"I've already told you, if you don't believe my talismans, don't come looking for me!" the Bamboo Sage said preemptively.
“I sacrificed my lifespan to write those talismans for you last time.”
"Mother, please don't hold a grudge against her. Yan Yan is still young and doesn't understand. Please don't take it to heart," Madam Xu quickly explained.
"Hmph!" The Bamboo Goddess snorted lightly, turned around, and ignored Madam Xu.
"Yan Yan, quickly apologize to Grandma Zhu." Madam Xu had no choice but to persuade Lin Shu Yan.
"Grandma Zhu, I'm still young and don't know any better. I hope you can forgive me," Lin Shuyan said, stepping forward with a wronged expression.
"Fine, I'll forgive you this time." The bamboo witch took the opportunity to back down.
"If you want to get rid of this ferocious ghost, you must be sincere!"
“We are absolutely sincere!” Madam Xu quickly echoed, and took out another tael of silver from her waist.
"I've already given you the money. This is a talisman that I've consecrated today. Here's a bowl. Draw some blood out of you, and I'll mix it with rooster blood to draw a talisman for you!"
The Bamboo Goddess took out a cup and a sharp knife from the side.
"Whose is this?" Madam Xu asked hurriedly, her hands clenched tightly under her sleeves, as if afraid that Madam Xu would grab her hand and cut it the next second.
"Of course, whoever sees the ghost uses whose blood." The bamboo shaman's lighthearted words interrupted Madam Xu's intention to attack Madam Xu.
Reluctantly, Madam Xu cut her finger to bleed it. After bleeding, she quickly put her injured finger in her mouth and sucked on it.
Lin Shuyan felt disgusted upon seeing this.
Just as the Bamboo Goddess finished drawing the talisman and handed it to Madam Xu, two people arrived at the door.
They were a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law's belly was slightly protruding, and she was clearly five months pregnant.
"Fortune teller, please help me see if my daughter-in-law is carrying a grandson."
"How long have you been pregnant?" The bamboo witch walked out slowly, her eyes fixed on the pregnant woman's belly.
This mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are villagers from Shili Village. The daughter-in-law of Zhao Dazhuang is Fang Peiyun, and the old woman is Zhao Lishi.
Zhao Dazhuang's family was considered well-off in Shili Village. Zhao Lishi was the head of the household. Zhao Dazhuang and Fang Peiyun had been married for three years but still had no children.
Actually, I was pregnant a year ago, but I had some bleeding, and I only got pregnant again now.
Zhao Li originally wanted to divorce Fang Peiyun and let Zhao Dazhuang remarry, but Zhao Dazhuang was unwilling, and there was no precedent for this in Shili Village, so Zhao Li had no choice but to keep quiet.
So, after her pregnancy stabilized at five months, she immediately brought Fang Peiyun to the Bamboo Goddess to ask if she was carrying a son. If not, she would try to give birth to a son.
The family is poor and doesn't have the money to raise a daughter, so it would be better to have her give birth to a son in the first place!
That's what Zhao Li thought, but she didn't tell her daughter-in-law, much less her son. Knowing her son's character, she knew he would definitely object if he married a wife and forgot his mother.
"Mother, didn't we say we were going to town to see a doctor and get some medicine to prevent miscarriage? Why are we here looking for a sorceress?" Fang Peiyun asked, clutching her stomach and taking two steps back in fear.
The sight of the old woman, known as the sorceress, staring at her stomach sent chills down her spine.
"Listen to me, the Bamboo Goddess is a famous doctor. She can tell you whether the baby in your belly is a boy or a girl," Zhao Li said with a forced smile.
"I see your belly is pointed, you're definitely carrying a money-losing baby!" said Madam Xu, who hadn't left yet.
She's had several children already, and she has a sharp eye; she's definitely not wrong.
"You spouting nonsense! Who do you think you are? It's none of your business how my family does it?"
Zhao Li looked at Da Xu with dissatisfaction and cursed. If Fang Peiyun hadn't been holding her back, she would have rushed forward and scratched Da Xu's hair long ago.
“Mother, Dazhuang and I have discussed it. We love it whether it’s a son or a daughter,” Fang Peiyun said, her face full of tenderness when she mentioned Zhao Dazhuang.
"No, I must have a son!" Zhao Li shouted, hands on her hips, then looked at the shaman Zhu: "Shaman, please open my third eye and take a look. This old woman has money to give you!"
Fang Peiyun's smile vanished abruptly when she saw her mother-in-law's domineering demeanor!
"Alright, your matter is settled, so leave now and don't linger here." The Bamboo Goddess looked at Madam Xu and the others, issuing an order to leave.
"No wonder you can't have a grandson!"
Even as she left, Madam Xu's words were still merciless, leaving behind such a vicious remark.
Just as Zhao Li was about to chase after her, the words of the bamboo shaman stopped her.
"Do you still want to watch?" The bamboo shaman sat down, pretending to be serious, and asked in a cold voice.
“Look, look, Peiyun, sit down quickly and let the fortune teller take a look at you.”
"Mother, I don't want to..."
Seeing that Fang Peiyun was unwilling, Zhao Lishi's face immediately turned sour. She suddenly pulled her over and pressed her down onto the stool in front of the bamboo shaman.
"Sorcerer, thank you for your trouble." Zhao Li took out a tael of silver from her pocket and placed it on the table, then gave Fang Peiyun a warning look to behave herself.
"Hmm." The bamboo shaman placed her hand on Fang Peiyun's wrist meaningfully to take her pulse.
If a doctor were present and saw the way the bamboo shaman took the pulse, he would definitely slam his fist on the table and curse. She doesn't even know where the pulse is, what kind of pulse reading is she talking about?
"Fortune teller, can you tell if it's a son or a daughter?"
After a cup of tea, Zhao Lishi couldn't contain herself any longer and asked a question. Seeing the increasingly solemn expression on the face of the bamboo shaman, she became more and more flustered.
Fang Peiyun's heart started pounding, and her palms were sweating profusely.
"It's a girl, and she'll stop having children after this one."
“The daughter in your belly is a jinx. Once she is born, your family will never have peace. No lucky boy will be born into your family again. Even if your son remarries, he will not be able to have a son.”
Fang Peiyun slumped on the stool, and if it weren't for her fingernails digging into her palms, she would have fainted long ago.
With just a few words, the Bamboo Goddess sentenced Fang Peiyun's unborn child to death.
“Mother, the child in my belly is definitely not a jinx!” Fang Peiyun explained.
However, no matter what Fang Peiyun said, Zhao Lishi wouldn't listen.
"Witch doctor, is there any way to help? We can't afford to give birth to a jinx in our family." Zhao Li gritted her teeth and took out an ounce of silver from her pocket, handing it to the witch doctor.
"I do have a method, but it would shorten my lifespan. Your sincerity isn't quite enough." The Bamboo Sage didn't even lift her eyelids.
Zhao Li looked at Fang Peiyun's swollen belly, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes. She steeled herself and took out the last string of copper coins from her pocket.
"Mother, no, this is the last of our money to buy rice," Fang Peiyun protested, but Zhao Lishi did not listen to her and instead pushed her away.
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