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

Chapter 74: Blackwater Leaves a Message

The black water was still seeping out from the cracks in the floor tiles. After the last word was written, a small bubble appeared on the surface of the water, and a very soft cough came from inside the bubble.

After Cheng Xiaojingang finished soaking his hands, his ten fingers felt like they had been twisted. Upon hearing this sound, his expression changed instantly.

His father, Cheng Shouyi, had an old injury. When he came back from outside in winter, he would often squat in the yard and cough in a low voice. Afraid that Lu Mingzhu would hear him, he would cover his mouth with a cigarette halfway through his cough. He wouldn't light the cigarette, but just leave it in his mouth.

The lid of the teacup in Master Ma's hand tapped against the rim of the cup, making a sound.

"Don't get it wet."

Tieguai Li, carrying a copper basin, had one foot already on the corner of the courtyard when he heard the sound and pulled the basin back.

Tang Wanqing squatted down, pressing the compass close to the floor tiles. The needle didn't spin randomly. "This isn't well gas."

Zhou Banxian leaned closer, his face scrunched up, "Undercover waterway patrol."

Cheng Xiaojin stood up, holding onto the chair. The red rope around her ankle was still tied, and she tripped with every step.

Tong Kexin reached out to stop him, "You just soaked your hands."

"I'll just take a look..."

Cheng Xiaojin squatted down in front of the floor tiles.

Blackwater's writing is very neat and orderly.

The edges of each character were intact, and water pressed against the brick seams. Cheng Xiaojin stared at the misspelled character, feeling a tightness in his chest.

The last stroke of the misspelled character has a small vertical hook.

Master Ma saw it too. He put down his teacup and slowly walked to the corner of the courtyard.

"What Shouyi left behind."

Tong Kexin asked softly, "Something he left behind twenty years ago, and it's only resurfacing now?"

Master Ma looked at the copper ashtray on the table in the main room.

The ashtray was still there, with half an old pipe next to it, and a small, vertical hook of cold ash still stuck in it.

"The lingering odor from the ashtray was scattered by Xiao Jin."

As he spoke, Master Ma walked back to the main room, picked up the ashtray, and turned it over.

There was a ring of old black grime at the bottom of the jar. Previously, everyone had only noticed the wear and tear on the copper base and had not examined it closely. Master Ma used his fingernail to pick at a little bit along the edge of the black grime, revealing very shallow scratches underneath.

Three short lines, one vertical hook.

Cheng Xiaojin still has a cut on the tip of his tongue, making his speech a little slurred.

"My dad is such a good liar..."

Zhou Banxian took Cheng Shouyi's Nine Pile Diagram from the main room and spread it on the Eight Immortals Table.

Tang Wanqing also moved the compass over.

Master Ma opened a hidden compartment in the rosewood bookcase and took out half a sheet of rubbing paper wrapped in white cotton cloth, along with the second volume of a tattered scroll. Cheng Xiaojin saw the tattered scroll...

Last time they only looked at the text and pictures, and didn't have time to examine the pinhole under the light.

Master Ma lit the oil lamp.

Aunt Zhang closed the door to the main room. The words "Black Water" were still there in the yard, and cold air seeped in through the crack in the door.

Half a sheet of rubbing paper was laid out, its edges damp and yellow, the rubbing pattern incomplete, leaving only half a door shape and a few lines of worn-off inscriptions.

Cheng Xiaojin was previously drawn into the old film by the pipe, and only heard one sentence from her father.

The seventh is not energy.

Now that half of the paper is pressed under the light, there are some shallow spots in the paper fibers.

Master Ma turned to page ninety-three of the tattered scroll and then told Tieguai Li to place the small bronze mirror behind the lamp.

The light shone through the paper.

On the surface of the torn paper, pinholes gradually lit up.

Cheng Xiaojin originally wanted to say something sarcastic, but the shapes of the needle holes made him swallow his words.

That's not an ordinary direction.

The pinhole is divided into three layers.

The outer layer resembles a door frame, the middle layer resembles a door latch, and the inner layer has a diagonal line, one end of which points towards the seventh stake, while the other end leans towards the third stake.

Tang Wanqing made several marks on the paper with her pen, her expression growing increasingly grim.

"This page not only shows the location of the return stake, but also hides the reverse lock position."

Zhou Banxian put the wine pot on the table.

"The old rule left by Yao Guangxiao is that a door can be opened, but it can also bite."

Cheng Xiaojin looked up.

Speak like a human.

Zhou Banxian pointed to the nine-post diagram.

"The third pillar is the key to the city, and the seventh pillar is the bolt of the Yin Gate. Use the array diagram of the third pillar to measure the seventh pillar. If you measure it correctly, all is well. If you measure it incorrectly, the Yin Gate will close up, and the person measuring the gate will lose half their life inside the gate and the other half will be left outside."

Tieguai Li frowned.

"So it's like clamping someone?"

"It's more troublesome than trapping a person." Tang Wanqing chimed in, "The physical body is outside, but the shadow enters. The person can still walk and talk, but the yang energy in their body will be eaten away by the door little by little, until only a skin is left."

Tong Kexin pushed the hot water on the table toward Cheng Xiaojin.

"Boss Lin wants you to come the day after tomorrow so he can measure your seventh measurement?"

Cheng Xiaojin stared at the half-sheet of rubbing paper.

"He has the third array diagram guide. He knows I can find my way around and he also knows that my father went to the Seventh Array back then. The day after tomorrow, he probably wants me to take his guide and measure the Seventh Array."

Master Ma raised his hand and gently rubbed the edge of the table twice with the lid of his teacup.

"He has ill intentions."

Cheng Xiaojin smiled.

"That's an understatement. If someone like Mr. Lin could sell his heart on a platter, even the dogs at Panjiayuan Market would avoid him."

Tang Wanqing ignored him and picked up half a sheet of rubbing paper to compare with the pinholes in the tattered scroll.

"There's still a problem here. The location stated in the text on page 93 is 30 steps different from the location of the pinhole."

Master Ma didn't even lift his eyelids.

"I changed it."

The main room fell silent for a moment.

Tieguai Li glanced at Master Ma.

"The portion for Liu Bai?"

Master Ma nodded.

"The location he copied was thirty paces off; if he hadn't noticed the pinhole, he would have gone astray."

Cheng Xiaojin touched his nose.

"Uncle Ma, you're quite the trendy old man when it comes to swindling people."

Master Ma looked at him.

"Your dad said the same thing back then."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Xiaojin's fingers curled up under the table.

After the aura was activated, every old item on the table seemed to emit a breath of air from the edges of his skin.

Half a sheet of rubbing paper is the heaviest.

It contained damp mud, blood, lamp oil, and the bitter, acrid feeling of his father who never lit a cigarette.

Cheng Xiaojin resisted the urge to touch it.

Tang Wanqing traced the location of the pinhole on a new piece of paper. She drew quickly, the tip of her pen moving across the paper, outlining the outer door, the middle latch, the diagonal line, and the reverse latch position, making it clear in no time.

"The array diagram in Boss Ruo Lin's hand is genuine. He took it close to the outer edge of the seventh pillar and measured it with a ruler that can stabilize the Yin Gate. The gate's energy will awaken."

Zhou Banxian continued, "Once you wake up, you'll have to ask who took your measurements."

Cheng Xiaojin looked up.

"Does the door recognize people?"

"The door recognizes your aura." Zhou Banxian pointed to his hand. "You are Xin Jin, of the Cheng family bloodline, and have touched the third piece of real iron. If you measure it yourself, the door will treat you as a key. Boss Lin wants you to lead the way, not just to see the seventh one, he wants you to open a crack for him."

Tong Kexin slammed the cup down.

"I'm not going."

Cheng Xiaojin looked at her.

Tong Kexin's eyes were still red. She had just seen He Xiaoman off and then stayed up all night soaking her hands. Her lips had lost all color.

She said, "I'm not going to make any more money, I don't need the ashtrays anymore, I'll figure out another way to get the magic diagram."

Master Ma didn't respond, and Tieguai Li didn't say he wouldn't go.

They all knew that the array diagram was in Boss Lin's hands, and there were only a few days left before the full moon returned to the base.

If the third pile doesn't return, the water evil will climb out along the water pipe.

If He Xiaoman is able to leave tonight, other water ghosts will be woken up tomorrow night.

Cheng Xiaojin looked down at her fingernails.

The bluish tinge faded to the base of the fingernails, but that bit of blue looked like old ink and couldn't be washed off.

He suddenly reached out and brushed aside the clump of cold ash next to the half-sheet of rubbing paper.

The vertical hook in the ash disintegrated, revealing a tiny copper shaving underneath.

Tieguai Li picked it up with tweezers and examined it under the light.

"It fell out from the bottom of the ashtray."

The edges of the copper shavings have abrasion marks.

Master Ma glanced at it a few times, then lowered his brow.

"Nanyang Copper".

Tang Wanqing placed the compass on her hand, and the needle gently tilted towards the Kun position.

"The copper on the measuring vessel."

Cheng Xiaojin smiled.

"It's all set! Boss Lin has a diagram to guide him, and he also has a fortune teller hidden away. He's not inviting me to stroll around Liulichang the day after tomorrow; he's inviting me in as a stepping stone."

Zhou Banxian unscrewed the wine pot, and just as he was about to drink, Tong Kexin snatched it away.

"Still drinking? Let's get down to business."

Zhou Banxian glared, but didn't dare to snatch it.

"The important thing is, don't hide."

"If he wants to measure the door, let him measure it. But we can't let Xiao Jin's hand touch the ruler, and we can't let Xiao Jin's anger fall on the door. Boss Lin trusts his own things the most, so let his things suffer first."

Cheng Xiaojin leaned back in his chair.

"Brother Li, could you get that Nanyang copper ruler into the ash water in our copper basin without ruining it?"

Tieguai Li thought for a moment.

"Yes, provided you get the ruler."

"If we can't get the measuring instrument, we'll take the man." Cheng Xiaojin pointed outside the courtyard. "Boss Lin won't be here until the day after tomorrow. That bastard with the nose scar will definitely make his move first. Since he's an informant in Beijing, he probably carries a measuring instrument with him, or has access to it."

Master Ma looked towards the door.

"That black Land Rover at the alley entrance didn't leave tonight."

Cheng Xiaojin wiggled his fingers.

"Then please invite him in for a cup of tea."

Tong Kexin immediately said, "You are not allowed to lay a hand on me."

Cheng Xiaojin raised both hands.

"I'm at 40% skill level and 50% physical strength now. Fighting is just a scam. Tonight, the main force is Brother Li, Miss Tang, and Old Zhou is in charge of setting up the feng shui threshold. Master Ma will be in charge, and the proprietress will be in charge of keeping an eye on me so I don't do anything stupid."

Tong Kexin sneered.

"This job is the most tiring."

Master Ma rewrapped the half-sheet of rubbing paper, then suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to walk to the bookshelf.

He pulled out an old notebook by Cheng Shouyi.

The notebook had a yellowed cover and worn-out corners. Master Ma used a thin knife to pry open the back cover.

A yellowed piece of paper fell out.

The note was very small, with blackened edges from being burned by fireworks.

Cheng Xiaojin reached out to take it, but Tong Kexin quickly picked it up with tweezers and placed it under the light.

The seventh gatekeeper's surname is Liu.