Ordinary people would only think that Young Master Liu was unconscious. Most Daoist mages would think that he was possessed.
The Daoist finished reciting the Dao Scripture and performed a ritual. Seeing that Young Master Liu still showed no signs of waking up, he took the yellow talisman and entered the house. He directly pasted it on Young Master Liu's forehead. A yellow light that was invisible to mortals lit up and immediately worked.
Whoosh!
Young Master Liu suddenly opened his eyes and slapped the yellow-robed Daoist. With a scream, he flew out of the room and landed on the altar.
Seeing this, Minister Liu was about to step forward when he saw the yellow-robed Daoist quickly pack up a few Dharmic artifacts.
"Minister Liu, your young master is possessed by a ferocious ghost. I can't do anything to him. It's better to find someone else."
The yellow-robed Daoist carried the package and leaped over the wall. He fled without even leaving the main entrance, leaving everyone looking at each other.
After slapping him, Young Master Liu closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
"What… What am I supposed to do?"
"Husband, is what the Daoist said true? My son is so unlucky. Boohoo…"
"Since this Daoist can make Yu'er sit up, he must have some ability. Seeing how frightened he is, could it be that Yu'er is really possessed by a ferocious ghost?"
"Husband, what should we do?"
Minister Liu suddenly clapped his hands and said: "Since the Daoist said that a ferocious ghost possessed him, we will prepare the offerings and go to the City God Temple to beg. The reward at the city gate will continue to hang. The reward will be increased to 1,000 taels. Even if the City God Temple doesn't work, I don't believe that there are no real experts."
The wealthy moved quickly. In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, they were all prepared. The original four armed guards became eight, surrounding the entire east wing and preventing anyone from approaching.
The servants had heard about the possession and were ordered to keep quiet.
Minister Liu and his wife personally brought the sacrificial offerings and headed straight for the City God Temple. Yun Su also followed to watch the commotion.
…
West of Yuyang City, at the City God Temple in the afternoon, there were not many people offering incense and praying for blessings. When the temple attendant saw that Minister Liu had brought many offerings, he hurriedly went in and arranged for incense.
Minister Liu first donated 20 taels of silver as incense money and offered high incense. Then, he offered sacrifices and gifts. He set up so many offerings that the table could not fit.
The couple knelt devoutly and whispered. They were praying for the City God to appear and capture the ferocious ghost.
On the sacrificial offering, a ball of incense power that could not be seen by the naked eye surged towards the battlements above. Yun Su saw it clearly and a divine light surged from the ground. City God Zhao, whom he had seen on Yao Mountain that night, brought a few of the Netherworld City's main officials and revealed his Dharma Idol.
"Magistrate Xu, how long does this Liu Ruyu live?"
Civil Magistrate Xu You opened a book and flipped through it. He replied, "My lord, the Book of Life and Death records that Liu Ruyu is 22 years old. He has no bad records and can live until he is 79 years old."
"Oh? That's a lot."
City God Zhao took the Book of Life and Death and personally flipped through Liu Ruyu's situation. He calculated again and said curiously: "This person's location is indeed unknown, we can't deduce where his soul is."
"Sir, is it really as this Mr. and Mrs. Liu say, that there are fierce ghosts at work?"
"Martial Arts Magistrate, quickly lead your right-hand men of the Investigation Division to the Liu residence to investigate."
'Yes, lord.'
At the side, a black light flashed on the martial arts magistrate's body and a set of armor appeared. A gust of wind blew and six more Ghost Envoys appeared on the spot. Their bodies coalesced and they each held an iron umbrella and set off towards the afternoon sun.
Yun Su saw everything clearly from the side and took a few more glances at the Book of Life and Death. He wondered how that book which did not have much treasure light and spiritual energy recorded a person's achievements and longevity. He was rather curious.
City God Zhao and the others could not see through the illusion of the Soul Formation realm. They enjoyed the sacrificial items while discussing the Liu family's case. Not long after, the martial arts magistrate returned with his team.
"Sir, I've already checked the Liu residence carefully. I didn't see any ghosts at all. The soul on Liu Ruyu's body has disappeared."
"Magistrate Xu, go and check if there are any reapers who have captured the soul by mistake. Then, spread the incense and ask the City God's Netherworld Bureau in the nearby county city to investigate. Magistrate Li, gather your men and set up an ambush near the Liu residence at night. There might be something fishy about this matter."
'Yes, lord.'
The two of them received the order and went to get busy. After the minister couple finished praying, they packed up and went home. When Yun Su saw that the ghost servants had nothing to show for their efforts, he had some thoughts in his mind. He would think about it tomorrow. Tonight, he would let those netherworld ghost servants try their best in the Liu residence.
…
The next morning, at the south gate of Yuyang City.
A steward of the Liu family had already led his men to guard the bounty list before dawn. He was looking forward to it and waiting for someone to apply for the job.
"Someone's here, Steward Ma."
The servant hurriedly reminded the anxious steward beside him. He saw a man in a slanted white robe walking over not far ahead. His long hair was carefully tied up with a plain square scarf and there was a strand of hair hanging down from each of his temples. He was in his early twenties and carried a long sword on his back. He was fair-faced and beardless but he gave off an otherworldly feeling.
Wang Xuanji had spent an entire hour combing Yun Su's hair for the first time. She was satisfied. At that moment, it seemed to be working.
"Are you here for the bounty, sir?" Steward Ma asked, bowing.
"Exactly."
"Excellent. Please board the palanquin, sir."
Steward Ma was overjoyed. He hurriedly summoned the palanquin waiting at the side and invited Yun Su into it.
The servant tugged at the corner of Steward Ma's clothes and whispered:
"Steward Ma, didn't Master say that if we meet anyone coming for the bounty, we need to verify them and ask about their background."
"What do you know?"
As Steward Ma looked at the palanquin, he thought to himself how this person looked stronger than those swindling Daoists of the past few days due to his appearance and dressing, on top of how he could approach in total silence. How could he dare to be negligent?
The palanquin arrived at the Liu residence not long after. Someone had already gone to inform the minister and his wife. The two of them were already waiting outside the door.
"Master, Madam, this is Mr. Su."
Steward Ma invited Yun Su down from the palanquin and introduced him. They greeted each other.
"Mr. Su, please come in. We'll talk inside."
When Minister Liu saw Yun Su, he also felt that this person seemed extraordinary. He couldn't tell why exactly but he felt that this person looked more like an expert than the previous Daoists.
They passed through the door and soon arrived outside the east wing. Eight armed guards were guarding here all night.
Yun Su glanced into the darkness of the garden where a snooping ghost servant was hiding. There was a large "Sun" character on his chest.
The ghost servant was hiding under the flowers when he was suddenly shocked. When he saw Yun Su, he felt a sharp pain in his eyes and did not dare to look straight at him. Knowing that the Liu residence had invited another expert, he shrank into the flowers.
Yun Su ignored the ghost servant and entered the east wing.
"That's the situation. Mr. Su, you must save my son."
Minister Liu explained the situation over the past few days. As he spoke, tears flowed down his face and his heart ached.
It turned out that Liu Ruyu had been in bed for more than twenty days.
At first, everyone in the Liu residence thought that he was sick and unconscious but his breathing was fine. However, when the famous doctors nearby were helpless and some sorceresses could not tell what was going on, the minister couple had no choice but to put up a request on the bounty list.
At first, Liu Ruyu was only unconscious. Then, he started to talk nonsense as if he was drinking in his dreams and chatting happily with others. He would not wake up. Every day, the minister's wife would feed him some porridge. He could swallow it.
"A Daoist came to take a look yesterday. He failed to cast the spell and said that a ferocious ghost was causing trouble. The two of us prepared animals and went to the City God Temple to pray. Not only did he not get better but last night, the child's aura was even weaker. He almost died."
Yun Su said calmly: "Young Master Liu is not sick. There are no ghosts in this residence. He just lost his soul."
Although he had come to earn some money, Yun Su did not pretend to be noble nor did he threaten to raise the price. He spoke his mind and did not lie.
"Huh? He lost his soul! This, this, how can he lose his soul?"
When Minister Liu and his wife heard this, they were shocked. Usually, they had heard that people had three souls and seven spirits. However, they thought that it was just a rumor and could not be taken seriously. Who would have thought that their son had actually lost his soul? The two of them had originally believed most of the Daoist priest's words yesterday. They had gone to the City God Temple to pray for peace of mind and to seek help in a desperate situation. Now that they heard about the loss of his soul and thought about their son's situation recently, they realized that he had lost his soul. Otherwise, he would have woken up.
This was the first time in his life that the supernatural was so close to him. Minister Liu and his wife felt their mouths go dry and their heads spin. The strange things that had happened in the past few days were still vivid in their minds. However, they subconsciously felt that it was impossible for this person to lie. They felt even more worried.
It was extremely difficult to find something after losing it. What can they do about a lost soul?!