Chapter 216: Lijia Village Aftermath

Senior Brother Chen came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

He heard from him that there have been a lot of ghost stories recently, and the ordained masters from Maoshan have all come down the mountain to perform rituals. He is also very busy and has other things to do, so it is not advisable for him to stay in Lijia Village for a long time.

After prescribing some medicines to help Li Daoxuan recover and regulate his breathing, Senior Brother Chen bowed and left.

Li Daoxuan struggled to get up from the bed, and after watching Senior Brother Chen leave from the window, he could only continue to lie in bed and recuperate.

After that, many people came one after another, and what happened in the village quickly spread while Li Daoxuan was in a coma.

No matter whether it was the duel in the altar or what happened in the secret room of the old village chief's house, the news not only spread, but also became more and more bizarre.

The villagers thought these things were major events that they would never encounter in their lifetime, and they were frightened and at a loss as to what to do.

The old village chief colluded with the Japanese and committed such a big mistake in the village. They didn't know how to punish him. After all, decades ago, the old village chief was a kind-hearted person and the villagers had received a lot of favors from him. Whenever anyone had any problems, big or small, they would ask the old village chief for help.

Now that such a thing has happened, there is no one who can step forward to take charge of the situation.

The villagers told Li Daoxuan that when they woke up, they found themselves sleeping under a dilapidated platform. The old village chief was lying in the mud, soaked in rain, and had fainted.

Later, after much discussion, they finally heard from Li Yanming and some villagers that the old village chief was leading a Japanese wizard and was preparing to sacrifice Lijia Village.

Which villager wouldn't be angry about this? They were all waiting for the old village chief to wake up before questioning him.

This question was amazing. The villagers, who had been skeptical at first, actually learned the truth from the old village chief. They also knew that it was Li Daoxuan who had risked his life to save them.

This incident caused too much trouble and everyone was at a loss as to what to do. No one wanted to use the village rules to deal with thieves to attack the old village chief directly. They could only imprison him and wait for the government to decide his fate.

"The old village chief is really confused. For the sake of his grandson, he actually wanted to kill so many people!"

"No wonder there was a strange noise in the well and they didn't let us go to see what was going on. It turned out to be because of this reason."

"The death of Li Xiucai's wife is also related to the old village chief. It is said that the monk was a Japanese magician in disguise. He relied on his beauty to commit adultery with Xiucai's wife and finally dug out the fetus alive. In my opinion, these Japanese bandits are so cruel that they don't even let children go. If they really come here one day, they will definitely kill innocent people indiscriminately, and the people in Jinling will definitely suffer first."

"Who says it's not true? And the two sons of Changde's family died miserably. The old village chief said that they were favored by the Japanese because they helped them make clay figurines, so they found a way to kill them and put them in clay dolls. I don't know how the two brothers are doing now, alas."

"Stop talking, say goodbye! Do you know Li Laosan from the south of the village?"

"How come you don't know? What happened to him?"

"Li Laosan is dead!"

"Ah? How could such a good man die?!"

"It's all because of the old village chief."

"A crime!"

Li Daoxuan lay on the bed and listened quietly to the villagers' discussions. He knew that many things had happened in the village after he fell into a coma.

And Li Yanming's father, who died in the old village chief's home.

I heard from the villagers that when Li Laosan died, his arms were still tightly holding a white-haired child. His fingers were bitten off and his body was covered in blood, but there was a talisman on his head that was tightly stuck to the child's head.

The villagers who found the bodies tried to pull them apart, but they couldn't. Finally, Li Yanming ran over and called him "Dad", saying that what was happening outside was over. Only then did Li Laosan let the child go.

"Yanming is becoming more and more sensible."

"Yes, after all, something like this happened. Even the youngest child has grown up."

Li Daoxuan lay quietly in bed for a long time. He met many people and said a lot of words.

He asked the servants of the Li family's old house to go to Li Yanming's house to help bury Li Laosan's body properly. He also asked someone to move the body of the old village chief's grandson out of the secret room, sprinkle lime on the bones, and burn them clean with fire.

Without the clay dolls surrounding it, the body of the old village chief's grandson was just the body of a child. It was just that it had been contaminated by too much evil energy. Just in case, Li Daoxuan made the safest arrangements.

Ten days had passed when he saw Li Yanming again.

The child was dressed in white and stood in front of him with his head down in silence.

Li Daoxuan saw sadness in his eyes, and also saw the maturity of a person.

Li Yanming did not call him "Young Master" in a childish way as before, but bowed respectfully and whispered, "Young Master."

Li Daoxuan asked him to sit down, but he refused, saying that it was impolite to sit down like this, and it would be better to stand.

At that moment, Li Daoxuan seemed to see the figure of Li Laosan in Li Yanming. The father and son were so similar at this moment.

"What are your plans for the future?" Li Daoxuan asked. The death of Li Laosan was a sudden and major change for Li Yanming and his family.

Li Yanming lowered his head and said in a low voice: "My father is coming, and I want to take care of my mother at home. In my father's family, there are only my mother and I left. I don't want my mother to worry about me. If I accompany her, she may not be so sad. I want to stay in Lijia Village in the future, and wait a few years to marry a wife to continue the incense of the Li family and honor my mother together."

His voice was not loud, but his tone was firm and steady. He was no longer as childish as before. He even used to be shy when speaking, but at this moment, that shyness disappeared without a trace.

Having said this, the two fell silent.

After a while, Li Daoxuan asked again: "I will leave for Yangzhou soon. Why don't you follow me so that you can see the world? After all, you are still some years away from getting married at your age."

Li Yanming had not been with Li Daoxuan for a long time, but he made Li Daoxuan feel at ease. Now in this situation, Li Daoxuan was really reluctant to part with this clever and well-behaved little servant.

Although he never really treated Li Yanming as a little book boy, but more like a friend.

Li Yanming pulled up his face and smiled, "Master, I won't go. When my child is born, I will let him serve you. I just want to stay at home and take care of my mother so that she won't be upset."

".I understand." Li Daoxuan sighed and said nothing more.

There are many aspects to pay attention to in the basic ideas of Taoism, one of which is the ethics of loyalty and filial piety.

Li Yanming is a filial child, and Li Daoxuan will not judge whether his choice is right or wrong.

Sometimes a person's change of mind happens in a flash, and their view of the world becomes different.

Li Daoxuan stretched out his hand and motioned Li Yanming to come over.

He patted the child's head and said with a smile: "No matter what, the young master will always be your young master. If you have any difficulties in the future, come and tell the young master."

After hearing this, Li Yanming lowered his head and remained silent. He saw huge tears falling, and his originally calm expression turned sad.

He held his mouth, took a deep breath, and tried not to cry out loud, but he couldn't stop the emotion, and the grievance in his chest still came out.

"I, I, I don't want my dad to die like this. I'm so sad. So sad. Why didn't I help my dad at that time? Why did I leave? If I hadn't left, my dad wouldn't have died. I hate myself so much."

Li Yanming was sobbing, as if a balloon had been punctured with a small hole, and he couldn't stop sobbing.

Li Daoxuan watched him shed tears of sadness and could only remain silent.

After all, this matter was also because of him. If he hadn't asked Li Yanming to ask Li Laosan to seal the things in the bronze coffin, perhaps Li Laosan would not have died.

But if Li Laosan had not risked his life to seal the boy, perhaps Li Daoxuan would not have been able to break the clay doll, and in the end he would not have been able to give Kamo Zenyou a fatal blow.

The boy in the coffin is the core of the formation, and the clay doll on the altar is merely a medium to receive the endless evil energy in the fog. This endless evil energy is generated by the group of clay dolls in the courtyard of the old village chief and in the secret room, and then gathered by the boy in the coffin.

If the boy in the coffin is not sealed first, not only will the evil energy continue to support the Japanese wizard on the altar to maintain the combat effectiveness of the Shikigami, but the boy in the coffin will become a monster that is neither human nor corpse after absorbing enough evil energy. At that time, Kamo will have an additional helper on his right, and the consequences will be disastrous.

After all, the Onmyoji of the Japanese country in the East is best at borrowing the power of gods and ghosts.

Perhaps, the villagers of Lijia Village will suffer disaster because of this and eventually become sacrifices.

He couldn't tell whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that he called Li Yanming to do this at that time.

After Li Yanming calmed down, Li Daoxuan took out a few gold ingots from the box, put them in Li Yanming's hands, and sighed softly: "Your father died because of me. These things are my apology. I am sorry for you and your father."

"Master, I can't take this." Li Yanming looked at the gold and quickly declined, "I can't take such a valuable thing from you."

"Just take it if I tell you to. This is the young master's order." Li Daoxuan said seriously, "You and your mother are the only ones left in your father's family. You and your widow will inevitably have some expenses at home. Will you spend money to marry a wife in the future? Will you spend money to study? These are all places where you spend money. During the time you followed the young master, the young master didn't give you a monthly salary. This little money is a token of his kindness."

"I, I..." Li Yanming held the gold and didn't know what to say for a moment. Finally, under Li Daoxuan's stern gaze, he put the gold away.

Li Yanming wiped his tears, forced a smile at Li Daoxuan and said, "Master, don't say sorry. My father, he probably wouldn't feel that the decision he made at that time was not worth it. After all, it was related to everyone in the village. My father was the kind of person who was willing to risk his life."

"Yeah." Li Daoxuan nodded and reached out to hug Li Yanming.

The sunlight filled the room and fell on the two of them along with the spring breeze.

(End of this chapter)