Author: 打字机N号
Chapter 98: God Stick 2
T/N: Ah my dear darling, I won’t be able to finish this arc this month…. I am just super duper busy with correcting my thesis and hoping this 5 years long journey will quickly end…sob…sob…
Anyway please enjoy this four chapters for now. I will be free next month to cover back everything, hopefully~
BTW though I did not reply to most of your comments, I do read them.. I just having a problem to deal with Disqus on phone~ it just won’t log me in *miffed*
It was a bit cold that morning. With closed eyes, Jiang Liu was fumbling around for his quilt only to touch a piece of smooth landing without the soft touch feeling of pure cotton sheets. As for the thin quilt that he has been looking for, there was no trace of it to his touch.
Where did the quilt go? Did I kick it out of bed in the middle of the night?
Jiang Liu opened his distressed eyes. His eyes widened as he saw his situation clearly.
He did not sleep on the bed but instead laid on the floor of the bedroom. At this time, the sun had been shining in through the gaps in the curtains. Jiang Liu blocked the sun with his hands as he sat up abruptly.
At this time, the memories from last night had already surfaced in his mind.
“Guru—Guru—”
Jiang Liu swallowed a few salivae, “Dreams, it must be dreams, hahaha—”
He stretched out his hand and squeezed his cheek, then slapped himself lightly: “How old am I? How could I still run to sleep on the floor just because I’m having some nightmares in the middle of the night, hahaha—”
Jiang Liu’s laugh grew louder and louder as if this action would calm his inner fears.
“Hiss–”
It was unknown if it was due to his palm movement being too large, but the injured in his hand which had scabbed overnight was broken again. Looking at the cut between his thumb and his index finger, Jiang Liu could no longer deceive himself.
So the sound of ball-playing that he heard yesterday was real, and it was also confirmed that he saw a little girl using her head as a ball last night.
“Fuck!”
Jiang Liu turned his middle finger up to the sky. What kind of world did 001 send him into?
******
“Xiao Jiang, I haven’t seen you come to my noodle shop to eat noodles recently. Later, I will ask your aunt to add more slices of beef to you. You must keep your body healthy.”
Next to the original body adoptive father’s shop, there was a beef noodle shop, which is very strange to say. Even though this beef noodle restaurant was opened next to the incense shop, the business was surprisingly hot. Everyone does not seem to think there it was unlucky to eat at this kind of noodle shop.
Jiang Liu had a long sleep this time. It was long after the hottest lunchtimes. There were only twos and threes people in the noodle restaurant. Jiang Liu occupied a table and ordered a bowl of the shop’s signature beef noodles.
Because he did not receive the memory of the original body, Jiang Liu was afraid that he might blow his cover. Therefore, these days, he had been solving his food problem by ordering a take-out. However, listening to the friendly tone of the shop owner, Jiang Liu realized that the other party should be a person who is very familiar with the original body. This makes Jiang Liu felt a little nervous. Still, thinking about what happened to him last night, Jiang Liu believed that this might be an opportunity for him to understand the original body and this world.
“Thank you, uncle.”
Jiang Liu thought about what the other party had just said. He called the boss’s wife aunt, and it should be no problem to address the shop’s boss as [uncle].
With a melancholy look on his face, he twitched the corners of his mouth and smiled before he speaks.
As an orphan with his adoptive father who has just died, his performance is expected. Even if the other party thinks that he was a little different from usual, he will think of his situation at the moment and automatically conjured the reason for his changes.
“You, ah, Stop dwelling on the past. If your dad is alive, he wouldn’t want to see you being so depressed.”
It was unknown if it was because the business is slow right now. Or perhaps because the owner of this noodle shop does have a deep relationship with the original father and son. But at the moment, the shop owner simply stopped working as he sat down near Jiang Liu and patted his shoulder as he comforted him in a deep voice.
“By the way, what are you going to do with the business of your shop?”
Zhu Sandao pointed at the joss stick and incense shop as he continued: “Your shop is not particularly profitable. When your dad is alive, there is still some extra income. Now that your dad is gone, it is almost impossible to rely on that limited profit for living. The rent on our street is increasing year by year, and the area of your shop is not small. You can rent out that lot and got at least 300,000 yuan a year, which is totally worth more than what you could make with that shop. You are still young, and there is no need to spend your life selling joss stick and incense. With that much rent, you can do a lot of other things.”
Being able to say this shows that Zhu Sandao really treats the original body as his beloved junior.
It’s just that Jiang Liu pays more attention to the details of his remarks.
Zhu Sandao seemed to know the average income of this shop, as well as the extra gain of the original adoptive father. Does it mean that there is no source of income in the store’s income and expense book?
Jiang Liu’s eyes flashed, then he lowered his eyes, as he said in a low voice: “This is the last thing that my dad left me. Anyway, I still want to run this shop well. As for my dad’s ability, I… I also learned a lot, and I can earn some extra money to increase the income of the store.”
In fact, until now, Jiang Liu still didn’t know what the original adoptive father is doing.
“Have you learned your father’s skills?”
Zhu Sandao put stress in his voice: “How could your dad taught you to be that kind of wild shaman?!”
He knew that Jiang Kun, who was Jiang Liu’s adoptive father was also moonlighting as a Daoist priest. The latter would often go to the grave to catch ghosts. He often saw Jiang Kun wearing his yellow robe and left his shop with some people followed by people who had been dining at his noodle shop. Yet, in Zhu Sandao’s view, Jiang Kun was only doing bluffing tricks. As a friend, Zhu Sandao can’t talk about Jiang Kun’s deeds. Still, he never expected that Jiang Kun had departed this deceptive trick to Jiang Liu.
“You must not follow your dad’s step.”
Xiao Jiang is an innocent good boy. Zhu Sandao didn’t want to see him being caught for fraud and dumped into the prison from learning these nasty things.
“Wild shaman!”
Jiang Liu’s heart jumped, the original adoptive father actually had this kind of ability.
Thinking of the little ghost girl who appeared last night, Jiang Liu was very suspicious that the original adoptive father should be a real Daoist priest.
“What kind of nonsense is this? Why did Kun-ge who is a real Daoist being called a wild shaman in your mouth?”
Zhu Sandao’s wife, a plump lady, was also known as Aunt Zhu San, came out from the kitchen with a bowl of steaming beef noodles. She put the noodles in front of Jiang Liu and then patted her husband’s back with her thick fleshy palms:
“Xiao Jiang, ah, did you really managed to learn your father skill, ah? Recently, I always feel that my neck is very sore. Did you think that I had run into something dirty?”
Unlike her husband, who did not believe in ghosts and spirits, Aunt Zhu San, like most middle-aged women, was convinced with the existence of spirits and ghosts. Therefore, she always felt that Jiang Kun is a real Daoist priest.
Because one night, Aunt Zhu San who had returned home late after sorting the shop’s kitchen saw Jiang Kun talking to a group of dark shadows in a small alley. At first, Aunt Zhu thought that Jiang Kun was drunk and had been talking nonsense. Therefore, she planned to send him back to his joss stick and incense shop, but then she saw the small box in Jiang Kun’s hand float up in the next second, as he left with the group of shadows.
When returning home that night, Aunt Zhu San had a nightmare. After waking up from the dream, she did not even think of telling this matter to her husband.
“Haha—”
Jiang Liu could only force out a laugh. How could he have any kind of abilities?
“Auntie, you craft is getting better and better. The taste of this beef is absolutely amazing!”
Jiang Liu quickly lowered his head and clamped a slice of beef. He promptly changed the subject in due course.
“If you like it, then eat more. Look at how thin you are.”
Sure enough, Aunt Zhu San didn’t entangle on the previous topic. She instead smiled when Jiang Liu said that he liked the beef noodle she made.
******
Returning from the noodle shop to the incense candle shop, Jiang Liu took out a key from the original body’s room and walked into the original body’s adoptive father’s room for the first time.
The layout of this room was straightforward. There was a bed, a table, a wooden wardrobe, and a bedside table. There were very few places to hide things.
After entering the door, Jiang Liu first pays respect at the memorial tablet placed on the table before lighting the incense sticks.
Since he realized that this world is a world of ghosts and monsters, Jiang Liu didn’t dare to confess that he had occupied the original body. He was afraid that the original adoptive father would become a ghost and come after him.
After finishing the incense, Jiang Liu began to search for the possible hidden things in the room. Yet no matter how hard he searched for it, he still couldn’t find anything valuable.
Just as Jiang Liu was disappointedly preparing to leave, he suddenly noticed that there was something wrong with a wooden board under his feet. It seemed to be slightly loose.
Jiang Liu immediately squatted down and lied on his stomach as he tried prying the loose wooden board free. As expected, there was a box hidden under those wooden boards.
Jiang Liu opened the wooden box and saw a thread-bound ancient book in it. The words Maoshan Talisman Encyclopedia was written on the cover. The book looked like a miscellaneous book that can be bought for a dollar from the street stall. In addition to this ancient book, there were also a box of cinnabar and some yellow papers.
Some of the paper had already been drawn with some symbols. Since Jiang Liu unable to understand what was written on them, naturally, he didn’t know how to use them.
It just that the existence of these things proved some conjectures in Jiang Liu’s mind. He sighed for a long time and then brought these things to his room.
******
One day is enough for Jiang Liu to browse over the Maoshan Talisman Encyclopedia and find out the effects of the completed Talismans.
There were five talismans; one soul-suppressing talisman, one fixation talisman, and three palm thunder talisman. The ancient book clearly states the effects of these talismans, which makes Jiang Liu felt some confidence to face the horrors that may come once the night falls.
It’s not that he never thought of leaving this shop and find another place to settle down. Still, since there were indeed ghosts in this world, maybe even if he fled to the ends of the earth, he would encounter these terrible “dirty things” without fail.
In this case, it is better to face it bravely. At least even if he were to die, he still needs to die decently.
That night, Jiang Liu Qiang did not dare to fall asleep. While holding those talismans in each of his hands, he stared at the bedroom door, as he waited to see if the little female ghost who had been playing with her head would appear.
Time passed by one minute and one second, and soon it was midnight. This time is the most yin-qi times of the day.
“Plop—Plop—”
It was too quiet; Jiang Liu could only hear the sound of his own heartbeat.
Did the little girl ghost plan not to play with him today?
Just as Jiang Liu thought so, he heard the creaking sound from the old stairs.
Someone is approaching!
“You stunned the new Gui-Daren last night?”
[T/N: Gui – Ghost; Daren – respectful title for superior]
An old, echoing voice rang in the aisle.
“Niuniu is good girl, Niuniu didn’t do it.”
[T/N: Niuniu – little girl]
Hearing the sweet voice of the girl, Jiang Liu’s eyelids jumped wildly. This was the voice of the little girl last night.
“Guru—”
Jiang Liu quickly swallowed his saliva.
Relax your body, don’t panic, hold on.
At this moment, Jiang Liu was utterly unable to think about what the ghosts were saying in their mouths. He only knew that the little ghost came with an old ghost. He didn’t know whether his little heart could hold against those two ghosts.
“Did you use your head as a racquetball again in front of our new Gui-Daren? The new Gui-Daren hasn’t adapted to his identity yet. You have to give him a little bit of time to work up his courage.”
“Niuniu is good. Niuniu knows how to be polite. Niuniu called him uncle, and when she asked him to pick up her head, she smiled at that uncle. But that uncle was too timid. He was even less courageous than Ahuang raised by Niuniu.”
The conversation continued, but the little girl was not convinced by the old voice.
Damn, if Jiang Liu was not scared shit at the moment, he really wanted to rush out and argued with that bear child theory. Even if an ordinary person could stand looking at a rolling hand, once that rolling head started to smile, it doubles up the fear factor, okay.
This bear child really needs some spanking. Jiang Liu’s hands were itchy as he really craved to use that little girl’s head as a racketball.
“Ah, uncle is awake!”
Just as Jiang Liu was thinking about it, a sweet female voice suddenly sounded from behind him, as a cold wind blew to his ears.
Jiang Liu turned around fiercely, and his eyes met with a pair of scarlet eyes.
Suddenly Jiang Liu felt his head became stupid as his legs softened. What the hell with great ambition and magnificent aspiration? Jiang Liu felt that it was a miracle created by a real man that he could still keep his eyes open and not faint like yesterday.