Chapter 85 Dead Man
Picking up the gourd, Li Daoxuan pulled his hat and fixed his eyes on the gourd.

This gourd is magical. It is so small but has fine carvings. It looks shabby, but its quality is excellent.

Li Daoxuan weighed it in his hand and felt that the wine gourd was quite heavy. He opened the gourd and poured out the wine, but only black mud flowed out, mixed with a fishy smell.

Shake it gently, and soon three round pebbles will pour out.

The pebbles were as smooth as a mirror, and felt round in the hand. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that there were human faces on each of the pebbles. However, the faces had their eyes closed and their lips pursed, looking lifeless.

"This is..." Li Daoxuan looked at the pebble in his hand. Even though he had seen some strange things, he had only just begun to understand it, and he had no idea what it was. It felt somewhat warm in his hand, as soft as a piece of Hetian jade.

After looking at it for a while, I couldn't figure out what it was. But after all, this thing was pressed at the bottom of the gourd, and the gourd was something left by the old drunkard. So it must not be an ordinary thing, and perhaps it has some connection with the old drunkard.

Let's keep it for now and talk about it later, Li Daoxuan thought.

He put away the gourd and pebbles and looked around. The thick white fog had dissipated, leaving only the drizzle.

Li Daoxuan walked towards Grandma Zhang, stepping on the puddles. He walked through the quiet streets and looked at the eaves that had been left with traces of time. These buildings, which were considered ancient monuments in later times, might all be destroyed in future wars.

In front of a house, there are two big red lanterns at the door.

As he walked past the door, the gate of the yard opened quietly.

Li Daoxuan turned his head and saw a white-haired old lady hunched over, holding a cane and looking at him.

The old lady had a kind face and a gentle smile between her eyebrows.

She nodded to Li Daoxuan and put away the small table at the door.

She was just an ordinary old lady, so Li Daoxuan didn't pay much attention to her. He nodded in return and walked forward in the rain without stopping.

The old lady walked to the door with a small table in her hand, and watched Li Daoxuan leave with squinted eyes.

Her back slowly straightened, with a different look in her eyes.

"The rain is getting heavier. Alas, I'm old and useless." The old lady muttered to herself, and after moving in the small table, she closed the door tightly.

The two stone lions at the door looked even more majestic and terrifying under the reflection of the big red lanterns.

……

Grandma Zhang was preparing meals for the family in the kitchen. She sat beside the stove, lighting the fire, staring at the flames burning in the stove with lifeless eyes.

She tends to be dazed these days, and feels inexplicably drained of energy.

Before, she thought she was tired because of the hard work during the New Year. But after experiencing various things in the past two days, she had more thoughts and panic in her heart, and even dared not to see her son and daughter-in-law.

Thick smoke was coming out of the big pot, and from time to time, the laughter of the son and daughter-in-law could be heard outside. In the past, Granny Zhang would have been very pleased. After all, the couple treated each other with respect and lived in harmony, which was what she wanted to see most.

But to this day, she still hopes that her son can stay away from his daughter-in-law and this evil monster.

But how can I tell him? Will he believe it?

Granny Zhang felt uneasy when she thought of her son's panic-stricken look after being bewitched by the evil spirit.

After thinking it over, I can only wait for an expert to come and take a look.

As I was thinking blankly, I heard a knock on the door outside the yard.

"Mom, there's a guest knocking on the door." The son called out and walked out of the room and was about to open the door in the yard.

Granny Zhang suddenly thought of something and quickly got up and walked out.

"Mother knows. You go back to your room and rest. I'll go see who's here." Grandma Zhang consoled. The young man nodded, turned around and went back into the house.

Just as the sounds of laughter and joy were heard, Grandma Zhang opened the gate of the yard.

The person he saw was Li Daoxuan, who was wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat. He looked up and stared at Granny Zhang. Granny Zhang raised her finger to silence him and pointed to the house. Li Daoxuan naturally understood what she meant, nodded and walked into the Zhang family's yard.

The yard is not big, and the gate faces west. Looking inside the gate, you can see an old poplar tree in the yard.

Entering the courtyard, there is a water tank in the southwest and northeast corners of the courtyard. The water tank in the southwest corner is next to the chicken shed and the firewood pile. In the chicken shed are some hens for laying eggs.

The three houses to the right are arranged from east to west, all facing north and south. The easternmost one is the hall, and the two to the west are living rooms.

It can be seen that although the Zhang family is not a wealthy family, they can live in Jinling City and have such a courtyard, so they can be considered a wealthy peasant family.

But looking at its Feng Shui, the house on the west side is higher than the others, the main hall is under the Green Dragon, and the whole house looks like a White Tiger poking its head out.

If it weren't for the screen in front of the hall, it would be okay. Unfortunately, the screen cut off the wind in the hall and intercepted the luck of the Azure Dragon. I'm afraid no matter how hard they try, they can't stop the house from falling into decline year after year.

Looking at the west wall again, the kitchen is mostly located on the Dui position. The stove fire overcomes metal, which is not good for the women in the family. There is even an old poplar tree planted in the yard, which makes the yin more dominant and the yang weaker.

As the saying goes, poplar is one of the five yin trees, the other four being locust, mulberry, willow and pine. As the saying goes, "Don't plant mulberry trees in front of your house, don't plant willow trees behind you, and don't plant trees in front of your door, otherwise ghosts will clap their hands." The "ghosts clap their hands" here refers to poplar trees. There is only one bare poplar tree planted in the whole yard, and it happens to be facing the door of the hall, which really makes the whole house look rundown.

Li Daoxuan listened to the laughter in the room and felt that the woman's laughter was particularly abrupt. He lowered his head and asked softly, "Is this woman the mother-in-law's daughter-in-law?"

"That's right. Young master, you should sit in the hall. I'll trick the young couple into going out for a while." After saying this, Granny Zhang led Li Daoxuan into the living room, made him some tea and served him some fruits, then went out and went to the bedroom.

Li Daoxuan sat in the hall, listening to Grandma Zhang's voice.

"We have a distinguished guest at home. You two should go to Yuzhenlou to buy some delicious food and bring back some wine. Don't let the guest think that we are neglecting him..."

"Mom, a distinguished guest is here? What kind of distinguished guest could there be in our house?"

"Don't say anything more. Go buy it. You will see it when you come back."

"Okay, Mom, let's go buy it now."

There was a sound of a door being pushed open, and a rush of footsteps. I only heard the gate of the yard open, and then close.

After the couple had gone far away, Granny Zhang walked into the hall.

Granny Zhang bowed to Li Daoxuan and said, "Young Master, I have so much kindness that I cannot repay you for."

"Don't say that. Since I have agreed, I will definitely help you to the end. Please tell me the origin of this daughter-in-law and her birth date. Then give me your son's birth date."

"Okay." Granny Zhang nodded and sat down next to Li Daoxuan.

Then he told the story of his daughter-in-law.

It turned out that this daughter-in-law was married to Zhang's son from outside the city and brought to Jinling.

The young man from the Zhang family was going to take the imperial examination, but he met a beautiful girl on the way. The girl invited him to her home, and they went to the outskirts of Jinling.

The girl's family was quite wealthy, and her father-in-law was attracted by the young man from the Zhang family because he was handsome and had studied at the university, so he married his daughter to him.

It’s strange to say, who would be so anxious to marry off their daughter?

But Granny Zhang knew her family was in such a bad situation. Although her son was a student, he was not sure whether he could pass the examination. Not to mention the title of first place, even getting a scholar was not easy. She thought that such a wealthy family had taken a fancy to her son, and the young man of the Zhang family was already obsessed with the girl. As the son grew up, he was no longer under the control of his mother, so Granny Zhang did not think about it anymore.

"It's just that the time of the wedding is a little strange. The in-laws said that their daughter has been afraid of light since she was a child, so she doesn't want to leave home during the day. We can only pick her up at 15:00 pm with a sedan chair. His family is willing to give a generous dowry. As a woman, I didn't think much about it. I thought that our Zhang family was taking advantage of this, so I agreed."

As Granny Zhang spoke, she took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears.

"Who knew it would be like this, that this daughter-in-law is actually an evil spirit. If I had known this, I would never have agreed to this marriage."

"Don't panic, mother-in-law. Please tell me your birth dates." Li Daoxuan consoled her and got the birth dates of the man and woman from Mother-in-law Zhang.

He took out the Bagua mirror and calculated carefully, and found something strange in it.

"Granny Zhang, your daughter-in-law is a dead person." Li Daoxuan's words made Granny Zhang's face change!
(End of this chapter)