Chapter Thirty-Five: The Ritual of Expelling Evil

  Two people were warmly embracing, when suddenly the sound of knocking on wood was heard, they were startled and quickly separated to look towards the door. They saw an old man with a head of white hair standing at the entrance of the pharmacy, wearing tattered clothes, his face worn and expressionless.

  "I bought medicine for treating wind and cold." The old man opened his mouth with a hint of energy, Ning Er's face suddenly turned red, and she quickly turned around and ran out the back door. Lu Qi was also shocked and embarrassed, this warm hug had chosen the wrong place.

  "Please come in, old fellow." Lu Qi's face turned slightly red, but he immediately regained his composure and greeted him with a thick-skinned smile.

  The old man slowly walked to the counter, took out a string of copper coins and counted them, put fifteen on the counter, and said in a low voice: "I'll buy a set of medicinal herbs for treating colds."

  Lu Qianding calmed down, and the little cloud was not there. He wouldn't have sold medicine otherwise. Hurriedly, he said: "Old sir, today is a happy day for my family. The medicine you bought today, I'll give you another set as a gift. Please wait for a moment, take your money back."

  The old man was taken aback, and then his withered hands stretched out to grab the copper coins on the cabinet, and after putting them away, he said in a low voice: "Thank you, boss. I won't mention today's matter."

  Lu Qiyan was stunned, his face flushed with a bitter smile. He wouldn't sell the medicine and had said he'd give him a set for free, but the old man had taken it as hush money. Ning'er was his own woman, and embracing in the pharmacy wasn't indecent, nor was it anything that would harm social morals. He knew explaining to this old man would be useless, so he simply fell silent and ignored him.

  Waited for Xiaoyun to come back before taking the medicine. The old man walked away with his eyes fixed on Lu Qi, saying in a low voice: "Thank you, I won't mention that matter."

  Lu Qi listened and couldn't help but laugh and cry, Xiao Yun curiously asked: "Young master, what is he talking about?"

  Lu Qi smiled and said: "It's nothing, I saw him being too old-fashioned in paying for medicine, so he misunderstood."

  Xiao Yun nodded and remembered the account. Later, the old man came to buy medicine again and stood at the door of the shop waiting for Lu Qi. Xiao Yun asked him repeatedly, but he didn't understand. The old man said that the shopkeeper would only give free medicine after hugging a woman. Xiao Yun couldn't help but laugh when she understood what the old man meant. She told him that the shopkeeper and the woman were husband and wife, and it was normal for them to hug each other. Only then did the old man give up his idea of getting free medicine.

  Around noon, a flatbed cart came outside the pharmacy. Zhou Yue'er and Dong Qing were sitting on it, along with two other robust women in tattered clothing. A pig cage was also loaded onto the cart.

  After Zhou Yue'er and Dong Qing got off the car, two strong women moved down the pig cage and carried it into the medicine shop. Lu Qi looked at the pig cage behind the counter and found that there was a woman inside. The woman lay in the pig cage, wearing tattered maid clothes, with her hands and feet tied up, and a red cloth covering her head so that she couldn't see her face.

  Lu Qi knew that women who were classified as evil and sinister would end up miserably, either being drowned in a pig cage or sold into a brothel. Generally, no one dared to buy such a woman, so it was her great fortune that the Lu family had bought her.

  The robust woman lifted the pig cage with a loud shout in the winter green and took it to the back house. Xiaoyun followed Lü Qi to the back house, as soon as she stepped into the backyard, she saw everyone was there, in the center of the backyard, a large vat filled with water had been placed, two robust women lifted the pig cage up with the woman's head facing down inside, they walked to the vat and shouted: "Let her be drowned."

  With a splash, the pig cage was thrown into the water tank, and with a gurgling sound, the water surged out. The woman's head was submerged in the water, her hands and feet thrashing about wildly as she struggled. Lu Qi watched with a furrowed brow, shaking his head secretly.

  The woman inside the pig cage was submerged in water for about twenty seconds before being pulled out and stood at the edge of the vat by two robust women. As soon as she left the water, the woman coughed violently, and after about ten seconds, the two robust women shouted again and threw the pig cage into the vat. About thirty seconds later, they pulled it out again, and the woman had undergone three immersions before being taken out of the pig cage and laid on the ground. Zhou Yue'er handed over six strings of cash to the robust woman, who happily took the empty pig cage and left with the money.

  The strong woman walked away, and Zhou Yue waved her hand. Dong Qing carried a bamboo basket to the woman who was wet from the waist up, squatted down, took out yellow paper talismans from the basket one by one, and stuck them on the prostrate woman's body. She stuck about thirty-six of them, then grabbed some rice and scattered it over the woman's body. After finishing, Dong Qing put down the bamboo basket and helped the woman up. The woman stood up, coughing lightly all the time, probably having been choked by water.

  Lu Qi silently watched, his mother had specifically instructed him not to speak out of turn. Suddenly, Xiao Yun pulled on his sleeve, and he was led over to the woman in a daze. He saw Dong Qing untie the red auspicious cloth from the woman's head, making a gesture of invitation to Lu Qi.

  Lu Qiyan was taken aback, shook his head, pointed to Zhou Yue'er and then upwards, meaning this was a concubine for his brother, so he couldn't lift her veil. Dong Qing bowed his hand and pointed to Lu's mother, Lu Qiyan followed the direction of his finger and saw his mother nodding at him with a serious expression.

  This was what his mother meant, Lu Qi couldn't refuse anymore. He hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward and lifting the wet veil with his hand. After lifting it, he casually threw it to Dong Qing, without even looking at her, and immediately turned around to walk towards the pharmacy door. But just as he took a few steps, he was stopped by Xiao Yun again, who made gestures indicating that he shouldn't leave. Lu Qi reluctantly stayed behind.

  The quilt was lifted, revealing a head of disheveled long hair. The woman stood with her head bowed, and Dong Qing immediately brought over a brazier, in which kindling had already been placed. After igniting it, she threw the wet quilt into the brazier, then picked up several yellow talismans from the bamboo basket on the ground and threw them into the brazier as well. Suddenly, a thick black smoke rose straight up into the air within the courtyard.

  Lu Qi glanced at the fire basin and suddenly saw Xin Yun'er, who was standing with her mother, turn around to pay respects to Lu's mother. Lu's mother handed a bamboo ruler to Xin Yun'er, who accepted it and walked over to the woman's side.

  "You've entered the Lu family's gate, you're a servant of the Lu family now, quickly take off your old clothes and put on new ones." Xinyu'er commanded with a gentle tone, her delicate voice bringing some disturbance to the quiet courtyard.

  The woman lowered her head and reached out to untie her clothes, slap! "Hurry up."

  A loud slap accompanied the woman's painful cry, Xinyuner used a bamboo ruler to severely hit the woman's buttocks once, coldly urging, Lu Qi was suddenly frightened, looking at Xinyuner in shock, didn't expect Xinyuner to be so fierce.

  The woman's speed in undressing accelerated, and soon she was left with only a white silk embroidered camisole, revealing two slender snow-white legs. Lu Qi's heart skipped a beat as he felt an sudden surge of lust, but he forced himself to turn away, his face burning with heat.

  His mind was filled with evil thoughts, but his ears heard Xinyun's stern voice urging him to beat the woman mercilessly, forcing her to remove her last shred of dignity, and then forcing her to stick out her chest, squat, and kneel. If the woman hesitated, she would be beaten ruthlessly with a bamboo ruler, and Xinyun was as cruel as if she were training a monkey.

  Listening to the stern voice, the sound of beating and the woman's mournful cry, Lu Qi's evil thoughts disappeared. The beautiful feeling that Xinyue had just sprouted in his heart turned into a bad feeling. This was clearly a female yaksha! His mood became heavy, and he worried about the future. He involuntarily turned his head to look at Ning'er, who stood calmly behind her mother, with an expression unexpectedly calm, without any worry or concern, as if everything she saw was normal.

  Lu Qi didn't want to look at Xin Yun'er, so he turned his head and gazed up at the white clouds in the distant sky. He thought that if Xin Yun'er was going to be this fierce in the future, how would he deal with her? His heart had already begun to feel apprehensive, shifting from acceptance of Xin Yun'er to rejection.

  The brutal training lasted for a short while, and under the heavy punishment, the woman was tamed to obey every command. Only then did Xinyue stop, and the woman knelt down to pay respects to Lu Mu, addressing her as "Madam". After that, she also addressed Xinyue herself as "Master Madam" and kowtowed again. Finally, Xinyue lent the woman to Zhou Yue'er in her capacity as Master Madam, and the woman obediently knelt down to pay respects to Zhou Yue'er, addressing her as "Elder Master Madam". It wasn't until then that Lu Qi finally understood - it turned out this woman was his concubine. He couldn't understand why his mother would arrange things this way.

  The bizarre exorcism ritual ended, and Lu Qi turned around calmly and went to the pharmacy. Xiao Yun also followed him into the pharmacy to continue selling medicine. A moment later, Ning Er also arrived at the pharmacy.

  "Ning Er, wasn't that woman bought for Big Brother?" Lu Qi asked in confusion.

  "It was originally for Young Master Long, but Madam said that this woman's fate is ominous and inauspicious. Young Master Long is a weak and bookish scholar, and his luck has not been good in recent years. Madam was afraid that Young Master Long would be unable to withstand the evil spirits and would suffer instead. So she changed her mind and decided to have you bring her into the house first, and then lend her to Young Master's wife as a servant. Madam said that you are a military officer who has been on the battlefield and is currently in a prosperous phase of your life, so it wouldn't be a problem for you to take on the ominous fate instead. Young Master's wife also agreed, so the ceremony was held with Xin Zhu Mu presiding." Ning Er explained softly.

  Lu Qi nodded vaguely, shook his head slightly as if he didn't think so, then looked at Ning Er and asked with concern: "Were you scared just now?"

  Ning Er was taken aback and said unnaturally, "What's there to be afraid of?"