Chapter 79 A Biting Piece of Stinky Wood
In the Imperial Master's Mansion, Chu Xuanyi's study.
At this moment, Chu Xuanyi was wearing a pair of exquisite lenses made of crystal from the Western Regions. He placed the "fragrant wood" in the center of a magic circle, his brows twisted into a knot.
"Something's wrong, something's wrong..." He took off his crystal lenses and rubbed his brows irritably. "The structure of this rune, the direction of the strokes, and the spiritual properties contained within... are completely unlike the feminine and vicious style of the 'Withered Vine Cult'. I can draw the runes of the Withered Vine Cult with my eyes closed. They're all threatening and pretentious, like an upstart who's never seen the world. But this..."
He pointed at the incisions on the wood and said to Xiao Yu, who was quietly sipping tea nearby, "Look, its lines are simple and elegant, yet it embodies a kind of... a kind of tyrannical, unreasonable, and ancient tyranny! This is simply not something that a second-rate cult like the 'Withered Vine Cult' could come up with!"
Xiao Yu put down the teacup, and the bottom of the cup hit the table, making a crisp sound.
"Get to the point."
"The point is, I was tricked by that old man!" Chu Xuanyi slammed the table, causing several open ancient books to jump. "Or rather, that old man was also tricked! This thing is not some bullshit 'Soul-Guiding Wood' at all! Positioning and sensing? Ha! That's just its most insignificant additional function. It's like buying a dragon-slaying sword, but only using it to cut watermelon. What a waste!"
Xiao Yu raised his eyes and motioned him to continue.
"I just found a similar pattern on the torn pages of a forbidden book from the previous royal family!" Chu Xuanyi's eyes lit up instantly. "This is one of the most core and mysterious sacrificial runes of the Wugu tribe! It has only one true function, and it is extremely vicious--"
He deliberately lowered his voice, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth:
"Bloodline suppression and spiritual guidance!"
"What do you mean?" Xiao Yu finally frowned. This was the first time he showed obvious emotional fluctuations in response to Chu Xuanyi's long academic talk.
"What I mean is, to ordinary people like you and me, this broken piece of wood is just a piece of rotten wood that smells bad. But to those with a certain bloodline..." Chu Xuanyi picked up the wood and turned it between his fingertips, his tone becoming extremely solemn. "It is a pair of shackles and reins directly on the soul! It will be like a maggot on the tarsal bone, constantly emitting a kind of spiritual fluctuation that only certain bloodlines can receive. On the one hand, it suppresses and disrupts the power hidden in the other person's bloodline, making her weak and confused; on the other hand, it is like an invisible magnet, in an irresistible and subtle way, guiding the other person's subconscious, and even dreams, in a specific direction!"
Chu Xuanyi's breathing became a little rapid. "They're not looking for Jiu, they're taking her for a walk! Just like flying a kite, they're holding onto that invisible string, hoping to make her walk step by step into the final trap they've dug long ago without her noticing!"
"I told you!" He waved his hand excitedly. "They've gone to all this trouble, with the family annihilation case, the Withered Vine Cult, and the planting of spies. It's definitely not just to break some damn seal! They want to use Ah Jiu's bloodline to awaken, or connect to, a certain... more ancient, more powerful being sealed in the dust of history!"
Just when the atmosphere in the study was at its most solemn, a sleepy little head, like a little mole, poked its head in from behind the half-open door.
"Sir..." Jiu rubbed his eyes and called out in a baby voice, "I'm hungry, my stomach is growling, do you have any candy beans? I dreamed of a candy bean mountain."
She was wearing a cute bunny nightgown and had just woken up from a nap. She was in the most critical "snack-hunting" stage of her life, and her whole body exuded a hazy and cute aura.
However, when her gaze passed over the piles of books and fell on the black block of wood in Chu Xuanyi's hand, her little face instantly fell and her cute little nose wrinkled hard.
"Huh? Why is it this stinky wood again!" She pinched her nose, her face full of disgust, as if she had just seen the most disgusting thing in the world. "It stinks! It stinks worse than the stone that's been left in the palace toilet for three days! Sir, please take it away! When I smell this, the little people in my head are about to fight! It hurts!"
Chu Xuanyi's eyes lit up instantly, just like a wolf that had been hungry for three days seeing a lively rabbit.
The experimental materials are delivered to your door!
"Ah Jiu, come here, come here, do the Imperial Master a favor and take a look at it, just one look. After you've taken a look, I'll immediately have the Imperial Kitchen prepare a feast full of sugar for you, and buy you a whole street of candied haws so you can eat them from one end of the street to the other!"
When Ah Jiu heard the phrase "all-sugar feast" and "a whole street of candied haws," she was immediately tempted. She swallowed and bargained quietly, "Then...will it suddenly jump up and bite me like that big spider did last time? I'm telling you, if it dares to bite me, I'll...I'll let Xiao Qiang bite it!"
"Don't worry, it doesn't have legs or teeth." Chu Xuanyi coaxed with a smile, completely ignoring the warning look from Xiao Yu next to him.
Only then did Ajiu take small steps doubtfully, moving closer little by little, and curiously poking his little head towards the table.
However, the closer she got, the stronger the invisible stench, which only she could "smell," became. Her face paled visibly, a fine layer of cold sweat even seeping out on her forehead. Pain and struggle began to emerge in her once bright eyes.
"No... No..." She shook her head uncomfortably, her voice tinged with tears. "Master, you lied to me! It's... It's drilling into my head! It's like so many sticky bugs... It's so disgusting... It hurts..."
Before she could finish her words, as if being pulled by an invisible force, her white and tender little hand stretched out uncontrollably and gently... touched the black wooden block.
"ah--!"
A heart-wrenching scream instantly pierced the tranquility of the study!
Jiu suddenly hugged his head, like a kitten whose tail was stepped on, and instantly squatted on the ground, rolling on the ground in pain, tears rolling down his face like beads with broken strings.
"It hurts! It hurts so much! Help!" She cried heartbreakingly, "There are so many red-hot needles piercing my head! My head is going to split open! Sir, you big liar! Save me!"
"Ajiu!" Xiao Yu's face suddenly changed, and he flashed forward.
"Don't touch her!" Chu Xuanyi shouted, stopping Xiao Yu. At the same time, he flicked his wrist and, with a flick of his wrist, a bright yellow talisman paper, intricately painted with cinnabar talismans, flew out like lightning. He quickly chanted an incantation and slammed the talisman paper firmly onto the "incense-inducing wood"!
There was only a slight "sizzle" sound.
A wisp of barely visible black smoke with a fishy smell curled up from the wood. The moment it came into contact with the air, it let out an unwilling scream and then completely dissipated.
Almost at the same time, the little figure on the ground, who was about to faint from the pain, stopped crying.
Ajiu sat on the ground in a daze, her little body still shaking slightly. She rubbed her red and swollen eyes blankly, looked at her hands, and then at the piece of wood that was firmly stuck with the yellow talisman, as if she had not yet recovered from the severe pain.
After a full half minute, a huge sense of grievance finally came to my mind.
She curled her lips and burst into tears with a startling "Wow!" She pointed at the piece of wood with her little hand and accused with all her strength:
"Bad guy! You bad piece of wood! You're a stinky piece of wood that bites people! Your bite hurts me so much! I'm going to let Xiao Hei and the others eat you!"
Chu Xuanyi let out a long, long sigh, reaching out to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, only to find that his back was already soaked with sweat. He turned around with lingering fear and said to Xiao Yu, whose face was gloomy and almost dripping with water:
"Now, you see? The evidence is irrefutable."
"This thing is specially prepared for her. It's a one-of-a-kind...death talisman."
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