Chapter 254: Making an Altar
He had never thought that there would be such a coincidence in the world that the person the Yao family was going to marry was actually the daughter of the Wang family.

Could it be Wang Shuyu's second sister who was hiding in Lijia Village? The age difference between the two was not big, and they were both well-known people in Jinling.

The Wang family is naturally not bad and has many powerful people in the capital. Li Daoxuan had heard from his eldest brother before that the one from the Wang family was highly appreciated by the governor in the capital and might be promoted soon.

It does make sense for the Yao and Wang families to get married.

It's a pity that the Wang family is not the real Wang family, and the master of the Wang family is not the real master of the Wang family. His identity was taken away by someone, which is somewhat similar to the second son of the Yao family. Then there was the second sister Wang Shuyu who committed suicide by jumping into the river, and some things that happened later. Li Daoxuan recalled it with some regrets.

This cause and effect is really endless, and I can encounter things related to it in Yangzhou.

"What a pity! I have seen the daughter of the Wang family before. She was very pretty and well-read. It's a pity that she died like this." Madam Yao sighed, "If she could marry Erlang, it might be a match made in heaven."

"It's all God's will, ma'am, don't worry. Erlang will naturally have his fate, it's just that the time has not come yet." Li Daoxuan comforted.

"After listening to what you said, I feel much better." Mrs. Yao patted Li Daoxuan's hand and said with a smile.

"What brings you here today?" asked Mrs. Yao.

"Indeed, something has happened." Li Daoxuan nodded, "I already know the source of the strange incident in the mansion. This time, I will definitely be able to keep the Yao Mansion safe."

"Really?!" Mrs. Yao asked happily.

"Aunt Yao, don't worry." Li Daoxuan replied in a firm voice.

"When should we do it? Auntie, ask someone to help you prepare it."

"It's better to do it today than to wait for a day. Let's do it today." Li Daoxuan pointed at the big sun outside, his face full of confidence.

"Today?" Mrs. Yao was surprised.

Li Daoxuan said that today's ritual was to exorcise evil spirits, so of course Mrs. Yao believed it.

The Yao family began to get busy with setting up the altar and practicing the ritual.

Fortunately, they didn't ask for much, just yellow cloth, incense, candles, paper money, flags, gongs and drums, as well as old copper coins and willow branches. These were relatively easy to get, especially in this extremely prosperous city of Yangzhou.

The altar was located in the central courtyard of the Yao family and was the Bagua platform.

The platform has eight sides, with Qian, Kun, Zhen, Gen, Li, Kan, Dui and Xun as palaces and flags as boundaries.

On the next level, the five elements are added, with five-colored flags of white, green, black, red and yellow inserted.

An altar was built in the center, three feet three inches high and nine feet nine inches long.

Spread a yellow cloth, and underneath it is a bronze incense burner.

Behind the incense burner, please invite the Three Emperors in a row, and in the center at the top behind the Three Emperors is the Taoist Patriarch Taishang Laojun.

There are four large drums around the altar, on which are inscribed the four images of the Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon and White Tiger.

The construction of the altar was in full swing, so Li Daoxuan naturally would not be idle.

Under Yao Jinyu's admiring gaze, he put on his new robes, wore a lotus crown, and held a copper coin sword.

Although this copper coin sword was newly made, it could barely be considered a magic weapon in his hand. After all, the peach wood sword was not suitable today, and Long Yuan was too sharp to be suitable. After much thought, he should have a copper coin magic sword of his own, so he asked Madam Yao for some copper coins.

Naturally, the Yao family has a lot of copper coins, which are piled up in the warehouse like a small mountain. Together with the gold, silver and jewelry, these are the wealth accumulated by the Yao family over a hundred years. Although these copper coins will be abolished in a few decades, they are still a considerable fortune at this age.

Li Daoxuan used his magic eyes to pick out some high-quality copper coins from the mountain of copper coins to make a magic sword.

After a long time, and when the forging time is suitable for the yang period, this kind of copper coin is the best as a magic tool and is the best thing in the eyes of Taoists.

Li Daoxuan picked out a large number of high-quality ones, and then picked out some even better ones from them. Such a luxurious act would surely make other people in Xuanmen jealous.

After choosing the copper coins, he asked two people to help him string them with a red rope. With two people helping, a heavy copper coin magic sword was completed in a short time.

"Brother Daoxuan, can you fly on the clouds?" Yao Jinyu sat in the house watching Li Daoxuan playing with the copper coin sword. She felt both curious and eager to try it out.

She also wanted to play with the copper coin sword and learn how to slay demons and monsters like him.

Ever since Li Daoxuan told her the stories of Journey to the West, A Chinese Ghost Story and Uncle Nine during a trip to Maoshan, Yao Jinyu has been particularly curious about these things. She had also encountered strange things in her childhood, and these things had actually taken root in her heart long ago.

Seeing Li Daoxuan's majestic appearance today, she was also fascinated.

After all, she is just an eight or nine-year-old girl, full of all kinds of fantasies.

Li Daoxuan was not annoyed with her. Instead, he handed her the copper coin sword to play with. He also taught her a few magic tricks, which she performed very well with her fingers.

After the two of them played for a while, a maid came to report that the altar had been arranged according to Li Daoxuan's requirements.

Yao Jinyu obediently handed over the copper coin sword. After Li Daoxuan took it, he asked Gong Youwei to play with her, and then he strode out of the house and went straight to the altar in the middle courtyard.

At this moment, quite a few people had gathered in the central courtyard of the Yao family. The maids and servants in the house all gathered around, wanting to see how this young and handsome Taoist performed his duties.

Mrs. Yao was sitting in the pavilion, and next to her was Erlang, who had been avoiding her before.

Li Daoxuan felt a little relieved when he saw this. He held the jade in his hand and placed it on the altar.

"Master, how is it?" he asked softly.

"Mother has finally let it go. I feel so sorry for my second brother." Yao Nianchun's voice came from the jade, and one could hear a hint of guilt in his voice.

"When things are done, I will let you meet them." Li Daoxuan said.

"Thank you."

There is nothing more to say after these two words, because the gratitude is beyond words.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Li Daoxuan walked onto the altar.

He held the copper coin sword in his hand and looked forward.

He held a talisman in his hand and rubbed it on the sword.

"Hurry up as a law!"

He gave a light shout and waved his sleeves to throw the talisman.

Then the candles on the altar lit up instantly and flames shot out.

"Wow!"

There were low exclamations all around, and the maids and servants all widened their eyes. After all, this magic of spitting fire out of thin air was rare to them.

However, the Yao family had strict rules. They were surprised but did not dare to exclaim too loudly, and the scene was very awkward for a while.

Li Daoxuan ignored the noise and continued to place the copper coin sword on the altar.

He held three incense sticks, lit them, and walked around the altar, stepping on the magic circles.

One step, one thought

"The Yuanshi Laojun commands the water of heaven and earth."

"Three official mountains and rivers, five mountains and four rivers."

"Kunlun has nine lands, the sun, the moon and the five stars.

"Nine stars, twenty-eight constellations, thirty-six thunders, Xuanji Yuheng."

"The Five Dou Zhenren and the Hundreds of Millions of Saints. All of you should serve me and protect me."

"Destroy the evil and annihilate the evil, and subdue the demons. The orders of the Kyushu Island Society must be carried out quickly."

After reciting the mantra, the wind appeared out of thin air.

Eight flags fluttered in the wind, seeming to be there and not there, as if the sun was bathing them.

Go up one more level to the five elements.

Li Daoxuan worshipped at the altar, the five elements flags flickered, gold, wood, water, fire and earth gathered here.

The gloomy atmosphere in the Yao family was cleared away, the five elements gathered together, life continued endlessly, birds chirped, insects chirped, and the grass and trees were renewed.

Ascend to the harvest year and create the five elements.

Then he went up to the altar, bowed three times to Laojun, and inserted the incense into the bronze incense burner.

Spread your hands and wave your sleeves.

The sound of "boom" from all four drums sounded.

"The heaven and earth are natural, the foul air is dispersed, the mysterious void in the cave is shining, the Taiyuan is shining!"

He chanted the divine mantra to purify heaven and earth, and all the onlookers fell silent.

Li Daoxuan stood on the altar and felt the five energies coming together, the eight trigrams protecting him, the four symbols appearing, and heaven and earth auspicious.

This was the first time he performed a ritual to build an altar.

Standing in this altar, he finally understood why Taoist priests would build an altar to perform rituals when they slay demons and monsters. It was really because this thing was too powerful and could gather all the dharmas to bless the body.

No wonder the Japanese mage could rely on the altar to go on and on. If he had an altar like today, he would have made the mage go there and never come back! He wouldn't even be afraid of the saint girl!

Li Daoxuan raised the copper coin sword and had no more thoughts.

He took a step towards the chicken coop.

(End of this chapter)