Boy Bodhisattva
After seeing off the village chief, Lan Zhuochi went to the dining table and began testing for poison with a silver needle, applying talismans and chanting incantations around the food bowls. It was a complex process. However, every pot, pan, cup, and even the ends of the chopsticks on the table were wrapped in delicate yellow talismans, looking like a ritual offering. Yunqi Que's appetite instantly dropped.
“Non-toxic and edible.”
Yun Qique picked up her bowl and was about to tear the yellow talisman paper. Lan Zhuochi immediately held her hand and whispered to her, "Don't tear it. This talisman paper is for purification. Many monster hunters have problems with their meals when they go down the mountain, so the Lan family specially developed this talisman paper. Gradually, it has become the first step for every monster hunter in Canghua Mountain to eat when they go down the mountain."
"Purify food? Can it be purified no matter what kind of poison it is?"
Lan Qu explained with a smile, "If talisman paper could detoxify, then we in Canghua Mountain could become wealthy enough to rival an entire nation just by selling it. Let me give you a classic example, and you'll understand. For example, in the case of the toad demon in Dongshan Village who forced a bride, the brothers and sisters who came down the mountain drank well water that had been spitted by the toad demon. They vomited so much that they felt dizzy and nearly died. The toad demon's toxins are easy to detoxify, but the demon itself is incredibly perverted, enjoying a diet of rotting brides, leaving a strong smell of corpses in its mouth."
Yun Qique asked curiously, "He forced his bride to marry him just to eat rotting corpses? Then why doesn't he just become a tomb robber? It's easier to find graves."
"The brothers who were sent in for support managed to subdue him and recapture him. We also interrogated him. He said that maggots would grow when a corpse rots, and he simply loved the taste of the maggots exploding."
Yun Qique, who was eating and listening at the same time, could not be as calm and composed as the two of them. He looked down at the white rice in the bowl that he had just taken a bite of, and automatically imagined a picture in his mind, and immediately began to retch.
"Sorry, Junior Sister, I won't tell you anymore."
He felt like vomiting, and since his appetite wasn't going to be much better tonight anyway, Yun Qi Que gave up and said, "It's okay, go ahead."
"But he also wondered if the graves were clean enough, and corpses buried outdoors were infested with maggots and other insects. I'm afraid you'll vomit again, so I'll omit the toad demon's detailed list of corpse-crawling insects. So, lustful as he was, he simply began forcing brides from all around him. Once the excitement wore off, he starved them to death, claiming they were clean and intact. He then placed them in coffins to infest the bodies with maggots for food. The most shameless thing he said was that he considered himself a principled man who knew what was good. Even though he forced them to marry, he'd always left gold nuggets in their homes before abducting them. If the brides were obedient and kind to him, he wouldn't kill them, but would live a good life with them. Little Junior Sister, guess what?"
"Since he said that, is there really a woman he forced to marry who is willing to live a good life with him?"
"Indeed, we found three women in the toad demon's cave. They were the ones he'd mentioned as willing to live a good life with him. They cried tears of joy when they learned he would be executed, but they refused to leave. The toad demon left them with an endless supply of gold, and they chose to live out their lives together. A senior sister once asked them why they wanted to live a good life with the toad demon. They said it was because they didn't want to die. Before he forced them to marry, they'd lived in darkness and were bullied. The toad demon was disgusting and devoured human maggots, but as long as they treated him well and obeyed him, they would live a good and prosperous life. The toad demon would often transform into an extremely handsome man to spend time with them. When they were alone, he would change his appearance and voice to suit their preferences to cheer them up. So, they were willing to treat him sincerely. These were women who had suffered so much in this world. They wanted and chose this, and we have no right to criticize them. The only thing we can do is respect their choice."
"Won't they be infected with corpse qi if they marry the toad monster?"
"Of course they were, and it's beyond help. They didn't flare up before, probably because the toad demon's magic was keeping them healthy. Now that the toad demon is dead, they won't live long either. Junior Sister, you seem very interested in these stories about catching demons."
"Yes."
"Then come find me if you want to hear it."
Receiving the look from his young master, Lan Qu added, "Every demon-hunting case handled by our Junior Brother Jing Huai is a major one. Junior Sister, you can talk to him more. He will surely tell you more exciting and shocking stories than I can."
"Okay, thank you, Senior Brother Lanqu."
Lan Zhuochi picked up a chicken leg for her and said, "Eat quickly. We can talk after you finish eating. The food won't taste good if it gets cold."
Yunqi Que, of course, understood his thoughts, so he stopped chatting with Lan Qu and remained silent, concentrating on eating. His appetite was really poor, so he only ate half a bowl.
After they finished eating, Lan Zhuochi prepared water for her to wash, checked her room, and arranged things to protect her as much as possible.
"Are you afraid of sleeping here alone?"
"If I say I'm scared, will you be willing to sleep with me?"
As expected, Lan Zhuochi blushed again.
He took out a demon summoning sticker and gave it to her.
"Inside this is the white puppy you love to cuddle with. Maybe you won't be so scared if it sleeps with you."
Yun Qique discovered that the more shy he was, the more she liked to tease him deliberately.
She finally understood why the ambiguous male and female protagonists in the storybooks liked to flirt with each other, tease each other's hearts, and say those sweet words that made people happy and excited.
She gently pushed back the hand that he handed her the demon-summoning sticker, deliberately touching his hand rather than the demon-summoning sticker itself.
"I don't want a puppy. I just want a white nine-tailed fox with some pink fur to sleep with me."
It was so straightforward that I almost said, "I just want you to sleep with me."
As soon as she finished speaking, Lan Zhuochi strode forward and hugged her directly. He turned half a circle so that his back was facing the bed, and then used light skills to carry her to the bed.
At the same time, the talisman paper he had prepared long ago took effect, and the fluffy fox ears and tail appeared.
When lying down, he held her in his arms and let her press on him, acting as a human cushion, for fear that he would bump into her if he did not operate properly.
He was prepared for her to faint again, but she didn't.
This time, the person with shyness and shock in her eyes was her.
Lan Zhuochi boldly controlled his nine tails to wrap around and gently brush her body, and then used his right hand to pull her hand to touch his fox ears. "So, who do you like best now? Me or the puppy?"
"you."
"Master, since you said I'm your favorite now, if I see you petting the white-haired puppy more often than me again, I'm going to get jealous and angry."
"Even if I don't say I like you the most, weren't you also jealous when you saw me touching other furry animals before?"
Lan Zhuochi's fox ears drooped down, and his face was full of loss and grievance.
"So, Master doesn't care whether I'm jealous or unhappy? Even though he knows I'm envious, he won't touch me or hug me?"
"You, how can I touch you and hug you? You are a human, I..."
"Then from now on, when I'm alone with you, I'll let my ears and tail out. You can pet me and hug me more often, okay? Just like you did to that white-haired puppy."
"Is that the point?"
"No?"
Lan Zhuochi once again looked pitiful and aggrieved and begged, which made Yunqi Que, who had already made up his mind, find it even more difficult to resist than before.
"Okay, okay, okay."
The gloom on the easy-going Lan Zhuochi's face disappeared, and he hugged her happily, rubbing her hand with his ears.
When Yunqi Que finished enjoying petting his ears and tail and was about to leave, he hooked his hand behind her head to close the distance between them and whispered in her ear, "Master, I saw that after you pet that white puppy, you always kiss its face. Why don't I?"
"Lan Zhuochi! You're pushing your luck. This won't do."
"Master, you've gone back on your word. You promised yourself that you would treat me the same way you treated it before."
"It's a woman, and you're a man. Wait! I reasonably suspect you're after a kiss, so you're tricking me into agreeing to treat you the same way I treat it. As expected, a wily fox, full of tricks!"
"It's not me who's scheming, it's clearly the master who's being partial and biased."
Yun Qique pushed him away, got up from him, and sat down beside the couch. "Yes, I am partial, so what? I'm going to sleep, you go out."
The Lanzhuo Pool behind her suddenly became silent and very quiet. Yunqi Que just turned around to look, and his fox tail was wrapped around her waist again.
He sat up, holding his forehead, rubbed his forehead with his hands, closed his eyes, and when he opened his eyes again, he had a tender look in his eyes.
Yunqi Que, sensing something was amiss, called out tentatively, "Achi?"
A Ci raised the corners of his mouth in satisfaction, held her in his arms and kissed her.
Unlike Lan Zhuochi who dared not act rashly, A Ci's kisses were always probing, then becoming more and more possessive and lingering.
After the kiss, he bit her lower lip lightly in revenge.
"If my wife wants to be partial, she can only be partial to me."
Yunqi Que, whose heart was beating wildly and whose head was dizzy from his passionate kiss, asked, "Achi, why did you show up again?"
"Why? Madam, it seems like you don't want me to show up. Is it... Madam, do you think it was Lan Zhuochi who kissed you like that just now? Or... my kiss isn't as comfortable as his, the one that made you dare not move?"
"I didn't... well..."
Before she could finish her words, Ah Ci kissed her again. Halfway through the kiss, he suddenly released her lips, only a fist away from her lips. He lowered his eyes and stared at her still wet lips, saying, "My wife, even if I were reincarnated, I would still be jealous."
After saying that, A Ci kissed her again, their tongues entwined. He suddenly paused for a moment, then quickly let go of her and knelt at her feet with a plop.
Yun Qique opened his eyes and saw his panicked and frightened expression. The person in front of him must be Lan Zhuochi himself, not Achi's consciousness.
"Master, I just fainted suddenly. When I woke up, I was... I really don't know why this happened. Even if I had eight hundred courage, I wouldn't dare to offend you like this. You can hit me, scold me, or punish me, but please don't abandon me, okay?"
Lan Zhuochi was so anxious that his eyes turned red. He was really afraid that Yun Qique would get angry and throw him away.
"Master, why are you silent?"
Lan Zhuochi, who was looking up at her, suddenly closed his eyes and was occupied by Achi's consciousness again. He wiped the tears from his face, looked at the tears on his fingertips, and then rubbed them away.
"My lady, have you figured it out? Do you prefer my kiss or Lan Zhuochi's kiss?"
"Aren't you afraid that he'll know you exist?"
"It would be best if he knew. Then I could occupy this body without any scruples and stay with you forever. My lady, you haven't answered my question yet."
Yunqi Que didn't want Lan Zhuochi's consciousness to disappear. Before figuring out the secret connection between Yuzan and her and Achi, it would be best to keep the two consciousnesses coexisting peacefully in one body.
So, she decided to go along with his wishes and coax him by telling him the answer he wanted to hear.
"I like yours better."
"My lady, your thoughts are too obvious. Since you like Lan Zhuochi, I won't let him disappear. Anyway, you are in love with me, but you have to like me more, okay?"
"Okay. Ah Chi, can you control the opportunity to appear at will? If I want to see you, what should I do to make you appear?"
"No, I don't know what the opportunity is for me to appear. At present, I can't solve the problem of me appearing whenever you want to see me. However, I am awake most of the time. I can empathize with what Lan Zhuochi feels and hears."
Hearing this, Yunqi Que felt half relieved.
"But now I can control it and release it at will, so that Lan Zhuochi can regain consciousness."
Ah Ci took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm, "It's time to get down to business, my lady. See you next time."
After saying that, he fell directly into her lap.
Before he could open his eyes, Yun Qique adjusted her mood in time, pretending to be worried and calling out to him anxiously, "Achi, wake up, wake up."
"What's wrong with me?"
Lan Zhuochi had a splitting headache and covered his swollen head in pain.
"Are you too tired and didn't get enough rest? Or maybe this weird Yangmei Village is not clean. You just fainted suddenly, but luckily you fell into my arms and didn't fall anywhere. I will help you go back to sleep and have a good rest."
"I don't know the reason either. Next time I faint or become unconscious and offend you, you can push me away or just beat me awake."
After a while, Lan Zhuochi stopped covering his head, but knelt down at her feet again, constantly explaining and apologizing to her.
"I'm really not angry, and I won't get angry and leave you because of this. Besides, it's not like we haven't kissed before, so it really doesn't matter."
Yun Qique didn't dare talk to him about it any longer, fearing that if he thought about it too long and too carefully, he would notice something was wrong. She racked her brains but couldn't figure out how to divert his attention, get him to go to sleep, or think about something else.
Knowing that he would speculate, she explained in advance, "I've never kissed Yun Jinglu like this, and I've never thought about kissing him like this. Don't let your imagination run wild. I've only kissed you like this."
However, her words made him feel even more guilty and annoyed.
"Lan Zhuochi, what are you still blaming yourself for?"
"I can imagine how hurtful it is to be forcefully kissed by someone you don't like. Besides, how could I have done such an animalistic and offensive act? I can't forgive myself. Qi Que, until I'm completely back to normal, don't be alone with me anymore, and I'll stay away from you."
It seemed that this guy didn't understand her hint at all that night in front of the window under the moon.
He was still talking about how to compensate her when Yun Qique interrupted him bluntly: "Lan Zhuochi, I like you."
"You said...you like me?"
"Which word did you not hear clearly? I, Yunqi Que, like Lanzhuochi. It's different from any other kind of affection; it's the affection between a man and a woman. So, because it was you who kissed me, I'm not angry at all. You don't have to blame yourself or feel upset about it, and you don't need to keep your distance from me."
Lan Zhuochi pinched himself hard, "It hurts so much, it wasn't a dream. So what you said to me that night was a little bit, really a response to what I said to you. I thought you kissed me because you liked me a little bit. I went back home and tossed and turned, thinking about our conversation countless times, thinking I was just being sentimental again."
"Idiot! Of course it's not a dream. Ah Chi, you are never self-indulgent."
"But Qi Que, just because you like me is not a reason for me to offend you..."
"Stubborn ass!"
After Yun Qique finished her curse, she grabbed his collar and closed the distance between them. She leaned over and kissed him forcefully, returning the kissing technique she learned from Achi to Lan Zhuochi.
Even though she forced a kiss on him, he didn't dare to take the initiative. When the passion reached its peak, he could only respond in accordance with her.
After releasing him, Yun Qique said, "You stubborn guy, I'm offending you by forcing a kiss on you, but just because you like me doesn't give me a reason to offend you. So, let's just say our offenses cancel each other out. Don't argue. I'm your master, and you have to listen to me. Nod."
The confused Lan Zhuochi nodded obediently.
"By the way, don't use that whole talk about taking responsibility for me and marrying me! And don't use my forceful kiss as an excuse to hold me responsible for you."
"Well, you said you didn't want your marriage to be based on causal relationships. You hoped that your love for me would be so deeply considered that you wanted to grow old with me that you would sincerely make a marriage contract. I remember everything."
"I didn't expect you to remember my words so well."
"Well, what your sweetheart says must be remembered firmly."
"Oh, okay, go back and have a good rest."
Lan Zhuochi said seriously, "You go to sleep first. I have to go out for a while. If anything goes wrong at night, go find Lan Qu. I told him that he will keep an eye on you after I leave. If anything goes wrong, he will come to protect you. So, don't undress at night."
"Where are you going so late at night? Going to the bayberry forest to catch monsters?"
"We're going to the bayberry forest to look for the child's temple, not to catch monsters. So many of us entered the bayberry forest tonight. Even if it's really a monster and not human activity, we wouldn't be stupid enough to do it again tonight. Since the village chief said that the things in the bayberry forest were taught to their ancestors by the Boy Bodhisattva, then these strange incidents of monsters and murderous corpses are very likely related to this Boy Bodhisattva."
"No, it's too dangerous for you to go alone. Let's go together as three people."
"Will I be safe here? It's safer to follow you. I'm worried about you being alone. I won't hold you back. I've really learned all the monster-catching skills you taught me. The most I'll get is scared. But if you hold my hand, I won't be afraid. I promise that no matter how scary or frightened I am, I won't make a sound to alert the enemy."
Lan Zhuochi thought for a moment before agreeing to go with the three of them. After all, he was not confident in leaving her safety in the hands of Lan Qu.
After a quick tidy up and changing into thick clothes, Lan Zhuochi took out another demon summoning sticker and summoned an identical hippopotamus demon. This hippopotamus demon was much more enthusiastic when it saw Yunqi Que.
"Is it the same one from last time?"
The hippopotamus demon nodded and smiled at her.
Lan Zhuochi said, "Well, it's called mangosteen."
Mangosteen wrapped them in its round belly and took them secretly to the bayberry forest to find the cave where the child temple lived before he ascended to heaven.
From the moment they left the house, Lan Zhuochi held her hand tightly, even interlocking their fingers out of concern. Because Lan Qu was there, Yun Qique was embarrassed to hide their holding hands.
After Lan Zhuochi noticed it, he said, "Lan Qu is my man, it's okay."
Upon hearing this, Yunqi Que stopped covering it up.
Soon, Mangosteen brought them to the border of the bayberry forest.
The bayberry forest was extremely quiet, with gusts of cold wind and the terrifying atmosphere remained unchanged.
Lan Zhuochi asked Shanzhu to get closer to the soul-guiding banner, and Lan Qu lit a stick of fire to illuminate it and studied it carefully. The more he looked, the more solemn his expression became.
"Young Master, the runes on this are different from the soul-calling banners we saw on the way here. The ones on the way here were indeed designed to guide souls back home, but the one in the bayberry forest has had its runes altered. The person who altered the runes must have been very skilled in Taoism. With just three strokes, they transformed this talisman into a sinister talisman that attracts evil spirits. With these spells, it would be strange if the corpse buried underground wasn't a sinister corpse. If I'm not mistaken, the stone coffin that holds the banner down is meant to suppress sinister corpses."
Yunqi Que listened and looked at Lan Qu with admiration.
"Lan Qu is at the level of a Heavenly Master in this area. He is very powerful."
After Lan Zhuochi finished introducing Yun Qique, he turned to Lan Qu and said, "So, if these are truly the methods taught by the Boy Bodhisattva, then they must be nothing. Tomorrow morning, after we wake up, we will go and place the corpses wrapped in human skin and bones. Take a closer look, they should also have some problems."
"good."
Mangosteen led them to continue searching in the bayberry forest. The bayberry forest was not too big and they could walk around it quickly.
Only then did they discover that the bayberry forest was flat and there were no caves at all.
"Lan Qu, have you discovered any formation here?"
"There is definitely a formation, and it should be several formations intertwined and overlapping. However, the forest is too dark, and the light from the fire stick is not bright enough to see far, so I can't see through it for the time being."
"That's fine. After daybreak, we'll have plenty of opportunities to come in and take a look openly."
Yunqi Que said, "Rumor has it that the rules for visiting the Child God Temple are that the more miserable and lonely a pilgrim's life is, and the more deeply wronged they are, the more likely they are to see the stone statue. However, there are more methods and conditions to see the Child God statue manifest. Intentionally inflicting suffering and bringing certain sacrificial offerings favored by the Child God can also lead to seeing it. The first condition probably doesn't meet the needs of the three of us, but the second condition might be exploitable. Master, do you know anything about the specific sacrificial offerings favored by the Child God? That's why you had to resort to the most ruthless method and lead us to find a flaw in the formation."
"According to the information gathered by the Yun family, there was a story about an innkeeper who used the hearts of ten innocent victims as sacrificial offerings and successfully visited the Temple of the Child."
"No follow-up? Are the ten fresh hearts the innkeeper brought really from ten wronged souls?"
Lan Zhuochi narrated:
After finding this clue, Lan's people used a demon to sneak into the government office and checked the case files.
The story of the proprietress happened about two hundred years ago, and it caused a sensation in the entire county because the ten wronged souls died at the same time in Tongfu Inn.
Tongfu Inn was the best inn in Lynx Town at the time, attracting many pilgrims who came to visit due to the fame of the Child Bodhisattva. On the day of the incident, all guests, without exception, inhaled a large amount of the incense and fell into a coma until the next day.
That afternoon, many newly arrived pilgrims were waiting outside the inn for it to open and check in. The sheer number of pilgrims led to a brawl, which inevitably resulted in the arrest of the head constable.
In order to solve the problem of the overcrowding of pilgrims, the captain of the police knocked on the door, but no one opened it for a long time. Tongfu Inn had been open to guests on time for several years in a row. The captain of the police was afraid of something happening, so he broke down the door forcibly.
As you enter the door, you will see a row of people with their stomachs cut open and their hearts removed hanging from the beams of the main hall. Right next to where they were hanged, there is a blood-stained soul-guiding banner hanging on the beam. The banner is stained with blood because there is a blood letter written on the back of the banner that says Chen Yu was wronged.
The inn was covered in blood. The ground, tables, chairs, benches, walls... were all stained with splashed blood, especially right below where the body was hanged, where there was a pool of blackish-red blood.
How could the people outside the door bear such a cruel scene? Unfortunately, the door had been smashed down, and the three police chiefs could not block the crime scene, nor could they suppress the crowd of onlookers. Therefore, there must have been hundreds of witnesses at that time.
After the reinforcements took control of the crime scene, they sent officers to rescue the inn's upstairs residents. All the inn's workers were found, except for the proprietress, who was missing.
Since the first scene could not be destroyed, the residents were almost scared to death when they were helped downstairs. In addition, they were too soundly asleep after inhaling the incense, so no useful clues could be obtained from them.
The deceased had no previous contact with each other, and they had no connection with the proprietress of Tongfu Inn. In fact, before they checked into the inn, the proprietress was a stranger to them.
All ten petitions stated that they had voluntarily hanged themselves, and threatened and begged the landlady to dig out their hearts after death. They also wanted to take their hearts as offerings to the Child Bodhisattva, asking for the Child Bodhisattva's mercy and to appear and punish the evildoers for them who were left with nowhere else to go.
The reason why they chose to arrange the death scene in such a bloody way was to make it impossible for anyone to ignore and forget about them. The government would have no chance of suppressing this case.
The coroner's autopsy confirmed that they died by hanging themselves, and there was no sign of struggle. As for the abdominal dissection and heart removal, it was carried out after they were hanged. The proprietress also sewed up the incisions for them.
The investigating officer also found the wooden ladder used by the proprietress in the inn.
Just as night fell, the proprietress, covered in blood, appeared at the entrance of Lynx Town, repeatedly shouting: "County Magistrate Liu Zongde was corrupt and collusive, and he unjustly sentenced my father to death as a scapegoat. Now, the Bodhisattva Boy has shown mercy and appeared. You! You deserved to die!"
She was immediately restrained and gagged by the soldiers and thrown into prison, but many people heard what she said.
The magistrate Liu Zongde she mentioned was the former magistrate of Fotu County, where Lynx Town is located. He was born in Lynx Town and retired to his hometown a year ago.
The current magistrate was demoted from the capital. His name is Cheng Chao. He is a very upright person. The people of Fotu County all praise him for his integrity and selflessness for the people. He presided over the Tongfu Inn case.
At midnight that night, the proprietress who was imprisoned in the county jail mysteriously appeared in front of Tongfu Inn.
As soon as the night watchman's call died down, she shouted again: "County Magistrate Liu Zongde was corrupt and colluded with other officials. He unjustly sentenced my father to death as a scapegoat. Now the Bodhisattva Boy has shown mercy and appeared to me. You! Your death is a worthy one!"
She was usually kind and gentle to others. People nearby who were woken up and came to her advised her to either hide first or go back to the prison and wait for County Magistrate Cheng to overturn her case. She could come back after the case was cleared up to prevent Liu Zongde from silencing her.
She then told him that she had prayed to the Boy Bodhisattva and that the Bodhisattva had appeared. She insisted that the Boy Bodhisattva would punish all the evildoers.
When the police arrived, she resolutely crashed into the door of Tongfu Inn and died with her eyes open.
At the same hour, Liu Zongde bled from all seven orifices and died suddenly of fright.
All the evildoers involved in the wrongful hanging case, even though they were thousands of miles apart, died miserably after writing their confessions that night.
County Magistrate Cheng Chao investigated the case according to the confession and indeed confirmed it, overturning the verdict for the ten deceased and the proprietress's family and clearing their names.
As a result, everyone believed in the Boy Bodhisattva even more.
The demon sent out by the Lan family brought back the testimony of a flower demon. She did see a stone statue of a child killing people in Liu Zongde's house that night, but she didn't know whether it was the Boy Bodhisattva. After all, she had never seen the Boy Bodhisattva.
After listening.
Yunqi Que asked, "Didn't the flower demon describe the characteristics of the child's stone statue?"
"According to her instructions, send back a portrait."
Lan Zhuochi took out a thin bamboo tube as long as a thumb, which contained a palm-sized portrait.
The stone statue of a child in the portrait has a round head without a face. He sits cross-legged on a lotus-shaped base, holding a handful of lotus pods in his crossed hands.
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