Nine Transformations of the True Spirit.

Chapter 168: The Spirit God’s Gift
After the two men discussed the matter, Qiu Xingcong first asked a servant to return home to report the matter to his father, and then he and Chen Yuan walked slowly towards the north of the city.

The Qiu Mansion is a large mansion with five courtyards, located in Ronglifang, north of Changming County. It is a place where the city's dignitaries live, and the whole area is full of tall houses.

After Chen Yuan and Qiu Xingcong approached the Qiu Mansion, they were led by the housekeeper to the reception room, where the master of the Qiu Mansion, Qiu Zhuorui, was already waiting.

Qiu Zhuorui is in his fifties, with thick black hair, a short beard under his chin, and sparkling eyes. He sits upright on the armchair with his hands on the back of the chair. His face is dignified, and one can tell at a glance that he is a person who has been in a high position for a long time.

But in Chen Yuan's perception, he, like Qiu Xingcong, was deficient in essence and blood, and his vital energy was damaged. He would live for no more than two years before he died of exhaustion of essence and blood.

He knew that he would definitely gain something this time, but his expression remained calm. He quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply to Qiu Zhuorui: "My nephew Wei Wuding, with the precious horse Wuyun Treading Snow, is here to meet my uncle."

On the way to the Qiu Mansion, Qiu Xingcong gave a detailed introduction to the situation in the Qiu Mansion, including the matter of Qiu Zhuorui.

Qiu Xingcong would naturally not do this to ordinary people, but not long after Chen Yuan left, he sent the servants back to the mansion to ask the housekeeper about the situation of Ke Xiu De's wife and quickly reported it to Qiu Xingcong.

Ke Xiu De’s wife’s surname was indeed Wei, and she was from Yuzhou. She was also from a family of officials and should have many descendants in her clan.

After hearing this, Qiu Xingcong put aside most of his doubts about Chen Yuan, and when he really got the Black Cloud Snow Horse, he no longer had any doubts.

In order to make friends, he naturally told the truth about the situation in the Qiu Mansion.

The Qiu family was a first-class gentry and noble family in Changming County. Qiu Xingcong's second uncle, Qiu Zhuoqing, was an official in the court, holding the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, a fifth-rank official, in charge of the selection and promotion of civil servants. Although his position was low, his power was great, only below the Minister of Personnel and the left and right vice ministers.

Qiu Zhuorui failed the imperial examinations many times, but he had a talent for business. With the influence of Qiu Zhuoqing, he expanded the Qiu family's business to the five nearby states. He became extremely wealthy, and was usually very domineering and serious.

But when Chen Yuan entered, Qiu Zhuorui was all smiles. After he bowed, he even stood up and walked to Chen Yuan, helped him up, and said with a smile: "My dear nephew, please don't bow. Where is the horse that rides on snow?"

Chen Yuan said respectfully: "Uncle, the horse is in the front yard."

Qiu Zhuorui laughed loudly, holding Chen Yuan's left arm, and walked quickly out of the reception room: "My dear nephew, you don't have to be polite. I have known your uncle Ke Xiude for more than 20 years. I heard that this dark cloud stepping on snow horse can travel 1,200 miles a day. It is a real thousand-mile horse. Old man Ke loves it very much. You can actually lead it out. It's amazing! Don't worry, I will definitely tame this precious horse and let Old man Ke have a good look at my skills!"

After hearing this, Chen Yuan stopped being polite and said with a smile, "Then my nephew would like to see my uncle's horse training skills."

The two men walked towards the front yard, and Qiu Xingcong and Butler Liu followed beside them until they came close to the horse called "Dark Cloud Stepping on Snow".

When Qiu Zhuorui saw this precious horse, his eyes lit up immediately. He let go of Chen Yuan's arm, circled around the Wuyuntreading Snow Horse for a few times, opened the horse's mouth, looked at its teeth, and carefully stroked its fur. He nodded repeatedly and exclaimed, "It is indeed a rare thousand-mile horse!"

He looked up at the sky, then turned and told Steward Liu, "It's getting late today. Take this precious horse away and feed and take good care of it. Don't slack off. I will start training horses tomorrow."

Butler Liu took the order and left, leading the horse away with the servants.

Chen Yuan and the other two returned to the reception room and sat down to chat.

Qiu Zhuorui was in high spirits when he saw Wuyuntashuei today. He talked a lot about horse training techniques and the BMWs he had seen in the past.

Chen Yuan learned from Qiu Xingcong that Qiu Zhuorui was a horse lover who raised more than a dozen horses, each of which he trained personally and never delegated the task to others.

But there are only a few BMWs in the Qiu Mansion that can compare with the Wuyuntreadingxue horse, so Qiu Zhuorui is so happy today.

The three of them talked for a while, and Chen Yuan looked up at the door. There was a streak of residual red in the sky, as if it was painted with vermilion blood. It was already dusk.

He bowed to Qiu Zhuorui and said, "I have benefited a lot from talking with my uncle today. If I meet a good horse in the future, I will definitely be able to recognize it. But it is getting late and I cannot stay for long. I will take my leave now."

Qiu Zhuorui was just talking in high spirits when he was interrupted by Chen Yuan. He frowned but then smiled and said, "My dear nephew, you sent the Dark Cloud Stepping Snow Horse to my house. If you return empty-handed, Old Man Ke will come to my house tomorrow to demand this precious horse back. How about this, my dear nephew, you can stay in my house for a few days, and I will tame the Dark Cloud Stepping Snow Horse, and then you can take it back. How about that?"

Chen Yuan looked hesitant: "This..."

Qiu Xingcong also advised: "Brother Wei, if you go back now, outsiders will say that my Qiu family does not know how to entertain guests. Brother Wei should stay."

Chen Yuan then bowed to Qiu Zhuorui and said, "In that case, I will respectfully obey your command."

Qiu Zhuorui stroked his short beard and laughed, "Good!"

He turned to look at Butler Liu, who had come to the living room to serve after settling the Wuyun Treading Snow Horse. "Tell the cook to prepare a banquet. I want to entertain Nephew Wei well!"

……

That night, Chen Yuan received a warm hospitality from Qiu Zhuorui. After the banquet, he and Qiu Xingcong accompanied Qiu Zhuorui and talked about horse judging for a while before returning to their room to rest.

He was a distinguished guest of the Qiu Mansion and lived in a guest house in the third courtyard, which was quiet and elegant.

After Chen Yuan returned to the room, he spread out his spiritual awareness, covering the entire Qiu Mansion, and focused his attention mainly on Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong.

The deficiency of essence and blood in these two people is more serious than that of others, and their entanglement with the Demon Cult is deeper.

Qiu Xingcong drank a lot of wine at the banquet. After returning to his room, he was drunk and wanted to have sex. After a simple wash, he had sex with a young and beautiful concubine.

On the other side, Qiu Zhuorui did not return to his bedroom, but walked through several corridors and paths and came to a two-story building in the fifth courtyard.

Chen Yuan probed into the room with his spiritual sense. The first floor was unremarkable, but the second floor had clean walls and only an altar, several eternal lamps and a silk cushion.

There is a shrine on the altar, and inside it is a three-foot-tall statue made of white jade. It is difficult to tell whether it is androgynous, with a majestic face, fluttering clothes, and an immortal air.

In front of the statue, there is a brass incense burner with a bundle of precious sandalwood next to it.

Qiu Zhuorui walked up to the second floor and his expression suddenly became serious and respectful.

He picked up a stick of sandalwood, lit it with the help of the eternal lamp, put his hands in the incense burner, then knelt on the cushion and kowtowed to the white jade statue three times before he stood up, put his hands together, closed his eyes slightly, and chanted: "Believer Qiu Zhuorui, I beg the spirit to bless my Qiu family with prosperity for generations, and bless the believer's family with no illness or disaster, and a long life..."

With a solemn expression, he prayed ten times in a row, then kowtowed three times before he got up and left to go back to his room to rest.

After Qiu Zhuorui fell asleep, Chen Yuan quietly left the house, avoided the servants and maids, came to the second-floor building, and stopped in front of the white jade statue.

This statue should be the deity worshipped by the Demon Cult. Chen Yuan spread out his spiritual consciousness, then gathered it together, sweeping the white jade statue inch by inch from the outside to the inside.

Under the close investigation of divine consciousness, all the secrets hidden in the white jade statue were revealed.

But after Chen Yuan's investigation, he found nothing.

This statue is carved from ordinary white jade and is a priceless treasure in the mortal world.

But it does not contain any spiritual energy or demonic energy and is of no use to cultivators.

Chen Yuan frowned slightly, and used his spiritual sense to carefully examine the statue several times, but still found nothing.

"It seems that this statue is not the key..."

Chen Yuan pondered in his heart, left the small building, returned to his room, closed his eyes and meditated.

The next day, at the invitation of Qiu Xingcong, Chen Yuan visited the garden scenery of Qiu Mansion.

After finishing all his mundane affairs, Qiu Zhuorui went to the horse farm to tame the horse "Black Cloud Stepping on Snow" and returned in the evening.

During dinner, Qiu Zhuorui talked about today's horse training with great enthusiasm. He said that the Wuyuntashuei horse had a very fierce temperament and it would take at least half a month to tame it, so he asked Chen Yuan to stay in the mansion for a few more days.

Chen Yuan agreed immediately. In fact, it was he who did it. He passed a trace of true energy to the Black Cloud Snow Horse to stimulate its blood.

For the next month, this precious horse will be extremely irritable and there is no hope of taming it.

During this period, he could live in the Qiu Mansion openly and investigate the affairs of the Demon Cult.

When visiting Qiu's residence with Qiu Xingcong today, Chen Yuan tried to cast a spell on him, but was hindered by the concealing spell and failed.

As long as Chen Yuan mobilizes his true energy, he can break through the obstruction of the concealing spell, but this may alert the person behind the scenes and alert the enemy.

Since Qiu Zhuorui's deficiency of essence and blood was not caused by worshiping statues, there must be other reasons.

Everyone in the Qiu Mansion is suffering from blood and essence deficiency and will not live long. The Demon Cult must have used some method to cause this phenomenon.

Chen Yuan only needs to keep his troops in place, keep an eye on Qiu Zhuorui's movements, and wait for the opportunity to uncover the secrets of the Demon Cult.

The next seven days passed, and Qiu Zhuorui still failed to tame the Dark Cloud Treading Snow Horse. Chen Yuan lived in the Qiu Mansion openly, spreading his spiritual sense and closely monitoring Qiu Zhuorui's every move.

But apart from worshiping the white jade statue every night, he did not do anything unusual.

Chen Yuan was very patient and not in a hurry. He even quietly returned to Enjizhuang to reinforce the bewitching technique on Ke Xiu De and Wei to prevent any mistakes.

However, the spell of bewitching can only be used twice on the same mortal at most. If it is used more than that, the soul of the person being bewitched will be damaged and he will become an idiot.

Chen Yuan still has twenty days. If he cannot find any clues about the cult from Qiu Zhuorui during this period, he will have to find other ways.

Another six days passed like this. That night, after dinner, Chen Yuan returned to his room and spread out his spiritual sense as usual, covering the entire Qiu Mansion and monitoring Qiu Zhuorui's every move.

But after Qiu Zhuorui paid homage to the white jade statue, he did not return to his room to rest, but came to the main hall, paced back and forth, looking anxious, as if waiting for something.

After a while, Qiu Xingcong, who had had sex with his concubine, also rushed over and waited with Qiu Zhuorui.

The wives and concubines of Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong came to a side hall next to the reception room.

At the same time, the gate of Qiu Mansion was opened, and all the servants in the mansion, including servants, cooks, gardeners, etc., gathered in the second courtyard under the leadership of Butler Liu.

Chen Yuan watched all this quietly, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

He quietly left the room and took a walk around Ronglifang. He found that it was not only the Qiu Mansion that was in the same situation, but all the houses in the district were in the same situation.

He knew that the outcome would be revealed tonight, so he returned to the Qiu Mansion, came to the rooftop of the main hall, and continued to monitor every move of everyone in the Qiu Mansion.

At four quarters past midnight, a horse-drawn carriage slowly drove into the Qiu Mansion. Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong's eyes lit up and they hurried to greet it.

A man in a black robe and a scarf on his head got off the carriage and asked in a deep voice, "Are all the people here?"

Qiu Zhuorui bowed and said, "Your Excellency, all 146 people from the Qiu Mansion are here."

The man in black robe nodded slightly, walked into the main hall, and took out a jade bowl and a cloth bag from his arms.

He held the two items in his hands and said solemnly, "The spirit god has given me treasures, why don't you kneel down and kowtow to thank me!"

Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying: "The believer Qiu Zhuorui (Qiu Xingcong) kowtows to thank the spirit for bestowing the treasure, cleansing the bones and marrow of the believer, and removing the filth!"

Then, the two men stood up and stared at the bag eagerly.

The man in black robe opened the brocade bag, and the two men reached in one after another, each took out a black pill the size of a soybean, and swallowed it into their stomachs.

Then the two of them closed their eyes, looking relaxed and intoxicated. After a while, they reluctantly opened their eyes, opened their mouths one by one, and spat out mouthfuls of bright red blood into the jade bowl.

The blood fell into the bowl and instantly condensed into two red round beads the size of rice grains.

Afterwards, the two men called everyone in the Qiu Mansion one by one, and they took the black pill and spat out a mouthful of blood into the jade bowl.

When Chen Yuan saw this, his eyes became sharp and he murmured, "What a big deal!"

(End of this chapter)