Liu Dashao’s face turned dark with anger, his mind in chaos.
It seemed tonight would be a night of life and death—certainly not a peaceful one!
However, the shattered statue of Lord Guan allowed Liu Dashao to suddenly understand why those creatures had pushed him moments ago, causing him to crash into and break the statue in Tian Guoqiang’s arms. It showed they feared Lord Guan’s statue but were too afraid to touch it directly, so they cleverly used this method to destroy it.
Once he realized this, Liu Dashao felt a bit more confident: You’re afraid of Lord Guan? Fine, I’ll spill a bit of blood and invite another statue back. I’d like to see if you dare to show off your ferocity in front of Lord Guan!
“Let’s go! Tian Guoqiang, we’re going back to buy another one. I guess we really did run into a ghost. Without inviting another Guan Gong home, I might not be able to sleep tonight! You can stay at my house tonight, or I can stay at yours—with Lord Guan!” He deliberately acted relaxed to show Tian Guoqiang he wasn’t too scared.
The shop girl at the counter was puzzled—these three boys had just bought a statue of Guan Gong ten minutes ago. Why were they back so soon? The two of them ignored her surprise, paid quickly, and carried the new statue away.
Both were thinking about how to properly bring Lord Guan home this time.
The store was bustling with people, and Tian Guoqiang carefully held the statue, afraid someone might bump into it accidentally.
As the saying goes, those who fear ghosts often meet them. Just as they stepped out of the store, a blind old man wearing dark glasses and tapping a white cane approached them from the opposite direction.
Liu Dashao quickly pulled Tian Guoqiang aside, fearing he might be hit by the blind man’s cane. But the blind man, as if possessed, deliberately changed direction and walked straight toward Tian Guoqiang.
Just as the two were wondering how to avoid him, the blind man suddenly slipped and fell forward, colliding directly into Tian Guoqiang. His cane swung up and struck the statue of Lord Guan on the head, shattering it into pieces.
Tian Guoqiang immediately got angry: “You blind old man, don’t you have eyes? Out of all these people, why did you have to hit me?!”
A crowd gathered. Seeing the blind man lying on the ground, some people rushed to help him up, while others, hearing Tian Guoqiang’s outburst, began to scold him: “What kind of language is that for a young person? He can’t see, you can’t treat him like that!”
After being helped up, the blind man, realizing he had caused trouble, immediately bowed repeatedly to Tian Guoqiang. This only made the crowd more upset, and they began criticizing Tian Guoqiang even more fiercely.
Seeing the situation getting out of hand, Liu Dashao and Xiao Mazi exchanged a glance and quickly pulled Tian Guoqiang out of the crowd to catch their breath.
Although the blind man had accidentally broken the statue of Lord Guan, Liu Dashao was convinced it was another sign that they were being targeted by a ghost. Otherwise, how could the statue be damaged twice in one day? It must be that the vengeful spirit following them was terrified of Lord Guan being brought home, which would interfere with her plans for revenge.
Tian Guoqiang looked troubled and said, “What should we do, Boss Dog? Why is it so hard to invite Lord Guan home?”
Liu Dashao felt a mixture of frustration and amusement, but his stubborn nature kicked in—Fine! The more you try to stop me, the more determined I am to bring one home!
Alright, the show was on. In ancient times, Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang three times in his thatched cottage; today, Liu Dashao would invite Lord Guan three times! Immediately, Liu Dashao extorted every last penny from Xiao Mazi and, dragging a stunned Tian Guoqiang, headed for the department store counter for the third time.
“You… you’re back again!” The shop girl nearly choked on her hot tea, almost spilling it. She even wondered if these love-struck young men had a crush on her and were making excuses to talk to her. But when she heard Liu Dashao’s next sentence, she spat out the mouthful of water she had just taken.
“Another Guan Yun Chang, please!”
“Another one?!” The girl felt like she must have encountered a ghost today or was still dreaming. But maybe it was Liu Dashao and his friends who were haunted.
“Yes! And this time, wrap it well,” Liu Dashao said, pushing some crumpled bills onto the counter.
“But…” Seeing Liu Dashao’s rather handsome face, the girl blushed slightly.
“What’s wrong? We’re paying, aren’t we!” Liu Dashao said.
“It’s not that… we’re just sold out.” The girl shrugged helplessly.
“Sold out? How could that be?” Liu Dashao and Tian Guoqiang were both stunned.
“It’s not something we usually sell. We only had two in stock, and you three bought them all.”
“Oh…” Liu Dashao looked disappointed but quickly grabbed the girl’s hand, making her think he was about to confess his feelings and nearly causing her to scream: “Do you know where else we can buy one?”
“I guess only in our department store. If you really need one, come back next week. Maybe we’ll have more by then.”
“Next week? Too late!” Liu Dashao released her hand, his eyes dimming with despair.
“What do you mean ‘too late’?” The girl, seeing his expression, couldn’t help but ask gently, “Young man, may I ask, is this item really that important to you?”
“Of course it is! We need it to…” Before Xiao Mazi could finish, Liu Dashao interrupted with a loud cough and shot him a fierce glare, making Xiao Mazi retreat in embarrassment and dare not show off in front of the pretty girl again.
“Nothing,” Liu Dashao shook his head.
The girl at the counter was smart enough to realize Liu Dashao must have some unspoken reason, so she didn’t press further, just smiled kindly.
“By the way, do you have any other statues of deities or heavenly generals in this department store? The more powerful, the better!”
“I’ll go check the warehouse,” she replied kindly and went inside. But she returned quickly, shrugging helplessly and dashing their hopes: “Sorry, everything’s sold out.”
Without much thought about how they had bid farewell to the kind girl, the three of them no longer had the energy to daydream. Liu Dashao felt like he was dragging a body full of disappointment and emptiness, riding Old Hu’s cart home in a daze.
By the time they returned to the village, it was already dusk. Stepping on the long-neglected roadside weeds and watching the setting sun, Liu Dashao, usually not known for his literary talent, suddenly recalled the line: “The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it’s near dusk.” Memories of his experiences at the Lingguan Temple, the lantern-carrying child, and the haunting specter flooded back into his mind.
Suddenly, a “plop, plop” sound came from behind, and Liu Dashao turned around in alarm. Soon, he felt a chill on his cheek. He wiped it with his hand and found a sticky, greenish-white mess. Bringing it to his nose, he was hit with a wave of foul stench. Having lived in the village since childhood, he immediately knew what it was—damn bird poop!
Looking up, a very large crow was perched on the wall. It was unusually big, at least two or three times the size of a regular crow, with glossy black feathers that looked waxed. At that moment, it blinked its blood-red eyes at the startled Liu Dashao and let out a mournful cry like a saw cutting through metal, echoing through a steel pipe straight into his ears, impossible to escape.
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