I have a weird dynasty

Chapter 12 Test
Sang Que had never thought of staying here for a long time, so there was no need to ask so many questions and add to his own troubles. After returning, he would forget everything here and continue to stay with his mother.

"But there is one thing I want to ask you. How did you recognize me right away? Do we look alike?"

Kou Yushan looked at Sang Que with complicated eyes for a moment, then sighed, "You are not actually similar to your mother. When your mother left, she said that when you appear in the future, you will be obviously different from the people here."

"You may also bring something that doesn't belong here, which is easy to identify, so that I can do my best to help you when I see you. When you came the day before yesterday, did you leave a dagger here?"

Sang Que frowned. Does this mean that her biological mother knew that she would travel through time from the modern era?
Or, could it be that her biological mother was the previous holder of the evil-averting money and could travel freely between the two worlds?

Could it be that Yan Daozi stayed in Heishan Village to investigate just for this reason?

Sang Que became uncontrollably curious, so she quickly stopped thinking about it.

These things have nothing to do with her. There must be a big network behind Yan Daozi, and her biological mother has brought her here. She cannot trap herself in it and must get out of it as soon as possible.

"What does mountain ghost mean? Since there is a word for 'ghost', why do we call those things evil spirits?"

Kou Yushan lowered his voice and said, "Ghost is the former name of God. Calling those things ghosts is disrespectful to ghosts and gods, so they are all called evil spirits. However, there are also some extremely powerful and terrifying evil spirits that are called ghosts. I can't explain the specific reasons and differences."

"The one enshrined in the Wu Temple is the Wu Niangniang, who possesses the power of mountain ghosts. It was originally a national temple, but more than 20 years ago, it was suddenly designated as an obscene temple with evil gods, and no one was allowed to offer sacrifices to her anymore."

"Let's talk about Yan Daozi."

The village was just ahead. The sun was blazing brightly at noon and there was no one outside. Passing by the small blue brick courtyard where Yan Daozi lived at the end of the village, Sang Que stopped to look for a while and listened to Kou Yushan briefly telling her about Yan Daozi's origins.

Kou Yushan didn't know that Yan Daozi had already resigned from his post in the Suppression of Evils Division and thought that he was still a member of the Suppression of Evils Division of the imperial court, as recorded in Mingzhang's Notes.

Kou Yushan said that Yan Daozi was a Taoist who had a certain level of Taoism skills and was able to draw talismans and make some magical instruments to exorcise evil spirits. Kou Yushan didn't know much about the evil spirits that he controlled.

Before Mingzhang's sudden death, Yan Daozi had instructed Mingzhang to handle most of the affairs in the village. Apart from drawing talismans, Yan Daozi had never taken any direct action.

Only in the Corpse Nest incident did Kou Yushan see Yan Daozi use his evil power to tear the zombies into pieces, leaving them with broken limbs and losing their power.

Kou Yushan didn’t know anything else.

Sang Que guessed that Yan Daozi should not be able to use the evil power at will, so he would not take action if he could avoid it. Maybe every time he took action, he would be retaliated against, and he would need to perform a "blood sacrifice" to quell the backlash.

It seems that I can't just try to control the evil spirits. I have to master the method first.

Passing by Liu's house, Sangque saw the big locust tree with bared fangs and claws in the yard, and stopped again, recalling the scene when he first traveled through time.

On the dirt road we just walked on, we could still see dark traces of blood seeping into the ground.

There are two places, one belongs to the Liu couple, and the other belongs to Mingzhang.

Kou Yushan said, "The Liu family is also pitiful. The only daughter of the old couple was forced to death by Yan Daozi, and finally the old couple also died in the hands of evil spirits. Their bodies were all disemboweled and their hearts were dug out. They were also missing an arm, a tongue, and a pair of eyeballs. It was horrible to see."

"The Liu family also has a son named Liu Tianyou. Do you really not remember him?" Sang Que asked Kou Yushan.

Kou Yushan was stunned for a moment, frowned and shook his head, "If you hadn't asked, I really wouldn't have remembered that Mingzhang had also come to ask if the Liu family had a son. It seems that the evil spirit is causing trouble again."

"In Heishan Village, such evil spirits are actually rare. Most of the time, as long as you keep your doors and windows closed at night, stay indoors, don't go out on rainy days, and don't go to cold places during the day, you basically won't encounter any powerful evil spirits."

Kou Yushan continued walking forward. He lived at the entrance of Heishan Village.

Sang Que followed behind, and after taking two steps she suddenly heard a slight sound of something falling. She frowned and turned around, and found a blood-stained book under the shadow of the Liu family's old locust tree.

In the blink of an eye, the book disappeared again, as if it had never existed.

Sang Que withdrew his gaze and saw a white lantern hanging on the door of the house opposite the Liu family. It should be the home of Li Weiming, who had given birth to twins.

Not far away, I saw that the house next door also had white lanterns hanging.

Kou Yushan took a look and sighed heavily, "It was the young lady of the He family who was favored by Yan Daozi, and she died last night."

Sangque mourned in silence. Liu Caifeng of the Liu family had died, and Yan Daozi must have chosen the youngest daughter of this family for the blood sacrifice.

After taking a breath, Sang Que changed the subject, "Where is the nearest evil-suppression office?"

"The Evil Suppression Division is only set up in the capital cities of each state. Some large counties have branches, but the Evil Suppression Division is seriously understaffed. Therefore, we don't have a branch of the Evil Suppression Division in Tangyuan County. There is a Evil Suppression Division in Wangshan City, but it is very far away and it is impossible for ordinary people to reach it."

"why?"

"The journey is too long. Even if there are post stations along the way where we can spend the night, if something unexpected happens and we cannot reach the post stations before nightfall, we will surely die in the wild. The villagers of Heishan Village have never traveled far. At most, they have been to Tangyuan County and surrounding villages which can be reached in a day. No matter how hard and difficult life is here, at least there is land to cultivate and houses to shelter from wind, rain and evil spirits. It is a little difficult, but we can survive." Sang Que nodded. In a world where evil spirits are rampant, shelter is the hope of survival and it cannot be abandoned casually. I just don't know how the marriage is carried out.

These have nothing to do with the current situation, so Sang Que suppressed his curiosity for the time being.

"Do you have any books about evil spirits? The kind that record the characteristics of various evil spirits and their killing rules?"

When Kou Yushan mentioned this, he suddenly looked flustered. He glanced around and lowered his voice and said, "Don't ever dare to mention this kind of thing in the future. The court does not allow anyone to record evil deeds in any form. If you are caught by the Evil Suppression Bureau, you will be punished. The best you can do is pass it on through word of mouth among the older generation in the village."

Sang Que frowned, not quite understanding this approach. Wouldn't it increase the survival rate of the people by recording the evil spirits and letting everyone know the evil spirits' killing rules?

Kou Yushan explained, "I didn't understand it before, but now as I grow older, I slowly realize that the court has its reasons for doing so. Some of the evil spirits I saw when I was a child have been gradually forgotten and are now rarely seen."

"Perhaps the more people know about evil spirits, the more rampant and powerful they will become. However, there are always new evil spirits that appear, leaving people helpless. We can only try to listen less, watch less, and be less curious, not go to places we shouldn't go to, and don't touch things we shouldn't touch."

Sang Que seemed to be lost in thought, vaguely feeling that he had grasped the key points, but just like being asked to summarize the main idea in class, he found it difficult to sum it up in a concise and clear sentence.

If it were my mom, she would definitely hit the nail on the head.

"Then tell me about the evil spirits that you know of that are active around the village."

While talking to Sang Que, Kou Yushan took her to the mud house at the entrance of the village. Opposite Kou Yushan's house was the residence of the old village chief and his family.

Kou Yushan's house was very tidy. There were some wooden stakes for practicing martial arts in the yard, and a hunting bow hanging on the wall in the house. Sang Que saw it and took it down.

Holding the bow in his left hand and the string in his right hand, Sangque straightened his back, pulled the bowstring into a straight line, and his eyes suddenly became as sharp as an eagle.

It’s heavier and more laborious than a modern hunting bow, but with some practice, you should be able to get the feel and accuracy back.

After pouring water for Sang Que, Kou Yushan turned around and was shocked to see Sang Que pulling the bow to its full length, with an upright posture and an expressionless face.

He is the only one in the village who can pull the bow to its full length. Sangque is not short in height, but looks thin. How could he have so much strength?

What a hero among women!
Kou Yushan scratched his head, "Have you practiced before?"

Sangque put down his bow and said, "Yeah."

Unfortunately, Kou Yushan said that Yao Yu Niang was gentle in nature and she couldn't destroy her character. It would be better for her to continue pretending to be a weak woman, which would also lower Yan Daozi's vigilance.

After learning a lot about Heishan Village and evil spirits from Kou Yushan, Sang Que went with Kou Yushan to visit the village chief and neighbors to get to know them and confirm their identities.

As dusk approached, Sang Que thanked Kou Yushan for his stay and help, took the hatchet he gave her, and went alone to Yan Daozi's residence to "become his disciple."

When he arrived at the small courtyard at the end of the village, Sangque heard bursts of crying and begging from afar.

"Master Yan, I have already given my young daughter to you. Now Xiao Si has become like this. You can't just stand by and watch her die."

"Please, Master Yan, please save my little Si. I, He Baosheng, will work like a slave for you!"

Sang Que walked to the gate of the yard and saw a middle-aged couple holding an unconscious little boy who looked about seven or eight years old.

The two men were kneeling in front of Yan Daozi, begging with tears in their eyes.

Bad luck only picks out the miserable!
When he saw Sang Que, Yan Daozi's irritable brows relaxed and his eyes brightened.

"It's just a small matter of being possessed by evil spirits and losing your soul. It just so happens that I have a new disciple today, so let her come to summon the soul of your little fourth child."

Sang Que stood at the gate of the yard with a dazed look on his face, and even wanted to take back his foot and pretend that he had never been there.

"Your name is Yu Niang, right? Although we have a master-disciple relationship, if you don't work hard, I'm afraid that our master-disciple relationship will not last. Now I will give you a test."

"If you can successfully summon back the soul of the fourth child of the He family, I will accept you as my disciple and teach you the orthodox Taoist method. Come in first, and I will tell you in detail about summoning souls."

Yan Daozi turned around and went into the house. Qin Fangru, the wife of the He family, was sobbing while holding her child. She stared at Sang Que who suddenly appeared without blinking, her eyes full of worry and fear.

He Baosheng, the man of the He family, clenched his fists, his eyes turned red with indignation, and he looked at Sang Que with questioning eyes.

Sang Que lowered her head and followed Yan Daozi into the house. It was so sad that Yan Daozi was using the life and death of the He family's child to test her.

And now she has no choice.

(End of this chapter)