Chapter 215
Chapter 215
Although I didn’t know much about the craft of yin rubbing, I did know that characters rubbed from the back of someone’s neck couldn’t simply be transferred onto another person.
Jiang Sique and Jiang Bin were father and son. They shared a blood tie.
But what about Du Chan?
Du Chan was the target of Body Possession. Even if Jiang Sique successfully took a rubbing of the name on the back of her neck, who could withstand such a powerful backlash?
Du Chan’s parents certainly couldn’t.
In fact, they probably wouldn’t even be told what was happening today, lest they worry for nothing.
If no blood relative could bear it, then the only option was someone with a compatible Fate Pattern.
Someone like me.
The moment that thought occurred to me, everything became clear.
Why had Liu Junyan hypnotized me? Why had he told Li Qingying to stay and watch over me?
Because he knew I was the best person to help Du Chan shoulder this Calamity.
If he refused to let me go, then Liu Junyan must have intended to bear it himself!
But this whole thing had been aimed at me from the start. Why should I remain safely on the sidelines while so many others risked their lives?
No one knew better than I did how much Karmic Burden Liu Junyan already carried, none of which had ever belonged to him.
Sometimes, I even wondered if the reason we had ended up together and fallen in love was because we were the same kind of people.
We were both victims, inexplicably saddled with Karmic Burden that had never been ours!
He had only just escaped the Pawnshop. I didn’t want him to become trapped inside it again.
The situation outside was changing constantly, and all we could do was keep moving forward. If we were forced back now, we might never make it across the Pawnshop’s threshold again.
So if someone had to shield Du Chan from this Calamity, that person had to be me!
First, I put the small porcelain vial of Dragon Bone Blood in the refrigerator compartment, right beside the Buddha Eyes.
Lord Xiao had said that if stored properly, the Dragon Bone Blood would remain fresh for seven days.
Seven days… By then, whatever was happening in Tafeng Village should have reached a conclusion.
I could discuss whether to use it with Liu Junyan afterward.
Then I returned to my room, took out the Cangwu Nether Seal, and put it on.
What if my soul was taken again?
The Underworld Emissary had told me that if I went to the Underworld, I had to bring the Cangwu Nether Seal with me.
Though I wasn’t sure whether the Cangwu Nether Seal would follow me if my soul was taken.
While getting the seal, I spotted the jade pendant Hu Yulin had given me. On impulse, I hung it around my neck as well.
Since Liu Junyan had returned it to me, I might as well keep it on. It could come in handy at a critical moment.
Li Qingying had planned to come with me, but I told her to remain at the Pawnshop.
The rear courtyard had been renovated, the Formation fully restored, and the rat hole sealed, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
After all, the Pawnshop held far too many treasures that others had set their sights on. We couldn’t afford the slightest lapse.
Even if Li Qingying couldn’t stop an intruder, she could at least alert us immediately.
Li Qingying reluctantly agreed and trailed closely behind me, seeing me all the way across the threshold.
As I went to get my car, I glanced toward the West Street Entrance and caught sight of what looked like a familiar figure from the corner of my eye… Aunt Tang?
Was that Tang Xun?
The figure vanished in a flash, almost as if she were deliberately avoiding me.
I hurried after her, but there was no trace of her anywhere.
Li Qingying asked, “Xiao Jiu, what are you looking for?”
“There was someone at the West Street Entrance just now. Did you see them?” I asked.
Li Qingying shook her head.
I frowned. Had I imagined it?
By the time I drove out of Wufu Town, the horizon was already paling with the first light of dawn.
But the moment I turned onto the mountain road leading to Tafeng Village, the sky abruptly darkened again.
For roughly three miles around Tafeng Village, heavy clouds blanketed the sky, and black fog had begun to gather. I didn’t dare drive any farther.
I stood at the edge of the black fog, my heart pounding with unease.
I knew that the moment I stepped into it, I would most likely be discovered. It would be no different from walking straight into a trap.
That meant I had to pinpoint the location of Du Lian’s grave as quickly as possible and head directly there.
Liu Junyan and the others shouldn’t be far from Du Lian.
I parked the car beneath the shadow of a large tree and closed my eyes, mentally reviewing the position of the mountains in Du Chan’s discarded sketch.
I had lived in Tafeng Village for six years and had returned several times since then, so I was generally familiar with the surrounding terrain. It didn’t take me long to identify the mountain in question.
As for the grave’s exact location, I would have to enter the mountain and search for it.
I got out of the car, keeping the Copper Coin Liu Junyan had given me clutched tightly in my hand.
Holding it made me feel as though Liu Junyan were right there beside me.
The black fog was so thick I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I could only feel my way forward.
Even though I knew exactly where I was going, after breathing in too much of the black fog, my head began to grow woozy.
The sensation that my soul was about to leave my body made me deeply uncomfortable.
I stopped, covered my nose and mouth, and tried my best to calm myself down.
Just then, a familiar figure flashed past on my right.
Tang Xun?
Was it really her again?
If it was, was she scouting the way ahead for me?
But if it really was her, why was she skulking around and hiding from me?
Our relationship shouldn’t have come to this.
Despite my doubts, I followed the figure and turned right.
I failed to catch up with her, but when I reached the next fork in the road, a butterfly appeared before me.
Its wings were patterned in black and white, and it was far too beautiful to be something from the Realm of the Living.
It led me onward.
When the black fog ahead finally thinned a little, Hui Moqiong suddenly appeared.
He looked both shocked and alarmed. “Xiao Jiu’er, why are you here? What time is it? Shouldn’t you be…”
“Where’s Liu Junyan?” I cut him off. “Don’t try to talk me out of this. Now that I’m here, I’m not leaving. Take me to Liu Junyan, and tell me how far you’ve gotten along the way.”
My tone was more solemn than ever before.
I was the Pawnshop’s Ninth Female Shopkeeper, chosen by fate. I was the unpredictable variable — and the force holding everyone together.
They all received my incense offerings and were strengthened by my Merit.
In a sense, I held absolute authority in the Wufu Town Pawnshop.
So when I truly put my foot down, Hui Moqiong naturally accepted my decision. As he hurriedly led me forward, he explained, “Last night, my disciples and descendants spent the whole night digging a tunnel. It’s only a few dozen meters from Du Lian’s grave. Seventh Master and the others are all inside.”
I nodded. “Take me there.”
“By the way, Xiao Jiu’er, there’s something else,” Hui Moqiong said. “Before you enter the tunnel, you may want to take a look inside Tafeng Village.”
My brows immediately knitted together. “What happened in Tafeng Village?”
“I sent word back first thing this morning that Tafeng Village was holding another Fertility Prayer Ritual,” Hui Moqiong said.
I nodded. “I know about that. Did you find the second pregnant woman?”
“No. There was no need for us to investigate at all.” Hui Moqiong’s tone turned grave. “Every single woman of childbearing age in Tafeng Village developed a swollen belly overnight.”
I stopped dead in my tracks, unable to believe what I had just heard.
Hui Moqiong continued, “And they’re already preparing for the next Fertility Prayer Ritual. If this keeps up, even an old woman with one foot in the grave like your grandma might find her belly swelling again…”