orry! Oh, Zhao Xiaoru, is that you" My acting was a bit stiff, but I didn't have time to worry about that.Zhao Xiaoru's eyes were a little red, and her voice was a bit hoarse—had she done too much"Oh...."Mu Xia Qiao, what are you doing holding onto that"

“I…” I looked at the paper head in my hand. This was what Song Wei brought to question Old Madam Zhang.

"Every time I see you out in the wilderness, you're always messing around with weird stuff…" he said, looking at me with a helpless expression.

I'd love to hide that paper head.

"Such a big one, you're hiding behind you and I can't see it" Jiang Qiyun laughed: "You're so stupid..."

I'm really embarrassed to admit that I keep messing up my incantations, even with Jiang Qiyun, this so-called "master", guiding me. It makes me feel ashamed to say it out loud.

"I didn't encounter any real dangers...just minor things. If you were coming back soon, it might be better to go see Yu Gui and You Nan and Lan Xi. It's been ages since your father has seen them." I suggested.

“You’re afraid I’ll see you climb the wall, aren’t you” Jiang Qiyun pointed out mercilessly.

I was embarrassed, but luckily the sound from the courtyard at that moment saved me.

There was a knock on the door from Song Wei. She had been holding onto a lot of anger, and she dragged me here to have Lao Shi take a look at the situation at home. She hoped that his presence would bring peace to their household.

The Lao Shi family didn't even consider the bride's feelings, and now they are criticizing her birth chart! This is unbearable for Song Wei.

"I'm not getting married! You guys want to find someone else, go ahead!" Song Wei started yelling even before she stepped out the door: "You said marriage was for good luck, you said our birth charts clashed with the elders. This girl can't take care of your family, bye!"

As the door creaked open, Lao Shi's aunt quickly stepped in front of Song Wei and said, "Oh my, how did you come This isn't... this isn't about replacing someone! Don't worry yourself!"

"I'm not in a hurry! You guys go ahead! Didn't you say that a wedding banquet without a groom doesn't matter Then it doesn't matter if there's no bride either, come on, get married to the air!" Song Wei snorted.

I didn't have time to tell Jiang Qiyun about it, so I hurried around to the front gate of the courtyard and went inside.

As soon as Song Wei saw me, she snatched the paper figure's head and hurled it in front of Old Mrs. Zhang, saying, "Old hag, what do you think you're doing by making a paper figure climb through the window Don't think being a little bit knowledgeable about crooked ways makes you impressive. This village doesn't expose your tricks, but I'm not afraid of your shenanigans!"

Old Mrs. Zhang saw that the paper head was burned through with so many holes, her face changed color, and her eyes rolled around wildly.

"Little girl, don't talk nonsense." Zhang Laotai denied it.

"Bah, I'd rather die than believe it! We investigated, and the only person in this ten-mile radius who used to sell paper figures was your family. You must know how to make them! Show me what you got!" Song Wei rolled up her sleeves and prepared to enter the house.

Meeting someone like Song Wei, a real tomboy, is quite daunting. She's not afraid of evil spirits, nor can she see ghosts. You really can't scare her or intimidate her. Even if you hit her, you might not be able to beat her.

I stepped forward to stop Song Wei, but Zhang Lao suddenly made a few gestures. Her mouth, which was already slightly open, uttered something unintelligible. A sudden stench of blood rushed out from the door —

I pulled Song Wei, standing at the front door, that stench hit us straight on!

"A golden light flashed, shielding... her."

Jiang Qiyun's voice was cold and clear, especially sharp in the night. It sounded like an ice spring breaking open, making me shiver all over.

A ray of light materialized before me, forming a shield. The stench of blood hit with a force that was immediately repelled.

The dust on the ground suddenly exploded, startling Song Wei and Lao Shi's aunt.

I secretly glanced back at Jiang Qiyun... It seemed like he had always been this way, standing behind me, watching me stumble and fall with a smile in his eyes. He would occasionally lend a helping hand.

Just now, the incantation he recited should have been: Golden light appears swiftly, protecting my body.

As a result, the title "Emperor" was forcefully changed to "Protect Her". It truly shows how effortlessly and whimsically the divine beings act.

Song Wei couldn't see the light, only a sudden burst of smoke in the courtyard. She thought she had broken Zhang Laotai's spell.

"See, old hag, there's always a mountain higher than the one you stand on. Be honest! What do you want with these ghosts and spirits Are you trying to harm people!" Song Wei snarled.

Old Lady Zhang panicked and lowered her voice, "Who... who are you"

I took a glance at her house. Though it was a rural earthen house with tiled roof, it was spotlessly clean. The floor tiles were so polished that they almost gleamed.

"You, you're not a witch or something, are you" I blurted out.

Just now, a gust of stench rushed out from behind the door. Could it be from this Grass Gu Poisoner's raised gu

It's a pity that I'm not Xiao Yinluo. If it were Xiao Yinluo, she could even see the insect gu and Gu spirits.

The foul stench was repelled by Jiang Qiyun's golden divine spell. At this moment, it disappeared to who knows where. Zhang Laotai's identity was exposed, and her face turned pale with shame.

She whispered, "It seems my skills are inferior to yours. What brings you to me"

"This is just me giving in. I don't want to pressure her too much, so I said softly: 'It's nothing important. I just happened to pass by here and didn't mean to step on your toes. I just have a few things I need to ask you. Please come out, let's talk privately.' "

Although it seemed like I was alone, Jiang Qiyun was actually with me.

Grandaunt Zhang wasn't very spiritually adept; she couldn't sense Jiang Qiyun's presence. However, she cooperated well, closing the door and tidying her clothes. She let me sit under the loofah trellis in the courtyard and shooed Song Wei and Aunt Lao Shi out.

"Excuse me, young lady, who are you and where do you come from" Zhang Laotai inquired indirectly.

"As a junior, I wouldn't presume to introduce myself. You seem to be a highly respected elder in this area. Why would you harm someone" I asked directly.

Old Zhang's face, creased with age, trembled. She spoke in a hoarse whisper, her dialect thick: "I didn't mean to harm anyone... Last year, I saw Old Mrs. Shi wearing that bracelet... I discovered it could gather ghost energy, and I wanted her to take it off... Coincidentally, her young granddaughter was always troubled by a lingering spirit, so I took advantage of the situation."

Originally, this afternoon as the sun was setting, I felt a ghostly presence in the old woman's room. It seemed to be an apparition that had been startled by Song Wei and fled. This spirit was the little girl who had drowned.

Grandma Zhang said that the little girl had stolen this bracelet and taken it out when she died. When her body was recovered, the bracelet was still on her hand.

That means this bracelet has been through two dead people...

Because Old Madam Zhang was worried that the bracelet would be passed on to Song Wei, this four-pillar pure yang tomboy, it would be hard to get it back later.

So he quickly made a paper effigy, using his own blood to mark the center of its brow. He performed a ritual to attract spirits to possess it, hoping that Old Mrs. Shi would be so confused by the spirit that she would throw the bracelet out the window.

"What do you want with this bracelet" I asked, frowning.

"This bracelet is becoming increasingly heavy with malevolent energy. I...I..." Zhang Lao Tai's eyes flickered, as if she didn't want to continue.

"Is the蠱 in your house your natal one" I asked.

Zhang Lao Tai trembled, her cloudy eyes fixed on me.

"These days, it's hard to cultivate a蠱, let alone a natal 蠱... I have a friend who is an ancestor of 蠱 masters. Perhaps I should ask her to take a look—"

“No, no, don’t!” Old Zhang cried out, waving her hands in panic and speaking in a low voice. “I’ll tell you anyway… My, my late husband often went to a Taoist temple during his lifetime. There, they enshrined the Black Cleansing Deity. They say it can absorb negative and evil energy, prolonging the life and cultivating the well-being of those who worship it…”

Black Clear Venerable God Is my knowledge too limited How come I've never heard of such a revered god

I turned back to look at Jiang Qiyun.

Jiang Qiyun's handsome eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he repeated coldly: "...He Qing Zun Shen"rdinary people can hardly imagine. I never thought before that I could be in a different place with just a turn of my body."Little Luo'er, what's that on your hair Is it a popular hair ornament now"...