Chapter 1826 - Playing at Ghosts (Continued)

A police officer on duty in the courtyard hurried over: "Chief, it's on the rear window. This humble one will show you."

Cui Hantang walked to the rear window. This type of courtyard house originally had no rear windows—they had only been added for ventilation and light. Nothing particularly unusual.

Because there was no veranda at the back, the building stood on its foundation, making the window quite high. Even at 1.8 meters tall, Cui Hantang could not see into the window even on tiptoes. Mu Min had someone bring a ladder.

Cui Hantang climbed the ladder shakily, the wooden rungs groaning under his weight. Reaching the top and looking carefully, he indeed saw a blurry small footprint on the windowsill—only about an inch long with five toes. It really did look like a child's footprint, yet was much smaller, with longer joints than a human's. Cui Hantang thought for a moment, pulled out a magnifying glass from his pocket, and carefully examined the surroundings. Sure enough, he made a new discovery: on the glass about ten centimeters from the windowsill were three faint scratch marks. The traces were extremely light—if not for some blood stains, they would have been invisible entirely.

"We've already taken a plaster cast of this footprint," Mu Min said. "I'll show it to you shortly—the details are clearer."

Cui Hantang shook his head: "No need. I already know." He thought briefly and came down from the ladder, his expression somewhat grim. He said to Liu Xiang: "So it's ghost-rearing sorcery. This is somewhat troublesome!"

As he said this, he stared intently at Liu Xiang's eyes. Seeing Liu Xiang's face change dramatically at these words, his legs buckle, swaying as if about to collapse—

Cui Hantang quickly caught him, drew a sharp breath, and his tongue released a thunderbolt as he shouted: "Be calm!"

This shout came with Cui Hantang's full force. He was large of build and naturally loud-voiced, plus he had been a teacher for many years and had trained his voice. Not only was Liu Xiang shocked stiff on the spot, but everyone present was startled.

"How is it?" Cui Hantang asked.

Liu Xiang slowly exhaled, his voice trembling slightly: "I don't know what just happened. It was like I fell asleep and was having a nightmare. How did I suddenly fall asleep..."

At this moment his heart still pounded with lingering fear. His sensation just now was like walking barefoot through a shallow lake full of water plants, suddenly sinking into a deep pool, cold water flooding his throat, water weeds tangling around his ankles, dragging him toward the dark depths...

"How is there an incense burner here?" Cui Hantang suddenly asked.

Indeed, in the narrow passageway between the main building's rear wall and the courtyard wall, against the corner, sat an incense burner.

The burner was not unusual—just the cheapest ceramic type. At this moment, smoke slowly emerged from the perforated patterns. A faint smell of sulfur mixed with herbs—the scent was pungent.

Liu San explained: "I had that placed there. The yamen buildings are all old structures. Shaded areas often have snakes and insects—the local house snakes are quite large. Though they're all non-venomous, they've startled quite a few people. So in the damp, shaded corners of the buildings, we put incense burners with snake-repelling incense."

Cui Hantang walked over, lifted the incense burner lid to look, his expression grave. He whispered a few words to Mu Min, then requested to see Liu Xiang's bedroom.

Liu Xiang's bedroom was simply furnished. Besides the oversized stepped bed, there was only minimal furniture: table, chairs, wardrobe. The furniture was all left over from the prefectural yamen, already quite old. The room was an old building. If not for the window opened in the back wall with the paper replaced by glass, one could easily imagine how dim the room would have been.

Cui Hantang made several circuits of the room. He suddenly asked: "Who originally lived in this room? I mean before we came to Guangzhou."

Everyone looked at each other—no one had thought to ask. It was Wu Mu who knew clearly: "It was where three of former Prefect Dong's concubines lived. This courtyard's location makes it easier to station guards, so it was selected as Liu Xiang's office and residence."

"And these people?"

"Most of Prefect Dong's family killed themselves, and these were no exception." Wu Mu said. "One concubine and her daughter survived. They're now living in Guangzhou city." He looked at Cui Hantang and asked: "Should we summon them?"

"No need." Cui Hantang said. "Did they all kill themselves here?"

"Probably." Wu Mu nodded. "I don't suppose they gathered together before killing themselves. I've read the scene report—the situation was very chaotic at the time. Even several servant girls killed themselves."

Cui Hantang's face showed an expression of "as I expected." Looking at the writing desk, he noticed a refined small bronze incense burner with quite a bit of accumulated ash. He asked curiously: "What's this? Old Liu, you burn incense and worship gods?"

"Not at all," Liu Xiang said with a bitter smile, waving his hand. "I have hyperthyroidism. When it flares up, I get especially agitated and can't sleep at night. So I had Liu San compound some calming incense to burn. It feels much more settling."

Cui Hantang did not ask more. He waved everyone back to the conference room.

Once everyone was seated, Guo Xier busied herself serving tea. Cui Hantang did not waste words: "The situation is clear. Someone hired a Maoshan sorcerer to use dark magic to assassinate Liu Xiang and create big news. Looks like what you've been doing in Guangzhou has offended some powerful bigwig."

Lin Boguang said: "We came to Guangzhou as rebels. We've already offended even Emperor Chongzhen—what other bigwig is there to speak of?"

Mu Min said: "I think this is nine times out of ten local gentry and magnates secretly stirring up trouble, resisting reform."

Cui Hantang shook his head: "The emperor wouldn't engage in sorcery. As for local gentry and magnates—they don't have the ability."

Lin Boguang finally could not hold back: "Stop with the useless talk. First tell us how to cure Liu Xiang's poison!"

"Poison?" Cui Hantang looked puzzled. "Mayor Liu has been poisoned? I didn't notice."

Liu San finally could not take it anymore and said with a darkened expression: "Didn't you just say when you walked in that Mayor Liu had been hexed with gu poison?"

"Oh! A misunderstanding, my mistake for not being clear. Mayor Liu hasn't been poisoned—he's just afflicted with gu poison. To be precise, it's similar to... hmm... 'black magic manipulation.'" Cui Hantang said.

Seeing everyone with alarmed expressions, Cui Hantang quickly waved his hands: "Don't be tense. Liu Xiang hasn't been infested with the kind of venomous insects you're imagining. He won't rot all over or turn into an alien or anything. He's just been afflicted with someone else's 'mind curse.'"

"Mind curse? What kind of sorcery is that? Is it serious?" Guo Xier anxiously asked from the side.

It was quite impolite for a life secretary to interject while the Elders were speaking. Fortunately, Cui Hantang did not mind.

"This 'mind curse'—well, serious and not serious. Not serious, but if handled badly, it can still kill people." Cui Hantang said gravely.

"What—what do we do?!" Guo Xier's face went white at these words, looking ready to faint. Liu San finally lost patience, grabbing Cui Hantang's arm: "You brat! If you've got something to say, say it! Stop with the cryptic, ghost-playing nonsense! Look how you've frightened her!!"

Cui Hantang patted Liu San's hand to signal him to let go. He pushed aside the tea Guo Xier had served and dipped his finger in the tea to draw symbols on the table. "I'm not deliberately being roundabout. It's just that explaining these sorcery matters to you materialists is rather laborious. I'll explain in a bit—first let me break his curse."

As he spoke, he stood solemnly. Mu Min asked: "Should we step out?"

"No need." Cui Hantang said. "Just please don't make any noise while I'm breaking the curse, and don't interfere."

Cui Hantang employed the hypnosis techniques he had recently learned. He gazed into Liu Xiang's eyes, his hands firmly pressing Liu Xiang's shoulders to prevent any violent movements. His voice was authoritative yet low as he slowly intoned: "You are an Elder of the Council of Elders. You are the mayor of Guangzhou. You are a chosen son of heaven who crossed time and space. You are the protagonist chosen by destiny. No one can harm you. No one can threaten you. You have the help of 500 Elders. You command tens of thousands of armed forces. You are safe. With the protection of our Heavenly Dao Great Teaching, you are steady as Mount Tai! Now follow me in reciting the Golden Light Incantation. Recite this mantra daily and it will protect your peace!"

Cui Hantang's voice was distant and deep. His eyes seemed to hold an invisible attraction, firmly guiding Liu Xiang's gaze. Liu Xiang felt only that Cui Hantang was so tall, so mighty. His whole body seemed to radiate golden light. He was his protective guardian deity. With him present, it truly did feel extremely safe.

Liu Xiang involuntarily followed Cui Hantang in slowly reciting:

"The mysterious source of heaven and earth, The root of all vital energies, Extensively cultivating through countless kalpas, Attesting to my divine powers, Within and beyond the three realms, Only the Dao is supreme, My body has golden light, Reflecting upon my form, Invisible to sight, Inaudible to hearing, Encompassing heaven and earth, Nurturing all beings, Reciting ten thousand times, The body has radiance, The three realms stand guard, The five emperors receive us, Ten thousand gods pay homage, Commanding thunder and lightning, Ghosts and demons lose courage, Spirits and monsters forget their forms, Within lies thunder, The thunder deity's hidden name, Wisdom penetrating and illuminating, The five energies rising, Golden light swiftly appears, Protecting the true person."

Strangely enough, as the incantation was recited, Liu Xiang gradually calmed down. Cui Hantang guided him to half-close his eyes and sit cross-legged on the ground. After reciting the Golden Light Incantation ten times, Liu Xiang slowly opened his eyes. The redness in them had faded. He had returned to his usual composure. Even an outsider like Lin Boguang could sense that the previously muddled Liu Xiang had become entirely clear-headed.

Mu Min, Liu San, and the others exchanged glances, feeling some doubt and some dismissiveness. But seeing Liu Xiang actually calm down like this, they all felt an inexplicable respect. They could not help but regard Cui Hantang with heightened esteem.

"This ghost-fire Daoist actually has some skills." Lin Boguang suddenly understood why a deputy-provincial-level leader in their home province had worshipped a "master" who seemed to everyone else like a mere street charlatan.

Cui Hantang sat with eyes closed, resting for a while. Then he cupped his hands to the group: "Please excuse my poor performance before all of you." Everyone thought his speech rather inappropriate but held back laughter, all expressing "not at all, not at all."

(End of Chapter)