Chapter 3 - 3 3 Troupe

Zhou Family’s Troupe is a Netherworld Play Troupe. At noon, Zhou Family’s Troupe is the quietest. There’s no elder disciples drinking and playing finger-guessing games, No apprentices standing in the courtyard practicing their singing or vocal drills, The street in front of the hall lethargically basks under the scorching sun, with hardly any traffic, Zhou Xuan likes the quiet, which helps him focus on his thoughts. He has been at Zhou Family’s Troupe for three days, busy with the old man’s funeral and handling the visiting mourners; his body hasn’t fully recovered, and his energy is extremely limited. So much so that he hadn’t had a moment to ponder the details about “revival.” Now that the old man’s funeral procession had set off up the mountain, he finally had some time to recall the various details from when he encountered the old man. “No, this isn’t right at all.” Zhou Xuan started to think that he resembled the original person, leading the old man to mistake him for the original. But after the revival, he realized that although both he and the original were handsome, their styles of handsomeness were on completely different tracks. One was sunny and charming, primarily accentuating demeanor, and the other had refined features, attractive due to his handsome looks. Now with the revival, these qualities combined into one, and Zhou Xuan found himself loving mirrors. Besides the significant difference in appearance, the old man had serious words to say during their farewell at Ink River. “My grandchild, remember, your name is Zhou Xuan. When you revive and sister Zhou Lingyi asks where your hometown is, you must say—Lifeless Hell, Fangxiang Ming Hall.” That statement seemed off. If the old man truly believed him to be his real grandson, why the need to emphatically remind him of “your name” and “where your hometown is”? Which real grandson doesn’t know his own hometown or his own name? So… Zhou Xuan’s mind was fiercely shaken, and his pupils dilated significantly. “The old man definitely knew that I am not the original grandson!” “But why did he risk his life to help me revive and even taught me lines to deceive sister Zhou Lingyi during the revival interrogation?” “Wouldn’t it be better to recall the soul of his real grandson? Why choose me, someone so unrelated?” Zhou Xuan always felt there was something mysterious, Could it be that there was enmity between the original and the old man? If there really was enmity, that enmity must be enormous, to save a stranger rather than his own grandson. Zhou Xuan, unfortunately, did not inherit the original’s memories, unable to answer what significant conflict occurred between the original and the old man. The issue reached a deadlock. Shh, shh, shh! A white noise interrupted Zhou Xuan’s train of thought from beside him. The noise sounded like someone scribbling on paper right next to him. These past few days, whenever Zhou Xuan was overly tired or his emotions fluctuated violently, the white noise would appear. He even asked the Zhou Family Troupe’s eldest disciple to find someone to check it, but whether it was the local doctor or a Western hospital’s doctor, none could find the cause. In the end, Zhou Xuan turned to his sister Zhou Lingyi. Zhou Lingyi had presided over the revival ceremony before and was very knowledgeable about mysticism like souls. But she also only provided a “perhaps it’s because your revival time was too short, rest more” explanation and sent Zhou Xuan away. Fortunately, the white noise wasn’t loud, nor did it occur all day, so it didn’t much affect normal life. Besides finding a solution for the white noise, these past few days at the funeral, Zhou Xuan occasionally subtly inquired about the original owner’s tendencies and deeds from the people of Zhou Family’s Theater Troupe. Without inheriting the original owner’s memories, learning more about what kind of person the original was might be somewhat helpful for his future new life. However, those he interviewed either avoided him like he was an evil ghost or showed blatant disdain and indifference. The people of Zhou Family’s Theater Troupe really lacked manners! Fortunately, while he was cleaning in the morning, he found under a loose tile under the bed, a key and a diary left by the original. He had pocketed the key, and now, he was about to flip through the diary. He moved a lounge chair, brewed a pot of tea, and sat under a big willow tree, flipping the original owner’s diary to the last entry: “July 11th, Thursday, Sunny In the afternoon, Second Master’s Wife was sleeping on the writing desk, her neckline slipped down, I bent down and closely observed for five minutes until Man Gui called me away. Second Master’s Wife’s body is so smooth, if I could sleep with her, this life would be worth dying for. Man Gui, you ruined my good thing, slapping you thrice is absolutely justified.” “My god, in love with sister-in-law? And hitting people for no reason?” Zhou Xuan realized that it wasn’t Zhou Family’s Theater Troupe that was being rude… He flipped another page in the diary, “July 8th, Monday, Cloudy Second Master’s Wife was washing clothes at the laundry pool, she bent her plump buttocks, I stood behind her observing for ten minutes. I love plump buttocks, I couldn’t resist, so I touched her plump buttocks, and she screamed, calling over Second Master. Second Master scolded me on the spot. Hehe, I am the Young Master, who is he to scold me? I punched him and called the eldest disciple to seek justice, who then scolded Second Master and I took the chance to kick Second Master. Second Master is a coward, I have seen through him, I’ll take down his wife in a few days and then sleep with her in front of him.” “The original was this outrageous?! ” Zhou Xuan felt the original owner’s behavior was excessively abominable. No wonder he wasn’t received well by the troupe people, the root cause was here! While he didn’t get to enjoy the good, he had become the scapegoat, angrily Zhou Xuan slapped the nearby willow tree. The willow tree’s bark is rough, a slap would hardly matter, but someone was displeased. A tinkling feminine voice came over, “Junior Brother Zhou, the Ancestor Tree must not be carelessly touched, touching its taboo will bring bad luck.” Zhou Xuan looked in the direction of the sound, seeing a woman in a cheongsam, shaking her voluptuous buttocks, hurrying over. This woman was indeed Second Master’s Wife, Song Jie. The original owner is indeed quite the brute, no doubt about it, but there is a saying that’s quite right—fat buttocks, I usually love to stare at some plump behinds. … Song Jie has a voluptuous figure; her buttocks are full and her face is pretty. She usually spends a lot of time outdoors, her skin glowing with a healthy wheatish hue. Like a cover girl straight out of a risqué magazine. She’s beautiful, she’s sexy, her hormones are off the charts, So much so that Zhou Xuan desperately wants to reach out and viciously pinch her buttocks! But Zhou Xuan’s desire to pinch her isn’t genuine, what kind of woman hadn’t he seen in his past life? Women in uniforms, women in silky stockings, women talking on the phone while claiming they were jogging… All of them swaying their bodies from Zhou Xuan’s hard drives, honing his self-control to perfection. So, why did he break so easily today? Sёarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sorting through his thoughts, Zhou Xuan suddenly hears the white noise again, the rustling rustling rustling. This subtle sound, like a switch, ignites all his desires with just a minuscule force. It’s all the noise’s fault. “This damn white noise!” At this moment, Song Jie, patiently explaining to Zhou Xuan about the Ancestor Tree’s features, “Junior Brother Zhou, these thousands of eyes on the Ancestor Tree were painted with ox blood, dog blood, snake blood, fox blood, The paints made from blood are easily absorbed by the Ancestor Tree, fading quickly; if you bump it slightly, many eyes will be rubbed off, the Ancestor Tree might feel…” Song Jie didn’t finish, she noticed Zhou Xuan’s eyes burning with a beastly glow, and she shivered uncontrollably. She hurriedly waved her hands, found an excuse, and escaped. “Let’s not talk about this for now, Junior Brother Zhou, I’m in a hurry to order Paperman and Paper-horse, we’ll chat later.” Having said that, Song Jie, with her plump buttocks, trotted towards the courtyard gate. As she ran, she kept looking back, fearful that Zhou Xuan might follow her, as if she was guarding against a thief. When she reached the street, Song Jie hailed a rickshaw, her nerves still frazzled, thinking of the rumors swirling in the theater troupe recently. People in the troupe said that the soul-calling ceremony at the Ancestor Tree had gone awry, attracting a soul, not of the Young Master himself, but of a deeply sinister Evil Ghost, the type with a human face but beastly heart. If this were true, it would be more twisted and terrifying than the previous lecherous Young Master. Looking at Zhou Xuan’s vicious gaze from earlier, how beast-like and scary it was, chances were this rumor might be true. “Why wouldn’t the Class Leader stand up and take charge, determine whether Zhou Xuan is human or ghost, she needs to clarify this.” Complaints aside, if Song Jie were to confront Zhou Lingyi in person, she genuinely didn’t dare, not even if she borrowed three times her courage. The elders in the troupe, who had been there for years, knew all about Zhou Lingyi’s ruthless methods. … After Song Jie left, Zhou Xuan’s emotions quickly cooled down, and the white noise also gradually disappeared with his stabilizing emotions. After all the turmoil, Zhou Xuan wanted to rest in a reclining chair, but before he could warm the seat, Second Master’s Wife Xu Li arrived. “Xuanzi, I was watching you from afar, it looked like you were writing in a diary.” Xu Li was the only one among the five sisters-in-law who was warm to Zhou Xuan. She had a gentle nature and maintained her status as the eldest sister-in-law embodying the spirit of an elder sister, showing tolerance towards the original owner. But people who are too kind often lack boundaries. Xu Li reached out her hand, intending to take a look at the diary. Fortunately, Zhou Xuan was quick and covered the diary tightly. This diary was a social suicide accelerator, if the Second Master’s Wife saw it, Zhou Xuan would have to pack up and flee overnight. “What did you write that you can’t even show your elder sister-in-law?” “About the aspirations for love, reflections on human nature, and breaking free, it’s very stream-of-consciousness.” Zhou Xuan made up a theme, sounding quite sophisticated. Xu Li took it seriously, admiration filling her eyes, saying, “That sounds profound.” She hadn’t read much, knew a few characters, but her handwriting was all but illegible. She had admired literate people from a young age. After praising him, Xu Li explained her purpose: “Your elder brother went out to see the doctor, and we just got some business at home that needs dealing with documents and receipts, your big sister-in-law’s writing… well…” “So you need me to help by beating the drum?” Zhou Xuan asked. “Exactly, that’s what I mean; your years at the foreign school weren’t wasted, you speak so nicely. If sister-in-law had your belly full of ink, we could do at least a dozen more transactions a month!” With Xu Li finding a helper, a weight lifted from her heart; her flattering words tumbled out loopily. Zhou Xuan quite liked this warm-hearted Second Master’s Wife, and naturally agreed to help when she asked. He packed up the tea pot from the reclining chair and followed Xu Li to Luoying Hall. Luoying Hall was built in the southeast corner of the outer courtyard, specifically used for entertaining guests. In Ping Shui Prefecture, only Zhou Family’s Troupe has a guest hall. Zhou Family’s Troupe is well-known, with large assets and detailed division of labor. In the troupe, there are three types of people. The first type is apprentices, straightforwardly speaking, they train daily under the direction of the third senior brother, receive no wages, but are provided with food and lodging. If business is busy, they also help out by offering their brawn for miscellaneous tasks, earning some pocket money. The second type is the troupe’s masters, performers, caretakers of the water pot, property keepers, musicians, all are masters. Mostly promoted from apprentices, occasionally when there’s a shortage of skilled masters, and none from the apprentices fit the bill, only then does Zhou Family’s Troupe recruit from outside. The third type is senior brothers. There are five senior brothers in Zhou Family’s Troupe, each supporting a pillar of the troupe. For example, Senior Brother Yu Zhengyuan is the troupe’s manager, arranging meetings with important clients of Ping Shui Prefecture, handling business negotiations, all under his responsibility. Senior Brother Two takes care of buying props for the troupe, also looks after the food and drink needs of over a hundred people from the compound, essentially the chief logistics officer. Senior brothers and Zhou Family members, although not sharing the same surname, but having trained in Zhou Family’s Troupe from a young age, after many years, emotions have settled, and they’re virtually family. Senior brothers, troupe’s masters, apprentices, these three types of people keep the troupe running and refreshing its bloodline, also making the troupe’s reputation vastly successful. As Zhou Xuan and Xu Li were swiftly approaching Luoying Hall, they bumped into Zhou Lingyi entering the courtyard with a parasol. “Class Leader.” Xu Li stopped in her tracks, bowed to Zhou Lingyi, appearing somewhat evasive. “Sister.” Zhou Xuan gave a greeting. Zhou Lingyi initially nodded at Xu Li, acknowledging her greeting, then looked coldly at Zhou Xuan and asked, “How has the whispering noise by your ear been these past few days?”