Blind Lin went out to do some business and was bitten to death by a wild beast while walking at night. One of his arms has not been found yet. The original owner was extremely sad, and coupled with his poor health since childhood, he died. This is when Zhang Jiuyang took over his place. He had just arrived and had to accept the reality. In order to survive, he had to inherit Blind Lin's business and make some money to fill his stomach. Unfortunately, he looked too young. Although he was Blind Lin's disciple, there were still very few people willing to come to him for fortune-telling. If Blind Lin was really capable, how could he not have predicted that he would be bitten to death by a wild beast? The master is a liar, let alone the apprentice who has no moral integrity. Gu~~ Zhang Jiuyang frowned as he felt waves of hunger in his abdomen, as if he was being minced meat. These past few days he had been trying to figure out the secret of the portrait, but not only had he made no progress, the hunger that had penetrated deep into his bones had become even stronger, and would soon recur even after he had eaten a full meal. What is this hunger feeling all about? A cold wind blows. As the aroma wafted by, Zhang Jiuyang suddenly felt even hungrier. Unfortunately, when he opened his eyes, he found that it was not food, but a gorgeous woman with a delectable appearance. She was wearing a red and white long dress, her toes touching the ground, her long hair was untied and fluttering slightly in the wind, and it seemed that she had just washed and was still a little wet. The pair of inky black eyes were staring straight at Zhang Jiuyang. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but even though he was being looked at by a beautiful woman, he felt an inexplicable chill. "I am an expert in fortune telling, palmistry, divination, and dream interpretation. Madam, why don't you give it a try? You must pay for it." The woman didn't say anything. She slowly turned her head and looked at the words on the flag. She looked a little stiff. Although this woman looked like she wasn't very smart, Zhang Jiuyang didn't despise her. After all, she was the first customer of the day, and as long as she had money, it would be fine.
"If you are not comfortable talking, I would like to recommend fortune telling. How about that?" Zhang Jiuyang pointed to the pen and ink on the table. This time the woman finally took action. She reached out and picked up the pen, slowly writing a word on the white paper - Rong. Zhang Jiuyang instantly broke out in a cold sweat, because he didn't recognize this word! He, who has always been self-confident and eloquent, has now encountered the biggest challenge in his fortune-telling career. For a moment, he even doubted whether this woman came to cause trouble on purpose? calm down! Zhang Jiuyang took a deep breath, his mind racing, and as he looked at the word, he suddenly had an idea. He first stared and inhaled, then looked left and right around the word "Rong", and finally shook his head and sighed, "Not good, very bad!" Facing the other party's direct gaze, Zhang Jiuyang continued: "Madam, look, this word is a sign of great misfortune no matter what you predict!" "The two flames on the top represent candles, the roof in the middle represents the coffin, and the wood at the bottom can also refer to the coffin. This is a very bad omen, full of death energy, and someone might die!" As he spoke, Zhang Jiuyang observed the other person's expression. Fortune telling is a game of words, and this woman doesn't seem to be easy to fool, so you have to scare her with harsh words first, and then give her a solution when she gets anxious, so that she can spend more money. However, what he didn't expect was that the woman was not anxious or angry. Instead, she nodded, with a hint of satisfaction in her dark eyes. "You really have some skills." The first time she spoke, her voice was not unpleasant, but rather gentle and charming. However, she didn't know if it was an illusion, but there seemed to be a slight rustling noise in her voice, very faint, as if there was sand stuck in her throat. "I want to ask you, where is Lu Yaoxing?" When she mentioned this name, her emotions fluctuated for the first time and she pronounced the words heavily. Lu Yaoxing? Zhang Jiuyang was stunned. Although he didn't know who this person was, he smiled calmly and said, "It turns out that Madam didn't really want to tell fortunes, but wanted to test my skills." He stretched out his hand and said, "But let's be honest, Madam, please pay the money for the fortune telling just now." What you earn is yours. Who knows if he will be exposed next? "How much?" "It's up to you." The woman hesitated for a moment, then reached into her arms, took out her purse and poured it on the table. Ta-ta~ A black candy bean rolled to Zhang Jiuyang's hand. He picked it up and couldn't help but frowning. He felt like he was being fooled. "Why are you giving me a jelly bean? That's really too much—" Zhang Jiuyang paused before he finished speaking because a strange aroma wafted from the candy bean. The next moment, the hunger in his stomach hit him like a tidal wave, making him swallow his saliva continuously, his eyes fixed on the candy bean. It seemed like after so many days, he finally encountered real food. His fingers holding the jelly beans moved closer to his lips, hunger was slowly affecting his mind. However, the next moment, a voice sounded faintly. "Where is Lu Yaoxing?" The woman's voice became heavier, as if she could no longer suppress her deep hatred, and she let out a sound like the growl of a wild beast. Zhang Jiuyang subconsciously looked up, and the scene he saw made his breathing stop, his hair stood on end, a chill rushed straight to the top of his head, and even his calves were trembling.
I saw that the woman's left eye had become empty at some point, as if it had been gouged out with a knife, and black blood kept flowing out. That charming face was completely shrouded in a sinister look, her facial features were distorted to the extreme, and streaks of water flowed down her body, as if she was a water ghost who had just drowned, and her hair was mixed with rotten water plants and mud. "If you take my eyes, you have to tell me, Lu Yaoxing... where is he?!" The woman slowly approached, her only remaining right eye moved slightly, reflecting Zhang Jiuyang's pale face. "Fuck!" Zhang Jiuyang finally understood that the woman who came to him for fortune-telling was not a human, but a ghost! What he almost swallowed just now was not candy beans, but... the ghost girl's eyes! Zhang Jiuyang threw away the eyes in his hand as if he had been electrocuted, turned around and tried to run, but the female ghost was faster than him. Her messy hair like seaweed flew up and wrapped around Zhang Jiuyang like black lines. The biting cold made his body stiff and difficult to resist. It's like falling into ice water in winter. "Where is Lu Yaoxing..." The female ghost was still questioning, but Zhang Jiuyang felt extremely aggrieved. He wanted to make up a place name, but his cold body made it impossible for him to even complete the simple action of opening his mouth. You gotta let me talk, too! Just when he was filled with despair, he suddenly felt a warm current in his chest, and then the female ghost let out a scream and disappeared in an instant. "Xiaojiu, Xiaojiu!" Zhang Jiuyang suddenly woke up, his whole body soaked in cold sweat. He looked around, the setting sun was still there, the waves were still rising, as if everything that had just happened was just a dream. A fat and strong woman woke him up and said with concern: "Xiaojiu, you just fell asleep leaning against the willow tree, and your body was shaking. It took a long time for you to wake up. Don't be possessed by evil spirits." After a pause, the aunt looked at the river and whispered, "Don't set up a stall here in the future. People have drowned in Xiaoyun River before." Zhang Jiuyang thanked the other party. He grew up in Yunhe County and was familiar with many neighbors. This auntie was Auntie Wang who slaughtered pigs at the West Street intersection. Although she was a woman, she was very quick and efficient when killing pigs. Seeing how pale he looked, Aunt Wang sighed softly, and then took out a fist-sized piece of pork from the basket on the ground. "Don't be polite to me, even though it's just leftovers, it still tastes delicious." After that, she left with the basket. Zhang Jiuyang felt a little warm in his heart. He turned around and looked at Xiaoyun River, thinking that it was a good thing that it was just a dream. But something in my chest is still hot? Zhang Jiuyang stretched out his hand and took it out, and then his pupils froze. It was a yellow talisman, folded into a triangle, strung together with a red rope, and hanging on his chest. This was a birthday gift that Blind Lin had given to the original body. The original body had been wearing it on his chest, but now there were some charred marks at the bottom, as if it had been burned by fire. Zhang Jiuyang unfolded the talisman with his slightly trembling hands, and vaguely saw the word "聻" written in cinnabar on it. Legend has it that when a person dies, he becomes a ghost, and when a ghost dies, he becomes a 聻. Therefore, the word "聻" is written on some talismans used to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. Ghosts are frightened when they see it. In a few places, there is also the custom of burying 聻 bricks when building houses, also to ward off evil spirits. Just now... was not a dream! Zhang Jiuyang was frightened. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and began to search carefully in the grass on the river bank. After a moment, he pulled aside a bush and saw a pitch-black eyeball with its erect pupil still moving slightly. Gu~~ The terrifying feeling of hunger came from his stomach again. Zhang Jiuyang looked at the eyeball. He should have been afraid, but he couldn't help swallowing.
"Zhong Kui chews ghosts... Zhong Kui chews ghosts..." An astonishing guess suddenly emerged in his mind. Could it be that the ability of the Zhong Kui portrait in his mind was... When he thought of this, he subconsciously felt a little nauseous, but along with it, there was also a kind of excitement that made his whole body tremble. PS: Brothers, I, Hu Hansan, am back again. I missed you guys so much after not seeing you for a long time~~ The new book will be updated twice a day, one chapter each at 12 noon and 6 pm. I ask for your support, brothers. I will try my best to bring you a better story~~ Than heart! (End of this chapter)