strokinit Chapter 89 The Punishment of the Tan Family, Tan Jiji.
Chapter 89 The Punishment of the Tan Family, Tan Jiji.
Chapter 89: The Punishment of the Tan Family, Tan Jiji. (Second Update, 4000 words)
Lu Yuan was on edge.
Raising evil spirits!
The weight of these three words far exceeds all previous inferences.
A bloody sacrifice lasting six years, using the incense offerings and offspring of the entire village, or several surrounding villages, as offerings!
Lu Yuan was a little confused. Who was raising an evil god?
If you raise one in Mangniu Village, will you raise a second one elsewhere?
The situation in Mangniu Village might be easier to handle, since according to the current information, they will only be supported for six years.
What about other places? Are there any that are 60 years old?
Lu Yuan pondered for a while, but couldn't figure it out.
But right now, Lu Yuan didn't have time to think about who was behind this.
Regardless of who the other party is or whether there are other arrangements elsewhere.
As a Taoist priest from an orthodox Taoist temple.
As a legitimate Celestial Master with a lineage and teachings, I must see this matter through to the end!
Lu Yuan composed himself, turned around, and stepped into the east wing.
The room was dimly lit, with a milky smell mixed with a faint, chilly atmosphere.
The young parents huddled by the kang (a heated brick bed), their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Lu Yuan.
The baby on the kang was still fast asleep, his face as pale as paper, his breathing so weak that his chest was barely rising and falling.
Lu Yuan did not approach; he simply stood quietly in place.
With his right hand forming the "Spirit Observation Technique," he focused his inner light on the infant.
In the field of vision, the pure aura above the baby's head, symbolizing the origin of life, had dimmed.
Even more terrifying, two streams of gray-black energy, like maggots clinging to his bones, were tightly wrapped around him.
A thin thread tightened around her neck.
A deadly loop, locking both feet.
Two malevolent energies converged above the baby's chest, outlining a blurry, interlocking phantom.
The curse of mother and child entanglement!
Lu Yuan's gaze sharpened, and his spiritual senses probed deeper.
Those two streams of malevolent energy were not still; they were slowly wriggling at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
It penetrates towards the crown of the baby's head, also known as the fontanelle, and the sole of the foot, also known as the Yongquan acupoint.
One reaches to the heavens, the other to the earth.
This is polluting the soul and blocking the root of vital energy!
The malevolent energy has transformed into a spiritual guide, clearly laying the foundation for the most insidious "soul transfer" technique!
Lu Yuan withdrew the spell, his expression becoming extremely solemn.
He led Xu Erxiao and Wang Chengan back into the courtyard.
"compass!"
Lu Yuan gave a low shout.
Holding a compass, he moved swiftly around the courtyard, testing the directions, following the steps of the Big Dipper.
The magnetic needle inside the compass tianchi is stable most of the time.
However, whenever the magnetic needle is pointed to the southwest Kun position, in the direction of the back mountain, a continuous and slight "sinking needle" will appear.
The needle tip sank, as if drawn by something underground.
Lu Yuan walked to the fence in the backyard, which was closest to the back mountain.
The magnetic needle on the compass not only sank even heavier, but also began to emit extremely subtle yet very regular left-right vibrations.
Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—
That's not just a simple disturbance of malevolent energy.
Instead, it sensed a kind of "pulse".
When the earth's energy is different, the yin veins become visible.
It was the sound of the earth's yin veins pulsating together after being stirred by that evil spirit!
Lu Yuan took out a specially made "Earth Qi Sensing Talisman".
Place the talisman on the ground in the backyard; there is no need to light it or chant any incantations.
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, countless spiderweb-like light gray patterns appeared out of thin air on the talisman.
All the lines converged and extended wildly in one direction.
Its ultimate destination is the dry well on the back mountain!
Lu Yuan put away the magical artifact and turned to face Wang Laohan and his family, who were already terrified.
His voice wasn't loud, but every word struck like a hammer blow to everyone's heart.
"The root of the trouble lies with that woman in the dry well behind the mountain."
"It is not a ghost, and it is no longer someone you can beg for mercy from."
"Someone used evil magic, using the underground orifices as a furnace and your six years of fear as fuel, to forge an evil god!"
"If this evil god is not eliminated, your grandson will surely die within a hundred days."
"The entire Mangniutun village will be wiped out sooner or later!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Laohan and his family lost all color in their faces and swayed precariously.
"Taoist Master—" The daughter-in-law's voice was choked with sobs, and she almost knelt down.
Lu Yuan raised his hand to support him, and said with utmost seriousness, "Don't panic. Since I can find the root of the problem, I naturally have a way to cure it completely."
After saying that, Lu Yuan's gaze swept over Wang Laohan, his son, and his daughter-in-law's faces, which were filled with fear but had finally ignited a glimmer of hope: "Today, between 1 and 3 pm, the yang energy is at its peak and the earth's energy is relatively stable. The three of us will go up the mountain to break the well."
"What you need to do is keep the doors and windows tightly shut, and no matter what noises you hear from the back mountain, you must not come out to look."
At this point, Lu Yuan said seriously, "However, I'm not sure what the situation is up there right now; it might be beyond my capabilities."
O
At this point, seeing the Wang family, whose hope had just been rekindled but were now filled with despair, he immediately said, "But don't panic. I told you, we are not the unlicensed Taoist priests you found before."
"If I cannot do it myself, I will ask the people of Zhenlong Temple for help."
"Therefore, prepare some quicklime and cinnabar. If we do not return by sunset, sprinkle them all over the front and back of this house."
Logically speaking, this shouldn't be a big deal.
That sounds rather intimidating, like the incense burning for six years in several villages or something.
But then I thought about it again. First of all, there aren't many villages here, and some of them, like Mangniu Village, have fewer than a hundred households.
Six years of offerings couldn't produce any powerful evil gods.
However, he couldn't be careless, and Lu Yuan didn't dare to make any guarantees.
After all, that red-clad evil spirit had already become an evil spirit long before it became a worshipped evil god.
And after the three "feng shui masters" did their work...
I wonder how powerful he's become.
We'll have to wait until Lu Yuan goes up the mountain to find out the specifics!
It was early noon, at 11:15 a.m.
A temporary altar has been set up in the backyard of Wang Laohan's house.
Lu Yuan and the other two had changed out of their Taoist robes and into a kind of undyed coarse linen short brown, with five-colored silk sashes tied around their waists.
This is called "purification and spiritual communication," which uses one's most natural state to sense the universe and ward off evil influences.
On the altar, ritual implements were arranged, their cold light gleaming.
The Beidou Suppressing Lamp consists of seven lamps, the oil of which is a mixture of tung oil, realgar, and saltpeter, used to stabilize the yang energy of the place and prevent the yin energy from retaliating.
A pair of pure silver scissors, seven inches long, with the twenty-eight constellations engraved all over the blade, is used to sever the connection between evil energy and the soul of an infant.
Xu Erxiao was carefully wiping the blades of the scissors with freshly drawn well water, his expression focused.
-
In the center of the altar is a figurine of an infant carved from peach wood struck by lightning.
This is the result of Wang Chengan's busy morning.
At this moment, Wang Cheng'an was using a new brush, dipped in a paint mixture of rooster's comb blood and cinnabar.
At the bottom of the wooden figurine, the birth date and time of the Wang family's grandson were written stroke by stroke.
Finally, four words were deeply engraved on the back of the wooden figurine:
He took the blame for others' misdeeds.
In addition, there are also ritual implements for warding off evil spirits and numerous talismans on the altar.
Lu Yuan lit three sticks of incense in front of the ancestral tablet.
The cigarette rose straight up, about three feet high, and then suddenly spread out in all directions, forming the shape of an umbrella.
A canopy covering the sky is an auspicious sign!
But as soon as the canopy took shape, it was blown slightly by an invisible wind, causing it to spread out a few degrees faster than normal.
The negative forces are still interfering.
At noon, everything was ready.
The three of them left Mangniu Village and arrived at the foot of the back mountain.
The mountain is not high; it is just a continuous ridge covered by dense forests that never see the sun, giving it a lifeless feel.
The three of them did a final check on the talismans and magical artifacts on their bodies.
Confirmed.
Lu Yuan looked up at the mountaintop and uttered two words.
"Let's go up the mountain!"
The moment the three stepped into the dense forest, a bone-chilling cold instantly seeped into their clothes.
Despite it being midday when the yang energy is at its peak, the forest is as dark as dusk, with the light filtered through layers of twisted branches, creating a dappled and fragmented effect.
-
The fallen leaves underfoot were incredibly thick, making no sound when you stepped on them, as if you had stepped into another silent world.
It was as silent as a giant tomb.
Something's not right.
Xu Erxiao lowered his voice, his right hand already gripping the hilt of the peach wood sword at his waist tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
The compass needle in Wang Cheng'an's hand trembled wildly, pointing deep into the forest, yet with a hint of hesitation and deviation.
"The yin energy is rising, but it's very dispersed, as if—this entire forest is permeated with yin energy."
Lu Yuan walked in the middle, his gaze not lingering on the strangely shaped trees, but fixed on the ground.
The trees here—locust, willow, and mulberry—are all extremely yin.
A layer of dark green, slippery moss clung to the bark, emitting a faint, rusty, fishy smell.
According to Wang Laohan, there is a path leading up the mountain.
But after they had walked for almost the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the surrounding scenery began to have an eerie sense of repetition.
"Senior brother!"
Xu Erxiao suddenly stopped and pointed to a crooked old locust tree to his left.
"This tree! We've passed by it for the third time!"
Three feet above the ground, a half-old axe mark on the tree trunk was the original mark they left.
A maze of ghosts.
But it's far more insidious than the usual ghost wall illusion.
Lu Yuan squatted down and picked up a handful of soil.
The soil is dark red and cool to the touch; you can clearly feel some hard, white fragments on your fingertips.
Those are not pebbles.
It looked more like repeatedly crushed bone fragments.
"It's not an illusion, it's a 'ley line maze'."
Lu Yuan stood up, his face turning completely grim.
"Someone has manipulated the natural energy of this place, causing this road to 'lead us in circles' on its own."
"The path we're stepping on isn't a real mountain path at all!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his finger and drew a "Dispelling Illusion and Opening Eyes Talisman" in mid-air.
The yellow talisman spontaneously combusted without fire, turning into a point of golden light that entered his brow.
When Lu Yuan opened his eyes again, the world before him had instantly changed!
Beneath the ground, several pale black streams of air meandered and lurked like earth dragons.
Forced to twist by an invisible force, it forms a huge, slowly rotating vortex.
The three of them stood on the edge of the vortex, each step pulled by the cold, eerie air current, spinning involuntarily.
"What a grand scheme! Altering the earth's veins, using the power of mountains and rivers to trap people—"
Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat. This was no ordinary evil spirit's method; it must have been set up by that group of mysterious "feng shui masters."
Moreover, although the aura of this magic array is ancient, its core is faintly maintained by new energy, indicating that—
These people come back every year!
Lu Yuan was about to make a hand seal to forcefully open a path with lightning magic.
From deep within the woods ahead, a creaking sound suddenly came.
It was the sound of an old wooden door being pushed open.
The three of them felt a chill run down their spines and instantly went on alert.
About ten feet ahead, a thick fog had quietly descended.
A vermilion, mottled, peeling door frame could be vaguely seen in the mist, standing abruptly between two old trees.
The inside of the door was pitch black, as if it led to another space.
"In this desolate wilderness, where did this door suddenly come from?"
Wang Chengan, holding the compass, stared blankly.
Before the words were finished, a pale, swollen hand with black fingernails suddenly reached out from inside the doorway and beckoned towards the three of them.
Immediately afterwards, a woman's soft humming came from inside the door.
The tune was exactly the eerie lullaby that Wang Laohan's daughter-in-law had described as the one "Empress" hummed in her dream.
"Playing tricks!"
Xu Erxiao snorted coldly and was about to throw out the exorcism talisman.
"Don't rush."
Lu Yuan stopped him, his eyes gleaming with golden light, clearly seeing through him.
The door and the hand, instead of exuding the resentment of a physical ghost, emanated a hollow, ethereal energy.
"It's a 'scenery curse'! Someone has imprinted a terrifying image into this land's energy using a magic array; it will activate upon contact, used to scare away people coming up the mountain."
Lu Yuan frowned slightly as he stared at the pale, eerie-looking hand.
Even so, this "Jing Sha" is designed to be extremely realistic. The details of its hands and the rhythm of its humming all carry a chilling feeling that strikes straight to the heart.
If an ordinary person were to accidentally wander in, they would probably be terrified and run away on the spot.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan said with some understanding, "It must be a trick set up by those three 'feng shui masters'."
"The purpose was to scare away the villagers who wanted to go up the mountain and prevent them from getting close to the ancient well."
He gestured for Xu Erxiao and Wang Chengan to step back.
He took a deep breath and formed a hand seal, which was the "Blazing Sun Barrier-Breaking Seal" of Taoism, which is extremely yang and strong!
"break!"
Lu Yuan gave a low shout, and golden light flashed at his fingertips!
A slender golden snake suddenly slammed towards the vermilion ghost gate!
There was no earth-shattering noise.
The ghost gate and ghost hand formed by the "Jing Sha" emitted a sharp sound like shattering glass the moment the golden light touched them, and twisted violently.
It immediately crumbled into pieces, turning into black smoke and dissipating!
However, just as the illusion shattered, a voice tinged with surprise came from behind the three of them.
"Alas!"
"You're incredibly skilled! You managed to destroy Jing Sha with a single blow!"
The three were startled and turned around abruptly, instantly aiming their magical artifacts at the source of the sound.
On a thick locust tree branch, about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) above the ground, one could see...
A young man dressed in indigo coarse cloth and wearing a bamboo hat was squatting down.
He looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a healthy tan complexion from years of hiking in the mountains, and a blade of grass was dangling from his mouth.
What is most striking about him are his eyes; the pupils are a lighter color than normal, and in the dim forest, they seem to gleam with a faint amber luster.
At this moment, he was observing Lu Yuan and his two companions with great interest, as well as the gradually dissipating "ghostly gate" in front of him.
Upon seeing this, Lu Yuan couldn't help but look puzzled and raised an eyebrow.
Wow~
That's kind of classy!
"Who?!"
Xu Erxiao shouted angrily, his peach wood sword already drawn three-tenths of its sheath.
The young man paid no attention and leaped down from the two-zhang-high tree branch, landing silently.
He clapped his hands, his gaze swept over Lu Yuan and the other two, finally settling on Lu Yuan, and he gave a slight bow.
"Weren't you going to destroy the evil-nurturing land?"
"Why did we suddenly turn towards this well?"
After saying that, the young man grinned at Lu Yuan and said, "Tan Jiji from the Xingyou Tan family."
Lu Yuan: "I'm so!"