Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 71 Puppet

Rong Wanyin quickly stood up and said to Changfeng and Su Zhan, "Master Su, Brother Changfeng, please send someone to call Sister Ruoping and take all the puppets in the village to the mountain temple. Send more people to the town to bring back the puppets. How many are there in the town? Who are they? Did you find out last time, Brother Changfeng?"

Rong Wanyin had to resolve these issues, but she couldn't let anyone die in the old man's inn, otherwise her business would be ruined. Last night, although a few people died at the door, this matter concerned the future of the entire village. The village chief's son had already instructed them not to make a public announcement and to quietly take care of the mummies.

Chang Feng nodded and smiled, "We've found out there are two of them, one from Mr. Wang's family and the other from Mr. Li's family. But bringing them here might not be easy. But don't worry, I'll bring some more brothers with me and snatch them away."

Rong Wanyin shook her head and said, "No need. Just tell them that if they want their loved ones to rest in peace, then bring them here. Otherwise, if something happens in the future, don't blame us for not warning them. If they really don't want to come, I'll talk to them later."

……

Ruoping and the puppets in the village were quickly brought over. Ruoping knelt on the ground, tears in her eyes, but she couldn't speak. She was ragged and unkempt.

Yin Tian stepped forward to feel Ruoping's pulse, a flash of anger in his eyes: "Ruoping, have you also been poisoned by the red spider? Who made you like this? Was it that demon Taoist?"

Ruoping looked up and saw her master, and her eyes became a little clearer. She nodded slowly.

Yin Tian was furious: "I beat and bullied my apprentice, but others dared to touch him! He died like this, it was really easy for him! Humph!"

Yin Tian took out the big red spider and helped Ruoping detoxify.

……

After Ruoping was cured of the poison and could speak, she slowly told the story. Everyone then realized that Ruoping was Yin Tian's only disciple and had received the true teachings. This evil Taoist priest had learned some unorthodox teachings from somewhere, saying that the mountain god had the secret of immortality, so he dressed up as a scholar and deliberately "ran into" Ruoping at the market when she came down the mountain to buy supplies.

After many twists and turns, Ruoping fell in love with the demon and became pregnant with his child. The demon encouraged Ruoping to steal her master's treasure and take her away. Otherwise, if her master knew that she was pregnant, he would probably turn her into a puppet!

Ruoping believed the words of the demon and stole a banned book on puppet making from Yin Tian, ​​a book on practicing with spider venom, and the big red spider!

No one knew how this demon used the method of sucking human blood to make the big red spider give birth to many small red spiders, and he himself practiced by eating the spider venom, which turned his black hair into completely white.

However, the evil Taoist priest made no progress in making puppets and could not make money, so he had to trick Ruoping into helping him make puppets. At this time, Ruoping was still in confinement after giving birth. She had already seen through the evil Taoist priest after she came down the mountain. When Ruoping refused, he beat her up. Later, in order to force Ruoping to take action, the evil Taoist priest even attacked her three-year-old son! He also poisoned their biological son. Ruoping was forced to make her son into a puppet in order to keep him. However, the son who was made into a puppet would never speak again and would not call her mother softly. Ruoping would always remember that night when her son covered his stomach, endured the pain, did not cry out, and said to her sensibly: "Mom, my stomach doesn't hurt! Don't cry, Mom, when I get better, Mom will take me to the town to watch magic shows! Mom... Mom..."

From then on, Ruoping went crazy, but in her subconscious, she believed that only the master could save her child, so she came to the hot spring village with her last bit of perseverance. After arriving at the hot spring village, she temporarily stayed in the mountain temple, but found a child lying in the temple. The child was so small and looked so much like her son. She couldn't help it, so she took action to "save" the child and made a second puppet.

News of the village chief's grandson's resurrection spread quickly, reaching the demonic Taoist priest, who rushed to the scene. Fearing Ruoping might tell lies and run away again, he gave her unrefined red spider venom. This poison made her feel ethereal, but if she didn't take it for three days, she would suffer excruciating pain. Thus, Ruoping couldn't escape even if she wanted to. Gradually, the poison robbed her of her ability to speak, causing her to become confused and even more insane. Taoist Xuanji himself took refined spider venom, which reduced the toxin by half, causing only her hair to turn gray, but she remained mentally normal.

Each time a puppet is made, the big red spider needs to be fed human blood, allowing it to give birth to small red spiders, and then these small red spiders are implanted into the human body before the puppet can be made.

The puppet was supposed to be fed the blood of the puppeteer, the Big Red Spider, to be more vivid. Only one could be made per year. However, in order to produce more, the demon secretly kidnapped some homeless people and let the Big Red Spider suck their blood clean, giving birth to a bunch of small red spiders that would not obey Yin Tian's commands. This is why the small red spiders were indifferent to Yin Tian's blood. In their eyes, the corpses contained more blood and were more worth sucking.

Some of the little red spiders were used to make puppets, some were made into pills by Taoist Xuanji, and finally some were raised by Taoist Xuanji using their corpses to obey his orders and help him abuse his power.

As Ruoping's mental state became increasingly unstable, the puppets she created became worse and worse.

After Ruoping finished telling her story, everyone sighed. This evil Taoist priest was too cruel!

Yin Tian said that he would expel Ruoping from the sect, but he softened his heart and took Ruoping back home, saying that he would ask her to clean the house as a punishment.

As for the other puppets, if their families agreed, Yin Tian would take care of the little red spider and bury them. As for those who didn't want to, Yin Tian didn't force them. Those puppets were originally poorly made, and even if Yin Tian didn't take action, they would rot within a year, so Yin Tian didn't pay much attention to them.

…………

Yan Mingzhang sent a number of yamen runners to search the mountain temple and bamboo forest carefully. Five unidentified mummies, all male, were found in the bamboo forest. Two tied homeless men were also found in the cellar of the mountain temple.

……

-

Yin Tian took Ruoping back. Rong Wanyin was still a little worried and wanted to speak up for her sister Ruoping: "Senior..."

Yin Tian turned around, a smile on his lips, but his eyes were expressionless. He leaned close to Rong Wanyin's ear and said, "What, little girl, have you thought it through? Do you agree to let me turn you into a puppet? Remember to die soon! If it's too late, you won't be beautiful anymore, and I won't want you anymore!"

Rong Wanyin rolled her eyes: "..."

Yin Tian left without looking back.

……