Chapter 144 Qingqiu (IV)
Lu Ren woke up from his blank state again, and then he found himself sitting in a mourning hall.
He looked down at himself in confusion and found that he was wearing a gray Taoist robe, and holding two bells without bell cores. Li Boyang was sitting next to him, playing an erhu. When he played the accented part, he deliberately used his elbow to hit Lu Ren, causing Lu Ren's hand to move, and the two hollow bells collided with each other, making a "ding" sound. It was crisp and pleasant, with a long lingering sound.
Lu Ren:?
What happened while I was distracted?
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Li Boyang took advantage of Lu Ren's unconsciousness to make full use of his body and successfully created a two-person funeral band.
Lu Ren rolled his eyes, calmed his mind, and then turned to look at Li Boyang beside him. Li Boyang was wearing a yellow robe and playing the erhu very hard. He closed his eyes, and his body swayed slowly with the melody, looking extremely immersed.
Li Boyang bumped into Lu Ren again. Lu Ren's muscles tightened after he woke up. The feeling after the collision was significantly different from the relaxed state before. Li Boyang noticed the difference, so he opened his eyes and looked at Lu Ren.
After meeting Lu Ren's eyes, Li Boyang seemed very surprised: "Ah! You're awake? That's great, I can catch the funeral in a while."
"Funeral?" Lu Ren understood every word Li Boyang said, but the combined meaning left Lu Ren a little confused.
Seeing Lu Ren's confused expression, Li Boyang laughed heartily and explained, "It's one of my part-time jobs."
According to Li Boyang, he currently has several part-time jobs, including a salesperson in a fresh food supermarket: "You and I are destined to meet. I usually go to the fresh food supermarket four times a year, spring, summer, autumn and winter. I happened to meet you during one of these times. If it weren't for you, I would have to stock up on those cabbages for another year."
The second is to trade in special products among the four realms: "I got the passes to various realms early, so now I can go there without any obstacles. Occasionally, I can make a little money by trading the price difference."
In between receiving goods from various circles, Li Boyang also made money by working as a part-time Taoist priest: "I can handle weddings and funerals, acupuncture for the salvation of souls, fortune-telling, and fortune-telling. "
Li Boyang looked very high-spirited, just like a qualified profiteer. He chuckled and concluded, "Business is booming."
After he finished speaking, a cool breeze happened to blow in the mourning hall. Li Boyang gathered his clothes and shrank back into the honest funeral musician he had been before, playing the erhu loudly.
At first, Lu Ren also followed Li Boyang's instructions and rang the bell, but after a moment of silence, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Did you learn these skills specifically, or are you just making them up?"
After hearing this, Li Boyang stopped playing his erhu and became excited: "How can you question me?!" His face turned red with anger, "I am a professional!"
Would professionals also send small ggs to cheat people on the street?
Li Boyang said that he was originally a professional Taoist priest, and what he was doing was re-employment, not fraud.
Lu Ren was puzzled: "Then why did you use tarot cards when you were fortune-telling for Ah Hua?"
Ahua is the cat-faced one who rescued Lu Ren from the water earlier.
Li Boyang said confidently: "There is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. I should learn from the strengths of each school so that I can make better achievements in my professional field. What's the point of working in isolation?" After speaking, after the bow and strings of the erhu pulled out a long tail tune, Li Boyang finished it neatly. After putting away the erhu, Li Boyang picked up the still warm tea bowl on the table and took a sip slowly, looking comfortable and calm.
There is some truth in what you said.
Lu Ren nodded and turned his attention to the mourning hall they were in. The mourning hall was located in the hall of a wooden house and looked a little empty. Normally, family members should have been there to keep vigil before the funeral, but there was no one there at the moment. It was already dark outside the window, and a cool breeze blew by, making the place look a little eerie.
Lu Ren couldn't help but get goose bumps on his back. "You can find another job if you want to, why are you doing funerals? If you want to do funerals, then do it, why do you have to bring me along for no reason?"
Li Boyang was very calm: "Weddings and funerals are important events in life. People want to leave in a dignified manner on their last journey, so they came to me. I just happened to need a helper recently, and I happened to meet you. I asked if you were willing, but you could only say "Aba Aba" before. I had no choice but to use you to support the occasion because the owner was in a hurry. Don't worry, you will not be deducted a penny less."
After saying that, perhaps fearing that Lu Ren might not agree, he continued, "Didn't you say before that you wanted to go to Qingqiu to find someone? This place happens to be not far from Qingqiu, so it won't delay things."
Li Boyang's every word was very reasonable, so Lu Ren could not find any fault with it. Lu Ren could not find any fault with it, so he had to sit down and ring the bell.
There was no need to take the ringing of the bell too seriously. Although his hands were busy, his mind could not stop wandering around the mourning hall. Seeing that the mourning hall was empty, everything was arranged properly. He could not help but ask Li Boyang: "Does the Shanhai Realm also learn from the human world?"
Li Boyang was bored, so he patiently explained to Lu Ren, "That's a long story. The Mountain and Sea Realm is just a polite name. Do you know that the Kunlun Realm Division is also called the Two Realms Division? Which two realms does it govern?"
Lu Ren nodded. He had heard Si Yuan mention this before: "I have heard about the human world and the animal world."
Li Boyang continued his words, "Although they are two worlds, there was no clear dividing line between the human world and the animal world. In ancient times, humans lived together with spirit beasts and demon beasts. Although demon beasts sometimes hurt people, it was considered peaceful. However, humans are born more favored by the Heavenly Dao than animals. They receive many reminders from the Heavenly Dao, and naturally cultivate faster. Therefore, it is no secret that animals like to imitate humans in order to cultivate better."
He looked at the well-decorated mourning hall on the side and continued, "So, it's not hard to understand why the beastmen would imitate humans in weddings and funerals. And this mountain and sea world——"
Li Boyang paused, looked at the endless darkness outside the window, and then slowly told Lu Ren the origin of the Mountain and Sea Realm.
The Mountain and Sea Realm was not formed naturally. In the past, after the war between the Buzhou Mountain Realm and the Ten Witches, the human world was defeated. At that time, the earth was devastated. Humans gave up the gods and began to seek their own power. At the same time, they became an extremely selfish race. They did not miss any opportunity to gain power. They began raise their knives against all the fierce beasts in the world, even the spiritual beasts.
Therefore, the only two people who could take charge of the situation at that time, Si Yuan and Dong Jun , worked together to separate the animal world from the human world, and used the magic of flowers in the mirror and moon in the water to seal all the spirits into the mirror of the human world. They called this world formed by the magic of flowers in the mirror and moon in the water the mountain and sea world.
If you want to travel between the two worlds, you need a special pass from the Foreign Household Registration Bureau.
After listening to this, Lu Ren understood and said, "No wonder, when I first came in, many voices called me 'filthy creature'. It turns out that it's because they don't like humans."
"Those are the mayflies guarding the gate. They are born in the morning and die in the evening. Their lifespan is very short, but they are easy to talk to. If you don't have a pass, just say that you were sent by the Kunlun Realm to find Dongjun to pass on a message, and they will let you pass." Li Boyang said lightly.
Lu Ren was stunned for a moment, then recalled that when he was on the water mirror, he explained to the mayflies guarding the gate that he was not a suspicious person but an employee of Si Yuan. However, the mayflies guarding the gate said, "The man without a pass cheated us last time..." It was because of "that man last time" that the mayflies did not believe Lu Ren and blew him away.
Lu Ren: “…”
It turns out that it was you who pointed the way to the enemy.
Li Boyang was unaware and continued to explain to Lu Ren: "After the Mirror Flower Water Moon Technique was perfected, Si Yuan left the headquarters of Kunlun Realm in the Human Realm, while Dongjun guarded the Mountain and Sea Realm, rested and maintained the operation of the magic."
Lu Ren said: "It seems that this Lord Dongjun is a very remarkable person."
Li Boyang nodded: "It is indeed amazing. That is a spell that encompasses the two worlds. Looking at the four worlds, there are not many people who can do it. However, at the same time, this spell consumes a lot of energy. Although Dongjun is a celestial being with natural spiritual power, it is not inexhaustible after all. I am afraid that sooner or later it will run out."
Li Boyang spoke softly, his last words slowly disappearing into the darkness, making it hard for Lu Ren to hear clearly. Just as Lu Ren leaned over to hear more clearly, Li Boyang suddenly raised his voice: "But this is not something we should worry about, haha."
Perhaps because he had to attract customers for his small business all year round, Li Boyang's voice was so loud that it suddenly exploded in Lu Ren's ears. It almost killed Lu Ren. He saw stars in an instant and completely forgot about the anecdotes that had been discussed before.
"Keep your voice down. We are in someone's funeral hall. Don't disturb them."
Li Boyang shrugged: "Don't worry, the owner of this house will come back to life whether I shout or not. There's still an hour left, no rush."
Lu Ren:?
"Is there still a theory of faking death?"
No, no, no, it seems a bit strange to discuss this matter based on the premise of a dead body. Is this a normal thing?
"The Mountain and Sea Realm is mostly inhabited by spiritual creatures. As the saying goes, spiritual creatures are best at cultivation. As long as they cultivate long enough, they can live as long as the heaven and earth sooner or later. Therefore, most of those who died here have also cultivated for thousands of years. Most of them died midway because they were unwilling to give in, so they couldn't help but make a fuss."
Li Boyang said it easily, but Lu Ren could also vaguely hear the difficulty behind it. He once wrote a comment online, with more than 500 words, but the computer suddenly lost power, and the unsaved reply was instantly gone. Lu Ren still remembers the feeling of the world collapsing.
Now these spirits have been practicing day and night for tens of millions of years. That's tens of millions of years, a boring practice every moment, every second. Lu Ren felt itchy if he didn't play with his phone for a day, but these spirits persisted for so long. As a result, they lost everything in one day. If it were Lu Ren himself, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was full of resentment after his death.
However, "It's okay to understand, but can't you just pretend to be dead? How scary."
Li Boyang said: "What's so scary about this? It's just that the relatives came back to complain. The Shanhai Realm has long been accustomed to it. Generally, relatives will resurrect after death, and it is usually the eldest son who handles it."
It has become a custom. Lu Ren said helplessly: "How to solve it? Just like in the human world, perform the ritual of kneeling three times and knocking nine times, and persuade with kind words?"
Li Boyang looked at Lu Ren strangely, as if he was looking at a child without common sense. "Of course not. No one in the Shanhai Realm is so easy to talk to. Normally, we would fight for 300 rounds. But because they are relatives, even if he resurrects, we will not kill him in order to prevent the cause and effect from affecting future generations."
This made Lu Ren's scalp numb: "Does that mean you can kill someone just because they are not your relatives?"
Li Boyang nodded: "It's not that the karma of family members is not that serious. If they are really angry, there are also people who are willing to sacrifice some good deeds to vent their anger."
Lu Ren didn't want to confront the spirits who were pretending to be dead, so he hurriedly said to Li Boyang: "What are you waiting for? Hurry and invite your relatives in."
After hearing this, Li Boyang did not remember to reply. Instead, he showed an unfathomable smile, showing a row of white teeth to Lu Ren: "The deceased of this family is an old cultivator who was alone. He lived too long, and the blood relationship of his descendants is so thin that it can be regarded as having no relatives. Otherwise, they would not have spent money to invite us."
Lu Ren: ???
Lu Ren:!!!
"What do you mean 'we'? How can you drag me into this as if nothing happened?" Lu Ren pointed at Li Boyang's nose with his shaking fingers and cursed.
Li Boyang didn't care at all. He was very familiar with the situation and acted like a good brother. This made Lu Ren unable to get angry. He held his breath in his chest and his eyes went dark. He just hated why he had to come back to his senses from the blank spiritual world and wished he could empty his consciousness again as soon as possible.
But Lu Ren couldn't faint now. If he really fainted, he might be fed to the zombie monster by the unreliable Li Boyang on the spot.
So Lu Ren quickly began to deal with the crisis at hand: "What should I do?"
"This is not easy." Li Boyang said, handing Lu Ren a small sword made of copper coins, and said, "You hold this sword. I will attract his attention later. You take the opportunity to rush over and stab this sword into his crown. When his resentment is released from his crown, he will naturally return to dust. "
Lu Ren took the sword and found that it was quite heavy. The red thread looked a bit old and was actually brown.
So Lu Ren couldn't help but ask Li Boyang: "Are you sure this trick is reliable? The string that binds your sword looks like it's about to break."
Hearing this, Li Boyang glanced at the copper coin sword in Lu Ren's hand and said, "Don't worry, this is not a thread made of cinnabar. Even if you break this thread, it won't break."
After hearing this, Lu Ren couldn't help but carefully examine the bronze sword in his hand: "Is this made of some extraordinary material?"
"Not really. This rope is just an ordinary cotton rope, but it has been soaked in my blood for 9981 days. It is very spiritual and rare."
In response to him, there was the sound of a copper coin sword falling to the ground with a clang - Lu Ren threw the sword directly to the ground.
