Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 241 The Mighty Dog of the Sui and Tang Dynasties...?! [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Last time, Big Head Yang said that he encountered a shirtless man with a scar on his neck who stopped his car in Lushan County. He didn't stop and drove straight past him.

Now, everything makes sense!
Thinking about this, Zhou Yi suddenly realized a problem: the blind man could even predict which tomb robber he would encounter, so how could he let him get away?

Was this intentional or accidental?

However, once the root cause of the problem was found, things became much easier. Zhou Yi opened the canvas zippered travel bag given to him by the tailor and took out a round wooden stick that was more than forty centimeters long.

Don't be fooled by its round, rolling shape; it's actually a special tool for exorcising ghosts—the Ghost-Binding Stick.

The Ghost-Crushing Staff is a common ritual implement in Taoism, often appearing in pairs with the Heavenly Ruler.

However, unlike other items, the Tianpeng Ruler is a rectangular wooden stick with four sides, engraved with the names and talismans of the Ziwei Emperor Star and Marshal Tianpeng. When waved, it can directly transport evil spirits to the underworld to be judged by the underworld.

The torture stick is usually engraved with either Marshal Meng or Marshal Zhu from the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals, and sometimes both marshals are engraved.

Besides being one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals, Marshal Meng and Marshal Zhu were also known as the Ten Great Protectors of Mount Tai. The Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak was in charge of the underworld, and his protectors were generals who specialized in fighting ghosts.

Compared to the Heavenly Ruler, the Ghost-Crushing Stick cannot convert ghosts; it only makes them suffer unbearable pain and agony. Even a slight swipe of it will be unbearable for the ghost.

The ghost-binding stick in Zhou Yi's hand was passed down from his grandfather. It was smooth and shiny, as if it had been used for at least a hundred years. Two sentences were engraved on the stick:
Marshal Meng, who executed ghosts; Marshal Zhu, who vanquished evil spirits and witches.

The two marshals joined forces to torture him, with the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak and the True Martial Emperor who commanded the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals standing behind him... No matter how powerful the ghost was, it couldn't withstand this lineup.

In addition to the Ghost-Trapping Stick, Zhou Yi also picked up the Three Pure Ones Bell.

He was about to go upstairs to meet the ghost when he remembered that Wu Meiniang didn't have any magical artifacts, so he took off the Bagua jade pendant from his neck and handed it to her:

"From now on, this jade pendant is yours to wear. I have many other magical artifacts and don't need it."

After saying that, he slowly walked up the stairs in the villa. With each step he took, he gently shook the Three Purities Bell in his hand. This could purify the yin energy and also deter the possessing ghost upstairs.

The Three Pure Bells were silent, but every time Zhou Yi shook it, a low growl came from upstairs.

Upon arriving on the second floor, where there was a small living room, Zhou Yi looked around but didn't see anyone. He calmly took out a golden talisman from his bag, flicked it with his fingers, and the talisman flew into the small living room like a playing card.

As it flew to the very center, the talisman burst into flames, and a scream suddenly came from behind the sofa, as if someone had been blinded by the golden light.

Having confirmed the location, Master Zhou was relieved.

He rapidly shook the Three Pure Ones Bell with his left hand, gripped the Ghost-Crushing Stick in his right, and silently recited the "Precious Proclamation of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak" as he walked step by step behind the sofa.

As they approached, a middle-aged man wrapped in ropes suddenly sprang out from behind the sofa. He had a ferocious expression, bared his teeth, and saliva dripped from his mouth.

The strangest thing was that he pressed his hands to the ground and attacked Zhou Yi by crawling, looking like a big wolfhound.

Zhou Yi grabbed the ghost-binding stick and tapped it on the man's forehead. He didn't use any force, but the middle-aged man, who was possessed by a ghost, let out a deafening scream, which startled the people downstairs.

Worried about Zhou Yi's safety, Wu Meiniang ran up the stairs in a few steps.

Zhou Yi continued to use the torture stick on Zhang Yuqiang:
"Don't come any closer. The possessing ghost is suspicious. It doesn't seem to be a human soul, but rather a dog's soul."

This behavior was so unusual that Zhou Yi had to associate it with dogs.

Wu Meiniang asked:
"How did this originate? Was it through dog sacrifice?"

This should remind Zhou Yi that countless kings and nobles were buried in the Mangshan area. Although human sacrifice was banned since the Zhou Dynasty, animal sacrifice has never stopped.

Besides the famous practice of burying horses with the emperor in a six-horse chariot, burying dogs with the emperor was also a very common practice.

If the dog's soul came from a funerary tomb, then everything makes sense.

Dogs are said to have a head of bronze, a tail of iron, and a waist of tofu. The spine is a dog's weak point. I don't know if this saying is true or not, but I plan to give it a try and accumulate experience.

He leaped over the sofa, moved to the side, and swung the torture stick in his hand, striking Zhang Yuqiang in the waist.

The boss immediately let out a yelp like a dog whose tail had been stepped on. Zhou Yi was now even more certain that the tomb raider had attached the soul of a sacrificial dog to Zhang Yuqiang.

The tomb owner who could be buried with a dog was definitely not an ordinary person. The people buried in Mangshan were either famous figures from the Eastern Han Dynasty or famous figures from the Sui and Tang Dynasties... Judging from this, this is actually a thousand-year-old fierce... dog?

With a scream, a lot of yin energy emanated from Zhang Yuqiang's body. Zhou Yi quickly used the Ghost-Binding Staff to tap the void a few times, dispersing all the evil energy.

Then, he continued to punch Zhang Yuqiang.

When Zhang Yuqiang could no longer make a sound, Zhou Yi quickly stuck a purple exorcism talisman on his forehead.

Soon, wisps of yin energy began to emanate from Zhang Yuqiang's body, and his expression gradually returned to normal, no longer baring his teeth. Zhou Yi originally intended to scatter the dog's soul directly, but then thought it was a good opportunity to lure tomb raiders, so he took out a blank purple talisman from his bag and flung it into the air.

But the dog's spirit didn't fall for the trick and instead rushed towards Wu Meiniang near the stairwell.

But just as it rushed halfway, the dog turned around as if it had seen the most terrifying beast, and obediently got absorbed into the talisman and imprisoned.

Zhou Yi picked up the swaying talisman and felt something was strange:
"This dog had a chance to escape, but it ran away as soon as it saw you. Could it be a dog from the Tang Dynasty?"

Wu Zetian said:
"In history, I had Lai Junchen execute many members of the Li family, and almost all of them were buried in Mangshan. Perhaps this dog was buried during that period."

Having been dead for over a thousand years, to be able to see Her Majesty the Empress again... I wonder how big the psychological trauma this dog just experienced was; it probably scared even its ghost away.

Zhou Yi put the talisman into a bottle and stored it away. Next, he could use the dog to bait the grave robber... Since the blind man said he would meet the grave robber this month, he would now take the initiative to create an opportunity for them to meet.

Just as he finished setting things up, a deafening snore came from behind the sofa. The two sedatives Zhang Yuqiang had been given were now taking effect.

Zhou Yi took out his compass and checked. Zhang Yuqiang had recovered, but after two injections of sedatives, he would have to sleep until at least tomorrow before waking up.

Soon, Ding Zhenhua and the others came upstairs and hurriedly carried Zhang Yuqiang to the bed.

Following the principle of doing good deeds thoroughly, Zhou Yi cleaned the entire villa, both upstairs and downstairs. Then, based on Zhang Yuqiang's birth chart, he decided that it would be appropriate to place a statue of Guan Gong in the house.

It can increase wealth and protect the home; the only thing to be careful about is not to go astray.

Zhang Yuqiang's wife gave him tens of thousands of yuan as a reward and promised that once Zhang Yuqiang woke up, she would go to Hunyuan Palace to get a statue of a deity, and everyone in the family would also get a peace amulet.

The villa was in a mess, so Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang didn't stay long and quickly said goodbye and left.

The two were so focused on their journey that they hadn't had lunch yet and needed to find a place to eat.

After getting on the bus, Zhou Yi searched for famous dishes in Lushan County and found that they were similar to those in Xiuchuan County. So he simply found a well-established noodle shop and ordered a deluxe bowl of mutton helo noodles with Wu Meiniang.

While eating noodles, Wu Zetian asked:
"When should we make our move to capture that tomb raider?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said:
"Let's do it the day after tomorrow. When Chen Tang and Granny Gongsun arrive, I'll set up a trap to settle this matter... Chen Tang should be going to Chang'an by now. I wonder if it went smoothly. I'll have to check the black notebook when I get back to see if there are any changes in his merits."

While the two were eating noodles with great gusto, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, Chen Tang rode his horse leisurely to Gu Yong's house.

Just now in the Chang'an prison, he tested a series of recently devised tortures on Shi Xian and Fan Yanshou. For example, scraping the calves with fish paste could expose the white bones, and even carve words on the bones.

Alternatively, thread a rope through the nostrils and palate, then pull it out of the mouth and slowly tug it upwards—the intense, tingling sensation is off the charts.

With a spirit of scientific research, he and Wang Shang studied for more than two hours straight and finally tormented Shi Xian and Fan Yanshou to death... The prison under the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice has more than a dozen new methods of torture, which will be used on Shi Xian and Fan Yanshou's accomplices next.

Gu Yong's family lived in the south of the city. When Chen Tang arrived, the entire Gu family came out to greet him, each person trembling with fear, unable to guess what Chen Tang was going to do.

Chen Tang dismounted, picked up a wooden box wrapped in cloth from the horse's back, and asked Gu Yong:
"Is the wine and meat prepared?"

Gu Yong lowered his head and replied:

"Everything is ready. Please come in and enjoy your meal, General."

Chen Tang handed over the wooden box wrapped in cloth:

“My wife is cooking at home, so I won’t go in to eat. After I led my army to conquer Zhizhi City, based on the prisoners’ confessions and the official silk scroll of the Han Dynasty, I found your father’s remains and collected them piece by piece, carrying them with me all the way. Now your father can finally return to his roots… Use the wine and meat to offer to your father, so that he can be laid to rest as soon as possible.”

Gu Yong was uneasy all morning, his mind filled with all sorts of thoughts. He even suspected that Chen Tang had taken a fancy to his daughter, who had just turned fifteen, and wanted to force her into marriage. Little did he know that Chen Tang had come to deliver his father's remains.

Ten years have passed since his father passed away in the fourth year of the Chuyuan era. Gu Yong only knows that his father was killed by Zhizhi Chanyu, but he does not know where his remains are. Even if he wanted to collect and bury them, he would not know where to begin.

Unexpectedly, Chen Tang had traveled all the way from Zhizhi City back to Chang'an and even personally delivered the package to his home... Gu Yong's tears fell like beads from a broken string. He led his whole family to kneel down and bow to Chen Tang again and again, stammering words of gratitude.

Chen Tang patted him on the shoulder and said:

"In the territories occupied by foreign tribes, there are still many Han men buried in foreign lands. What we need to do is bring them all back and make those foreign tribes pay for their blood debts."

Gu Yong wiped away his tears with his sleeve:
"Does the general want me to join the army and fight the enemy?"

Chen Tang shook his head:

"Re-annotating the Gongyang Commentary has stirred up the vengeful spirit of our Han Dynasty. Now the court is in turmoil, and the Han Dynasty can only be reborn by stepping on the blood of foreign tribes."

Gu Yong instantly understood the meaning behind those words:
"I would gladly die ten thousand deaths to follow the general in restoring the Han Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)