Chapter 34: The Little Ghost Lives in the Zhong Kui Temple

When I wake up in the morning, the mountains are covered with snow, the snow is clear, the clouds are pale, and the sun is cold.

Ou Zanghua exhaled a breath of hot air, just like when he was a child imitating adults smoking.

"Sir, come wash up first!"

Qu Feiyan came in with a basin of hot water, rubbing the towel as she spoke, "Grandpa and Brother Danian just went out to buy a carriage. We'll take the carriage and continue heading north."

"Prepare more cold-weather supplies and collect some ginger and peppercorns." Ou Zanghua turned around, and Qu Feiyan spread out the wrung-out towel, looking eager to try.

"I can do this myself." Ou Zanghua looked embarrassed, took the towel from Qu Feiyan, and rubbed his face seriously.

"Hehe." Qu Feiyan smiled and handed over the bamboo toothbrush.

Toothbrushes already existed in China during the Song Dynasty, but they were made of bones or bamboo. They would drill two rows of small holes at one end and then fix horsetails or pig hairs on them.

Toothpaste appeared earlier. Around the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a kind of toothpaste made from soap beans, lotus leaves, green salt and other medicines, which had whitening, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.

However, this craft did not improve much in the Ming Dynasty, so Ou Zanghua found a doctor in Hengshan County, added silver dan grass to the paste, put it in a small bamboo tube, and made the most primitive mint-flavored toothpaste. Later, when he had nothing to do, he made a green tea-flavored toothpaste.

These two products soon became one of Lao Liu's main products, and had already opened up sales channels in Guangdong and Guangxi before Ou Zanghua set off.

After washing her face and brushing her teeth, Qu Feiyan helped Ou Zanghua comb her long hair.

The elegant and handsome Jie Yuanlang is back to life!
When I walked out of the small courtyard, I saw Zhixue and Hanyun practicing against each other. Their Kongkongquan moves were exquisite and their footwork was flexible, so when the two girls practiced, it felt like they were dancing.

Qu Feiyan took a look, curled her lips and said, "The forehand is weak, the backhand is not good, the steps are loose, the reaction is slow, and none of the movements are decent."

"You!"

Ou Zanghua tapped Qu Feiyan's head gently and said with a smile: "I have only practiced for a few days, how can I have such high expectations?"

"Hmph, there is no pressure if it were in Black Wood Cliff..." Qu Feiyan rubbed his head but did not continue speaking.

"It's over, look forward."

Ou Zanghua touched Qu Feiyan's head and said gently: "You must know that yesterday cannot be retrieved, and today is just a moment away. Live well now, and you will be happy in the future."

"I know!" Qu Feiyan looked up at Ou Zanghua and smiled brightly.

After Zhixue and Hanyun finished practicing a routine, Ou Zanghua stopped them and asked them to go back to their room to pack up and then come out for breakfast.

Not long after, Qu Yang and Xiang Danian came back driving two horse-drawn carriages.

Zhixue and Hanyun immediately moved all kinds of supplies onto the carriages and stuffed one of them so full that only one person could barely squeeze in.

Everyone had breakfast at the inn and filled the kettle with hot water.

Then Qu Yang was in charge of driving the first carriage, while Ou Zanghua and Qu Feiyan sat inside. Xiang Danian drove the second carriage, while Zhixue and Hanyun entered the carriages one after another to rest.

After making all necessary preparations, the group of six set out on the journey north to their next stop, Texas.

At the same time, there is a temple next to a sparsely populated official road.

There is a deity Zhong Kui with ferocious features enshrined in the temple. Only an old witch lives here, who cleans the temple or boils a pot of water for passers-by to rest their feet.

However, today, the old witch fell to the ground, blood flowed out, and he was soon frozen.

"Throw that old man out and find something to wipe off the blood. Also, make the temple a little dirty so that no one will notice the flaws."

The person who was speaking had a fair complexion, three teeth covering his mouth and beard, was thin and tall with broad shoulders, and had a handsome appearance and dressed like a scholar, but he was unexpectedly such a cruel and ruthless person. As soon as he finished speaking, two big men came out, dragged the old witch to the backyard, threw him away and left him there.

Then he found some hay and soil and covered the bloodstains, and sprinkled some ash on the temple, making it look like it had not been cleaned for a long time.

In this way, people who enter the house will not be able to see anything unusual here.

The scholar brought out the old witch's cauldron, dug a large ball of snow outside, chopped up the altar and used it as firewood, and placed the cauldron on the fire.

After a while, the snow melted into water, and the scholar took out a small bottle and poured some unknown medicinal powder into it.

The white-faced man saw this scene and said with a smile: "There is no plan, you are up to your little tricks again."

Ji Wu Shi smiled and said, "Hey, you don't know this. If Ou Zanghua was an ordinary Hengshan Sect disciple, he could be killed. But he is the top scholar, so he cannot be killed. So, it is better to let him have a good sleep."

"What will happen if we kill him?" The dark-faced man took out a white and tender human hand from his arms and took a bite of it, and asked expressionlessly.

"I don't know, no one has killed him." The white-faced man chuckled, shook his head and asked, "I heard that Jie Yuanlang is the reincarnation of Wenquxing. Would the taste of that immortal be different from that young lady?"

When the dark-faced man heard this, his expression revealed some interest.

"Don't commit suicide, the two of you!" Ji Wushi looked up at the two of them and said seriously, "Attracting the attention of the government is a small matter, but if you attract the attention of the factory guards, even the Saint Auntie can't protect you."

The two heroes of Mobei looked at each other, obviously not taking Ji Wushi's words to heart.

What about government office and factory guards? It sounds very powerful. If we have the ability, we should catch them first.

As sunset approached, two carriages slowly approached in the distance.

Ji Wu Shi knew that the target person had appeared. He glanced at the two heroes of Mobei again, and only heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the two who had changed their appearances no longer had any cruel intentions in their eyes.

Not long after, two carriages stopped in front of the Zhong Kui Temple.

Xiang Danian pushed the door open and walked in. After seeing the three people who were making a fire and boiling water, he bowed and asked, "Excuse me, does this temple have an abbot?"

At this moment, Ji Wushi had disguised himself as an old man with a white beard. After hearing what Xiang Danian said, he cupped his hands and responded, "When we called, we didn't see the abbot."

"I guess it has been abandoned! Thank you." He thanked Danian and returned to the convoy to tell Ou Zanghua and others about the situation.

Ou Zanghua sighed. They originally thought that they could walk from Nenglinqing to Dezhou in one day, but they didn't expect that the slippery roads due to snow slowed down their speed a lot.

If you don't want to spend the night outdoors, you can only stay in the temple temporarily. At least there are bricks and tiles to shelter you from the wind and snow.

"New Year, bring back more hay and firewood."

"Uncle Qu, please take the carriage to a sheltered place, don't let the horses freeze to death."

"Zhixue, Hanyun, take out all the items that keep you warm."

Following Ou Zanghua's order, everyone immediately took action.

Ou Zanghua took Qu Feiyan into the Zhong Kui Temple. He looked around the temple and was slightly startled when he saw the statue. Then he bowed to the three people and said, "Excuse me, three of you."

"We are all on the road in the snow, so there is no such thing as disturbing or not disturbing."

Ji Wu Shi bowed and said, "I am Shi Wu, from Shandong. These two are my brothers, Xiong Bai and Xiong Hei. We are all merchants. After selling our goods, we will go home to have a good New Year."

"I am Ou Zanghua, from Huguang, a mere scholar."

(End of this chapter)