Chapter 43 The Wang couple turned their heads and saw...
Mr. and Mrs. Wang were both startled to see Wang Yingying standing at the kitchen door.
Butcher Wang hurriedly put the hand holding the cleaver behind his back, looking embarrassed: "Yingying, you're not fully recovered yet, go back to your room and rest. Uncle Shui will cook for you."
Wang Yingying stepped out of the shadows under the eaves into the sunlight in the courtyard, her expression blank, but a glistening tear flashed in the corner of her eye: "Father, who is Abao?"
Butcher Wang couldn't bear to answer and turned his head away.
Wang Yingying's gaze then turned to Aunt Wang.
Aunt Wang turned her back, wiped her face with her hand, and went to help Wang Yingying, whose face was becoming increasingly pale.
The scorching sun overhead was obscured by a drifting cloud, and the sounds in the courtyard grew even more eerie.
A voice broke the deadlock:
“Miss Wang must have misheard. The name I just mentioned to the two elders was Xiao Bao, which is the nickname of the youngest child in the family.”
I've heard that the fox spirit temple here is very efficacious, so I came to pray for the safety of my wife and children. I also heard that Miss Wang received a miracle from the fox spirit, and I thought I could use the excuse of asking for water to share in her good fortune.”
Xie Zhuo took in the expressions of the three people. His eyes were filled with complex emotions. He had forgotten the cause of his heart ailment. This ailment could not be cured without any medicine. It seemed that the legendary fox spirit was not so powerful.
Strands of sunlight pierced through the clouds, causing Xie Zhuo to squint in the light.
If chronic diarrhea is erased from memory, will the illness truly be cured?
...
Wang Yingying stared directly at Xie Zhuo, her face still pale, her eyes unfocused: "Is...is that so? I must have misheard."
Aunt Wang quickly chimed in, "Yes, Yingying, the young man we were talking about just now is Xiaobao. You're still not well, let me help you back to your room to rest."
Wang Yingying's figure disappeared into the west wing with the help of Aunt Wang.
Butcher Wang looked away, tossed the cleaver aside, and gestured for Xie Zhuo to sit down on the stool.
"I apologize for my rudeness earlier. As you can see, my Yingying is in a very bad state and cannot withstand any more stress." Butcher Wang pulled up a stool and sat down. His face looked much more haggard than it had been not long ago. "What do you want to know? I'll tell you."
"Was your daughter healed by the fox spirit and turned into this state? What happened at the fox spirit temple yesterday, and how did the fox spirit manifest itself?" Xie Zhuo asked.
Butcher Wang's gaze unconsciously drifted towards the house to the west:
"Yingying was seriously ill and almost died. Our family runs a slaughtering and meat-selling business and has never believed in these things. But her mother listened to what the neighbors said and decided to take Yingying to the Fox Fairy Temple to pray."
Yesterday I didn't set up my stall. I asked someone to slaughter two chickens and put Yingying on a borrowed oxcart to take her to the Fox Fairy Temple.
Yingying was too weak to walk, so her mother carried her into the Fox Fairy Temple.
There were many people worshipping in the temple. I placed the chicken that was offered to the fox spirit on the altar, and Yingying's mother knelt on the prayer mat with Yingying in her arms to worship.
Suddenly someone shouted that the fox spirit had appeared. I looked up and saw that the statue was radiating golden light. One of the rays of light floated out and landed on Yingying, who then fainted on the ground.
The temple's steward, Cao, came over and told me that Yingying had been blessed by the fox spirit and would recover from her illness upon waking.
Although I didn't know if the temple keeper was telling the truth, Yingying's mother believed him and asked me to pay some incense money.
When I returned, Yingying was already awake and called out "Dad" when she saw me. "Ever since Abao went missing, Yingying hasn't responded to anyone..."
Wang the butcher's voice trembled with emotion as he spoke, but his mood quickly sombered again: "But when Yingying got home, she looked at Abao's clothes in the room and wondered where they came from..." He paused, and his dry voice rang out again: "But it's good that this matter ends here. It's good that my daughter can get better."
He sighed, "If you want to take your wife with you, you should be prepared. It would be best to have someone pack up the children's belongings first."
Xie Zhuo had already guessed Wang Yingying's situation. He was thinking about it but didn't show it on his face. He calmly responded and then opened his mouth to ask about A Bao's disappearance.
Butcher Wang glanced at the absent-minded Xie Zhuo, then suddenly changed the subject: "Young master, you didn't come here for your wife, did you?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Xie Zhuo's eyes, but he nodded frankly. "I did not come for the lady." He then stated frankly:
"My wife passed away early, leaving me with only a young child. Not long ago, the child was abducted. I chased after the kidnapper all the way to Lian'an Town, but then I lost track of him. When I heard that my father-in-law's grandson had gone missing, I suspected that it might have been done by accomplices, so I thought I would go to his house to inquire about clues."
Wang the butcher remained silent for a long time before telling the truth:
“My son-in-law usually works in the county town, and Yingying lives with her mother-in-law, along with Abao.”
The night Abao went missing, the fog was very thick, so the mother and her two children went to bed early. Abao was still young and shared a room with Yingying. The next day, Yingying woke up to find that Abao was gone.
Thinking that Abao had woken up early, I ran to play in the yard, but after getting up, I realized that Abao's shoes were still there...
I rushed over as soon as I heard the news, and the neighbors helped look for him. We even reported it to the authorities, but Ah Bao was nowhere to be found.
Butcher Wang lowered his head, covered his forehead with one hand, and could no longer speak.
Xie Zhuo stopped asking questions and lowered his eyes to think. When the children in the capital went missing, some witnesses mentioned the fog when they gave their testimonies.
...
—
A horse-drawn carriage slowly drove in through the back gate of the Fox Fairy Temple.
The steward, who was still guarding the front hall, seemed to have sensed something and quietly left the hall.
No sooner had the steward left than Rong Feng and his subordinates appeared at the temple gate.
The steward took a shortcut to the backyard and carefully closed the hidden door.
Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, Amei jumped down impatiently and headed straight for the steward of the Fox Fairy Temple:
"Master!"
"Amei, have you brought the person back?" Manager Cao Zhuangling asked coldly, ignoring Amei's enthusiasm.
As if he were already used to it, Amei was still very excited: "I brought it back. Amei caught one more."
Upon hearing this, Cao Zhuangling patted Amei's head with satisfaction: "Well done."
He turned to Cai Shun and the other man and said, "You two carry the person down."
"Yes, Lord Cao." Cai Shun and Ji Fei turned and entered the carriage.
Amei covered the spot where she had been touched, giggled happily, and chattered beside Cao Zhuangling, "Master, Amei even got to eat candied hawthorns in the capital this time, they were so sweet on the outside..."
Xie Baoqiong and the other person inside the car listened to the sounds outside. Cai Shun and Ji Fei then tied them up again with hemp rope and forced them out of the car.
Before leaving the carriage, Xie Baoqiong took the jade pendant out again and held it in her hand.
An old Taoist priest who looked to be over fifty years old.
His gray hair was tied into a bun on top of his head, his face was deeply lined, and his appearance was not particularly striking. He was wearing a drab gray Taoist robe.
The old Taoist priest, seeing them standing there unharmed, lifted his droopy eyelids and muttered to himself, "They're actually awake. It seems these two..."
"Master!"
Xie Baoqiong didn't speak immediately, but Amei, who was standing to the side, couldn't wait any longer and started shouting again.
Cao Zhuangling glanced at Xie Baoqiong and the other woman, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes, but did not respond to Amei.
Seeing that the old Taoist priest ignored him, Amei grabbed the corner of the priest's robe and cried out, "Master, can we spare him and keep him? Amei likes his taste." As he spoke, he pointed at Xie Baoqiong.
Cao Zhuangling's gaze followed Amei's finger and fixed on Xie Baoqiong.
His gaze lingered for a moment, but he couldn't discern anything special about Xie Baoqiong.
A shrewd glint flashed in his eyes as he stepped forward and pulled off the gourd pendant from Xie Baoqiong's waist: "Alright, alright, I'll leave him to you, but you have to keep a close eye on him, understand?"
Amei happily agreed and snatched the rope from Cai Shun's hand: "You're mine now."
At this moment, someone came up from behind and whispered a few words to Cao Zhuangling.
Cao Zhuangling's expression changed; his previously serene and somewhat otherworldly face suddenly revealed a sinister look.
Xie Baoqiong vaguely heard two words: "What's coming?"
Cao Zhuangling instructed, "Lock the other one in the dungeon first. Amei, keep an eye on the kid you want and don't let anyone see him." After saying that, he turned and left in a hurry.
Xie Baoqiong was pulled into a room by Amei.
Amei raised his hand, and white mist surged onto the door. After he finished, he pointed at the rope on Xie Baoqiong's body and drew a line, causing the rope to loosen and fall to the ground.
Xie Baoqiong stepped out of the rope circle and glanced at Amei, who showed no sign of leaving: "Aren't you going to find your master?"
“Master is busy, so I won’t bother him,” Amei said matter-of-factly. “Besides, you can play with me now.”
"What can we do in this tiny place? Why don't we go outside and play?" Xie Baoqiong said without blinking, trying to find out what was going on outside, such as who the people who came were that made Amei's master so panicked. Maybe they were the person behind it all.
“Of course we can play.” Amei suddenly produced a stack of cards in her hand: “Let’s play leaf cards.”
"What is this?" Xie Baoqiong asked curiously upon seeing the novel object.
"How come you don't even recognize this? Fine, I'll teach you how to play."
Ah Mei briefly explained the rules. Xie Baoqiong glanced at the bright sky outside the window and knew that now was not a good time to sneak out, so she simply sat down and listened to Ah Mei's rules in a half-hearted manner.
Amei, acting as the dealer, dealt a hand of cards.
Xie Baoqiong was not familiar with the rules of the game, and by the end of the first half, she had several pieces of paper stuck to her face.
Just before playing another card, my wrist was suddenly pecked from inside my sleeve.
He paused in his card-playing motion, looked down, and saw a slight bulge in his sleeve as his fingertips moved toward the next card.
My wrist got pecked again.
He looked up at Amei across from him and stopped playing.
The two were playing cards in the room. In the front hall, Lu Anzhi and his men stood in front of the hall. People inside the hall would occasionally glance at the tokens on their waists.
Rong Feng stood among the onlookers, quietly observing Cao Zhuangling emerge from behind the hall.
Cao Zhuangling glanced at the token hanging from Lu Anzhi's waist, his face remaining amiable as he approached Lu Anzhi and cupped his hands in greeting: "Gentlemen, I am the person in charge here. My surname is Cao. There are worshippers inside who wish to offer incense. Let's go inside and talk."
Lu Anzhi met Cao Zhuangling's open eyes and refused, saying, "No need, let's settle this here."
Cao Zhuangling remained expressionless: "May I ask what brings the esteemed members of the Anti-Evil Division to our humble temple?"
-----------------------
Author's Note: The rankings were finished the day before yesterday. I was planning to take a break today, but I'm going on a long trip next week, so updates might not be as consistent as they've been lately. I'll update more this week.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
