Upon hearing Jiang Xiaoxiao's explanation, Chen Sixi trembled even harder.
"So if I didn't go home, but stayed in the shop instead, would that mean..."
Knowing what he wanted to ask, Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded.
"You two would have been in trouble."
"Dad, please take them to the western suburbs quickly. I don't want to die."
Chen Sixi's voice was quivering.
He was originally timid, and this was his first time encountering such a thing, so his soul was almost scared out of him.
Old Man Chen could tell that the girl Xie Xun brought, Jiang Xiaoxiao, was no ordinary person.
Being able to deduce the direction of the trouble based on the time of Ma Liu's death, she was undoubtedly a highly skilled individual.
His attitude towards Jiang Xiaoxiao became more respectful.
Turning to his son, he said, "You stay home properly and don't wander around. We'll go and come right back."
Chen Sixi had been motherless since childhood, and there were no servants in the household.
Once his father left with Xie Xun and Jiang Xiaoxiao, he would be the only one left.
"Maybe I should go with you?"
Compared to being alone in an empty house, he preferred to go to the western suburbs with them.
Old Man Chen frowned.
"Dad..."
Chen Sixi was afraid of his father's stern look, so he quickly explained.
"What if the Master needs me there? It would be more convenient, wouldn't it?"
For such matters, Old Man Chen dared not make the decision alone, so he glanced at Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Jiang Xiaoxiao said, "Let him come along."
Seeing that time was running short, the group didn't delay any further.
Old Man Chen hitched up the mule cart and headed towards the western suburbs of the county.
Chen Sixi secretly stole a glance at Jiang Xiaoxiao.
The young lady was exceptionally beautiful.
Especially her eyes, which were pure and innocent.
She was a delicate beauty who effortlessly evoked a protective instinct in anyone who saw her for the first time.
But!
Who could have imagined that she was actually a highly skilled individual from the outside world!
She didn't look the part at all!
Chen Sixi was puzzled and boldly asked, "Master, may I be so rude as to ask where you practice your cultivation?"
Before Jiang Xiaoxiao could answer, Xie Xun spoke up first, "At my home."
Chen Sixi: "???"
Jiang Xiaoxiao looked at Xie Xun.
Although she didn't know why he was lying, as long as he was happy, it was fine.
Facing Chen Sixi's disbelieving gaze, Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded in agreement.
"Yes, I'm going to become Xie Xun's wife."
Chen Sixi: "!!!"
Were all cultivators so blunt and direct?
Chen Sixi felt like he had been dealt a critical blow.
Xie Xun was marrying a highly skilled cultivator as his wife, undoubtedly because of his unfortunate constitution, to ward off evil.
But why, when they were both marrying Taoist nuns, did Xie Xun get a beautiful, gentle, and powerful one, while he had to marry a fierce woman wielding a cleaver to fight ghosts?
"Um..."
Chen Sixi said in a low voice, "Master, do you have any fellow female disciples, or perhaps an elder female master? Even a female master would do..."
Before he could finish speaking, Old Man Chen lashed him with a whip on his bottom.
Chen Sixi immediately howled in pain, clutching his bottom.
The western suburbs were densely forested, so the mule cart stopped at the foot of the mountain.
They couldn't bring the cart up, but they also couldn't leave the mule tied at the bottom in case someone stole it.
Old Man Chen had no choice but to unload the cart and leave it behind, leading the mule while bringing Xie Xun and Jiang Xiaoxiao up the mountain.
The occasional call of the cuckoo in the forest made Chen Sixi's hair stand on end.
He dared not walk in front or behind, and after pleading with Xie Xun, he walked in the middle.
Following Ma Liu's description, Old Man Chen easily found the place where the family had buried the body.
There was nothing there before, but now a small grave mound had been erected, surrounded by thorny bushes covered in talisman papers.
There were remnants of firecrackers and unburnt paper money scattered around.
At a glance, it looked unsettlingly eerie.
Chen Sixi's legs were trembling, and he couldn't even make a sound. Wherever Jiang Xiaoxiao went, he followed.
"Stand there and don't move!" Jiang Xiaoxiao turned back and commanded sternly.
Chen Sixi gulped and immediately froze in his tracks, not daring to even breathe heavily.
Old Man Chen had been running a coffin shop for so many years, so he understood a bit about geomancy.
As soon as he saw that grave mound, he felt an indescribable sense of ominousness.
Now, they had barely approached when a chilling wind suddenly started blowing through the forest, sending cold shivers across people's skin and making their hair stand on end.
The mule whinnied restlessly, pawing at the ground with its hooves.
Old Man Chen walked up to Jiang Xiaoxiao and asked in a low voice, "Master, what do you think we should do? Do you need me to prepare anything?"
The reason he asked was that he noticed Jiang Xiaoxiao's hands were empty, and she hadn't brought anything with her.
This was completely different from the Taoists he had seen before.
Jiang Xiaoxiao had already walked a full circle around the grave mound. Upon hearing Old Man Chen's question, she shook her head, "No need."
Old Man Chen's heart was in turmoil.
They had promised to come and subdue the evil spirits, but she didn't have any cinnabar ink, yellow paper, or brushes - nothing at all.
What was going on?
"You all step back."
Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly said.
Old Man Chen could only retreat a few steps.
When he looked up again, he saw Jiang Xiaoxiao extend her index finger and rapidly draw something in the air while murmuring an incantation.
Soon after, a talisman glowing with a golden light shot straight down towards the grave mound.
"Sh-sh-she drew the talisman with her bare hands?!"
At this moment, Chen Sixi's expression was even more shocked than if he had seen a ghost.
Old Man Chen's reaction wasn't much better than Chen Sixi's.
He had heard that at a certain level of mastery, cultivators no longer needed ordinary tools to draw talismans.
And while ordinary cultivators had to set up an altar and spend a long time preparing to draw a single talisman, for true masters, not only was there no need to use a brush, but they could also draw and use talismans in an extremely short time.
Such masters were even rarer than the famous Taoist masters of the renowned Cangwu Mountain, of which there was only one - the current Head Celestial Master, Zhang Ding.
Yet today, he had witnessed it!
And the person was just a young girl of fifteen or sixteen years old!
If Old Man Chen had any lingering doubts about Jiang Xiaoxiao before, at this moment, he was filled with nothing but reverence.
She was undoubtedly a true master, a genuine highly skilled individual!
After the golden talisman shot down, it disappeared as if Jiang Xiaoxiao had never done anything.
However, the chilling wind around them suddenly stopped, and dappled sunlight filtered through the branches, creating a scene of peaceful tranquility.
Chen Sixi felt uncertain, "Great... Great Master, is that it? It's over?"
He did feel that his previously chilly back was no longer cold, but he still couldn't feel completely at ease.
"You're safe now," Jiang Xiaoxiao said. "In the future, if you encounter such things, it's best to seek help immediately."
"Can... Can I seek your help?" he asked.
After witnessing a master who could draw talismans with her bare hands, Chen Sixi no longer trusted the street fortune-tellers.
Xie Xun's brow furrowed slightly as he looked at Chen Sixi, "Do you wish for trouble to befall you again next time?"
Chen Sixi immediately realized his mistake, "Ah, no no no, I was just joking!"
He then clasped his hands together and bowed in all directions, "Everyone, I was only kidding. As long as I can eat and drink well here, that's enough. Goodbye to you all!"
With that, he scurried away without a trace.
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