Lord of the Desert

Chapter 491: Exorcism Ceremony
The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Everyone in the capital city got up at daybreak.

Before breakfast, Hong Fan and Aunt Liu offered sacrifices to their ancestors from afar in the courtyard and performed the "Five Sacrifices".

The Five Sacrifices are five minor household gods, including the door god, household god, well god, kitchen god and Zhongluo god.

At the beginning of the Chen period, I had breakfast.

The group from the mansion took a carriage to the north city and stopped three miles south of the imperial city.

At this time, the street was already crowded with people. Hong Fan and Qu Luoyi led the way, protecting Aunt Liu and the others as they continued walking.

The southern main gate of the imperial city is called Dingding Gate, and outside it is Jianyu Avenue which runs through the capital.

The moat is fifty feet wide, and a main road passes over the river, divided into five bridges. Today, there is a ceremony to exorcise evil spirits, and people are not allowed to pass through the three middle bridges.

In this way, the two outermost bridges become first-class viewing spots.

"There are too many people on the bridge, Second Young Master. How about we find a shop on the second floor to watch the ceremony? It's just a matter of spending some money."

Shen Hong suggested.

Hong Fan was about to agree when he suddenly heard Qu Luoyi calling out from beside him.

"Hey, isn't that Kou Yong? Let's go to that bridge!"

"'Liuyun' Kou Yong, which one?"

Hong Fan looked around.

"The most conceited one!"

Qu Luoyi replied.

In fact, when Hong Fan saw Kou Yong in person, he no longer needed anyone's confirmation.

This is a flowing cloud that stands out even among the geniuses.

He was two inches shorter than Hong Fan, with skin as white as jade and a thick black moustache. He wore a loose and even revealing silk dress, and had an extraordinary generosity - as if he had silently granted everyone the right to peek into his body.

The group slowly squeezed onto the bridge as passers-by gave way to them.

After a year and a half in Shenjing, Hong Fan's face had become a pass to the same level as the princes and nobles.

"Kou Yong, why are you standing so high again?"

Qu Luoyi started yelling before he had climbed half the stairs.

"Are you still drinking the passing wind?"

His tone was obviously a mimicry of the other person.

Kou Yong pressed his lips together and rolled his eyes in disdain: "I won't drink with vulgar people."

"You say I'm a layman?"

Qu Luoyi raised his eyebrows and pulled his hand out of his belt.

"Hey, then why are you still breathing? You have the ability to hold your breath forever!"

At this time, several people were standing high on the top of the bridge, under the watchful eyes of everyone, and naturally became the focus of everyone.

Hong Fan has never been afraid of big occasions, but this time he felt like sitting on pins and needles.

Fortunately, Kou Yong did not argue with Qu Luoyi.

"I never thought that Qu Luoyi could have such a respectable friend."

He looked at Hong Fan.

"Brother Kou, you don't recognize this person? But I do."

A man in black clothes nearby interrupted.

The man had a ponytail, looked lazy, and had a purple spot on his left cheek that looked like a birthmark.

"I heard the noise from afar and wondered who the newcomers were. It turned out to be Chisha from Liangzhou and Chixing from Shengzhou."

The man in black seemed to use words that sounded extremely respectful, but his demeanor was casual and frivolous.

"Gu Yixin himself didn't come, but his sworn brother did."

Kou Yong nodded, and his attitude softened a lot.

"May I ask your name?"

Hong Fan bowed to the man in black.

From the man's body shape and posture, he could tell that the other person was a skilled warrior.

"My surname is Gu Yuehu, and my given name is Lumen."

Hu Lumen leaned against the stone railing beside the bridge and smiled.

"Hu's family is poor, and I am not like Master Hong who can turn stones into gold. Fortunately, I practiced martial arts for a few years when I was young, and now I can barely make a living in Shenjing."

This statement sounds flawless and is a humble expression often used by "Shenpiao", but Hong Fan just has a feeling that "this person is very familiar with me".

"Brother Kou, the bridge is crowded. Follow me to the other side to make room for the newcomers."

Hu Lumen pushed Kou Yong's arm.

The latter followed his words.

"It's a pity that our brother Qiao has been listening to the stupid fishes on his back chanting. He must be fed up with it."

Kou Yong patted the bridge railing affectionately as he walked.

Now Hong Fan understood somewhat the three-word comment "unreasonable" made by Qu Luoyi.

At this time, Jianyu Street cheered again, with the focus on the fifth stone bridge opposite. "The one on the left is 'Three Mountains and Half Fallen', and the one on the right, um, I don't recognize it."

Qu Luoyi was the first to identify it.

As the top of the list of geniuses after Gu Yixin and before Chu Jiange, Lou Qianyu has a strong build. Although he is not extremely handsome, he has regular features and a loyal look.

"The one on the right is a star master."

Hong Fan added.

The sand world destiny star between his eyebrows was floating restlessly.

"How did you know..."

Qu Luoyi was about to ask something when Hu Lumen interrupted him.

"It's 'Ling Bo Yu' Yin Wu Xiang, and 'Si Wu Xie' the Star Lord."

Yin Wuxiang had just been removed from the list as the tenth one not long ago, so everyone present naturally knew his name. At this moment, seeing him in a green robe, with a handsome and dignified appearance, he lived up to the reputation of Lingbo Yu.

A melodious bell sounded from the north, flooding over Jianyu Street, which had been cleared by the Five Cities Army, like a tide, suppressing all the noise.

The bell sound came from Taichang Temple outside the imperial city.

Hong Fan looked at the position of the sun and knew that it was Chenshi (8 o'clock in the morning).

Everyone fell silent and looked north, where they saw clouds and mist rising at the end of the avenue.

The fog approaches silently, causing viewers to unconsciously concentrate, hold their breath, and sweat in their palms.

The sound of arrows suddenly became clear and melodious.

Fires flashed in the fog, and the sound of rustling rose and fell. Bronze animal faces could be vaguely seen in the flickering sounds.

As the rolling fog approached the Five Bridges on the river, majestic drum beats suddenly sounded, shaking the streets.

The smoke cleared slightly.

In the front was Fang Xiangshi’s figure.

He wore a golden four-eyed mask and a bearskin cloak. His black robe and red skirt billowed like the tide. When he shook the copper bell in his hand, it made a sound like tearing silk.

Beside Fang Xiangshi, one hundred servants in dark black robes, wearing red caps and bronze armor, held spears and marched in the Yu step. The sound of their footsteps corresponded to the rise and fall of the Big Dipper.

In the back were two giant drums made from the hides of exotic animals, and a number of wooden platforms carried on the shoulders of naked giants.

In the center of the formation, there was a bronze brazier with green flames billowing in it.

Outside the large formation, a Nuo singing boy stood on the stage, his ankles and arms exposed outside the linen cloth were blue from the cold, he held a peach bow and reed arrows, the tails of the arrows were decorated with colorful silk ribbons.

Hong Fan felt goosebumps all over his body as he looked at the colorful Nuo masks.

The north wind makes the flags rustle.

The clear voices of children were either laughing or howling, and occasionally arrows were shot into the walls of houses along the street.

Every time an arrow was launched, hundreds of slaves would run in the direction using their hands and feet, retrieving their prey from the void with exaggerated movements - paper puppets with evil human faces and plague ghosts - and then, amid the exclamations of the spectators, these paper puppets would be thrown into the bronze brazier, where they twisted and curled up in the flames and turned to ashes.

The cheers grew louder.

As the exorcism formation progressed, the blue bricks along the way were splashed and soaked with the blood wine of three animals one by one; every time the wine hit the ground, there was a hissing sound, and a fishy and sweet white mist rose up.

On that day, all the houses in the capital opened their doors and windows to give the plague ghosts nowhere to hide.

When the entire formation crossed the five bridges, the coldness seemed to have been swept away from Jianyu Street.

The boys on the platform became hot and red as they moved, with hot air rising from their mouths and noses.

Bai Li threw bamboo sticks wrapped in saltpeter, which exploded with crackling sounds on the street.

"Is it done?"

Hong Fan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the green flames subside slightly.

"not yet!"

Hu Lumen laughed.

As soon as he finished speaking, the smoke suddenly rose again, covering the entire formation; and the golden eyes of Xiang Shi in the back suddenly expanded in the thick smoke, and four golden lights pierced through the white mist that symbolized the plague ghost.

The uniform Nuo songs of the boys suddenly burst into bloom.

Empty, ethereal, and sublime.

Following this ballad, twenty-eight servants paraded around holding bronze mirrors, using the mirrors to reflect each other's golden light, revealing a rat's head and a snake's tail in the white mist...

The exorcism ceremony, which was full of wild power, lasted for an hour and ended at the hour of Si (10 a.m.).

The shopkeepers delightedly pulled down the colorful ribbons and reed arrows stuck on their door walls and kept them at home as worshippers.

The crowd slowly dispersed.

Shen Hong and others escorted Aunt Liu back home.

The waiter from the Duke's Mansion, who had been waiting nearby for a long time, came up to Hong Fan and the others and invited them to go to Diyan Lake.

When getting on the carriage, Hong Fan sensed the third star god of the day.

"Qingwuzi" Xu Zhiyan, female, 25 years old, ranked ninth and left the list at the same time as Qu Luoyi.

More than twenty luxurious carriages lined up in a row and drove out of the city from the east, heading towards Lord Fengcheng's manor by the lake.

Along the way, many young women lined the streets to watch and smile, all dressed up beautifully, and some were even brought by their elders, obviously wanting to try their luck in finding a good husband.

Hong Fan hid in the car.

Qu Luoyi sat upright on the shaft of the cart, occasionally tossing his hair, which was messed up by the wind, behind his head with what he thought was an invincible and cool movement.

(End of this chapter)