The husband I snatched halfway through his life is strange.

Chapter 263 Magic
As night fell, no stars were visible in the sky.

The stalls outside the temple had long since disappeared. The street was deserted, with no sign of passersby, as if the hustle and bustle was just a fleeting moment.

At the temple gate, servants from the Zhu family stood patrolling back and forth.

Master Zhu, his usual amiable demeanor replaced by a gloomy look, glanced back at the temple, the only one lit amidst the ink-wash-like landscape.

"Are the mothers of those two children settled in?"

The steward hurriedly replied, "Master, they are resting in their quarters. I personally watched them drink the water laced with sleeping pills, and they are now unconscious. No matter what noises are made outside, they cannot be woken up and prevented from ruining our young master's plans."

Master Zhu nodded in satisfaction.

It's no wonder he's cautious.

These poor bastards are like leeches sucking blood when they get even a little benefit from something.

If you can't sleep at night, especially if you're the mother of a seriously ill child and can't rest easy, it wouldn't be good if you sneaked out and someone found out what you were doing.

He glanced at the sky, instructed the steward to guard the outside and prevent outsiders from getting close, and only after doing so did he step inside.

Incense was burning inside the Buddhist hall where a golden statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, is enshrined.

Young Master Zhu knelt with his hands clasped together, his face gentle and devout. Beside him were two boys dressed in the same clothes.

One of them was in good spirits but couldn't calm down, his round eyes darting around.

The other one was sickly and delirious, unable to even kneel steadily.

However, Young Master Zhu was considerate and settled him down to lie down.

The rhythmic, synchronized striking of the wooden fish seemed to dispel any restlessness in their hearts. A dozen or so monks sat in a circle around them, chanting difficult Buddhist scriptures.

Master Zhu pushed open the door and entered.

The boy looked over, saw it was him, and quickly turned his head back to kneel down, imitating the way Young Master Zhu knelt and bowed.

A wild, unruly child.

Master Zhu looked away, exchanged a glance with Young Master Zhu for a moment, and then stepped inside.

There are side rooms over there.

It's used by monks inside to interpret fortune sticks for worshippers.

He lifted the curtain and went inside. As he entered, the curtain was lowered again.

Inside, it was gloomy and dimly lit, where an old man dressed in a black robe sat. Half of his face was hidden in the darkness, and his exposed hands were as rough as tree bark.

Master Zhu respectfully stepped closer and poured him a cup of tea.

"Master He, everything is almost ready outside. What do you think..."

The wizard washed his hands and took the yellow talisman.

I bit my finger and squeezed out blood.

A few drops were poured into the prepared porcelain bowl.

There was also blood in the porcelain bowl, it belonged to Young Master Zhu, and it was mixed with cinnabar.

His gaze fell heavily on Master Zhu, his voice shrill and hoarse: "Including the two outside, how many children are there in total?"

Master Zhu thought for a moment.

“My son has had two children every year since he was six years old, almost forty in total.”

Wizard: "I said from the beginning that if this is used too often, your son will lose his yang energy and the effect will become worse and worse."

Master Zhu didn't care at all: "You'll get your share of the compensation."

The wizard said nothing more.

He picked up a feather pen from the side, dipped it in blood, and wrote the incantation on the yellow talisman, while simultaneously writing a string of small characters on the back. He also attached Young Master Zhu's birth date and time.

After doing this, he lit the other two boys' birth dates and times and threw them into the stone bowl on the table.

Nine tiles were placed around the edge of the stone bowl.

He muttered and brandished the wooden sword. Seeing that the eight characters were about to burn out, he stuck the yellow talisman on the wooden sword, stirred it in the stone bowl, and the yellow talisman was lit, but it burned extremely slowly.

The wizard kept circling the ball of fire, chanting something.

Just then, the commotion outside with the wooden fish grew louder, and the chanting drowned out the shaman's.

Even though there was no wind, the windows were rattling loudly.

The wizard brandished a wooden sword and drew symbols in the air.

Each stroke was very difficult.

With the final stroke, the yellow talisman burned to ashes.

The stone bowl had been burned to ashes. He solemnly placed Young Master Zhu's birth date and time inside.

Finally, the wooden sword shattered the tiles one by one.

As the last tile split in two, the character "八" suddenly burst into flames.

The smile on Master Zhu's face grew wider and wider, appearing distorted in the firelight.

The talisman paper and the ashes from the burning of the eight characters were mixed with water by the wizard and divided into three cups.

The boy kneeling outside was unaware of everything that was happening. He was very sleepy.

But his mother said he was very fortunate to have been chosen by the Zhu family, and he must cooperate with the Zhu family to get through this year. Tomorrow she will buy him a rolling lantern to play with.

Master Zhu came out carrying a tray.

Young Master Zhu finally moved and got up to take it.

After Young Master Zhu entered, the boy craned his neck to look inside. In addition to the filling snacks, there were also three cups of dark water.

He knew what was inside.

It is spiritual water.

All the selected boys have to drink it.

In previous years, when he was sick, his mother would give him some incense ash to drink, saying that he would be blessed by the Bodhisattva.

Although he felt it was useless, he still had to take medicine when he was sick.

But Mother must be right.

Besides, seeing a doctor and getting medical treatment is very expensive.

The spiritual water that Young Master Zhu gave him was far superior to anything his family could get.

The incense ash is produced by worshippers burning incense all day long, and there are also many eminent monks chanting sutras and consecrating the incense.

Eating it will definitely be good for your health.

Young Master Zhu patted the head of the boy beside him who was breathing weakly, and smiled at him: "Are you hungry? Have some snacks to fill your stomach first."

"Your name is Liulang, right?"

The boy nodded emphatically.

Young Master Zhu was incredibly gentle and kind, like a spring breeze.

"You've had a hard day."

"This spiritual water..."

He stared at him intently.

"You drank it voluntarily, right?"

Although the boy didn't know why Young Master Zhu asked, he still nodded: "Yes."

"Good boy."

The boy took it and was about to drink when he saw the side window kicked open and someone burst in.

The wizard was gagged and tied up by the officials.

Young Master Zhu's expression suddenly changed.

Master Zhu was even worse.

A large number of officers and soldiers arrived at the gate.

However, they could not hear any messages from the Zhu family servants guarding outside, indicating that they had already been taken into custody.

The leading official, the new magistrate of Wuyang City, kicked open the door and knocked Master Zhu over as well.

His sharp eyes swept around the room before finally settling on the wizard.

"We received a report from someone that the Zhu family was using forbidden arts to fool the people and harm their lives."

Clearly, the government had already sent officials to keep watch.

The magistrate looked very unwell.

Being assigned to Wuyang City is much better than those small places like Ze County.

He was quite pleased with himself for it.

After taking office, I felt that this was a wonderful place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery.

They even felt that the Zhu family was a rare breed.

Not long ago, he even went to Imperial Censor He to praise the Zhu family, and even asked the magistrate for a favor: to have the magistrate personally inscribe the four characters "博施济众" (meaning "generous benevolence and philanthropy") and bestow them upon the Zhu family.

He's a joke.

Arrest them all! Take them back for interrogation.

"Yes!"

Following this order, the officials behind him filed in.

At the same time, an official came to report: "Sir, those two women cannot be woken up; they may have been drugged."

The magistrate's face was grim.

Although it has not been confirmed whether it was a forbidden technique of the imperial court.

However, the behavior of Zhu Jia and the old man in black robes was truly abnormal.

Not to mention that he has just taken office and needs to make achievements.

If he doesn't investigate the mere mention of "forbidden techniques," he could lose his official position if word gets out.