CHAPTER 151: CHAPTER 150: TALISMANIC WATER

The green flames seemed to emanate from the nether realms, burning brightly yet offering no light or comfort, instead a strange chill emanated from within.

Everyone around was startled, involuntarily gasping, some even cried out in fear.

"It seems there really are evil spirits!" Someone suddenly shouted from the crowd.

The shout was like a stone stirring a thousand waves, and discussions immediately spread, merging into a hum.

Zhou Kang squeezed in front of Situ Jing and said to him, "General, look... this... how could such a fine fire change to this color!

It seems our camp really isn’t clean, there are evil spirits!

Luckily, we invited an expert to exorcise them, otherwise... the consequences would be unimaginable."

Situ Jing looked at the blazing green flame, seemingly also shaken by the sudden scene in front of him, remaining silent and not rebuking Zhou Kang’s talk of ghosts and spirits.

Zhou Kang was very satisfied with this, although his expression still showed a fearful and uneasy appearance, his eyes could hardly hide his smugness.

The eminent figure let out another series of cries and chants, burning talisman papers in handfuls, and his disciples each holding long swords, jumped and danced around, soon they brought out a straw man taller than a real person, positioned beside the campfire.

A ghost-faced figure with red hair and green eyes wielded a sword and chanted, took a swig from a gourd at his waist, and spewed it onto the straw man, which then emitted black smoke. He swung his sword at the dummy in a flurry, blood marks appeared where the sword struck, as if it were not a straw man but a real person.

The soldiers nearby seemed to be scared by the series of strange sights, the earlier murmurs disappeared, each staring in amazement.

Zhu Yu was not much surprised by these, to her, things like flames changing color and bleeding paper figures were worn-out tricks used by charlatans.

Her gaze focused more on those disciples.

Whether it was the cumbersome furry armor hindering movement or something else, she felt those disciples seemed awkward and slow, unlike the agile expert performing rituals at the front.

After all the fussing, the expert called his disciples to bring a cauldron, positioning it over the campfire, and put the straw man inside, roasting it over the flames, soon the straw man began burning, and the originally luminous green flames gradually returned to their warm yellow glow.

It was as if some spirit had really been bound to the straw man, and the exorcism ritual just roasted the spirit alive, causing the flames to return to normal.

The disciples used several long sticks to take that cauldron off the campfire and place it beside the table, inside was the ashes of the straw man.

The master poured the liquid from his gourd into the cauldron, and instructed the disciples to bring over several large jars prepared nearby, each plastered with various talisman papers, sealing the mouths tightly.

The disciples uncovered the talisman paper sealing the mouths of the jars, holding the jars poured the water inside into the cauldron, and scooped talisman water with large bowls, standing in line behind the master.

The master waved a hand at Zhou Kang, who quickly approached eagerly, leaning in to listen to the master’s instructions, then was overjoyed, hurriedly shouting to those around, "Brothers! As you just saw, there indeed were evil spirits in our camp, but now those spirits have been confined to the straw man and refined into ashes by the master!

Soon, the master will distribute talisman water for everyone to drink, so we can remove any evil remnant lingering on us during this time, avoiding further issues in the future!

Following today’s ritual, there will be no more deaths from possessions in our Li State camp!"

The imperial guards surrounding the campfire erupted into cheers upon hearing this.

Zhou Kang was very satisfied with their reaction, hurriedly and politely asked the master to have the disciples distribute talisman water to everyone.

The disciples in ghost masks carried large bowls into the crowd, personally feeding the talisman water to everyone’s mouth, meticulously ensuring not a single person was missed.

Including Situ Jing, Lu Qing, and Zhu Yu, before long, everyone had drunk the talisman water from the cauldron.

The disciples returned to the master’s side, surrounding him, as the master glanced around, the red bristle of the ghost mask twitching, then he raised his sword, pinched finger decision, continuing the ritual and chanting, but made no other move.

Zhou Kang saw this, silently turned away, intending to quietly leave while everyone’s attention was still on those few people.

But as soon as he turned, Lu Qing grabbed his arm.

"Where is the Deputy Capital Commander headed?" Lu Qing asked.

Startled to be held, Zhou Kang turned to see it was one of Situ Jing’s personal soldiers, steadied himself slightly, and tried to pull his arm free.

But the other’s grip was strong, and Zhou Kang couldn’t pull free, it didn’t even move an inch.

"Let go." He lowered his voice, with a hint of threat, simultaneously glancing quickly at Situ Jing nearby, seeing he wasn’t looking over, then exerted more effort to pull his arm back.

"If I didn’t see wrong, why didn’t the Deputy Capital Commander drink the talisman water?" Lu Qing didn’t loosen his grip, asked.

His voice was loud enough, not a shout, but enough for everyone around to hear clearly.

Suddenly, the surrounding people turned their gaze to Zhou Kang, some surprised, some suspicious.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd cried out, and the people suddenly backed away to the side.

Lu Qing and Zhou Kang were also pushed and jostled, staggering back a few steps, Zhou Kang seized the chance to break free from Lu Qing’s grip, desperately squeezing through the crowd, hurriedly ran away.

Lu Qing didn’t intend to chase him, the crowd was chaotic, after letting go of Zhou Kang, he immediately pulled Zhu Yu to his side, lest they be separated in the turmoil.

Three people, amid the crush and shoves, tumbled out of the crowd, now sitting in front of the crowd, their eyes bloodshot, faces flushed, breathing rapidly and unfocused, looking quite unclear.

"What’s wrong! Wasn’t the exorcism just done?!" Someone in the crowd noticed something amiss, shocked, "Why do they still look possessed?!"