Chapter 21: Hushu Bao

  That night, it was still the same prison guard on duty. This guard had been very respectful to my master and me at that time. When he came to work, he even brought us a pack of cigarettes, two bottles of beer, and a roasted chicken. To thank Master for giving him that talisman, in the guard's words, since having this talisman, he no longer feared ghosts when walking, slept soundly, and had a great appetite with a strong body. At that time, I just smiled secretly at the guard's enthusiasm. Master rarely felt embarrassed, and actually took out another talisman to give to the guard. This time it was a truly peaceful talisman. As long as it wasn't damaged, it could ensure that evil spirits wouldn't dare to approach. Of course, this was only relatively speaking. A single piece of paper talisman would be useless against really powerful ghosts.

  But I also thank the prison guard for bringing things, and we smoked a beautiful cigarette together. My master and I each had a bottle of beer, then roasted chicken, and the two of us were also drinking with gusto. For these two or three days in the detention center, we have been eating the meals provided by the detention center, and our mouths are almost numb. Unfortunately, my master and I are both the kind of people who don't have anyone visiting us, so every day, every meal is just salted vegetables and steamed buns, which is exactly what it means to be a prisoner.

  It wasn't until tonight that an unexpected guest arrived, bringing with him even more unexpected news, which nearly scared me to death. And the person who came was someone I never thought would be him?

  But as night fell, my master and I ate our fill, and then he went to meditate with his eyes closed. I lay on the stone bed studying my magic, even though I couldn't understand it, but that didn't stop me from working hard. I don't know what time it was, but suddenly the prison guard led in a mysterious man. He was mysterious because even though it was very hot, he wore a hat and covered his head tightly. At first, I didn't recognize who it was, but when he lifted his head, I realized who it was and felt a little surprised: "How is it you?"

  The person who came was Zhang Jianhua, whom I met on the bus that day. At that time, he even helped me pay for my room, but I didn't know how he found this place. When Zhang Jianhua saw me, he couldn't hide his enthusiasm and smiled brightly at me through the iron door: "Gao Ren, I finally found you! How did you end up in detention?"

  "Hey, never mind, it's hard to say... " I couldn't help but smile wryly, and didn't want to talk to Zhang Jianhua anymore. After a brief pause, I smiled and said: "How did you find this place?"

  As soon as he mentioned this, Zhang Jiahua's smile turned somewhat bitter, his face twitched a few times, and then he forced out a laugh: "Ah, High Person, I had no choice either. That day, thank you for saving my life, but after I returned, I remembered something. The next day, I went to the hotel to look for you, but only Little Snow was there. She said you'd gone to the Public Security Bureau to report a case. At the time, I thought it would be better to wait until you came back before talking about it. Who knew that when I went again the next day, not only had High Person not returned, but even Little Snow was nowhere to be found? The boss didn't know where she'd gone either. That's why I had no choice but to pull some connections at the Public Security Bureau to ask about you, and then I found out you were locked up in a detention center. So I asked Brother Sun for help to come take a look at you."

  "Xiaoxue is missing, you said Xiaoxue is missing, what's going on?" I wanted to grab Zhang Jianhua through the iron gate. The news of Xiaoxue's disappearance had already disrupted my mind. Not to mention that she was the first girl to enter my heart, even if we came together, I couldn't ignore it. Now I just want to know what's going on.

  Seeing my anxiety, Zhang Jianhua also didn't dare to hesitate and hurriedly told me: "I'm not very clear either, but from that night on, Xiaoxue sister suddenly cried out, the boss's wife rushed over and disappeared, the window and door were not opened, and she was gone. At that time, the boss was afraid of trouble and didn't dare to report it to the police, and even asked a few friends to help search for her, but still couldn't find her, really don't know where she went."

  How is this possible? Xiaoxue came to Jiangcheng for the first time, unfamiliar with Jiangcheng and without acquaintances. How could she have left the hotel? Moreover, if Xiaoxue didn't leave through the main entrance, would she jump out of the window? That's a three-story building! Xiaoxue may not have such great courage. Haijing called out, what would happen to Xiaoxue in the end? My heart was like fifteen buckets of water splashing everywhere, and I couldn't calm down again.

  Pacing back and forth in the room, I was like a caged lion, unable to find an outlet for my emotions. I wished I could rush out immediately, but there was no way at that moment. Suddenly, I thought of Master, wasn't he guarding the treasure mountain and crying about being poor? I quickly turned around to look at Master, only to find that Master was also looking at me. Before I could speak, Master sighed: "Which yin person is it? Ah, what a grievance! Don't worry for now, let me cast a divination for him."

  He said, rummaging through his pocket for a while, and pulled out six copper coins. He grasped them in his hand, muttering to himself, then tossed them into the air. The six copper coins rotated in mid-air before falling to the ground with a crisp sound. After flipping over several times, they finally settled down, three heads up and three tails up. The master carefully observed this for a moment, then nodded: "Don't worry, that girl should be fine. Looking at the divination sign, it's the Thunder Fire Wind hexagram. As the saying goes, 'the ancient mirror has been dull for many years, but one day it will be polished and shine like a full moon.' When a gentleman encounters this hexagram, he will naturally have good fortune when the time comes. Nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about. Moreover, this girl will also have good fortune..."

  It sounds pretty good, but I'm still worried. Scratching my head and dryly laughing: "Master, is it really okay?"

  "You don't believe me, why ask? Don't know..." The master's beard was standing on end with anger, daring to question his Wen Wang Gua. Although the Wen Wang Gua wasn't a part of the Quanzhen School, it was something the master had spent his whole life studying and perfecting - this was his bread and butter. Despite being furious, he still wanted to prove the Wen Wang Gua: "The Wen Wang Gua originated from Taiji, which gave birth to two forms, namely yin and yang. Yin and yang gave birth to four images: Taiyang, Shaoyang, Shaoyin, and Taiyin. The four images gave birth to eight trigrams: Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun. These eight trigrams eventually evolved into sixty-four trigrams, which encompass everything under the sun. All the principles of yin and yang in the world are contained within them. What do you know, you little brat?"

  The master said so, I didn't dare to ask again, but my heart was still uneasy. My mind turned and I thought of Zhang Jianhua, so I had an idea. I put on a smile and looked at Zhang Jianhua: "Zhang brother, this matter is still troubling you, please think of a way to help me find Xiaoxue. You know many people in Jiang City, can you ask around?"

  "Don't worry, I've already got the brothers to help look for it. I told them this is a senior's sister, and everyone is being very careful. I believe we should get news soon—" Zhang Jianhua immediately agreed, looking like he was genuinely concerned. However, Zhang Jianhua didn't come here just to tell me this message. He took off his hat and looked at me with a bitter smile: "Senior, when can I take this thing off?"

  Looking at the thing on Zhang Jianhua's head, I was stunned on the spot, and even Master couldn't help but burst out laughing. It turned out to be the Hushuobao that cost 1,000 yuan on the bus that day. My god, it has a strange smell now. Zhang Jianhua still had it on his head, is he going to become immortal?

  "This thing, I really can't wear it anymore. Don't mention my friends and brothers laughing at me, my wife hasn't let me in the door for two days now. Can you think of another way? I really can't take it anymore. It's so hot outside and this thing is starting to smell..." Zhang Jianhua said, almost crying. It's really going to be the death of him. Ever since he put on the Hushu Bao (a type of sanitary product), people have been avoiding him 100%. Even his older brother doesn't dare get close to him. When he got home, his wife made a big fuss and now he can't even enter the door. The most important thing is that this thing has a weird smell after a while, which is really the worst part. It's simply making him unable to eat or sleep."

  I managed to hold back my laughter, but my face was aching from the effort. The master didn't care about his image and was laughing so loudly while hugging his belly that even people in the next room were peeking out to see what was going on. Suddenly, I saw the Hush Puppies (a brand of shoes), and it seemed like nothing else mattered anymore, only laughter remained. Even the prison guard came out from the duty room, looking at us in confusion, no wonder the smell earlier didn't seem right.

  The worry just now was suddenly gone by Zhang Jianhua, after all, it's hard to hold back a smile, and swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "Brother Zhang, what you encountered is a substitute ghost. What is called a substitute ghost is because the resentment is tied up, in a place where it can't wander around, so it will look for a substitute body. The substitute ghost doesn't care why it died, but once you come to that place, you don't have to worry about it anymore. Just take this thing away and it's fine."

  Zhang Jianhua was stunned, hurriedly stretched out his hand to remove the protective gear, and scratched his head with an embarrassed expression: "At that time, Gao Ren didn't say anything, I didn't dare to take liberties, who would have dared to remove this thing, if only I had known..."

  Saying that, I still feel uneasy, so I force a smile: "There won't be any problems, right? What if we run into another ghost, will it... you know..."

  I understand what Zhang Jianhua means, he probably wants to ask for a protective charm. I don't have one, but my master does. I thought about it briefly and smiled generously: "You're worried that the yin energy will attract other evil spirits, don't worry, I'll give you a protective charm to keep you safe."

  After all, I still asked Zhang Jianhua to help find Xiaoxue, so I had to maintain a good relationship with him. I turned back to look at Master, but his face didn't look very good. However, he didn't refuse me and casually took out an amulet from his pocket and threw it to me, muttering: "I'm unlucky to have taken you as my apprentice, the little savings I had on me were quickly emptied by you. Take it, take it, that's all there is."

  He dryly laughed and handed it over to Zhang Jianhua, who was naturally extremely grateful. However, he looked up to his master with even more admiration and respect, lingering for a while before leaving with satisfaction. As he left, I began to worry again - what had really happened to Xiaoxue? A 19-year-old girl alone by herself was truly worrisome, and I had to think of a way to get out as soon as possible.