Chapter 161

Chapter 161: Temple of Virtue And Principles At Night

After Mu Yi came back, Li the Good didn’t ask anything . Mu Yi said he wanted to stay there for one more day but Li the Good didn’t mind .

He was neither blind nor deaf . He had heard and saw what had happened . Mu Yi came back safe and sound . Even if they stayed for one more day, they’d be safe . Mu Yi had given him lots of money anyway . He could live for a whole year with the amount Mu Yi had given to him .

The manager of the Kang Clan had died . Only the servants were left . They prepared some food for Mu Yi during the day . Big Slave ate happily . Li the Good ate so much that his mouth was covered with oil at the end . Only Mu Yi ate a little bit . He meditated after . In the afternoon, he made some charms .

It was the first time he made charms since his battle against Qu Yang . Usually, when they were traveling, he spent his time carrying out the sacrificial ritual of the Bamboo Tree of Life or stabilizing his cultivation . Having a break to make some charms was a good thing .

He hadn’t made charms for a while but that didn’t mean anything . He hadn’t forgotten how to make charms . His mind strength had become more powerful after all . He found that making charms was easier than before .

Mu Yi stayed in his room the entire afternoon . There was a large pile of charms on the right side of the table at the end of the day . Most of them were exorcism charms and evil spirit slaying charms . On the left side, there were only two charms . However, the two charms couldn’t be compared with the pile of charms on the right . The two charms were extraordinary .

The two charms were five thunders charms . They were also the best charms Mu Yi knew how to make . If Mu Yi could have as many five thunders charms as he wished, he wouldn’t need to fear anyone . Unfortunately, he could only have five of the charms at once at his cultivation level .

His brush danced above the yellow paper . The brush was made of yellow weasel hair . As Mu Yi drew the brush produced pale white light . It didn’t seem real . The white lights entered the paper .

When Mu Yi finished the last stroke, the lights flickered . The five thunders charm rose up in the air and flashed for a few seconds . It landed back on the table after . Mu Yi was delighted . Even though the five thunders charm didn’t seem different from the two others, Mu Yi knew it was different .

After that, he put another sheet of paper in front of him and continued drawing . He didn’t rest at all . He continued making five thunders charms . Mu Yi looked happier as time passed . .

Without noticing it, his Qi changed . It felt strange to him . His success rate had increased . In the past, he had never managed to make five thunder charms one after another . This time, not only did he succeed, but he didn’t even notice it . It felt so easy .

Mu Yi didn’t continue after that . He put his brush aside and closed his eyes . He opened his eyes and smiled . He picked up all the charms he had made .

As for the village, the situation hadn’t been lively for a very long time . Some people from the Kang Clan had been killed . Even the woman who had a memorial arch in her honor had died . Everybody remained silent about the sex scandals .

The Kang Clan, the Zhang Clan and the Zhao Clan were three rival powers and they stood like the legs of a tripod . They all had power and influence . The Zhang and the Zhao clans started joining hands and the Kang Clan had collapsed .

The two clans wanted a Taoist priest to come and hold Daoist ceremonies for the Dead . It required someone to remove any resentful Qi to preserve the serenity of the village . Even though the dead were respected, the living were still more important .

The two clans asked Mu Yi if he could do the ritual . There were many offerings in front of the altars . Initially, people from the village wanted to watch but the two clans made them leave . Only those who had prestige and influence were allowed to stay .

Mu Yi arrived in Zhao Quan’s territory during the second of the five night watch periods (from 9PM to 11PM) only . If it hadn’t been for Mu Yi, they would have all slept much earlier . After Mu Yi arrived, he noticed Xue Wu . Why hadn’t he gone back to the county town? Mu Yi didn’t ask him why he was still there . He slowly walked to the altar .

The altar was a small temple . It had a gate but it wasn’t high . Mu Yi stood in front of it . A few words were written on it, “To those who had high principles and left behind a good reputation” . On both sides of the gate, there were a few words as well, “arch in the honor of graceful women” and “temple in the honor of virtuous women” .

When Mu Yi saw that, he smiled . Maybe in the beginning, women were really virtuous but it had probably changed with time . As Mu Yi had said, how many souls were inside and maybe didn’t deserve it? Tears and blood had been given up for honor and money .

At least, when Mu Yi traveled with the old Taoist Priest, he had seen such things . He had met a widow who had been hounded to death by her mother-in-law because she wanted her to be honored in a temple . On top of that, the government could give them thirty Liang silver .

The names of chaste and virtuous women were recorded in local annals . The emperors even personally wrote poems for such women . Chaste women were then remembered throughout history . In some places, it was even more serious . If a clan didn’t have a chaste woman, then other clans considered them to be impure . It was a bit absurd but it existed .

In such circumstances, women who had lost their husbands were doomed to live miserable lives . Mu Yi had noticed Zhao Quan and the other old man’s reactions . He noticed some resentful Qi around them . Mu Yi knew there was something wrong in the village based on that and considering what had already happened .

They used to have doubts but now they saw it with their own eyes . Mu Yi realized his vision was too simplistic . The resentful Qi was thick and dense, much thicker than what Mu Yi had imagined . It seemed to be suppressed by something, however, it wouldn’t disappear .

“When was this temple built? Has anything strange ever happened in the mausoleum?” asked Mu Yi .

Zhao Quan wasn’t sure how to respond but spoke anyway .

“It was built around sixty years ago, around 1840 . Back then, a xiucai (translator’s note: a xiucai is someone who passed the imperial examination at the county level in the Ming and Qing dynasties) built the temple and wrote the tablets himself . He used his money to build the temple . He died a while ago,” Zhao Quan said .

“Has anything strange ever happened?” said Zhao Quan frowning and thinking .

“One night, ten years ago, people heard thunder and the roof of the mausoleum was struck by lightning,” said someone .

“Ten years ago?” said Mu Yi, “Does the xiucai have any children?”

“No, they’re all dead,” said Zhao Quan without hesitation .

““Are you sure?” asked Mu Yi .

“Yes . Actually, when the xiucai died, he had a young son but he died before reaching the age of two . He suddenly fell ill and died,” said Zhao Quan .

“Have many men die suddenly in the last few years?” asked Mu Yi .

“A lot indeed . We asked many doctors for help but many men still died even though nobody harmed them,” said Zhao Quan .

They had also noticed the abnormal death rate amongst the men .

“Do you consecrate all your women in there?” asked Mu Yi .

“Only chaste women . ” said Zhao Quan .

“Including those who died from being persecuted?” said Mu Yi mockingly .

Zhao Quan’s face stiffened . He didn’t have a reply .

“Alright, move back now,” said Mu Yi .

He decided to ignore Zhao Quan . He made them walk away from the altar . When Zhao Quan and the others were far enough, Mu Yi put the Bamboo Tree of Life on the table . He took out a few exorcism charms .

The old men and Xue Wu were soon surrounded by white lights . Their hearts twitched . They wanted to escape but then they realized the white lights were harmless . When the white lights entered their bodies, they felt nice and warm . It was as if they had been cleansed .

“That’s… theurgy!” said one of the old men shaking .

He was shocked . His legs felt weak . He felt that his body was now filled with strength . He felt powerful . It could only be theurgy . The old men thought it was theurgy but Xue Wu had seen a lot in life . When he sensed the changes in his body, he only looked pleasantly surprised .

Initially, he had gone back and had hesitated all day on whether to inform his superiors of what had happened or not . One full day was enough to gather enough people . Finally, he had decided not to do that . Some unexplained event that called for a supernatural explanation had happened so he wanted to see what Mu Yi intended to do .

He had come back . Nothing had started but he could see incredible things . He thought that it was good he hadn’t informed his superiors!