Folklore and Strange Tales: At the Start, You Retrieve the Sea-Suppressing Black Iron

Chapter 84: Tonight, let's get started.

After daybreak, white was hung at the entrance of Master Ma's courtyard house.

A strip of white cloth hung on the lintel, was blown by the morning breeze to stick to the door panel, and then fell down again.

Acquaintances from the alley came one after another, handing over paper money, white candles, and old bed sheets to the courtyard one by one, without asking any questions.

Aunt Zhang is well-liked. She might complain about someone's dirty shoes or loud voice, but if a child has a fever in the middle of the night, she always has hot water in her pot. If an elderly person has bad teeth, she can always serve them a bowl of soft noodles.

The kitchen is now sealed off from water, and the yard is no longer warm.

Cheng Xiaojin stood in the courtyard, his sleeves pulled low, his hands hidden.

Tong Kexin came in carrying a stack of white paper.

"I asked Aunt Zhang to speak to Aunt Zhang about her family."

Master Ma sat at the entrance of the main room, a teacup on his lap. He hadn't slept all night, his eyes were dark and his teacup lid had a white scratch around the edge.

"What do people say?"

Tong Kexin placed the white paper on the side of the octagonal table.

"They said they'd be right there. Aunt Zhang has no children, and her nephew lives far away, so he might not be able to make it in time. A few aunties in the alley can help with washing and changing, so please don't carry it all by yourself."

Master Ma nodded.

"Thanks."

Tong Kexin's eyes were red.

"Mr. Ma, please don't talk to me about this."

Zhou Banxian squatted outside the well, holding half a damp piece of yellow paper in his hand. He had spilled wine all over the ground last night, and the wine jug was still empty.

Tieguai Li came out of the kitchen, his hands covered in black ash.

"Take all the water pipes off, seal the stove opening with three layers of metal, and then add a sheet of iron on the outside. Nobody is allowed to go into that room before tonight."

Tang Wanqing was mending copper coins at the four corners of the courtyard, the red thread wrapped tightly around them, her cuffs stained with gray water.

She looked at Cheng Xiaojin.

"Are your hands still shaking?"

Cheng Xiaojin pulled his sleeves down.

"I'm hungry."

Tong Kexin stuffed an oil paper package into his arms.

"The sesame seed cake is dry, without any water."

"You've only had two sips of ginger soup since last night."

Cheng Xiaojin looked down.

"These days, being able to eat dry sesame seed cakes is considered a blessing."

Cheng Xiaojin tucked the sesame seed cake into his pocket and walked to the octagonal table.

On the table were nine diagrams, half a sheet of rubbing paper, copper foil rubbings, and a copper buckle wrapped in red cloth.

"We can't wait for Boss Lin to talk."

Tieguai Li asked, "Are you going to rob me?"

"Don't steal it."

Cheng Xiaojin shook his head.

"Boss Lin has fake Zhenhai iron, the Iron Man's recording, and the Ouroboros thread. If we start now, let's blow up that Panjiayuan stall first."

Zhou Banxian looked up.

"Then why did you say you'd go back to the driving range tonight?"

I'm referring to the settled outcome.

Cheng Xiaojin pointed at the nine-pillar diagram through his sleeve.

"There are still a few days until the full moon. The pit in the whole city won't wait for anyone. The array diagram is hidden in the bottom of Boss Lin's briefcase. The scarred nose handed over the copper buckle, which means he can find the bag."

Tong Kexin took out her phone.

"After the Liulichang shopping festival last night, Boss Lin's van didn't return to the Jianguomenwai Hotel. It changed cars halfway there. Sister Zhou took a blurry picture of the rear of the car. The last digit of the license plate was 'eight,' and the taillight was cracked."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.

"Boss lady, if your intelligence network continues to expand for another two years, even Master Qi will have to switch to selling candied hawthorns."

"I haven't finished speaking yet."

Tong Kexin pushed the screen towards Tieguai Li.

"This noon, Mr. Lin's men went to a private club on the East Third Ring Road. When they came out, their briefcase was in the secretary's hand. Nose Scar didn't go in. They smoked three cigarettes outside."

Tieguai Li frowned.

"The nose scar was protected?"

"We took precautions, but we didn't lose anything."

Cheng Xiaojin said.

"Boss Lin still needs him to measure doors, so he won't be fired for the time being."

Tang Wanqing moved the copper buckle next to the compass, but did not remove it, as it was separated by a red cloth.

"The copper buckle has a limited range of energy control. It becomes useless if it's too far from the array diagram. To use it for tracking, you have to wait for the briefcase to get close."

Zhou the fortune teller asked, "How close?"

"Within thirty steps, copper dust can be deflected; within ten steps, one can discern direction; within three steps, one can recognize the character 'water' on a bag."

Tieguai Li was drawing a picture with charcoal.

"The briefcase has a double bottom. I need to know where the clasp is first. When the person with the nose scar handed over the brass clasp, the inner hidden clasp should have been removed."

Master Ma stood up, went into the main room, and took out an old photo album.

The album cover was yellowed and the edges were worn. He turned to a page and pressed his finger on the photo.

In the photo, Cheng Shouyi stands in front of an old courtyard gate, wearing a dark jacket and carrying a black briefcase.

Cheng Xiaojin stopped on the edge of the table with her toes.

"My dad?"

Mr. Ma said, "On the third day of the first lunar month in 1997, he came to my place carrying this kind of bag."

Tieguai Li leaned closer to take a look.

"Old-fashioned cowhide bags, with an outer leather covering, inner brass clasp, and double bottom, are rare to see on the market now."

Mr. Ma pointed to the photo.

"I've seen Shouyi dismantle this kind of double-bottom design before."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the bag.

"Whose house did he tear down?"

Master Ma paused for a moment.

"The man who owns the ouroboros."

The courtyard fell silent again.

Mr. Ma closed the photo album.

"After he finished dismantling it, he only said one thing: Southeast Asians like to hide their lives underground."

Zhou Banxian hugged the wine pot tightly.

"That's a sinister statement."

Cheng Xiaojin smiled.

"Well hidden, saves us the trouble of searching all over the place."

Tang Wanqing placed the compass next to the copper buckle, and the pointer deviated slightly by half a division.

"We can't take advantage of this in a hotel; it's cramped, there are too many water pipes, and Boss Lin has too many people."

Tieguai Li said, "Then let's do it in public, where there are more people, more people can handle the bag, and more eyes can see it."

Tong Kexin continued.

"Han Shaobai gave the word tonight that there's a small auction at the antique market in two days. No one will be registered to attend; invitations will be sent through acquaintances. Boss Lin has been meeting with antique dealers these past few days. If he wants to clear up the shameful debt of the fake Zhenhai Iron, he'll definitely go."

Master Ma looked at Cheng Xiaojin.

"You want to switch them out?"

"Um."

Tieguai Li stopped writing with his charcoal brush.

"Transferring Boss Lin's bag?"

Cheng Xiaojin nodded.

"Don't touch people, don't steal things, don't slap faces, and change your appearance in public."

Tieguai Li looked at his hands.

"This job is unethical."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "Your major is a perfect match."

"I need to see the bag in person, not the real one. I can only draw about 70-80% of it. If the double bottom mechanism is even half an inch off, it won't open."

"So first look for the nose scar."

Tang Wanqing frowned.

"If you go to him now, Boss Lin will soon figure it out."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "We don't ask him to join us, we just want him to save himself. If he loses even half an inch of his shadow, and if Boss Lin tries to take him down again, he'll lose more than just his shadow."

Zhou Banxian moved the Nine Pile Diagram in front of him, took out a thin bamboo stick, and placed it on the spot in Mancheng.

"There's one more thing."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at him.

"Don't say anything bad."

Zhou Banxian swallowed hard.

"Even if you ask me to say something, I can't make it up."

Tong Kexin glared at him.

"Then choose what you can listen to."

Zhou Banxian moved the bamboo stick three-tenths of an inch away from its original location in Mancheng.

"The roots are crooked."

Tieguai Li asked, "What roots?"

"After the Zhenhai Iron was pulled out, the pile roots under the water veins scattered. In the past, when the piles were re-pileed, the nails were driven back into the holes. Now the holes are crooked and the edges are broken."

Tang Wanqing's face darkened.

"Therefore, resetting the bone requires setting the bone."

Zhou Banxian nodded.

"The iron of Zhenhai is the bone, the array diagram is the ruler, and the Xin metal destiny is the one who sets the bones. If the bones are set incorrectly, the water mouth will bite back."

Tong Kexin looks at Cheng Xiaojin.

What will happen if they bite back?

Tang Wanqing said, "At best, it will cripple both hands; at worst, it will drain your vital energy from the stance."

Tieguai Li broke the charcoal pencil.

"This is called backfilling? This is called sending people down to fill the hole."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the tightly closed door of the west wing, where a white cloth was still hanging.

"Aunt Zhang counted to one hundred and forty-seven last night."

Master Ma lowered his eyes, twirled the teacup lid in his palm, but still no sound came out.

Cheng Xiaojin looked away.

"If the connection is crooked, it's my fault for being slow; if it breaks, it's Yao Guangxiao's fault for poor after-sales service. It's a 600-year-old project, and he didn't even leave a warranty contact number. You can't blame it all on me."

Zhou Banxian cursed, "You little brat, you have no sense of propriety when it comes to your words."

"It's taboo to press water, so I'll kowtow to the well right now."

Tang Wanqing looked at him.

"You must not use the Xin metal element recklessly tonight."

"Tonight, I'll only look at the nose scars, no special treatments, no water, and no touching old things."

Tong Kexin said, "I'll go with you."

"You stay and help Master Ma."

"I'll go with you."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.

"The hotel is not clean."

Tong Kexin pressed the white paper down.

"A courtyard house is clean? Aunt Zhang couldn't even hide in her own home, where else can I hide?"

Cheng Xiaojin was speechless.

Tieguai Li sharpened the charcoal pencil again.

"I'll go too. I'm familiar with places like fire doors, back staircases, elevator lobbies, and hotels."

Master Ma said, "Tang girl will stay and guard the courtyard, and Zhou the fortune teller will calculate the odd positions of the whole city."

Tang Wanqing looked up.

"There was no one around him pressing the compass."

Master Ma looked at Cheng Xiaojin and said, "He needs to learn to live without a compass."

Someone knocked softly twice on the gate.

Tong Kexin went to open the door, and several aunties from the alley came in carrying white cloth and paper offerings. They fell silent as soon as they entered the courtyard and glanced at the west wing.

Master Ma stood up.

"Excuse me, everyone."

The round-faced aunt waved her hand.

"Why bring this up? Hasn't Guilan helped us enough?"

Cheng Xiaojin stepped back to the side of the main room to make way.

The white cloth brushed against his sleeve, and he pulled his hand back inside.

Tieguai Li asked in a low voice, "What time do we move tonight?"

Cheng Xiaojin looked at the copper buckle.

The copper clasp remained unmoved within the red cloth, yet it exuded a chilling aura.

"After nightfall."

Tong Kexin turned around from the doorway.

"First find the nasal scar, then use the array diagram to guide it."

Cheng Xiaojin nodded.

A muffled sob came from the west wing. Master Ma had his back to everyone, and Cheng Xiaojin pressed the ashtray to her chest.

"Aunt Zhang, you should rest."

He looked at the well in the courtyard that was sealed with yellow paper.

"Tonight, I'm going to collect my first debt."