Something terrible had happened at Zhao Yuanywai's estate.
Zhao Yuanywai's father was over eighty years old, with failing eyesight, poor hearing, and unsteady legs. He had already reached the age to live out his remaining years in peace, no longer concerning himself with outside affairs. Unexpectedly, fortune turned against them—Zhao Yuanywai and his two sons were arrested and taken to the county seat, and after so long, there was still no word. For the Zhao family, this was as if the main bloodline had been severed. The Old Master fell gravely ill from anxiety, confined to his bed, having taken neither water nor rice for several days. It seemed he didn't have long to live.
Who could have imagined that early this morning, he would suddenly climb out of bed, grab a firewood cleaver, and hack at anyone he saw, muttering some deranged nonsense under his breath? Only because he was so old and lacked strength were there no fatalities yet. In the eyes of ordinary people, this was clearly a case of demonic possession. When possessed, one naturally had to invite a mage to perform rites to exorcise the evil and pacify the soul.
But the problem was... because of that whole business with Mohe Zhenren, every master, Daoist priest, or "immortal" in the entire Qingshitai region who had any reputation had been rounded up cleanly by the authorities. Now they couldn't find a single capable person anywhere. Finally, with no other option, they remembered the old shopkeeper.
The old shopkeeper was extremely helpless, thinking to himself: this isn't even my area of expertise. If you asked me to handle dead people, I could still give you one, two, three details. But a living person? How am I supposed to deal with that? In his urgency, his mind raced through every method he could think of.
First, he sent someone to find Liu Gousheng's wife.
Liu Po didn't have any real abilities; otherwise, she would have been taken away by the authorities long ago. But in the two years since Liu Gousheng's death, she had been acting crazy, telling everyone she met that she had "come out." "Come out" meant becoming a Chu Ma spirit medium. This was a very common folk custom in the North... calling it a belief was even giving it too much credit. In reality, it was more like a small psychological game focused on talk therapy.
Betting a hundred million to win a billion at the Royal Casino of Macau was one form of gambling; playing dice for money at a cart inn was another form of gambling. The two were essentially the same in nature, but they couldn't be mentioned in the same breath. A true Chu Ma medium, with incense burning above and sitting at the altar, invited immortal spirits to judge Yin and Yang, possessing a specialized set of traditions and rules. If someone told you they had "come out," this involved no rules whatsoever. They themselves didn't even know which immortal spirit they had connected with, and you didn't need to care either. Whether it was real or fake didn't matter. What mattered was that the talk therapy service they provided could effectively alleviate the spiritual anxiety of ignorant middle-aged and elderly folk.
The old shopkeeper knew in his heart that finding Liu Po was probably useless, but as the saying went, the Old Master was already like that—they might as well try anything. When he went out the door and saw two kids squatting by the entrance, he immediately hatched another plan.
They say a virgin boy's urine can ward off evil! Of course, the virgin urine was secondary. More important was that young brother who had come down from the mountain. Although the old shopkeeper only knew his surname was Chu and knew nothing else about him, any mountain traveler who dared to enter the mountains to gather goods in these times would more or less have some life-preserving abilities.
Li Qiuchen definitely wasn't willing. Who was he? A proud Alchemist... forget that. A pure cultivator in the mountains... forget that too. Right now he was discussing career and love with his buddy, negotiating a major business deal for fifteen taels of silver. You wanted the two of them to go to your house to pee? How ridiculous!
"You two help me out. I'll provide lunch—all the white meat you can eat!"
Li Qiuchen and Hu Haier exchanged a glance and nodded. What more was there to say? They were all Jianghu friends; when seeing injustice on the road, one draws their blade to help.
Zhao Yuanywai's house was in complete shambles. Two servants were using door panels as shields, struggling to block the Old Master's path of attack. The white-haired Old Master wore pajamas, his hair disheveled and face filthy, wielding a firewood cleaver and striking east and west, like a fierce tiger descending the mountain—utterly unstoppable.
The screams of the womenfolk in the inner chambers rose and fell without end.
"Liu Po! Liu Po, hurry up and take a look!"
The old shopkeeper pushed Liu Po forward. Liu Po's legs went weak from fright: "Oh my heavens, I can't do this! I've never done this kind of work!"
"Ten taels!"
"It's not about the money, Third Brother. Look at this situation—how could I possibly handle it? Hurry and invite an expert!"
The old shopkeeper gritted his teeth: "Where would we find an expert at a time like this? Twenty taels! If you can wake the Old Master up, I'll even arrange a good job for your son!"
Liu Po fiercely pinched her own thigh, and her legs finally stopped going soft.
"Third Brother, let's be clear. I can only say I'll do my best. I can't guarantee whether it will work or not."
"Just do your best!"
The old shopkeeper was a decisive man. Seeing the family members running around like headless flies with no idea what to do, he stepped forward to take charge of the situation.
"Where's the dog? Find a black dog, kill it and drain its blood. It must be black dog blood! Hurry!"
After instructing the servants, the old shopkeeper turned to Li Qiuchen and the other: "You two, hurry up. Here's a basin, pee quickly!"
Li Qiuchen and Hu Haier exchanged a glance. One piss for one meal—what more was there to discuss? They undid their belts. Pssss—
The steaming hot black dog blood was brought up. The old shopkeeper lifted the basin and splashed it toward the Old Master. After the basin of black dog blood was poured over him, the Old Master was completely unharmed—his energy actually seemed even greater.
The old shopkeeper was somewhat stunned. He turned to fetch the urine, but Li Qiuchen stopped him: "Elder, don't rush. Something doesn't look right."
"What's not right?"
"This doesn't look like demonic possession."
Li Qiuchen, while fastening his belt just now, had quietly activated his eye technique to take a look. The Old Master's body was flooded with qi and blood, completely unlike that of an eighty-year-old man. Rather than demonic possession, it seemed more like a hormone overdose. Or there was another possibility... Li Qiuchen didn't quite dare to say it.
Could it be that you too have been blessed?
On the other side, for the sake of twenty taels of silver and her child's future, Liu Po clenched her teeth and brought out her ultimate, long-hidden skill. She pulled out a red wedding veil from her bosom and covered her head. Her body shook violently like a sieve, while stepping in the Seven Star pattern and muttering under her breath.
"Old Immortal, Old Immortal, possess my body! Old Immortal, Old Immortal, possess my body!"
Li Qiuchen watched from the side, dumbfounded. Was this spell really so plain and unadorned? The incantation was this simple and direct? Would it work?
It worked!
After Liu Po repeated it several times, a sudden gust of Yin wind swept through the hall. Her entire person instantly quieted down. When she opened her eyes again, they had become a pair of snake pupils.
The Immortal had arrived.
The Immortal glanced at the Old Master.
The Immortal muttered a curse under its breath, turned, and left, causing Liu Po to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.
Liu Po was stunned. Everyone was stunned.
What was going on?
"Wrong, wrong!"
Liu Po suddenly realized: "Third Brother, you shouldn't have splashed the dog blood first! Once you splashed the dog blood, even the Immortal has no tricks left!"
The old shopkeeper smacked his forehead. Damn it. In the rush, he had made a mistake—the procedure was done in reverse. Wasn't this completely screwed?
Li Qiuchen pulled the old shopkeeper aside and whispered, "Shopkeeper, don't panic. I have a plan. Let me try."