Chapter 128
Chapter 128
Hearing his father’s voice, Haohao cautiously looked up. “Dad?”
“It’s me.”
After confirming Uncle Liu’s identity, Haohao threw himself straight into his father’s arms.
Ghosts had no tears, but Xia Sheng could still feel the wail of grief rising from the depths of Haohao’s soul.
“Dad, it was so cold under the flower bed. I missed you and Mom so much…”
Listening to his child, Uncle Liu’s tears fell again. “I’m sorry. It’s because your dad was useless. I didn’t even know you were dead, and I actually thought the people of the Sun Family were good people.
“If I’d found out earlier what Xuanxuan had been doing to you, you wouldn’t have lost your life for nothing…”
Father and son clung to each other and sobbed uncontrollably. Xia Sheng stood quietly to the side, giving them time to steady their emotions.
Nearly half an hour passed before they finally calmed down a little.
Xia Sheng spoke at the right moment. “Haohao has stayed in the living world too long. The resentment and Baleful Qi around him are both growing heavier. It’s best to send him off for reincarnation as soon as possible. Otherwise, there’s a very real chance he’ll never be able to reincarnate again.”
Uncle Liu wiped away his tears and asked, “Little Master, Haohao killed Old Madam Sun and Xuanxuan. Will he go to hell for punishment in the eighteen levels?”
Uncle Liu wasn’t a fortune-teller, but he had heard some of the related legends and knew a little about karmic retribution.
No matter the reason, the fact remained that his son had killed people. Once he went below, he would have to repay the sins on his soul.
At the thought of his child going to hell for punishment, Uncle Liu’s heart ached unbearably.
The boy hadn’t enjoyed many good days while he was alive. He’d been bullied to death by Xuanxuan.
And now that he was dead, he still wouldn’t get any peace, and might even have to suffer punishment in hell for a hundred years.
“Don’t worry.” Xia Sheng’s voice was gentle, carrying a soothing power of its own. “The Underworld has its own laws. The ones who should be punished in hell are evil people like Old Madam Sun and Xuanxuan.
“Someone like Haohao, who took revenge for himself, won’t accumulate sinful karma and can still be reincarnated.
“On top of that, the Underworld also has protections for minors. Haohao is intellectually disabled, so I imagine any punishment should be waived entirely.”
Only then did Uncle Liu finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Xia Sheng continued, “All these years, you’ve been helping support children in impoverished mountain regions. You’ve accumulated quite a bit of Merit.
“With your blessing and fortune bestowed on him, Haohao will be able to reincarnate into a good life in his next one. He won’t be mentally impaired like he was in this life.”
“That’s good. That’s good.” Uncle Liu was overwhelmed with emotion. Holding Xia Sheng’s hand, he thanked her again and again.
After Xia Sheng performed the rites to send Haohao on, she sent him off to reincarnate.
Uncle Liu had originally wanted to give Xia Sheng all his savings as payment for handling this matter, but Xia Sheng stopped him. “Three thousand is enough for my fee. Keep the rest. You’ll need it to raise Haohao in the future.”
Uncle Liu froze. “What do you mean by that?”
Xia Sheng said, “Your wife will get pregnant again next year. It’s a boy.”
A moment later, Uncle Liu finally realized what she meant. “Are you saying Haohao will come back to us?”
Xia Sheng only smiled without answering. She merely said, “Remember to treat your wife better. At her age, giving birth won’t be easy. Afterward, it’s best to send her to a postpartum care center so she can recover properly.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, Little Master. Thank you so much, Little Master.” Uncle Liu wept with joy and gratitude as he personally saw Xia Sheng out.
After leaving Uncle Liu’s home, Xia Sheng went to Master Quede’s Daoist temple, planning to pass along Shen Zhuoyang’s message.
When she arrived, Master Quede was seated before an antique writing desk, drawing Talismans by copying the Talismans Xia Sheng had given him.
Ever since buying Talisman Paper from Xia Sheng, Master Quede had turned down all commissions over the past two days. Every day, he had been studying how to draw Talismans, slavishly imitating Xia Sheng’s Talismans in hopes of reproducing Talisman Paper with the same functions.
No matter how many times he redrew them, though, the Talismans he produced never worked very well.
He could write fifty Talismans a day, and maybe only two of them would be usable. Even then, their effects were far inferior to Xia Sheng’s.
Master Quede could only sigh again and again over his attempts, his brows tightly furrowed.
When his young disciple came in to say that Xia Sheng had arrived, he immediately set down his brush and hurried outside to welcome her in person.
“Little Fellow Daoist, what brings you here?”
“Shen Zhuoyang asked me to pass something on to you.”
Xia Sheng told him about Baiyun Mountain. Master Quede looked troubled. “Little Fellow Daoist, you should know that my specialty is feng shui. I basically don’t have any offensive ability.
“As for the incident at the Song Family Grand Hotel last time, if you hadn’t been there, I might not have been able to resolve it either…”
It was clear he wanted to decline.
Xia Sheng said, “I’ll go with you when the time comes, so you don’t need to worry.”
While she was still at the hospital, she had already read Shen Zhuoyang’s face. Unless something unexpected happened, Shen Zhuoyang and the others going on this mission would all die at Baiyun Mountain.
Shen Zhuoyang was an upright and principled man. Over his years in the Special Management Bureau, he had saved quite a few lives, so Xia Sheng naturally couldn’t just stand by and watch them walk to their deaths.
The only problem was that it wasn’t convenient for her to reveal her true strength in front of the people from the Special Management Bureau, so she still needed to bring Master Quede along as a cover.
Hearing Xia Sheng say that, Master Quede relaxed a little. “Then when do we leave?”
“The sooner the better. We’ll head out tomorrow morning.”
They still didn’t know what was happening over at Baiyun Mountain. If they kept delaying, more people might die.
Master Quede nodded. “I’ll have my disciples start preparing right away.”
After saying that, he looked a little embarrassed as he spoke to Xia Sheng again. “Little Fellow Daoist, I’ve been copying your Talismans these past two days, but for some reason, every Talisman I draw comes out lacking in power.
“Do you happen to have time today to give me a few pointers?”
It was Saturday, and Xia Sheng didn’t have anything going on, so she agreed. “Sure.”
Master Quede was overjoyed. “Please wait a moment. I’ll call over a few of my disciples too so they can observe.”
Opportunities to personally hear a big shot like Xia Sheng lecture were incredibly rare. Naturally, Master Quede wanted to seize the chance and let the disciples in the temple learn something too.
As soon as he finished speaking, he scampered off to gather the temple’s disciples.
Watching Master Quede’s retreating figure, Xia Sheng was inexplicably reminded of a husky.
A dumbly adorable one at that.
Very soon, all the disciples in the temple had gathered in Master Quede’s room.
At first, everyone thought Master Quede had summoned them because he had suddenly decided to give a lecture on Buddhist teachings.
But after entering, they discovered that the person seated in the place of honor was actually a young girl not even twenty years old, while their usually revered master was bustling around attentively at her side. Every one of them was stunned.
Once everyone had arrived, Master Quede cleared his throat and said, “The one standing beside me is Xia Sheng, Master Xia. She is the number one figure in the Mystic Sect today. The Talismans I sent you two days ago were all made by her hand.
“Your master had to go to great lengths to invite her here to teach you, so you’d better listen carefully.”
Even someone as composed as Xia Sheng felt a little hot-faced after hearing him call her the number one figure in the Mystic Sect.
The disciples below, however, fully trusted Master Quede’s words, and when they looked at Xia Sheng, their gazes held even more respect.