After learning about the washing on the third day custom, Miao Fangfei and the other tourists briefly discussed whether they should do the opposite this time. After all, they were pregnant with a ghost fetus.
âI think we have to do it according to the instructions this time.â
Miao Fangfei said, âWe canât always act contrary to the instructions. If we do that, we will start thinking that everything must contradict the instructions. We must base our actions on what is customary this time.â
When they drew the peach-wood talismans, they arranged everything contradicting the instructions. This was because the purpose of drawing the peach-wood talisman was to separate pregnant women from âevil spiritsâ, but the women were pregnant with ghost fetuses. This was why they had avoided following the instructions before.
But the washing on the third day custom was different. The washing on the third day custom was a ritual to bless the baby. Regardless of what kind of mother one would be, she would definitely hope that her child could grow up healthily. Since they were stepping into Pingpingâs life, if Pingping really had a child, as a mother, she would also expect that the washing on the third day custom would be conducted in a good manner.
âLetâs follow the instructions.â
Miao Fangfei gritted her teeth and made a decision. The decisions they made on tours were particularly important. It could be said that each choice determined the fate of tourists. As a result, the tour partyâs leader was vital. Often, people with the ability to âPredictâ and âObserveâ took the role of the leader. Miao Fangfei lacked such titles, and she could only compensate with her experience.
Fortunately, she had made no mistakes so far.
The washing on the third day custom required a number of things. They needed to prepare an abacus (to hope that the child would remain mentally smart when they grew up), prepare a scale to weigh gold and silver (to hope that the child would possess gold and silver in the future and live a rich and noble life), procure a little green onion (to hope that the child would be book smart) and tear a little window paper and put it in water (to hope that the child had a clear mind and eyes). In total, they had to prepare fifteen to sixteen kinds of things.
Everything was difficult to find in the long-deserted Cordoned-off Village. The window paper had long since rotted, the abacus and other items had rotted into pieces and they couldnât find proper replacements. They discovered green onions in Lin Xiâs dried vegetable bag, which he had initially intended to boil in water and eat it. But it could be reused after being rehydrated.
The good news was that every time two things were prepared, the affinity of the ghost babies would increase a little. Although it was not easy to find something, the rising affinity kept Miao Fangfei and the others going. The choice they made should be correct.
.
âPrepare fewer things.â
On the other hand, four men with big stomachs gathered in Baby Bamboo Miao Village glanced at each other. Of course, their eyes couldnât express such nuanced information. Wang Pengpai tore a corner of a piece of paper and scribbled it on it before passing it to Zhao Hongtu and the others to see.
After reading the note, Wang Pengpai burned it with a lighter.
The same washing on the third day custom needed to be performed in Baby Bamboo Miao Village, but the decisions made by Wang Pengpai and his companions were quite different from those made by Miao Fangfei and her companions.
In any case, all the tourists were still in a state of shock after learning that III-9 had killed the zombified flying fox king. While everyone was still in shock, Yu Hean saw that they had to prepare a cowâs horn on the list, so he took out the old yellow cowhide and wanted to crush a bit of horn powder. But then, he saw tears of blood flowing from the eyes of the cattleâs head that were stitched on the cowhide.
Frightened, Yu Hean immediately relayed this news to Wang Pengpai.
âMaybe we should not use crushed cattle horn powder. Whatever the old yellow cowhide implies must be correct.â
Yu Hean was worried, âIâve ground the cattle horn previously and absolutely nothing happened then. The old yellow cowhide shedding tears of blood must not mean anything good.â
Yu Hean had ground cattle horns before with no ominous effects. This time, the old yellow cowhide shed tears of blood. In other words, grinding the cattle hornthis time would have a bad impact.
âThe cattle horn is used to wish for the baby to be as strong and powerful as a cattle.â
Wang Pengpai touched his chin, and thoughtfully asked everyone not to prepare things on the list that had âblessingsâ for the baby. Especially things like âprepare bird feathers, to bless your baby to be as light as a birdâ and âprepare tiger teeth,to wish your baby to be as fierce as a tigerâ.
These instructions were written on the list. But when Yu Hean said, âIt mustnât be anything good if the old yellow cowhide sheds tears of blood,â his babyâs affinity directly dropped 2 points.
It seemed that the child in their belly was evil and could understand what they were saying.
Since then, Wang Pengpai and the rest exchanged notes on anything related to washing three customs.
Wang Pengpai felt that the items they prepared for the washing on the third day custom would likely determine the growth of the baby in their stomach. This might correlate with the later attractions. He could now confidently assume that picking the ghost baby was the correct decision. They had no idea what sort of filthy ghost the baby in their belly was. Strengthening the infant in this way would be a really foolish decision.
Fortunately, Zhao Hongtu and the others all accepted and heeded Wang Pengpaiâs commands and didnât question his decisions. This was actually very dangerous behavior. These tourists did not have enough experience on tours and easily trusted people. Given their characters, they would definitely suffer heavy losses in the future.
Thinking of this, Wang Pengpai sighed secretly. But everyone had their own fate and everyone had their own path to walk. At least, they should be able to survive this tour.
After all, they had III-9 here with them.
When Wang Pengpai remembered that III-9 was brought back by Wu Laoliu, he felt that he canât sit still and his butt felt itchy. Damn, he truly felt that it was too weird. He was a little regretful that he took the initiative to participate in this tour, claiming that he wanted to see what the buzz of Intoxicating Xiangxi was about. When he thought about how III-9 had returned, and the way III-9 looked at him often made Wang Pengpaiâs scalp numb.
Wei Xun cast a glance at Wang Pengpai, who instantly adjusted his face to a simple and honest smile as if he was bootlicking Wei Xun. Wei Xun simply raised an eyebrow and sat casually on the bamboo chair, watching Wang Pengpai busy himself with the preparations while holding a wooden box in his arms. The box was from Wu Laoliu.
At a first glance, he knew that it was Wu Laoliu stirring trouble. This could almost be an overt plotââgiven Wei Xunâs personality of pursuing stimulation and adventure, the more obvious the trap, the more he wanted to step on it. It was as if he needed to break through the trap.
If Wu Laoliu had set some other traps, perhaps Wei Xun would have taken the bait, but he had used ginseng to set up a trap. Knowing that Wu Laoliu was composed of maggotsââ
Thinking of this, Wei Xun felt his stomach churn. After leaving with the box, he wanted to contact the Travel Services to sell the ginseng. Anyway, it was better to take it than waste it. But before Wei Xun could sell the ginseng, a maggot shook its head, climbed out of the crack in the box, and stood up in front of Wei Xun happily.
Wei Xun: ?!?!
At that moment, Wei Xun almost suffocated after seeing the maggot, which stood in front of him as if it was an exhibitionist lifting its coat. When he realized that he could feel the maggotâs consciousness in his mind and it was communicating with him, Wei Xun felt numb.
Itâs over. His mind was unclean now.
Thanks to the maggots working together in a timely manner, the four maggot brothers had formed a communication network between themselves and successfully conquered Wu Laoliuâs right index finger. This was the first time they had organized an operation, successfully disrupted Wu Laoliuâs scheme to put maggots in the ginseng to harm Wei Xun, and had successfully sent Quda to Wei Xunâs side.
As to how they should act after this, they were waiting for their masterâs instruction!
Wei Xun froze. He never thought that he would become the boss of the maggots one day. Being the master of a mosquito was enough to break his bottom line. Now that there were maggotsââ
He canât, he canât, his bottom line must never retreat again!
Just when Wei Xun was on the verge of selling all the maggots to the Travel Services, all the tourists came to see him. At this moment, Wei Xun saw Wang Pengpai.
It was the look in Wang Pengpaiâs eyes that changed the fate of Quda.
Because Wei Xun saw a circle of red light flashing on Wang Pengpai, as if it was a special effect of being targeted by a boss in the game.
Wei Xun certainly understood why this happened. It was just that he didnât expect to see this red light appearing so soon!
Wei Xun put his hand into his pocket and held the metal nameplate.
When discussing the terms of agreement with ***,Wei Xun asked, after signing the agreement, did he directly join An Xuefengâs tour party?
The answer was ânoâ.
[Itâs within your terms of obligation. You have to join An Xuefengâs tour party by yourself]
*** gently stated: [Although the standards of his tour party are quite high, I believe you can do it]
In other words, after signing the agreement, he did not directly join An Xuefengâs tour party, but had to do his best to enter his tour party.
âDoes An Xuefeng know about this agreement?â
After *** listened to what he had to say, he laughed and dragged his tone: [Of courseââhe doesnât know. Thatâs what makes this interesting, isnât it?]
After listening to his reply, Wei Xun was momentarily speechless.
Wei Xun increasingly felt that *** has a great grudge against An Xuefeng. Otherwise, how could *** scheme against An Xuefeng in such a manner? When An Xuefeng was unaware, *** had signed such an agreement with Wei Xun.
However, this also suited Wei Xunâs intentions. If the situation had been that he had directly joined An Xuefengâs tour party after signing the agreement, Wei Xun would not be happy.
[He always selects the members of his tour party himself, and his team members often hide their identities and travel separately in tour groups. Maybe you will meet them soon. After you sign the agreement, you will know who they are when they appear]
[Perhaps itâs better for you to seize the opportunity. Good luck]
What the fuck was with the good luck?
At the time, Wei Xun mumbled in his heart. What kind of person would conceal their identity all the time? Of course, it was usually the most wanted individuals who chose to conceal their identities! It was either that or An Xuefengâs tour party had powerful and dangerous enemies. In other words, this tour party did not appear to be a suitable fit for Wei Xun.
However, the effect of this agreement was quite in line with Wei Xunâs intentions. He could identify whether the people of An Xuefengâs tour party were around. At that time, he could control whether he wanted to hide or reveal his abilities.
Wei Xun didnât like it when other people made choices for him. Rather, he wanted to be the one who made the decision on what to do.
From the words of ***, Wei Xun could also tell that An Xuefengâs tour party was estimated to be at a very strong level. Wei Xun was actually a newcomer to the Travel Services. He didnât know what would happen after leading this tour group to the end as a tour guide. If the difference in levels between the Wei Xun and the members of An Xuefengâs tour party was too large, it would be difficult for Wei Xun to meet them. Hence, this arrangement was in line with Wei Xunâs intention. *** didnât set a deadline for Wei Xun to join An Xuefengâs tour party. Therefore, Wei Xun could take his time in doing so.
Who would have known that when Wei Xun returned to Baby Bamboo Miao Village, he would see a red light on Wang Pengpai!
Wei Xun: ???
An Xuefeng was right by my side??
No, no, maybe Wang Pengpai was someone from An Xuefengâs tour party instead.
For a moment, Wei Xun wondered whether it was a chain of schemes planned by ***. After all, III-9 had disappeared right after Wei Xun had mistakenly entered a Dangerous-level tour. He happened to be 51% similar to III-9, and was selected to replace III-9.
There were too many coincidences.
When Wei Xun was in absolute danger, *** appeared in time and came up with an agreement that he couldnât refuse. The terms of the agreement were greatly beneficial to Wei Xun.
Now, Wei Xun knew that Wang Pengpai was hiding his identity. He was a member of An Xuefengâs tour party.
If Wei Xun had been an ordinary person, he would have been astounded by this long sequence of coincidences, or he would not have connected this series of coincidences at all, but Wei Xun was not an ordinary person.
After he analyzed all this, he became more interested and stared at Wang Pengpai overtly, which made the fat man feel goosebumps all over his body.
Why exactly did Wang Pengpai join this tour group?
Was it to obtain something from the Intoxicating Xiangxi tour? Or was it because of Wei Xun?
OrâŠâŠWei Xun remembered that when he first got on the bus, Wang Pengpai and Lin Xi knew that III-9 had the âAnalesgicâ title. Lin Xi could be considered to be III-9âs person. But what about Wang Pengpai?
Would he also have joined this tour for âIII-9â?
Then this would be interesting.
Wei Xun wondered whether the disappearance of the original III-9 was related to An Xuefengâs tour party.
If so, did Wang Pengpai join this tour to confirm whether âIII-9 has disappearedâ?
What would Wang Pengpai do if he found that âIII-9â was still there?
Report to the higher-ups? Try to control III-9? Or make III-9 âdisappear againâ?
[You will become III-9, bask in his glory as a tour guide, and face every danger he must face.]
Now, every word *** said seemed to hold a deeper meaning.
âI want to know whatâs on Wu Laoliuâs mindâ
Wei Xun was talking with Quda in his mind. He knew too little and wanted to know much more now. One always had to be prepared.
âDo it secretly, and donât let him know.â
Wei Xunâs lips were slightly hooked and his eyelashes were lowered, covering the look in his eyes. He appeared like a demon ordering his loyal servant.
âCan you do it?â
The author has something to say:
The items required for the washing on the third day custom and the meaning behind them came from <<The Mysterious and Big Xiangxi>>
T/N: Sorry for the late chapter update! I was out all day so I canât post the chap on time.
I wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas!
Thereâs an extra bonus ko-fi chapter that I will upload tomorrow.