Chapter 243 Broken Shoes on the Bridge
“Either go up to the altar and cross the bridge, or walk down below, carry people on your back, and secretly find a boat to sail across!”
Hu Ma also roughly understood the situation clearly, so she glanced at the teahouse, walked back silently, and discussed with Aunt Zhang.
Aunt Zhang was squatting by the bridge, silently looking at the water, and whispered: "They all said there was something on the bridge? But I saw that the bridge was clean."
"Um?"
Hu Ma followed her gaze and looked forward, and saw her throwing a copper bridge under the bridge.
That copper coin had been used by an unknown number of people, and it was stained with popularity, but it was made of copper after all. When it fell into the water, it slowly sank to the bottom. The blue-green river water soon submerged the copper coin. Look. Gone.
“If there is something on the river, the copper coins will not sink to the bottom.”
Aunt Zhang said in a low voice: "But this bridge clearly looks clean."
Hearing this, Hu Ma's heart sank slightly, and she raised her head and looked forward.
I saw that this stone building was ordinary, with only stone piers and long strips of bluestone paved across the river. It was more than ten feet wide and ten feet long, with low rope railings on both sides.
In fact, the bridge is not too long, but under the mist transpiration on the river, it has a sense of vastness. People's sight is halfway blocked by the water vapor, and there is a hint of mystery and weirdness.
“If there's nothing on the bridge, why don't we just go over there?”
Hu Ma thought for a moment and whispered: "But since there are people blocking the road to sell offerings, I guess it won't be easy to get through."
“With these people guarding the bridge, even if there is nothing on the bridge, it will not be so easy to cross.”
Aunt Zhang also looked at the bridge. After a long time, she slowly shook her head and whispered: "It's just that, boss, we can't think of talking too much at the moment. We can only follow the rules."
“We are here to support the souls and return home. We can walk without going into the mountains, cross bridges without taking boats, and stay in wild shops without staying in inns.”
"When we get down there to find a boat to cross the river, people may not mind us carrying the coffin and won't let us get on the boat. Besides, when we get to the water, if we really encounter trouble, no matter how capable we are, our lives are also being taken care of, so it's better to leave. On the bridge, it's more practical.”
“Then just listen to Auntie.”
I heard that Agu Zhang was a little confused, but Hu Ma agreed directly.
If you walk on the bridge, it's nothing more than adding an offering. It doesn't hurt to be more careful when I come here this time.
So he let Aunt Zhang watch here first, while he returned to the carriage, and explained a few words to Butler Zhou in a low voice. He made these preparations and talked like that. After hearing this, Butler Zhou couldn't help but Somewhat embarrassing:
"Is this...isn't it too disrespectful to the lady?"
Hu Ma whispered: "Then do you want to be safe, or do you want to care about the relationship with your young lady?"
Steward Zhou figured it out at once. After all, he had said on the way here that he could not hide Hu Ma, and he had to listen when something happened.
He just paused for a moment, and suddenly he shouted loudly: "No, no, no."
This voice shouted out, and it suddenly attracted a lot of attention from the side.
Housekeeper Zhou angrily shouted to Hu Ma: "We can't take a boat under any circumstances. My wife has lived for more than seventy years and is naturally afraid of water. In the end, she fell into the river and drowned. Everyone was gone. Why?" We can't let her take a boat again, we definitely can't take a boat.”
“Cross the bridge, you must cross the bridge.”
“You go and make an offering to the bridge master. We beg you to go through the bridge!”
Hu Ma suddenly looked helpless and sighed: "Okay, listen to the master."
I secretly praised in my heart: You are indeed a good actor. You get into the act very quickly and your emotions are quite right...
He pretended to be helpless and returned to the shore. People waiting to cross the river heard the noise on the other side, and they were all curious to see how Hu Ma dealt with it.
Hu Ma had no choice but to bite the bullet and came to the teahouse. Looking at the ferocious men with unknown origins, he said with a smile: "You gentlemen, please be polite."
“We are accompanying the master to support his soul and return home. I want to cross the bridge. I don't know how to make an offering. Is there anything special about it?”
In the tea basket, a strong man listened and sneered: "Sir?"
“Then it's better than Xiao San Sheng. How can I support my ancestors at home, but now I can't support Master Qiao.”
The three small animals are chickens, fish, and pig heads.
The three major animals are pigs, cows, and sheep, which are already quite large offerings.
Hu Ma then looked embarrassed and said, "Then where can I buy it?"
The group of people sneered and took it out. They had already prepared it.
The chicken was cooked, the fish was also served on a plate, and the pig's head was even blackened on the surface. I don't know if it was recycled after being supplied, and the price was not cheap. How dare you sell such a thing to Hu Ma? I want three taels of silver.
It was obvious that they were all in the same group, so Hu Ma accepted the account, paid the silver, and came back with the offerings.
After giving it to Aunt Zhang, I called the old housekeeper and the handlebars to come over.
The old housekeeper nodded to Hu Ma, obviously ready. Aunt Zhang immediately made offerings at the bridge, lit incense, prayed silently, and burned some paper money.
The group of people got on the bridge, and the wheels of the cart made a creaking sound as they ran over the bluestone bridge.
It was safe at first, and I saw that halfway through, everything was calm. However, unexpectedly, as we were about to reach the other bank, suddenly, the wheels suddenly slipped and rushed towards the river next to us.
, the handlebars of the cart were startled, and the donkey who was pulling the cart could not be stopped even though he shouted "uh" and "uh".
Hu Ma hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the donkey cart, motionless as if roots were growing on the soles of his feet.
But he didn't know why, so he looked at Aunt Zhang and whispered: “Agu, what happened?”
“There is no evil on the bridge, but someone left something behind!”
Agu Zhang whispered, looking forward, her voice a little low.
Hu Ma followed her gaze and suddenly discovered that a pair of broken shoes were tied with silk thread to the pillars of the bridge ahead.
The shoes were in tatters and looked like they had been worn for several years. Several holes were exposed in them, but now they were tied to the bridge for no apparent reason.
“There are old shoes tied to the bridge, so it's strange that we can cross safely.”
Aunt Zhang whispered, "But I think someone tied these shoes specially. What does the shopkeeper think?"
Hu Ma was not in a hurry to answer, but just looked at the worn-out shoes. They looked ordinary, but looking at them actually made people feel like the world was spinning. The sound of the surrounding river water splashing could be heard very clearly, and the road under his feet seemed to change. It became a python, turning endlessly.
Looking forward, the bridge looked like noodles. They stood still, feeling unsteady. If they tried to continue walking forward, they would get dizzy, fearing that they would fall into the river.
“Something on this bridge is causing trouble…”
Hehbar Shi and the others were even more surprised. They didn't hear the conversation between Hu Ma and Agu Zhang, and for a moment they just felt that the bridge was extremely strange.
At this moment, Aunt Zhang, who was in front of her, had clearly seen the problem on the bridge, but suddenly said in a deep voice, "Master guarding the bridge, you asked for a sacrifice, and we have already given it to you!"
“Please be kind to me and let us pass!”
Everyone dared not make a sound and listened patiently, but no one on the bridge answered. There was no movement from the worn shoes, but they suddenly heard the sound of people behind them, and it was the murderers from the teahouse who rushed up.
They held knives and swords and sneered: "Master Qiao sees that your coffin is dirty and wants you to open it and take a look."
Aunt Zhang's face darkened, she shook her head and said, “What the master said is to force others to do something difficult.”
"Ghost walkers have their own rules. Since you have accepted this job of supporting souls, you must send people home smoothly. You are not allowed to open the coffin until you reach the grave. You have already received our offering, but you have gone back on your word and asked us to What's the point of opening the coffin for you to examine?"
The group of vicious men immediately sneered. On the other side of the bridge, someone noticed the movement and ran up to them, blocking them in the middle.
Someone said loudly: "The rules are the rules. Mr. Qiao will not make things difficult for others. If you open it and take a look, he will let you pass. If you don't want to open it, then go into the water!"
As they spoke these words, the bridge suddenly shook even more violently. Even the donkey knelt down and did not dare to move.
And the people running up from both ends of the bridge all looked murderous and not good-natured.
Aunt Zhang was obviously a little angry. She saw the problem, but the other party was obviously pretending to be stupid. Instead, he pressed forward step by step and insisted on opening the coffin.
“It's a good thing we didn't actually take the boat, otherwise wouldn't they have taken away all the coffins?”
Hu Ma also thought to himself, seeing that there were murderers running up in front and behind, blocking the way. If he took action on the bridge, he would not only have to deal with the things on the bridge, but also worry about the lives of other people, which might not be thorough enough.
He weighed it quickly and suddenly said loudly: "Agu, just show them..."
Aunt Zhang was slightly startled and turned her head to look over.
Hu Ma nodded to her and said, "It's better than falling into the river."
As he spoke, he tried to keep his body steady, walked towards the donkey cart, pushed the coffin lid hard and pulled it halfway open.
At both ends of the bridge, people running up were stretching their heads to come and take a look.
I looked into the coffin, but immediately covered my nose and cursed: "Bah, it all stinks."
“I've been dead for more than two months...”
Hu Ma said: "That's why we are rushing to send it home, but you... why do you insist that we open the coffin?"
“Go quickly, go quickly, it's not them!”
The murderers on the bridge stepped back more than ten feet and waved their hands vigorously.
When he looked again, the murderer on the opposite side was already cursing and walking back, and the bridge that looked very weird just now was completely normal now.
Even Aunt Zhang was surprised. She glanced at Hu Ma with some confusion, but she refrained from asking.
“Let's go!”
Hu Ma said to the others, hurriedly crossed the bridge, and walked quickly along the bridge. After walking a long way, he looked back and saw a bunch of people gathered at the end of the bridge, discussing something.
A terrible thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and he turned to look at Butler Zhou: "Look, what do these people do?"
(End of this chapter)
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