Chapter 93: Pregnant with Evil; A New Wave Disturbs Peace (Part 1)
It didn't take more than two days before Xie Lian came to face a major crisis.
There was nothing to eat in the shrine.
If he was by himself, in a day he'd only need just a couple steamed buns with a small plate of pickled veggies, maybe pick some cucumbers from the fields to munch, and he'd take care of himself perfectly, the offerings of daily needs from the Puqi villagers more than sufficient. Yet now, there were three more mouths to feed in the shrine. Two live humans and a half-dead ghost; it didn't take long before they cleaned him out of his rations.
The two children were alright at least. Qi Rong the half-dead ghost, possessing a full grown man refusing to come out, cussed Xie Lian out on one hand for feeding him shitty food, but ate more than anyone else on the other. Xie Lian really wanted to stuff a blackened pan down his mouth.
After making sure the pan couldn't be easily pulled out, Xie Lian decided to take the two little ones out to walk around the markets, see if they could collect some junk then find them a good meal.
If it's said that Xie Lian's luck was usually bad, then the Xie Lian today had especially bad luck. After walking around town, there was actually not a single scrap to be collected. Finally, he stood at a crowded intersection and made a decision: he would pick up his old line of work.
Thus, he settled the two kids aside before he stood in the middle of the intersection and called out in a loud and clear voice, "DEAR FOLKS AND NEIGHBOURS! TODAY IS THE FIRST TIME THIS SERVANT HAS COME TO THIS TREASURED PLACE. I WILL PERFORM A FEW SHAMEFUL TRICKS. THEY ARE EMBARRASSING BUT I HOPE EVERYONE WILL CUT ME SOME SLACK AND GIVE THIS POOR MAN A HAND, DONATE A BITE TO EAT, GRANT SOME COINS FOR THE ROAD..."
Xie Lian had the air of a saint, the appearance of a cultivator, his sleeves clean and fluttering, his voice clear and sonorous, energetic and invigorating. Many on the streets who were idle soon came and surrounded him.
"What can you do? Show us something neat."
"How about plate spinning?" Xie Lian said cheerfully.
The crowd waved their hands, "That's not hard at all, it's child's play! What else can you do?"
Xie Lian then said, "How's shattering boulders on my chest?"
The crowd groused, "That's too old school, too old! Anything else?"
Only then did Xie Lian come to realize, even street performances needed to catch up with the times. All of his best tricks were now nothing more than yesterday's news, and there were none left who'd appreciate his craft. The crowd was going to break up, and without any other choice, he brought out his ultimate technique, and took out from his sleeves a set of protection charms he made with his own hands and called out again, "Free protection charms for watching the performance! They're handmade, don't walk on by and miss out on this chance!"
Hearing that there were freebies, the dispersed crowd soon came back, "What kind of protection charms? Which temple blessed them? Is it the Heavenly Martial Emperor?"
"Do you have any for wealth? Give me a wealth charm please, thanks!"
"I want one from Ju Yang, please save one for me!"
"No, no." Xie Lian explained, "The one I'm giving away is from the Crown Prince of Xianle, blessed by Puqi Shrine, for sure effective." Of course it'd be effective. Other heavenly officials had at least thousands of people praying to them daily, their ears rang with white noise, and even just a little too much they'd pass the work down to the junior officials under them. As for Xie Lian, at most he'd only have a few praying to him at once, so who's more likely to actually hear prayers?
The crowd clicked their tongues, "What the hell, we've never heard of him before!" Xie Lian added, "It's ok if you've never heard of him. Puqi Shrine is located just seven miles out at Puqi Village. Everyone's welcome to pay a visit, and there's no need to bring offerings..." Before he even finished, the crowd had already broken up.
Every single one of the spectators littered the charm away soon after, and Xie Lian trotted over to pick them up, patting them clean before stuffing them back into his sleeves, not looking the least bit bothered. As he picked, a pair of cloth shoes stopped before him.
Xie Lian looked up and saw Lang Ying's raven black eyes peeking out from under the bandages, watching him intently.
"What's wrong?" Xie Lian asked gently, "Go over there and sit with Guzi. Just wait for me for a bit."
Lang Ying was quiet. Just then, the two doors to a mansion at the end of the large street suddenly burst open, and a man was thrown out, angry shouts following behind him: "QUACK DOCTOR!"
The pedestrians on the streets immediately rushed over to watch the show. The thundering footsteps trampled by, and those protection charms that weren't yet picked up were instantly crushed, dirtied, and ripped. Xie Lian watched speechlessly, and gave up on saving them. He made Lang Ying go back to watch over Guzi, then he himself went to check things out. As he approached the entrance to that mansion, a man looking to be a wealthy merchant was arguing with an old man who looked like a doctor.
That wealthy merchant raged, "WHAT DID YOU TELL ME WHEN YOU CAME YESTERDAY? DIDN'T YOU SAY THERE WAS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT? HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN TODAY? MY WIFE DIDN'T FALL OR EAT ANYTHING BAD, SO HOW DID THINGS BECOME LIKE THIS?!"
That doctor, however, cried injustice, "When I came to diagnose your wife yesterday she was perfectly fine! I think in regards to this, you need to find a cultivator, not a doctor!"
That wealthy merchant was outraged, he stood with a hand on his hip and the other pointing accusingly, "MY SON ISN'T LOST YET SO WHY ARE YOU CURSING HIM, YOU FAKE DOCTOR! WATCH YOURSELF, I JUST MIGHT SUE FOR ALL OF YOUR ASSETS!"
The doctor picked up and held his medical case, "Even if you sue me there's nothing to be done. I really can't read that pulse! I've never seen anything like it before in my life!!"
The crowd jeered, "Find yourself a new doctor!" "Maybe go find a cultivator!"
Xie Lian instinctively felt there was something off about this affair, and raised his hand in the sea of people, "Please look here! There's a cultivator here! I'm a cultivator!"
Everyone turned to look at him, puzzled, "WEREN'T YOU A STREET PERFORMER???"
Xie Lian explained politely, "That was only a side gig. Thank you." He walked up to the merchant, "Will you bring me to go see the esteemed madame?"
Within the mansion came a series of shrill screaming, no doubt all the ladies in waiting were panicking. The new doctor called by the wealthy merchant wasn't going to arrive just yet, and men in desperate plight will do anything, so he really dragged Xie Lian in the door to see his wife, and Xie Lian grabbed that doctor on the way in too.
When the men entered the bedchamber, there was blood all over the floor, and upon the large flower curtained bed laid a young woman, her face white as a sheet from severe pain. Her agony was so acute she'd almost hug her belly and roll about had the ladies in waiting not hold her down. The moment Xie Lian walked through the door, he could feel all the hairs on his back stand.
That chamber was heavy with the essence of evil, and that essence came from one place.
That woman's belly!
Xie Lian immediately blocked everyone behind him and shouted, "DON'T MOVE! THERE'S SOMETHING IN HER BELLY THAT'S NOT RIGHT!"
That wealthy merchant was terrified, "Is my wife about to give birth?!"
That doctor and the older ladies in waiting couldn't stand for that ignorance and said, "It's only been five months, how can she give birth now!"
That wealthy merchant raged at the doctor, "If she wasn't going to give birth and you have no clue what's wrong then you're a quack!! YOU CAN'T EVEN READ A PULSE!"
That woman was going to faint, and Xie Lian shouted again, "EVERYONE, BE QUIET!" Then he flipped out Fang Xin. Seeing that he suddenly unsheathed a long, black weapon, everyone jumped in surprise. "WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?!" Then they saw Xie Lian drop his hand, and that sword actually floated in mid air!
Now everyone was astonished.
Fang Xin hung from above, the tip of the blade facing down, pointing at the swollen belly of that woman. The killing aura of the sword was intense, and the crowd saw that woman's belly suddenly move, a lump of flesh raised up, jerking left, then right. It thrashed about until finally, that woman hacked and coughed violently, a stream of black smoke emerging from her mouth!
Fang Xin had been waiting, and that sword immediately struck that black smoke. That woman let out a long wail, "MY SON!" And instantly passed out on the spot.
Xie Lian called back the sword and sheathed it anew on his back then turned to the doctor, "It's fine now."
The doctor was eyes wide mouth open, and Xie Lian waved in front of him a couple times before he hesitantly approached. That wealthy merchant looked joyous, "Is my son safe?"
However, after the doctor felt the woman's pulse, he said, his voice trembling with trepidation, "It's gone..."
That wealthy merchant was dumbfounded, and after a moment of shock, he roared, "GONE? HOW DID SHE JUST MISCARRY?!"
Xie Lian however, turned to face him, "The madame didn't miscarry, the baby is gone. Gone, do you understand?"
"What's the difference?" That wealthy merchant demanded.
"Quite different." Xie Lian said, "Miscarriage is miscarriage. 'Gone' means this: there was indeed a child in madame's belly at first, but now, that child has disappeared."
Sure enough, the abdomen of that woman was swollen at first, but now, there was no sign of external injury yet it had shrivelled down, looking exceedingly unnatural. That wealthy merchant was shocked, "...wasn't my son just there in her belly?!"
"The one inside earlier wasn't your child," Xie Lian explained, "The one blowing up madame's belly was that cloud of black smoke!"
After the doctor made sure the woman was only passed out and there wasn't any life-threatening signs, they left the chamber. That wealthy merchant asked, "Sir Cultivator, how should I address you? Which temple did you come from? Which deity do you worship?"
"No need for the 'Sir' and the name is Xie." Xie Lian responded, and at first he wanted to say he was from "Puqi Shrine", but when the words came to his lips, for some reason it turned into "Qiandeng Temple".
When those three words left his lips, his face was oddly hot. That wealthy merchant "oh"-ed and said, "I've never heard of it before. It must be far?"
Xie Lian didn't know how far it was either, and answered softly, "En..."
After a few courtesy greetings, that wealthy merchant finally came to the point, his voice full of horror, "Daozhang*! What was that monster earlier? What my wife nurtured in her belly, had it always been... that thing? That cloud of black smoke?!"
With the subject change, Xie Lian also turned serious. "It might not have always been that way. Didn't you say when the doctor came yesterday, madame was still perfectly fine? Her pulse was alright then, but it messed up today, so I'm afraid, it was only last night that something happened to the baby. Please think, last night, did the madame do anything? Or did anything strange happen?"
"Nothing happened at all last night," That wealthy merchant said, "My wife never left the house! Ever since she paid her respects at the Palace of Ju Yang and received this child, we built a small Ju Yang shrine at home, and she'd chant and burn incense without ever leaving the front or back doors. She's extremely devout!"
"..." Xie Lian thought if Feng Xin knew someone worshipped him like this then it'd really be a riot. After some thought, he asked, "Then, did she have any strange dreams?"
That wealthy merchant blinked, and said, "Yes!"
Xie Lian was re-energized, and that wealthy merchant continued, "Daozhang, you have such godly premonitions! My wife really did have a strange dream last night. She dreamt a small child playing with her, calling her 'mom'. Halfway through the dream she felt something kicking her belly then she woke up. Afterwards she came to me happily to tell me that the child in her belly couldn't wait to see mom and dad's faces, so the child came to greet her first. I was humouring her at the time too!"
In an instant Xie Lian figured it out and said firmly, "It's that child that's problematic!"
After a pause, he asked, "Around how old was that child? How did it look like? Did the madame say anything?"
That wealthy merchant was covered in cold sweat from shock, "I'm afraid she won't remember. At the time she already told me she wasn't sure how old the child was, only that it should be fairly young, begging her to hold it, and when she held it it was light."
Xie Lian hummed then said, "I'm going to ask a few more questions, please answer them honestly, otherwise I won't be able to find truth in all this. First, are there any conflicts between wives fighting for favour? Second, had this madame ever aborted a child?"
Asking about conflicts between wives fighting over favours was to see whether if this was a curse that came from mad jealousy. When women who had been locked in a deep harem got jealous, they could do anything; asking about abortion was because if the child was aborted over questionable reasons, then there may be grudge left behind in the mother's body, making the new baby suffer.
Under Xie Lian's repeated questioning, that wealthy merchant admitted to everything truthfully. Unbelievably, everything was spot on. Not only did he have a number of wives in his household, bickering nonstop everyday, he also had a lover waiting for him to bring her in. Afterwards, the madame's servant girl also reported that her mistress was originally only a mistress and had once been pregnant.
She listened to flawed diagnosis of street homeopaths that declared her baby a girl, and since she wanted a boy to strengthen her foothold, she aborted the child. After listening to all this, Xie Lian could feel a headache coming on. That wealthy merchant was anxious, "Daozhang, could this be the revenge of that unborn baby girl?"
"That's a possibility," Xie Lian said, "But not entirely. After all, madame couldn't tell how old that child was in her dream, and whether if it was a boy or a girl."
"Then... then Daozhang," That wealthy merchant asked frightfully, "Since that cloud of black smoke only just filled my wife's belly last night, then... where did my own son go?"
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●'Daozhang' is the polite address for cultivators.
Since cultivators cultivated spiritual power, they were also considered exorcists, which was why the doctor told the merchant to look for a cultivator instead of a doctor.