Wandering Gods of Day and Night-Chapter 66 - 63 Three Copper Coins
66: Chapter 63: Three Copper Coins
66 -63: Three Copper Coins
“No matter what his reason is, the author of this thriller story probably understands the Blood Well better than Lao Yuan,”
*Zhou Xuan had experienced the horror of the Blood Well Illusion and didn’t want to miss any chance to delve deeper into the Blood Well.*
“First, find the author’s signature.”
In the newspapers from Pingjiang Prefecture, every article had a bracket in the bottom right corner with the author’s signature inside.
Because of trimming, some articles in the scrapbook had signatures, while others had their signatures cut off.
As it happened, the signature was missing from this particular thriller story.
*But no big deal; according to the specifics of the courting scenario recorded in the original owner’s diary, he could find the diary date…*
“This article was published on November 7th of last year.
As for which newspaper it was in, that’s not documented…
must find it!”
Zhou Xuan closed the scrapbook and left the room.
He was unfamiliar with the Ping Shui Prefecture territory, so he needed to find someone to help guide him.
Yu Zhengyuan had gone out on business, and Xu Li had gone to the tailor shop to buy a new suit for the eldest senior brother.
Li Shuangyi was practicing with the little kids.
Even if he wasn’t, Zhou Xuan didn’t want to find him, always feeling that the third senior brother wasn’t easy to get along with.
Fortunately, Lv Mingkun was in the house flipping through a magazine; he was a warm-hearted person.
“Fifth Brother, could you do me a favor?”
“What is it, Junior Brother?” Lv Mingkun, seeing Zhou Xuan push the door open, stood up with a bow, accompanied by a smiling face.
“Do you know where they sell old newspapers in Ping Shui Prefecture?”
“Old newspapers should be bought on Taiping Road.
There’s a bookstore that also collects old newspapers, though the price…”
“Money’s not an issue.”
Zhou Xuan pulled Lv Mingkun into the car with him.
…
Under the signboard of Yunhua Bookstore, there were two small wooden doors.
Inside, there was a long table and four short tables for guests to read books, with bookshelves against the wall.
The bookstore didn’t have many visitors in the morning.
The owner was sitting in front of a short table, engrossed in a prose collection.
Even when Zhou Xuan and Lv Mingkun entered, he remained immersed in the articles.
“Owner, is the owner here?”
Zhou Xuan assumed the person reading was a customer.
“Here, yes.”
The owner snapped out of his daze, put down the collection, and greeted, “Gentlemen, what book do you want to buy?”
“Oh, not buying books, buying some old newspapers.”
“What date?” the owner asked, breaking into a smile.
Old newspapers were much more expensive than new ones.
“November 7th of last year,” Zhou Xuan said, “Just find all the newspapers from that day.
I’ll decide which ones to buy.”
“Alright.”
The owner took a thick stack and handed it to Zhou Xuan.
“So many?”
“There are many styles of newspapers in Ping Shui Prefecture, dozens of newspaper offices,” the owner said, “Usually, those who browse old newspapers are often captivated by some clipped article and want to revisit the paper that published it.
I read a lot of newspapers, so I have a deep impression of some articles.
If you tell me about the article, maybe I can quickly help you find it?”
“It’s not for me; it’s for my boss.
Who knows what he wants them for?”
Zhou Xuan made up a casual lie.
After paying for the newspapers, he treated Lv Mingkun to tea, while he alone carried the papers to the car to flip through them.
After sifting through more than a dozen, he finally found that little story in a “Ping Shui Night Talk” newspaper.
The author’s signature was: Jing Deng.
Seeing this name, Zhou Xuan had an impression.
He had just scanned through numerous articles by Jing Deng in the newspapers he flipped through, encompassing many types.
Sometimes, a single newspaper would publish three of his articles.
“This guy is quite prolific.”
Zhou Xuan re-stacked the newspapers he had just gone through.
As long as it was an article by Jing Deng, he carefully read it.
He went through over twenty in a row.
Zhou Xuan identified two patterns.
First, among the pieces Jing Deng wrote, many scenarios alluded to the Blood Well Illusion, further indicating he was a Blood Well Spirit Communicator.
Second, Jing Deng’s articles always included some kind of code words, like in several articles across different publications and genres, the same phrase would appear—6:14, White Cloud Night Temple.
“Got it, this is a code to gather Blood Well Spirit Communicators.”
*Zhou Xuan had previous experience,*
*Last time, the six corpses had him use the powerful perception of the Blood Well to search for Mr.
Dai, making him recite “Mother of all Buddhas, Great Vajra.”*
*This phrase was something Mr.
Dai consistently chanted in his prayers to the Alien Ghost.*
*When Zhou Xuan released his perception and recited this phrase simultaneously with Mr.
Dai, they connected as if on a video call, only the quality was extremely poor.*
*You could understand Jing Deng’s code similarly—at 6:14, Blood Well Spirit Communicators release their perception, chant the code “White Cloud Night Temple,” and connect for an online “video gathering.”*
“Such gatherings are very risky.
If I release my perception, while I can find the channel appointed by the code, I will also expose my own appearance and even location…”
After folding the newspapers neatly, Zhou Xuan got out of the car and went to the newsstand.
Whether to attend the Blood Well Spirit Communicator gathering, he needed to consider carefully, but he wouldn’t delay in first mastering the latest code for the gathering.
At the newsstand, after flipping through two or three newspapers, he found five articles newly published by Jing Deng.
Of the five articles, four mentioned the same phrase—July 19th, Ping Lake, rain clears.
“Gathering time, 7:19 in the evening, frequency-matching code, Ping Lake, rain clears.”
After silently noting the code, Zhou Xuan put down the newspaper, purchased a trendy magazine, tucked it under his arm, and went to find Lv Mingkun.
“Fifth Brother, I bought a magazine.
Stay for a bit longer; I’m going to buy a gift for my sister.”
“Sure, sure.” Lv Mingkun took the magazine with a smile and agreed.
…
Taiping Department Store was a comprehensive center integrating shopping areas, dance halls, and amusement parks.
Zhou Xuan wandered in the shopping area for a long time, finally buying a set of doll toys, two identical glass cups, two Breitling pocket watches, a Watson pocket watch, and a steel water pipe.
The salesperson helped with the packaging, and Zhou Xuan walked to the door of the department store with a lot of bags.
“Excuse me, excuse me.”
Zhou Xuan sidestepped through the crowd, just stepped onto the curb, and white noise began, followed closely by a series of “thud, thud, thud” of footsteps in his ear.
“Is it the kidnapper tailing again?”
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young man standing at the street corner.
The man was dressed in a sleek long robe, wore a gray flat-top hat, stood upright, with three copper coins in his right hand.
With a gentle flick of his fingers, the three copper coins were tossed lightly, traced a short arc in the air, and then landed squarely back in his palm, full of provocation.
“This kidnapper is like a dog!”
Under his face reading, Zhou Xuan didn’t see any change in the man’s appearance, yet he heard three fierce and low dog barking sounds.
The young man, unlike the elusive Liu San, was not dodging or hiding after meeting Zhou Xuan’s gaze.
Instead, he cupped his fists towards him in a martial arts salute.
But before Zhou Xuan could respond, the young man, with the three copper coins in his right hand, began walking toward him with a precise and steady pace.
He started slow, then walked faster.
*Zhou Xuan felt a strong sense of crisis surge through his body.
Hastily, he put down the bags, and a folded fan slid out from his sleeve.
He took out a gavel, crossed his hands behind his back, and fixed his eyes on the young man, silently constructing a dreamscape in his mind.*
As the man’s pace increased and he was almost only a meter or two away from Zhou Xuan, Zhou Xuan struck the fan with the wood, generating a dream out of thin air.
Just before Zhou Xuan’s gavel sounded, the young man’s three copper coins in his right hand mysteriously shifted position as if foreseeing the event.
Originally in a vertical line, resembling a long snake, the second copper coin suddenly perceived something and quickly moved to the right, forming a “pin” shape.
The young man noticed the change in the coin’s position, grabbing them in the blink of an eye, sliced a line across his palm with them.
The edges of his copper coins were extremely sharp, leaving a blood gash with one stroke.
Almost when the palm was cut open, Zhou Xuan’s gavel sounded.
The sudden pain from the young man’s palm being slashed easily countered the daze that the sound wood induced when it pulled him into a dream state.
Just like someone was deeply asleep and beginning to dream but then was suddenly slapped awake, all drowsiness and dreams vanished.
As a result, he was not affected by Zhou Xuan’s dream, or possibly Zhou Xuan’s dream failed to generate.
The young man stood steady, not even swaying, his speed unabated.
The previously drawn copper coins were back in place.
Joining his left fingers like a blade, he aimed at Zhou Xuan’s throat…
