After hearing my master's words, I nodded slightly, understanding the reason.
It turned out this box had trapped the ghosts of Steward Li's wife and child.
If the box wasn't opened and the curse within broken, no matter how far Steward Li's wife and child were sent, they would be dragged back before dawn.
The box needed to be opened at ten o'clock at night.
That is, the middle of the hour of Hai.
I checked the time; it was 9:50, with about ten minutes left.
So, Mo Ting and I stood aside, quietly waiting.
Mo Ting spoke to me in a low voice:
"Brother Qin, I've discovered something.
Your master and my master seem to be fellow disciples."
I had suspected this before in the villa.
Now, hearing Mo Ting say it, it felt even more likely.
The two of them appeared to be mortal enemies on the surface, but when dealing with the demonic Taoist Miao Nanzi last time, they cooperated seamlessly, acting more like old friends.
Furthermore, in the villa, Daoist Tang mentioned, "Our grand-master."
It felt like these two old fellows were indeed fellow disciples.
But for some reason, they had fallen out and gone their separate ways.
Thinking of this, I asked Mo Ting:
"Old Mo, when you became a disciple.
Did you worship the founding patriarch?
Was it the God of Mount Tai?
Also, my grand-master's Taoist name is Jiu Xuan."
As soon as I finished speaking, Mo Ting's heart stirred, and he said with some surprise:
"Whoa, me too.
Master mentioned it before, saying our grand-master's Taoist name was True Master Jiu Xuan."
Hearing this, our eyes met.
We simultaneously looked at our masters, who stood on either side, looking displeased with everyone.
I took a deep breath and smiled slightly:
"It seems there's no doubt, our masters are fellow disciples.
And we, are also from the same sect."
It was surprising that Master and Daoist Tang were actually fellow disciples.
No wonder when they opened their shops, one was called Wan Fu Tang and the other Wan Shou Tang.
I just wondered why Master and Daoist Tang were so "antagonistic."
As we were gossiping and speculating,
the time reached ten o'clock at night.
Daoist Tang checked the time and directly said to my Master, who was holding the box:
"Old trash, time's up, open the box!"
My master rolled his eyes and retorted to Daoist Tang:
"Do you think I don't know if it's time?"
After speaking, facing the moon,
He held the box with one hand, rapidly changed hand seals with his right, and continuously muttered to himself.
Finally, my Master let out a low shout:
"Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Lie, Qian, Xing, Chu!"
My master was using the Taoist Nine-Character Mantra.
And after a cry of "Chu Ling!"
A strong, cold wind suddenly began to blow around "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."
What's more, something even stranger was happening to the box.
The box, facing the moon, seemed to be absorbing moonlight.
Streams of white mist were drawn in from all directions, visibly entering the box.
The character "You" (幽) in the center of the box began to distort as the white mist was continuously absorbed.
Then, the box made a "kaka" sound from within.
Finally, with a "bang," it cracked open from the middle, and the lid flipped outwards.
As soon as the lid opened, a faint, dim white light emanated from the box.
The white light was very weak, but in the dark night, it was noticeable.
Mo Ting and I, filled with curiosity, leaned closer.
Steward Li stood quietly to the side, holding his wife and child, watching.
As Mo Ting and I approached, we saw a white bead inside the box.
It was only about the size of a pinky, emitting a faint white light, like a cat's eye.
All the white mist attracted from the surroundings had entered this small white bead.
I frowned slightly, wondering in my heart; is this the fortune bead?
At the same time, Daoist Tang walked over.
Holding a yellow cloth, he directly took out the white bead and carefully wrapped it up.
"Master, is this the bead formed from the condensed fortune of the Zhang family?
Does whoever obtains this bead become very lucky?"
Mo Ting went up to Daoist Tang and asked.
Daoist Tang put away the bead and replied indifferently:
"Yes and no.
Although this bead stole the Zhang family's fortune,
the bead itself is condensed from Yin energy, with ghost energy swirling.
Most people who obtain it cannot bear its power.
It only brings harm to themselves and others!
Now, we can only wrap it up and wait until noon tomorrow to dissolve it under the sun."
Hearing this, Mo Ting and I were both puzzled.
Since it brings harm to oneself and others,
why would that demonic man have Steward Li foster the mother and child ghosts here to steal fortune and condense it into a bead?
"Daoist Tang, since it brings harm to oneself and others, why did that demonic Taoist do this?"
Daoist Tang, after storing the bead and sealing it with yellow talismans, replied:
"To ordinary people, this bead is harmful and unbeneficial.
But that demonic man is an evil cultivator.
He practices evil techniques and forbidden arts.
Therefore, he can utilize this Yin energy condensation to improve his own cultivation."
Hearing this, Mo Ting and I finally understood completely.
We gained a deeper understanding of the so-called "fortune bead."
Meanwhile, my Master had found a hidden compartment inside the box.
And from this compartment, he took out two small gray cloth bags.
As soon as these small cloth bags were taken out, the ghost mother and child became agitated.
The middle-aged female ghost even said:
"Daoist, this is it.
These are my and my children's remains.
Burn them, and we, we can break free from the box and regain our freedom..."