novelraw Chapter 205: A Mortal Steals Fragrance
Chapter 205: A Mortal Steals Fragrance
Chapter 205 A Storyteller's Scent: A Mortal's Stealing of Fragrance
Ma Daxiao smiled innocently: "My father thought this name would be easy to remember. At first, he just called it whatever came to mind, but later he got used to it and was too lazy to change it. I am the eldest son, and my second and third brothers had to follow my name, so we simply followed this order and named them Ma Er and Ma San."
Gu Tang nodded; it was indeed easy to remember.
Skipping that, she took out several sheets of paper covered in writing from her purse.
Gu Lianshan curiously leaned over to take a look, and saw that it read: "A wisp of smoke flows backward, straight up to the ninth heaven."
"What did you write?" Gu Lianshan didn't understand what he meant.
Gu Tang waved the paper in his hand: "I've decided to go big! Let's do a one-off deal, and then we'll be out of there!"
"Then...then the shop is closed?" Gu Lianshan looked disappointed; he was still hoping to become the shopkeeper.
"Who said we're not opening anymore? I mean we might not sell the backflow incense anymore. This is a one-off deal. We'll continue selling the other incense recipes as usual. Once I sell the backflow incense, I'll immediately give you the money to renovate your shop!"
"Alright! Father, just wait!" Gu Lianshan breathed a sigh of relief.
Gu Tang waved to the three brothers, signaling them to come closer, and then read the storybook he had written to them.
"...The Queen Mother of the West held a banquet for the immortals at the top of the Jade Pool. A blue phoenix carried an incense burner and hung it in the sky. A waterfall of smoke flowed into the Milky Way, forming a ladder to immortality and helping those with destiny to enter the Jade Pool in their dreams... Just then, the Heavenly Gate opened wide, and suddenly a mortal and a demon broke in."
The demon appeared, and the immortals joined forces to subdue it, causing chaos at the banquet. A mortal, suddenly overcome by greed, stole the incense burner and fled back to the mortal realm...
The Queen Mother of the West was furious and punished mortals, causing all their descendants to be ugly, crippled, and insane..."
Gu Tang pointed to Ma Da and the others: "You three brothers will be the descendants of the mortals who stole the incense burner. That incense burner was a celestial treasure. After it emitted a lot of incense, it returned to Yaochi. Since then, the scene of 'waterfalls of smoke flowing into the Milky Way' has never been seen again at the top of Yaochi."
At this point, she began to break down each person's job.
“Ma Da, as the eldest son, you are the only one in the family who is sober and always remembers the sins committed by our ancestors. You are responsible for spreading the little story I told earlier.”
“Ma Er, Ma San, from today onwards, you two must find a way to make yourselves appear ‘crazy,’ carrying a broken piece of incense stick, wandering around, fighting and snatching it from each other, and once you’ve attracted enough people, light the incense in public…” “Oh, and while you’re pretending to be crazy, don’t forget to keep chanting this phrase: ‘A wisp of smoke flows backward, straight up to the ninth heaven!’”
……
"Okay, I've finished speaking. Do you have any questions or anything you'd like to add?"
Gu Tang closed the paper, glanced at them, and gestured for them to ask questions if they had any.
The three brothers were stunned and couldn't come to their senses for a long time.
Gu Lianshan was completely dumbfounded, his soul seemed to have flown away!
The four of them stared blankly at Gu Tang, the atmosphere unusually strange.
"Why isn't anyone saying anything?" Gu Tang rolled her eyes. "What? You think my method is bad? Let me tell you, I've already asked around. The high-ranking officials and nobles in Bei'an City love to believe in gods and Buddhas. They both love to hear about certain 'miracles' and believe them without a doubt!"
At this point, she waved the papers in her hand to bring the three brothers back to their senses: "Did you all remember the tasks I just assigned to you three?"
The three brothers, regaining their senses, hurriedly nodded: "We've got it, we've got it..."
"Then let me repeat how I assigned the tasks to you."
Ma Da spoke first: "I'll be in charge of telling the stories of the gods at the beginning."
Ma Er and Ma San: "We brothers are responsible for pretending to be crazy and wandering around, robbing and fighting, just to grab the broken incense stick. Once we've attracted enough people, we'll light the incense stick while constantly chanting the phrase, 'A wisp of smoke flows backward, straight up to the ninth heaven.'"
I'm not home today, that's all for now. I'll continue with Part 4 tomorrow!