Coffin Sealing Talisman

"Doctor Yu, it's been so long. Why hasn't your disciple returned yet?"

In the room, Magistrate Zhu seemed to be growing impatient and suddenly asked.

Yu Zhensheng smiled faintly and explained unhurriedly, "Perhaps the child forgot where he put the golden needles and spent some time searching at home."

"That's good, then. I thought perhaps my residence was too large, and your disciple got lost, still unable to find his way out."

Magistrate Zhu smiled without quite smiling, casting Yu Zhensheng a deep look as he continued, "Though it's also possible that the noon heat was too much, and he found somewhere cool to hide."

Yu Zhensheng's expression did not change. He slowly raised his eyes to gaze at Magistrate Zhu, and there was an indescribable pressure in his calm stare.

"Magistrate Zhu, you jest. No matter how muddleheaded my disciple may be, he would not delay important business."

"As for your residence..."

He took a light sip of tea and said blandly, "The feng shui is poor. If you live here... be careful."

Magistrate Zhu's pupils contracted slightly, his expression turning solemn.

"Doctor Yu truly hides his brilliance well. You understand feng shui too?"

"I don't. But I know that in your residence... someone likely does. Yet that person... may not mean you well."

Magistrate Zhu's face darkened as well. With a cold expression, he said, "Then there is no need for Doctor Yu to trouble himself over it. You should instead put more thought into your disciple."

After a pause, he said each word distinctly, "There are some things children do not understand, but as his Master, you must teach him."

"After all... raising a disciple is no easy thing. It is more than ten years of painstaking effort, is it not?"

As he spoke, he dipped a finger into the tea, then drew a strange pattern on the table with the water. It resembled a door.

Yu Zhensheng looked at the pattern drawn in water and fell silent for a moment. Then he suddenly smiled. "So Magistrate Zhu is the one who truly hides his brilliance well. I will remember your warning, but I believe my disciple will certainly return."

"Oh? Is that so? Then let us have a wager and see whether your prized disciple can return before the sun sets—"

"Master, I'm back!"

Before Magistrate Zhu could finish, Zhou Sheng's voice suddenly rang out, shattering the increasingly heavy and tense atmosphere.

Zhu Zong's expression changed, while Yu Zhensheng revealed a faint smile.

Zhou Sheng appeared outside the door, sweat beading on his forehead as he said apologetically, "Master, I forgot where I had put the golden needles for a moment. I searched for a long time, which is why I came late."

"Be more mindful next time. It would be one thing to keep me waiting, but how could you keep Master Zhu and Madam waiting?"

Yu Zhensheng lightly scolded him with a smile, then took the golden needles and began treating the magistrate's wife.

Magistrate Zhu, however, kept a dark face. Rather than paying attention to his wife's condition, he kept sizing Zhou Sheng up from the corners of his eyes.

Zhou Sheng, meanwhile, watched his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose. He stood silently to one side, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

Yet the killing intent in his heart only grew stronger.

This time, he had nearly failed to return. The person who had moved the bluestone slab back to cover the ancient well had been vicious indeed. To prevent him from escaping, they had even pressed a talisman onto the slab.

A Coffin Sealing Talisman!

Using the well as a grave and the stone as a coffin, they had intended to seal him alive inside the well, turning it into a tomb for the living dead.

All the yin energy in the Zhu Household had gathered within that talisman, making the bluestone slab as heavy as a mountain.

The other party was absolutely an expert skilled in feng shui burial arts!

Fortunately, he had the Luo Shu. Through Turtle Shell Divination, he had calculated that the bottom of the well connected to an underground canal. Before the last breath of Dantian qi was exhausted, he had successfully swum through the crisscrossing underground waterways, labyrinthine as a maze, and escaped into the light at Pear Blossom River.

The person who had secretly sealed the well likely never imagined that someone could cross the underground river and escape successfully.

What Zhou Sheng could now be certain of was that, besides that Rampant Soldier, another expert was hidden within the Zhu Household. Perhaps he had been watched in secret from the very moment he stepped inside.

"Madam, this time, not only must I needle your arms, but also the Baihui, Tongtian, and Qianding acupoints. Please draw back the curtain so this old man may administer the needles."

After finishing the needles in her arms, Yu Zhensheng suddenly spoke.

The figure behind the curtain hesitated, her gaze turning toward Magistrate Zhu. Only after seeing him nod did she say clearly and precisely, "In that case, I shall trouble Doctor Yu."

As she spoke, she slowly drew back the curtain, revealing her face.

Her forehead was full and smooth, like the rounded belly of a Ding kiln jade-hu-chun vase. Distant-mountain brows flowed into crow-black temples, with a single vermilion beauty mark at the center.

Her eyes were lively and expressive, though a trace of weariness showed in them, as if she had gone many days without sleep, the bloodshot veins still unvanished.

It was a face of great charm, with delicate skin and exquisite features. Anyone who saw her would call her a beauty.

Yet Yu Zhensheng sensed an inexplicable discordance. At that moment, from the corner of his eye, he noticed the strange expression on his disciple's face.

For Zhou Sheng's gaze was drawn to the magistrate's wife like a magnet. He was staring at her blankly, almost without blinking.

Yu Zhensheng found it strange. His disciple had not never seen beautiful women before; he should not have so little composure.

Even the magistrate's wife noticed Zhou Sheng's gaze. A flush of shyness appeared on her face, but seeing how young and handsome he was, she did not grow angry. She merely said lightly, "Young man, have you looked enough?"

Only then did Zhou Sheng withdraw his gaze and lower his eyes, not allowing the others to see the stormy waves in his heart. He deliberately put on an embarrassed appearance.

Magistrate Zhu glared at him, yet a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He seemed to enjoy having such a beautiful, attention-drawing wife.

The more others envied him, the prouder he became.

Before long, Yu Zhensheng finished with the needles and took Zhou Sheng with him to bid farewell.

After the two had left, the magistrate's wife spoke. "Master, could that young man have noticed something?"

There was a trace of worry in her voice.

Magistrate Zhu smiled. "Madam, do not let your imagination run wild. I think that Zhou Sheng was simply bewitched by your beauty. After all, those who perform Yin Opera cannot break their virginity before completing their training."

"A half-grown boy who has held it in for more than ten years—when a beauty stands before him, how could he not be utterly spellbound?"

His wife spat lightly and made as if to hit him, but Magistrate Zhu caught both her hands and stroked them carefully.

"Still, that brat truly has some ability. Even Daoist Priest Xie's Coffin Sealing Talisman could not trap him. Hmph, he made me lose face!"

"Master, do you think Yu Zhensheng will let this rest? I heard he was once a vicious man—"

"Madam, rest assured. Yu Zhensheng is an old hand of the martial world. I have already revealed a little of the situation to him. I believe he will understand what to do."

"The older one grows in the martial world, the smaller one's courage becomes. Yu Zhensheng has vanished without a trace these years and long since washed his hands in a golden basin. How could he possibly come fight us to the death over a lowly maid and a musician from the lowest ranks?"

"Wouldn't that make him a fool? Hahaha..."

"Madam, rest assured. This matter is entirely within your husband's grasp. Now, let us discuss something else..."

"Master, this servant's body... has not recovered yet..."

"Last time, it was because you were too impatient that you developed those fainting spells... mm..."

Before long, wanton sounds filled the room.

On the street, Master and disciple walked one before the other in silent wordlessness.

Only after they had gone far from the Zhu Household did Yu Zhensheng stop and ask, "When you saw the magistrate's wife earlier, you lost your composure so badly. Did you discover something?"

He knew this disciple too well. Zhou Sheng would never lose control like that because of beauty.

Zhou Sheng slowly lifted his head, his eyes still rippling with emotion. After a long while, he spoke two sentences.

"Master, I have seen that face before."

"Only then, she was called... Shen Jinhua."