Chapter 79 Yin Peach Blossom (9) The Great Black Smoke Mirror, First...
Xia Changfeng was not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but the complex expression on his face at this moment seemed to contain a whole story of "a child without a mother, a long story to tell."
The truth was pretty much the same. From this older brother, everyone learned some past events, which indeed went back to when Xia Wujin was still an embryo... except that it wasn't "the child had no mother," but rather "the mother almost had no child."
Xia Yuanchuan's wife has passed away. When she was pregnant with Xia Wujin, she was misdiagnosed as having a stillbirth.
The couple, who were looking forward to the arrival of this child, could not accept it. The child was being cared for by a professional team and all the checkups had been normal. How could it suddenly become a stillbirth?
They went to many hospitals and consulted private doctors, but the diagnoses were all the same.
Xia Yuanchuan's wife, Ms. Hu Songqing, once suffered from depression and lived in mental anguish every day. She had contemplated suicide more than once, but with the help of professional doctors and her family, she successfully overcame the torment of the disease.
Xia Yuanchuan's original intention in establishing the Qingxin Project was to help people who suffer from mental anguish like his wife.
The sudden death of the child caused his wife to show signs of a relapse. Xia Yuanchuan didn't want to see his wife fall into pain again, and he couldn't accept the loss of his child. He was a superstitious person, and if technology couldn't solve the problem, he would rely on metaphysics. He spent a lot of money to hire a master, and they actually found the root cause of the problem.
The master said that the child was not dead and still had a breath left, but was haunted by a ghost while still in the womb. It was probably a vengeful ghost that could not be reincarnated and wanted to use the child's life to be reborn. It would be a good thing if the child died, otherwise the vengeful ghost would be reborn and its resentment would not dissipate, and your whole family would not have peace. His advice was to let the child go.
The couple was even more unable to accept it, and Hu Songqing became so emotional that she fainted on the spot.
Chairman Xia, who owns an entire business empire, tearfully begged the master to save the child's life.
The master was moved by them and came up with a solution: to swap lives and deceive ghosts, which meant hiding one's birth date and time.
The master said that ghosts don't haunt their children for no reason. If there's no cause and effect, then the day the child was born might have matched the ghost's birth date and time.
Since you have to fool the ghosts, you have to fool the people first. During the month that Hu Songqing gave birth, she was completely isolated. Her family members personally accompanied and took care of her daily life. Apart from her family, the master, and the shaman who came to deliver the baby, no one was allowed to get close. She kept it a secret.
No one knows exactly when Xia Wujin was born; the publicly announced birthday is just a smokescreen.
The method was very effective. For many years, Xia Wujin has been safe and sound, and the ghosts have not bothered him again. His family had long forgotten about the incident.
Therefore, Xia Changfeng felt at ease when the masters told him not to reveal his birth date and time, because even Xia Wujin did not know his true birth date and time.
But the birth chart displayed on the altar today contains the actual birth date and time!
He was worried about his sister, and when he heard that Xie Tan hadn't come or given him any instructions, he was indeed a little dissatisfied.
But he quickly dismissed the thought, partly because of Su He and Xia Wujin, and partly because of his confidence in this area, so it didn't matter that he didn't give any instructions.
As it turned out… they had anticipated much more than he had thought; they were simply too lazy to watch him waste his time, while he was smugly pleased with himself. He gave a wry smile.
"So this is the ghost that wanted to reincarnate through Miss Xia? That male celebrity also died in the ghost's place. They both chose this temple. What kind of temple is this?"
"I heard that it was originally a Guanyin temple for praying for children, but it was abandoned and haunted several times, so it was renamed Ghost Mother Temple."
"Are the Yin Peach Blossom and the ghost marriage just a pretext? Is the real purpose to obtain Miss Xia's true birth date and time, and to lock onto the body that is about to be possessed?"
"No wonder the male ghost no longer enters my dreams. I thought it was because we couldn't meet before the wedding. When we were about to get married... that's probably when he'll try to possess me!"
The male ghost has disappeared and the witch needs to perform more divinations. She has a direction now, but the divination results are still somewhat uncertain.
Since the ghosts are unable to break through for the time being, they can only turn to humans... Who handed over Xia Wujin's name and birth date?
When asked who the master was, Xia Changfeng said it couldn't be the master, and after glancing at Su He, everyone immediately understood—the master back then was a member of the Su family, and the rumors that the Black Goat was supporting the Xia family were indeed true.
The midwife was also dead. She was chosen because she was good at keeping quiet and didn't have many lives left. The master even sealed her mouth with a talisman.
That leaves only one possibility: it's someone from the Xia family.
Master Yun Song's first thought was Xia Changfeng's uncle, who almost took over Changsheng Group back then. There were rumors that he was the one who cursed his own brother.
He hinted at it in this way, and the witch added, "I remember Mr. Xia has a younger sister?"
That's right, Xia Yuanchuan also has a daughter, the second in line, but she had a falling out with her family long ago, cut off all contact, married abroad, and is now an internationally renowned jewelry designer.
The old man was so angry that he was hospitalized, and no one dared to mention her name again.
Grandma Yao casually mentioned, "By the way, I haven't seen Mrs. Xia. Is she not here?"
As far as she knew, Xia Changfeng was already married when his second daughter broke ties with the Xia family.
"She took the child back to her maternal grandparents' house for a while; the old folks wanted to stay." After all the commotion, it turned out to be a family scandal. Xia Changfeng couldn't keep his composure and could only reluctantly tell them about his wife's situation.
It's understandable that the wife took the children to her parents' home temporarily; the house is haunted, and the children need to avoid it.
Xia Wujin understood when her brother told her about the past. It was clearly her own business, but because she was too young, she was completely unaware of it, which gave her a strange sense of detachment. Even though she knew that someone in her family was trying to harm her, she remained silent.
“…I will send someone to investigate.” Xia Changfeng patted her head and could only say that.
Su He retorted sarcastically, "What's the point of your investigation? Do you think this is a business war? This isn't your area of expertise. There are three of us left, so why don't we each investigate one?"
"I will certainly do my best." Master Yun Song glanced at Xie Tan secretly, then respectfully asked Su He, "And Mr. Su He?"
“Your family has more than just these few people, there’s also an old man.” Su He laughed, but her words were harsh.
The old man was lying there, practically half-dead, yet he still had the energy to harm his daughter. It was probably just a final burst of energy before death.
Xia Changfeng was always praised in public, but he knew Su He was right; this wasn't his specialty.
Problems that can be solved with money or influence are not problems for the Xia family. He was arrogant when he was young, but now his father is seriously ill, just like his mother was back then. He still cannot stop the dying person from dying, and can only watch helplessly as his blood relative is tormented by illness and his life slowly withers away.
The second sister cut off all contact and refused to come back to see her father even after hearing that he was nearing the end of his life. The youngest sister was haunted by the vengeful ghost of the past and was in grave danger... These were all things that he was powerless to do no matter how much wealth he possessed.
So he only lost his composure for a moment before regaining his smile, sincerely thanking all the talented and extraordinary people, without missing a single one, and even asking Xie Tan and Lu Jinzhao for their opinions.
Lu Jinzhao had nothing to say. He had a clear understanding of his own position and considered himself merely an accessory to Xia Wujin and Xie Tan.
Xie Tan, having finally reconnected to the video conference signal, turned his gaze away from the statue, barely listening to the backstory: "Going home?"
Everyone: "Huh?"
Xie Tan also exclaimed "Ah!" seemingly not understanding what they were surprised about, and innocently said, "Is your house haunted?"
Are we going to make him continue living in that haunted house? Diqiu doesn't need another house like that.
Xia Changfeng choked, and the others, interrupted by Xie Tan's carefree answer, saw the heavy and strange atmosphere crumble, leaving them at a loss for words.
Su He asked curiously, "Aren't you curious about that tomb?"
Grandma Yao was also thinking about the unclaimed grave: "The artifacts under the theater must all be from the tomb. The owner of the ancient tomb must be that ghost, right? It must be dangerous..."
Xie Tan's reply was: "I think I should get a good night's sleep first."
Grandma Yao choked up too.
Su He could tell that Xie Tan was serious, so her unserious laugh leaned towards a "half-smile".
The unclaimed tomb looked suspicious. Once the plan was set, everyone present would definitely go and take a look, but Xie Tan had no interest at all.
Could it be that he's mistaken, and this brat didn't intend to solve the problem for the Xia family's little girl?
Lu Jinzhao looked around and said cheerfully, "Shall we just leave?"
This is simply child's play. After pondering for a moment, Xia Changfeng agreed: "Let's go. I'll have the butler take you. Jinjin, you go with them."
Xia Wujin: "Hmm?"
Under everyone's questioning gazes, Xia Changfeng said, "Mr. Xie is right. Since the house is haunted anyway, and you all still need to investigate who the ghost is and who wants to harm her, she might as well go somewhere else to hide. I'll have to trouble you two."
Xie Tan thought about it and realized that it made perfect sense.
When he heard that Xia Wujin had been stillborn, he felt something was wrong. There was such a plot in horror stories... It was incredibly sinister, and it was definitely not as simple as a misdiagnosis.
No one in the main cast is idle, even in horror stories.
Rather than staying with this group of characters who seem to be the main characters of this episode, it's better to stay with the real main characters.
The lucky star himself stood by with a bright smile, able to bring out the golden light of the eerie Ghost Mother Temple.
Xie Tan bid them farewell, and when he met Master Yun Song's gaze, he lingered a little longer before the three of them got into their car and left.
As for where to stay... we suggested staying in the dormitory, but neither Xie Tan nor Lu Jinzhao wanted to stay there, and the male and female dormitories weren't together.
Furthermore, other members in the group who occasionally inquired about the situation said: "Is it true that living in the school dormitory to avoid ghosts is real? That place is haunted every now and then, it might not be any less haunted than some ghost temple."
Chang Mingai, who was too busy to send messages, went online and sent a big X.
Renting a house in Heshun Community isn't difficult, but it doesn't have to be so complicated. Xie Tan and Lu Jinzhao live across the hall from each other, and they decided to give up one of their houses for Xia Wujin to live in first, while they would live together.
This solution was proposed by our kind neighbor.
In the end, it was decided that Xia Wujin would stay at Xie Tan's house.
Because Lu Jinzhao has too much stuff at home, Xie Tan felt it was better not to let the young lady live in the doghouse where she could run wild. Even if Lu Jinzhao didn't care if she accidentally bumped or hurt something, the young lady would definitely feel uncomfortable.
Living in his house eliminates this problem; you have so little stuff it's like staying in a hotel.
"Excuse me." Xia Wujin entered the master bedroom and restrainedly observed his surroundings.
The room was very clean, with some ornaments, old books and one or two storage boxes, which showed that it was cleaned regularly.
She felt a little embarrassed when she heard that this was the master bedroom, thinking that Xie Tan had given it up on purpose. But when Xie Tan said that he lived in the second bedroom himself, she couldn't help but be a little curious: "Then this is... whose room?"
She knew that Lu Jinzhao was an orphan, but Xie Tan's background... she had never heard him mention it, nor had he ever mentioned any family.
She regretted it as soon as she said it, afraid of touching a sore spot, and sure enough, she saw Xie Tan berate her.
"Sorry, I asked too many questions..."
Xie Tan smiled and said, "It's nothing. The people here won't be coming back... Let's rest for a bit. I'll call you when it's time to eat."
"Ah Tan, could you chop some garlic for me?"
Chef Lu, who was working next door with the door open, was already preparing dinner, so Xie Tan went to help him.
His hands moved nimbly, but his mind was elsewhere... The angle of the kitchen window was perfect for seeing the mourning tent in the neighborhood.
Of course, he didn't suddenly quit, wash up, go home and sleep, without even mentioning the plot or his character.
Besides, if he didn't want to do it, why did he agree to Xia Wujin's request in the first place?
It was because on the night of their ceremony, he went back to his room alone, and instead of going to sleep, he read the latest chapter of the manga, which made him decide to come back.
Because the beginning of the story was completely unexpected for him twice in a row.
The new story is clearly called "Yin Peach Blossom," and the trailer image shows a young lady being entangled by a male ghost in a "peach blossom rain." However, it begins with the eerie black smoke drifting from the Art Harbor, leading to the cult's ritual.
Looking at the appearance of the Mirror Cult in "Strange Tales", it can be said that they acted eccentrically, more flamboyantly than the major world religions, and did not care about a good reputation, but simply called themselves a cult.
Sometimes they are even more outrageous than real ghosts and monsters. Zhu Fengliang, a criminal, was released early with a reduced sentence thanks to the cult's efforts.
So although this bloodthirsty bastard doesn't believe in any gods, he does believe in power and knows who holds it in their hands.
He wasn't greedy. There's no such thing as absolute freedom in the world. For a cold-blooded person like him, being the fangs of evil was freedom.
However, this grand Dharma assembly was surprisingly low-key, which went against the traditional style of cults.
The fanatics seized the last moments of the Water Festival. The black smoke, overflowing from the landslide, was not visible to everyone. The believers, who were granted the power of the sun, watched as the black smoke drifted from Art Harbor into the city, obscuring a small patch of sky. It was thick in the night and even in the daytime, it was difficult to dissipate.
The day they floated back was also the day they returned home.
So the believers slipped into the dark world of the mirror, isolated from each other in a state of chaos, as if they were all in one place, yet each was performing a solitary pilgrimage.
They all had the mark of a half-circle of black sun on their bodies, which was the symbol representing the Mirror Cult, just like the Christian cross.
This reminded Xie Tan of the coffin shop's logo, tentacles growing out of half-darkness, like a goat embryo gestating from that blackness.
The cultists, buried in black smoke, prostrated themselves on the ground, shouting fanatically in absolute darkness.
"God of Night, God of Judgment, evil, destruction, war, death..."
"The night wind, the embodiment of the impermanence of the world..."
"The ever-changing creator, the one who enslaves us like servants, the one who stirs up conflict, the one who mocks, the one who is hostile to all sides..."
"Great Black Smoke Mirror, great Tescatlipoca..."
"The First Sun, which will never fall while it is falling!"
“We come from the First Age, we are descendants of giants, we are the people you devoured…”
"May the black sun shine upon me once more!"
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