The Changing Forms of Ghosts and Gods, the Seven Turbidities of the Prison
The prison in Luoyang today was built in 1913 by order of the Beiyang Government.
It is said that the Beiyang government at the time intended to make this prison one of the model prisons.
From above, the entire prison is roughly square, with a length and width of over two hundred meters.
The outermost wall is over five meters high and has barbed wire. In the past, when the facilities were more advanced, the barbed wire was electrified.
The prison contains interrogation rooms, a water dungeon, an execution ground, a darkroom, as well as workshops for carpentry, weaving, sewing, and milling.
However, in the early days after Liu Xueya arrived in the city, she used every possible pretext to extort money, suppress the people, arrest students, and disrupt protest marches.
As a result, the prison was overcrowded, and rooms of all kinds, regardless of their original purpose, were used as cells.
There are now only seventy-seven prisoners left here, and they are being held together in five or six cells.
Most of the other cells were empty, but the bars and walls still bore traces of blood and old stains.
Strong sunlight streamed in through a small window in the high wall.
The straw on the ground was half wet and half rotten, and the sun couldn't dry it. Insects, rats, and poisonous snakes could be seen everywhere.
Liu Xueya and a group of prison guards led the way.
Chu Tianshu followed them down the prison corridor, noticing that the guards' steps grew increasingly hesitant, and they seemed to be trembling with nervousness.
Originally, being a jailer was a lucrative job. When Liu Xueya first came to the city, many locals spent money to get in and secure a position.
They only need to give a slight hint to the prisoner's family, without actually giving the prisoner any benefit, to extort a large sum of money.
However, ever since the Plague God's half-body arrived here, even though he didn't intend to spread evil energy directly in Luoyang.
Even the prison guards who frequented the prison were inevitably affected, falling ill one after another. A number of them died, and after a group of them collapsed, some tried to resign, but were reprimanded.
After that, the number of prison guards decreased day by day; it was unknown whether they died outside or deserted their posts.
These prison guards are newly conscripted men sent by Liu Xueya.
Finally, even those who were always conscripting men got tired of it, Li Chaoqun mentioned indirectly.
Liu Xueya then prayed to the Plague God for magical water, which allowed this group of prison guards to survive until now.
"General, you are protected by the gods, and no evil can harm you."
One of the jailers mustered his courage and said, "But... but those people are becoming less and less human; we lowly guards really dare not approach them."
Chu Tianshu asked, "So how do you deliver the food?"
The jailer said, "They're all just cornbread and pickled vegetables anyway, just throw them into their cells from a distance."
"When it's time to deliver water, several children work together, using a long bamboo pole to carry an earthenware pot over to the trough. The water will overflow, and they'll all rush to drink it."
Chu Tianshu unconsciously frowned, gripped the hilt of his sword, and walked forward.
He used a chain about the thickness of a little finger, one end tied to his waist and the other end wrapped around the scabbard, suspending the longsword at his side.
With his skill, even when he was moving, the sword didn't sway much. Now, with his left hand on the hilt, it stood firm and imposing.
As people move forward, a stable and clean circle gradually advances.
Wherever it passed, dust on the ground gave way, and evil spirits were driven back.
Chu Tianshu walked for more than twenty meters and arrived at the prison cells where people were being held.
Most of the people in each cell were sitting listlessly, dressed in tattered clothes.
There were men and women, but even the women with their upper bodies exposed only looked terrifying; their Shangdu covered in scabs, which didn't look like signs of torture.
It's like a boil that has broken open, with blood flowing out and congealing on the surrounding skin.
A few people, as if hungry, reached out and grabbed, and the venomous snakes around them seemed to freeze, not daring to resist, and were grabbed and bitten off.
The snake's body rapidly shrank, and the eater, having taken a sip, seemed full and became dazed, its gaze fixed on the outside of the cell door.
As Chu Tianshu walked this far, the hairs on the back of his hands stood on end.
This was his own aura, and he sensed the presence of another kind of aura.
At that time, the Snake Half that possessed Liu Xueya was unable to unleash its divine power.
This place certainly displayed the power of Plague God, but it was also unpredictable and mysterious.
It is completely different from the oppressive feeling of towering mountains and precarious cliffs that are commonly seen.
The oppressive aura of the Plague God was more like a venomous, damp mist floating in the air, imperceptibly penetrating the body and entangled in every bone and internal organ.
Chu Tianshu not only resisted with his own imposing aura and strength, but also subtly released the medicinal-attribute Mind Power from the Sanqi Divine Sword, forming a colorless circle that was completely impervious to water.
Which one is it?
Chu Tianshu scanned the people in the prison and felt that each of them was shrouded in a deep evil aura.
He wanted to see through the evil aura, to find out which person the Plague God's half-body was currently possessing.
In his eyes, evil was like a gray haze; the deeper he looked, the more the clouds parted, revealing a rich, smoky rainbow, like sunlight reflected off oily water.
But this rainbow was draped Shangdu everyone.
"Oh?"
Chu Tianshu's eyes flickered.
Liu Xueya only knew that the Plague God still had half of its body in this cell, but she didn't know exactly how it worked.
Seeing the deep-seated evil aura Shangdu these people, Chu Tianshu assumed that the Plague God was taking turns possessing these prisoners, nurturing their evil poison.
But now it seems...
That Plague God god's half-body... must have possessed seventy-seven people simultaneously!
This Rainbow Half-Body not only lacks a physical form and is not attached to a divine statue, but it also lacks even a stable Spirit Body form.
It was truly a rainbow that gathered and dispersed at will, spreading all around.
Chu Tianshu pondered for a moment, then his right hand lit up with Four-Leaf Seal, and he waved his hand.
Four-Leaf Seal, about half the size of a palm, flew into a cell and landed on the forehead of a disheveled prisoner.
Looking at the prisoner's tattered clothes, one can vaguely discern that they were originally a set of student uniforms that had been washed many times.
This person was definitely not old, but his face looked like he was already fifty years old. His eyes were dull, and he didn't react at all as the Four-Leaf Seal spun rapidly on his forehead.
Chu Tianshu made a grasping motion with his five fingers, and the Four-Leaf Seal flew back into his hand.
The jade-like Four-Leaf Seal, stained with only a few mottled colors, was crushed by him.
A faint, iridescent light shone through the gaps between their fingers, only to be extinguished several seconds later.
"No way, this is the first time I've ever seen something like this."
Chu Tianshu's internal energy and physical body can directly contact the Spirit Body.
If it were an ordinary Evil Spirit with such a flexible form, it would have been able to be pulled out by the rotation and suction of the Four-Leaf Seal.
However, the Rainbow Half-Body of this Plague God's body seemed to be divided into countless parts, all of which were tiny, granular things.
No matter what force you use to pull, only the small portion of particles that are directly touched will be pulled out.
Chu Tianshu carefully observed the prisoner who had just been affected by him and found that the rainbow had been restored almost instantly. He recalled many records from the Ghost Gate Witch Doctor.
"The Seven Turbidities of the Prison, huh? That really is one of the oldest methods of poison preparation..."
Rainwater gathers from all directions, floating on beds and tables, which is water vapor; mud splatters for half a day, steaming and bubbling, which is earth vapor; sudden sunshine and intense heat, with wind channels blocked, are the effects of the sun.
The shade of eaves and the firewood fuel the scorching heat, representing the fire's energy; the rotten grain in the granary, stale and oppressive, representing the rice's stench; the huddled together, shoulder to shoulder, exuding the stench of sweat and grime, representing the filth of humanity.
Whether it's a decaying corpse or rotting rats, the foul odors emanating from it constitute foul air.
The Qi of the Seven Turbidities this prison breeds plagues and evil toxins of very ordinary quality.
However, this thing has a huge advantage: once the evil poison seed is refined, the speed at which it replenishes evil energy is extremely fast.
Let's not talk about cities during certain chaotic periods in ancient times.
Even now, Luoyang is no different from a large prison filled with filth.
It is precisely because of the interaction between internal and external factors, and the interconnectedness of the seven turbidities.
The prisoners of the past were only infected with a common plague.
Now, these seventy-seven prisoners are all seeds of evil, bearing the characteristics of magical curses.
Even if these prisoners were transported out of Luoyang, this connection would be difficult to sever.
In ancient times, the most common method used by the government to control plagues was to surround and kill the group of people who were most obviously infected.
However, this method is not very effective against the seeds of evil poison.
The evil poison is invisible; once it loses its host, it can instantly appear anywhere in Luoyang, re-host, and spread its toxicity wantonly.
"The way our ancestors broke this spell was quite simple: they used the method of boiling a frog in warm water, employing pharmacology to counteract the toxicity, thus neutralizing the seed of evil poison before the host was dead."
Chu Tianshu pondered, "But now, this evil poison contains half of the Plague God's body. I'm afraid its ferocity and strange changes are no longer comparable to the normal Seven Turbidities of the Prison."
Fortunately, the people from Chenjiagou were not captured and sent here.
Otherwise, if the evil poison continues to fester within them and is released into the future, who knows how many people will die.
"General Liu, come here."
Chu Tianshu took a strand of hair from his temple and twisted it in the middle.
Dozens of broken hairs, with a surge of his strength, straightened as needles.
As Liu Xueya walked over, the severed hair struck her heart like a stab.
"Ah!"
Liu Xueya hurriedly covered her chest, her face filled with fear.
The fine needle in the black hair had already been pulled out.
It was as if the tip of each needle had a touch of crimson.
Chu Tianshu controlled the number of broken needles with both hands, quickly dividing them into five batches and shooting them into various cells.
A thin needle was inserted into the throat of each prisoner, winding along the subcutaneous seam until it reached the end.
The Rainbow Half-Body resembled countless tiny insects, and in terms of intelligence and agility, it was similar to insects.
Liu Xueya's body was modified by Snake Half, giving her an extraordinary physique.
Chu Tianshu took his lifeblood, concealed his own scent, and injected it into these people's bodies.
These people could have their life force sealed off by the acupuncture, and their rainbow-like colors remained unstimulated.
However, relying solely on acupuncture to maintain life is not a long-term solution.
"Send people over to clean out all those workshops that were originally used for carpentry, sewing, and weaving."
"The fence was removed, the walls and ground were scraped clean, and new limestone slabs were laid down."
Chu Tianshu glanced at Liu Xueya, suppressing his murderous intent for the moment, and said, "We need a lot of people, not outsiders. You'll be part of the main force of soldiers to handle these matters."
"Hurry! I want to see those rooms completely refreshed by tomorrow morning."
(End of this chapter)