Nine Transformations of the True Spirit

After the two agreed on the matter, Qiu Xingcong first asked a servant to return home and report the matter to his father, and then walked slowly to the north of the city with Chen Yuan.

Qiu Mansion is a large mansion with five entrances. It is located in Rongli Fang in the north of Changming County. This is where the city's dignitaries live, and the square is full of high-rise mansions.

After Chen Yuan and Qiu Xingcong approached Qiu Mansion, they were led by the butler to the living room, where Qiu Zhuorui, the master of Qiu Mansion, was already waiting.

Qiu Zhuorui was in his fifties, with thick black hair, a short beard under his chin, and piercing eyes. He was sitting on the Taishi chair with his hands on the back of the chair. His face was majestic. It was obvious at a glance that he was someone who had been in a high position for a long time.

However, in Chen Yuan's spiritual perception, he, like Qiu Xingcong, suffered from a deficiency of essence and blood in his body, and his original essence was damaged. If he lived for at most two years, he would die of exhaustion of essence and blood.

He knew that he would gain something this time, but his expression was calm. He quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply to Qiu Zhuorui: "My nephew Wei Wuding, carrying the dark clouds on the snow, pays homage to my uncle."

On the way to Qiu Mansion, Qiu Xingcong introduced the situation in Qiu Mansion in detail, including the matter of Qiu Zhuorui.

Naturally, Qiu Xingcong would not do this to ordinary people, but soon after Chen Yuan left, he sent his servants back to the house to ask the housekeeper about the situation of Ke Xiude's main wife, and quickly reported it to Qiu Xingcong.

Ke Xiude's main wife is indeed surnamed Wei. She is from Yuzhou and comes from an official family. There should be many descendants in the family.

After hearing this, Qiu Xingcong put aside most of Chen Yuan's doubts, and when he actually fetched the black clouds and snow horse, he no longer had any doubts.

With the intention of making friends, he naturally told the truth about the situation in Qiu Mansion.

The Qiu family was one of the first-class gentry in Changming County. Qiu Xingcong's second uncle, Qiu Zhuoqing, was an official in the court. He was appointed as a doctor in the fifth-grade official department, literary selection and Qing officials, and was in charge of the selection and promotion of civil servants. His position was humble but powerful, and he only served in the imperial court. Under the Minister of Civil Affairs and the left and right ministers.

Qiu Zhuorui failed in the imperial examinations many times, but he was quite talented in business. With Qiu Zhuoqing's influence, he expanded the Qiu family's business to five nearby states. He made a fortune and was very powerful and unsmiling.

But after Chen Yuan entered the door, Qiu Zhuorui was all smiles. After he saluted, he even got up and came to Chen Yuan's side, helped him up, and said with a smile: "My dear nephew, without courtesy, where is the horse riding on the snow?"

Chen Yuan said respectfully: "Return to uncle, Baoju is in the front yard."

Qiu Zhuorui laughed loudly, grabbed Chen Yuan's left arm, and walked quickly out of the living room: "You're welcome, nephew. I have been friends with your uncle Ke Xiude for more than 20 years. I heard that this horse is riding on dark clouds and snow. But it can travel one thousand two hundred miles a day, and it is a real thousand-mile horse. Mr. Ke can't put it down. It's really amazing that you can lead him out! Don't worry, I will definitely tame this precious colt and let it go. Mr. Ke, take a good look at my methods!"

When Chen Yuan heard this, he no longer acted politely and said with a smile: "Then my nephew needs to see his uncle's horse training skills."

The two of them walked to the front yard, Qiu Xingcong and Butler Liu following beside them, until they came to the dark clouds and snow horse.

When Qiu Zhuorui saw this precious colt, his eyes suddenly lit up. He let go of Chen Yuan's arm and circled the black clouds on the snow colt a few times. He also opened the horse's mouth, looked at the teeth, carefully stroked the fur, and nodded repeatedly. , exclaimed in admiration: "It is indeed a rare thousand-mile horse!"

He looked up at the sky and turned to tell Butler Liu: "It's getting late today. Take this precious colt down and feed it and take care of it. Don't slack off. I'll start training the horse again tomorrow."

Butler Liu took the order and left with his servants.

Chen Yuan and the other three returned to the living room and sat down to talk.

Qiu Zhuorui was very excited when he saw the black cloud riding on the snow horse today. He talked a lot about the art of horse training and the BMWs he had seen in the past.

Chen Yuan learned from Qiu Xingcong that Qiu Zhuorui was a person who loved horses very much. He raised more than a dozen BMWs and tamed each of them himself, never tampering with others.

But there are very few BMWs in Qiu's mansion that can compare with the horse riding on dark clouds and snow, which is why Qiu Zhuorui is so happy today.

The three of them talked for a while, then Chen Yuan raised his head and looked outside the door. There was a line of red on the horizon, which seemed to be painted with blood. It was already dusk.

He held up his hands to Qiu Zhuorui and said, "My nephew has benefited a lot from my talk with my uncle today. If he encounters a thousand-mile horse in the future, he will definitely be able to recognize it. However, it is getting late and it is inconvenient to stay for a long time. I will leave now."

Qiu Zhuorui was talking excitedly when he was interrupted by Chen Yuan. He couldn't help but frowned, but then he smiled and said: "My good nephew sent the black clouds on the snow to my house. If I just go back empty-handed, Mr. Ke will have to kill him tomorrow." Come to the house, ask for the crime, and take this precious horse back. How about this, my dear nephew, you might as well stay in the house for a few days, and then I can take it back after I tame it."

Chen Yuan showed hesitation: "This..."

Qiu Xingcong also advised: "If Brother Wei goes back like this, outsiders will definitely say that our Qiu family doesn't know how to treat guests. Brother Wei should stay here."

Chen Yuan then raised his hand to Qiu Zhuorui and said, "In that case, my nephew would rather be respectful than obey his orders."

Qiu Zhuorui gently stroked his short beard under his chin, laughed and said, "Okay!"

He turned to look at Butler Liu who came to the living room to wait after setting up the Black Clouds and Snow Horse: "Go down and let the cook prepare a banquet. I want to entertain nephew Wei Xian well!"

…

That night, Chen Yuan was warmly entertained by Qiu Zhuorui. After the banquet, Chen Yuan and Qiu Xingcong accompanied Qiu Zhuorui and chatted for a while before going back to the room to rest.

He is a distinguished guest of the Qiu Mansion and lives in a guest courtyard in the third courtyard, which is quiet and elegant.

After Chen Yuan returned to his room, he spread his spiritual sense and covered the entire Qiu Mansion, focusing mainly on Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong.

The two people were more seriously deficient in essence and blood than others, and were more deeply entangled with the Demon Cult.

Qiu Xingcong drank a lot of wine at the banquet. After returning to his room, he was drunk and lusty. After a simple wash, he had sex with a young and beautiful concubine.

On the other side, Qiu Zhuorui did not return to the bedroom, but walked through several corridors and paths to a two-story building in the five courtyards.

Chen Yuan's spiritual sense probed into it. The first floor was ordinary, but the second floor was clean and tidy, with only an offering table, several ever-burning lamps and a silk cushion.

On the offering table was a shrine, and inside was a three-foot-tall, white jade statue of a god, whose gender was difficult to distinguish, with a majestic face, fluttering clothes, and full of fairy spirit.

In front of the statue, there was a brass incense burner, and next to it was a bundle of precious sandalwood.

Qiu Zhuorui walked to the second floor, and his expression suddenly became serious and respectful.

He picked up a piece of sandalwood, lit it with the help of the long-burning lamp, inserted his hands into the incense burner, then knelt on the mat, kowtowed to the white jade statue three times, then stood up, put his hands together, closed his eyes slightly, and chanted: "Believer Qiu Zhuorui, I beg the spirit to bless my Qiu family with prosperity for generations, bless the believer's family with no illness or disaster, and live a hundred years..."

He looked solemn, prayed ten times in a row, and then kowtowed three times before getting up and leaving, going back to his room to rest.

After Qiu Zhuorui fell asleep, Chen Yuan quietly left the house, avoided the servants and maids, came to the second-floor building, and stopped in front of the white jade statue.

This statue should be the god worshipped by the demon cult.

Chen Yuan spread his consciousness, condensed it, and swept the white jade statue inch by inch from the outside to the inside.

Under the close-range exploration of the divine consciousness, all the secrets hidden in the white jade statue were exposed.

But Chen Yuan did not find anything after a thorough investigation.

This statue was carved from ordinary white jade, which is a priceless treasure in the mortal world.

But it does not contain any spiritual energy or demonic energy, and is of no use to cultivators.

Chen Yuan frowned slightly, and used his divine consciousness to carefully explore the statue several times, but still found nothing.

"It seems that this statue is not the key..."

Chen Yuan thought to himself, left the small building, returned to the room, and closed his eyes to meditate.

The next day, Chen Yuan visited the garden scenery of Qiu Mansion at the invitation of Qiu Xingcong.

After handling all the mundane affairs, Qiu Zhuorui went to the horse farm to tame the black cloud stepping on the snow horse, and returned in the evening.

During dinner, Qiu Zhuorui talked about the horse training today with great interest, saying that the black cloud stepping on the snow horse was very fierce and it would take at least half a month to tame it, so he asked Chen Yuan to stay in the mansion for a few more days.

Chen Yuan agreed immediately. In fact, it was his trick to pass a trace of true essence into the Wuyun Treading Snow Horse to stimulate its blood.

In the next month, this precious horse will be extremely irritable and will never be tamed.

During this period, he can live in the Qiu Mansion openly and investigate the affairs of the Demon Cult.

When he visited the Qiu Mansion with Qiu Xingcong today, Chen Yuan tried to use the soul-bewitching spell on him, but was hindered by the concealing spell and failed.

As long as Chen Yuan activates his true essence, he can break through the obstruction of the concealing spell, but it may alarm the person behind the scenes and alert the enemy.

Since Qiu Zhuorui's blood and essence deficiency is not caused by worshiping the statue, there must be another reason.

Everyone in the Qiu Mansion is blood and essence deficient, and their life will not last long. The Demon Cult must have used some means to cause this phenomenon.

Chen Yuan only needs to keep his troops in place, keep an eye on Qiu Zhuorui's movements, and wait for the opportunity to explore the secrets of the Demon Cult.

Seven days passed, and Qiu Zhuorui still failed to tame the black cloud stepping snow horse. Chen Yuan lived in the Qiu Mansion openly, spreading his spiritual consciousness and closely monitoring Qiu Zhuorui's every move.

But apart from worshiping the white jade statue every night, he did not have any other abnormal behavior.

Chen Yuan was very patient and not in a hurry. He also quietly returned to Enjizhuang and reinforced the soul-bewitching technique on Ke Xiude and Wei to prevent any mistakes.

But the soul-bewitching technique can only be used twice on the same mortal. If it is used more times, the soul of the person being treated will be damaged and he will become a fool.

Chen Yuan still has twenty days. If he still cannot find clues about the demon cult on Qiu Zhuorui during this period, he can only find another way.

Six more days passed. That night, after dinner, Chen Yuan returned to his room and spread his spiritual consciousness as usual, covering the entire Qiu Mansion and monitoring Qiu Zhuorui's every move.

But after Qiu Zhuorui worshipped the white jade statue, he did not go back to his room to rest, but came to the main hall, paced back and forth, with an anxious look, as if waiting for something.

After a while, Qiu Xingcong, who had sex with his concubine, also rushed over and waited with Qiu Zhuorui.

Qiu Zhuorui, Qiu Xingcong's wife and concubine came to a side hall next to the reception room.

At the same time, the door of the Qiu Mansion was open, and all the servants in the mansion, including servants, maids, cooks and gardeners, gathered in the second courtyard under the leadership of housekeeper Liu.

Chen Yuan watched all this quietly, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

He quietly left the room and walked around Ronglifang, and found that it was not only the Qiu Mansion, but also the houses in the square.

He knew that the outcome would be revealed tonight, so he returned to the Qiu Mansion and came to the roof of the main hall to continue monitoring the actions of everyone in the Qiu Mansion.

At four o'clock in the morning, a carriage slowly drove into the Qiu Mansion. Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong's eyes lit up and they hurried to greet them.

A man in a black robe and a scarf on his head got off the carriage and said in a deep voice, "Are all the people here?"

Qiu Zhuorui bowed and saluted: "Reporting to the divine messenger, all 146 people from the Qiu Mansion are here."

The black-robed man nodded slightly, walked into the main hall, and took out a jade bowl and a cloth bag from his arms.

He held the two things in both hands and said solemnly: "The spiritual god gave me treasures, why don't you kneel down and thank me!"

Qiu Zhuorui and Qiu Xingcong immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "The believer Qiu Zhuorui (Qiu Xingcong), thank the spiritual god for giving me treasures, cutting bones and washing marrow for the believers, and removing filth!"

Then, the two stood up and stared at the cloth bag impatiently.

The black-robed man opened the brocade bag, and the two reached in one after another, each took out a black pill the size of a soybean, and swallowed it into their stomachs.

Then the two closed their eyes, looking refreshed and intoxicated. After a while, they reluctantly opened their eyes, opened their mouths one by one, and spit out a mouthful of red blood into the jade bowl.

The blood fell into the bowl and instantly condensed into two red round beads the size of rice grains.

Afterwards, the two called the people in Qiu's house one by one, took the black pill, and spat out a mouthful of blood into the jade bowl.

When Chen Yuan saw this, his eyes became fierce and he murmured, "What a big move!"