Chapter 43

The inscription on the stele reads as follows:

'Above the three realms, there is the vast and boundless Great Luo; in the world, there are a thousand billion ghosts; the divine is even more distant, while the ghosts are closer; the world is full of danger, and this cannot be known; seal the evil ghosts in the hole, and do not release them lightly; if a ghost tugs at the soul, one must be cautious.'

Those born under the eight characters of pure Yin will surely be tempted by evil ghosts; the person born on a certain year, month, day, and hour must never enter within a hundred paces of this place!

Below is a series of incantations, which the private tutor could not understand even after translating. However, the other parts were clear, clearly stating that Lady Qin's eight characters would be tempted by evil ghosts, and opening this ghost gate would allow them to come and go... Instantly, the Qin family felt a chill!

Qin Ming and Qin Lu quickly had the stone slab and stele placed back into the cave, layering it with soil. Strangely, no matter how thick the soil was, a fist-sized hole would appear the next day, from which cold wind and chills would surge, making one's heart tremble.

At the same time, Lady Qin suddenly fell ill...

Lord Qin and Lady Qin, deeply in love, were naturally anxious and took care of her for two days and nights. However, Lady Qin's condition not only did not improve but worsened, making her extremely weak. Not wanting to publicize the matter, he discussed it with the accountant and others, and sent his eldest son, Qin Ming, with a token to seek help from the Five Rings Sect of Yin-Yang masters...

"I have some acquaintance with their former leader, and I believe they can send someone to resolve this crisis!" Lord Qin instructed, "But don't go into detail about the circumstances, for fear they will shirk their responsibility—just say that your mother has been possessed by a ghost and ask the master to come to assist. Once here, we will reveal the full truth, and at that time, even if he is unwilling, he cannot stand idly by!"

Thus, there was the scene of Qin Lu waiting for his elder brother in the rain...

After listening to Qin Ming's half-true, half-false account, Kong Feng guessed a few things but did not reveal them, only sneering repeatedly:

"Your Qin family is truly cunning and strategic, even in matters of life and death, you still play tricks—very well, today I will certainly eliminate this evil spirit! But afterwards, the matter of your deception of my master, the Five Rings Sect will naturally send someone to settle it slowly!"

Qin Ming instructed his servants to bring out a box of gold and silver as a gift to Kong Feng, repeatedly apologizing. After some back and forth, Kong Feng reluctantly accepted the gift, though his face became more amiable. Qin Ming felt somewhat relieved...

Of course, he did not mention the discovery of the stone slab and stele, and Kong Feng was unaware.

By now, the sky was already slightly bright. Kong Feng said, "The root of the problem lies in that underground cave. Today we must resolve this matter—go and find a black dog, three roosters, a basin of glutinous rice, a basin of rice wine, a basin of ink, half a bucket of sesame oil, several dozen feet of rope, a pile of incense and wax mixed with peach branches burned to ashes, and a dozen or so sharp stakes made from old peach wood... and find seven or eight strong men. These are the things I will need to exorcise the evil spirit, remember not to be careless!"

Qin Ming responded and went out, leading everyone to gather the items. By the time it was almost the hour of Chen, he had found most of the things. The chickens and dogs were tied to a post, and the rice, wine, ink, and oil were placed in the hall. Outside, a fire pit was set up, and the peach branches and incense wax were thrown in, creating a large amount of ash and powder in the blazing flames...

Under the eaves, several men chopped the newly brought peach trees into short stakes, then split them and had them sharpened and rounded, making them into stakes about a foot long—there were more than fifty of them!

Kong Feng slowly walked out of the room, inspected everything, and was satisfied. Seeing this, Qin Ming quickly asked, "Master Kong, is there anything else we need to do? If these things are not enough, I will have more brought..."

Kong Feng snorted and waved his hand, "Enough, these things are not the more the better, just enough to use," he glanced at Qin Ming, "the main thing is to rely on my own cultivation to deal with this, not on these dead objects—do you understand?"

"Understood, understood!" Qin Ming quickly nodded in agreement, "Of course, it mainly depends on Master's skills..."

As they spoke, they arrived at the gate of the Qin family mansion. Kong Feng looked eastward, seeing the mist in the mountains gradually dissipate, and the red sun shining from the mountain peak, casting a vast golden light.

What a beautiful day!

Seeing the bright sunlight, Kong Feng felt more confident and laughed heartily, "What a fine day, favorable for exorcising evil spirits and helping the Qin family out of trouble—let's go, have the things brought to the back yard, and select some people from your guards, excluding those born in the years of Gengzi, Renyin, and Yisi, and those of the sheep, snake, monkey, pig, and rat signs, the rest are fine!"

Qin Ming knew this was to select helpers for the underground cave, so he quickly returned home and gathered the guards, coachmen, cooks, and even the staff from the inn, bringing together about twenty to thirty people. He then took two hundred silver coins from the accountant and scattered them in front of everyone, saying he needed brave and fearless people to go down and investigate the well, and that those willing to go would receive five silver dollars each, with more rewards upon successful completion...

Although these people did not know the details, they had heard some rumors in the village, and with the two deaths from the previous night still fresh, who would be willing to take this risk? For a moment, everyone in the courtyard stepped back, unwilling to go down the cave.

Qin Ming looked at everyone's faces, knowing their thoughts, and said with determination, "Are you all afraid? It's true that the guards were injured by the evil spirit last night, but you also saw Master's skills. Did any of those evil spirits have the slightest chance against him? This time, we will have Master deal with the evil spirit, and we will just assist by holding torches and moving things, there will be no danger—fine! I won't say more, those willing to go will receive twenty silver dollars each, to be given immediately!"

He stepped on the silver coins on the ground, and a clinking sound echoed!

Twenty silver dollars were enough for a common family for two or three years, a substantial reward. Hearing this, several of the poorest could no longer hold back and shouted:

"Master, I'll go!" "I'll go too!" "Count me in!"

In a moment, everyone was excited and eager, jumping forward for fear of being left behind, seeing this as a heaven-sent opportunity, completely ignoring the danger—soon the number of people willing to go down the cave was filled, and those who were too weak or small to go were even sighing, lamenting their loss of such a great opportunity...

Throughout history, heroes have been arrogant, but often fall for the sake of wealth; men of honor bow to money, and virtuous women compromise their principles!

Kong Feng, having prepared everything, went to the back yard. He saw a dozen men dressed in tight clothes, with peach wood stakes tied to their waists, holding torches and ropes, looking quite fierce and robust, though their eyes betrayed some fear and worry, and most would likely run away if they encountered anything.

He had anticipated this, so he took out a stack of talismans from his pocket and gave one to each, saying:

"This talisman will protect you. Come, wear it on your chest—just remember, as long as you do not move, the evil spirits cannot see you, and you will be safe! Remember, once we go down, follow my instructions and help eliminate the evil spirit!"

The talismans were placed on their chests, and soon everyone felt a warm sensation spreading through their bodies, greatly invigorating them, seeing Kong Feng as a living god—little did they know that the talismans were just simple cold protection, and could not protect against undead zombies, thus they were deceived.

Kong Feng, after distributing the talismans, checked the time and saw that the sun was already high in the sky. He then had the roosters slaughtered, their blood used to coat the peach wood stakes, and some of the black dog's blood smeared on the back of his sword scabbard.

The ink was mixed with rice wine, and then combined with the remaining rooster blood to make a full bucket of blood ink. He used a water dipper to pour the blood ink in a fine stream on the ground, and with his wrist movements and steps, quickly drew a large six-pointed pentagram on the empty ground. Around the pentagram, the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth were arranged, each with a basin or bowl filled with sesame oil mixed with peach branch ashes, and the remaining oil was poured into the central basin.

A red cloth strip was placed in a bowl, with the other end hanging down to the ground.

"When I give the order from below, those above will light the central basin of sesame oil, and do nothing else, just let it flow down!" He instructed Qin Ming and immediately assigned two loyal guards to watch over the talisman array, instructing them not to leave for a single step!

A rope was thrown into the cave, tied to a wooden stake, with three copper bells tied to it. If the rope was shaken below, the bells would ring, and the fire would be lit immediately.

Next, he distributed the items to the men, and without further ado, had the rope lowered.

Kong Feng led the men down into the cave, and after descending several dozen feet, they saw a stone slab, with a dirty stone stele lying on it. He thought it was something the Qin family had placed to hold down the slab, and without a closer look, had the men lift the stele with the rope... but this one mistake cost the lives of dozens of people!

Alas! One thought leads to righteousness, another to evil!

The stone slab was easily lifted, revealing a deep, dark, and cold cave below, with a chilling wind surging out, cutting into their faces as if trying to peel them off. The world seemed to be plunged into the netherworld, leaving only a scene of evil, with the cave mouth like a gaping wound, showing the world its bloody gash.

Fine sand and gravel fell from the feet of the men, making a rustling sound below, like countless wronged spirits crying and wailing!

Everyone, including Kong Feng, drew a sharp breath!

PS: Liu Yun is a writer, publishing on Qidian. This book needs support in the form of collections, clicks, and subscriptions, so I kindly ask all readers to collect this book and give recommendation tickets to support Liu Yun. Book fan group: 47133594, come and join the discussion.

Second: This week, Liu Yun has made it to the Three Rivers list, which is a rare opportunity for me. The goal is simple: to enter the top three! Here, Liu Yun asks everyone to use their Three Rivers votes to help me achieve this goal. The method is simple: on the homepage, click on Three Rivers, claim your votes, and cast them for me. Voting starts at 2 PM every day and ends at 1:59 PM the next day, making one round. Three Rivers votes can be cast by VIPs or those with enough points, once a day!

Words are few, but I ask for your patience and a little effort!

[bookid=2930814, bookname=《The Great Bio-Era》]

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