“They actually have a custom like that?”
Hu Ma listened and felt a novelty to it — a method that helped both others and oneself.
This sort of trick on the road made one admire it inwardly.
But he also found it odd. “If that’s so, why do the witches’ reputations suffer so much?”
Old Abacus lowered his voice a little and smiled bitterly. “Because the witches are real people too. They have this habit, so whenever they pass through a place and take a lodging, it’s usually among households who have had recent misfortune or an ill person. Over time people came to think: whenever a witch shows up, trouble follows. Some even say they first lay a gu and then come to lodge!”
“And on top of that, witches are well-versed in all sorts of methods. There are scoundrels among them who take money to harm people. That drags the whole lot’s name down.”
“Back in Mingzhou there were three evils — the Tan’er sect, the Chong’er gate. The Chong’er gate were those who took money to lay gu and harm people.”
“...”
“There aren’t many things in this world you can state plainly,” Old Abacus sighed.
Hu Ma agreed with him.
He turned and looked at Wuya.
He saw her push open the gate and speak a few words to someone inside who looked like a steward.