"Great Sage Equal to Heaven, you idiot, hurry back to eat!" A villager walked over. "Did you hear me? If you don't leave, I'll get you some pine nuts."

The Monkey King was still sitting there grinning foolishly when he suddenly stood up and said, "I have a green dragon on my left and a white tiger on my right. I'm not afraid of anyone. Come on, come and eat me!"

Eight villages held a Taoist ceremony

The villager was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly. When some of the village children saw this, several of them ran over, picked up sticks, and started hitting him, pushing the Monkey King into the paddy field.

"You even claim to have a green dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right, and that you're invulnerable to swords and spears? We'll beat you until you poop electricity!" Several children mocked, then urinated on his head.

The Monkey King was still grinning foolishly, sitting under the big tree at the village entrance, just like always. At this moment, a man dressed in black walked over, squatted down in front of him, and seemed to be talking to the Monkey King. It was unclear what they were saying, but suddenly the Monkey King went berserk.

Seemingly witnessing something terrifying, he cried out, "Ah~ the devil has appeared again! We can't escape, none of us can escape!" Then, amidst laughter, he ran towards the back mountain of the village and jumped off the cliff.

Everyone thought the Monkey King had committed suicide. No one questioned his death or whether he was truly dead; at least he had disappeared from the village, saving the villagers from further trouble.

Business has been slow these past few days, and I've been feeling rather idle, spending most of my time sitting in the shop playing games.

I was playing a team match with my friends when a seemingly honest villager walked in, looking a little flustered. He whispered to me, "Master Liu, come to my house quickly, something's wrong."

Hearing what the villagers said, I stopped playing the game and said, "Tell me in detail."

The villager took a breath and began to recount the story in detail. It turned out that his old man had passed away a few days ago, but when he was placed in the coffin, he couldn't close his eyes no matter what. According to the customs of the countryside, it was an ominous sign that the dead would not close their eyes, and that bloodshed would follow.

It's not surprising that the villagers would come to me. I run an antique shop in town and also perform Taoist rituals. I've learned some basic Taoist arts and feng shui, and I'm quite well-known in this place that still retains rural customs.

After the villager finished speaking, he became anxious. "Master Liu, you have to help me! My old man is to be buried tomorrow."

Nodding, he realized it wasn't a difficult task and he had encountered similar situations before. He then asked the villagers to wait, packed some necessary items, and followed them in a three-wheeled vehicle to the countryside.

When I arrived at the villager's house, it was mealtime. Two young men quickly ushered me inside. This family was considered relatively wealthy in the village, so the funeral was quite grand, with more than a dozen tables set up for the banquet, and they even hired a professional funeral team.

When they saw me appear, the group of funeral workers breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone knew that these people were just freeloaders. As the countryside became richer, many of them became like nouveau riche, showing off and competing with each other.

This family is clearly a typical nouveau riche. Of course, none of this concerns me. I'm just responsible for doing my job, and once I'm done, I take the money and leave.

The two young men treated me with great respect, and they forced a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes on me. The older one said, "Master Liu, we really need your help with this. Please help us bury our grandfather properly and bless our business to prosper in the future. We will definitely repay your kindness."

I didn't answer, I just asked them to take me to the mourning room.

The deceased's body was placed in the middle of the mourning room, where several women and children, dressed in mourning clothes, were kneeling.

I walked over and immediately saw that the deceased's eyes were wide open, as if he had died with his eyes open in disbelief, and his mouth was also open.

Upon seeing this, I roughly understood what had happened, and I shook my head inwardly, thinking how hateful such an unfilial person was.

After setting up the ritual altar, he instructed the family to catch a large red rooster, and then told the others to step back. He recited a few incantations and threw the large red rooster at the corpse. The rooster seemed to be greatly frightened, making a pitiful cry and jumping around until it was on the verge of death.

They caught the rooster and cut its neck with a knife, revealing that the blood flowing from it was jet black.

Sighing and shaking his head, the family gathered around. The deceased's son, who was also the father of the two young men, quickly asked, "Master Liu, how is it?"

"This is bad luck," I said, frowning slightly, and showed him the dark chicken blood in the bowl in my hand.

"What can we do? Master Liu, you have to help our family! We'll give you whatever it takes!" The villagers cried and almost knelt down.

Then everyone else in the family started begging, especially the two grandsons, who looked so pitiful that I had to help them no matter what.

"You reap what you sow, I can only try my best," I replied, shaking my head. Then I instructed everyone in the household to cut off a lock of their hair and a corner of their clothes, and hand them to me.

They were smeared with rooster blood and placed on the deceased's left and right hands respectively.

He then ordered someone to bring Jingma from outside and said, "You should all know what you did to the old man before, so I won't go into details. Now, if you want him to forgive you, it depends on whether you are sincere."

At my request, the entire family, except for the children, knelt in front of the deceased, took off their shirts, and then I picked up a thorny plant and began to whip them severely until they bled. They were not allowed to scream or resist during the process, otherwise it would be ineffective.

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