dmims Chapter 80: 3 Bringing Back the Living
Chapter 80: 3 Bringing Back the Living
As Tieguai Li sealed the copper buckle into the oiled paper, there was another muffled sound from the wellhead in the courtyard.
The red thread draped over the outside of the oil paper package, half of the thread was wet. Master Ma did not let the copper buckle go into the secret compartment of the bookcase, but only instructed Tieguai Li to put it in the old wooden box on the east wall of the main room, far away from Zhenhai Iron and far away from the well.
Wang Haiqing came and went, leaving behind a small white box which was placed in the center of the octagonal table before he left.
The box was blindingly white, with the original copper foil sandwiched between two layers of thin cotton paper. Next to it was an ashtray that Cheng Xiaojin had brought back from Liulichang. The copper clasp was wrapped separately and placed three feet away from the corner of the table.
Tang Wanqing looked at the small white box. "The copper film has been opened once, and the energy has already been awakened. If you shine a strong light on it again, the patterns will become messed up."
Tieguai Li asked, "Then how do we interpret this? Wang Haiqing wants both sides to come and see tomorrow morning. If we don't understand tonight, then tomorrow Boss Lin will be sitting there. Are we going to be able to sit on the table and guess the riddle?"
Master Ma rubbed the rim of the teacup with the lid.
Hey~
The people inside the room stopped talking.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xiaojin turned to look at Master Ma.
"What kind of approach are you taking, sir? It sounds like you're judging a case."
Master Ma said, "It's a case to be judged."
"Who should be sentenced?"
"You are sentenced."
Cheng Xiaojin's smile faded slightly. "Did I break the law?"
Zhou Banxian tightened the lid of the wine pot. "Little Jinzi, if you really live a bit longer, you won't be under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice department. From now on, anyone who wants to open the gates of the underworld will have to come to you first."
Cheng Xiaojin reached for a cigarette, but just as his hand slipped out of his sleeve, Tong Kexin grabbed his wrist.
"Don't touch me."
"I touch cigarettes, not copper."
"The cigarettes are old stuff too. Your dad's ashtray is right on the table. Don't bother it."
Cheng Xiaojin withdrew his hand. "Fine, I'll listen to the boss's wife today and quit smoking for half the night."
Tang Wanqing pushed the small white box in front of Tieguai Li, "Don't remove all the white cotton paper, it's not good for the copper film to be exposed to the wind for too long."
Tieguai Li used tweezers to pry open a corner, "The words are too faint, the light shines through and they're all gone."
"Bring the tea."
Cheng Xiaojin suddenly spoke.
Master Ma looked up. "My tea?"
"Your tea is dark in color, it's been steeping for three days. If you use it as a paper mat, it will bring out the shading."
After Cheng Xiaojin finished speaking, he added another sentence.
"Mainly, I also want to find something productive for it to do, so it doesn't get grumpy from being in the tank all the time."
Aunt Zhang coughed in the west wing and called out through the door, "The teapot is on the table, don't waste good tea leaves."
Cheng Xiaojin replied loudly, "Don't worry, Aunt Zhang, Master Ma drinks like a maniac; he won't waste a second time."
Master Ma paused for a moment while holding the cylinder cap.
"Say that again, you little brat?"
"Enough talk, let's get to work."
Tong Kexin took a small porcelain dish and poured half a dish of tea.
Tieguai Li dipped a piece of white paper in tea, placed it over a fire until it was half-dry, and the paper turned an old yellow color before sticking it under the copper foil.
Tang Wanqing frowned. "Tea is yin in nature, so don't stick too close."
So it's half-dry.
Cheng Xiaojin stared at the table.
"My grandfather used to look at rubbings. If he couldn't see clearly, he would use a tea mat. It's an old craft. It's not valuable, but it works."
Tieguai Li moved the copper foil and cotton paper up, causing the lights in the room to dim.
The brown color seeped up from under the copper film, and the water ripples and hidden marks began to emerge.
Tieguai Li used tweezers to press down on the edge of the copper film, while the handle of the clock gently touched the cotton paper.
"The first half of the sentence is here: 'Three lines return to the ruler, the ruler returns to...'"
Cheng Xiaojin continued, "A living person."
The well in the yard made a gurgling sound.
Tieguai Li didn't look up; his hand was still pressing on the copper membrane.
"There's more to come."
He lowered the wick.
"If the living do not move, the gates of the underworld will not open."
There was silence inside the room.
Tang Wanqing's compass needle slowly veered, past the copper membrane, past the ashtray, and finally touched Cheng Xiaojin's chest.
Tong Kexin tightened her grip on Cheng Xiaojin's shoulder.
Cheng Xiaojin looked down at his chest. "Don't all look at me. So I became Yao Guangxiao's access card and haven't paid my property management fees yet?"
Tieguai Li said, "Look at the back now."
Tang Wanqing immediately stopped her, "The copper foil is too thin, what if we break it?"
Tieguai Li said, "It's fine if you don't turn it over; the brown color shows through the bottom and you can see the reverse pattern."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at him, "Brother Li, are you sure you can handle this?"
Tieguai Li glared at him, "A man shouldn't ask that."
"Okay, then slow down, don't peel the things my dad left behind into garlic peels."
Tieguai Li changed to a thinner needle, not touching the copper film, but only stirring the half-dry tea paper underneath. The paper was moved aside slightly, and the fine lines pressed against the copper film were revealed, the characters were smaller than those on the front.
Tang Wanqing moved the compass outwards, pressing the copper coin against the corner of the table.
Cheng Xiaojin couldn't see clearly, but her eyes started to sting.
That cold, ashen smell pressed against my chest again.
He didn't touch the copper foil or the ashtray, but the lingering smell from them knew its way and crept into him through the damp chill of the room.
Tong Kexin noticed that his shoulders were cold, so she took off her coat and draped it over his back.
Cheng Xiaojin tilted her head. "Aren't you cold?"
"I'm more like a living person than you."
"That hurt my pride."
"You have to have self-respect while you're alive."
Tieguai Li murmured, "If you're going to kill a living person, knock on the door from the inside."
Zhou Banxian shoved the wine jug into his robes and said, "It's over."
"The rubbing paper says 'Seventh, cannot be measured,' for if it is, the door will close upside down."
Zhou Banxian swallowed.
"The copper foil says 'If a living person can be measured,' and the door is locked from the inside. Put them together and it says, 'The seventh thing cannot be measured, and you cannot be measured either.'"
Tang Wanqing said, "Tonight, Boss Lin will ask you to give him your location and have the nose scar use a ruler to check the aura. If you give him your true location, the aura will recognize you. But if he asks you to use a ruler again, his genitals will be turned inside out."
Tieguai Li cursed, "That bastard wants to use Xiao Jin as a living ruler?"
Master Ma raised his eyes. "It doesn't matter how much Boss Lin knows."
Cheng Xiaojin smiled. "Yes, he has people, a ruler, and a guide. As long as he knows I'm useful, that's enough."
Tang Wanqing looked at the compass. "Now, not only Boss Lin, but Liu Bairuo will also come looking for you if she finds out."
Zhou Banxian said, "The one surnamed Liu is in charge of the seventh position. He's a living person who manages the opening and closing. If we really get a table full of people, even Yao Guangxiao will have to get up and collect the entrance fee."
Cheng Xiaojin raised his hand to touch behind his ear. "So, the 'living person' refers to me?"
Zhou Banxian rubbed the bottom of his wine jug against his shoe. "In the eleven-joint diagram, the missing vital point is on the person. The compass pointed to you, and the copper membrane recognizes your ashtray..."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at Master Ma, and Master Ma's teacup lid clicked again.
"I'll leave you an ashtray, I'll leave you half a sheet of paper, I'll hide the copper foil in the ouroboros ruler, and in the end, it will all come back to you."
A soft creaking came from Aunt Zhang's room; it sounded like someone had turned over.
Tong Kexin glanced towards the west wing. "Is Aunt Zhang alright?"
Master Ma said, "She's a light sleeper, it's alright."
Tang Wanqing closed the copper foil again. "We can't watch it anymore tonight; the door's already showing signs of life."
A little dampness seeped from the edge of the small white box, and the white cotton paper slowly became wet around the edge.
Cheng Xiaojin pushed the Qianlong Tongbao coin over, but didn't touch the copper foil through his sleeve.
"Suppress it first."
Tang Wanqing wrapped the box three times with red thread. "When I give it to Glasses King tomorrow, I tell him not to open it again. If Boss Lin wants to see it, he can only see the calligraphy."
Tieguai Li asked, "Which lines should we imitate?"
Cheng Xiaojin said: "The three guides return to the ruler, the ruler returns to the living person, the living person does not move, the Yin Gate does not open, if the living person measures, the gate will be locked backwards."
On the diagram of the nine stakes, next to the seventh stake, there is a pencil mark written by Cheng Yannian indicating that this stake has been moved.
The new spot at Suolongjing is circled, and next to it is a door-shaped pinhole traced on half a sheet of rubbing paper.
The last live point was empty, neither landing nor having a location; it was simply circled in light ink in the lower center of the nine-point diagram.
Tang Wanqing moved the compass over, and the needle tilted towards Cheng Xiaojin again.
Tieguai Li was terrified. "Does this thing chase people?"
Cheng Xiaojin looked up at the well opening; the yellow paper in the courtyard was wet again.
He said in a low voice, "It's okay to acknowledge kinship, but don't try to claim kinship with me randomly. I, Cheng Xiaojin, have been poor all my life, but I've never been a son of the Yin Gate."
Master Ma closed the nine-post map.
"From now on, you are not allowed to go out alone."
Cheng Xiaojin asked, "Going to the toilet?"
Tong Kexin chimed in, "I'll stand guard outside the door."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at her and said, "Boss lady, there's a difference between men and women."
"You're not qualified to be concerned with that now."
Zhou Banxian chuckled softly, but halfway through his laughter, he heard a gurgling sound from the well in the courtyard.
This time it's even heavier.
The lamp wick in the main room shrank downwards, and gray water seeped from the outer layer of the small white box on the table.
The grey water didn't flow erratically; it arranged itself in a half-vertical hook around the edge of the box.
Cheng Xiaojin felt a tightness in his chest, and the ashtray felt cold in his arms.
Tang Wanqing picked up the compass, "Wellhead."
Master Ma stood up. "Don't get them wet."
Tieguai Li picked up the copper box, wrapped it in red cloth, and stuffed it into the wooden box that Master Ma handed him.
Tong Kexin tugged at Cheng Xiaojin's sleeve, "You go to the back."
Cheng Xiaojin looked at the well in the yard, still making sarcastic remarks.
"Alright, I'm of high status today, so I'll be the grand finale."
The muffled thuds from the bottom of the well had traveled along the blue bricks to the threshold of the main room.
In the west wing, the lid of the thermos made a soft click.