Chapter 255: Performing a ritual to catch the real murderer

"Come on!"

The wind rises and rolls up the flat ground.

The sudden dust storm startled everyone.

The courtyard was truly filled with flags flying and robes fluttering in the wind.

"How strange!" The maids and servants exclaimed, all staring at the little Taoist priest on the altar.

They had never seen a Taoist priest practicing the true Dharma, so today they had really broadened their horizons.

The ability of this little Taoist priest was so great that he looked like a god with just one hand. He could make the wind rise out of nowhere with just a shout. It really broadened their horizons.

Even Mrs. Yao was very surprised and expectant at this moment.

Li Daoxuan didn't care about other people's opinions. He looked calm and continued to perform rituals with the copper coin sword in hand.

He stepped on the stage, circled around the pillars, chanted the Three Caverns Sutra, and had a serious look on his face. No one would doubt whether he had real ability.

When he stepped on the steps of the altar, his eyebrows were sharp, the copper coin sword was pointed at the backyard, and he shouted: "The evil spirit is here!"

"Ah! Where is it?!"

"There really is an evil spirit in our courtyard."

Hearing the young Taoist's words, the servants around him couldn't help but talk aloud.

They looked at each other. They had all gone through a period of turmoil before, so they were more likely to believe that there might be ghosts in the Yao family. Some of them had even been worried for a long time.

However, whether Li Daoxuan pointed out the location of the evil spirit in broad daylight is correct remains to be seen.

As everyone was thinking about this, Madam Yao said, "Daoxuan, looking at the direction you pointed, is the evil spirit in my house in the backyard?"

"That's right." Li Daoxuan nodded solemnly, and his voice came along, "The evil spirit is buried in the backyard right now. Because of the gathering of yin energy, the wronged soul cannot get out. So it wanders around the mansion every day, causing chaos in the mansion and scaring others."

"Really?" Mrs. Yao saw that Li Daoxuan's answer was clear and straightforward, unlike that wandering man whose words were full of mysterious rhetoric. Her face changed involuntarily and she confirmed again.

"Of course I take it seriously." Li Daoxuan's eyes were burning, always looking towards the backyard.

"Then, what should we do?"

"All we need to do is dig out the remains of this wronged soul."

Listening to Li Daoxuan's words, Mrs. Yao responded.

Without hesitation, she waved to the housekeeper and asked him to pick a few people and go to the backyard to dig bones.

After gathering everyone, they followed Li Daoxuan all the way to the backyard.

Madam Yao slowly sat down in the pavilion again, holding her teacup and looking at the group of people going away.

For some reason, she always had an indescribable premonition.

After smoothing out the worry between her brows and looking at Erlang standing beside her, Mrs. Yao didn't know what to say for a moment.

She and Erlang haven't spoken to each other for a long time. She has been brooding over what happened in the past and has been angry at Erlang for a long time. Although she knows that it is not Erlang's fault, she just can't calm down.

It was just that Li Daoxuan's sudden question made me think carefully at night, and I felt that the breath I had been holding in my chest was slowly dissipating, like a stone that had been hanging for many years and was finally falling to the ground.

Erlang had a miserable life since childhood. His mother had a difficult labor when giving birth to him. After many hardships, although Erlang's life was saved, his mother breathed her last and passed away.

Because of Yao Nianchun's existence, the master didn't think much of Erlang and just regarded him as an extra mouth to feed.

Mrs. Yao still remembers Erlang's childhood. He was a tough kid, and only his elder brother Yao Nianchun could control him. Later, he was sent to a college to study, and when he came back, he became more mature.
Those past events are hard to find, and now is the time to face them.

Nianchun has been dead for so many years, maybe she should learn to accept it.

Thinking about these things, Mrs. Yao asked the maid to bring a plate of cakes to Erlang.

She took a deep breath and felt a little more relieved about the past.

"It's time to pass." Mrs. Yao thought.

Yao Erlang, who was sitting not far away, was feeling idle and bored. He never liked gathering with a crowd, especially when facing Mrs. Yao, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Because the name Yao Nianchun is the name of his elder brother, and he knows that he is just a thief who stole the name and stole his elder brother's life.

He knew that Madam Yao didn't like him, but he also blamed himself and was ashamed to face Madam Yao, and he couldn't let go of this matter.

If he could go back to the past, he would never run away alone.

If it was the eldest brother who escaped at that time, perhaps the Yao family would be different today.

He felt a little depressed, but he just picked up the teacup and drank it.

I looked at the sun in the sky and wondered why the days passed so slowly. As I was hesitating, I heard footsteps.

Looking up, he saw it was Madam Yao's maid, who was holding a plate with pastries and placing it in front of him.

"Young Master, this is what Madam asked me to bring to you." said the maid. Upon hearing this, Yao Erlang looked at the pastries on the plate with a look of astonishment.

He turned his gaze to look at Madam Yao who was sitting in the pavilion, then looked at the maid beside him, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

It was not until the maid woke him up again and again that Yao Erlang came to his senses.

His palms trembled slightly as he took the plate of snacks, looked at it carefully, and then carefully placed it on the stone table in front of him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"My name is Shuhua." The maid replied.

"Paintings and calligraphy, huh? Here are some for you." Yao Erlang took out a silver ingot from his pocket and put it into the maid's hand under her puzzled gaze. Then he pushed it and smiled at her, "Take it. This is my reward for you."

"Thank you very much, young master. Thank you very much, young master." The maid couldn't stop her joy and her face was filled with smiles.

She left with the silver in her hand, lifting her skirt, and returned to Madam Yao under the envious gazes of the maids.

Yao Erlang looked at the pastries on the table, picked up a piece and put it into his mouth.

The pastries were very sweet and greasy.

But he liked it inexplicably.

Maybe the sun isn't that hot.

Li Daoxuan led a group of people to the backyard and walked to the mound of earth.

It was no different from before. The mound was not high, and the surrounding vegetation was lush. There were even more weeds at this time. If you didn't walk closer, it would be difficult to notice it even if you walked along the path here every day.

The only difference is that there is just a little more inconspicuous new soil on the mound now.

He pointed at the mound and said to everyone, "The evil spirit is in there, just dig it out."

Everyone rolled up their sleeves, picked up their hoes and started working.

There were so many people that things happened quickly, and soon the mound of earth was dug up.

When everyone looked inside, they found a human skeleton buried inside.

Judging from the yellowish white color of this person's bones, he must have been dead for many years.

The housekeeper walked over and took a look, and couldn't help but take a breath. Even though he had been in the Yao family for so many years, he had never thought that there was someone buried in the backyard of the Yao family.

This is a place where gentlemen and ladies come to stroll around, and yet there are human bones buried here.

And judging from the appearance of the human bones, they have probably been buried in the backyard for some time. I don’t know who has the courage to do that.

While thinking about this, the housekeeper asked the servants to pick up the human bones.

Seeing their reckless actions, Li Daoxuan immediately rebuked them: "Don't be so reckless, this human bone is not simple."

"Young Taoist priest, is there anything special about this human bone?" the butler asked doubtfully, his face full of disgust at this moment.

"Of course, his identity is not ordinary." Li Daoxuan smiled, and then said nothing more. He just asked everyone to be gentle when moving the corpse and place it properly in the wooden box.

After all the human bones were cleared, he chanted the divine spell to purify heaven and earth along the grave pit.

When everything was done, he asked everyone to carry the wooden box back to the altar. He continued to stand in front of the pit and reached out to pick up a piece of chicken feather from it.

"After all, the chicken feet are exposed." Li Daoxuan looked at the chicken feathers and a smile appeared on his face.

He collected the chicken feathers and left the backyard.

Shortly after he left, a shadow slowly moved in the shadows of the backyard and slowly walked out from under the big tree in the yard.

When they returned to the front yard, Li Daoxuan nodded to Madam Yao and asked everyone to lift the wooden box onto the altar and place it steadily. Then he said, "Aunt Yao, I will perform another ritual. When the hour of Xu comes, the dead soul will be calmed."

"Okay, Daoxuan, thank you for your help." Mrs. Yao readily agreed. The housekeeper had already explained the situation in the backyard to Mrs. Yao. She was still able to maintain such composure at this time, which really made Li Daoxuan admire her for being the mother of the famous Yao family in Yangzhou Prefecture.

After saying this, Li Daoxuan sat cross-legged on the altar with the copper coin sword placed flat on his legs.

He closed his eyes, struck the wooden fish and chanted Taoist scriptures.

The sky darkened, and the crowd gradually dispersed. The house was huge, and there were many trivial matters to deal with. The servants had work to do, so they couldn't continue to watch.

The lights around the altar were lit one by one.

Only Li Daoxuan was still sitting there, motionless.

(End of this chapter)