Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 143
>Chapter Title: Master's Wife
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Chapter 143: Master's Wife
This drawn-out chant escaped her lips, and the surroundings instantly fell silent.
Immediately after, the great shaman began chanting the Helper Soldier Jue. Unlike Li Zhi's shouting style, her version was both rapid and urgent.
"Dong dong dong! The sun sets behind the western mountains, darkening the sky! Every household bolts their doors! Dong dong dong!
Traveling gentlemen hurry to the inn, birds flee to the woods, tigers return to the hills!"
Accompanied by the drumbeats, it wasn't long before Bai Lingmiao's body began trembling with hiccups, and the red veil on her head shook like a cascading waterfall.
Her body gradually hunched over, as the outlines of what seemed like wild beast skulls propped up the red veil.
"The disciple summons the immortal child today, the bad luck right there in the room's midst."
"South for the doctor brings no cure, north for monk or nun yields no merit."
"All else fails in utter helplessness, so the old immortal comes to lend a hand."
"Yin-yang seeks the eight characters' nap, dressed in seven orifices, twelve meridians."
"Scours the five viscera and six bowels through, old immortal, speak the truth clear."
Under the rhythmic drumbeats, Bai Lingmiao began walking into the room.
Sensing someone approach, the eyes obscured by white hair in that woman flashed with terror.
The next second, that terror turned to extreme hatred. "Give me back my son!!"
She lunged forward with outstretched hands, but her body was bound by chains, preventing her from succeeding. She froze there, straining rigidly.
A slender beast snout lifted Bai Lingmiao's red veil, sniffing continuously toward the old woman as low beastly growls emanated from below.
"My son!!" The old woman's expression shifted from hatred to pleading. "My son, Mother's in the wrong, Mother's in the wrong!!"
Everything beneath the red veil retracted swiftly and began shaking anew. A tail extended from beneath Bai Lingmiao's hem, and the great shaman outside switched to another incantation.
"Human soul returns to human form, horse soul to its horse beside."
"Human with true soul eats his fill, horse with true soul frolics wild."
"Eight Immortals table on the ground, star banners and flags raised high."
"Five-color flags, five-color banners, five-color flags and banners red, white, blue, and indigo!"
With the drumbeats, Bai Lingmiao circled the old woman methodically, stepping in pattern as she thrust paper flags folded from yellow paper into the straw on the ground.
At this, the old woman suddenly went still, her body slamming to the floor, wracked with tremors, her face twisted in agony.
This sight tore at Zhao Qin's heart from the doorway, yet in this situation, he dared not interrupt rashly.
The drumbeats quickened next, and seven lit sticks of purple incense appeared in Bai Lingmiao's hand.
The smoking tips pointed downward, thrusting straight into the old woman's throat.
"Hiss~" Gasps of shock rose outside. These escorts were all seasoned fighters who wouldn't blink at ordinary bruises, but that treatment? Even they might not endure it.
"Urp~" The old lady retched, only for a red handkerchief to clamp over her face.
As everyone watched what Bai Lingmiao would do next, a low voice rang out from afar.
"Xiaoman!! Bai Lingmiao!" It was Li Huowang's voice.
The drumbeats faltered slightly, the chant shifting once more.
"On parting, three drumbeats send you off, to ancient caves for cultivation!"
"Send you over ridge after ridge, send you over mountain after mountain!"
"Don't let your junior horse get stung. If you don't leave, I'll fan you! Dong dong dong!"
The three drumbeats ceased, and the anomalies on Bai Lingmiao halted immediately.
Returning to normal, she clearly heard Li Huowang too. She yanked off the red veil from her head and hurried out of the room.
Snatching the drum from the great shaman, she replaced the veil on her head and rushed toward Li Huowang, who approached with a large group.
"Senior Brother Li, you're back from the mountain? Everything done?" she asked with a smile.
Her sharp eyes noted the two swords now on his back.
"Mm, just about. I heard you came here to exorcise some evil? How'd it go? All finished?" Li Huowang pulled Bai Lingmiao along as he peered toward the crowd.
"Mm, no luck. I thought she'd bumped into something else, but nothing. Tried several methods, still no clue what's wrong with her."
As they returned to the room's edge, Zhao Qin was carefully helping his wife up.
After softly calling to her a few times with no response, Zhao Qin turned anxious eyes to Bai Lingmiao.
"Miss, what's really wrong with my wife?!"
His tone carried clear anger, though it was only natural—watching his wife tormented like that, only to end up the same as before, how could he not be furious?
Glancing at the old woman's dazed state, Li Huowang, weariness flickering on his face, said to Bai Lingmiao, "Let's go. If we can't cure her, no need to. We're not short that fifty taels."
"Wait!!" These words exploded from Zhao Qin, and instantly, the entire escort agency's men surrounded them with hostile glares.
Li Huowang eyed everything coldly, his hand slowly gripping the sword hilt behind him.
"Clang!" The blade unsheathed an inch, and all around, blood surged as if they stood in war's heart.
This unnatural sensation drained the color from Wang Chengxing's face beside him. He knew they'd hit big trouble.
Long on the road, he'd heard tales of mysterious experts with unfathomable powers. Hard to say if good or ill, but encountering them demanded utmost vigilance—this time, they'd met the real deal.
"Senior Brother Li! Don't! It's our fault..." Bai Lingmiao tugged urgently at Li Huowang's sleeve.
The blade sheathed. The cold Li Huowang turned to leave.
"My son... Mother wronged you..." But this voice halted him in his tracks, drawing his gaze back to the old woman.
Her state felt strangely familiar.
Seeing her wrists raw and bloody from the iron chains ignited an inexplicable rage in him.
The old woman's expression twisted again as her hands clamped Zhao Qin's throat. "Give me back my son! Give me back my son!!"
Li Huowang dragged Little Yang Kid over.
"Here! Here's your son!" Shoving Zhao Qin aside, Li Huowang thrust the stunned Little Yang Kid into the old woman's arms.
The moment she clutched Little Yang Kid, the old woman calmed, pressing her face close, stroking his hair over and over with her hand.
Li Huowang scanned the room's barren state, his tone laced with displeasure. "Why no windows even? Locked in the dark alone, wouldn't she get scared?"
Zhao Qin blinked, caught off guard by the sudden turn.
"My wife's like this—still scared of the dark?"
Li Huowang drew his other longsword, effortlessly severing the chains on the old woman's wrists.
"Even if she's mad, it doesn't mean she feels nothing!! She fears, she hurts! Alone with no company, she feels lonely too!"
"You think she wants to be like this? She doesn't! But she just can't help it!"
(End of chapter)