Chapter 35

Hu Jinhua felt the task was heavy and time was tight; among the eleven villages, those shamans and witches could all be incorporated into the Fox Immortal Hall system to become Out-of-Body Messengers.

Although he had already converted two people and made them grateful, he could then tell them to go and preach to other shamans and witches, but that would be taking the task assigned by Xu Jia too lightly.

Hu Jinhua did not want to be perfunctory; he wanted to show his achievements, but even more so his hard work, and he wanted to get things done quickly and well to demonstrate his capabilities to Xu Jia.

Therefore, he planned to finish the things Xu Jia had ordered within three days; he would skip those already confirmed to have true skills for now and test them later, focusing only on those without skills.

However, while he had previously thought these witches and shamans were just "pretending to be gods and ghosts," now that he understood them carefully, there were some "tricks of the trade" involved; at the very least, they had truly come into contact with some ghosts, spirits, and demons.

And since Hu Duxiu and the others had only just learned to transform into human form and had not yet learned other spells, their Daoist Practice was still shallow, so he was not at ease with splitting up.

Therefore, while there was still time, he would run to the third house; after finishing the three houses, it would be almost dawn, just in time to go find that Lao Zhupo and see if he could also lead her into the Hall.

The third house was a witch called "Liu Wenpo," whose home was already located near Lan Shi Huo, so it was on the way.

This Liu Wenpo was skilled at midwifery and knew rudimentary health care for women and children, while also knowing some matters concerning Ghost Gods.

Because newborns are always easily frightened and there are even ghosts who harbor jealousy and want to harm the mother and infant, she had ways to drive them away.

Because the previous two had not been very smooth, Hu Jinhua was much more cautious this time as he went forward.

Arriving in front of the courtyard of Liu Wenpo's house, he smelled a foul, fishy, and salty odor.

It turned out she had smeared the walls with the blood of women in labor, and the filthy Qi remained on them; it was a shallow mother-and-child blood-evil, which had the effect of warding off gods and ghosts.

Outside the courtyard, there was also a tower; the tower was not tall, about the height of a person.

Looking at this tower, Hu Jinhua inexplicably felt some apprehension.

Because this tower had processed quite a few stillborn fetuses and placentas, which were hung on it to air-dry.

Parts of the tower body were hollow, and at this moment, wisps of Black Qi were leaking out; eyes were peering out from inside the tower, and infants with large heads and thin limbs were crawling around inside like spiders or scorpions, yet they could not get out.

These ghost infants, seeing Hu Jinhua come, tilted their heads to look at him, expressionless, yet it seemed as if some other emotions were mixed in, making even this old fox of many years bristle.

This was an "Abortion Tower"; the reason it was in the shape of a tower was because a tower has the ability to "suppress."

However, ironically, Liu Wenpo claimed to the outside world that this tower had the effect of "praying for children"; if women prayed for children, they would throw some pastries into the tower and burn some paper money.

As for whether they became pregnant afterward or if it was useful, that was another matter entirely.

Because it was filthy and unbearable, Hu Jinhua did not enter personally, only releasing his Chang soldiers and not entering the house himself. After the filth was smeared on the walls, Liu Wenpo's residence no longer had the protection of a House God; without the protection of a House God, it lost the subjective condition of "no entry without invitation."

However, normal spirits and ghosts would not want to come in either, just like holding a Daochang in a latrine; it was simply too filthy.

The Chang soldiers, however, did not mind these things and went straight into the courtyard, where they saw a bamboo pole set up on the courtyard wall, with dried, jerky-like fetuses or placentas hanging on it, each one strange and twisted.

A black cat was curled up on the window, and seeing the Chang soldiers, it stood up: "Meow!"

This was an old cat of many years that had also become a spirit, only it did not have the fox's ability to learn human speech or transform into human form.

The black cat intimidated the Chang soldiers but never dared to approach; instead, the Mountain-Roaming Chang General, who represented Hu Jinhua's malice, flicked the mountain-cleaving blade in his hand, and the black cat ran away.

Hu Jinhua did not see any concrete danger through the Chang soldiers, so he endured the stench, pushed open the door, and went inside personally to take a look.

Inside Liu Wenpo's room, there were even more things—scissors, buckets, pliers... all things used by a midwife for delivery.

These things had delivered who knows how many children; although the conditions for giving birth in ancient times meant life and death were half-and-half, it still made the Mountain-Roaming Chang uncomfortable.

Moreover, this old woman had good wishes protecting her body, all of which were thoughts of gratitude; this is what is called the grace of "protecting life."

Compared to Zhao Shendian, who was the godfather of children who had been shocked, she was the "godmother" of who knows how many children—the proper kind; during festivals, some Rites would be sent to her door.

Thus, she had "good thoughts following her."

Midwifery was, after all, an important craft; if the midwife's technique was good, both the child and the mother could live well. If it happened that both mother and child died, it was not the midwife's problem, but mostly the pregnant woman's own problem; the ancients called giving birth "crossing a tribulation," which was not false.

Hu Jinhua first looked around and discovered that this Liu Wenpo worshipped a spirit tablet, on which was written "Position of the Holy Mother of the Longevity Sect who Protects Infants and Children."

Longevity Sect? Hu Jinhua had never heard of this sect. He had also never heard of the divine name of the Holy Mother who protects infants and children; at the very least, there should be no temple system for it locally.

Hu Jinhua harbored doubts, but he still cast the Dream-Entry Technique.

Liu Wenpo's dream was grotesque; it was a kitchen with water boiling on a stove, and she was stewing something; she did not notice when Hu Jinhua appeared behind her.

Hu Jinhua watched the midwife's actions and only felt disgusted; it was even more unbearable for him than Zhao Shendian's dream from before.

Because what was boiling in the pot and turning white were exactly... unformed fetuses the size of kittens and puppies, and what she was cutting in her hand was a string of small intestines.

"Who are you!" Liu Wenpo suddenly realized, seeing a large fox staring fixedly at her; panicked and surprised, she held the kitchen knife horizontally in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Hu Jinhua used the Infatuation Technique in the dream to try to bewitch and control the soul of this demon-hag.

Who would have known that this Liu Wenpo did not fall for the trick at all, but instead, like a madwoman, raised the knife and hacked toward Hu Jinhua.

At the same time, a buzzing sound came from near and far: "Guanyin saves the world with compassion, protecting infants and children to ensure Longevity, the wisdom is profound and the technique is exquisite, breaking evil to manifest the supreme vehicle."

Hu Jinhua was startled; this voice was chilling, like ten thousand needles trying to pierce into his brain.

Added to the fact that this demon-hag's soul was hacking with a knife and the entire dream was her home field, if he stayed any longer, he might very well be killed by her in the dream; after all, the owner of the dream could dominate the dream and attack outsiders.

Therefore, Hu Jinhua did not choose to attack head-on, but quickly withdrew from the dream.

But just as Hu Jinhua withdrew from the dream, that thing pursued him to the end; it was precisely that so-called Longevity Sect Holy Mother who protects infants and children unleashing a mass of evil Curse Power.

Hu Jinhua summoned the Chang General to step forward and block it.

That Chang General was the embodiment of Hu Jinhua's evil thoughts, and at this moment, he also faced a formidable enemy, thinking it was a difficult one.

But what Hu Jinhua did not expect was that when the evil Curse Power caught up, the Chang General was quick-eyed and fast-handed, splitting it open with one slash!

The next moment, that paper spirit tablet worshipping the so-called Holy Mother tore apart in response to the sound.

But the Curse Power did not dissipate after being split; it even awakened and descended with a mass of consciousness, wanting to rush toward the center of Hu Jinhua's brow—it was exactly where that tuft of golden fur was, the place Xu Jia had enlightened.

Hu Jinhua manipulated a Chang soldier to block in front of him, and the next moment, this Curse Power drilled into the Chang soldier's brow, turning into a brand.

This Chang soldier was refined from evil thoughts and mountain Evil Qi; he was shaped like a ghost but was not a ghost, and after receiving the Curse Power, he actually had a feeling of being out of control.

Through the Chang General, Hu Jinhua saw the information and images carried by the Curse Power—in a secret altar society, which was this very courtyard, Liu Wenpo and some couples praying for children were kneeling and worshipping this evil god there.

Then she distributed the cooked meat to the couples praying for children, chanting: "This is my secret recipe for praying for children; after you eat it, it is equivalent to having their flesh and blood, then go to the tower and pray, and see which one of them is willing to follow you..."

This image seemed to have consciousness, drilling toward Hu Jinhua's true self, and there were more waves of evil curses: "Guanyin saves the world with compassion, protecting infants and children to ensure Longevity, the wisdom is profound and the technique is exquisite, breaking evil to manifest the supreme vehicle!"

Hu Jinhua chose to abandon this Chang soldier; as soon as the evil thoughts were transferred, only a mass of Evil Qi remained, and after another moment, the Curse Power, carrying the Evil Qi, went outside the courtyard and disappeared.

Hu Jinhua felt uneasy in his heart: "I'm afraid there is trouble."

He then used a soul-bewitching method to bewitch Liu Wenpo and asked, "What kind of sect is this of yours? Why is it so evil?"

Although Liu Wenpo was bewitched, her face still showed pain, and she was extremely unwilling to reveal anything; only after Hu Jinhua pressed her repeatedly did she confess and say, "The Longevity Sect."

"What is the doctrine?"

"I don't know."

"Then why did you join this sect?"

"They pay money to collect stillborn fetuses from me, giving me Flower Money to spend... although it is a bit disgusting, who would turn away money... they also taught me a secret recipe for seeking children, and a Longevity secret recipe..."

Seeing her say this, Hu Jinhua knew it was a major case that he could not handle alone and that he would have to find help; furthermore, he did not know where that mass of Curse Power had gone, so he urinated on the spot to make the spell bewitch her for longer, then followed the thirty-six stratagems and chose running away as the best option, leaving only one Military Official in her home to watch over her and guard against outsiders.

He then left that place and, according to the previous plan, headed straight for Lan Shi Huo.

(End of this chapter)