Chapter 3: Fragrant Alley

  Jiang Pangzi felt his head "buzz" for a moment.

  As expected, something in his identity played cards with his dormitory roommates all night. More than three points close to four points. At four o'clock in the countryside, it's almost time for the chickens to cry, and it was that thing that mentioned it, noticing that a classmate said "Did you forget or did you mention 'it's time'!"

  It's "on time", not "I'm sleepy, it's bedtime!"

  What time is it? Is it dawn and we have to leave?

  The more I think about Jiang Paozi, the more anxious I feel. Then I remembered that I had taken a jar to the upstairs and was worried that something would go wrong with it, so I went to the balcony early in the morning to take a look. Strangely, the jar was gone.

  He was really panicked, so he didn't even attend class and came to find me. I saw that Fatso's face had turned pale with fear, and I quickly comforted him: "It's nothing, the jar should have a small yellow paper strip inside, with your birth date and hair on it. These were all cursed and buried under the toilet, after which you would lose at everything and have bad luck."

  Put it under the sun in a warm place and over time you will recover your luck, getting better and better. However, it's just recovering well."

  Listen to me say this, Fatso's eyes lit up: "Hey, Master, is there any way for me to win every time I gamble and have great luck?"

  The madman heard this and was delighted: "You put that jar on your head, you'll win every bet."

  The fatty gave him a glance and ignored him, smiling awkwardly while staring at me.

  I said faintly: "There is, but everyone's luck is predetermined. Forcing it won't do you any good. So, just go with the flow. I won't give you a lucky charm."

  Listen to me say this, Fatso also knows there's no chance, so he muttered and said: "Then Master, what do you think that ghost is all about?"

  I also furrowed my brow, looking at the madman. The madman was listening with relish on the side, seeing me look at him, and chuckled slyly: "Or, I'll go back to Panjiayuan, grab some stuff, and then we can take a look at this fatty's school?"

  I thought about it, but I'm afraid that Zhu Jiaqiang's gang will come again and won't give up easily. They'll be wandering around looking for lunatics to catch, so I said to the lunatic: "Let's go, we'll go together."

  The madman waved his hand: "No need, little brother, I can handle it myself."

  I grabbed him, the madman turned back to me with a very serious look in his eyes, then grinned and said: "We're all grown men, pulling and tugging at each other? I haven't been anywhere? Alright, alright, let's go together."

  I told Jiang Pangzi to go back to school first and wait for me, I'll take a look at the dojo, if nothing's wrong, I'll go to their school to find him. Let him not worry.

  Jiang Pangzi wanted to say something, but was stopped by me. I wasn't worried because last time a mysterious person gave him a note that said "Whenever you gamble, you'll definitely lose". That proves there are still people in their school who know what's going on.

  It's unclear whether this person is good or bad, but judging from his lenient and tolerant approach, he doesn't seem to be a thoroughly evil person. If something happened at the school, it would be like having a fire at his own doorstep, and he wouldn't just ignore it.

  Thinking of this, I and the madman first bought a few sets of decent clothes together, then took another trip to Panjiayuan. The injuries on our bodies hadn't healed yet, but the flesh wounds weren't serious.

  I arrived at Pan's Garden and before I could do anything, a middle-aged man who was opening his shop next door suddenly dragged the madman inside. I quickly followed him in. Seeing the madman smiling, I guessed that this person shouldn't be a bad guy.

  As expected, the old man nervously said to the madman: "How dare you come? This morning a group of thugs came looking for trouble, do you know? They were asking about your whereabouts everywhere."

  The madman laughed and said: "No big deal, Uncle Guan, at worst I'll just beat them up."

  Guan Shu sighed and shook his head, scolding the madman for being reckless. Then, he hesitated for a moment before saying to the madman, "Hey, you little brat seem... different somehow."

  The madman still smiled and comforted Guan Shu for a few words.

  At this time, Guan Shu's eyes swept over and happened to see me. He adjusted his glasses and said to the madman, "This... is the little brother you've been waiting for?"

  The madman turned his head and looked at me with a "hmm".

  Old Guan looked me up and down, making a clicking sound with his tongue: "This kid has been setting up this Feng Shui stuff just to wait for you? He said one of his brothers is in the same line of work, so if he does this, as soon as you come out, he'll be the first to know and find you. So this kid, no matter how much he gets beaten, won't change his ways..."

  The madman interrupted him with a laugh: "Guan Shu, your hair is all gone, and you still care about these useless things."

  I listened but felt something was off. I grabbed the madman and asked Guan Shu, "Guan Shu? What did you say? You said the madman is in Panjia Garden for me?"

  The madman wanted to end this topic, but I gave him a deep look and he touched his nose without making a sound.

  "Ah, yes! This young fellow has been here for three years now. What a stormy and rainy journey it must have been! I even advised him to come work at my shop so he could earn a living, but he wouldn't listen. One time, I gave him two steamed buns, and that's when he told me he was waiting for his brother. He had to do this line of work in order to get the first-hand news about his brother. Now it seems, he's been waiting for you."

  I turned back to look at the madman, and the shock in my heart didn't need to be said. The madman, however, grinned mischievously and patted me: "Young brother, isn't it time for us to get down to business?"

  I asked him, "What's going on with Uncle Guan saying you get beaten up every day?"

  "The madman cursed for two sentences: 'What kind of bird doesn't exist in the world? Isn't it normal for a mad dog to bite people? I'll just consider it charity.'"

  Of course I know that this move of the madman is used to deceive people, and in those years, he often deceived me, but now I am not so easily deceived.

  "You'd better come back and tell me the truth! I want to hear you say it." I stared at the madman with extreme seriousness.

  He reluctantly nodded, and I finally put my mind at ease. I know the personality of this madman, in his eyes, there's nothing big deal in the world, even if he kneels down, eighteen years later he'll still be a good man, although he likes to cover up the truth, but he absolutely won't exaggerate things, so as long as he agrees, he will definitely tell me.

  I and Crazy took some of his things, only then did we bid farewell to Guan Shu. During the process of taking things at Panjiayuan, Crazy said to me:

  "It's actually been almost three months since I got scolded. For the past three months, whoever I help with their house will have problems. In the end, who do they still look for? Me."

  I stopped suddenly, and suddenly remembered the thing about Zhu Jiaqiang at that time, the "lucky charm" found in Zhu Jiaqiang's home. The madman saw that I wasn't moving, so he also stopped. He was so clever, he must have known what I was thinking of.

  I stared at the madman in surprise, and he spread his hands: "I'm not sure if it's for me either. But I don't have any illegitimate children, nor do I have the mind to be a wild father, so I couldn't owe that much debt."

  I gave him a white eye, at this time, he still had the mind to make trouble.

  "Madman, this must be intentional harassment, no need to say more. If you saw a house having problems, it might be someone else's fault. But if all the houses you've seen in the past three months have had problems, then it can only be targeting you."

  I said seriously to the madman.

  The madman nodded: "I know that too, but brother, where can I find this person? I don't remember offending anyone."

  "I asked him: 'Those houses that had incidents, did you go back and take a look? Where exactly was the problem?'"

  "Crazy guy shook his head: 'Go to hell, if someone scolds me and I go once is doing my duty, let them appreciate it. If someone beats me and I still have the nerve to make them look at me once, then am I not a cheap person? Do you think I look like a cheap person?'"

  I awkwardly coughed twice and said: "Like!"

  The madman rushed towards me and kicked one foot: "Like your sister!"

  After fooling around for a while, I still decided to go with the madman to take a look. The madman's impression was quite deep, and one of them was a quadrangle courtyard. At that time, the person who asked him to see the house was called "Tiao Ge", a businessman. Tiao Ge had a friend named Lin Bin whose family lived in Xiangpian Hutong, Beijing. At that time, it was because his wife and father-in-law were always quarreling, so the madman set up a harmonious home for them, but as a result, the old man died just a few days later.

  Because of this, the madman was beaten again. I feel uneasy and worry that someone will rush to the madman, it feels like a venomous snake lurking in the dark, you don't know when it will jump out and bite you. It makes me feel anxious. I decide to go with the madman first.

  I didn't linger and had something to eat with the madman at a mutton soup shop in a hutong next to Panjiayuan. The two of us then rushed straight to Xiangpiao Hutong.

  Xiangpiao Hutong has been around since the Ming Dynasty, now located near Zhang Zizhong Road. In my impression, Beijing's well-known hutongs are only a few, including Xidan's Lingjing Hutong and Dongsi's Xiangpiao Hutong. When I arrived here with Crazy, it was almost dark.

  The Xiao Lin family's house is an old-style bungalow, a quadrangle courtyard. With the current ability of the madman, he can only see small feng shui, but not large mansions. Because I heard that the madman said that feng shui masters are also classified, and feng shui masters and grand feng shui masters are different. Feng shui masters need to look at a certain number of feng shui, and there must be no problems before they can be promoted.

  This is similar to our Spirit Masters, the Taoist robes are divided into gray, gray with eight trigrams, gold, and gold with eight trigrams. The gray Taoist robe is proof that there is such a profession, generally it's for apprentices like me. Once you have some reputation in this line of work, you can embroider an eight trigram on your Taoist robe.

  Golden is the Taoist robe of the Heavenly Master, and if one can be counted among the top ranks, they can be called the Heavenly Master. When one has accepted disciples, they can embroider an eight trigrams on their golden Taoist robe, proving that they have established their own sect and have their own disciples and legacy.

  So, a Taoist who can't sew is not a good Taoist, because all the eight trigrams are embroidered by themselves.

  It's getting off the topic, this Xiangpiao Hutong alley is very deep, a big courtyard is where many people live. Among them, there was one family who had set up a stall and a bureau, but the old man of that family has passed away. That's all I know.

  High wall courtyard, fragrant alleyway corner!