Chapter 40: Aftermath of the Celebration of Victory

  I came to the box and covered it with a lid, then I took out the dog's blood from my bag and splashed it all over the box. After that, I poured a full bottle of Tongzi urine on it. Once the blood and urine were dry, I used ink mixed with peach wood powder to draw the Five Mystical Diagrams on the box. This should be enough to deal with this evil spirit. Now, all I need to do is wait until noon and burn it.

  After daybreak, under the command of Wang Changlao, the warriors began to clean up the scene. More than 600 people on the other side were all killed, and those who did not die were also beheaded with a curved knife. Most of them died from snake venom poisoning, some were bitten to death by mountain ghosts, and a few were accidentally shot dead by hidden weapons in front of the village due to the mechanism set up by San Di.

  More than 80 people on our side died from the poisonous sword of the ninja. Several warriors infected with corpse qi have been cured by my medical treatment and are now fine. The entire mountain stronghold is celebrating the recovery of the sacred object and the emergence of the new Miao king. As for the families of the deceased, they will naturally be handled within the Miao tribe itself.

  At the moment, there is nothing big going on. Lying in bed alone and resting feels quite boring. Wang Changlao has successfully become the new Miao King, and Fusangren's conspiracy was also thwarted. With the elimination of Mu Yunfeng, this old guy is particularly happy, but his happiness seems to have gone a bit overboard, even my dog, Jin Tou, seems to have been forgotten in the back of his mind.

  Close your eyes and it's the scene from last night, the cruel ninja scenes, so many people died, how much will add to the gloomy atmosphere here. For now, I plan to go find Wang Changlao to arrange for someone to prepare a Taoist altar, let my seventh brother do the rituals to calm those dead souls. As for that mountain ghost, it must be burned with fire at noon today when the yang energy is strongest, absolutely cannot delay until after today.

  There's also that terrifying snake charmer, I still haven't figured out who it is and I really want to see him. Every time he appears and disappears mysteriously, my mind wonders if it might be the work of that mysterious young man. Just now lying in bed feeling bored, thinking about some trivial things to do, there are still many. So I got up from bed, tidied up my clothes, because I'm really ugly, I don't have the habit of looking in the mirror.

  Walking out of the house, the weather outside is very good. I don't know what Wang Zhanglao is doing now, no, I shouldn't be calling him that anymore, it should be Da Wang. It's a bit difficult to change my tone suddenly.

  "Let's go find him in the conference hall first. That old thing is probably there." He thought to himself and headed towards the conference hall.

  Here is the translation:

  Upon arriving at the council hall, Elder Wang was indeed there, already wearing the Miao king's royal robe, looking very majestic. Especially the few wild chicken feathers inserted in his hat made him look particularly showy. At this time, he was sitting on the throne discussing internal affairs with some important figures of the Miao tribe. Seeing me come in, everyone hastily stood up to greet me, and I panicked, not knowing where to put my butt.

  After sitting down, I told them all the concerns in my heart. Everyone said it was reasonable. At this time, only one person spoke to me: "Ghost Taoist is indeed a divine man, destroying the copper corpse and killing Mu Yunfeng to retrieve the Snake Spirit Pearl is a great fortune for our clan, really making me admire."

  After finishing, he made a fist and saluted me. Looking straight at him, it was indeed the pale-faced young man who had shown hostility towards me that day. Seeing the wooden flute hanging from his waist, I suddenly remembered the sound of the wooden flute blown by the snake charmer twice. Wasn't this exactly the person I wanted to see?

  Seeing this, he hastily clasped his hands and returned the courtesy: "I don't dare to be compared with your esteemed snake-driving technique, which is truly magnificent. I was just about to ask Elder Wang to bring me to pay my respects to you."

  After a brief exchange of pleasantries, everyone began to discuss the matter. Wang Changlao said: "The sacred object of our clan, the Snake Spirit Pearl, has been returned to our clan with the help of Mr. Gu Dao. Tomorrow we should let the pearl return to its rightful place, otherwise the Snake God will definitely get angry. As for setting up an altar..."

  He said, and then looked at me. I knew what he meant and smiled and replied: "You just need to prepare all the things for the Taoist ritual, and when the time comes, call my fifth brother to recite the scriptures, and the merits will be complete, and this matter of sending off these spirits will be settled. By the way, that mountain ghost together with the box must be burned with great fire at noon today, otherwise it will surely bring disaster."

  Everyone nodded in agreement with my words, and the crowd was still discussing when Wang Changlao stood up and said to me: "This time, Ghost Dao owes you and your brother's help. Tonight, a special banquet will be held here, and you must arrive on time. If there is nothing else, today's meeting will end here."

  At noon, a raging fire engulfed the box containing the mountain ghost and other related items for the ritual were all ready, just waiting for Seventh Brother to recite sutras to deliver those deceased souls tomorrow.

  One day without incident, all brothers finally had time to talk about what each had experienced since they last parted ways.

  We six brothers took an oath together, each with their own strengths. Although we can't compare to the Peach Garden Oath of old, we are indeed a group of sworn brothers who share a bond of mutual understanding and support. Except for Eldest Fourth and Eldest Sixth, who have always followed me closely, Second Brother, Third Brother, and Fifth Brother all have their own affairs to attend to, so it's rare for the six of us to gather together in peace. When we think of each other, it's usually through letters. If not for this particularly tricky matter with Mu Yunfeng, I wouldn't dare lightly call them up to Miao Mountain.

  Everyone has sat down, I said with a guilty conscience: "Brothers, this time I asked you to come here to help Miao Village with all your might. In fact, there is another important matter that I have to ask for help from Miao Village, so I had to do it this way. Otherwise, how dare I let the brothers risk their lives?"

  "Big brother, is it appropriate to mention this matter at this time?" The meticulous old fourth hastily got up and came to the window to check, fearing that our words would be heard by the Miao people.

  "I don't know what business you have with Miao Village? Big brother sees that you look worried, it must be an important matter." Second Brother said anxiously.

  "Let the fourth elder explain it, there's no need to be so cautious about this matter. I've already discussed it with Elder Wang and he said he can help me. I think we can get an answer tomorrow after he finishes his business today." I dispelled Fourth Brother's concerns.

  Fourth brother nodded and immediately told everyone about the mysterious curse on our master's body in detail.

  "It turns out that Tianyu Shifu has encountered trouble, no wonder Big Brother is working so hard for the Miao people." Second Brother paused after hearing this and continued to say: "Since Big Brother can't solve the curse, I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything either. Unfortunately, our Master Baiyun Daozhang is rarely in the mountains and often travels outside, it's rare to meet him once, otherwise we could have asked him for some information. After going down the mountain, we must go visit Tianyu Shifu and see if there's anything we can help with, Big Brother just needs to speak up."

  "Yes, big brother." The third and fifth brothers also said sincerely.

  Several brothers spoke with sincere words, and my heart was deeply moved: "The good intentions of all the brothers, how could I not know? It's just that our line of work is always dealing with danger, so we must be extremely cautious in our actions."

  "Brother, don't worry about this, we will naturally understand." The second brother replied.

  My second brother is very skilled in the art of yin and yang, feng shui. He's a calm and steady person who commands great respect from me. Normally, he socializes with some high-ranking officials and nobles, helping them with feng shui and selecting auspicious burial sites - if he does it poorly, his head will be on the chopping block. As for my third brother, there's no need to mention him; being well-versed in the mysterious arts of qimen dunjia and mechanical arrays, his friends are all people with unknown identities. All I know is that he often appears and disappears in deep mountains and old forests, probably engaging in some shady and perilous activities.

  Although they can't meet often in daily life, their hearts are always attached to each other. On the contrary, Lao Wu is calm and peaceful when he becomes a monk.

  While everyone was talking, a warrior outside the door knocked and said: "The banquet is ready, Your Majesty invites the Taoist priest and all gentlemen to go to the banquet immediately."

  Everyone hastily stopped talking and got up to leave for the meeting hall before he could finish speaking. When they arrived at the meeting hall, all the important people in the clan were already seated, but when he looked around, he didn't see Hou Ling, and his heart couldn't help but feel extremely disappointed.