Chapter 47: Infant Ghost Tower

Xu Fu was as if injected with chicken blood; those official-rank Qi would nourish his body and mind, ensuring he learned what he studied and wouldn't end up with a brain full of mush.

Xu Jia watched, satisfied; hoping his father would become a dragon, he had finally taken the first step.

He picked up Gui Linggao, who was eavesdropping on the Dao in the courtyard, patted his shell, and laughed: "Why do you listen to the Buddha and also listen to the Confucians?"

Just as he was walking out, intending to go on a trip to brush up his favorability with the surrounding neighbors and quell rumors, he encountered the approaching Xiaopangdun, so he asked: "Hui Zhuo, how does your cultivation feel these past two days?"

Xiaopangdun, sporting panda eyes, sighed and complained: "I can't sleep all day and all night; when I open my eyes, I see all kinds of phantoms, and when I close them, it's all kinds of dreams, as if they are some kind of images of the future, a premonition..."

"It is like this when you first enter the gate; you need to practice calming your mind. Once you reach the realm of being able to control it freely, you can block your inspiration and close the Heaven-Earth Spirit Bridge," Xu Jia said with a smile, comforting him: "It will probably be fine after seven or eight days."

Xiao Pang said helplessly: "Then I'll just wait."

He then suddenly woke up: "I almost forgot the main business; yesterday I invited the Fox Immortal to subdue the Soul-Walking Aunt and Zhao Shendian, and they came to my house as guests."

"It just so happened that this morning I helped them set up their altar, and the Fox Immortal also took in a Niu Gui. That Niu Gui was originally worshipped by the Soul-Walking Aunt's family, so when we set up the altar at her house, we added him in as a resident family immortal."

"At Zhao Shendian's house, we wrote down the name of the Lame Fox, Hu Butang. Hu Butang himself was crippled by a tribulation, which suits him best. Although his Daoist Practice isn't enough, he begged earnestly, so Hu Jinhua and I agreed, hoping they can help each other."

Xu Jia nodded upon hearing this: "Being close by is just right for learning from people; Hu Jinhua has a sense of proportion, so I am at ease."

"By the way, I ordered you to push over that Ying Ta and release the Infant Ghosts inside; has this matter been done?"

Xu Jia needed to deliver one hundred evil ghosts to exchange for an unofficial divine position in the Underworld for the Luejue Shen, and also to accumulate Merit for himself and Hu Jinhua.

"It hasn't been pushed over yet. I used the Qi-observing method to observe it a little. There are sixty-four Infant Ghosts inside. I thought that if we pushed it over directly, I'm afraid it would cause quite a lot of trouble. After all, we don't have the ability to catch and gather them, so it's better to leave it as it is for now until we find a specific method."

"Therefore, I persuaded the Fox Immortal to go and subdue other witches and shamans first, while I came to find you, Brother Xu, to help see how to solve this matter."

"Sixty-four Infant Ghosts?" Xu Jia was shocked: "Can such a small brick and tile tower suppress them? And it's placed right in front of the door. I thought there were only a few... After pushing it over, I can perform rituals to summon them back one by one."

After thinking for a while, Xu Jia then said: "Forget it, I'd better go myself. Going during the day would cause too much of a stir and it wouldn't be good to expose myself... I'll go at night."

Xu Jia was still quite wary of that so-called Chang Sheng Xie Jiao.

However, most of this blame cannot be placed on the Evil Sect. Ancient feudal society had a tradition of "abandoning baby girls," and some in this Ying Ta were "aborted," or born unable to live long. These would not be buried but handled casually.

Although Liu Wenpo was bewitched by Hu Jinhua, she had previously participated in Evil Sect rituals, selling these infant corpses to be made into food... If she didn't appear for a long time, it would certainly attract the attention of the Evil Sect members.

Xu Jia happened to go and see for himself what exactly was going on.

However, with so many Infant Ghosts, he certainly couldn't go empty-handed. Xu Jia wanted to save them, not destroy them: "Hui Zhuo, go buy some wooden horses, rattles, pacifiers, maltose, and pastries that children like, and also two sheets of colored paper and a bundle of incense."

Hui Zhuo nodded repeatedly, his eyes shining. Every time he followed Xu Jia, he could learn real things, so he didn't ask what these things were for. By the time he bought these things, Xu Jia had already set up an altar.

He wrote a few verses of incantations, such as: "Heaven is fearful, Earth is fearful, my home has a night-crying lad; passing gentlemen recite this once, and sleep soundly until dawn."

There was also: "Baby, I'm sorry, Mommy doesn't not love you..." This was actually a song lyric, but it didn't matter; as long as it served to pacify them, it was fine.

He found Xiao Hong and asked her to help cut paper, while Xu Jia used rice porridge as glue to make miniature, palm-sized paper clothes, paper diapers, and paper shoes.

On the surface of the rattles, Xu Jia wrote "Soul-Pacifying Talisman."

After these were done, Xu Jia began to "hand-roll ropes" made of straw, just in time to wrap the drawn "Four Spirits Pacifying Talismans" inside the straw, and then used Xun water to chant incantations and bless them.

He also hung some copper coins and tied them with red thread.

He was busy until dusk before these things were ready.

These did not necessarily require one to have "Dharma Power" themselves; as long as the ritual was standardized, one could borrow the natural power of the Heaven and Earth deities.

After eating a little something, Xu Jia and Xiaopangdun sat on a donkey cart and started heading toward Lan Shi Huo, where Liu Wenpo lived. Although Xu Mu and Xu Fu felt that going out at dusk was not good, they could not persuade him, as Xu Jia was already teaching them cultivation, and they believed their son was an Immortal who had cultivated in a past life.

At dusk, ordinary people were heading home, so there was no one on the country road. On the donkey cart, Niu Congcong was holding a lantern in front, with patterns drawn on the lantern paper.

This was the style of the Underworld Magic Tool "Yin-Yang Soul-Summoning Guide Lamp," which was generally used by Underworld officials to lead newly dead souls to the Underworld.

This was fake, but it also had the effect of clearing the way in the dark night, with evil spirits not daring to provoke it, thinking it was Underworld officials at work.

Moreover, Hu Jinhua had already come to meet them in advance, and with the Luejue Shen by his side, as long as it wasn't something like an Underworld army passing through, or a monster with hundreds of years of Daoist Practice, Xu Jia was generally not afraid.

They soon arrived at Liu Wenpo's courtyard. The fishy stench made Xu Jia frown. According to Daoist theory, foul Qi contains filth and hides dirt and grime, and there must be evil things that like foul Qi hovering around, just like vultures and flies that like to eat rotten meat.

This was also amniotic fluid and dirty blood from when a woman was giving birth, splashed on the walls and courtyard, belonging to the foulest of the foul...

Being physically weak, this stench made people dizzy and unable to stand it.

So he stood far away, directing Niu Congcong and Hu Jinhua to tie the straw ropes to form a square barrier to prevent these Infant Ghosts from running around and causing trouble after the tower was pushed over.

Various toys for children were spread out on a blanket. Niu Congcong, Hu Jinhua, and the bewitched Liu Wenpo all exerted force together, and soon pushed over the Ying Ta.

This tower was built of bricks and tiles and was not very sturdy, but the person who built it clearly understood some magic, forming a "suppression" pattern to lock the Infant Ghosts inside without delivering them... It was unknown what evil things they wanted to do. Moreover, this tower was also used to air-dry infant corpses and placentas, which could be considered "using a proper tool for evil purposes."

(End of chapter)