Chapter 26 You do the work, I'll cooperate!
When Mu Lili woke up the next day, her body ached and she felt weak, but she remembered her dream from the previous night very clearly. However, she just thought it was a wet dream. She wouldn't, and dared not, tell her husband about something so embarrassing.
But to her surprise, the next night, as soon as she fell asleep, the man in yellow came again, and the two of them had another indescribable encounter. And so, the man in yellow appeared in her dreams every night, entwining with her until dawn. In real life, she not only grew increasingly thin, but also became extremely averse to her husband's suggestions for intimacy. The reason was that she was simply too tired to muster any interest, and her entire lower body was aching from the torment. Until tonight, the man in yellow was exceptionally vigorous, causing Mu Lili both pleasure and pain, which is why she let out those shameful moans.
After listening to his wife's story, Cheng Ming was both ashamed and furious. He never expected that his wife would cheat on him in his dream. Despite his anger, he remained rational and knew that they had encountered evil spirits and monsters, which ordinary people like them could not resist. So, when dawn broke, he asked around for a master. Soon, an older relative told him that there was an old teahouse in Fengjiang, more than 50 kilometers away from Panlong County, and the owner of the teahouse was a master. He told him to come and ask him. So, he rushed to Fengjiang.
Zhang Qian felt shy halfway through the story, but her curiosity kept her listening. Now that Chen Ming had finished, she couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Cheng, now that you know that dreams can be like this, how about not sleeping at night and sleeping during the day?"
Chen Cheng rolled his eyes at her. What an idiotic question. Seeing Chen Cheng's eye roll, Zhang Qian immediately pouted and shook her little fist in a show of defiance. She immediately felt that this was inappropriate. There was an outsider here. How could she act like a little woman?
Ignoring their flirtatious banter, Chen Chengming lit a cigarette and said, "I tried this method last night, but it didn't work. We agreed not to sleep, but just after ten o'clock, my wife became so sleepy that she couldn't keep her eyes open, and I somehow drifted off to sleep as well. What I didn't expect was that I actually appeared in my wife's dream, watching the man in yellow pull her into a house. Soon after, we heard sounds of lovemaking coming from inside, but I was frozen in place like I was under a spell, unable to move at all, until we both woke up at the same time in the morning!"
"How awful!"
Zhang Qian said angrily.
Chen Cheng appeared calm and thought for a moment before saying, "Your wife and what happened to you last night were caused by a nightmare array. A nightmare array is a kind of evil magic that can cause people to have hallucinations in their dreams. It can control people's minds through dreams to achieve ulterior motives. I guess your wife must have been targeted by some evil spirit and used as a furnace!"
What is a furnace/cauldron?
Zhang Qian asked curiously, and Cheng Ming also quickly looked at Chen Cheng, seemingly wanting to know what he meant as well.
"The furnace and cauldron refer to the evil technique used by certain evil spirits or heretics to continuously engage in sexual intercourse with women in order to replenish yin and yang and improve their cultivation."
Zhang Qian blushed and spat.
Cheng Ming was extremely anxious because his wife was now extremely thin and her body was very weak!
"Master Chen, please save my wife! Our child is only seven years old!"
With a choked voice, Cheng Ming pleaded with Chen Cheng, while Zhang Qian also looked at Chen Cheng, hoping he could find a way to help the couple.
"Ordinary evil spirits need the victim's blood essence or personal clothing to use this Nightmare Array. However, within the Nightmare Array, it is merely a spirit, not its true form. Therefore, only by finding the true form can this problem be fundamentally resolved. Otherwise, we can only temporarily suppress it, and it will continue to harm you through the Nightmare Array afterward. Of course, some evil spirits with a sliver of goodwill will only drain the furnace to a certain extent before letting it go and moving on to the next target!"
"What about those malevolent spirits?"
"The tripod breaks and the people perish!"
Chen Cheng looked at Zhang Qian and spoke, word by word.
Zhang Qian and Cheng Ming were both startled.
Chen Cheng checked the time; it was already 3 PM. So he decisively said, "I'll prepare at home. You go to the pharmacy and buy some more raw sulfur. We'll meet up at your house later to take a look!"
Cheng Ming was overjoyed and quickly got up to thank him. Chen Cheng waved to him, and he strode out to buy sulfur.
"What can I do to help you with?"
"Stand aside!"
"snort"!
Zhang Qian rolled her eyes at him, but still walked over and sat down.
Chen Cheng pushed open the door to the room where his master had once lived. A majestic aura filled the room. As he entered, his gaze fell on a foot-long, dark peach wood sword hanging on the wall. This sword had accompanied his master in exorcising demons and monsters for many years and had long since become a Taoist magic weapon!
Chen Cheng took off the peach wood sword and gently stroked it a few times. This peach wood sword contained endless Taoist magic power, which could suppress all evil in the world. The evil spirit he was facing this time had at least a hundred years of Taoist cultivation and also had a physical form. It was not comparable to ordinary ghosts. Therefore, he had to make full preparations this time to ensure that nothing went wrong.
He came to the shrine where the statue of the patriarch was enshrined, respectfully placed the peach wood sword flat in front of the statue with both hands, then put his hands together and said devoutly, "Patriarch above, your disciple Chen Cheng is about to go and kill evil spirits for the sake of the righteous path of mankind. I beg you to grant me the power to help me defeat evil!"
Zhang Qian stood aside. Although she couldn't see anything unusual, she could feel a solemn atmosphere in the air. In the past, she would have laughed out loud and called him a "charlatan." But after these few experiences, she realized how ridiculous her previous understanding was!
Chen Cheng was completely focused on everything in front of him when suddenly he saw a golden light flash across the peach wood sword and disappear instantly. Although the golden light was brief, it made him overjoyed, because it meant that the Ancestral Master had manifested and bestowed upon the peach wood sword even more powerful magic. Since his master left, this was the first time he had asked the Ancestral Master to bless the peach wood sword with golden light, and he didn't expect to succeed on the first try. It seemed that the Ancestral Master also recognized his abilities!
Zhang Qian couldn't see any of this, of course. The yin eye she had opened last night had expired and she could no longer see those things.
Chen Cheng put away the peach wood sword with both hands and placed it in the cloth bag he carried with him. He returned to his room, opened a drawer, and put some red thread and talismans inside as well.
"Little sister Xixi, you should go back to Xijing. It's not right for a young girl like you to stay away from home for several days."
"Mind your own business! Anyway, we agreed that I'll follow you wherever you go."
"You've been following me for two days already, are you still going to follow me? If you're so capable, follow me for life!"
Zhang Qian was taken aback. She wanted to say "okay," but then she remembered his mocking tone and retorted angrily, "Pah! How long I stay with you is up to me, it's none of your business!"
"Are you trying to extort money from me?"
Chen Cheng smiled wryly.
"Hmph, I'm just following you to discover some new and exciting things. When I get tired of it, I'll naturally go back. In the meantime, if you make me angry once, I'll deduct ten thousand dollars from your pay!"
"I'm really scared of you. You can go if you want, but you have to listen to me. Some things are still very dangerous."
Seeing that he was serious, Zhang Qian nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will cooperate with you when you are doing things!"
"Huh? You cooperate when I'm doing things? Is this some kind of good treatment?"
Zhang Qian was taken aback. Looking at Chen Cheng's sly smile, she blushed, remembering how men and women used to refer to each other as "doing things" during case investigations and interrogations.
"Pah, you're going to die! I meant doing *that* thing, no, I meant doing business, doing serious business, you pervert!"
She seemed to be addicted, and tried to pinch his arm again, but Chen Cheng easily dodged it and ran into the yard. Just then, Cheng Ming returned from buying sulfur, and Zhang Qian stopped playing around.