Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

Chapter 110 The Yang Family's Misfortune

When Ma Jiepu left, he told the Yang brothers that he had friends nearby who needed help, and that he would return after the problems were resolved. The distance was not far, so he left his donkey at the Yang family's house for the time being.

But if he didn't ride a donkey, the Yang brothers wondered where he could go. He couldn't go far on two legs alone. During the time Ma Jiepu stayed here, they didn't hear that he had any other friends in the vicinity.

As he was leaving, Ma Jiepu noticed that Lady Yin had completely calmed down, so he took the opportunity to tell Yang Wanshi what he had done that night, admitting that he was the one who had changed Lady Yin's nature.

His plan was well-thought-out. He knew that his trip would take a long time and he wouldn't be able to observe Lady Yin indefinitely. He told Yang Wanshi the truth in the hope that Yang Wanshi could use this information to his advantage after understanding what had happened. If Lady Yin made another move, Yang Wanshi could use this to retaliate.

The imagination is beautiful, but reality is often harsh. Ma Jiepu admitted that what he did was to let Yang Wanshi know that he also had the confidence to confront the Yin family. The fact that the Yin family was afraid of the giant monster who came to take her heart shows what? It shows that the Yin family was afraid. As long as Yang Wanshi stood up for himself, he could confront the other party and restore his husbandly authority.

But Ma Jiepu miscalculated. Yang Wanshi had no such idea at all. These days, he experienced being served by his wife for the first time. The contrast was too great, and he gradually became complacent and even forgot the fierceness of his wife, Yin.

So, one night after Ma Jiepu left, Yin recalled the ferocious appearance of the giant and couldn't help but tell Yang Wanshi about it. Yang Wanshi, wanting to please Yin, readily admitted that the giant monster that night was fake.

The monster that had frightened her for so long, for which she had restrained her temper and behaved herself as a virtuous wife, turned out to be a fake. There was no giant who could dig out a shrew's heart.

When Madam Yin learned the truth, she was furious. She first grabbed Yang Wanshi and interrogated him relentlessly, then beat him severely. Yang Wanshi couldn't win, and seeing that Madam Yin had suddenly returned to her usual fierce temper, he realized he had said the wrong thing and turned to run away.

Thinking of the countless cuts the giant had made to her chest, which were inextricably linked to Ma Jiepu and Yang Wanshi, Ma Jiepu was not present, but Yang Wanshi was. Immediately, Madam Yin picked up a kitchen knife and vowed to get revenge on Yang Wanshi for every cut she had suffered.

Seeing this, Yang Wanshi naturally continued to run. At first, he was still inside the house, but he soon ran out because of Yin's pursuit. That night, the Yang family experienced a long-awaited period of chaos and turmoil, with no peace for the entire family.

Yue Wuque sat on the rooftop, watching the two people chasing and fleeing below. Because of the noise, the lights in the surrounding houses turned on, and the Yang family members who heard the commotion began to gather here.

Madam Yin, carrying a knife, cursed at Yang Wanshi. No one dared to stop her. In the end, Yang Wanshi fled into the courtyard and hid behind the artificial hill. His younger brother, Yang Wanzhong, and his father rushed over.

Seeing that Madam Yin was about to take a knife to kill her son, Old Man Yang ran over to stop her. Seeing Old Man Yang, dressed in new clothes and living a comfortable life, rushing in front of her, Madam Yin, who was already angry, became even more furious. Regardless of where Yang Wanshi hid, she directly changed her target and slashed at the old man in front of her.

"Hello, hello."

Even Yue Wuque was startled by this. Old Man Yang was quite old, and it would be no joke if he were stabbed in the back.

Yue Wuque quietly channeled his inner energy to protect Old Man Yang's body. Thus, amidst Yin's wild slashing, only the old man's clothes were tattered, with no other injuries.

However, it was late at night, and the lights around them had been hastily lit by servants, making it impossible to see the true situation. But judging from the tattered clothes worn by Old Man Yang, he looked quite pitiful.

At this moment, Yang Wanshi was still running away with his head in his hands. The maids and servants dared not step forward because of Yin Shi's crazy appearance. Only Yang Wanzhong, compared to his weak-willed brother who dared not resist, still had some courage. Seeing his father being treated like this by Yin Shi, he finally could not bear it any longer, picked up the stone on the ground and threw it in Yin Shi's direction.

Yang Wanzhong was also furious. He wanted to stop Yin, but she had a knife and was behaving erratically. It would be unwise to rush forward. Fortunately, they were next to the artificial hill, where there were many small stones used for landscaping. When he threw them, he did so out of anger and without aiming.

But by sheer coincidence, the stone struck Yin's head with a thud, and she fell to the ground. Soon after, blood began to flow from her head, gradually forming a pool of blood on the ground.

Old Man Yang was saved, but Madam Yin lay unconscious on the ground, motionless in the dim light. No one dared to approach her; they could only watch from afar as if she were dead.

"They have guts and good aim, but their eyesight is lacking."

Yue Wuque had good eyesight and could tell that Madam Yin was not dead, but had only been in a coma for a short time. However, the people below did not know this and all thought that Madam Yin had been killed by the stone thrown by Yang Wanzhong.

The farce is about to come to an end. Yue Wuque stands up from the roof. The most crucial part is about to begin. He needs to seize the opportunity to save people.

On the Yang brothers' side, Yang Wanzhong saw that he had caused a death. As the younger brother, he had accidentally killed his sister-in-law. No matter how arrogant and fierce Madam Yin was, she had never caused a death. No matter how big the trouble she caused, in the end, it could only be attributed to the Yang family's own family affairs.

But tonight is different. He killed Ms. Yin, causing a death. The nature of the crime is different and cannot be judged as a normal family matter. This is a murder case.

To quell this matter, only...

"boom!"

Before the Yang family could react to the sudden turn of events, Yang Wanzhong knelt down facing Yang Wanshi and his father, bowed three times, and then spoke.

"I accidentally killed someone today because I lost my temper. Now that things have come to this, only my death can save my brother and father. Please take good care of my wife and children. I can die without regrets!"

"Ten thousand bushels!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Wanzhong immediately got up and rushed towards the well in the courtyard. He moved so fast that no one could stop him, and he disappeared into the deep well.

Yang Wanzhong is right. He killed the person. As long as he, the "murderer," is dead, both sides will be even, and the matter can be put to rest. There's no need to push the Yang family into another fire pit because of some murder case.

In reality, Madam Yin did not die; she was simply knocked unconscious by the stones. She woke up shortly after Yang Wanzhong threw herself into the well and sat up amidst the grief of the Yang family.

Before she lost consciousness, she saw Yang Wanzhong throw stones at her, and then she lost consciousness the next second. You can figure out exactly what happened if you think about it carefully.

Knowing her temper, she would definitely have confronted Yang Wanzhong upon waking. But in just a short while, Yang Wanzhong died, and Madam Yin's anger subsided. Tonight, this farce in the Yang family finally came to an end…

Of course it wasn't over yet. Yue Wuque was watching the whole thing from right above them, so how could he let Yang Wanzhong die like that? Seeing his father being beaten, he would angrily retaliate, and when he realized he had caused trouble, he bravely stood up to take responsibility. In Yue Wuque's eyes, Yang Wanzhong was more like a normal person than Yang Wanshi. It would be such a pity if he jumped into the well because of this.

Besides, Lady Yin didn't die at all, so Yang Wanzhong didn't need to rush to commit suicide.

When Yang Wanzhong woke up, he found himself lying in a desolate wilderness with the moon hanging high in the sky. Before losing consciousness, he remembered jumping into a well and should have died.

Could this be the underworld?

"I'm sorry, it's not time for you to go to the underworld yet."

"Who?"

Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Yang Wanzhong jumped up with a start. Yue Wuque pulled him out quickly enough that Yang Wanzhong's body was not injured at all from jumping into the well, and even the hem of his clothes was not wet.

When Yang Wanzhong stood up, he realized that there was another person behind him. The person wore a white robe with intricate brass patterns, with frayed edges on the shoulders and arms, peculiar light golden hair, an exaggerated headdress, and a similarly intricately designed pipe in his hand.

The moonlight wasn't very bright tonight, and there were no candles around. Yue Wuque wasn't standing very close either, so logically, Yang Wanzhong shouldn't have been able to see the person standing opposite him.

However, Yue Wuque seemed to have its own light source, and Yang Wanzhong not only saw it, but saw it very clearly, so clearly that he felt that his eyes were playing tricks on him or that he was dreaming.

If it wasn't a dream, why would he see someone standing there who was so extraordinary from head to toe, down to the last strand of hair? He was indeed dead; the person before him was either a monster or a deity.

He should be dead. He committed suicide by jumping into a well so that his father and brothers could be safe. I've heard that people encounter illusions after they die, and this person in front of me might be a messenger from that illusion.

Since it's not human, it's normal for it to look different from a human.

"..."

Seeing what Yang Wanzhong was thinking, Yue Wuque was speechless for a moment. He had clearly said that Yang Wanzhong was not dead when he first woke up, but the guy was so engrossed in his own world that he completely ignored him.

He retracted his previous praise of Yang Wanzhong, saying that the man wasn't very intelligent and that he and Yang Wanshi were indeed brothers.

……

"This is it."

Ma Jiepu and Mo Xunzong stood in front of a house. The guy who used witchcraft to abduct people was really a spineless coward. They didn't even need to interrogate him. After giving him a dozen or so lashes, he spilled everything like beans.

He wasn't a member of the White Lotus sect; he had only learned a few tricks from folk shamans before. His previous job involved using animal-breeding witchcraft to abduct people, because it was difficult for ordinary people to connect livestock with missing people, and he rarely failed in this line of work.

After leading the cattle and sheep away, he would turn the person back into a human and sell them. Because of his unique witchcraft, he could even accept specific orders. When someone said they wanted a certain person, he would turn that person into livestock and lead them away. The person's disappearance was so seamless that their family could not find them.

Generally speaking, this method is mainly used to facilitate the transfer of living people. It is necessary to sneak around when kidnapping people, but you can openly walk through the gate with a few sheep and walk past a group of people without anyone suspecting that you are a kidnapper.

So most of the time, these animals transformed by witchcraft would eventually turn back into humans. But this time was different. A very wealthy person approached them, and the person's requirement was that any kind of person would be acceptable, but the witchcraft had to be broken and the animals had to be used as the means of delivery.

This request is indeed a bit strange. If the witchcraft is not broken, those people can only maintain the appearance of livestock, and their movements will be even stiffer than real livestock. Moreover, they cannot be given water, and there is no special effect. That state is just pure suffering.

Although his demands were a bit strange, the other party offered him so much. Besides, he'd been in this line of work for a long time, so he'd long since lost his conscience. Since the other party was willing to pay, he was naturally willing to put in the effort.

Because there were no requirements regarding the number of people or the quantity, and the payment was only based on the final quantity delivered, this person thought he could make as much money as possible, so he grabbed five adults in one go, which were the same five donkeys he had initially brought.

Then, feeling that wasn't enough, he went and caught five more children. Children were easier to catch than adults because they could be lured with candy, so he was quicker to catch them.

The requirement is that the animals must be transformed from humans, and the humans cannot be transformed back. The more I think about it, the more wrong it seems. Animals transformed by animal witchcraft cannot work. If they are left unattended, they are likely to die of thirst. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it would be better to buy some real animals to raise.

Who would make such a ridiculous request? Mo Xunzong felt that the other party was trying to fool them, but after investigation, there was indeed a wealthy person in the city who matched the description.

The fact that they could do business with someone who knew animal witchcraft meant that the other party was not an ordinary person. The reason the government was able to arrest one today was because of the extraordinary events involving Ma Jiepu and Mo Xunzong, as well as the shopkeeper and his assistant who took the initiative to report to the authorities.

Without prior warning, it would be difficult for the officers and soldiers to take the initiative. Ma Jiepu felt that something was amiss and decided to go to the so-called "transaction location" to see what was going on.

Mo Xunzong accompanied them because the one who used witchcraft to abduct people was not from the White Lotus Sect, and the other party had already been arrested, so the clues had been cut off. They could only take it one step at a time.

Having heard that Mo Xunzong had arrived a few days earlier than him but had made no progress, Ma Jiepu was puzzled. Mo Xunzong seemed a bit impatient, but his martial arts skills were definitely sufficient. Why had he made no progress in investigating the White Lotus Sect?

Even if you can't find it yourself, can't you just ask?

"Since innocent spirits are suffering, why not investigate the spirits themselves?"

For example, Ma Jiepu himself was asked for help by a little demon. The White Lotus Sect was capturing little demons everywhere. Shouldn't they have asked the surviving victims directly instead?

"I tried."

Mo Xunzong had certainly tried this method.

"But those little monsters ran away as soon as they saw me, which confused me and I didn't have a chance to ask them anything."

Ma Jiepu glanced at Mo Xunzong, then at the conspicuous longsword behind him, and almost forgot that this man was a Taoist priest, and monsters would indeed avoid him.

The two didn't bother to knock on the door as usual. The person across the street wanted to buy a human-turned-livestock, so they couldn't possibly be a good person. Instead, they climbed over the wall. With their skills, they could scale rooftops without being detected.

They actually found something when they climbed over the wall. Instead of the "buyer" who was supposed to be there, they found several members of the White Lotus Sect.

Upon seeing the clothing worn by several people in the courtyard, which belonged to the White Lotus Sect, Ma Jiepu and Mo Xunzong on the roof exchanged a glance. Although the person using the animal-creating witchcraft was not from the White Lotus Sect, the buyer seemed to be from the White Lotus Sect.

So, the two of them found the White Lotus Sect hidden in the city from another direction, which was truly a cause for celebration.