Although it has been dark for a long time, the Dou family courtyard is extremely lively and brightly lit.
Hua Rujin followed Ye Chengguan as she walked in and looked around. The familiar scenery and familiar smells, and a suffocating sense of solemnity lingered around her from the moment she stepped into this deep mansion.
In the courtyard, there were two rows of people dressed as Taoist priests sitting cross-legged. There were about ten people. They seemed to be saying something eloquently. They were shaking bells or magical instruments in their hands, and small yellow flags were planted around them.
There are also several Taoists in strange clothes, holding peach wood swords or holding talisman papers in their hands. They circle around the yard and throw out a few burning talisman papers from time to time. The yellow and white flames stay in the air for a moment and then turn into thick smoke.
.
The billowing smoke shrouded the entire courtyard, making it almost impossible to see the entire compound.
After entering the magistrate's gate, the Taoist priests were still concentrating on continuing their respective missions, as if they had long been detached from the world and turned a blind eye to everything that was happening in front of them.
Hua Rujin, Ye Chengwei, and Shu Jinxuan passed by the Taoist priests, and when they arrived at the living room, they saw a simple mourning hall appearing in front of them behind the fog.
The smell of smoke from the burning talisman mixed with the scent of sandalwood burning in several small incense burners lined up in the mourning hall. The pungent smell made Hua Rujin shiver.
It smells really bad.
Only a few people showed up. Gu Langxi, Liu Cheng and the Dou family members who were sitting at both ends of the mourning hall stood up one after another and bowed to each other.
Hua Rujin was observing the layout of the mourning hall, when she saw the old housekeeper coming up to her with tears streaming down her face, and loudly said: "Third Young Madam, you are finally back. The master has been too worried these days and has trouble sleeping at night. Please invite me."
Madam, I have pity on the master, and I wish you could fulfill the third young master’s last wish.”
Hearing this, Ye Chengguan cast a stern look, and the old housekeeper was so frightened that he immediately stopped talking.
"Changshun, you must not be rude in front of the county magistrate."
An old deep voice sounded, and Hua Rujin heard the voice and went to see the original owner's father-in-law, Dou Yue, walking up slowly.
His kind-hearted look was in line with his Taoist and fairy-like appearance.
In my impression, this old man always spoke slowly and without hesitation, and even if the sky fell, he would always look cold and calm.
"Rujin, father-in-law has made you suffer."
Dou Yue stood in front of her, choked by the smoke and couldn't help but cough a few times.
“Old member Dou’s foreign language is too serious.”
Hua Rujinfeng half-squinted her eyes and replied in a cold voice.
This sanctimonious image immediately flashed into her mind. In the past, every time the original owner was flirted with by Dou Yuancheng, the old man only scolded him softly after appearing, without punishment or warning, and allowed his perverted son to continue to be lawless.
Faintly, she seemed to sense that the old man was deliberately conniving.
I was so moved by the scene that the old man really only took up the two words in it.
Dou Yue's expressionless face darkened slightly when his title was suddenly changed, and then the corners of his mouth twitched and he smiled coldly: "You have made two magistrates tired of your mischief like this. Now that things have come to this, my father-in-law can no longer protect you. You
It is up to your late husband to decide whether to go or stay tonight."
After he finished speaking, he saw the old Taoist priest next to him raising the bell in his hand and shaking it gently. The candlelights everywhere in the hall trembled violently. Everyone in the mist stared at the Taoist priest with their eyes wide open.
Upon seeing this, Shu Jinxuan immediately came to protect Hua Rujin.
But Ye Chengguan had his arms folded, his eyes as steady as a rock, and he was carefully checking the signs in the mist.
Hua Rujin slowly pushed away Shu Jinxuan who was guarding her in front of her. She continued to look at the Taoist priest with her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed. The back and figure always felt a bit familiar.
The moment he raised his mahogany sword and picked paper to burn incense, Hua Rujin suddenly saw his face clearly.
Isn't this the same old man who used to sell talismans in Huangliu Lane?
While hesitating, I saw Niubi Lao Dao holding a bell in one hand and shaking it violently, and holding a mahogany sword in the other hand, stirring up the candlelight like a dragonfly touching water around the mourning hall wrapped in layers of mist.
The gorgeous posture made Hua Rujin feel dizzy for a while.
Looking at the eye-catching talismans everywhere, Hua Rujin immediately remembered what the old beggar said today.
Thinking about how I had no reaction to those talisman papers, I couldn't help but mutter to myself: "Young man, apart from being better at drawing a few talisman papers than me, your sword skills are really no better than mine."
As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly darkened, and he felt that his whole vision was blurred and his mind was dizzy.
She looked intently at the burning sandalwood in several incense burners, and immediately noticed something was wrong. She quietly approached Shu Jinxuan, who had a dull look on his face, and whispered in his ear: "I'm afraid there is something wrong with this sandalwood."
Shu Jinxuan heard the sound and quickly covered his nose.
Both of them looked at Ye Chengguan behind them, who had already covered his breath with his sleeves silently.
As they looked at each other, they heard the sound of chanting sutras outside the house getting louder and louder, and the figures of the Taoist priests swaying around the yard became more and more hurried.
The tense and suffocating atmosphere made all three of them more vigilant.
When her cousin reminded her, Shu Jinxuan hurriedly sniffed the air through a small gap. Then he looked stunned and quietly whispered in her ear: "It seems to smell like a fairy."
The two looked at each other silently: "Do you still remember that eldest brother got a batch of rare medicinal materials from an overseas businessman in the early years. This medicinal material is extremely rare. Although it has an excellent analgesic effect, it can be made into spices.
But it can excite people and produce a short-term hallucinogenic effect.”
"I see."
Hua Rujin suddenly realized that it was no wonder the smell was so familiar.
This old Taoist priest was really smart. He mixed the incense made from henbane into the burning sandalwood. If he wasn't a knowledgeable person, no one would be able to detect it.
The two of them continued to watch every move in the mist in silence. Suddenly, a gust of wind rushed in, and the figures outside the house trembled like ghosts, which was frightening.
While Hua Rujin and Shu Jinxuan were whispering, Ye Chengguan's cold almond eyes kept paying attention to the movements outside the house.
While concentrating, he saw a white shadow flashing outside the house like lightning, much faster than the group of wandering Taoist priests. He sensed something was wrong and decisively pulled out an iron handle from Ting'an's hand.
Sword, he chased out quickly.
Before Hua Rujin could react, she saw the jade-white figure in the mist disappearing lightly in front of her.
"I didn't expect him to be so skilled. He seemed different from the docile magistrates I imagined."
Seeing this, Hua Rujin quickly pulled out a saber from the waist of a panicked officer and chased him out.
As soon as I arrived at the courtyard, through the layers of fog, I saw two white figures chasing each other across the eaves and walls of the courtyard. The smoke was so thick that it was hard to see who was the enemy and who was the friend.
Hua Rujin clenched her saber, glanced at the eaves behind her, and was about to step on it, but then she thought: Grandma, I don't think I can do it.
In her time, most of the skills involved hand-to-hand combat, and this kind of flying over walls and walls had never been seen before.
While he was thinking, he saw a white shadow suddenly heading straight towards him.
The speed is so fast that it is jaw-dropping.
When one could see the person's face clearly, the skin that was as pale as a face was horrifying to look at, and the empty black eyes without a trace of blood made people feel even more panicked.
Seeing that Bai Ying had arrived, Hua Rujin was stunned and saw the approaching figure and threw the long knife in her hand fiercely.
But the white figure was extremely agile and managed to dodge Han Sensen's blade in the blink of an eye.
Hua Rujin's heart pounded, and she was about to punch out, but when the white figure was only a few feet away from her, her body suddenly stopped, as if frozen in the air.
Seeing this scene, Hua Rujin also hesitated for a moment. Before she could swing her fist, she saw a bright sword blade passing by. Bai Ying immediately turned the spearhead, and the figure walked around Hua Rujin like a ghost and went straight to the mourning hall.
"Are you OK?"
Ye Chengguan held a long sword in his hand and looked at her cautiously.
"fine."
Hua Rujin shook her head and saw a drop of blood as black as paint dripping from the edge of his sword.