Less than two days later, Xie Lian faced a huge crisis.

There is nothing to eat in the temple.

He could eat a few steamed buns with a plate of pickled vegetables and pickled cucumbers from the fields every day, which was enough for him. The offerings from the villagers of Puqi Village were more than enough to support his life. But now, there were three more mouths to feed in the temple. Two living people and a living ghost quickly ate up his food reserves.

The two kids were fine, but Qi Rong was a dead ghost, possessed by a grown man and refused to come out. He cursed Xie Lian for not treating him as a human being and feeding him all kinds of dog food, but he ate more than anyone else, making Xie Lian really want to stuff his mouth with pot bottom.

After being completely exhausted, Xie Lian decided to take the two children to the market to see if he could buy something and then take them out for a good meal.

If Xie Lian's luck was not very good on normal days, then today's Xie Lian's luck was particularly bad. After walking around, he did not receive any junk. Finally, he stood at the entrance of a busy street and made a decision: to go back to his old business.

So, he put the two children aside, stood on the street, and said loudly: "Dear fellow villagers and neighbors! Today I have just arrived in this precious place, I am short of money, so I have to show my ugliness. I hope you can support me and give me some food and money for the journey..."

Xie Lian's sleeves fluttered, and he looked like an immortal. He spoke in a clear and powerful voice, and people on the street gathered around him, asking, "What's going on? Let's see?"

Xie Lian happily said, “Would you like to spin the plate and see?”

Everyone waved their hands: "It's not difficult, just a little trick! What else can you do?"

Xie Lian asked again, “Would you like to see a huge rock shattered on your chest?”

Everyone also said: "Too old, too old! What else can you order?"

Xie Lian realized that even street performers had to keep up with the times. His unique skills had become obsolete and no one appreciated them anymore. Seeing that the crowd was about to disperse, he had no choice but to use his trump card. He took out a stack of amulets he had made himself from his sleeve and said, "Watch the street performers and get a free amulet. They are handmade. Don't miss it if you pass by."

Hearing that something was being given away for free, the scattered crowd gathered again in an instant: "What kind of amulet is it? Which Taoist temple consecrated it? Is it from the Emperor Shenwu?"

"Is there anyone who can bring good fortune? Give me the amulet of the God of Wealth, thank you!"

"I want the one from Master Juyang, please leave one for me!"

Xie Lian said, “No. No. The one I sent was from Prince Xianle. It was blessed by the Puqi Temple. I guarantee it’s effective.” Of course it’s effective. Other priests have at least a few thousand people praying for blessings every day. Their ears are buzzing. If there are a few more, they will assign them to the junior priests under them. And he only has a few people praying for blessings every day. Who do you think has a greater chance of being heard?

Everyone sneered, "What the hell is that? I've never heard of it!" Xie Lian said, "It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it. The Puqi Temple is in Puqi Village, seven miles away. You are welcome to visit. No incense is required..." Before he could finish, the crowd dispersed. Everyone walked a short distance and threw away the amulets they had just snatched. Xie Lian followed them and picked them up one by one, cleaned them up, and put them back into his sleeves with a relaxed look. As he was picking up, a pair of cloth shoes stopped in front of him.

Xie Lian raised his head, only to see Lang Ying’s pair of dark eyes peeking out from between the bandages, staring at him intently.

Xie Lian said in a gentle voice, “What’s wrong? Go sit over there with Gu Zi, and wait for me for a while.”

Lang Ying was silent. At this moment, the door of a large house at the other end of the street suddenly opened, and a man was thrown out, followed by a loud shout: "Quack!"

Pedestrians on the street gathered around to watch the excitement. There were dozens of feet clattering and trampling. Those amulets that were not picked up in time were instantly trampled into deflation, dirtiness and rot. Xie Lian was dumbfounded and said nothing. He didn’t pick them up. He asked Lang Ying to go back and look after the grain, and followed to see what was going on. In front of the house, a man who looked like a wealthy businessman was arguing with an old man who looked like a doctor. The wealthy businessman said angrily, “What did you say when you came yesterday? Didn’t you say everything was fine and there was no need to worry? What’s going on today?! My wife didn’t fall or eat anything bad, how come she is like this all of a sudden?!”

The doctor protested, "I came to see your wife yesterday, and she was fine! I think you should consult a Taoist priest instead of a doctor!"

The rich businessman was furious, and pointed at him with his hands on his hips, saying, "My son hasn't even been aborted yet, why are you cursing him, you quack doctor? Be careful or I'll sue you and bankrupt you!"

The doctor picked up his medical box and said, "It's no use for you to sue me. I really don't understand this pulse! I have never seen this in my life!"

Everyone started to make a noise: "Let's change the doctor!" "Let's ask a Taoist priest to take a look!"

Xie Lian instinctively felt that something was fishy, ​​so he raised his hand in the crowd and said, “Please look here. The Taoist priest is here. I am the Taoist priest.”

Everyone turned their heads and asked curiously, "Aren't you a juggler???"

Xie Lian said politely, “That’s just a side job. Thank you.” He then walked forward and said, “Can you show me your wife?”

There were bursts of screams coming from the house. It was obvious that the women were all panicking. The doctor that the rich businessman had just called couldn't come in a while, so they tried all kinds of treatments and actually grabbed him and ran into the house. Xie Lian also grabbed the doctor. When they entered the inner room, there was blood all over the floor. A young woman was lying on the big bed with flower curtains. She was in so much pain that her face was pale. She almost rolled over holding her stomach. Fortunately, she was held down by several old women and maids. As soon as Xie Lian stepped into the door, the hair on his back stood up:

There is a very gloomy energy in this room, and that gloomy energy comes from one place.

That woman's belly!

Xie Lian immediately stopped the people behind him and shouted, “Don’t move! There’s something wrong with her stomach!”

The rich businessman said in horror: "Is my wife about to give birth?!"

The doctor and the old ladies couldn't stand it any longer and said, "It's only been five months, how could she have given birth?"

The rich businessman angrily scolded the doctor: "If the baby is not about to be born, then you don't know what's wrong with her. You are a quack! You can't even read the pulse!"

Seeing that the woman was about to faint, Xie Lian said, "Shut up!" He then took out the Fang Xin Sword. Seeing him suddenly take out a several-foot-long, black weapon, everyone was shocked and asked, "What do you want to do?!" Then they saw Xie Lian let go, and the sword actually floated in the air!

Now, everyone was stunned.

The heart of the woman was hanging in the air, the tip of the sword pointed downward, directly at the woman's bulging belly. The sword was extremely murderous, and everyone saw that the woman's belly suddenly moved, a lump of flesh bulged, sometimes moving to the left abdomen, sometimes to the right abdomen. Moving back and forth, finally, the woman suddenly coughed violently, and a stream of black smoke suddenly blew out of her mouth!

Fang Xin waited for a long time, and with one sword she cut the black smoke away. The woman screamed, "My son!" and fainted on the spot.

Xie Lian then recalled his sword, put it back on his back, and said to the doctor, “That’s enough.”

The doctor was stunned. Xie Lian waved his hand several times before he hesitantly stepped forward. The rich businessman showed joy on his face: "Is my son saved?"

Unexpectedly, the doctor felt the patient's pulse for a while and said tremblingly: "It's gone..."

The rich businessman was stunned for a while, then shouted, "It's gone? How did it just leak out?!"

Xie Lian turned around and said, “Your wife didn’t miscarry the baby. She lost it. Do you understand?”

The rich businessman said, "Isn't it the same thing to be gone and to be lost?"

Xie Lian said, “It’s slightly different. ‘It’s just gone.’ ‘Gone’ means this: there was originally a child in your wife’s belly, but now, the child is gone.”

Sure enough, the woman's abdomen was bulging just now, but now, although there was no external injury, it had obviously deflated, and it was deflated in an extremely unnatural way. The rich businessman said, "...wasn't my son still in her belly just now?!"

Xie Lian said, “The one in there just now wasn’t your child. What was filling up your wife’s belly was just that cloud of black smoke!”

After the doctor confirmed that the woman had just fainted and was not in danger of death, they left the house. The rich businessman asked, "What is your name, Taoist priest? Which temple are you from? Which Taoist master do you worship?"

Xie Lian said, “No need to mention your last name Xie.” He wanted to continue by saying “Puqi Monastery,” but when the words came to his lips, he somehow changed his mind and said, “Qiandeng Monastery.”

After those three words came out, his face inexplicably felt hot. The rich businessman said, "Oh," "I haven't heard of it. It's far away, right?"

Xie Lian didn’t know how far it was, so he whispered, “Hmm…”

After a few pleasantries, the wealthy businessman couldn't wait to ask in fear: "Master! What kind of monster was that just now? Is that what my wife has been pregnant with... a ball of black air?!"

Changing the subject, Xie Lian straightened his expression and said, “It’s not certain. Didn’t you say that your wife was fine when you asked the doctor to see her yesterday? Her pulse should have been stable at that time, but it’s out of control today. I’m afraid the fetus was miscarried last night. Why don’t you think about it? Did your wife do anything last night? Or did something strange happen?”

The rich businessman said, "Nothing happened last night. My wife didn't even go out! Ever since she prayed for this child by burning incense in the Ju|yang Temple, she has set up a shrine for the Ju|yang Master at home. She recites scriptures and burns incense every day without leaving the house. She is extremely pious!"

"..." Xie Lian thought that if Feng Xin knew that someone was offering him this, it would be a disaster. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Then, did you have any strange dreams?"

The rich businessman was startled and said, "Yes!"

Xie Lian perked up, and heard the rich businessman say, “Master, you are truly a prophet! My wife really had a strange dream last night. She dreamed of a child playing with her and calling her “mother.” In the middle of the night, she woke up when she felt something kicking her stomach. She even told me happily that maybe the baby in her belly couldn’t wait to meet its parents, so it came to say hello first. I even tried to comfort her at the time!”

Instantly, Xie Lian concluded, “There’s something wrong with this kid!”

After a pause, he asked again, "How old is the child? What does he look like? Has your wife told you about it?"

The wealthy businessman broke out in a cold sweat and said, "I'm afraid she can't remember. When she told me, she couldn't tell me exactly how old she was. I just vaguely felt that she should be very young, and she wanted to hold her in her arms. She was quite light in her arms."

After a moment of silence, Xie Lian said, “I will ask you a few more questions. You must answer truthfully, otherwise this matter will be unclear. First, are there any concubines in your house competing for favor? Second, has your wife ever beaten a child before?”

Asking whether there are concubines competing for favor is to see whether it is possible that the curse was caused by jealousy. Once a woman who has been confined to the backyard of a deep house for many years becomes jealous, she can do anything; asking whether the mother has ever aborted her child is because if the child has been aborted for improper reasons, resentment may remain in the mother's body, making it difficult for the new child to have a good life.

After Xie Lian’s repeated confirmation, the rich businessman confessed the truth, and surprisingly, all of them were correct. Not only did he have several concubines in his house, who were always nagging, but he also kept a mistress outside, always looking forward to bringing her in. Afterwards, the maidservant beside this lady also confessed that her master was originally a concubine and had been pregnant once. She believed the folk prescriptions of some quack doctors and concluded that the baby was a daughter, but she wanted to give birth to a son to make her the first wife, so she drank medicine to abort the child. Xie Lian was overwhelmed after hearing this. The rich businessman said anxiously: "Master, could this be the revenge of the unborn girl?"

Xie Lian said, “This is possible, but not entirely possible. After all, your wife couldn’t tell exactly how old the child in her dream was, or whether it was a boy or a girl.”

The rich businessman said, "Then...then Taoist priest, since this ball of black air only entered my wife's belly last night, then...where is my own son?"