Rumors (Thanks to 20230802130237975)

In the vast main hall, Mr. Zhou was the only person left among the ritual offerings.

Outside, a few suona players were still tuning their instruments.

Fa Ming was startled by his Master’s words.

He lowered his voice. "Beheading? Master, what do you mean, beheading? Aren't we performing a ritual tonight? Who's getting beheaded?"

Mr. Zhou said, "We are performing a ritual. What does that have to do with beheading? Can't a ritual be held if someone's beheaded? Or can't someone be beheaded while a ritual's held?"

Why are you meddling in all that?

It's not as though I'm asking you to do the killing!

Tell your junior brothers to hide their slingshots on them and stay alert. No sleeping tonight. Once they've eaten, have them choose their positions and stand guard.

When the signal cannon sounds outside, all of you come to my courtyard.

Something about the feng shui of the Qian Family residence strikes me as odd. The Earth-Fire Cult chose Master Qian's home, perhaps not because of Master Qian himself, but because of this house. The cult might even storm in tonight.

If any one of you dies, my heart will ache!

Forget it. Why am I telling a fool like you any of this? You wouldn't understand.

Go pair up your junior brothers and assign them numbers. Be ready. If anything happens tonight and even one of them gets away, I'll hold you responsible!"

"Yes, Master! I understand!"

Fa Ming answered at once and headed outside.

Mr. Zhou suddenly remembered something and caught hold of him. "What I told you must not reach anyone else."

Fa Ming said, "I know, I know. I won't tell."

Mr. Zhou let go.

He was satisfied with this disciple. Fa Ming was not clever, but at least he was honest and dependable.

After his disciple left,

Mr. Zhou made his preparations for the evening's ritual.

There was no need to fast.

What occupied his mind instead was a story he had once heard, one whose truth he had never known. He had always dismissed it as a baseless rumor. Now he was not so sure.

"Perhaps there's something to it after all."

He was thinking, of course, of feng shui, a subject he knew nothing about.

He had only heard it said that this stretch of the Yellow River was a Fell Dragon.

The Fell Dragon had brought calamity. Worse, it refused sacrificial offerings, and its floods became a disaster.

So someone had slain the Fell Dragon near Fisherfolk Village and carried off its head. The place where the head was missing was now called Fisherfolk Fork—"fork" meant a gap or something missing in the local dialect.

But dragons were not like ordinary people.

The dragon died, yet its resentment remained.

That resentment flowed in the direction of Fisherfolk Fork.

Had the land been flat as far as the eye could see, the flow would have been smooth.

The current would have dispersed across the plain.

But the current ran toward Luoyin County. Once it reached the county,

Luoyin Mountain behind Luoyin County blocked the way.

This stretch of Luoyin Mountain resembled a bent palm, or a folding screen with its two panels slightly opened.

It was a classic formation that gathered wind and trapped baleful energy. Thus the resentment stagnated in Luoyin County below and formed a Dragon Pearl.

He remembered the story only because someone had told it to him in idle conversation.

It had happened so long ago, after all.

Supposedly, a "temple" had once been built in the city to pierce and suppress the ominous thing beneath the ground.

But no one knew what had been enshrined inside it anymore.

Let alone where it stood.

Now, though, suspicion had taken root in Mr. Zhou's mind. First impressions had a way of taking hold.

He began to wonder whether Qian Dayou's residence had been built over that temple.

"That must be it!"

Mr. Zhou stamped his foot. An old rumor seemed to be unfolding before him today. He felt as though he had grasped an invisible thread.

If it was true, the Earth-Fire Cult's ability to find this place was extraordinary!

So, to be safe,

He planned to use eight Spirit-Bait to carry banners for tonight's Iron Pot Food Offering, so that if anything emerged, it would not find him directly.

Let it go looking for the Spirit-Bait first!

Mr. Zhou was not worried about whether Qian Dayou could find the Spirit-Bait.

Every place had its rules. Though Qian Dayou had risen from being a Market Tiger, at his current station he still had to observe certain customs.

This was one such case.

Inviting Spirit-Bait and seizing them were two different things.

To invite Spirit-Bait took money, but money alone was not enough.

The local saying was "one tray, three picks for a reckless Spirit-Bait."

"One tray, three picks" meant this:

The tray was a tray of copper coins.

How much you put on it was up to you. If you could heap it until the coins rose to a peak, good for you; if you preferred a single flat layer, that was your choice.

You had to give them that tray in advance. Even if something happened to them afterward, you could not pay a coin less.

Who received the money was another matter.

As for the three picks,

Once the job was done, the Spirit-Bait could point to three things belonging to the host and take them away.

On the face of it, there were no limits.

Whatever they pointed to had to be handed over.

In practice, though, there were limits. What they chose and how they chose it were part of both sides weighing each other up.

What had they accomplished? What were they taking? Was that item worth making an enemy of them?

The host had to know where he stood.

At the time, whether the terms were acceptable or not, the host generally had to agree.

The difference lay in how matters were handled afterward.

The same went for the Spirit-Bait.

Once you had taken a host's property, you had to come the next time he invited you, no matter what.

Even if the danger was staggering.

Both sides had rules to abide by!

So although eight people were needed this time, Master Qian had sent invitations to twelve. If all twelve came, so much the better.

Qian Dayou did not lack that little bit of money.

But if a few failed to appear,

as long as eight still came,

it would all be worth it!

When the Qian Family's party came looking for Xu Feng's Master,

Xu Feng was inside the Earth God Shrine.

Not long before, Xu Feng had carried the body from Lost-Trace Forest to the Earth God Shrine.

[Li Family Village] had also appeared on his [map].

With his Master watching, Xu Feng used his method of guiding the breath to release the Li Family Woman's last breath.

The incense planted at her feet transformed, at the very end, into something like an "auspicious cloud."

The harmful energy dispersed before Xu Feng's eyes.

The Li Family Woman's body gradually dissolved, until all that remained was a cloud of black ash.

It flew out through the roof tiles they had pushed aside.

Xu Feng stared at the sight for a long time without speaking. What he had witnessed was truly staggering.

"Of all matters in life, none are greater than life and death."

Xu Feng could not help saying, "Go in peace. Go in peace."

Though he had never known her, taking responsibility for her had suddenly given him a sense of something sacred.

His Master stood nearby without speaking.

He, too, seemed to be mourning something.

Xu Feng asked, "Master, was that the passage through which the energy leaves? Once the killing intent goes out through that opening, does the person ascend to heaven and enjoy its blessings?"

Master took a sip of wine and said wistfully, "Yes and no."

The Li Family Woman has been dead for years, hanging in Lost-Trace Forest. What energy could she have left?

What you saw was simply her soul scattering into nothing.

That's what it looks like when a soul scatters while the person still has some semblance of a body.

Perhaps that'll be my fate when I'm old, too.

Oh, perhaps not. Even an end like that would count as a fortunate death for me!"