A master of comedy!

Chapter 30 Ksitigarbha
The sorceress took the yellow paper with Cui Cui's name and birth date written on it, and lit it on the candle flame.

Then she used her divination technique once again.

"The third move: bribe the Yellow Springs Guide Pawn..."

As the rice grains spilled down, she slumped back into the chair, making gurgling sounds as she choked on the water, her life force quickly fading away.

The candlelight flickered, unable to illuminate the shadows on her face; every wrinkle seemed to conceal a dark corner.

About three breaths later, Granny Cui suddenly opened her eyes, hugged herself tightly, and trembled.

"Master, please don't kill me! I didn't see anything..."

"No, don't come any closer..."

"Grandpa, it hurts so much..."

An old woman in her eighties was speaking in the voice of a young girl. This strange scene indicated that Cui Cui's spirit had possessed her.

“Cui Cui——”

Just as Zhou Sheng was about to ask something, 'Granny Cui's' gaze fell on the head on the table, and she trembled as if struck by lightning.

"Madam, Madam, please don't kill me!"

"It was Master... it was Master who told me to hide my head, it wasn't me who harmed you!"

Terrified by the severed head, 'Sorcerer Cui' knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly until blood flowed from her forehead.

Zhou Sheng was worried that the sage Cui's body, which was over eighty years old, would not be able to withstand it, so he stepped forward to stop her and spoke to her.

But Cui Cui seems to have really gone mad. Even after becoming a ghost, she is still insane and completely unable to calm down.

Just then, a traditional opera tune rang out.

"The eerie wind is the cry of a foolish child calling for his mother, and the karmic fire is the lamp that illuminates the mirror for a jealous woman."

"If you know that the deepest hell is not about punishing evil, then keep a pure heart—waiting for the spring breeze!!"

The singing style is deep and resonant, clear and serene, like the sound of Buddhist chants echoing in all directions, possessing a unique power to soothe the heart and bring compassion to the world.

Zhou Sheng recognized the scene as the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva breaking free from prison from the Putian opera "Mulian Saves His Mother," which was based on the Buddhist scripture "Ksitigarbha Sutra."

At this moment, the Master is singing the lyrics of the opera when Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva uses his staff to open the gates of hell and deliver all the ghosts.

Without any facial makeup, costumes, or even any physical movements, this simple lyric immediately silenced the madwoman, 'Cui the Witch'.

Zhou Sheng even felt that the originally gloomy Wenmi Hall had suddenly become a few degrees brighter.

It was as if those few lines were not lyrics, but the whispers of a Bodhisattva or the chanting of a sutra by an Arhat.

May you deliver all from suffering and distress!
He felt that his master's frail figure had instantly become even more unfathomable.

Ever since the two first met and killed the wolf demon, his master has never made a move in front of him again.

Now that his skills have improved and he has made some progress in the art of Yin-Yang magic, he thought he could see the depth of his master's abilities. However, what he saw was an even higher mountain and a deeper fog.

"Heh, you really think the lyrics I taught you were just a formality?"

"Only when you open your tongue can you truly unleash the power of those lyrics. The things of our Yin Opera lineage are no less powerful than the six-syllable mantra of Buddhism."

Yu Zhensheng whispered, especially when he mentioned Yinxi, his pride and arrogance almost overflowing from his brows.

"You brat, you still have a lot to learn."

Zhou Sheng shook his head and smiled. Whenever the topic of Yin Opera came up, his master seemed to turn into a childlike old man.

Perhaps, like Uncle Xu, they will always cherish a childlike heart for the art to which they have dedicated their lives.

"Cui Cui, don't be afraid. Time is limited. Before that incense stick burns out, please tell me everything you know!"

Once Cui Cui calmed down, she remembered everything and realized that she had already died and become a ghost.

However, she didn't harbor much resentment; instead, her first question was, "How is my grandfather?"

Zhou Sheng remained silent, then sighed, "He died trying to seek justice for you. He was strangled to death by the officials sent by Magistrate Zhu." Cui Cui shuddered, tears streaming down her face.

“We are actors who perform underworld plays. At your grandfather’s request, we are performing a play for him and for you to seek justice.”

Upon hearing this, Cuicui rose and knelt, her voice choked with sobs, "Thank you, brother. Cuicui's life is lowly, her death is insignificant, but my grandfather was a good man, how could he... how could he..."

Zhou Sheng felt a lump in his throat.

Uncle Xu and Cuicui were both very kind people. They didn't cry foul about their own deaths; their first thought was for each other.

"Is this head... the magistrate's wife's?"

Although he felt sympathy, seeing that the incense stick had already burned down to almost half its original length, Zhou Sheng interrupted Cuicui's crying and asked her a question.

Cui Cui also suppressed her grief and nodded, saying, "Yes, this head belongs to the madam. It was Master Zhu... Magistrate Zhu told me to hide it."

Then she explained the whole story.

It turns out that Magistrate Zhu, who seemed respectable, was actually a very lecherous man and had even physically harassed Cuicui.

He tried to take a concubine many times, but his domineering wife refused him each time, and he was even slapped.

The two had a very tense argument because of this.

"But just over a month ago, Magistrate Zhu suddenly apologized to his wife in kind words and vowed never to have the thought of taking a concubine again."

"That day, the lady was very happy and specially cooked a good meal for Magistrate Zhu. She also drank some wine and became quite drunk."

"The lady is afraid of the dark and likes someone to stand guard outside the door when she sleeps at night. That day it just so happened to be my turn to be on duty."

"That night, I was leaning against a pillar, half asleep, when I suddenly heard a scream. When I rushed in, I saw..."

At this point, Cui Cui's body trembled involuntarily; clearly, the scene had left an extremely terrifying impression on her.

"I saw Magistrate Zhu carrying a bloodstained axe in one hand, and in the other hand... the lady's head!"

"He made me dispose of the lady's head and threatened me not to say a word, or I would be next to die..."

Cui Cui glanced at the head on the table and still shuddered.

"That night I held this head in my arms, intending to find a place to bury it, but I was afraid of being discovered, and the more I walked, the more frightened I became, so I simply threw it into the old well in the backyard that was not used often."

"I originally thought that something this big couldn't be kept secret, but I didn't expect..."

Her voice was full of confusion.

"The next day, a beautiful woman came out of the lady's room. The master said that she was the lady. All the servants who objected were beaten with sticks, and no one dared to mention it anymore."

"What's even stranger is that the beautiful woman... seems to really be the lady."

“How come you see?”

"Because that woman is very familiar with everything in the mansion, knows everyone's name, and acts in the same way as the madam."

"Most importantly, I once served the madam a bath and knew that she had a plum blossom-shaped birthmark on her waist. Later, when I served the new madam a bath, I also saw the exact same birthmark!"

"She could even accurately recount our past interactions, many of them trivial matters that no one else knew about..."

"The lady is no longer the lady, yet... she still seems to be the lady..."

Cui Cui pointed at the head, her eyes filled with both fear and deep confusion.

"But I was the one who threw the lady's head into the well!"

“Every day when I look at the new wife’s face, I feel a chill run down my spine. At night, I always dream that a female ghost crawls out of the well to take my life…”

"And so, I went mad."

……

(End of this chapter)