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The sound of rhythmic drumming filled the air.

A team of priests, donning ghost masks and performing the sacrificial dance, approached.

Some portrayed Zhong Kui, some the Black and White Impermanence, others dressed up as King Wu of Zhou and Duke of Shao, dancing as they proceeded.

With bubbling excitement, Zhang Min suggested to his younger martial sister, “Yingbao, let’s go get ourselves some masks.”

Yingbao pulled out two ghost masks from her bag, put one on and handed the other to her second elder martial brother.

Zhang Min accepted the mask and put it straight on, grinning at Yingbao, “I’ll go join them for a dance.”

“Go ahead,” Yingbao replied. “I’ll be following behind you.”

“Just be careful not to get lost,” Zhang Min said as he ran into the crowd and started dancing.

Seeing that everyone’s attention was on the dance team, Yingbao took a tattered wizard’s robe from her bag and put it on. Tying it with a cloth belt, she followed slowly behind her elder martial brother.

Looking through her mask, she surveilled the surroundings.

People were carrying offering tables. On these tables were portraits of divine officials, being carried towards the direction of the golden-roofed Taoist temple.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, Yingbao spotted Xiao Weizhong and his party on the viewing platform, along with Pei Shixian standing behind him.

After dancing all the way, Zhang Min returned to the top of the mountain and found his little martial sister. He grinned, “How was your second elder brother’s dance?”

“Nothing much,” she replied.

“How could there be nothing? I have been practicing Dawu since I was five; it’s a dance every gentleman must know.” Zhang Min declared with a smug smile, “They all danced wrong, so I had to lead them.”

Yingbao glared at him, disgruntled. “Did you bring me down the mountain just to have breakfast and then dance up the mountain?”

Rubbing the back of his head, Zhang Min said, “I’ll take you around again tomorrow.”

“No, thanks. I don’t want to encounter another priest team climbing the mountain, for you to follow and dance again,” she responded, bored at the mere thought of it.

By the middle of the seventh month, the fifteen-day-long ritual finally came to an end.

Yingbao was counting the dates of her trip on her fingers, planning to visit Mrs. Wen and her daughter before she sets off.

Two days later, Master Zhou calculated the best departure date, deciding to set off on the twenty-eighth of the seventh month, heading towards Jingzhou.

And so, Yingbao and her second elder martial brother descended the mountain once more, heading to Kang’an Pharmacy to bid farewell to Wen Shu.

Upon entering the pharmacy, they saw several people sitting inside. Lady Xiu Zhenniang of Wen family was among those present, engaging in conversation with a woman.

Yingbao called out as she walked into the pharmacy, “Master, I’m here!”

Seeing Yingbao, Xiu Zhenniang quickly got up from her seat, “Yingbao, you’re back! I was about to go to the Golden Roof Taoist Temple to look for you.”

The woman also turned around, smiling warmly at Yingbao, “Oh, Little Yingbao has grown so much.”

Yingbao’s smile froze on her face.

It turned out this woman was Han Yueniang, Chen Tiantian’s biological mother.

She had become significantly plumper, giving her an air of abundance and dignity. Her face was pallid and radiant.

Han Yueniang was holding a toddler who was over a year old in her arms; the baby was smiling at Yingbao.

Pretending not to recognize her, Yingbao didn’t engage in conversation with her. She only asked Lady Wen, “Where’s Wen Shu? I want to see her.”

Lady Wen responded, “She’s in the backyard, you can go and find her.”

“Alright.” Yingbao passed through the back door of the pharmacy and entered the backyard.

Zhang Min bowed to Lady Wen before following Yingbao.

Though the smile on Han Yueniang’s face froze momentarily, she quickly recovered her composure and said to Lady Wen, “Yingbao still holds a grudge against me. She didn’t even want to greet me.”

Lady Xiu chuckled lightly, “Children easily forget. She probably doesn’t even remember what happened when she was little. Please don’t take it to heart, Madam Han.”

Han Yueniang’s eyes glinted, she said, “Actually, I’ve also wanted to see the child these last couple of days to inquire about my Tiantian.”

Xiu Zhenniang was surprised, “Madam Han, if you want to know about Ling’ai’s circumstances, why don’t you write to ask? I heard from Yingbao that she has been studying the Yin and Yang Technique these days, so she’s not familiar with other people.”

Han Yueniang paused for a moment, then sighed, “I have written letters, but Tiantian hasn’t replied. As a mother, I cannot help but worry. A few days ago I heard that Yingbao was here, so I came to ask about it.”

She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, “Madam Xiu, to be frank, I would like to invite Yingbao over to talk to me about Tiantian’s situation, I wonder if you could help persuade her?”

Xiu Zhenniang apologized, “I’m really sorry, but Yingbao’s master is very strict and doesn’t allow his apprentices to loiter around. You can tell me anything that you want to say to Madam Han, and I will pass on the message for you.”

“Well, never mind then.” Han Yueniang, holding her son, stood up and said to Xiu Zhenniang, “It’s getting late, I’ll take my leave.”

“Take care,” Xiu Zhenniang rose to see her off.

After seeing off Han Yueniang, Xiu Zhenniang frowned and pondered for a while, then turned and headed to the inner courtyard.

Finding Yingbao in the courtyard, Xiu Zhenniang told her about Han Yueniang’s unusual behavior over the past few days.

“That Han Yueniang has been coming to the store every day, asking about you, I wonder what she is up to?”

Xiu Zhenniang: “Today she asked again to invite you over to her house to ask you something. I turned her down.”

Xiu Zhenniang was aware of the antagonisms between Han Yueniang and Yingbao’s family, so she wouldn’t allow Yingbao, a child, to have any contact with the Han Family.

Yingbao: “Thanks, Master. I am about to set off with Master Zhou soon. Today, I came to bid you farewell. The Han Family has a grudge against mine, I do not wish to meet her.”

“When are you setting off?” Xiu Zhenniang asked.

“Master Zhou hasn’t said yet, probably in the next couple of days.”

Yingbao chatted a little more with Xiu Zhenniang and Wen Shu before taking her leave.

On the way home, Zhang Min asked his junior sister, “What’s the matter with that Han Yueniang?”

Yingbao recounted the feud between her family and Han Yueniang’s, saying, “Her daughter is Chen Tiantian, who is studying in the county medical department. Someone told me a while ago that Chen Tiantian has learned the spell of Yin Sheng from her stepfather.”

Zhang Min frowned, “A medical student learning the Yin Sheng technique? Who does she intend to harm?”

Yin Sheng, which means defeating through disgust, is a spell used to curse or pray for the purpose of suppressing people, objects, or demons.

Those sorcerers with dark intentions love this kind of spell.

“She wants to harm me!” Yingbao said bluntly, “And she wants to steal my fate.”

Zhang Min opened his mouth in surprise, “What? Stealing fate? No wonder that woman kept wanting to enter the Yin Yang Department. That explains it.”

He glanced at Yingbao from head to toe and then teased, “I didn’t realize it, but it turns out my junior sister has great luck.”

“Of course.” Having reincarnated and possessing an unknown Immortal Cave House, if that wasn’t great luck then what was?

Zhang Min rubbed his chin and said, “But you don’t need to worry, Master has already helped you dispel the evil spirits. Those ghosts and monsters dare not approach you…”

Before he could finish, a few men surrounded them.

Zhang Min turned icy, immediately protected his junior sister behind him, and demanded harshly, “Who are you? What do you want?”

The men didn’t reply, and all came at Zhang Min at once.

Zhang Min fought back immediately.

But even though he had learned some combat techniques, he was outnumbered and was soon beaten down.

At this moment, before Yingbao had time to call for help, she was put in a sack and one man hoisted her on his shoulder and took off at a run.

When Zhang Min struggled up from the ground, he saw that the men had already run into an alley and disappeared.

Zhang Min dashed after them, but the alley was empty, not a person was in sight.

“Bastards!” Zhang Min was seething with rage, recalling what his junior sister had said earlier, he felt that this incident must have something to do with the Han Family.

He ran back to the Wen Family and sought help from Xiu Zhenniang.

“Madam Wen! Yingbao has been kidnapped! We must alert the authorities quickly and get some people to help me search. If we delay, it will be too late!”