Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Zhuyang City had done a very good job with its greening efforts, and there were even wild peach blossoms on the mountains in the suburbs. However, once the news of the peach blossoms blooming spread throughout the city, people discovered that only the peach blossoms near the pedestrian street were actually in bloom.
Not to mention the peach blossoms outside the city, even the peach blossoms just two streets away were at most in bud.
This attracted a constant stream of visitors, and even the city’s television station recorded a short news report about these unusual early-blooming peach trees.
However, the previous speculations didn’t quite hold up. Even if the peach blossoms had mistakenly believed the blooming season was approaching and bloomed prematurely, only to be blown away, how could different peach blossoms have different intelligence? Were the peach blossoms near the Golden Osmanthus Pedestrian Street so easily fooled?
For a time, all sorts of theories and speculations arose.
Some said there was a hot spring underground that forced the peach blossoms to bloom— obviously unlikely, as there was a Baoyang Spring nearby, a perfectly normal cold water spring.
Some say it was because there were always food vendors here, and the smoke from their cooking fires from morning till night created the smell— that was a bit bizarre too.
The most amazing story was that a wealthy man planned to propose here, so he had people frantically shake the trees every day to make the peach blossoms bloom, and last night, during the proposal, he had the trees shaken so hard that all the petals fell. One reason was to create a romantic atmosphere with falling petals, and another was to hope that only the two of them could see the blossoms— this was the most popular explanation.
….
Xie Lingya, because he lived at the street corner, even had classmates ask him if he’d seen it, wondering which wealthy person was so foolish.
Perhaps because peach blossoms while believed to ward off evil, also carry a certain allure, most people preferred to believe their blooming was related to love.
“I don’t know, I slept very soundly last night,” Xie Lingya feigned ignorance.
A female classmate said enviously, “Although the flowers are pitiful like this, if my boyfriend proposed to me with winter peach blossoms that only I could see, I would definitely marry him.”
Xie Lingya showed a look of disapproval.
A female classmate said sullenly, “That’s why you don’t have a girlfriend. Most straight men don’t have a romantic soul.” Xie Lingya’s personal problems were notorious; no one could handle him.
Xie Lingya: “…”
Damn, his romantic soul was terrifying to hear.
Another classmate added quietly, “What do you know? Xie Lingya doesn’t need a romantic soul. He just needs girls to be romantic for him…”
Xie Lingya almost came out on the spot, bowing respectfully, “Please, stop talking. I’m going to ask Professor Zhu for leave.”
“Are you asking for leave again?” Xie Lingya’s attendance rate was as famous as his difficulty in handling people. Every time he came back, he would frantically catch up on lessons, and it was said that when he went on business trips, he represented a Taoist temple to perform rituals or something, very mysterious.
“Yes.” Xie Lingya didn’t say much. This time, it was someone introduced by Tang Qi who wasn’t in the city, so he needed to ask for leave to go there.
Tang Qi gave a brief introduction. Recently, he had been working with the other party’s son. He heard that after his father went on a trip, his stomach swelled up, and the hospital couldn’t cure him. Someone who knew some tricks said that his father seemed to have been cursed.
So, Tang Qi’s partner changed tactics. Thinking about his father’s recent travels, they went to the places he was visiting, hoping to find the person who had cast the curse and remove it. However, being unfamiliar with the area, they also spoke to local villagers, but the person didn’t seem inclined to show up.
He knew something was wrong and didn’t know how his father had offended such a powerful figure. Upon returning, he inquired everywhere about experts in this field, hoping to invite them for a duel.
Tang Qi, of course, immediately thought of Xie Lingya. His partner was very wealthy and willing to pay the old man; the reward would be extremely high if the cure was successful.
Xie Lingya, who was diligently saving money, packed his things and asked for leave upon hearing the news. He took Xiao Dian and Guo Xing with him, leaving Shi Changxuan to oversee the temple. After all, there was still an unidentified Tantric master lurking in the shadows, and he feared the man might harm others.
Guo Xing was also taking leave for the first time for something like this, lying to his teacher that there was a family emergency, unable to contain his excitement.
Seeing his appearance, Xie Lingya thought he actually had potential for this line of work…
Last time, Guo Xing was disgusted and screamed for a long time, but when he had this opportunity to observe, he became excited again.
If he were scared out of his wits the first time and worried about everything, even the most talented person wouldn’t be able to do it.
….
Tang Qi’s partner was named Fu Zhiye, and he lived in Qingqiu City, which wasn’t too far away; it only took a little over an hour by high-speed rail.
Xie Lingya gave Guo Xing some instructions on what to do after arriving at the host’s house. He didn’t need to worry about Xiao Dian; he had been taught a lesson when he followed that swindler master.
Fu Zhiye’s family arranged for a driver to pick them up at the high-speed rail station, but when Xie Lingya arrived at the Fu family’s house, he found that there were two other groups of people besides them. One group was a middle-aged man and woman, thin and unremarkable.
But this wasn’t surprising; Fu Zhiye was very concerned about his father’s affairs, and Tang Qi had told him that he had also asked others for help, and he had many friends like Tang Qi who introduced him to people. It wasn’t unusual for him to run into a few of them.
Encountering fellow travelers at the host’s house, even the usually cheerful Xie Lingya only nodded slightly, and no one spoke.
The other group was someone Fu Zhiye met after he came out— a tall, burly middle-aged man with gray hair. As Fu Zhiye walked towards the living room, he asked, “Master Niu, how long will it take for a result?”
Master Niu replied, “In three hours, if the water hasn’t been poured out, it proves your father can still be saved.”
Fu Zhiye nodded repeatedly, then saw several people outside and went to greet them, “Is that Teacher Xie, and Mr. and Mrs. Bao? We’ve kept you waiting.”
He also glanced at the two people behind Xie Lingya, assuming they were Xie Lingya’s assistants or apprentices.
“Mr. Fu,” Xie Lingya and the couple took turns shaking hands with Fu Zhiye.
Fu Zhiye said with a hint of apology, “My father is seriously ill, and we’ve sought treatment everywhere, hoping for his speedy recovery. Please forgive us… I wonder which master will go in next?”
No one present seemed bothered by the queue; they were all there to earn money, and their attitude was very good.
Xie Lingya spread his hands, “Please, gentlemen?”
The middle-aged couple, both surnamed Bao, were probably siblings. They hadn’t expected Xie Lingya to let them go first. They exchanged a glance and looked at Xie Lingya, “What is your name, sir?”
Xie Lingya gave his name.
“…Teacher Xie from Baoyang Temple.” Unexpectedly, the two recognized Xie Lingya, their expressions revealing understanding, as if to say, “No wonder he dared to let others see first.”
Xie Lingya only paused slightly, then smiled at them.
Guo Xing, seeing that Teacher Xie was so renowned outside, felt a strange sense of pride, but remembering Xie Lingya’s instructions, he didn’t dare say anything.
In return, they introduced themselves: the man was Bao Wenqi, and the woman was Bao Wenshan, siblings, who then went into the room.
The old Master Niu hadn’t left either, waiting silently with Xie Lingya and the other two in the living room.
About twenty minutes later, the Bao siblings came out, not to finish their examination, but to bring their tools; it seemed they were about to begin treatment.
Seeing this, Master Niu sat up a little straighter, a bit nervously. After all, if Bao Wenshan and the others cured the person, he and Xie Lingya would have made a wasted trip, at most receiving some travel expenses.
Xie Lingya initially didn’t know what kind of people they were, but seeing the tools the two had, he whispered to Guo Xing and Xiao Dian, “Shaman.”
Guo Xing and Xiao Dian’s eyes widened; they had only heard of shamans before.
A shaman was essentially a “witch,” a Tungusic word, mostly practiced by ethnic minorities in China. However, in recent decades, shamans have become increasingly rare in China.
Since shamans performed rituals, the ceremony probably couldn’t be confined to one room. Since they didn’t ask Master Niu and Xie Lingya to leave, everyone sat in the living room and watched the shamans perform the ritual.
Bao Wenshan held a banner made of colorful paper, which she stuck outside the gate. She then prepared an incense table and chanted, “Offering tea and wine to welcome the gods, above is the Azure Heaven, below is the Earth Official, Heavenly Official, Earth Official, the Three Officials of Fortune, the Running Divine Horse, the High Emperor Jade Emperor, the City God of this county, welcome them home…”
This was an invitation to the gods, a mixture of Buddhist and Taoist deities, historical figures, and of course, ancestors.
Xie Lingya had a vague feeling that Bao Wenshan and her brother possessed some skill; they might not be able to invite the City God of this county, but they had certainly managed to summon the powerful figures from the Yin Temple.
Bao Wenshan and Bao Wenqi jumped up and down, sweating profusely, their chanting becoming increasingly rapid. Everyone’s expressions became tense, infected by their own anxiety.
Finally, with a snap, the incense sticks on the table broke off, and Bao Wenshan stumbled back two steps and sat on the ground.
Bao Wenqi frowned, hastily changing the ritual, her back hunched like an animal’s, “Please sit in a row, the Golden Flower Cat God hasn’t arrived yet…”
They’d switched to summoning an animal god.
Xie Lingya thought to himself, even the Yin Temple’s strongmen weren’t working, could the cat god possibly be effective?
“Ooh-ah-ah—” A loud cry came from inside the room, the tone unusual, or rather, not quite human, extremely loud, and faintly resembling… a rooster’s crow.
Bao Wenqi’s eyes lit up, and she skipped into the room, Fu Zhiye following behind.
Xie Lingya couldn’t help but stand up, peering into the room, but it wasn’t appropriate to go in; such peeking was already inappropriate.
Father Fu screamed painfully a few times before his voice suddenly stopped.
Outside, Bao Wenshan, still sitting on the floor, looked disappointed.
Master Niu and Xie Lingya exchanged a glance; it seemed they had failed again.
Fu Zhiye emerged somewhat dejected. These past few days, Bao Wenshan and her team had achieved the most results; his father had been so ill he couldn’t speak and showed no reaction to the spells.
Fu Zhiye made up his mind and told his secretary, “Tell everyone I’ll add another 500,000 in reward.”
Everyone present felt a surge of warmth.
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