Chapter 166: Clear Day Chapter 144: Recognition of the Divine Spirits

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Protagonist:

Shaowei

Liu Qi

The sky was dimly brightening, the morning sun had yet to appear, and a gray mist rare in summer drifted between heaven and earth.

Outside Chang'an City, beneath the capital, the streets of the counties were paved with blue stone; a wisp of mist floated up and down, just settling on the damp blue stone slabs before being startled and dispersed by the approaching drumbeats and copper bell sounds.

The commoners and merchants along the street quietly opened their doors a crack and peered out, first seeing one after another blue-green witch-shadow procession appear, ghost masks covering ordinary faces, shaking rings and striking drums, emerging from the mist.

The witch-shadows walked and danced, sometimes bowing their waists and leaning their bodies, sometimes lifting their feet and raising their knees, tilting their heads and shaking their shoulders, or raising their arms and turning their bodies; their movements were slow, without intense rhythm, revealing an inhuman eeriness, and the chanting voices beneath the masks were indistinct, accompanied by the drum and bell sounds, just like puppet ghosts manipulated by silk threads.

One after another, like layers of ghost shadows, they slowly passed outside the door crack; the commoners behind the doors almost held their breath, and finally they saw the master responsible for manipulating these puppet ghosts.

At the center of the procession, a bronze light carriage was pulled forward by two white oxen; the hanging gauze on the carriage was raised, and amidst the swirling smoke and mist, a shadow could be seen standing still upon it, wearing a Divine-Demonic Mask, dressed in vermilion and dark wide robes, holding a gold-copper ritual staff, like a divine-demonic statue.

Before and behind it, aside from nearly a hundred witches dressed as puppet ghosts, two more light carriages followed, each holding a bronze cauldron from which thick smoke rose, burning medicinal herbs.

The procession emerged from the mist and passed by, raising the mist.

"It's the Great Witch God!"

"The Great Witch God has come to dispel the plague!"

The commoners reacted and loudly spread the news.

The accompanying Imperial Guards responsible for maintaining order sounded with dignified voices along the way: "The Great Witch God comes by imperial decree to dispel the plague; those without plague may not approach!"

With too many commoners gathering, disorder was feared, and the spread of sickness among the crowd also had to be prevented.

The procession moved slowly along the way; as the sky brightened, more and more figures followed behind.

As the witch-shadows passed through the street, a figure ran out from an alley, crying and shouting: "Great Witch God, save my child! Save my poor child!"

The woman wore coarse patched clothing; her thin face bore an unusual flush; she was a plague-stricken person who had hidden everywhere with nowhere to go, holding a wailing baby girl in her arms.

The woman rushed straight to the Great Witch God's carriage and was stopped by the Imperial Guards; she fell to her knees, crying and begging.

However, the carriage truly stopped, and the witch god on the carriage slowly leaned forward, extending an arm toward her.

The morning breeze lifted the gauze on the carriage; the carriage gauze floated upward, its boundaries blurred by smoke and mist, seeming to connect with the clouds of the sky.

The woman was overjoyed; she held up the child with both hands, and the witch god took the barefoot baby girl, supporting her with one arm in front of his body; beneath the Zhu Gold Mask came a young girl's calm voice: "You have come too."

The witch god's command held neither sorrow nor joy; the woman trembled and kowtowed, then staggered to follow.

The commoners watching from afar saw that the Great Witch God actually held the plague-stricken infant in his arms, avoiding and fearing the sickness not at all, as if truly an incarnation of ghosts and spirits.

Smoke and mist opened the path; the procession continued forward; besides the music and footsteps, infant crying was added; this Infant's Anger stemmed from the pain of disaster and sickness, yet because of its loudness it simultaneously proclaimed the hope of new life.

As the news spread by word of mouth, more plague-stricken people followed toward that conspicuous procession; the weak supported each other, begging the witch god for protection.

Until they neared a hill; the witch-shadows divided left and right, slowly surrounding an altar; that wooden altar was simple, temporarily built, not at all majestic, only for the purpose of reporting matters.

The witch god handed the infant to the doctor who stepped forward, then ascended the altar alone.

Seeing the witches and Imperial Guards each standing in formation, and many wooden houses and grass huts built behind the altar, the commoners following behind finally realized where they had come.

The crowd began to panic; some wanted to escape; being willing to follow the witch god was to seek survival, but if the witch god wanted their lives, then no matter how reverent, they could not obey!

Fear had just begun to ferment; the steps of escape had not yet gone far; only a thin, monkey-like man ran to the frontmost position, his back to the altar, facing the commoners, and shouted angrily: "The Great Witch God is ultimately the Court's witch god; he has lured us here, nothing more than wanting to burn and kill us; run, run quickly..."

Before he finished speaking, the man seemed struck by an invisible force; he suddenly screamed, fell to his knees with a thud, clutched his neck with both hands, as if unable to breathe or speak, his expression pained; after a moment, bright red blood actually overflowed from his mouth.

The commoners witnessed this sight and were all terrified; while the man curled up on the ground, eyes wide, emitting a hoarse, desperate voice entirely different from before: "I am one who cannot distinguish good from evil, who spreads heretical rumors and confuses the masses; my crime deserves ten thousand deaths! I should be punished by ghosts and spirits! I should be punished by ghosts and spirits!"

The crowd near him recoiled in great alarm; those who had wanted to flee were also deterred; some timid ones trembled, knelt, and begged for mercy.

Above the altar, the young witch god's voice sounded: "To fear the suffering of burning by fire and to cherish life is common human emotion; even ghosts and spirits cannot blame it."

"However, the Court has never had a heart to harm the people, nor ever issued an order to burn the people; those who spread false rumors and lies, harming others and themselves, ghosts and spirits will surely not forgive!"

Hearing the voice, the commoners were all astonished and uncertain; the crying lessened considerably; more people knelt and prostrated themselves; at this moment, the Great Witch God standing straight raised his left hand, palm outward, while in his right hand appeared a Bronze Dagger.

The dagger cut his left palm; the witch god flicked his sleeve, and blood droplets splashed into the four-legged, double-eared Bronze Cauldron, half a person tall, before him; incense burned in the cauldron; when his blood dripped in, raging flames burst forth in an instant.

Amidst the firelight, the young witch god made a blood oath and swore to the deities: "I act by the order of ghosts and spirits and the command of the Emperor, coming specially to dispel disaster and plague; I now name this hermitage Shengxi Tai, to heal the people's sickness and share life with the people! And I swear here, together with myself and all officials, that anyone who harms the people within Shengxi Tai shall surely suffer heavenly punishment and destruction!"

These words carried weight; all the commoners kneeling on the ground were moved and awed.

Anyone could make this oath, but not everyone's words were effective, and not everyone could successfully lead the plague-stricken commoners here.

The commoners were already shaken; immediately, a small shadow ran to before the altar; it was a boy of eight or nine years; many commoners present recognized him.

The boy was named Xiao He, son of a pork stall owner in nearby Huayin County; his Mother had died early, and his father had also died of the plague five days ago; he had likewise contracted the sickness; since there were no adults left to protect him at home, two uncles forcibly handed him over to the Taiyi Shu people; this child resisted to the death, struggling and flopping like a sturdy piglet, making no small commotion, and sustaining many bumps and injuries; those who witnessed the boy being taken away at the time all believed this poor child would surely be burned to death.

Yet unexpectedly, seeing him again now, this child not only lived but looked spirited; he ran to before the altar, removed his coarse cloth upper garment of half an arm's thickness, and shouted loudly: "My illness is cured! Yesterday the Great Witch God administered medicine to me, and I was chosen by ghosts and spirits; now I am the Holy Child of this Shengxi Tai!"

He seemed to bear a heavy responsibility, his expression extremely firm; and more than half of the skin on his upper body actually glowed with a blue-gold color, like golden patterns growing from within his body, appearing especially strange in the sunlight.

Xiao He ran to the villagers, letting them examine the golden patterns; seeing this color could not be wiped away, the commoners were amazed beyond measure.

This child was as upright to a fault as his father; customers who had bought meat all had impressions of him; and now as he ran through the crowd calling out, he truly seemed like a Holy Child bearing the order of ghosts and spirits, wholeheartedly devoted, loudly speaking the truth, striving to persuade the plague-stricken.

At this time, a team of ox carts escorted by Imperial Guards arrived; on the carts were basket after basket of medicinal herbs, stacked grain sacks, and copper cauldrons and steamers and other cooking utensils used for boiling water and preparing food.

Xiao He pointed to those ox carts and said urgently: "If they wanted to burn us to death, they could have the Imperial Guards tie us up right now! Why go to all this trouble!"

Amidst the clamor of the crowd, an Imperial Guard commander ascended the altar, standing behind and to the side of the witch god, and shouted loudly: "The Court has the virtue of cherishing life; it first treats women, children, the elderly, and the weak, providing water and grain daily; once cured, they may leave!"

Once good things were prioritized, it made people feel even more urgent; many commoners could no longer hesitate and rushed forward eagerly.

Amidst the noise, the blood-spitting thin monkey man took advantage of the chaos to leave; he hunched his body in pain, staggered into the Grass Bush, and then ran along the Grass Bush all the way into a dense forest.

The man wiped the red juice from his chin, turned in a circle on the spot, saw no one, and was wondering when a hoarse voice came from above: "Here."

The man looked up and saw a Gray Shadow crouching on a large tree; such silence without sound; if it were an enemy, he would surely already be dead; so his expression was both admiring and eager for credit: "... Steward Zhao, was that play I just performed convincing enough?"

Zhao Qie'an gave an indifferent "Nodding" sound; to this day he was not very used to the title Steward.

The house servant managed family affairs outside; his subordinates initially called him Head of the Household; he said he was not the head of the household, merely a servant who ran errands; but no one dared offend this First Swordsman; after discussion, the title Steward came to be.

Steward Zhao on the tree now issued a new order: "You're not needed here anymore. Pick over ten capable hands and head further east, toward Henei Jun..."

He briefly explained the mission, but the skinny monkey under the tree asked hesitantly: "Wasn't it said that recently is precisely the time when manpower is needed? If I take away over ten capable hands, what will become of things here?"

Although their faction's scale had a pleasing development speed, it had started only a few months ago; truly capable and credible hands numbered only thirty-odd. The rest could serve as runners, errand-boys, or messengers well enough, but if it came to a fight to the death, there would be some difficulty. As for true deathsworn, their extravagance surpassed even professional assassins; they absolutely required long-term investment of manpower, material, and mental effort — by no means could they be easily possessed in mere months.

Of course, thirty-odd capable hands with extraordinary skill could already run rampant in the jianghu without fear, but this place is under the Court's foot; the enemy is often not human, but a monster of power built from mountains of gold and silver, blades, armor, and strong crossbows — one absolutely cannot be careless.

Facing the skinny monkey's hesitant expression, the household servant felt trouble; jianghu people talk too much, lack the self-awareness to obey unconditionally, making one waste much breath explaining. While instructing, he couldn't help but add training: "The Young Master has his own arrangements. Don't ask more. Go."

The skinny monkey clicked his tongue in a sigh and darted away like the wind.

The household servant then looked toward the direction of the nunnery.

The tree he had chosen was both large and tall, just right to witness the situation on Shaowei's side. At this moment, seeing those commoners like so many docile sick chickens, finally cooperating and walking into the medical cages.

Looking again at that figure walking down from the altar, the household servant's eyes held relief, and he couldn't help muttering to himself: "You really do know how to pick people."

"But when you insisted on having me take her away back then, I suppose you never imagined she would enter the world in such a manner."

"To find you, she became the most chivalrous, peerless swindler under heaven."

The summer wind passed through the dense forest, lifting her black wide sleeves.

Shaowei removed her mask, and by her ear Jiang Fu's voice seemed to ring out again: 【The trust of the world is thought power; if this thought power is vast enough, you possess power rivaling ghosts and gods, nothing unbreakable under your sword, even capable of reordering the qi mechanisms of this heaven and earth.】

Today's matter did not count as a great matter, but it won in being especially smooth. This let Shaowei experience for the first time the thought power she possessed among all beings. Although it could not yet be called vast, it was already quite considerable.

This thought power then spread rapidly. The saying that the Shengxi Tai had ghost and god protection spread without legs. Over the next two days, many plague-hiding commoners also came forward voluntarily.

The officials responsible for this matter all rejoiced and sighed with emotion. In the County Office's front hall, listening to the people's words below, Liu Qi sitting at the head expressed neither agreement nor disagreement: "Merely some mysterious, illusory tricks."

The officials dared not refute. Seeing that the youth looked like he didn't want to praise that Great Wu Nu even half a sentence, yet couldn't find any fault to pick, they turned to discuss other matters.

Amid the discussion voices, one could see affairs gradually entering the right track. Some officials had anxiety burning like fire in their hearts, just like the evening glow in the western sky.

In the nunnery, Small River stepped on the fire-colored evening glow and ran to request an audience with the Tai Puzhe.

He discovered the gold patterns on his body had faded considerably. Could it be the ghosts and gods didn't want him anymore? Could he no longer be the Holy Child?

"Tai Puzhe, why is it like this? Where did I do badly!"

Shaowei looked at this child with a face full of fear and trepidation.

Why it was like this was naturally because those gold patterns were fake to begin with — merely yellow gardenia powder added to the injury medicine applied to him.

Gardenia from the dye garden, supplied for dyeing imperial robes; this color is noble and cannot be widely circulated among ordinary commoners, therefore it can be used to bluff people.

Not only these gold patterns — when cutting the palm and swearing by blood, there was also iron powder in the sleeve that aided combustion. All of it was deception.

Deception also needs a beginning and an end. Shaowei's expression was stern: "Your mission is already complete."

Small River turned pale with shock: "Shouldn't the Holy Child be the Holy Child for a lifetime? Why can I only do it for a few days?"

Motherless since childhood, now having lost his father too, the world eyed him like a tiger watching its prey. He looked like he urgently needed this recognition, as if only thus did he have the courage to affirm his own existence.

Shaowei suddenly spaced out. A moment later, she deceived him again: "The gold patterns didn't disappear; they seeped into your body. As long as you believe you are the Holy Child, you will forever be one."

"Tai Puzhe, really?"

Shaowei nodded affirmatively.

Small River was overjoyed. His expression became upright again. He bowed, took his leave, and went. Seeing the Wu Nu passing by carrying medicine soup, he ran over energetically to help.

Watching that child's figure, Shaowei suddenly understood something.

A dependent, ignorant child received a spirit's recognition; doubts instantly vanished, and from then on he existed solidly and truly in this world.

The spirit he recognized was willing to recognize his existence; only then did he dare to identify with himself.

In this world, Shaowei also has the only spirit she recognizes.

Shaowei looked toward the horizon, blankly blinking once, but that spirit denied her existence, so in her heart she did not know how to exist.

The evening glow dispersed; heaven and earth grew dim.

Huali's duty was done. The follow-up to this place's matters will naturally have someone to arrange.

It was also time for her to leave this Shengxi Tai used for the living, and walk toward an unknown place that could be used to be killed.

?? Good evening, everyone!

? (Tomorrow's update is uncertain, don't wait, otherwise I'll feel guilty and my heart will ache!)

? (14th supplement: no update today, everyone, see you tomorrow.)