Chapter 365: Chapter 213: Stealing the Heavens and Switching the Days_4
Guesthouses and taverns often use knives, which dull frequently. So knife sharpeners make a habit of wandering around major taverns and guesthouses in the afternoon, hoping to pick up so business.
So when a knife sharpener appears at night, although it seems unusual, upon further consideration, it isn’t entirely illogical.
“Knife sharpener…”
Zhou Xuan pondered the matter of “knife sharpeners” and then asked Yun Ziliang: “Lao Yun, your mory is quite good, but you only told half of the spiel about the calls.”
In the previous world, the practice of calling out to market goods (“吆喝”) no longer existed. At most, stall owners would set up a loudspeaker in front of their stands, shouting things like: “Brand XYZ marinated eggs, fifty cents each, tastes amazing.”
In the previous world, “吆喝” appeared more prominently in old performing arts segnts, such as codic skits (“相声”) about “selling cloth scraps” or “learning to call out.”
As a fan of the performing arts, Zhou Xuan paid special attention whenever he heard calling-out (“吆喝”) in Jing Country. While craftsn were calling out, he often joined in ntally, as if satisfying a craving for the performing arts.
But after hearing enough, he began to notice the differences between authentic craftsn’s calls and those stylized for performing arts.
When professional craftsn called out, they didn’t only advertise their trade; they worked their na or a personal “title” into the calls.
For instance, a certain craftsman nad Li, who made sugar figurines, might nickna himself “Candy Man Li.”
When calling out, he might shout: “Candy Man Li’s sugar figurines! Crispy to the bite, sweeter than honey!”
There were many sugar craftsn, each with a unique taste to their creations. Regular custors often favored specific craftsn. Calling out with one’s “title” helped attract those loyal patrons.
This was effectively an early form of “fan economy.”
Knife sharpeners followed a similar practice, calling out their “titles” while strolling the streets. Custors who appreciated their craftsmanship would enthusiastically step out of their hos and hail the knife sharpener to get work done.
Thus, Zhou Xuan knew that Yun Ziliang had only stated half the call-out. He hadn’t ntioned the title of the knife sharpener.
“Now that you ntion it, that knife sharpener did call out his title. Let think back,” Yun Ziliang said as he rested his chin in thought. After a mont, he said, “I think the knife sharpener’s surna was Qian… it must be Qian.”
He then turned to ask Li Chengfeng.
Li Chengfeng’s mory was peculiar. He couldn’t seem to recall things when asked directly, but with a slight hint, everything would co flooding back in an instant.
“Sharpen scissors~ polish kitchen knives~ Old Qian’s knives, smooth as a mirror~ sharpen scissors~ polish kitchen knives~”
Li Chengfeng mimicked the knife sharpener’s call in full.
Hearing this, Zhou Xuan clapped his palms together and said, “Right on this street, let’s ask around to see if there’s a knife sharpener surnad Qian.”
…
Following Zhou Xuan’s instructions, Li Chengfeng went to inquire of households that hadn’t yet gone to bed.
Zhou Xuan sat on the stone steps in front of the guesthouse, smoking a cigarette.
The painter wore an expression filled with concern.
He had still not fathod how “Hunger” could be so savage and cruel, with thods brimming with strength, managing to slaughter everyone in the guesthouse beneath the gazes of the City God and Bone Elder.
“Mingjiang Prefecture must be facing great danger,” he said.
Yun Ziliang also felt the events were extrely perilous. Even while in the guesthouse, he couldn’t figure out how “Hunger” suddenly made him and Old Li vanish into thin air after 7:40 PM.
Half an hour later, Li Chengfeng returned.
“How did it go, Old Li?”
“Got so info, got so info,” Li Chengfeng said, beginning his explanation. “There was indeed a knife sharpener surnad Qian, who used to live in the front gate alley of the Yue Family Mansion. Locals called him ‘Kitchen Knife Qian.’ His sharpening skills earned praise from the neighborhood.”
“You said he used to live in the front gate alley—where is he now?”
“He died three years ago. Got addicted to opium, often sought out illicit sex workers, caught nurous diseases, lost the will to live, and eventually electrocuted himself using an iron wire and a power outlet.”
Li Chengfeng explained clearly.
“This is strange. A man dead for three years, yet you heard him calling out in the guesthouse. Unless… you all sohow went back to a few years ago… sigh…”
Zhou Xuan perked up at the thought and asked the painter: “In Jing Country, is there a thod that can send people back to a few years ago?”
The painter was stirred by Zhou Xuan’s words and imdiately considered a possibility. He spoke each word deliberately: “Ti Law.”
At that mont,
the truth beca clear.
Zhou Xuan theorized: “The adversary must have mastered the ‘Ti Law.’ They adjusted the ti within several guesthouse rooms to a few years ago, sending Old Li, Lao Yun, Qing Feng, and the night watchman back to the guesthouse’s past tiline.
anwhile, the rest of the guesthouse remained in the present ti.
Within the sa guesthouse, so areas belonged to the past, while others existed in the present.
People from the past clearly couldn’t perceive what was happening in the present.”
Precisely because Li Chengfeng and the others were sent back to the past, Zhou Xuan couldn’t locate them while using the Wash Away Injustice Talisman to trace ti,
“So after 7:40 PM, this is how you all disappeared.”
The painter was visibly overwheld upon hearing this, his fists clenching tightly enough to crack the air.
“Hunger” was Divine’s offspring, possessed of a Physical Body Dream, yet he surely did not grasp mastery of the Ti Law.
Given that,
it ant the one who made the nightti move wasn’t just “Hunger”—there was another that understood the Ti Law.
“The third Evil God has appeared,” Zhou Xuan declared.
Evil Gods differ from Divines and Alien Ghosts. The latter comprehends the complete frawork of the Incense Fire Path, while Evil Gods, as they grow, attain mastery over certain Laws.
“Indeed, it’s the third Evil God. With rely seven or eight Incense offerings in the human world, one couldn’t attain such an advanced understanding of Laws.”
The painter agreed with Zhou Xuan’s conclusion. He himself had grasped parts of the Ti Law, and through Zhou Xuan’s “single stroke,” had also gleaned so of the Space Law.
Yet his mastery of both Laws remained superficial, neither granting him extensive capabilities.
Accomplishing sothing like simultaneously sending multiple people back to the past would require profound mastery of the Ti Law, a feat unattainable without imnse strength.
Only an Evil God might wield such formidable prowess over the Laws.
“Mingjiang Prefecture sure seems to have plenty of Evil Gods,” Zhou Xuan quipped.
The Life God, the Liu God, and now the Evil God appearing tonight—three in total!
As for whether there were even more Evil Gods, Zhou Xuan couldn’t say.
“Everything is clear now. The ‘Hunger’ you all killed wasn’t ‘Hunger’ itself but rely a fragnt of its physical body, deliberately used by the third Evil God to mislead you.”
He pieced together the tiline of events from that night:
7:40 PM: The third Evil God makes its move, sending Li Chengfeng, Yun Ziliang, Qing Feng, and the night watchman to the guesthouse’s tiline from a few years ago.
8:30 PM: “Hunger” makes its move, devouring everyone in the guesthouse with its internal organs, simultaneously locking the fifth Dragon-locking Cave, decaying the guesthouse. However, since the guesthouse rooms existed in the past tiline, they suffered minimal corrosion.
9:00 PM: The third Evil God transfers a fragnt of “Hunger’s” physical body back to the tiline from a few years ago, where it’s discovered by Li Chengfeng and Yun Ziliang.
This fragnt of “Hunger’s” body retained the Physical Body Dream and had been cut by the third Evil God into a “Human Stomach” shape, misleading Li Chengfeng and Yun Ziliang into believing they had successfully killed “Hunger.”
9:15 PM: Li Chengfeng and the others remain under the control of the third Evil God’s Ti Law. Leaving the guesthouse, they walk the streets—still within the tiline of the past Yue Family Mansion.
Thus, Li Chengfeng and Qing Feng didn’t notice the guesthouse’s decay at all.
The streets around Kangfeng Inn of a few years ago were serene and ordinary.
Through manipulation of the Ti Law, the third Evil God perford a deception on celestial and human scales.
Zhou Xuan slung an arm around the painter’s shoulders and said, “The Evil God is fierce—ti for us to strike back.”
“Strike back? How do we strike back?”
The painter felt a sense of helplessness. Facing an Evil God capable of transporting multiple people to the past, could Mingjiang Prefecture muster sufficient counterasures?
ps: Brothers, my tooth flared up again today. The pain was unbearable, so I went to the hospital for an IV drip. Returned late, hence the late update.
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