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Chapter 38 Soul-inducing Incense

Under normal circumstances, Lu Jingxing's sudden loud noise would be enough to scare Zhu Yu, but at this moment, all she could hear was one sentence - "I have lost my sense of smell."

Lu Qing obviously felt the same way: "You said you lost your sense of smell overnight? Why?"

Lu Jingxing raised his head with a dazed look in his eyes, as if he had already prepared himself, waiting for the censor to investigate the bullying and market dominance of his own winery. However, the other party suddenly asked something else, which made him a little unpredictable.

"There was no sign of this, it seemed to have happened overnight." He was a little dazed, as if he also felt that his answer sounded outrageous. "Everything was fine at first. That morning, when I woke up, I felt that the breakfast tasted wrong. I thought the chef was perfunctory and didn't cook it properly.

Then I went to the toilet... and I found that I couldn't smell any stench at all. Then I found that it was not just me, almost everyone in the family had become like this.

We asked a doctor to come and see it, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong. Mother said it was probably because our family had done too many bad things and was being punished by heaven. If God wanted to punish us, we should just accept it."

Zhu Yu glanced at Lu Qing. Lu Qing knew that she had something to say, so she nodded slightly to her, indicating that she should speak.

When Zhu Yu saw this, he said to Lu Jingxing, "Don't kneel outside the door. Come inside and talk."

When Lu Jingxing heard the person next to the censor speak, he didn't dare to move immediately. He quickly looked at the censor, and when he saw that the censor didn't react, he stood up tremblingly, stepped into the door carefully, walked forward a few steps, and knelt down five feet away from the two of them.

This distance is enough.

Zhu Yu sniffed behind the mask, and with his usual sharp sense of smell, he indeed smelled a faint fragrance from Lu Jingxing.

After the Ghost Fairy Temple and the wine jar, this fragrance was already very familiar to Zhu Yu.

"Lu Jingxing, let me ask you, have you and your brother ever gone to the Ghost Fairy Temple outside the city to pray for wealth?" she asked.

Lu Jingxing didn't know Zhu Yu's identity, but since he dared to ask questions in front of the censor, he guessed that he must be a very important person. He didn't dare to be negligent and quickly replied, "Sir, I really don't know what a ghost temple is, and I have never been to one!
Although my brother is not well-educated, he has never believed in ghosts or gods. He never even steps into ordinary temples, let alone temples of ghosts and immortals!

Never been to the Ghost Fairy Temple?

Zhu Yu frowned. If he had never been there, how could he explain the fragrance on his body?

She quickly thought of a possibility: "Have you recently bought any incense that you haven't used before?"

When Lu Jingxing heard this, he raised his head in surprise: "How could your Excellency know even such a trivial matter?

Although it is not incense, my family has indeed purchased this kind of item recently.

My sister-in-law did buy some soul-calling incense from a wandering Taoist priest about half a month ago.

Because my brother's life or death has been unknown for such a long time, our whole family is extremely anxious. We can't find any trace of him, and the longer the time goes, the more we feel that he may be in danger.

My sister-in-law bought some soul-guiding incense and placed them in various places throughout the house. She also sent a lot of it over from the winery and asked the employees there to light them everywhere, saying that the fragrance would help her brother's soul return home if he encountered any misfortune outside.

Although I didn't believe in this, I knew that doing so would make my sister-in-law feel better, so I didn't stop her."

"How long has that soul-calling incense been burned in homes and wineries? What makes it different from other incense?"

"From morning till night, it took about seven or eight days.

It didn't smell very nice at first, like a hint of rust, but it soon dissipated, and afterward there was no more odor, just a stronger aroma than ordinary incense. "Lu Jingxing was confused, not knowing why the adult across from him was asking him such trivial questions.

He was still confused, but Zhu Yu now understood clearly: "So the wine from your winery turned sour after those seven or eight days, the koji turned smelly after those seven or eight days, and even your family's sense of smell became impaired after those seven or eight days. Am I right?"

Lu Jingxing had never thought about all these things together before, but when Zhu Yu asked him this, he frowned and thought about it for a while, then a look of surprise appeared on his face: "Yes! Sir! It is just as you said, it is exactly so!

There's no way such a coincidence could happen in this world. Could it be that all of this... is related to that soul-calling incense?" Zhu Yu didn't answer him, but instead asked, "Did you also burn that soul-calling incense in your backyard?"

"We never burned in the backyard, because there is a horse stable in the backyard. For some reason, my sister-in-law asked people to light soul-calling incense there on the first day. However, as soon as the incense was lit, the horses in the house became restless, so we had to give up and did not burn in the backyard." Lu Jingxing shook his head.

With his answer, Zhu Yu had a clear idea in his mind.

The skinny little servant she had met outside the Lu family's house was the one guarding the back door. Because the horses in the stable had a strong reaction to the aroma, he escaped the disaster and became perhaps the only person in the family who had not lost his sense of smell and taste.

This indirectly confirmed that the Lu family's strange "illness", the cause of which even the doctor could not figure out, was also related to the fragrance.

Zhu Yu looked past Lu Jingxing who was kneeling on the ground and looked at the runes at the door.

That night in the Ghost Fairy Temple, Fu Wen was also poisoned by a hallucinogenic incense, and his body was covered with a similar fragrance, but in the past few days, no one noticed anything unusual about him.

Why is it that despite such similar aromas, some people experience serious problems, while others are fine afterward? Is it because the rune only struck once, so no other problems occurred, or is it...

She sniffed again, trying hard to recall and compare in her mind.

The human sense of smell has a very strong memory. Even if we can't remember it, we will never forget any smell we have smelled.

The fragrance on Lu Jingxing's body, whether it was the fragrance of the incense that Fu Wen had smoked in the dilapidated temple that day, or the fragrance on the wine jar, was extremely similar, but not exactly the same. There seemed to be a subtle difference of two or three percent.

However, Zhu Yu had never worked in the perfume making business, so he couldn't tell the difference right away.

and many more……

Perfumery...

Zhu Yu felt that his thoughts were suddenly opened up in a new direction.

While she was pondering, Lu Qing had already started asking Lu Jingxing other questions.

"So, 80% of the money that Lu Ji earned in Qingshui County in the past few years should really be given to Li Wencai?" He confirmed with Lu Jingxing.

"That's right! My brother's crimes are beyond the reach of justice, but all of this was instigated and forced by County Magistrate Li Wencai.

Li Wencai has absolute power in Qingshui County. Once my brother got on board his pirate ship, there is no turning back. Eighty percent of the money he earned over the years went into his pocket.

After his brother got into trouble, Li Wencai realized that Lu Ji had no chance of recovery, so he abandoned Lu Ji.

It wasn't until I was in this situation that I realized how difficult it was for those who were deprived of their livelihoods. The more difficult the situation at home, the more regret I felt.

I originally thought that our Lu family had committed many sins and had been punished by heaven. We had fallen into such a state, and it was all our own fault. We couldn't blame anyone else.

When he was rich and powerful, he could not escape from Li Wencai's control, and now he can't do anything to him.

I never thought that someone would come to my house today and say that he wanted to take me to see the Censor.

I heard that the censor is impartial and just, so I implore you to thoroughly investigate Li Wencai!

I will bear all the blame for Lu Ji's crimes, but I will not tolerate the corrupt official Li Wencai!" Lu Jingxing said with a look of grief and indignation.

　Thanks to Minako Tanaka, book friend 20221101223310368x2, and Vegetarian Pig x 4 for their monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to windlp for 18 monthly tickets!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)