The charming widow of the Marquis's mansion: The stable boy carries the flag and raises the dra

The fake Taoist priest raised his hand and gently pressed it down, and the noise of the crowd gradually subsided.

He took out a dozen or so jet-black nails from his sleeve. The nails were covered with densely packed runes, which gleamed with a cold, eerie light in the overcast sky.

The little girl's pupils contracted sharply the moment she saw the nail.

She could feel the aura emanating from it.

Cold, heavy, and carrying a malice that seemed to want to hold something down forever.

"These are Soul-Suppressing Nails."

The Taoist priest explained with a cold laugh.

"By nailing it into her limbs, head, and neck, she can be kept on this land forever. Her divine power will not dissipate and will continue to nourish Peach Blossom Spring for all eternity, passed down from generation to generation."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding villagers.

"Who among you is willing to do this?"

"Those who do it themselves will receive a greater share of the blessings."

The crowd fell silent again.

Some people looked at each other in bewilderment, some looked down at their toes, and some subconsciously took a half step back.

But the silence did not last long.

Then, the entire crowd erupted in cheers.

The first to step forward was the old woman who had once asked the little girl to help her find the old hen.

"I'll do it!"

The old woman's voice trembled slightly, but she still stepped forward and took a soul-suppressing nail.

Her fingers were trembling, but her gaze was unusually firm.

"I don't want Peach Blossom Spring to become what it used to be. I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing it for the whole village!"

Her movement seemed to break through some invisible dam.

The second, the third, the fourth... one villager after another came forward, took the black nails from the Taoist priest, clenched them in their palms, their fingernails digging into their palms.

The Taoist priest handed the last nail to Old Li from the village.

Old Li looked down at the long black nail embedded in his palm, paused for a moment, and then clenched it tightly.

The little girl watched as those familiar faces walked towards her, seeing the familiar yet strange urgency in their eyes. Her lips moved slightly.

It seemed as if it wanted to say something, but in the end it just closed its eyes in despair.

She knew she couldn't escape!

At this moment, her heart was dead.

Wang Long stood a few steps away, wanting to rush up and stop him, but when he reached out his hand, he only touched empty air.

He could do nothing; he was merely an observer of this memory.

The door to the ancestral hall was suddenly kicked open.

The damp night wind, carrying the scent of earth and grass, blew into the room, causing the oil lamp on the table to shake violently.

The girl looked up at the faces crowded at the doorway.

The once gentle and friendly neighbors now had a kind of madness in their eyes that she had never seen before.

The middle-aged man standing at the front spoke, his voice hoarse but devoid of any warmth.

"We've all heard from the immortals that you've received a blessing, yet you want to keep it all to yourself."

"I don't……"

The girl's voice was very soft and trembling.

"I really tried my best!"

"Then why won't you help my wife treat her leg? Why won't you let my family's fields yield 30% more?"

"And then there's my father's illness. You said you couldn't do it, but the immortal clearly said you could!"

"Do you intend to keep all the blessings for yourself so you can ascend to heaven alone?"

The voices surged in like a tide, one wave higher than the next.

Her words, her explanations, her pleas were all drowned out by those self-righteous questions.

The girl's lips were trembling.

She wanted to explain, to say that those desires had exceeded her limits, to say that she hadn't slept for days, to say that her spiritual power was dwindling.

But nobody was listening.

"The immortal said that if we nail her to the wall, her blessings will remain in the village, granting our wishes day and night."

The fake Taoist priest, standing at the back of the crowd, stepped forward with a smile.

A sinister smile played on his lips, but his eyes, reflecting the girl's terrified face, showed no pity whatsoever.

"Little girl,"

His voice was like a gentle spring breeze.

"Now that you have received this blessing, you should use it to benefit the people. Selfishness and self-interest are major taboos in spiritual practice."

"Now that we have received blessings from the immortals, wouldn't it be better to stay in the mortal realm and bring prosperity to the people?"

Before the words were even finished, the villagers sprang into action.

The hands that usually handed her wild fruit and praised her for being well-behaved were now gripping her arms and clothes tightly.

The girl struggled, her straw sandals leaving two shallow marks on the threshold, her screams drowned out by the cacophony of noise.

"Grab her! Don't let her get away!"

"How can she be so strong?!"

"Hold her down! Hold her down!"

The little girl's struggles and cries were ignored by the villagers.

When the first Soul-Suppressing Nail fell, her body arched violently, and she let out an even more shrill scream from her throat.

With the second and third needles, her body began to tremble violently, and her face turned ashen.

By the time the fourth rod fell, she could no longer make a sound.

The sixth one, the seventh one...

The blood meandered down the wall, seeping into the cracks of the blue bricks and being greedily absorbed by the soil.

The air was thick with the smell of rust, mixed with the acrid scent of candlelight, pressing heavily on everyone's breath.

The fake Taoist priest stood with his hands behind his back in front of the altar, a smile playing on his lips, his gaze fixed on the body that was nailed to the wall and was still rising and falling slightly.

Become!

The Soul-Stabilizing Nails were visibly merging into the girl's flesh and blood, and the runes spread along her meridians, gradually locking the immense spiritual power into her body.

He could almost feel that power slowly flowing towards him, and soon he would be able to separate this "blessing" from her and claim it for himself!

The girl's eyes were open, and the pale golden light in her pupils was gradually dimming, like a lamp whose oil was slowly being drained.

When the last Soul-Suppressing Nail was driven into her brow, her body froze completely.

She fell silent, her gaze vacant, and tears of blood streamed down her face.

This is not a blessing, it's a curse!

She was happy when she knew she had power, thinking about how it could make life better for the villagers.

Little did they know that human desires are endless...

The villagers excitedly released their grip, took a few steps back, and looked at the small body nailed to the wall, no longer moving. Their faces were filled with manic smiles, as if they were admiring their masterpiece.

The Taoist priest stepped forward, glanced down at the small, not yet completely cold body on the ground, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips. He waved his whisk, his voice gentle and calm.

"From this day forward, Peach Blossom Spring will forever be prosperous and peaceful."

The villagers cheered excitedly.

They can live a good life forever!