Chapter 633: Chapter 217 Bird_5

Edge of Chang Le Pond, fireworks and lanterns bright as day, in the trailing blue smoke, the Grand Preceptor smiled genially, not resembling a ghost-driving general but more like an immortal above the Green Abyss, benevolent and loftily superior.

He raised the long sword in his hand.

Lin Danqing cried out in alarm, "What are you going to do?"

Lu Tong smiled faintly.

"Kill the Plague Deity."

The very Plague Deity that everyone avoided, that would bring disaster and epidemic, naturally had to be hit with a deadly strike; the sword filled with killing intent would drive away the epidemic ghost. That large, sturdy effigy, hollow in the middle, wasn’t meant to hide anything, but rather, for the moment when the FangXiang Zi’s "sword" pierced it, for that instant spray of blood.

The crowd’s cheers mingled with the eerie masked dancers, and the jostling finally woke the person hidden within the effigy’s belly.

Qi Yutai had a beautiful dream.

He dreamed he was back in his childhood, coinciding with his father’s birthday.

His father always loved birds, so he caught a lovely bird, clipped its wings, and placed it in a cage to give to his father.

His father was delighted, lovingly lifted him up, and earnestly praised him.

Qi Yutai was ecstatic, wanting to catch another bird for his father, when someone shook him from behind.

Qi Yutai’s eyes snapped open.

All around was pitch darkness, save for a sliver of light that seeped in through a crack, with the chaotic sounds of drums reaching his ears, accompanied by strange melodic tunes that left him momentarily bewildered.

Where was this?

But soon, he remembered, he was in the storage room for masks at The Ministry of Music where the exorcism ceremony was being held tonight, having secretly consumed a powdered medicine.

His head was splitting, he couldn’t recall how long he had slept, he only subconsciously pressed his eyes to the narrow gap of the effigy, looking out towards the light outside.

He saw his father.

His father, draped in bear fur, dressed in dark clothes with crimson trim, appeared larger than life just like in his childhood dreams amidst the blue smoke, his expression both strange and familiar.

Was this... the exorcism ceremony?

But wasn’t the ceremony supposed to start at the hour of Chen? He took the medicine until the effects wore off, at most for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, so why had the ceremony already started?

People wearing ceremonial masks were praying around his father, and as Qi Yutai watched, his gaze swept over the long sword in his father’s hands shimmering with silver light, and his eyes suddenly widened!

He remembered what his father was about to do.

The final part of the exorcism ceremony was called killing the Plague Deity.

The Fangxiang Master would use a sword to kill the Plague Deity, completely expelling all things sinister.

Now, he had become the "Plague Deity," and his father had become the "Fangxiang Master."

His father was going to kill him.

He couldn’t stay here, he would die!

At that moment, not caring about the consequences, Qi Yutai instinctively wanted to shout out loud, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he found his voice had become so thin that passing through the effigy, it was hard to notice.

Qi Yutai turned back to fumble about, but the narrow belly of the effigy suddenly felt very large; he couldn’t find where the door seam was, as if it had been locked from the outside.

In the darkness, he became like a bird in a cage that could neither escape nor fly away.

Qi Yutai had nowhere to escape, trembling all over, and in his terror, he desperately pounded the surroundings from inside. However, the solid belly of the effigy seemed to engulf the black night without end, and no matter what, he couldn’t see its limits. The urgent drumbeats drowned everything, even his desperate cries.

"Help—"

"Help—"

"Help—"

No one answered.

Qi Yutai pressed his eyes against the crack. His father’s face was close at hand. He called out his father’s name with all his might, pounding like mad, but his father simply smiled indifferently at him, as if looking at a disgusting, loathsome plague ghost, approaching him.

"Puchi—" With a sound,

dancers wearing exorcism masks cried out and thrust their long swords into him one after another—

"Boom—"

A cluster of fireworks shot into the night sky, reds and whites, and cannon salutes echoed in response.

Above him, colorful flames suddenly burst open, countless brilliant points of light with long tails streaked across the sky like numerous glowing birds, swooping down from

the sky.

The crowd erupted into cheers.

"The plague ghost is gone!"

"The Plague Deity has left!"

Inside the Imperial City, the night sky suddenly became obscured by flames, and the brilliant birds swept across everything, the joyous music like New Year’s Eve, drawing the gaze of every person in Shengjing.

The old farmers of Mangming Township Tea Garden took a break from their farm work, gazing into the direction of the Imperial City. West Street vendors sat under their canvas awnings, listening to the distant sounds of ceremonial cannon fire. In the South Medicine Shop, medical workers sorting herbs stepped out of the gardens to look up at the cascading colorful flames above them.

Underneath Qiqiao Tower, the vendor pushed his cart, being driven away, a young girl in the brothel who had just been beaten, a poor scholar buried in his books, hoping to gain recognition. He Xiu, Yan Erniang, Shen Fengying, Wu Youcai...

All of them were watching the spectacular fireworks inside the Imperial City.

The sounds of firecrackers, cheers, and music mixed together, and amidst the wildly dancing flames, dark red bloodstains trickled down the effigy’s belly, gradually flowing downward.

The first to discover it, a musician, started shouting: "There’s a demon! A demon’s causing havoc—"

The crowd instantly became noisy.

People in the back didn’t know what was happening at the front and kept looking up at the fireworks overhead. The noise mixed with screams, and at the edge of Chang Le Pond, chaos ensued.

The Imperial Guards moved swiftly, arriving first at the dragon boat’s surroundings, escorting the emperor off the boat to return to the palace. Pei Yunmeng drew his sword to protect Emperor Liang Ming, shouting sternly, "Protect His Majesty, death to those who offend!"

In the midst of the joyous festival, blood flowed like rivers, and the red-clad Imperial Guards quickly covered the royal family’s retreat, creating chaos by Chang Le Pond. Pei Yunmeng ran through the crowd, his gaze sweeping over countless people, lost or panicked, searching recklessly.

Cluster after cluster of fireworks surged into the night sky like a tide. He saw Lu Tong.

Lu Tong stood in the crowd.

All around her were people hurriedly fleeing, yet she stood at the water’s edge, looking up at the fireworks overhead.

The changing lights of the lanterns cast their flow of shadows on her face. The vivid scarlet color seemed like splatters of blood across her features. The woman stood amidst the warm, bustling noise, watching intently, mesmerized, with a soft smile on her lips.

She was smiling happily.

As she smiled, tears began to flow.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read