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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 96 (Part 1)

You Shu had short legs, so of course he couldn’t run very far on his own, but with the help of the old ghost who half-dragged and half-hugged him, he quickly crossed the capital and came to live temporarily in an abandoned mansion in the suburbs.  

Then the old ghost helped him find some items such as cinnabar, gecko, talisman paper, compass, and the Four Treasures of the Study. According to You Shu’s instructions, he mixed and ground cinnabar and gecko to make special ink.

After everything was ready, You Shu picked up the brush and wanted to draw a simple formation to find a person. However, he found that the pen barrel was too long, and he had to tilt his head to draw. His eyes naturally turned towards the ceiling, not knowing what he was drawing.

“This won’t work. You have to cut off the barrel a bit.” He threw away the brush and sighed helplessly.

The old ghost endured it for a long time before finally asking, “What on earth are you trying to do? Instead of finding people, why are you writing and drawing here?”

“Of course I need to draw a search formation to find out the exact location of the person!” You Shu rolled the brush to the old ghost with his little paws and said, “Help me cut it off, leaving only the tip of the pen, so I can hold it in my mouth.”

The old ghost picked up the brush and exclaimed incredulously, “You actually know Qimen Dunjia (art of divination)? Aren’t you a doctor?”

“I once received a Taoist inheritance, so I know a little bit about it. Otherwise, how do you think I can find someone with a little bit of hair?” You Shu tilted his head to look at him.

The old ghost cut off the brush with the yin wind and chuckled, “Don’t you have a very sharp nose? I thought you were going to follow the scent on this hair to find people. Who would have thought that you would be so mysterious.”

You Shu’s mouth twitched and he said, “Follow the scent to find people? I don’t know if you think too highly of me or underestimate me. If that person had already left the capital, how could he be found after so many years?” As he spoke, the old ghost had already handed over the three inch long brush. 

He quickly grabbed it in his mouth, dipped it in an appropriate amount of cinnabar, and drew a search formation on the paper, along with a fire talisman. Because the saliva in his mouth always flowed along the pen, he drew intermittently, and it took him more than an hour to complete the whole work.

“Alright, help me roll up the hair into the fire talisman, and then throw it into the centre of the formation.” He spat out the brush and looked up at the old ghost.

The old ghost covered his mouth, turned his back to him, and his shoulders kept trembling, not knowing what he was doing. 

You Shu walked around in front to look at him. But the old ghost turned his back again, his shoulders still kept trembling, which made You Shu feel very puzzled.

“What’s wrong with you?” He scratched the ground with his paws, his expression slightly uneasy.

Pfft! Hahaha! The old ghost finally laughed out loud and pointed at his mouth that was stained red with cinnabar, saying, “Go out and wash yourself quickly. I want to laugh to death when I see you looking like a bear.”

You Shu’s face turned red, but luckily due to his fur, he didn’t show any embarrassment. He hurriedly twisted his buttocks and ran out, and after he found a pool of water, he repeatedly rubbed his face clean with his paws.  

When he came back after washing his face, the old ghost had already thrown the curled fire talisman into the formation. A flame rose into the air, slowly turning into white smoke and ash, drifting in the air. Then, it twisted like a wandering dragon, forming a line of big characters– Yunlai Inn in Lijia Village, Jiangxian County, Huaizhou.

“Hey, this array is so strange! I thought it would show the images of the grandmother and granddaughter, but it turned out to be an address. This is probably their hiding place, right?” The old ghost circled around the formation.

“You are right. The original image that appeared was indeed the owner of the hair. To find out where she is, I can only rely on background inference. I have repeatedly modified and perfected the inscription in the formation to reveal the address.” You Shu puffed out his small chest, looking very proud.

The old ghost wanted to laugh again, but he had to restrain himself under the glare of the puppy’s clear eyes. Without further delay, one puppy and one ghost immediately went to the dock, made several inquiries, and finally boarded a cargo ship heading for Huaizhou. After several twists and turns, they finally arrived at Lijia Village in Jiangxian County. 

At this time, more than half a month has passed.

You Shu, who was raised into a round snowball, had to eat wild fruits when he was hungry and drink rainwater when he was thirsty. His round body had become emaciated, and his fur was covered in mud, with strands sticking to his body, looking extremely miserable.  

Seeing him like this, the old ghost felt very distressed, so he used a blind trick and prepared to take him to the kitchen of Yunlai Inn to steal some food. As soon as they got in, they saw an old woman with grey hair and a kind face throwing various powders into the pot. The powders were colorful and had a weird smell. It didn’t look like seasonings, but more like drugs.

“Xiao Hua, remember, the order of these medicinal powders must not be wrong. If you mess up even one of them, it won’t have any effect at all.” As soon as she spoke, You Shu and the old ghost noticed that a little girl was also standing by the stove, but was blocked by the old woman’s fat body.

“I know. When I grow up, I will also make many animals and sell them to wealthy families to earn a lot of money. With money, I can wear beautiful clothes, live in a luxurious house, and have servants to serve me.” Xiao Hua nodded, her face filled with longing.

“My Xiao Hua is really promising!” The old woman smiled and patted her granddaughter on the head.

You Shu and the old ghost hurriedly hid in the firewood pile and looked at each other. They originally thought that the witch was just staying at the Yunlai Inn, but to their surprise, she actually owns this place. In this way, how many guests has she secretly murdered over the years? One puppy and one ghost felt awe-struck as they huddled in the corner, not even daring to breathe. They finally waited until the two went out before tiptoeing around.

“Let’s go and take a look.” You Shu immediately ran to the front hall, ignoring his stomach that had been hungry for several days.

The old woman basically targets the impoverished, solitary, and homeless individuals. She took the initiative to deliver the food one by one to the guest’s room, mixed with both poison and strong drugs. After one bite, the guests immediately fainted. She waited until the drug had subsided in the middle of the night before taking the people who had become animals and tying them up in the cowshed.

“Today’s harvest was quite good. We actually made five cows and one horse.” The little girl counted with a smile.

“The art of livestock farming also has some rules. Generally, young and middle-aged men will turn into cows, women will turn into horses, and children will turn into sheep. A cow can be sold for two guan, a horse can be sold for one guan, and a sheep can be sold for at most two hundred copper coins.”

“Two guan is equal to two thousand copper coins, that’s a lot!” The little girl clapped her hands, “Then I will only target young men in the future, not children. Women are also acceptable. If there are some with good skin, I will make two.”

“Haha, my Xiao Hua is really clever.” The old woman laughed uncontrollably.

The conversation between the two made You Shu furious, but he had to restrain it. Those cows and horses obviously retained their human senses, lowering their hooves and roaring, with grief and anger in their eyes. This pair of grandmother and granddaughter had long lost their humanity. They took off the whips hanging on the wall and beat those animals. When they were tired, they slowly locked the cowshed and went back to sleep.

You Shu slipped out through the gap in the fence of the cowshed, and after the two of them had washed themselves and lay down, he asked the old ghost to use a spell to make them fall asleep. Then he climbed onto the bed and bit the old woman’s wrist.  

As soon as the blood entered his throat, the hair on his body gradually receded, and his bones lengthened inch by inch, transforming into his original appearance.

The old ghost looked at him left and right, saying in surprise, “No wonder you turned into a Zangxiu dog. It turns out that you look exactly the same as a Zangxiu dog. Look at your round eyes, round face, pink nose, and pink mouth. Sigh, the more I look at it, the more it looks like a playboy who deceives women with his appearance!”

You Shu glared at him fiercely before picking up the teapot on the table to catch the blood flowing from the old woman’s wrist. The wound was not deep, and only half a pot was filled when the blood finally stopped flowing. 

Then he quickly ran to the backyard, climbed over the fence, and poured the blood into the water tank, saying, “This is the antidote. You should drink it quickly. I was also turned into an animal by that witch before, and finally found Lijia Village to recover my human body.”

When everyone saw his dirty face and tattered clothes, looking as if he had walked many roads and suffered a lot, they would rather trust than doubt him. There was nothing more terrifying than turning into an animal, so they might as well drink and see. As a result, the cows and horses that were still hesitant gathered around the water tank to drink the blood water, and then gradually recovered their bodies. 

After thanking You Shu, they immediately ran to the old woman’s room and pulled out the pair of grandmother and granddaughter, beating them severely.

You Shu was worried that if someone died, the victims who had been sold would never be found again, so he quickly stepped forward to stop them and asked people to report to the government office as soon as possible. 

Upon hearing that there was such sinister witchcraft in the world, the county magistrate was shocked and interrogated the pair of grandmother and granddaughter overnight, trying his best to find the other victims. You Shu and the old ghost received ten taels of reward for their meritorious efforts in saving people, and they quickly bought a boat ticket to the capital.

More than a month has passed since this trip. You Shu paid two copper coins for the entrance fee and planned to go directly to Prince Duan’s Mansion to meet his master.

“Hey, You Shu, wait a minute, come and take a look at this imperial notice.” The old ghost floated towards the city wall covered with imperial notices, one of which had a painted dragon totem of the Prince Duan’s Mansion, which was very eye-catching. Many people were crowded there, pointing at the notice, with a yearning expression on their faces.

With great difficulty, You Shu finally squeezed in and saw not only many words written on the imperial notice, but also a portrait. He recognized at a glance that it was painted by his master. He used the line drawing technique to draw a Zangxiu dog, from its expression to the hair, which was very lifelike and vivid on the paper. Especially those black eyes, no matter where you stood, those eyes always seemed to be staring at you, which was quite endearing.

“You Shu, have you ever seen yourself as a dog? It’s like this, it’s exactly the same!” The old ghost exclaimed in surprise.

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