Chapter 263: Witchcraft
At night, the sky was starless.
The stalls outside the Niangniang Temple had long been removed. The street was empty, with no signs of passers-by, as if the hustle and bustle was just a flash in the pan.
At the entrance of the temple, the servants of the Zhu Mansion stood, patrolling back and forth.
Master Zhu changed his friendly attitude and looked back gloomily at the only temple with lights on in the ink-splashed landscape.
"Have the mothers of the two children been settled?"
The housekeeper hurriedly said, "My lord, they are resting in the dormitory. I saw them drink the water mixed with sleeping pills with my own eyes. Now they have fallen asleep. No matter what noises are made outside, they can't be woken up and ruin our young master's good deeds."
Master Zhu nodded with satisfaction.
It's no wonder that he is cautious.
These poor guys are like leeches that suck human blood when they get a little benefit.
If you can't sleep in the middle of the night, especially if the child's mother is seriously ill, you will be worried and sneak out. It will be bad if you are found out.
He glanced at the sky and told the housekeeper to guard outside and not let outsiders approach. After doing this, he walked in.
Incense was being lit in the Buddhist hall where the golden statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbearing, was enshrined.
Master Zhu clasped his hands together, knelt with a gentle and pious expression. There were two boys beside him dressed in the same clothes as him.
One was in good spirits, but couldn't calm down, looking around with round eyes.
The other was sick, drowsy, and couldn't even kneel steadily.
But Master Zhu was compassionate and put him down.
The uniform knocking of the wooden fish seemed to blow away the restless heart. A dozen monks sat in a circle around them, chanting difficult Buddhist scriptures.
Master Zhu pushed the door open and entered.
The boy looked over and saw that it was him, so he quickly turned his head back and knelt down, imitating Master Zhu's kneeling.
An unruly wild child.
Master Zhu looked away, looked at Master Zhu for a moment, and then walked in.
There is a side room over there.
It is usually used by monks to interpret divinations for pilgrims.
He lifted the curtain and went in. As the figure went in, the curtain was lowered.
It was gloomy and dim inside, and an old man in a black robe was sitting there. Half of his face was hidden in the darkness, and his exposed hands were as rough as tree bark.
Master Zhu took a step closer respectfully and poured him a cup of tea.
"Wizard He, everything is almost ready outside. Look..."
The wizard washed his hands and took the yellow talisman.
He bit his finger and squeezed out blood.
He dripped a few drops into the prepared porcelain bowl.
There was also blood in the porcelain bowl, which belonged to Master Zhu, and it was mixed with cinnabar.
He cast a heavy gaze on Master Zhu, and his voice was sharp and hoarse: "Including the two outside, how many children do you have in total?"
Master Zhu thought for a moment.
"Two a year since my son was six years old, almost forty now."
The wizard: "I said from the beginning that if you do this too much, your son will lose his yang energy and the effect will be getting worse and worse."
Mr. Zhu didn't care: "Your reward is indispensable."
The wizard didn't say anything.
He picked up a brush made of chicken feathers beside him, dipped it in blood and wrote the talisman on the yellow talisman, and wrote a string of small words on the back. Attached is Mr. Zhu's birth date.
After doing this, he lit the other two boys' birth dates and threw them into the stone bowl on the table.
There were nine tiles on the side of the stone bowl.
He murmured and waved the wooden sword. Seeing that the talisman was about to burn out, he stuck the yellow talisman on the wooden sword and stirred it in the stone bowl. The yellow talisman was lit, but it burned very slowly.
The wizard kept circling around the fire, chanting something.
At this time, the wooden fish outside was making a louder noise, and the chanting sound overwhelmed the wizard.
There was no wind, but the windows were rattling.
The wizard waved the wooden sword and drew talismans in the air.
Each stroke was very difficult.
When the last stroke came down, the yellow talisman was burned out.
The first part of the stone bowl had been burned to ashes. He solemnly put Mr. Zhu's eight characters in it.
Finally, the wooden sword broke the tiles one by one.
When the last tile broke into two pieces, the eight characters suddenly caught fire.
The smile on Mr. Zhu's mouth became bigger and bigger, and it looked distorted under the light of the fire.
The wizard mixed the talisman paper and the ashes of the eight characters with water and divided them into three cups.
What happened here, the boy kneeling outside did not know.
He was very sleepy.
But A-niang said that he was chosen by the Zhu family because of his great fortune, and he must cooperate with the Zhu family and get through this year, and tomorrow she would buy him a rolling lantern to play with.
Mr. Zhu came out with a tray.
Mr. Zhu finally moved and stood up to take it.
After Mr. Zhu walked in, the boy stretched his neck to look over. In addition to the snacks that filled his stomach, there were also three cups of black water.
He knew what was inside.
It was spiritual water.
The selected boys had to drink it.
In previous years, when he was sick, A-niang made some incense ashes for him to drink, saying that it was blessed by the Bodhisattva.
Although he felt that it was useless, he still had to rely on medicine when he was sick.
But what A-niang said must be right.
Besides, it costs a lot to see a doctor and treat the disease.
The spiritual water that Mr. Zhu gave him was not comparable to what he had at home.
The incense ashes were burned by pilgrims all day, and there were so many monks chanting scriptures to consecrate it.
It must be good for the body to drink it.
Master Zhu touched the head of the boy who was breathing weakly beside him, and smiled at him: "Are you hungry? Eat some snacks to fill your stomach first."
"Your name is Liu Lang, right?"
The boy nodded heavily.
Master Zhu was as gentle as a spring breeze.
"You have worked hard today."
"This spiritual water..."
He looked at him steadily.
"You are willing to drink it, right?"
Although the boy didn't know why Master Zhu asked, he still nodded: "Yes."
"Good boy."
The boy took it and was about to drink it when he saw the side window kicked open and someone broke in.
The wizard was gagged and tied up by the officials.
Master Zhu's face suddenly changed.
Master Zhu was even worse.
There were many soldiers and officers at the door.
But there was no news from the servants of the Zhu family guarding outside, which showed that they had been controlled long ago.
The leading official was the new county magistrate of Wuyang City. He kicked the door open and also kicked Master Zhu over.
His eyes swept around sharply, and finally fell on the wizard.
"Someone reported to the authorities that the Zhu family used forbidden magic to fool the people and kill people."
Obviously, the government had sent officials to follow them.
The county magistrate looked very bad.
Being sent to Wuyang City is much better than those small places in Bize County.
He was complacent about this.
After taking office, he felt that this was a good place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery. He
even felt that the Zhu family was rare.
Not long ago, he went to He Yushi to praise the Zhu family and even asked for grace from the adults. Let the adults personally nominate the four words "Bo Shi Ji Zhong" and give them to the Zhu family.
He is a joke.
"Catch them all! Go back and interrogate."
"Yes!"
With this order, the officials behind him filed in.
At the same time, an official came to report: "My lord, the two women can't be awakened. I'm afraid they were drugged."
The county magistrate had a gloomy face.
Although it has not been confirmed whether it is a forbidden magic of the court.
But the behavior of the Zhu family and the old man in black robe is really abnormal.
Not to mention that he had just taken up the post and needed to have achievements.
If he didn't check the word "forbidden technique", if it got out, he would lose his official hat.
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