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Chapter 48 - An old friend in previous life
Chapter 48 - An old friend in previous life
Chapter 48 An old friend in previous life
Holding a shabby horsetail whisk, an old man dressed in Taoist robe came from outside and stepped towards He Danggui, yelling at her excitedly, “So, I guess you are a begonia fairy attending the Queen of Fairyland. You visit the earth to have a reincarnation and get through difficulties! Girl, I’m willing to help you get back to the fairyland and become a fairy again at the cost of losing a decade of life and being struck by lightning for revealing the secrets. You just need to give me a free lunch. After all, you couldn’t finish your meals.” The old man said in an oily and weird tone, making people laugh.
He Danggui looked up at the old man suddenly and stared at him in surprise, with her chopsticks falling on the table.
With an ordinary feature, this old Taoist priest had grey hair sparser than his horsetail whisk and was totally different from Taoist priests whose behaviors like immortals. However, his eyes were flexible, with which he looked He Danggui up and down.
He Danggui also looked at him. He dressed like a phony with a signboard writing “Face To Fate”. On the lower part of the signboard, there was a price list for divination at small seal script: 3000 qian for geomantic structure of household; 5000 qian for geomantic tomb; 6000 qian for good fortune in making money; 8000 qian for good luck in dating (negotiable price for curing impotence with traditional secret recipe); negotiable price for changing your fate with Ziwei Star…
Zhen Jing looked at the old Taoist priest with concern and advised, “Grand old man, Xiaoyi will come back to the fairyland one day since she is powerful. Don’t reveal secrets! We will feel guilty if you lose your life.”
Waving his towel, the waiter of the restaurant came and yelled just as he was driving out those flies, “Get out of here right now! Monk, Taoist priest and beggar are not allowed here. You are both a Taoist priest and a beggar. How dare you come in? There are 20 skilled housekeepers in our Qunxianlou Restaurant! Do you want to play with them?”
Touching his nose sadly, the Taoist priest glanced at the meals and then left with reluctance.
“Please hold on, Priest!” He Danggui stood up quickly and grinned, “Your behaviors like that of immortals. And I admire your good personality. So, I wonder if you want to have a drink with me?”
Both the Taoist priest and the waiter were amazed. The waiter thought, “What’s the hell! Is he like an immortal? Even I will be more fit than him if I put the Taoist robe on.”
Although the Taoist priest was shocked at her invitation, he didn’t feel happy but a little hesitating. On the one hand, he doubted about this beauty whose bright eyes were gazing at his face, which let him be unsure of his disguise skill. On the other hand, he was an alcoholic. And he didn’t want to leave after hearing her invitation.
It seemed that He Danggui could know the minds of the Taoist priest since she said, “Waiter, two jars of aged Zhuyeqing Wine and some appetizers. And I heard that the Liquor-Soaked Crabs are the specialty of your restaurant. Give us several fat crabs.”
The waiter took the order with astonishment. These days just kept getting weirder. Why was this lovely beauty attracted by a poor old Taoist priest? It was amazing!
However, the rich people were masters. The waiter ran back with two jars of aged wine in his arms immediately. Full of warm smile on face, he poured a bowl of wine for the Taoist priest, as if it wasn’t him who just drove the Taoist priest away.
The Taoist priest drunk it up, and the waiter filled up. He drunk it up again, and the waiter filled up again. After ten times of these actions, a wine jar was empty. The waiter and Zhen Jing looked at the Taoist priest in surprise. They didn’t expect that he was such a good drinker.
He Danggui said with a smile, “Priest, you are good at drinking, and I admire you! Waiter, give us more jars of wine and see whether the Liquor-Soaked Crabs are ready.” The waiter responded and left.
The Taoist priest was uncomfortable at He Danggui’s enthusiastic eyes. He coughed twice and pulled the Roast Duck beside Zhen Jing. Then he devoured it in the rudest way deliberately, wanting to make the two girls hate him and drive him away. As he expected…
“Waiter!” He Danggui turned her head and shouted. The Taoist priest laughed and thought, “Do you want to ask the waiter to drive me away?” However, He Danggui put up two fingers and said to the waiter smilingly, “Please give me another plate of Roast Duck. Looking at the sweet taste of the Taoist priest, I have an appetite.” The Taoist priest’s movements were frozen. He was shocked, “What? Is my universal method useless to her?”
Seeing that the Taoist priest stopped eating, He Danggui asked smilingly, “Priest, why don’t you eat more? Isn’t the dish fit for your taste? Just say what you want. You don’t need to be polite.”
The Taoist priest replied embarrassedly, “Girl, you are so kind to me, so I can’t cheat you anymore. In fact, I am a charlatan! I have no ability. I just said that you are a fairy. That’s a lie. I’m sorry for you. Let the waiter beat me out. I’m an old charlatan!”
Zhen Jing was very surprised, but He Danggui still smiled, “We are the same. In fact, the compliments just for you were against my will. However, there are so many meals on our table and we can’t finish them. I just want to ask someone to help me eat them. Priest, you are here. Isn’t that fate? Since you and me are predestined to meet, don’t bother with these trifles. Priest, please relax. Eat and drink well.”
Was cheating a trifle? The Taoist priest touched his nose and said, “In fact, I saw that you are a lady of a rich family, so I wanted to cheat you to achieve my filthy purposes finally. Now that I know I’m wrong, I beg you to let me go. Don’t send me to the official. Let me go, please!”
He Danggui’s hand was held by Zhen Jing under the table. However, she still smiled and said with tolerance, “Everyone may have faults. It’s good to correct your faults. It’s precious that you can realize your errors and mend your way. You should drink a large bowl of wine. I’ll do it first. Priest, please!”
The Taoist priest waved his hands and said bitterly, “Girl, I’m drunk and full. I really want to go. Please let me go!”
“Then we won’t hold you back. You can go if you want!” Zhen Jing nodded and said.
The Taoist priest looked at He Danggui with a sad face and asked, “Girl, do you know kung fu? Just after I sat down, I felt that something hit my Zusanli acupoint on the leg. Then when I wanted to get up, I found that my lower half body couldn’t move. Excuse me, girl. Are you going to send me to the official? I beg you! Although I have bad intentions, I don’t cause any actual damage to you!”
He Danggui bent over the desk surprisingly. She took a glance at legs of the Taoist priest and stared at his face, “Really? You can’t move now?”
The Taoist priest was so scared. He looked at He Danggui’s innocent face in horror. He Danggui said, “This is the first time that I have poked the acupoint. Please forgive me if I do something wrong, because I’m a green hand. As for relieving the acupoint, I haven’t learned. But I once heard that without considering the level of finger technique, the more internal force you have, the better effect will be. To be honest, I always want to find a person who knows about internal energy or Qigong and have the ability to get rid of the poking but is weaker than me to test whether my kung fu of poking the acupoint is effectual. Unexpectedly, I did it successfully at the first time. That’s wonderful!”
The Taoist priest cried out on his real face under the mask. Was the girl an evil?
He Danggui suggested heartily, “Priest, it’s too boring that we just eat. How about playing an interesting game? We can not only enliven the atmosphere, but also commemorate our first meeting. What do you think?” Before the Taoist priest could say anything, she continued, “Don’t be shy. If you don’t say anything, I will regard your silence as the agreement.”
The Taoist priest’s heart was trembling. Then the girl started to explain the rules of the game using her elegant sound.
“In fact, I am very interested in you, from your head to toe and inner to outer. I have thought to keep you here and observe you. But you are a person, how can I limit your freedom? That’s too bad for you! Now, you have some ways to get free. You can choose one way to go out from the door through which you just walked in. First, take your mask off and yell ‘I am the killer’. Second, take off your coat and let the customers and me have a look. Third, I obtained a new medicine recently, and I wanted someone to have a try. You look like a perfect person and I want you to help me. Certainly, I am easy to be persuaded. So, if you can’t accept these three ways, just get down on your knees and kowtow three times in front of me, taking me as your Master. If you choose this way, I will also let you go.”
The Taoist priest kept silent angrily. He was sure that this girl not only knew his identity, but probably knew his secret! But it was impossible since except his departed Master, no one could know his secret in the world!
He Danggui scratched her eyelids casually and said kindly, “Don’t be anxious, Priest. I will give you 30 minutes to consider. During this period of time, if you can relieve the acupoint by yourself, you can go. But if you can’t relieve the acupoint and don’t make a choice finally, I will help you.”
When she was talking, the waiter served Roast Suzhou Duck and Liquor-Soaked Crabs affably, “You both have such a good conversation. Your dishes are here. Please enjoy your meal.”
He Danggui smiled and nodded, “Yes, the Taoist priest is an able man and also a wise man. I admire him very much.”
In fact, the Taoist priest in front of her was an acquaintance of her in previous life, Taoist Sage Bai Yangbai, Lord Ning Zhu Quan’s Master. Both Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and lots of powerful officials wanted to invite him. All people said that he had great power and could know the past, the present and the future. He also could change people’s fates and assist the country in keeping good fortune.