Chapter 310 - 306: Bloodletting_1

“What? Yingbao has been kidnapped?”

Xiu Zhenniang was in a panic, she quickly instructed the servants at home to report to the government office, and rushed to the Wei Family with a maid, seeking an audience with the mistress of the Wei family, Madame Wang, begging her to help find the missing person throughout the city.

Since the Wei Family wielded significant influence in Prefecture City and had connections in all spheres, plus they had many servants and guards, turning to them for help was far better than acting like a headless fly on her own.

Meanwhile, Yingbao had been thrown into a carriage that traveled for a long time before she was carried into a brilliantly lit room.

When she was pulled out, she saw two masked individuals standing under the lamplight, staring at her.

By now, Yingbao had calmed down from her initial shock, and was even quite composed when facing the masked figures.

Since they were masked, it meant they didn’t want her to recognize them, and for that, she figured she had a chance of survival.

But the disguises of these two were laughably poor. They hadn’t even bothered to change their clothes, nor had they covered their heads, exposing their grey hair and their gloomy old eyes.

Did they think she was a fool?

Well, fine. For her survival, she had to act the fool and pretend not to recognize that it was Pei Shixian and Han Yueniang.

So, she started crying, bawling her eyes out on the floor, “Master! Eldest senior brother! Come save me! Wuuwuuwuu! The kidnappers have kidnapped a child…”

Someone on the side gave her a swift kick, and scolded, “Shut up!”

Yingbao looked appropriately frightened and burrowed her head inside the sack.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her collar and drag her into the center of an Eight Diagrams symbol.

Exactly, in the middle of the room, there was a huge Eight Diagrams symbol, as large as a bamboo screen, and they had placed her on the portion designated as Yin.

Yingbao looked around and realized that this place was not a typical building but seemed more like a cave; there were no windows.

There was an altar here, with incense and candles burning on it, and a few ritual implements set out for the ceremony.

There were several people in the room. Apart from Pei Shixin and Han Yueniang, there were four youths dressed like Taoists, probably Pei Shixin’s disciples.

“Cover her eyes!” Seeing the child’s eyes dart around, Pei Shixin immediately ordered.

“Yes!” Someone immediately tore a piece of cloth and wrapped it around Yingbao’s head, blocking her sight.

Yingbao was about to cry again when someone threatened, “Cry one more time and you will be strangled!” Saying so, he tied Yingbao to a post.

Yingbao’s heart was pounding, but she managed not to panic. She dared not say more and just whimpered quietly.

The less she said, the fewer mistakes she would make. It was more important to stay alive for the moment.

Soon after, someone brought a bowl of medicinal soup and forced Yingbao to drink it.

After drinking the medicine, Yingbao only felt her brain getting dizzy, and her consciousness gradually became foggy.

In her mind, she quickly searched for an antidote and swallowed it.

The drug they had given her seemed to be the Powder for Anesthesia, also known as the Knockout Drug in the martial arts scene. It had an anesthetic effect.

Probably fearing that they might poison her to death, they didn’t put a lot of it in.

After consuming the antidote, although she couldn’t completely get rid of the effect of the anesthesia powder, Yingbao was still able to maintain some clarity.

Someone then pricked her finger with a needle to see if she was truly unconscious.

As the needle went in and the child had no reaction, they reported, “Master, she is unconscious.”

The voice of the old man came, “Good, fetch the magic artifact, and bring Tiantian down.”

“Yes!”

After a while, Yingbao heard Han Yueniang say, “My lord, why don’t we gouge out her eyes and break her legs, imprison her here, and it would be much easier to draw blood every time.”

“No!” Pei Shixian said, “This girl has a strong fate. Hurt her a little, and ten times the harm will befall Tiantian. We shouldn’t act hastily. It is best to proceed slowly and carefully.”

Han Yueniang: “But if we let her go, what if she reports us to the Prefectural Government Office?”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Pei Shixian said, “After I cast the spell, she will forget everything about this place.”

After a pause, Pei Shixian added, “Remember, we want to rise to power, not attract trouble.”

Han Yueniang remained silent, glaring darkly at the young girl bound to the rack, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Master, I’ve brought the girl,” a young boy said as he led Chen Tiantian down into the basement.

Han Yueniang quickly pulled her daughter closer, laughing, “My second girl, this lowly wretch has been caught by your father. After the ritual, we won’t have to worry about her affecting your destiny.”

Chen Tiantian glanced nervously at Yingbao, who had her head bowed, “Mother, will we have to kill her after the ritual?”

“Your father said there’s no need to kill her. Fear not, my child. Leaving her alive is also a way for you to accumulate merit.”

Han Yueniang comforted her daughter, “Your father calculated that you are destined to be an empress, so we can’t resort to malicious actions.”

“But…” Chen Tiantian began to say, only to be summoned by Pei Shixian.

“Stand beside her, I am about to cast the spell.” Pei Shixian washed his hands in the clear water his disciple had brought, then lit an incense and began his prayer.

After chanting a series of incantations, he instructed his disciple to approach the child with a small knife and a golden bowl.

Yingbao felt several cuts on her wrist, followed by her blood slowly flowing into the bowl with a drip-drop sound.

She didn’t feel much pain, probably due to the knockout drug; she only felt colder and colder.

After half a bowl of blood had been collected, her head spun and she quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

Pei Shixian then cut off a large chunk of her hair, burned a portion, and mixed the rest with her blood for Chen Tiantian to drink.

Chen Tiantian swallowed down the half-bowl of blood in one go, grimacing at the taste. She squatted on the ground, retching for a long time, vomiting up a lot.

“Why is she vomiting?” Han Yueniang patted her daughter’s back while looking questioningly at Pei Shixian, “Should we draw more blood to replace what she lost?”

“That won’t be necessary; this is enough.” Pei Shixian was concerned the child might die here and then— this would not only make the spell invalid but also land him in trouble.

Zhou Wuchang was not someone to be trifled with. If it was traced back to him, he had enough power to wipe out the entire Pei family.

However, as long as the girl didn’t die, Zhou Wuchang, who always sought to avoid trouble, definitely wouldn’t probe deeper.

Pei Shixian ordered his disciples to bandage the girl’s wounds and perform a few more treatments, before having her taken away and thrown into a deserted wasteland dozens of miles away.

At that moment, Yingbao had already woken up. She stayed motionless until the hooves of the departing horses became distant before heaving her eyes open.

The sky was dotted with stars, the moon had already moved to the western horizon.

Yingbao lay there for a while longer before taking out the Five Ding Zhī pill from her storage space and swallowing it.

Half an hour later, she was finally able to stand.

She tenderly stroked the bandaged wrist, her expression turning darker.

She entered the storage space with her consciousness, unpeeling the blood-soaked bandages layer by layer.

When she saw the cuts, she couldn’t help but sneer.

No wonder she was born with this strange birthmark. These intersecting wounds, isn’t this the shape of a plum blossom?

So her birthmark on her wrist was actually the scars left by six knife cuts.

Very well! Now she finally understood.

It seemed that she hadn’t just lived two lives, but presumably another one that she had forgotten.

In other words, the life she had forgotten was what the story in the book described, which was why she was reborn with a birthmark.

So the book from her mind probably represents her first lifetime, her last was the second.

And the life she’s experiencing now must be her third.

Yingbao rubbed her temples.

Was she caught in an infinite loop of rebirths?

But why?