novelcrest Chapter 118 The Willow Shop Lights Up, Who Owns the Door Bolt?
Chapter 118 The Willow Shop Lights Up, Who Owns the Door Bolt?
Chapter 119 The Willow Shop Lights Up, Who Will Get the Door Bolt? (Please Keep Following!)
Tieguai Li took a step forward, carrying a wrench.
"Liu Bai?"
No one showed themselves from inside the door; only one sentence came out.
"Mr. Li, don't try to scare my door with that wrench. That door is older than your prosthetic leg."
Tieguai Li started cursing as soon as he opened his mouth.
"If you're so concerned about the door, then get out here."
Cheng Xiaojin leaned against the door frame, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his face pale and bloodless.
"Young Master Liu, your performance fee is really expensive."
The lamplight filtering through the crack in the door slanted slightly.
Liu Bai said, "You're still alive, that's good."
Han Shaobai asked in a low voice, "Is this a friend or an enemy?"
Tieguai Li replied, "It depends on his mood."
Han Shaobai tightened his grip on the cabinet.
"Is he in a good mood?"
"He'll still rip you off even when he's in a good mood."
Tang Wanqing stood in front of Cheng Xiaojin, the red thread on her wrist hanging down to the threshold.
"Liu Bai, come out."
"Miss Tang is here too."
Liu Bai said, "If the Zhenlong lineage were to cook noodles with the vendors at Panjiayuan now, the patriarch would probably turn his memorial tablet over if he saw it."
""
Tang Wanqing answered quickly.
Even if the ancestor of the Liu family saw you leave the door bolt in the old shop, he might not be willing to acknowledge you.
The light inside the door dipped half an inch.
Zhou Banxian squinted at the compass, the needle pressing against the seventh position with a tightness.
"He was inside the doorway; he wasn't standing entirely on the balcony."
Master Ma said, "Half-body superimposed."
Cheng Xiaojin, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, spoke indistinctly.
"Liu Bai, no one can escape from within thirty paces of your shop, yet you've managed to hide so well."
The door opened an inch.
The light illuminated a hand, its cuffs made of old linen.
Liu Bai did not reveal his whole body, but only pushed half of an old book out from under the door.
The book cover is dark and the edges are worn white.
That is the first volume of *Tiangong Kaiwu* (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature).
Han Shaobai was about to speak when Tieguai Li glared at him, shutting him up.
Cheng Xiaojin stared at the book.
"Are you willing to give it to me?"
Liu Bai said, "I'll show you, but I won't let you take it."
"Stingy? I've seen it before!"
"I learned it from you."
Cheng Xiaojingang forced a smile, and the sound of the wooden fish drum from the Boguzhai floor rose even higher.
He felt a tightness in his chest, a metallic taste rising in his throat, and a mark left by his teeth on the cigarette butt.
Tang Wanqing turned around and pressed down on his shoulder.
"Cheng Xiaojin, step back."
"Cannot be refunded."
Liu Bai said, "You can't touch the book."
"I know."
"Don't stare at things for too long."
"You're meddling in other people's business."
"Now that you're dead, there's no one to play this game of chess with me."
"6
Tieguai Li sneered.
"Stop trying to get close to them, the seventh door is already ajar."
The lamplight inside the door swayed around the floor tiles.
Master Ma spoke up: "Liu Bai, how much of that thirty-step passage did you understand back then?"
The light shining through the crack in the door paused for a moment.
"A little earlier than you."
Master Ma didn't respond.
Zhou the fortune teller cursed, "You little brat, why didn't you say so sooner?"
"Who are you going to tell?"
Liu Bai countered, "Are you telling this to Boss Lin, or to Liulichang, which can't even hold onto its core population?"
The proprietress of Boyaxuan couldn't stand it anymore and walked forward with the strainer in her hand.
"Xiao Liu, stop making things sound so mysterious. Your shop has been closed for so many years, you could grow scallions from the dust in front of your door. And you still have the nerve to say that others can't keep their businesses afloat?"
A soft laugh came from inside the door.
"Aunt Wang, you're still so hurtful when you curse."
Cheng Xiaojin turned her head to look at her.
"Aunt Wang, do you know him?"
"The Liu family's child grew up on the street when he was young. Later, his family passed away, so he closed the shop."
The proprietress looked displeased.
"They act all respectable normally, but when it really matters, they hide behind a door and spout nonsense."
Liu Bai did not argue.
The light at the end of the street dimmed a little more, and a thin line of water seeped out from under the threshold, stopping against the edge of the old bricks.
Cheng Xiaojin said in a low voice, "Liu Bai, the living layer doesn't rely on you guarding the gate alone. Your old shop is closed, and there's no one around on the seventh level, so the Buddha's belly can be pushed open."
The book slipped out half an inch from the crack in the door.
"Page 93, see for yourselves."
Tang Wanqing walked over, separated the pages of the book with a red thread, glanced at half a page, and then looked away.
"Seven stakes and thirty steps, without measuring the ground or the shadow, measure the smoke and fire. Within thirty steps, there must be thirty-six mouths of food, nine night lamps, and seven sounds of buying and selling, then the door bolt will be secure."
Han Shaobai was stunned.
What does "thirty-six mouths to feed" mean?
Cheng Xiaojin said, "Thirty-six living people are eating."
Tieguai Li continued, "Nine night lamps mean that nine shops will have their lights on tonight."
King Glasses glanced at the old shops on both sides of the street.
"Seven calls for a sale, based on the price just quoted."
Zhou Banxian patted his knee.
"Damn it, Huguosi meat porridge has hit a snag, Liulichang also needs a living anchor."
Tang Wanqing glanced at the bottom of the book again.
"There's more to come. If you measure the door with a copper ruler, the door will be knocked over. First, it will bite the shadow, then swallow the body."
The shadow of the nasal scar, half an inch shorter, weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.
Tieguai Li's face darkened.
Liu Bai asked, "Is the nose scar still alive?"
Cheng Xiaojin looked at the old shop.
"You know what a nose scar is?"
"There aren't many people around Boss Lin who know how to measure doors. His lineage has the shadow of a branch of the Liu family."
Zhou Banxian cursed, "It's always collateral branches and old grudges. Can't you families just stop causing trouble?"
Liu Bai said, "If Elder Zhou doesn't mind the trouble, he can clean up the Liu family's name."
"I'll deal with you first."
As Tieguai Li moved forward, the yellow mist at the entrance of the old shop wrapped around his prosthetic leg.
Tang Wanqing pulled the red thread, bringing the person back.
"Don't lean against the door, half of his body is covered by a folded shield."
Cheng Xiaojin stared at the crack in the door.
"Liu Bai, come out and fix the door latch."
"It can't be fixed."
"What did you say?"
"The seventh bolt is missing a heart-shaped nail."
Liu Bai said, "Your father took it away twenty years ago."
Master Ma looked up.
"Shouyi took away the heart-piercing nail?"
"He left behind a letter written on a Buddha's belly, patched up the old copper mortise, and took away the heart-shaped nail from the bolt inside the Liu family's door."
Liu Bai's voice sounded deep through the door.
He said that Shenmen had already reached the seventh gate, and the Human Heart Nail left in Yangpu would only be used to open the Yin City.
Cheng Xiaojin pressed the tip of his tongue against the cigarette.
"Where is that thing?"
You should ask your father.
"If I could just ask him, would I be wasting my breath talking to you here?"
The lamplight inside the door was shorter.
Liu Bai said, "You have clues on you."
Cheng Xiaojin raised his hand, which was wrapped in thick cloth.
"I smell like nothing but medicine and poverty all over me now."
Ashtray.
Liu Bai said, "After Cheng Shouyi took the Heart-Shattering Nail, the last time he came to Liupu, he was holding that old ashtray in his hands."
The teacup in Master Ma's palm made a soft clattering sound.
Tieguai Li turned around to look at Cheng Xiaojin.
"The ashtray is in the yard."
Tang Wanqing immediately said, "He can't be touched right now."
"So we can't fix the door tonight."
Liu Bai said, "We can only suppress it for now."
Han Shaobai quickly asked, "How do you press it? Is there enough noodles?"
"You're still short: thirty-six mouths to feed, nine night lamps, and seven sounds of buying and selling. You have enough people, but not enough lamps, and the sounds of buying and selling have also stopped."
The man with glasses turned around and shouted, "Everyone turn on your lights, regardless of whether they're valuable or not, turn on all the lights at your doorsteps."
The proprietress yelled, "Come out and eat noodles, stop hiding inside pretending to be dead! Young Master Han is paying for nothing!"
Han Shaobai hugged the cabinet, his lips twitching twice.
"Give it all to me."
Lights gradually came on on both sides of the street.
One lamp at the entrance of Rongbaozhai, and one lamp at the entrance of Boyaxuan.
Inside the secondhand bookstore window, someone lit a half-burnt candle, and the yellow mist receded along the floor tiles.
Some people squatted on the doorstep to eat their noodles, while others held their bowls and called out the names of their shop's old goods. At first, their voices were weak, but after two rounds, the hot soup gave them courage.
"Old paintings from Rongbaozhai, free to look at."
"Boyaxuan Framing is half price tonight, even ghosts would line up."
"Bo Gu Zhai, please have some noodles. Han Shaobai, please settle the bill."
Han Shaobai looked up.
"Who shouted that?"
Tieguai Li raised his hand.
"I."
Cheng Xiaojin leaned against the door frame and laughed, but then coughed halfway through his laugh.
Tang Wanqing held the pill to his lips.
"Keep it in your mouth."
Is it bitter?
"Sweeter than death."
He had no choice but to hold it in his mouth.
When the ninth lamp was lit, the wooden fish drum sounded half a beat lower in the Boguzhai building.
The dilapidated meal ticket cabinet also behaved itself a bit, and the soot-covered lettering in the crack of the cabinet door was pressed back down.
Master Zhou looked down at the chart.
"It's under control, for now."
The door of the old Liu family shop opened half an inch again.
This time, Liu Bai's face was partially visible.
His expression remained gentle, but his face was deathly pale.
He glanced at Cheng Xiaojin, his gaze settling on the hands wrapped in thick cloth.
"Cheng Xiaojin, Shen Jiulou will arrive in Beijing within three days. What he wants is not the third sip, nor is it just the ashtray."
Cheng Xiaojin looked up.
"What does he want?"
Liu Bai said, "He wants you to open the seven gates for him."
The shouts of prices still echoed in the street, the noodle soup bubbled with white steam, and nine nightlights illuminated the old signboard.
After those words were spoken, the Buddha's belly beneath the Boguzhai statue resounded once more.
The tattered meal ticket cabinet in Han Shaobai's arms shook slightly, and the words "Tobacco Ash" slowly emerged from the crack in the cabinet door.
Xiao Jin, don't believe Liu Bai.
"Brother Cheng, did your father write this?"
Han Shaobai's arm, which was holding the cabinet, sank down.
Cheng Xiaojin didn't say anything, her gaze fixed on the crack in the cabinet.
The cigarette ash writing hadn't yet dissipated through the crack in the cabinet door.
Inside the old Liu family shop, Liu Bai's face was half pale, the lamplight was dim, and the waterline on the threshold shone brightly.
Tieguai Li grabbed a wrench and blocked the broken cabinet.
"Liu Bai, explain."
Liu Bai looked at the cabinet door.
"I've explained, do you believe me?"
"Speak first."
"It might have been left by Cheng Shouyi, or it might have been left by the Seventh Gate using his name."
Zhou Banxian cursed, "You've got a lot to say, you've got it all figured out."
Liu Bai looked out onto the street.
"Old Zhou, all nine lamps are just in place. Don't let the shop go out."
Tang Wanqing raised her hand to block Cheng Xiaojin's view.
Don't stare at the word "cabinet".
Cheng Xiaojin was biting on an unlit cigarette.
"Young Master Liu, your popularity is really bad."
Liu Bai said, "Your father told you to run away and not to trust me, but you still need to use the fragments I gave you tonight."
"You sound quite aggrieved?"
"Not really."
Liu Bai took half a step back into the doorway.
"If you want to know about the 'heart-piercing nail,' go back and look at the ashtrays. Don't open one in Liulichang."
Master Ma stepped forward, leaning on his teacup.
Why?
"The seventh gate recognizes him. If there is really a nail smell inside when the ashtray is opened, Buddha's Belly will come to snatch it."
Tieguai Li sneered.
"So, in the end, you're just telling us to leave while you stay and watch the show from your old shop?"
"Master Li, if you're willing to stand inside this half-door for me, I'll go out now."
Tieguai Li raised his foot, but Tang Wanqing tightened the red thread, stopping his toes.
"Don't step on the door water."
Cheng Xiaojin took the cigarette down and waved it at Liu Bai.
"If the 'heart-piercing nail' is really in the ashtray, does Shen Jiulou know about it?"
"He must know that the ashtray is valuable, but he may not know why it is valuable."
"6
"Where is Boss Lin?"
"less."
"Where's the nose scar?"
The light inside the door flickered, but Liu Bai didn't answer.
Cheng Xiaojin chuckled and coughed twice.
"I understand. The lineage of the man with the nose scar is connected to a branch of the Liu family. He knows about doors, but he may not know about nails."
Master Ma looked at Master Zhou.
"plate."
Zhou Banxian placed the compass on the ground, the needle tip tightened around the seven positions, and then veered towards the Boguzhai direction.
"The door noise has subsided, the cabinet is still there, and the anger hasn't risen."
Tang Wanqing said, "If we can leave, let's leave now."
Han Shaobai hugged the cabinet tightly.
"Should I leave too?"
Tieguai Li glared at him.
"Put the cabinet here."
"No, it just wrote something. If I leave it at my house, I'll have to sleep on the street tonight."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at the soles of his shoes.
"You're taking it back to Master Ma's courtyard? Your shoes are covered in mud from Liulichang, you'll trample a hole in the courtyard's atmosphere before you even get inside."
Han Shaobai looked down; the edges of his leather shoes were covered in yellow, damp mud, and there were black lines in the seams.
"Should I take off my shoes?"
The proprietress of Boyaxuan came over with a strainer.
"You can't take off your shoes. If you do, nobody will have a good time."
Someone on the street laughed, and the waterline in front of the old Liu family shop receded by half an inch.
Cheng Xiaojin raised her chin.
"Keep the cabinet, and stay at the door until dawn. Teacher Wang, Aunt Wang, don't let the nine lamps go out, and don't let the thirty-six mouths of food go cold."
King Glasses nodded.
Han Shaobai wore a bitter expression.
"Brother Cheng, can't I go to Master Ma's courtyard?"
"If you want to go, wash your shoes first, then the cabinet, then your unlucky face, and your stinky feet."
Tieguai Li took the broken meal ticket cabinet and put it back inside the threshold of Boguzhai.
As soon as the cabinet door touched the ground, the lettering faded slightly due to the ash.
Tang Wanqing urged, "Let's go."
Liu Bai called to him from inside the door.
"Cheng Xiaojin".
"Is there anything else?"
"Don't use brute force to open the ashtray. There's a hidden compartment at the bottom. When Cheng Shouyi carried it into Liupu back then, the bottom of the ashtray made a sound."
Tieguai Li cursed, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I didn't ask earlier."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at him through the yellow mist.
"Liu Bai, if the words on the cabinet are true, how would you die?"
Liu Bai retreated back into the doorway, half her face turned away.
"That depends on how late you started believing."
The old shop door closed, and the lights went out.
Master Zhou looked down at the chart.
"Seven are still alive, no turnover."
Master Ma said, "Let's retreat."
When the group left Liulichang, the nightclub was still open.
An apprentice at Rongbaozhai shouted that it was free to look at old paintings, while the owner of Boyaxuan forced the two shopkeepers to squat on the doorstep and eat noodles.
Han Shaobai stood at the entrance of Boguzhai handing out money, glancing at the cabinet after each bill, as if afraid the cabinet might think the money was too little.
Tieguai Li muttered to himself as he walked.
"This kid spent more money tonight than half of my prosthetic leg."
Cheng Xiaojin said, "They buy lives, we buy parts; it's a different level of consumption."
Tang Wanqing saw that his steps were unsteady, reached out to steady her sleeve, and then withdrew her hand.
"Your hand hurts?"
"It doesn't hurt."
"to be honest."
"It hurts so much I want to chop my hand off and sell it for scrap metal."
"I can still talk a good game, and I'm still alive for now."
Zhou Banxian urged on with his compass on his back.
"Shen Jiulou will arrive in the capital within three days. Every moment of delay will allow another nest of creatures to emerge tomorrow."
Master Ma didn't say anything, he just clutched the bronze plaque with the character "Shen" in his pocket.
The bronze medal heated up through the fabric, making his eyebrows twitch.
At the entrance of Master Ma's courtyard house, Tong Kexin leaned against the door frame waiting for someone. Beside her was a basin of warm water with stove ash and half a bowl of dried ginger.
Cheng Xiaojin slowed down.
"What brings you here? Who's guarding Huguo Temple?"
"Aunt Liu, Aunt Zhang, and Old Li are all here. The pot is still burning, and there are three bricks on the well cover."
Tong Kexin glanced at his hand wrapped in cloth.
"You're courting death again?"
"My focus tonight is on civilized tourism."
Tieguai Li scoffed, "When you're sightseeing, everyone specifically asks for him at the Buddha's belly."
Before entering the hospital, Tang Wanqing put three red lines on the threshold.
Master Ma took out a pinch of incense ash and sprinkled it outside the red line.
Zhou Banxian said, "Don't let any dirty feet into this courtyard tonight."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Han Shaobai came chasing after him from the alley entrance. He wasn't carrying a cabinet, but rather leather shoes in his hand, his socks stained black and yellow.
"Brother Cheng, after thinking about it, I feel more at ease following you guys."
Tong Kexin stared at the soles of his shoes.
"Stand there."
Han Shaobai stopped outside the door.
"I didn't go in."
"Don't stretch your legs out either."
Cheng Xiaojin was delighted.
"Young Master Han, congratulations, for the first time in your life you've been rejected by the threshold."
Tong Kexin pushed the ash water from the stove over.
"wash."
Han Shaobai wore a bitter expression.
"This water doesn't look very clean."
"If you think it's dirty, go back to Liulichang and carry a cabinet."
Han Shaobai squatted down and pressed the soles of his shoes into the basin.
When yellow mud is added to water, black bubbles rise to the surface, and the bottom of the basin smells of paper ash.
Tang Wanqing's red thread trembled.
"Menni has come along."
Tieguai Li grabbed a wrench and smashed it against the rim of the basin, causing the black bubble to burst.
Cheng Xiaojin watched as the gray mist dissipated.
"Liu Bai wasn't lying, the ashtrays in Liulichang can't be opened tonight."
Inside the main room, an old ashtray was placed in the center of a round table, with three layers of coarse cloth underneath.
Two pieces were chipped off the edge, and tobacco stains were stuck in the corner, but as soon as it entered the house, the three strings of copper coin wind chimes under the eaves rang without any wind.
Tang Wanqing pushed the medicine bowl in front of Cheng Xiaojin.
"Drink first."
Can I negotiate?
"cannot."
Tong Kexin crossed her arms.
"Let's chat after we finish drinking."
Cheng Xiaojin took a sip, his face scrunching up.
"Miss Tang, did you get this medicine prescribed in collusion with the King of Hell?"
"If you don't like bitter tastes, don't touch the ashtray."
Cheng Xiaojin forced the rest of the medicine down his throat.
Tieguai Li took out thick cloth gloves and wrapped them with red thread.
"Listen, but don't touch."
"I won't touch it, I'll just poke the bottom of the jar through the cloth."
Tang Wanqing stared at him.
"One-tenth of the metal element."
"Twenty percent."
"One-tenth."
"Liu Bai said there was a hidden layer, but without adding any gas, all I could smell was the cigarette smoke Master Ma had smoked yesterday."
Master Ma picked up his teacup.
"Two-tenths, three breaths."
Tong Kexin chimed in.
"I'll count."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.
"Are you able to count accurately?"
"If you dare to overtake, I'll hit you with a braised ladle."
"That's pretty accurate."
The main room fell silent.
Cheng Xiaojin removed the thick cloth covering half of his right palm, revealing a dark, purplish-black color that had crept from the base of his fingers to his wrist.
He used the pads of two fingers to dab the bottom of the ashtray through a thin cloth.
The light bulb inside the room flickered twice.
Tong Kexin spoke.
"—".
""
As the old image flashed by, Cheng Shouyi sat at the table, holding a small carving knife, and drew a vertical hook on the bottom of the ashtray.
Someone was talking nearby, but I couldn't hear clearly. I could hear a faint metallic friction coming from the bottom of the porcelain jar.
one"
'
Cheng Xiaojin clenched her teeth, and the blue line crossed her wrist bone.
Tang Wanqing placed her silver needles on his elbow.
Cheng Xiaojin didn't look up.
"There is a movable tenon at the bottom."
Tieguai Li approached.
"where?"
"At the southwest corner of the bottom of the jar, beneath the soot, there is a ring of fake burn marks."
Tong Kexin stared at his wrist, her voice hard.
"three."
Tang Wanqing inserted the needle, and Cheng Xiaojin's hand left the ashtray. He leaned back, but was stopped by Tieguai Li's outstretched arm.
He took a couple of breaths, and the cigarette in his mouth fell onto the table.
"There was a metallic sound inside, thin, short, with nail heads scraping against the porcelain."
Master Ma's face darkened.
"A nail in the heart?"
"I didn't hear the whole thing."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at the ashtray, her eyes reddening.
"We can't open it tonight, or my hand will be ruined."
Tang Wanqing replied, "It's good that you know."
Just as Zhou Banxian was about to speak, the bronze plaque with the character "Shen" in Master Ma's arms fell to the ground.
The copper medal burned a hole in the pocket cloth, and it was still smoking when it fell onto the blue brick.
Tieguai Li stepped on it, the sole of his shoe making a squeak.
"Shen Jiulou?"
Master Ma bent down and covered the bronze plaque with the lid of his teacup.
A faint chirping of insects emanated from beneath the bronze plaque.
Cheng Xiaojin stared at the lid of the teacup.
"Before he even arrived in Beijing, his spies had already reached the gates of the courtyard."
Tong Kexin pulled a braising ladle out of the cloth bag.
"Then let him touch you."
Deep in the alley outside the courtyard, someone struck a wooden clapper three times.
Each time it gets closer than the last.