That maid kept “something big” firmly in mind. She was in a trance and then exchanged a glance with that short general. After that, she worked hard to clean all the blood on the ground. When she finished, it was almost at dusk. The hunchback maid stood up with difficulty because of the large lump on her back. At this time, the maid called Cui walked to her immediately with a bowl of lukewarm tea. It seemed that she had waited there for long.
“Thank you for helping me today, or I would be dead now,” Cui said, and she was still afraid when thinking of how viciously that short general looked at her.
“You’re welcome,” the hunchback maid answered and directly took over the bowl to finish half of the tea. She asked in a seemingly casual way, “Who is that short general? Why is he so arrogant? Why can he directly order people to cut off the soldier’s legs?”
Cui shook her head and said, “He’s just a lackey of the Chief Commander. I only know his surname is Zhang and don’t know where he comes from. He looks old. Everyone calls him General Zhang. But he can’t even practice martial arts and is a nominal general.”
“I see…,” the hunchback girl understood and nodded. Then, she whispered to Cui mysteriously in a low voice, “He said that Chief Commander had something big to do tonight. What will he do? I’ve noticed that everyone looks different today. What happened?”
Cui took a look at the hunchback maid in surprise and asked, “Are you new here? You should not know what happened? This morning, Chief Commander directly captured the God of War who used to work for Qi but now for West Xia and carried him on the horse back. Everyone should feel happy for this. But Chief Commander looked sulky and ordered people not to get close to his tent at noon. No one knows what he will do.” Then Cui said her guess out in a low voice, “They assumed that Chief Commander might be jealous of General Leng who might have found treasures in the Yeren Valley where he had stayed for long. So he wanted to torture General Leng to know where treasures were.”
Treasures?
That hunchback maid seemed a bit interested in this topic and asked, “Is this true? But why will he torture General Leng at a full-moon night? Does this have any special meaning?”
“How do I know?” Cui clicked her tongue. “Chief Commander was weird before and now becomes weirder and weirder. By the way, what’s your name? I didn’t know you before.”
“Oh, I’m new here,” The hunchback maid grinned, and she had two cute dimples. Although she was not pretty, she looked cute and amiable when smiling. “You can call me Yuer.”
The hunchback maid looked at the awe-inspiring tent in the distance as if that was a mysterious altar. She didn’t know what kind of evil rituals Yu Haitang was preparing inside. Seeing that, people would feel chilly. In the broad sky, the moon that was as full as a jade plate was on the rise slowly. It decorated the pure black curtain-like sky.
Under the moon, the largest round tent that belonged to Yu Haitang was the only lit one. It could be told from figures that there were 3 people in it, Yu Haitang, the short general and the hunchback maid.
“General, here she comes. This maid is bold. This afternoon, she…”
“Shut up,” Yu Haitang directly broke in. “I heard everything today. Zhang Xue, you have borrowed my power to bully others these days. Thinking that you’ve served me for years, I haven’t punished you for this. But watch out. I may kill you someday when I’m not in a good mood.”
Yu Haitang looked at Zhang Xue with a smile, but his smile was cold and rigid as if he wore a mask. He imperceptibly patted Zhang Xue on his shoulder. This was not strange, but the hunchback maid was shocked when seeing that.
“Alright, you can leave now,” Yu Haitang ordered Zhang Xue to leave. Then he looked back at the hunchback maid. In recent days, he was more and more energetic. He didn’t look like a 90-year-old man but just was in his forties at most. If people didn’t know him before, they would think he was joking with them by saying that he was 90 now.
“You, come here,” Yu Haitang said while smiling at the maid. He slightly raised his hand to signal the maid to walk to him. He wanted to pat her on her shoulder again just like what he did just now. But unexpectedly, the maid stumbled because of her lump and fell down to the ground.
In the middle of the tent was a square bed which a man lay on. He was covered by the thick quilt and curtain. But when the maid fell down, she dragged down the curtain and saw that man. That was Leng Changxi.
Yu Haitang was flustered and didn’t care about the maid anymore. He pushed the maid away and drew the curtain quickly. He scolded, “Clumsy! Why would Zhang Xue choose you to work here? It’s not time yet. You can’t pull the curtain back.”
The hunchback maid bent and apologized in a very humble way, “Sorry, General. I’m new here and not smart, but I’m hard-working. I’ve heard that you will give me a huge reward, and my family really needs it to buy food. Please don’t kick me out.”
Yu Haitang squinted at that maid. She already planned everything? Of course, she would get the reward. If she was dead, it was reasonable to give her family some money. It could help her fulfill her filial duty to her parents, couldn’t it?
“Alright, come here and work on this,” Yu Haitang said with a friendly smile and asked the maid to grind drugs. That was a good job for her. She bowed and scraped to mince over, which made her lump more conspicuous.
Time flew, and a full moon appeared soon. Yu Haitang quickly pulled back the curtain that covered Leng Changxi. The tent roof had already been gashed so that the bright moonlight could shine through the square hole onto Leng Changxi’s pale face. Leng Changxi looked like a long-dead frozen corpse now.
But the maid was not afraid. Even, she kept staring at this handsome man in the middle.
Yu Haitang looked greedy and murmured, “Leng Changxi, you have Tongming Gate internal skills and best light skills. Also, you are the nimblest in Qi. When you cut my hair off on the wall, I swore to become more powerful than you. I have taken advantage of Yu Haitang and allowed him to transfer all people’s martial arts. But at last, he was defeated because of his greed. He knows how to transfer other people’s martial arts. How will I not prepare for this in advance? Yu Haitang, you must not expect that you would absorb my soul together with my martial arts. As long as I’m mentally strong, I can control your mind. So everything you did before is good for me.”
Yu Haitang wore a creepy smile. That hunchback maid just squatted in the corner and saw Yu Haitang became an energetic young man from an old man and then changed back. Again and again. He was talking to himself, but it also seemed that there were two people in that body, and they were talking.
Suddenly, Yu Haitang grasped the neck of Leng Changxi who lay on the square bed in the middle. “Leng Changxi, you always go against me. But look at you now. Everything you have, your martial arts, skills and Qin Yunuan, will all belong to me soon.”
The hunchback maid finally understood what the ritual was for.
Yu Haitang tied a hexagonal bell made of copper to each corner of the bed. The bell was used to pacify Leng Changxi’s soul to prevent it from staying intact out of grievance to make an attack, after Yu Haitang absorbed his martial arts. After all, Leng Changxi was so powerful and more determined than other people. It seemed that Yu Haitang tended to pacify Leng Changxi’s soul and seal it up with the yellow spells on the table so that Leng Changxi could never reincarnate. It was cruel.
The hunchback maid spat and moved to another place. Right at this time, she heard Yu Haitang was calling her. “You come here. Tie the red rope to his wrist.”
“General, is he… is he dead?” the hunchback maid trembled to ask.
Thinking that the maid wouldn’t leave the tent alive, Yu Haitang didn’t mind telling her the truth, and he replied, “Not that quickly. You, hurry up. Tie it up, and you can get your reward then.”
The hunchback maid directly climbed on the bed and quickly tied the soul-pacifying red rope to Leng Changxi who lay still. Right when she was about to climb down, Leng Changxi suddenly opened his eyes and stared at her.
“You wake up?” Yu Haitang dragged the hunchback maid down. “It seems that I can’t hold everything up anymore.”
“Even if you make me lie on your bed, I have no interest in you,” Leng Changxi said. Soon, he realized that he was tied to a large wooden bed. He smiled at Yu Haitang and said, “Although you are younger now, you still look disgusting.”
Yu Haitang snorted, “The only thing you can do now is tough talk. I can’t wait to absorb all your inner Qi. Now that you’re awake now, I think this is the best time. So please allow me.”
When Yu Haitang was about to leverage his genuine energy, he suddenly saw the hexagonal bell tied to the end of the bed shook. He opened his eyes and saw the hunchback maid who didn’t walk smoothly just now quickly turned the bell end for end. Yu Haitang was shocked. The direction the bell was placed represented the way how the inner Qi would flow. That maid turned the bell so Yu Haitang’s inner Qi would flow into Leng Changxi rather than in reverse.
