Chapter 78 Yin Peach Blossom (8) "But this isn't my birth chart..."
After the ceremony, Xia Changfeng didn't sleep. His mind was full of things. He went back to his room to deal with work, thinking he could at least have a peaceful night. Little did he know, something even bigger awaited him!
Xia Wujin's house is uninhabitable, and the Taoist priest's corpse is also a big problem. The steward also said that the skin hanging at the door is not a whole piece; it's missing the skin from the abdomen.
Moreover, Song Zhengxiang just ran away like that, and a group of security guards couldn't catch him. A pampered young master got away and disappeared. It seems he went into the mountains and forests, and they are searching for him all over the mountains.
However, that wasn't the end of it. Xie Tan hadn't attended the ceremony last night and had gone to bed early, so he arrived early as well. The last person to arrive was Su He. With Su He's lazy reminder, Xia Changfeng checked the entire house to see if there were any other unusual things.
Sure enough, another pair of golden geese appeared in the collection room, and the postures of the first two pairs of geese had changed, as if they had moved on their own when no one was around, spreading their wings.
Another anomaly was with himself. He went back to check his room and flipped through the contract he hadn't finished reading. He was so shocked that he dropped it—the last page was a human skin completely soaked in blood, and it began with "Letter of Betrothal" and "Respectfully presented to His Excellency Xia Yuanchuan, my in-law."
This is the betrothal book, written on the very belly of the Taoist priest. Apart from the introduction and polite words, it records in detail the contents of the groom's family's betrothal gifts.
Xia Changfeng asked Su He to confirm that there was no poison or taboo on the list, and stopped the steward from doing it for him. He then read the betrothal gift specifications himself, and his face grew paler with each reading.
“…That’s not all.” He gritted his teeth and said, “The Book of Rites contains far more than what we’ve found so far. Keep searching!”
In the distance, screams seemed to echo again. The butler, after hearing the security personnel's trembling report through his earpiece, paled: "We've found Young Master Song, he's in the garden, but there..."
The group rushed to the garden. The Xia family respects nature. Although there is a garden management team, the main purpose of the management is to be in harmony with nature. There are very few traces of pruning. Instead, the focus is on protecting the original appearance.
Xia Yuanchuan once said that these trees are newcomers, so they should spontaneously adapt to the local ecology.
After one night, thin clouds spread across the clear sky.
As they entered the dense mountain forest, the upward-climbing, intertwined branches and leaves resembled a net covering the sky, allowing only slivers of light to peek through.
Fog rose in the forest, and the overlapping shadows of the trees swayed like ghosts.
Xie Tan stepped on something, making a cracking sound that seemed crisper than the sound of a twig. He looked down but only saw the broken twig.
Something flew by quickly in the distance, and everyone was on high alert. The master and his bodyguard gave chase, only to find that it was a crow, cawing strangely as it flew out of the woods. They didn't know whether it was a good or bad omen.
Xia Wujin lagged behind Xie Tan a bit. The fog thickened, making it difficult to see clearly. Accompanied by her bodyguards, she quickened her pace and, seeing that Xie Tan hadn't moved, patted his shoulder: "What's wrong... Ah!"
Xie Tan's entire arm fell to the ground, and upon closer inspection... it was a faded terracotta figurine!
The terracotta figurines are lifelike, but the material is not human flesh and blood. Moreover, the paint is peeling off in some places, and the traces are mottled, giving them a sense of decay. The overly festive expressions are chilling.
The female figurine is holding a red lacquered box with exquisite patterns, but the wooden body is rotten and looks like it would break at the slightest touch.
The bodyguard mustered his courage and opened it. It was a multi-compartment lacquered vanity case with layers and compartments, containing rouge, powder, eyebrow pencil, bronze mirror, comb, hairpins, bracelets, and pendants.
Voices of fellow travelers could be heard from other places, suggesting that they had found Song Zhengxiang.
Xia Wujin had no time to be afraid and quickly followed. She saw that the woods were full of terracotta figurines, each with a different posture and a joyful expression. They were holding or carrying various betrothal gifts, all facing Xia Wujin and smiling at her.
Song Zhengxiang had already fainted from fright and was still foaming at the mouth.
It seems the rest of the betrothal gifts in the betrothal book are here.
Xia Changfeng sent someone to take Song Zhengxiang home and called him to say that he would come to apologize after the matter was over. He also found other masters to perform exorcisms for young master Song.
When they returned to the main house, everyone looked solemn. After a long silence, the old woman said, "The engagement is complete, and the horoscopes are compatible... This should be an auspicious sign. Mr. Xia, is there any good news recently?"
Xia Changfeng's expression changed: "I don't know if it counts, but Changsheng is concerned about the local people's livelihood and believes that mental health services have a future in Diqiu City. My father established the 'Qingxin' project in his early years, which was also approved by the group's board of directors, with the aim of creating a top-notch healing center for physical and mental health."
"After research and on-site surveys, the team selected a location on the edge of an ecological protection zone in the suburbs, bordering mountains and water. There used to be an abandoned welfare home there, which was later relocated to the city. The land and assets were available for sale as a package, making it a very suitable starting point for the project, but..."
"During the excavation of the foundation, an ancient tomb was unexpectedly discovered. It was an old, unclaimed tomb. The archaeological team intervened and determined that a rescue excavation was necessary, so the entire project was suspended indefinitely."
"But I heard that the archaeological team's work was also very difficult. Not only was the tomb passage sealed off and there were several complex mechanisms... but the tomb was also often haunted. They had consulted many masters, but none of them could solve the problem."
"It is said that the resentment of the tomb's owner is too great and lingers for a long time. If the source is not addressed, nothing can be done. In the end, the only option is to isolate the tomb and send a team to investigate it once every quarter."
“But just a week ago, I received news that the tomb had suddenly become empty. The authorities have been investigating how it disappeared, but they have been unable to find out, because it seems more like the work of ghosts. The board of directors, on the other hand, immediately expressed their opinion that there is hope for the project to be restarted, and they are still conducting an evaluation.”
Master Yun Song said with a sour feeling in his teeth, "It seems there's no need to investigate further; they're probably all here."
These three masters are skilled; they didn't give up, and they clearly have extensive knowledge... Although they may not have seen anything this big before, at least they weren't scared away like Young Master Song.
But Xie Tan felt that they might as well be a little more timid and back down, and maybe escape the mechanics of the horror story.
Wasn't Master He's corpse shocking enough?
Or is it that, besides Master Yun Song of the Mirror Sect, the other two also have their own purposes?
The room was silent; no one spoke, but the heavy atmosphere lingered, like a solid mass pressing down on everyone.
It wasn't all heavy-hearted; people like Su He and Xie Tan, if not specifically mentioned, were simply too lazy to say anything.
Lu Jinzhao was the only one in the room with a smile on his face, not forced at all, but still bright and cheerful.
It was a cloudy day, the sun wasn't out, but his smile, as if it would never be clouded, came as usual... and he seemed out of place.
Looking at his smile, Xia Wujin recalled how he had looked with his head down in the dark last night, which was completely different from how he looked now, and how he had suddenly said that Daoist He was a deer.
She felt a little uneasy.
She had never felt this way about Lu Jinchao before. Ever since the power outage last night, Lu Jinchao had been acting strangely, yet he seemed no different from usual. She couldn't figure it out.
Xia Changfeng asked her what happened after she went back, and Xia Wujin told her everything, but she didn't mention that Lu Jinzhao said the Taoist priest was a deer.
This was also based on her intuition and understanding of her friend. She felt that Lu Jinzhao wouldn't harm him; he was just... well, sulking at the time?
With Master He's gruesome death as a precedent, the three masters dared not easily offer their opinions. Xia Changfeng consulted Su He, who yawned and said, "If there's a letter of gift, there must also be a letter of engagement. I didn't ask you to check the movie, did I?"
The others were a little stunned when they heard this. What movie?
Yesterday someone mentioned a movie, it seems to be about Xie Tan, so everyone looked at him.
"Is it the movie that Mr. Xie mentioned?"
"I watched that live stream. Was that a celebrity's pet ghost turning on them?"
"Could there be other ghosts? It certainly doesn't seem like something a little ghost could do."
Xie Tan sat there, his expression unchanged, but his heart skipped a beat... Had he really run into a stray mouse?
By noon, the key was found. A thorough investigation focused on the live stream, and it turned out that the problem lay with the live stream and the location.
The Xia family's men found two red marriage contracts in the deserted temple where the live broadcast took place.
One of the envelopes contained Xia Wujin's name, birth order, and date of birth, while the other was from the man, Zhang Chengxiao.
When they arrived, the witch doctor specifically looked at the man's birth chart, but Zhang Chengxiao's birth date and time were not clearly visible, as if they had been smeared with blood and blended into the color of the birth chart. All that was known was that he was a high-ranking official at home.
Two marriage contracts were placed on the altar in the deserted temple. The incense had burned out and turned to ash, but the damp smell had not dissipated. The libation cup was empty.
The temple was cold and gloomy, as if more than one minor celebrity had died there.
There were traces of divination in front of the incense table, using tortoise shells, to inquire whether the marriage was auspicious.
Grandma Yao examined it and confirmed it was an auspicious sign, indicating that it was approved by the gods and ancestors.
A betrothal letter rests on the knees of the broken statue, flanked by a pair of ceramic geese. Amidst the swirling banners in the wind, it suddenly speaks, its voice like the clinking of porcelain: "Your birth dates are compatible, you have received the mandate of heaven, divination has been auspicious, a match made in heaven."
Master Yun Song's eyes flashed, and the other two masters understood as well. No wonder Mr. Xie Tan did not participate in the ceremony last night. He guessed that the horoscopes had probably been matched and he was too lazy to waste his time with them.
At this point, you've already made up your mind that simple exorcisms and blocking of the road are unlikely to work.
Looking at it this way, they really did act pretty foolish last night.
Looking at Xie Tan again, he was indeed extremely indifferent to the marriage certificate and divination, only glancing at them once.
These things are not even as good as a broken statue, which looks quiet and can hold his gaze for a moment.
The witch frowned: "The next step is to choose an auspicious day."
Who knows when the other party will choose? Even ghosts are afraid of things going wrong if they wait too long, so they'll definitely choose the closest possible date, not necessarily the best one!
Master Yun Song asked, "Who leaked Miss Xia's birth information? Logically speaking, this marriage transcends the boundaries of life and death; it's not enough for just anyone to provide her name and birth information..."
So they repeatedly warned Xia Wujin not to say these things aloud, but the male ghost somehow managed to obtain the valid birth date and time.
Xia Wujin clutched his birth chart tightly, frowning as he said, "But this isn't my birth chart."
Everyone was startled and hurriedly asked what was going on. After a long silence, Xia Changfeng sighed and said, "No... that is your birth date and time."
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