Miaofeng Mountain on the outskirts of the capital was originally a desolate and rarely - visited mountain.
Every year, no fewer than a double - digit number of "wild hikers" die in the mountain. Even the native villagers like those in Lu Village would not wander up the mountain at night.
I followed Lu Erzhong, who was possessed by a weasel, along with Si Jiangchen, towards the cemetery on the mountainside of the village.
The weasel was extremely familiar with the mountain paths. Several times in the wild forest, I thought it had shaken us off and escaped, but it would always reappear in front of us unexpectedly.
"My lord, please don't help those bastards in Lu Village..."
The weasel's fear of Si Jiangchen was palpable. It used honorifics when speaking to him. "They killed my entire Huang family!"
"Huang Dabiao, you've always said you want to take revenge on the people of Lu Village."
I walked in front of Si Jiangchen, staring intently at the weasel and asking, "I think you're repaying kindness with enmity. Lu Xiaojuan never offended you. She even brought you steamed buns. Why did you possess her and defile her innocence?"
"Pfft, long hair, short wit."
Huang Dabiao rolled his eyes with a disdainful look and didn't want to talk to me.
"Speak!"
With just one word from Si Jiangchen, Huang Dabiao shrank his neck in fear and showed a flattering smile. "I, Huang Dabiao, am not an ungrateful guy. I possessed Xiaojuan to save her!"
It turned out that Lu Xiaojuan wasn't bewitched by a weasel in the wheat field that day. Instead, she was deceived by a ghost. The ghost led her into a tomb chamber where a corpse had risen and had sex with her.
This kind of extremely sinister Yin - affair would suck out all of Lu Xiaojuan's Yang energy within a month and kill her.
However, Huang Dabiao, the enchanted weasel who had received Lu Xiaojuan's alms, disrupted the lecherous ghost's plan. He also possessed Lu Xiaojuan. Somehow, Lu Xiaojuan seemed to have some consciousness and helped him suppress the ghost's soul tightly.
Lu Xiaojuan was thus temporarily safe. Before Huang Dabiao could figure out how to completely destroy the evil ghost, I trapped him in a bottle. As a result, the lecherous ghost managed to possess Lu Xiaojuan again, and Lu Xiaojuan's mother also suffered.
"Let's talk about why you said the people of Lu Village killed your entire family."
I started to divert the topic.
I never thought that my attempt to catch this demon would be a wrong decision. Although Huang Dabiao didn't tell the truth, from the current consequences, Lu Xiaojuan was indeed protected by Huang Dabiao.
Huang Dabiao wanted to roll his eyes again but was too afraid of Si Jiangchen. He had to reply honestly, "There was originally only one zombie in Lu Village. Then two people came. They wanted to catch that zombie, but it escaped. In a fit of rage, they raised all the corpses in the village. At night, the zombies would roam the mountains and hunt wild animals. After they ate all the pheasants and hares, they started preying on us, the celestial beings with some spiritual power... Overnight! My entire family, young and old, were all eaten by those zombies in Lu Village!!"
"Wait..."
I noticed a loophole in Huang Dabiao's story. "It was clearly those two zombie - raisers who killed your family. Why do you hate the people of Lu Village?"
"… Ah! Right... Right!"
Huang Dabiao's eyes clearly shifted. He stammered for a long time and finally reluctantly said, "I can't beat them. I can't possess them either!"
What a cowardly and bully!
As we were talking, we stepped on the thick grass and reached the mountainside.
"Humph, I dare say that without me, Huang Dabiao, you two would never be able to find those two guys."
Huang Dabiao proudly led us to the back of a tomb mound.
It was a large tomb built after the Ming and Qing dynasties. Behind the two - or three - meter - high earthen mound, there was a faint flickering of fire.
I quietly peeked out and saw two men sitting in front of a wooden table. By the flickering candlelight, eight small straw dolls were arranged in the formation of the later - heaven Bagua. Each straw doll had eyes and eyebrows painted with cinnabar.
A man in a cyan Taoist robe looked about thirty - something. His features were so delicate that he seemed to have stepped out of an ancient painting.
At the moment, the dense beads of sweat on his face greatly spoiled his immortal - like demeanor.
"Rise!"
The Taoist's voice was extremely low, but it carried a faint thunderous pressure.
The straw doll in the position of the ghost gate on the table suddenly stood up straight with his low cry.
Si Jiangchen behind me suddenly silently twitched the corner of his lips. He reached out and grabbed my right hand, and seemingly casually "drew" a line in the direction of the straw doll. Then, the struggling straw doll suddenly emitted a puff of black smoke, and the cinnabar - inscribed talisman paper on it spontaneously ignited without wind.
In an instant, the straw doll turned into a pile of gray ashes.
The man behind the young Taoist couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise. "How could this happen?!"
The young Taoist pursed his lips tightly. His right hand holding the vermilion brush moved quickly, and he dotted two other straw dolls. "Rise quickly!"
Those two straw dolls also struggled for a while and then burned into two small piles of ashes, just like the previous one.
"Clan leader, stop!"
The man behind the young Taoist was a fifty - something - year - old man. He wasn't wearing a Taoist robe but a Chinese - style moon - white Chinese tunic suit. At the moment, the silk fabric was soaked in sweat and stuck to his body. "It seems that there is another powerful demon here!"
I couldn't help but shiver.
Clan leader?!
Could it be Du Peiyun, the legendary clan leader of the Du family in Du Yang Town who inherited the Taoist tradition?
He was a truly legendary figure. How could he condescend to come for me and my grandfather, two ordinary people?
While I was still in shock, I heard the young Taoist, who was called the "clan leader", snort. Ignoring his follower behind him, he threw the brush aside, bit his middle finger, and quickly smeared the blood on the remaining five straw dolls with his fingertip. Then he pointed at the straw dolls with his sword - shaped fingers.
"Rise!"
His voice was even lower, like a thunderbolt suddenly splitting from the sky covered with dark clouds.
I felt Si Jiangchen's hand holding mine tremble slightly. I quickly looked up at him.
"Trifling skills!" His lips formed a silent sneer. The big hand holding my fingers quickly rose and drew a corpse - suppressing talisman in the air, then pushed it out horizontally.
"Boom!"
This time, not only did all five straw dolls in front of the Taoist explode, but the candles on the solid - wood table also burst into sparks. For a moment, the fire soared and there was a tendency to burn fiercely.
"Pfft!"
The young Taoist spurted out a mouthful of blood. His body swayed twice and he almost fell into the fire in front of him.
"Clan leader!!"
The follower behind the young Taoist exclaimed and wanted to rush over to help.
But the young Taoist very gracefully waved his Taoist robe on the table. The seemingly raging flames immediately went out, and the surroundings were plunged into darkness. Only the dim red moonlight on the horizon lent a hazy glow.
"Actually, there really is someone protecting her?!"
The young Taoist gritted his teeth...