Chapter 423: Chapter 417: The Clay Figurine with the Evil Spirit
Another day passed, and Qin Liuxi gave Dongyang Marquis his final acupuncture treatment and presented him with the newly refined Youthful Pill before setting off for Zaozi Village with Teng Zhao.
Deng Dawu, the eldest son of Deng Fucai, had come to pick up Qin Liuxi. Whether it was for fear that Qin Liuxi wouldn’t come or to show sincerity, Deng Dawu had arrived in Li City a day earlier, staying overnight, and as soon as dawn broke, he was waiting at the Feichang Dao shop.
“The journey to Zaozi Village isn’t short; you may take a short rest or perform a Grand Circulation,” Qin Liuxi said to Teng Zhao.
Teng Zhao nodded, sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, his hands forming a Sealing sign above his knees, and quickly entered meditation.
Qin Liuxi felt somewhat gratified and also sat in meditation in the carriage to pass the time.
Thus, the master and apprentice, either in meditation or discussing the Xuanmen Five Skills in a question-and-answer session, hardly felt the passage of time, and by the hour of Shen, they arrived at Zaozi Village.
Zaozi Village wasn’t close to Li City, but it wasn’t far from Ling County—just across a mountain, within the boundaries of Ling County, reachable in about three hours.
And eighty percent of the land around Zaozi Village belonged to the Deng Family.
Qin Liuxi opened the carriage door next to the shaft and listened to Deng Dawu’s introduction of Zaozi Village while observing the Fengshui of the large village.
Now in winter, the world was a vast expanse of white, yet one could still discern its orientation and Fengshui layout—a good location facing water and backed by mountains.
“Is this considered facing water and backed by mountains?” Teng Zhao, like her, scrutinized the overall layout of Zaozi Village, applying the Fengshui Array Maps he had studied to it, growing more convinced of his judgement.
Qin Liuxi nodded: “The landscape has the Azure Dragon coiling on the left and the White Tiger lying on the right—it’s a fine spot. No wonder the Deng Family is affluent. Besides generational acts of kindness, the prosperous Fengshui of their family home must play a part.”
With mountains behind and water in front, fertile fields and lush crops, good Fengshui can bring prosperity. Coupled with accumulated yin virtue, it’s hard not to be wealthy. No wonder Deng Dalang was able to send a carriage and reportedly has servants at home.
“It is only right for the master to know that our Deng Family’s creed is to be kind to others and oneself. Should anyone do evil, they are expelled from the family,” Deng Dawu declared proudly.
Qin Liuxi praised, “Continuing to perform acts of kindness truly brings blessings.”
As the carriage entered the village, children playing with snow outside waved to Deng Dawu, greeting him as “Brother Dawu.”
Deng Dawu pulled some sweets from the cloth pouch he wore and threw them over: “Share these, and don’t fight.”
Elated, the children screamed and scrambled for the sweets.
It didn’t take long for the carriage to stop in front of a blue brick and tile house—it was the Deng Family home. Children playing in front of the door saw Deng Dawu and started shouting “Daddy’s back!” as they ran to throw themselves into his arms.
Qin Liuxi and Teng Zhao alighted from the carriage.
Deng Dawu embraced his two sturdy sons and brought them over to greet Qin Liuxi and her party.
Qin Liuxi patted the children’s heads and looked up at the Deng family home, noticing a layer of Golden Fortune Energy enveloping it and nodded inwardly.
The Deng Family was indeed impressive.
The sound of footsteps approached rapidly, and Deng Fucai soon came out, bowing his hands respectfully, “Master, Deng has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Qin Liuxi exchanged pleasantries with a smile and entered the house with him. They had only walked a few steps when a plump-faced woman with a gentle demeanor, yet showing signs of being worn and anxious, was seen being helped by a younger woman.
“My dear, this is Master Buqiu from Qingping Temple,” Deng Fucai introduced as he presented Qin Liuxi to the woman.
Deng Cheng stepped forward and gave a curtsy to Qin Liuxi, saying excitedly, “Master, we have been looking forward to your arrival.”
“The young missu should still be doing well,” Qin Liuxi said.
“The head of the household brought back Master Buqiu’s peace charm, and we placed it on Nannan’s chest. She seems more peaceful now, but she still hasn’t woken up.” Deng Cheng’s eyes were red from staying up all night as she said, “We’re deeply grateful that Master could make this trip.”
“Master has traveled from afar; why not come in first for some hot tea before checking on our girl?” Even though Deng Fucai was anxious, he knew that Master Buqiu must be tired from the journey, so he suppressed his worries and invited him with a forced smile.
He led Master Qin Liuxi and his disciple to the parlor, where a servant served tea. Qin Liuxi took a few sips. Despite making small talk with Deng Fucai and his family, he noticed their restlessness and suggested they go see Deng Shuilan.
The Deng family mansion was quite large, with three sections. The second section was where Deng Dawu and his second son lived, but since the second son was studying in the Prefecture City, his wife and daughter had also gone there to look after him. In the last section, Deng Fucai and his wife lived with their late-born daughter and two unmarried sons.
The main room was the bedroom of Deng Fucai and his wife, while the east wing room was Deng Xiaomei’s own room.
Upon reaching the moon gate of the third section, Master Qin Liuxi looked around the small courtyard. There was a faint presence of an evil aura, which was suppressed by the aura of prosperity coming from the main room and did not escape outside, nor was it strong.
Master Qin Liuxi stepped towards the east wing room, where the evil aura was coming from.
Deng Fucai and his wife exchanged a startled glance and quickly followed.
“Master, when the head of the household returned, he told us everything, and we searched our daughter’s room but found nothing out of the ordinary,” said Deng Cheng.
Master Qin Liuxi approached the east wing room and said, “Perhaps you simply didn’t find it.”
She entered the wing room, and the evil aura intensified. She looked around the room and headed towards the densest area, which was the bedroom.
A mahogany bed hung with pink silk curtains, and on it lay a little girl around four or five years old, motionless, eyes tightly closed, her breathing as light as a feather. If not for the shallow rise and fall of her chest, one would think she was gone.
“With Master’s peace charm, Nannan’s complexion looks a bit better. Before that, she was pale as death,” said Deng Cheng with a frightened expression. “Master, is there really something unclean here? Has it been subdued or driven away by your talisman?”
“If it had been chased away, she would have awakened by now,” said Master Qin Liuxi, observing that Deng Xiaomei’s heaven was shrouded with dark clouds, her little face turning cyan, her body engulfed in yin energy, and her whole being listless.
The child had her spirit energy drained.
Master Qin Liuxi’s expression turned somewhat grim as her gaze fell upon the headboard of the bed.
That was where the evil aura was the strongest.
Deng Fucai and the others paid close attention to where Master Qin Liuxi was looking and followed her gaze, but saw nothing. Yet, Master Qin Liuxi did not shift her gaze, which caused their hearts to tense up.
At the head of Deng Xiaomei’s bed against the wall, one brick was different from the others, and from within, wisps of the evil aura were leaking out.
“Is that a secret compartment?” Master Qin Liuxi pulled back the silk curtain and pointed at that brick.
Teng Zhao followed her pointing finger with his eyes, half-closing his beautiful ones.
Deng Fucai was taken aback, “No.” But he looked and also noticed something off; the brick was slightly protruding.
He instinctively reached out and pulled, and to his surprise, the brick came loose, unleashing a surge of cold yin energy.
“When was this dug out?” Deng Fucai exclaimed in shock.
“What’s that?” Deng Cheng trembled, pointing at the empty space behind the brick and screaming as she stepped back.
Deng Fucai took a look inside, and suddenly he was face-to-face with a pair of blood-red eyes that scared him a couple of steps back, his face turning pale.
Master Qin Liuxi formed a Sealing hand gesture with one hand and reached into the brick space with the other, pulling out something from inside.
It was a clay figurine, dressed in clothes.