FVN Chapter 409 Heartache Over the Cost of the Talisman
Chapter 409 Heartache Over the Cost of the Talisman
Old Zhou stared out the window, his face turning yellowish in the light of the oil lamp.
"Giving gifts on a ship is never a good thing."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a dull thud came from the direction of the dock as a piece of driftwood struck a post. The oil lamp in the room was pushed inward by the river wind, and the cold tea on the table rippled with red edges.
Xiao Liu pulled his neck back.
"What did we bump into?"
Mo Chengyue walked to the window, only lifting a corner of the window paper to prevent the red mist outside from rolling into the room.
"Don't go out."
Old Zheng had already stepped towards the threshold, but when his shoe touched Fu Guang, he pulled his foot back.
"Master, I see it, it's a box."
Manager Hu looked over, his voice more tense than before.
"The black wooden crate was washed ashore on the dock."
Xiao Liu peeked out and his eyes lit up immediately.
"There was a seal on the lid of the box, which read 'Hehuan Sect External Affairs Hall'."
The tension on Lao Zheng's face eased a bit.
"Are people from your sect here?"
Manager Hu also stared at the yellow envelope.
"Anything sent by the Foreign Affairs Office is better than a red lantern ship."
Mo Chengyue did not accept the thunder talisman; instead, he clamped the talisman even more securely.
"Don't touch it."
Old Zheng was stunned.
Why?
Mo Chengyue looked at the black wooden box on the river. The lid was sealed with a yellow paper strip, and the red seal was so fresh that it was almost glaring in the fog.
"Even if the Foreign Affairs Office is stingy, it wouldn't go so far as to have the life-saving kit shipped down the river, saving even the transportation fee like this."
Xiao Liu didn't understand the word "foot money," but he did understand that the "life-saving box" was unreliable.
"Is that seal fake?"
"new."
Manager Hu squinted.
"It looks old to me, and there are scratches on the edges."
Mo Chengyue moved the array plate to the window. The array patterns stretched outwards along the windowsill, and the golden threads immediately retreated as soon as they touched the shadow cast by the wooden box.
"The paper is new, the ink is new, the red ink is new, and the scratches on the edges were done later."
Old Zhou asked.
"Where are the runes?"
"Antique-finished runes".
Xiao Liu scratched his head and quickly put his hand back on the cleaver.
"Can runes be made to look old?"
Mo Chengyue lowered the window paper, leaving only a narrow crack.
"The seals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have a heavy stroke at the end, and the tail of the seal will fall back into a hook to prevent people from changing the goods halfway. This one also has a hook, but it is hooked too neatly."
Old Zheng was completely bewildered.
"Is being too conventional not good enough?"
"Fake things are afraid of being exposed, so they are made to look even more convincing than the real thing."
Manager Hu looked at the wooden crates swaying gently in the water below the dock, and the Soul-Suppressing Coins in her palm became hot from being gripped so tightly.
"Does it want you to open the box yourself?"
Mo Chengyue looked at his palm.
"It wants me to touch the seal, open the box, identify the goods, accept the gift, and ultimately get involved in the karma."
Xiao Liu hugged the kitchen knife to his chest.
"Are there so many rules for unpacking a box?"
Old Zhou spoke in a low voice.
"If you take something from the ship, you're obligated to take it; if you open it, you're obligated to accept it."
Old Zheng cursed and then quickly looked at Mo Chengyue.
"Should we leave it alone and let it drift away?"
The red mist outside the door did not recede, but instead rolled from the river surface towards the foot of the watchtower. The box under the dock was pushed by the water and bumped a second time. The yellow seal on the wooden lid bulged slightly, and a soft patting sound came from inside.
Manager Hu's expression changed.
There's something inside.
Xiao Liu's lips are dry.
"Could someone really be locked up inside?"
Mo Chengyue patted a calming talisman onto Xiao Liu's chest.
"It loves people like you who worry about the box the most."
Xiao Liu looked down at the talisman.
"I'm just being kind-hearted."
Old Zheng glared at him.
"Your brain is leaky."
The sound of patting echoed a few more times inside the wooden box, and water droplets seeped out from under the seal. The water droplets flowed down the lid to the corner, and the red mist followed that water mark toward the door.
Old Zhou immediately fastened the old ship's license plate.
"It's using the seal to call for help."
Suddenly, Manager Hu took the Soul-Suppressing Coin from his palm; the broken edges of the coin were still stained with her blood.
"I'll keep it as a corner piece."
Old Zheng reached out to stop her.
"Don't come any closer."
Shopkeeper Hu tied the talisman to the thin string of the white paper lantern, flicked his wrist, and the copper coin, trailing the lantern string, flew out the door and landed on the right corner of the wooden box by the dock.
The copper coin stuck to the corner of the box, and the seal on the lid immediately bulged even higher, from under the yellow paper came a woman's short and crisp voice.
"Mo Chengyue, open the box."
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing.
Xiao Liu looked at Mo Chengyue.
"Immortal Master, is she a female cultivator?"
Old Zheng's face turned pale as he listened.
"She called your name."
The voice came from inside the box again, with Qin Wanzhuang's usual cold and hard tone.
"Mo Chengyue, I'm inside."
Shopkeeper Hu gripped the lamp cord, his fingertips bleeding from the pressure.
"Do you recognize that voice?"
Mo Chengyue's relaxed expression vanished, and layers of purple light from the thunder talisman crawled across its surface between his fingers.
"I recognize it."
The woman inside the box spoke again, but her words were even shorter.
"Open the box, help me!"
Xiao Liu asked carefully.
"What if it's true?"
Mo Chengyue didn't even look at him, but simply held the thunder talisman between his two fingers.
"If she were truly trapped, she would report the number of enemies first, then their location, instead of urging me to touch the seal."
Old Zheng nodded quickly.
"Sounds professional."
Qin Wanzhuang's voice came from inside the box, her tone becoming urgent.
"Mo Chengyue, the red thread is etched into my bones, I can't take it anymore."
Shopkeeper Hu's hand, which was holding the light cord, began to tremble.
"It can even mimic the voice of your fellow disciples?"
Mo Chengyue looked at the red water seeping from under the box lid and said in a low voice.
"The imitation is not convincing."
Old Zhou asked.
"What's different about it?"
Mo Chengyue sent the thunder talisman out the window. The talisman was lifted by the array patterns and passed over the threshold, hanging above the wooden box.
She wouldn't tell me that she couldn't hold on any longer.
The box lid fell silent.
Xiao Liu was quick to speak, but dared not raise his voice.
"What will she say?"
Mo Chengyue glanced at him.
"They'll tell me not to hold them back."
Old Zheng's lips twitched.
"This female immortal has a very straightforward temper."
A soft laugh came from inside the wooden box. This time, it wasn't Qin Wanzhuang's tone; a damp, cold female voice came through the seal.
"Groom, don't you feel sorry for him?"
With a flick of his finger, Mo Chengyue attached the Thunder Talisman to the lid of the box.
"I feel bad about wasting the money on the talismans."
Lightning flashed down along the yellow seal, cracking the four walls of the wooden box with purple and white lightning. The lid, along with the fake seal, flipped into the river, and the red mist was torn open by the lightning.
Xiao Liu was so frightened that he shrank behind Lao Zheng.
"Master, are you really going to strike?"
Old Zheng pulled him back.
"Nonsense, why wouldn't you chop it up before your wedding ceremony?"
Shopkeeper Hu pulled the lamp cord back; the Soul-Suppressing Coin had turned black, and the character "Lin" on the copper surface had been burned with new cracks.
"There's no one in the box."
Old Zhou looked at the scattered black wood chips under the dock, but his expression did not relax.
Something didn't sink.
In the middle of the river, a wet bronze mirror floated up from among the fragments of a wooden box. The back of the mirror was wrapped with a thin red thread, and the surface of the mirror was covered with a film of water. The light of the red lamp slowly shone under the film of water.
Mo Chengyue did not step out of the door, but simply placed the array plate on the windowsill.
"The gift box really is layered, with a fake seal on the outer box and a wet mirror on the inner box."
Xiao Liu's voice was strained.
"Should we chop up the mirror too?"
Mo Chengyue stared at the mirror.
"First, let's see what they're going to sell."
The wet mirror gently turned towards the watchtower, and the water on the mirror surface receded, revealing the reflection of a woman in a black outfit. Her high ponytail was damp with water vapor, and a slender sword was held horizontally at her side. Several red threads were wrapped around her wrists and shoulders.
As Manager Hu stepped back, he bumped into the corner of the table, causing the cold tea bowl to wobble.
"This is what truly draws your attention."
The woman in the mirror raised her face, her eyebrows and eyes cold and sharp, her lips pale in the red light, and when she spoke, she still had Qin Wanzhuang's crisp and piercing tone.
"Mo Chengyue, why didn't you save me?"