"Then we have nothing to talk about," the Sunshine Boy said.
The Captain sighed softly and said slowly, "I have to obey my superior’s orders."
The Sunshine Boy said, "No wonder I thought you were a bit strange, always protecting Hao Yunsheng. It seems you and Hao Yunsheng joined forces before we set out, and that Seventh-Grade Official deliberately assigned me to your team. I heard that every time people from the Demon Hunting Bureau go on a mission, Disciplinary Officer Songg Yanxue sees them off. Your people were afraid she would interfere, so they lured her away before we left, right?"
The Captain said nothing.
"But then you discovered that although Hao Yunsheng clearly has the ability to resolve the Deceit, he’s only looking out for himself. You suspected he would sell you out, so you started looking for a backup plan."
The Captain nodded.
"Who’s the person pulling the strings? Tell me, and the Fu talisman is yours."
The Captain remained silent.
"Are you that afraid of that person from the Royal Family?"
A flicker of surprise showed in the Captain’s eyes, but he continued to stay silent.
The Sunshine Boy understood instantly.
"Then tell me everything about this place," the Sunshine Boy said.
The Captain hesitated for a moment, then said, "I can’t tell you everything, but I can tell you what’s important."
"As long as it’s actually important," the Sunshine Boy said.
"Hao Yunsheng said the Deceitful Mother is the core. Unless the grand ritual is disrupted, the Five Goddesses won’t affect this place at all."
"That’s not important."
The Captain took a deep breath. "This Deceit is very special. There is no solution at the beginning. If you try to resolve the Deceit rashly, you will definitely draw the attention of the Five Goddesses. The key to this Deceit is at the very end. As for when, or how, he didn’t say. He has many Treasures, and he seems absolutely confident that he can get out of here alive."
The Sunshine Boy lowered his head in thought, mulling it over. "This information is very important!"
With that, he handed a Wooden Talisman Person to the Captain.
"What’s the price for the Fu talisman?" the Captain asked.
"Hao Yunsheng originally wanted to snatch the Fu talisman. After I took it, you just had to see the look on his face to know how valuable it is."
"Name your price," said the Captain.
"Give up on working with Hao Yunsheng. Stay neutral."
"I promised to work with him in front of our superior," the Captain said helplessly.
"I need you to do what you’re supposed to do at the critical moment," the Sunshine Boy said.
"I can’t make a move against him. Of course, I won’t make a direct move against you either," the Captain said.
"I don’t need you to deal with him. I need you to fulfill your duties as a Captain, like bravely slaying enemies. To resolve this Deceit, you can’t be a coward. You’re the only Eighth Grade here!" The Sunshine Boy looked the Captain straight in the eye.
"When it comes to fighting demons, I’ve never been afraid."
"Good! Swear by the names of the Five Goddesses that you won’t give it to Hao Yunsheng," the Sunshine Boy said.
The Captain swore oaths to the Lady of Prayer for Birth, the Lady of Delivery, the Lady of Protection for Birth, the Lady of Celebration for Birth, and the Lady of Longevity, respectively.
"And while you’re at it, help me look after the Book Listener and the Eater." The Sunshine Boy handed over the Fu talisman.
"Don’t worry. Nobody wants anything to happen to the Book Listener. And that kid, the Eater, is harmless. I trust him more than the others." With that, the Captain turned and left.
The Sunshine Boy returned to the room and secretly gave a Fu talisman to the Eater.
The Sunshine Boy, the Book Listener, the Eater, and the Captain each had a Fu talisman.
Hao Yunsheng kept looking at the four of them, his expression dark.
He was completely alone.
After lunch, the sound of gongs and drums came from outside, along with people talking about "sprinkling pure water" and "touching the Fuchang."
The fifteen Night Guards, dressed neatly, left their quarters and walked toward the Five Goddess Temple.
Ahead, they saw several hundred villagers lined up in neat rows. Each held a small basket woven from willow strips, filled with various kinds of grain.
Craning their necks, they saw the people at the front of the line entering the Five Goddess Temple. In the center of the temple’s open ground stood a large, red-lacquered barrel. It was taller than a man and so wide it would take two people to wrap their arms around it. In the middle was a piece of red paper with the character ’Warehouse’ written in white, and the barrel was covered in Fu talismans.
The red-lacquered Hundred Blessings Warehouse stood in the sun, looking like a fat man dressed in red.
A villager would lift their small basket, rest it on the edge of the Fuchang, and tilt it slightly, letting the grain flow inside. Then, they would pull back the empty basket with one hand, stroke a Fu talisman on the Fuchang with the other, and turn to leave.
The fifteen of them looked at each other, then back again.
None of them had baskets or grain.
The Captain said, "If we touch the Fuchang empty-handed, I’m afraid something bad will happen."
"I’ll go ask." The Book Listener went forward to ask a villager and returned quickly.
"They don’t have any extras. They won’t trade or sell them, so we have to figure it out ourselves. Has anyone seen these small baskets anywhere else?" the Book Listener asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
The Captain scanned the others and said helplessly, "Can’t anyone think of anything?"
An Old Night Guard complained, "Ask us to go Demon Hunting or kill people, and we wouldn’t even bat an eye. But when it comes to these matters of Deceit, our skills are useless. Should we draw our swords? I’m afraid we’d be dead the moment we made a move. As for investigating the villagers, we’ve tried that. They’re tight-lipped. And as the Book Listener said, the villagers don’t even know they’re afflicted by the Deceit, so they won’t say anything."
"Exactly. It’s like cutting Fu characters—that’s all women’s work. How many men know how to do that?"
The other Night Guards also looked helpless.
The Sunshine Boy understood. This was a classic case of mismatched expertise.
After a moment of thought, the Sunshine Boy said, "Hao Yunsheng, you’re coming with me to find Wang Laoshu. We’re going to ask for small baskets and grain."
"Why should I be the one to go?" Hao Yunsheng retorted.
"Fine. Everyone, pick one person," the Sunshine Boy said.
"I choose Hao Yunsheng," the Eater said, raising his hand first.
"I also choose Hao Yunsheng..."
Every single person chose him.
"You..." Hao Yunsheng shot a helpless glare at the crowd before resigning himself to following the Sunshine Boy.
The two walked to the entrance of the Five Goddess Temple and saw Wang Laoshu. The Sunshine Boy smiled and said, "Elder, Hao Yunsheng would like to request baskets and grain for the fifteen of us Night Guards, so we can prepare to touch the Hundred Blessings Warehouse."
Wang Laoshu smiled at Hao Yunsheng. "Is that so? In that case, let’s consider it a reward from the Matriarch to Hao Yunsheng. Tell them to go to that house over there to collect it."
As he spoke, Wang Laoshu pointed to a mud-brick house with two large, red Fu characters pasted upside down on its door panels.
"You set me up!" Hao Yunsheng’s eyes went wide. ’I risked a complete falling out with everyone to snatch that watermelon, all for a reward from the Matriarch, and you just used it up like this?’
The Sunshine Boy feigned surprise. "I did it for everyone. Besides, we agreed that I would give the orders and you would follow them. You agreed to it, so how is this setting you up? The credit for this is all yours. How about a verbal commendation?"
"Just great!" Hao Yunsheng said, stalking toward the house.
The Sunshine Boy called the other Night Guards over and explained what had happened. They all thanked the Sunshine Boy profusely, making Hao Yunsheng so angry he began to question his entire existence, and then his own Qi Fortune.
The men entered the house, collected the small baskets and grain, and got back in line.
The Book Listener stopped the Sunshine Boy. "That house is incredibly eerie."
The Sunshine Boy glanced at the house with the upside-down red Fu characters, nodded, and said, "Some people were supposed to have bad luck, but invoking Hao Yunsheng’s name seems to have worked."
"Based on my observations and deductions, all Deceits contain paths to certain... demise and possible demise. You used Accelerating Life on Hao Yunsheng and then borrowed his reward. There was no way to avoid the certain demise, but you helped us circumvent the possible demise."
"Back in the Imperial Prison Department, someone once told me that some places can be roughly divided into paths of certain death, paths of near-certain death, and paths to life. That house was probably a ’near-certain death’ path. The paper-cutting, I fear, is a path of certain death," the Sunshine Boy said.
The Book Listener said, "Be careful of your oath."
The Sunshine Boy nodded, got in the back of the line, and began the technique of Mind Guarding Life Mansion.