Chapter Sixteen: Cutting Out the Moon

  To be honest, Chen Jiu is absolutely a lazy person to the bone. If he can sit, he will not stand; if he can lie down, he will not sit. As he says: "Do whatever feels comfortable."

  Looking at the weeds all over the yard and the dust inside the house, Chen Jiu's eyebrows furrowed slightly: "What can be done about this?"

  "Got it!" Chen Jiuxing's eyes lit up, he had a plan.

  Ran into the house and rummaged through the drawers, found a colored paper, and somehow got a rusty scissors.

  All I saw was Chen Jiu's delicate palm lightly cutting and shaping, and in no time, two or three paper men were already taking shape.

  Put down the scissors, Chen Jiu lightly threw the big man towards the distant courtyard. A puff of smoke flashed by, and three big men who looked silly appeared inside the courtyard.

  The three big men wore leather jackets, exactly like the paper cutouts.

  The three big men who had seen their master actually saluted Chen Jiuzhou in unison.

  Chen Jiuyin's mouth corners revealed a hint of a smile: "This magic is really good, it seems that the application of Fu Seal Technique has only scratched the surface for me."

  After finishing speaking, the three big men walked into the yard without a word and started weeding with a rustling sound.

  Walking quietly into the medicinal herb planting area, although it's a cold winter, the herbs are still lush and green like spring, tender and vibrant.

  On the edge of the medicine field, there was a rather strange-looking talisman that emitted heat like an oven, directly changing the temperature of this small area.

  He changed into casual clothes and went up to the rooftop of the courtyard, where he drank wine under the moonlight.

  The three big men were indeed fast, and soon the yard was almost cleaned up. They walked into the house and started a new round of cleaning.

  "One literary and one martial, with a clear path" Chen Jiuxin picked up his peach wood sword and examined it under the lamp at night.

  Walking into the courtyard at night, dancing alone, as if there is a hint of elegance, some momentum, unfortunately, in this remote place, it's hard to find a good teacher, a master of swordsmanship.

  However, the commotion in Chen Jiu's courtyard shocked the old Wang family next door. Chen Jiu had disappeared for several months, and Old Wang even thought he had been deceived.

  But the matter of buying a peach branch for 100 taels of silver, Old Wang would not dare to mention it, and even if he did, there's no way to condemn him. If the villagers found out, they'd scold him to death! A small peach branch, you actually sold it for such an exorbitant price, this is a rural village, how dare you cheat people like that?

  I originally wanted to eat this dumb loss, but unexpectedly after a few months, the guy next door actually came back again.

  The knocking sound of "bang bang bang" woke Chen Jiu up from his sword dance state.

  Open the door, it was actually Old Wang's old face that was about to enter the coffin: "Old man, what are you doing here at this late hour?"

  Old Wang showed a tooth: "You haven't been seen for so many days, I was worried about you."

  Chen Jiurang stepped aside: "Come in quickly, come in quickly".

  As Chen Jiu slowly moved into the courtyard and sat on the stone pedestal: "Little wine, where have you been these days?"

  Chen Ji poured out a jug of wine for the two of them: "I've been busy with some things recently."

  Old Wang looked at the wine and said: "You're indeed known for your love of wine, you can't be happy without it. Look at me, I'm almost ready to enter my coffin, can I still drink?"

  Chen Jiuyi was stunned and then shook his head without saying a word.

  Old Wang looked at those busy figures coming and going: "What kind of people are these?"

  Chen Jiuyi was stunned, never expecting this old man to be so gossipy: "This is a servant I recently hired."

  The old man's eyes lit up: "Oh, you've recently come into some wealth, haven't you? You should be paying back that 100 taels of silver now."

  At this point, these originally dull eyes were unusually bright under the light.

  Chen Jiuyin heard this and muttered to himself: "So it's all because of that hundred taels of silver".

  As it turns out, Chen Jiu still doesn't have much money on him nowadays.

  "Old man, give me two days for this matter, I really don't have any money on me."

  "No money, no money, how can you afford to hire a servant?"

  The old man's voice was agitated, and Chen Jiu didn't dare to argue with him. If the old man got too excited and fell over dead, it would be a waste for him to go see Buddha just like that.

  "Alright, I'll send the money over with Old Nine tomorrow, okay?" Chen Jiu said with a hint of a smile.

  The old man thought for a moment: "Alright, let's settle it then, tomorrow".

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.

  Chen Jiu watched as the old man walked away, speechless for a long time. He's almost dead and still so greedy for wealth, this person is something else.

  Back home, Old Wang's son and daughter-in-law were sitting in the house. His son was not young either, almost forty years old, this is truly a late arrival of a child, even a bit too late, really don't know if this little Wang is indeed Old Wang's biological child.

  "Dad, where have you gone?"

  Looking at Little Wang, Old Master's mouth corner revealed a smile: "I'll prepare a family business for you, go to the door and watch, don't let that kid Chen Jiu run away".

  "Ah!" Old Wang's son was taken aback.

  "Dad, it's so late, why don't you go to sleep instead of going to see him?" said Old Wang's daughter-in-law.

  The old man suddenly became unhappy: "I told you to go, so just go, there's a reason for it."

  The couple did not dare to retort and could only murmur as they walked towards the gate.

  Chen Jiuzi naturally didn't know what the family next door was thinking, and he fell asleep in his clothes, rarely having a chance to cultivate again.

  The divine seed of the inner chamber had already condensed into a solid, with mysterious silk threads and patterns on its surface that echoed each other, filled with all kinds of heavenly secrets and great principles. Unfortunately, Chen Jiu's cultivation was too low, and he couldn't comprehend anything at all.

  It was dawn, and after burning those three paper men, I was about to go to Chen Zhong's house to borrow some money. However, as soon as I got out of bed, I heard a series of knocks on the door.

  Chen Ji shook his head: "This old man won't really be blinded by money, will he?"

  But soon, Chen Jiu was surprised. After opening the door, it wasn't what he had imagined, but rather his long-unseen fat friend.

  "How is it you?" Chen Jiu exclaimed in surprise, looking at the fat man dressed in silk and satin.

  Fatso looked at Chen Jiu in surprise: "Why can't it be me? You're always nowhere to be seen, and your skin has become much smoother, like a young lady."

  Chen Ji shook his head and let Pangzi in, recounting what had happened last night.

  The fatty said with a hint of curiosity: "This old man is really... um... hmm, can't find the right words after searching for half a day."

  Chen Jiudao said: "How, looking at you now with a radiant complexion, you're doing quite well, aren't you?"

  Chubby rubbed his hands together: "Made a little money, no big deal".

  Chen Ji shook his head: "Hey, you'll leave me a hundred taels of silver to pay off Old Wang's account."

  Fatso didn't say much, and directly rummaged through his chest, pulling out a silver note: "Exactly one hundred taels".

  "I'll head home first, it's been a long time since I've been back. Just now, I saw footprints at your door and guessed you were back. I'll come find you tonight."

  After hearing this, Chen Jiu knew that this dead pig was from the county town.

  "Go, come back tonight, I'll get rid of Old Wang first."

  Time flies quickly. When giving old Wang the silver note, Chen Ji saw that seemingly second spring-like old face and felt a chill; this guy will definitely become a greedy ghost after he dies.

  Just then, the gate was kicked open with a "bang", and in came that fat guy, holding a wine jar in his arms and carrying a large package of dishes: "I'm exhausted to death".

  Chen Jiu cried with a sad face: "You kicked my door broken, you must compensate me, I am a poor man, I can't afford to repair it myself".

  Fatso shook his head: "I'm with you now, I don't care about that little money".

  Yu Hua had just ascended, the moon rabbit was dancing, Chen Jiu and Pangzi were already drunk: "Hey, I'm telling you, Ninth Brother, haven't you reached this point yet? It's already dark, why haven't you lit the candles?"

  "Unappreciative of elegance, this monthly wine drinking is such a tasteful thing." Chen Jiu said discontentedly.

  Fatso shook his head: "It's pitch black, even the moon can't be seen clearly, what's there to see?"

  Chen Jiuxi smiled and said: "You watch closely".

  He picked up the leftover stickers from yesterday, cut them into a circular shape, and hung them in the air. To his surprise, they emitted a brilliant light, illuminating the entire courtyard, as if it were a second moon in the mortal world.

  Fatso was already sober at this time: "How did an extra moon appear".

  Chen Jiulang burst out laughing: "You're not complaining that the moon isn't clear enough, but now I've plucked it down for you."

  After finishing speaking, looking at the fat boy's dull eyes, he smiled smugly.