Chapter 88: The Tan Family of Xingyou—Tan Jiji

Lu Yuan's heartstrings were completely taut.

Nurturing an evil deity!

The weight of these three words far surpassed all previous deductions.

A bloody sacrifice lasting six years, using the incense offerings and descendants of an entire village, or perhaps several surrounding villages, as offerings!

Lu Yuan was a bit stunned now. Who was nurturing an evil deity?

If one was nurtured in Mangniu Village, could there be a second one nurtured elsewhere?

The one in Mangniu Village might be easier to handle, judging by the current information, as it had only been nurtured for six years.

But what about the ones elsewhere? Could there be ones nurtured for sixty years?

Lu Yuan pondered for a while but couldn't figure it out.

No matter who the other party was, or whether they had other arrangements elsewhere.

As a Taoist priest from an orthodox temple.

As a legitimate Celestial Master with a proper lineage and dharma transmission, this matter had to be seen through to the end!

Lu Yuan steadied his mind, turned around, and stepped into the East Wing Room.

The light inside the room was dim, a milky fishy smell mixed with a faint, almost imperceptible, chilly aura.

The young parents huddled by the kang bed, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Lu Yuan.

The infant on the kang was still unconscious, its little face pale as paper, its breathing so weak that the rise and fall of its chest was almost invisible.

Lu Yuan did not approach, only stood quietly in place.

His right hand formed the "Spirit Observation Seal," his eyes' divine light turned inward as he gazed at the infant.

In his vision, the pure fetal light above the infant's head, symbolizing the essence of life, was now dim.

More horrifyingly, two streams of gray-black energy, like maggots clinging to bone, were tightly wrapped around the child.

One was like a thin thread, strangling the neck.

The other formed a death ring, locking both feet.

The two malevolent energies converged above the infant's heart, outlining a vague, shadowy image of an "interlocking knot."

Mother-Child Entangling Body Malevolence!

Lu Yuan's gaze sharpened, his spiritual sense delving deeper into the investigation.

The two malevolent energies were not static; they were slowly wriggling at a speed barely discernible to the naked eye.

They were seeping towards the infant's fontanelle at the top of the head and the Yongquan acupuncture point at the center of the soles.

One connecting to heaven, one grounding to earth.

This was polluting the soul's apertures, blocking the roots of vital energy!

The malevolent energy had already transformed into a spiritual conduit. This was clearly laying the foundation for the most sinister "Soul Transfer and Spirit Replacement" technique!

Lu Yuan retracted his hand seal, his expression turning extremely grave.

He led Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an back into the courtyard.

"Compass!"

Lu Yuan commanded in a low voice.

Holding the compass, he stepped in the patterns of the Big Dipper, swiftly moving around the courtyard, testing the directions.

The magnetic needle in the compass's Celestial Pool was stable most of the time.

But whenever it pointed towards the southwest Kun position, the direction of the back mountain, the needle would show a continuous, slight "sinking needle."

The needle tip sank, as if attracted by something underground.

Lu Yuan walked to the fence at the back courtyard, the area closest to the back mountain.

The magnetic needle on the compass not only sank more severely but even began to emit extremely faint, yet extremely regular, left-right tremors.

Hum... Hum... Hum...

That wasn't simple malevolent energy disturbance.

It was sensing a certain kind of "pulse."

The earth's energy was abnormal; the yin veins were manifesting.

It was the sound of the underground yin veins, stirred by that evil entity, pulsating together!

Lu Yuan took out a specially made "Earth Energy Sensing Talisman."

He placed the talisman paper on the ground in the back courtyard. No ignition was needed, no chanting of spells required.

In less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, countless spiderweb-like, pale gray patterns actually appeared out of thin air on the talisman paper.

All the patterns frantically converged and extended towards one direction.

Their ultimate point was precisely the dry well on the back mountain!

Lu Yuan put away his ritual tools and turned to face the Wang Laohan family, who were already scared out of their wits.

His voice wasn't loud, but each word struck everyone's hearts like a hammer.

"The root of the calamity lies with that 'Madam' in the dry well on the back mountain."

"It is not a ghost, nor is it something you can beg for mercy from anymore."

"Someone, using evil magic, took the underground yin apertures as a furnace and your six years of fear as fuel, refining it into an evil deity!"

"If this evil deity is not eliminated, your grandson will surely die within a hundred days."

"The entire Mangniu Hamlet... will eventually become extinct!"

Upon hearing this, the Wang Laohan family's faces drained of color, their bodies swaying unsteadily.

"Master..." The daughter-in-law's voice carried a sob, almost kneeling.

Lu Yuan raised his hand in a gesture of support, speaking with utmost seriousness:

"Don't panic. Since I can find the root of the sickness, I naturally have a way to sever it."

With that, Lu Yuan's gaze swept over Wang Laohan, his son, and daughter-in-law, their terrified faces now finally ignited with a sliver of hope:

"Today during the Wei hour, from 1 PM to 3 PM, when yang energy is at its peak and the earth's energy is relatively stable, the three of us will go up the mountain to break the well."

"What you need to do is to close your doors tightly. No matter what commotion you hear from the back mountain, you must absolutely not come out to look."

At this point, Lu Yuan spoke seriously again:

"However, I can't be sure right now what the exact situation up there is. It might be beyond my capabilities."

Seeing the hope that had just ignited in the Wang Laohan family dim again into despair, he immediately added:

"But don't panic. I said, we are not like the wandering Taoists you hired before."

"If I myself cannot handle it, I will naturally seek help from our Zhenlong Temple."

"Therefore, prepare some quicklime and cinnabar. If we haven't returned by sunset, sprinkle them all around the front and back of this house."

Logically speaking, this matter shouldn't be too problematic.

It sounds quite intimidating, talking about six years of incense offerings from several villages and such.

But on second thought, first of all, there aren't many villages here, and the few villages there are, like Mangniu Village, have less than a hundred households.

Six years of nurturing probably can't produce a very powerful evil deity.

However, one still cannot be careless. Lu Yuan didn't dare to guarantee anything either.

After all, before that red-clothed evil entity became a nurtured evil deity, it was already an evil entity.

And after the meddling of those three "feng shui masters"...

Who knows how fierce it has become?

The specific situation would only be known after Lu Yuan went up the mountain!

...

The beginning of the Wu hour, 11:15 AM.

In the back courtyard of Wang Laohan's house, a temporary altar had been set up.

Lu Yuan and the other two had changed out of their Taoist robes and put on undyed coarse linen short jackets, tied at the waist with five-colored silk cords.

This was "Purifying the Body to Connect with the Spirits," using the most plain, natural state to sense heaven and earth and isolate external evil.

On the altar, ritual tools were arrayed, gleaming coldly.

Seven Big Dipper Malevolence Suppressing Lamps, their oil a mixture of tung oil, realgar, and red niter, used to stabilize the yang energy of this place and isolate the backlash of yin power.

One pure silver malevolence-cutting shears, seven inches long, its body engraved with the star charts of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, used to sever the connection between the malevolent energy and the infant's soul.

Xu Erxiao was carefully wiping the shears' blade with freshly drawn well water, his expression focused.

In the center of the altar was a child figurine carved from lightning-struck peach wood.

This was the result of Wang Cheng'an's busy morning.

At this moment, Wang Cheng'an was using a new brush dipped in pigment mixed from rooster comb blood and cinnabar.

On the bottom of the wooden figurine, he was writing the birth date and time of the Wang family's grandson, stroke by stroke.

Finally, on the back of the wooden figurine, he deeply carved four characters:

Substitute Form to Bear Resentment.

Besides these, there were also malevolence-collecting ritual tools and several talismans on the altar.

Lu Yuan lit three sticks of incense in front of the ancestral master's memorial tablet.

The incense smoke rose straight up. When it reached about three feet high, it suddenly spread out in all directions, forming a canopy-like shape.

A celestial canopy overhead, an auspicious sign!

But just as the canopy formed, it was slightly shaken by an invisible wind, dispersing faster than normal.

Yin power was still interfering.

The second quarter of the Wu hour, everything was ready.

The three walked out of Mangniu Hamlet and arrived at the foot of the back mountain.

The mountain wasn't high, just a continuous ridge covered by a dense forest untouched by sunlight, exuding an air of lifelessness.

The three made a final check of the talismans and ritual tools on their persons.

All confirmed.

Lu Yuan looked towards the mountaintop and uttered two words.

"Up the mountain!"

…………

The moment the three stepped into the dense forest, a piercing chill instantly penetrated their clothing.

It was clearly the Wu hour when yang energy was at its peak, yet the forest was as dim as dusk. The light was filtered into fragmented patches by layer upon layer of twisted branches.

The fallen leaves underfoot were unnaturally thick, stepping on them made no sound, as if they had entered another silent world.

Silent as a giant grave.

"Something's not right."

Xu Erxiao whispered, his right hand already tightly gripping the hilt of the peach wood sword at his waist, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

The needle on the compass in Wang Cheng'an's hand trembled wildly, pointing deep into the forest, yet with a hint of hesitation and deviation.

"The yin energy is rising, but it's scattered, as if... this entire forest is saturated with yin energy."

Lu Yuan walked in the middle. His gaze didn't linger on the strangely shaped trees but was fixed on the ground.

The trees here—locust, willow, mulberry—were all extremely yin entities.

The bark was covered with a layer of dark green, slippery moss, emitting a faint, rust-like fishy smell.

According to Wang Laohan, there was a small path up the mountain.

But after walking for almost the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the surrounding scenery began to show an eerie sense of repetition.

"Senior Brother!"

Xu Erxiao suddenly stopped, pointing at a crooked old locust tree to the left front.

"This tree! We've passed it three times!"

On the trunk, three feet above the ground, a half-old, half-new axe mark was the mark they had left initially.

Ghosts creating a barrier.

But far more sinister than ordinary ghost barriers.

Lu Yuan crouched down and picked up a handful of soil.

The soil was dark red, cold to the touch. His fingertips could clearly feel some hard, white fragments.

Those weren't stones.

They were more like... crushed bone fragments that had been repeatedly trampled.

"It's not an illusion; it's an 'Earth Vein Maze Formation.'"

Lu Yuan stood up, his expression completely darkening.

"Someone has pried loose the earth energy of this place, making this 'path' lead us in circles on its own."

"What we are stepping on is not the real mountain path at all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his fingertip and drew a "Dispelling Illusions and Opening Eyes Talisman" in the air.

The yellow talisman ignited without fire, transforming into a point of golden light that vanished into his brow.

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes again, the world before him instantly changed!

Beneath the ground, several streams of pale black energy meandered and burrowed like earth dragons.

They were forcibly twisted by an invisible force, forming a giant, slowly rotating vortex.

The three of them stood at the edge of the vortex. Every step they took was pulled by that cold energy flow, involuntarily turning in circles.

"What a grand scheme, altering earth veins, borrowing the power of mountains and rivers to trap people..."

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat. This was definitely not a method an ordinary evil entity could possess. It must have been laid by that mysterious group of "feng shui masters."

Moreover, while the aura of this formation had a sense of age, its core faintly had new energy maintaining it, indicating...

These people returned every year!

Just as Lu Yuan was about to form a seal to forcefully blast open a path with thunder magic.

From deep within the forest ahead, a sudden "creak—" sound came.

It was the sound of an old wooden door being pushed open.

The scalps of the three tingled, instantly on high alert.

About ten zhang ahead, thick fog had unknowingly begun to spread.

Within the fog, the vague outline of a vermilion, peeling paint doorframe could be seen, abruptly standing between two old trees.

Inside the door was pitch black, as if leading to another space.

"Wild mountains and desolate forests, where did this door suddenly come from?"

Wang Cheng'an, holding the compass, said in bewilderment.

Before his words faded, from within that doorframe, a pale, swollen hand with black fingernails suddenly reached out, beckoning in the direction of the three.

Immediately after, a faint, eerie woman's humming came from inside the door.

The tune was precisely the creepy lullaby described by Wang Laohan's daughter-in-law, the one hummed by the "Madam" in her dreams.

"Playing at being ghosts and gods!"

Xu Erxiao snorted coldly and was about to throw a Repel Evil Talisman.

"Don't rush."

Lu Yuan stopped him. Golden light flowed in his eyes, seeing clearly.

That door and hand lacked the resentment and malevolence of a physical ghost entity. Instead, they exuded a hollow sense of "emptiness."

"It's a 'Scene Malevolence'! Someone has imprinted terrifying scenes into the earth energy of this place using a formation. They trigger upon contact, used to scare away people coming up the mountain."

Lu Yuan looked at that pale, large hand that appeared extremely eerie and terrifying, frowning slightly.

But even so, this "Scene Malevolence" was designed extremely realistically. The details of the hand, the rhythm of the humming, all carried an eerie feeling that struck directly at the heart.

If an ordinary person accidentally entered, they would probably be scared out of their wits and run back immediately.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan understood somewhat:

"It should be a trick set up by those three 'feng shui masters.'"

"The purpose is to scare back any villagers who want to go up the mountain, preventing them from approaching that ancient well."

He signaled Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an to step back.

He himself took a deep breath, his hands forming a seal—precisely the Taoist school's most yang, most rigid "Blazing Sun Barrier Breaking Seal"!

"Break!"

Lu Yuan let out a low shout, golden light flashing at his fingertips!

A slender golden serpent fiercely blasted towards that vermilion ghost door!

There was no earth-shattering roar.

The ghost door and ghost hand formed by the "Scene Malevolence," the moment the golden light touched them, emitted a sharp shriek similar to glass shattering, violently distorting.

Then they crumbled inch by inch, dissipating into black smoke!

However, at the instant the illusion shattered, a voice tinged with a bit of surprise came from behind the three.

"Oh!"

"You have quite the skill, to break a Scene Malevolence with a single strike!"

The three were startled, whirling around instantly, their ritual tools immediately aimed at the source of the voice.

On a thick locust tree branch about two zhang above the ground.

A youth wearing indigo coarse cloth and a bamboo rain hat was squatting there, appearing at some unknown time.

He looked about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, his skin a healthy wheat color from often walking mountain paths, a stalk of grass dangling from his mouth.

The most striking feature was his eyes. The color of his pupils was slightly lighter than normal people's, actually seeming to emit a faint amber luster in the dim forest.

At the moment, he was looking at Lu Yuan and the other two with great interest, as well as the gradually dissipating "ghost painting door" ahead.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan couldn't help but make a strange face, raising an eyebrow.

Huh~

Still quite stylish, eh~

"Who are you?!"

Xu Erxiao demanded sharply, his peach wood sword already partially drawn.

The youth didn't seem to care at all. He jumped down from the two-zhang-high tree branch, landing without a sound.

He clapped his hands, his gaze sweeping over Lu Yuan and the other two, finally settling on Lu Yuan. He cupped his hands slightly in greeting.

"Weren't you going to break a Nurturing Malevolence Site?"

"Why did you suddenly turn towards this well?"

With that, the youth grinned at Lu Yuan and said:

"Punishing the Netherworld Tan Family, Tan Jiji."

Lu Yuan: "..."

"Alright then!"