Chapter 213
Chapter 213
In ancient times, officials reported for attendance at the hour of the rabbit. That was the origin of the term Roll Call.
In simpler terms, Roll Call was like clocking in for work.
But the phrase also carried another, broader meaning. The best-known example was Yama’s Roll Call.
Yama’s Roll Call was much like the saying, “If King Yama orders you to die at the third watch, you won’t live until the fifth.” Anyone chosen by King Yama had to report to the Underworld immediately.
Clearly, when Jiang Sique said that Jiang Bin had been subjected to Roll Call through some kind of sorcery, he meant that someone had marked Jiang Bin for death and come to claim his soul.
“Bin’er is not only my only child, but also the twelfth-generation inheritor of Occult Embroidery. He is the Jiang Family’s only hope. If anyone wants his life, they’ll have to step over my corpse first!”
Jiang Sique’s eyes were red with emotion. “As soon as I discovered that Bin’er had been subjected to Roll Call, I used the yin rubbing technique of Occult Embroidery to copy the name from the back of his neck onto mine. That allowed me to share the burden of the baleful yin energy and temporarily stabilize his vital signs.
“But a yin rubbing only lasts for a limited time. At most, I can bear it for him seven times.
“What’s more, every yin rubbing causes more baleful yin energy to accumulate in my body, which will lead to all kinds of problems. I have to find the culprit who harmed Bin’er before I can no longer endure it.”
Jiang Sique was the inheritor of Occult Embroidery, a well-known school within the Yin-Yang trade. It was perfectly reasonable that he had some way of tracking me down.
Liu Junyan said, “We weren’t the ones who subjected your child to Roll Call. My Xiao Jiu is the greatest victim here. Besides, Jiang Bin wasn’t the only person subjected to Roll Call this time. Follow me.”
Liu Junyan led Jiang Sique to the West Room.
The moment Jiang Sique saw Du Chan, he froze.
He wasn’t surprised that Du Chan had also been subjected to Roll Call or that she was here in our Pawnshop. What astonished him was that the name on the back of her neck had clearly faded.
“Her situation is different from Jiang Bin’s. The other party intends to use her as a source of sustenance while carrying out Body Possession on her twin sister. They aren’t trying to take her soul,” Liu Junyan said. “Jiang Bin’s situation is more dangerous. If you trust us, go back and bring the child here. The incense offerings in the Pawnshop can temporarily keep his condition from worsening.”
Jiang Sique looked around, his gaze finally settling on the large array of shrines lining the wall.
He was currently in a Fragmented Soul state. The moment he entered the West Room, the dense power of the incense offerings soothed the instability of his Fragmented Soul. That was the most direct and undeniable proof he could have experienced.
Whether we were harming people or saving them was obvious at a glance.
Gritting his teeth, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed three times to Liu Junyan. “Great Immortal, if you can save my son’s life, the entire Occult Embroidery school will serve you like beasts of burden and swear to follow you to the death.”
Liu Junyan waved a hand. “This matter has far-reaching implications. I can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to save Jiang Bin, but you can rest assured of one thing — we will do everything in our power.”
Jiang Sique instinctively glanced at me.
He knew that I was the person most deeply entangled in all this. Even if it was only to protect me, Liu Junyan would still give it everything he had.
Jiang Sique left.
He departed the Pawnshop before the rooster crowed. Early the next morning, the instant the Pawnshop opened its doors, Jiang Sique was already standing outside with Jiang Bin in his arms.
The three-year-old boy had once been fair-skinned and chubby.
Now, kneeling in that strange posture, he looked especially pitiful.
When he was placed on a meditation cushion in the West Room, I made a point of examining the back of his neck.
Against his fair skin, the two characters of the name “Jiang Bin” had faded until they were barely visible.
It seemed that after returning home last night, Jiang Sique had performed another yin rubbing for Jiang Bin.
A parent’s love truly was powerful enough to make them lay down their life.
Once the child had been settled, Jiang Sique asked me directly, “That word on your cheek must have been there for more than a day or two, right? You must know who’s hurting you — who’s doing something so utterly inhuman. Am I right? Can you tell me about it?”
After a moment’s thought, I gave Jiang Sique a brief account of what had happened in Tafeng Village.
If Jiang Sique had been an ordinary person, I would never have told him any of this and dragged him into it.
But he was an inheritor of Occult Embroidery. He had both the ability and connections of his own.
Perhaps I could obtain more useful information through him.
Not long after Jiang Sique left, Li Qingying received a call from Hui Moqiong. His voice was extremely grave. “Qingying, are Seventh Master and Xiao Jiu’er both there? Something new has happened in Tafeng Village.”
Liu Junyan was in the West Room, while Li Qingying was with me. I asked, “What happened?”
“Tafeng Village held another Fertility Prayer Ritual today,” Hui Moqiong said.
Another Fertility Prayer Ritual?
Tafeng Village only held one Fertility Prayer Ritual each year.
This year’s ritual had already taken place. The Qilin Deity had even appeared in my mother’s dream, and she was now pregnant with her fourth child.
How could there possibly be another Fertility Prayer Ritual?
Hui Moqiong said he would continue keeping watch over Tafeng Village and warned us to be extra careful as well.
After the call ended, my emotions were in turmoil.
Tafeng Village was changing.
Every change there meant that the ones controlling it from behind the scenes had made another move.
And these new moves were clearly aimed at me!
I slept terribly that night.
The scene of my soul being lured away in Tafeng Village kept flashing through my dreams, giving me no peace.
At four in the morning, a sudden stab of pain shot through my right cheek. I jolted awake and sat bolt upright.
Liu Junyan was no longer beside me.
He had stayed with me when I fell asleep, but there were now two more people in the West Room. He needed to care for them and keep them under observation in case anything else happened.
I got out of bed and walked over to the vanity. In the mirror, I saw that the word ‘Slave’ on my right cheek had indeed grown slightly darker than it had been yesterday.
Before, I had only known that this was the Symbiotic Curse affecting me.
Now, I had an even deeper suspicion: Feng Lishu was most likely using Karmic Burden to suppress me and maintain the Symbiotic Curse.
“Qilin Bestows Children, Treading Upon the Phoenix…”
Only today did I finally understand the true meaning of those words.
The qilin carried a hundred children upon its back, and every one of those children had come through Roll Call.
What Qilin Bestows Children bestowed was Karmic Burden!
Treading upon the phoenix… The Golden Phoenix beneath the qilin’s feet… was me!
They were stepping on me, trampling me underfoot, piling human lives and Karmic Burden onto me without end so that I would never rise again for all eternity!
Ha… So that was it!
Liu Junyan had enshrined a Buddha Lamp for me at Great Dharma King Temple, fighting back against them and causing Feng Lishu to suffer such a devastating backlash.
So they had immediately begun another intensive round of Roll Call, imprisoning the souls of child after child in that den of evil called Tafeng Village. They wanted to crush me beneath so much Karmic Burden that I would have no choice but to surrender and accept my fate!
Was I supposed to accept my fate?
Was I supposed to surrender?
Why should I?!
What had I ever done wrong?!
At that moment, I felt all the blood in my body surge straight to my head.
I wanted nothing more than to destroy everything, consequences be damned — even if it meant mutual destruction!
We would all go down together!