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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 64 (Part 2)

It took You Shu a long time to make this judgment boldly. Of course, it may not be accurate, but the abnormal appearance of internal organs was enough as evidence. He continued to ask, “The internal organs are already rotten, can you still distinguish between them? Can you tell which ones are missing?”

The official of the Dali Temple, who had already turned his face away, had no choice but to continue to observe. After a moment, he exclaimed in surprise, “Unexpectedly, the heart is missing.”

“Have you confirmed?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, you can step back.”

As if he had gotten amnesty, the minister of the Dali Temple ran among the officials to find a sense of security, but because of the foul smell on his body, he was repulsed and pushed around. Come to think of it, after today, he would not want to solve a case for a long time, especially the one that requires examination of a corpse.

You Shu looked at the Sixth Prince and slowly asked, “Tell me, a person who is covered in hundreds of layers of skin bags, whose internal organs have been rotten for three months, and who has lost her heart, could that person still be called alive?”

The Sixth Prince’s head was turned into a paste, unable to answer at all. In order to prevent himself from being called out again, the official of the Dali Temple Minister hid behind a certain minister and shouted, “How can she be considered alive? Moreover, she can’t be counted as a person at all! Mrs. Zhao’s crime of murdering the royal family is false!”

You Shu was very satisfied with his performance and nodded, “Finally there is someone who understands. That’s right, the thing lying here is not a human, but a monster. These skin bags are the spoils it scavenged after foraging, using them to hide its identity. It wears these skins and enters your mansion at will, slaughtering your relatives recklessly. And my mother had a safety talisman on her body, which blocked its attack, causing it to suddenly fall to the ground. According to my judgment, the Empress has been dead for twelve hours. After thinking about it, Princess Mingzhu should have asked to meet the Empress yesterday, right? She was already dead at that time, and what you saw was just an illusion.”

Several palace maids hiding in the corner fainted after hearing this.

It would’ve been fine if he didn’t say anything, but the more he talked, the more panicked the officials became, they also yearned for the safety talisman. What kind of power did it have to be able to kill such a terrifying monster? Could it be that the immortal master drew it himself? Can we also have one?

In a situation where their lives were seriously threatened, these people had no intentions of exploring the truth. They wished they could kneel at You Shu’s feet, crying and begging him for a talisman. Even the Sixth Prince showed reverence and longing in his eyes, and it was obvious that he had been completely subdued.

You Shu ignored them, turned around and walked to the copper basin where the skin bags were placed. He threw a few karma talismans into it, then put his hands together and moved his fingertips, pinching a set of very mysterious and complicated incantations. Suddenly a purple flame burst out from the copper basin, and many black silhouettes faintly appeared in the flickering light spots. If there were familiar people around, they would definitely be able to recognize their identities.

They first turned into clouds of green smoke hovering over the main hall, emitting mournful cries like sobs, then they converged into a black vortex and slowly disappeared. The flames lit up everyone’s terrified faces, sending chills through their bodies.

When the sun shone in again, the copper basin was empty, with no purple flames, no hundreds of human skin bags, or burned out black ash, as if everything before was just an illusion. But everyone knew that this wasn’t an illusion, but a real occurrence, because the skeleton covered in carrion was still placed on the bamboo mat.

After releasing the souls, You Shu threw the flame talisman onto the skeleton and slowly said, “Finally, I have one more thing to tell you: As long as this monster’s heart is safe, it will never die. Your task now is to search the whole city and secretly find it, bringing it to me to dispose of.”

The courtiers who just saw the corpse burnt to ashes heard such bad news before they could breathe a sigh of relief, and almost fainted on the spot. Especially the commander of the imperial army who was in charge of the defense of the capital, his face was very pale as he said in a trembling voice, “Immortal Master, it is a monster, how can I catch it? How about giving me a talisman for protection?”

It’s really shameless to pretend to do public service for one’s own interests! The courtiers were furious in their hearts, and their knees itched slightly, wanting to kneel down and beg for the safety talisman from the immortal master.

After some consideration, You Shu gave him a talisman, and then poured two drops of blood on the small map of Shangjing that had already been made. He pointed out, “Follow the blood beads and you will encounter a rotten dog. With this net bag, you will be able to subdue it. Remember, never let go of the rope while bringing it to me.” Then he took out a gold wire net from his sleeve pocket, with many small vermillion bells hanging on it.

The commander of the Imperial Army didn’t dare to desecrate the treasure, so he quickly wiped his hands to pick it up, then took his subordinates and left in stride.

Emperor Zhongkang, who was waiting outside the corridor, had already heard a few people talking, and remembered the safety talisman You Shu had given him a few days ago. He immediately ran towards the Yanxin Hall, so anxious that he even forgot to summon the eunuch. If he had known that the safety talisman was so powerful, he wouldn’t have thrown it aside casually, and he didn’t know if it was taken away by the palace maid by now. Yesterday the monster came to beg to see him, but because he was angry and drove people away, he went to see the Empress instead. If it wasn’t for this mistake, maybe the corpse with the knife stuck in the chest would be replaced by himself!

The more Emperor Zhongkang thought about it, the more frightened he became. From now on, he wouldn’t dare to put aside the safety talisman You Shu had given him. Even during a bath, he even had to take a small glass bottle and hang it around his neck.

Because of the monster running amok in the capital, constantly threatening everyone’s lives at all times, everyone forgot about the death of the Empress and Princess Mingzhu. Before catching the monster, the royal family did not dare to mourn, so they had to find an ice coffin to store the Empress’s body. As for where the body of Princess Mingzhu went, only the monster knows.

After waiting all day and night in fear, the commander of the Imperial Army lived up to everyone’s expectations, and entered the palace with a half-rotten dog trapped in a gold wire net. You Shu didn’t immediately burn the monster to death, but instead locked it in an iron cage and casted an enchantment, so that it couldn’t escape.

“Master Immortal, what do you plan to do with it?” The commander of the imperial army asked in a low voice, with a fervent reverence that he didn’t even realize.

The rest of the ministers were also invited by the Ninth Prince to watch the monster in the Eastern Palace, and their hearts felt bitter. They had already written a post to apologize to the immortal master, and some people even went to the Zhao Mansion to kowtow and kneel down, offering sacrifices to the immortal master like an ancestor. In the future, they will believe whatever the immortal master says without any doubt. Isn’t that okay? Why do you have to scare us again? It wasn’t until now that they understood the Ninth Prince back then: it turned out that it was really painful to not sleep at night, and it was easy to get confused.

You Shu had no intention of tormenting everyone, but he had always been single-minded. He believed that since he had taken over the matter, he must clearly explain it to everyone, so he summoned all the courtiers from yesterday.

He walked around the cage and said, “This is the monster. I don’t know its breed, but I know how it survives. As long as its heart is left with a piece of meat, no matter which animal takes it away, it can quickly parasitize its body, and then hunt humans. It supplements its form by taking another body, so the heart of a human or animal should be its food, and it can transform into a human form through the concocted skin, wandering around and committing evil in the mortal world. “

“Master Immortal, please don’t talk about it, hurry up and dispose of it?” A sixty year old minister shouted while rubbing his heart. He regretted it, he shouldn’t have followed Duke Cheng’en to the palace and made such a big fuss, otherwise he wouldn’t have been involved in such a mess.

“What should I do if I don’t explain it clearly, and you say I’m pretending to be a ghost(trick people)? Moreover, these words just now are all my speculation, and there is no concrete evidence yet. As the person responsible for the matter, I must actively seek proof and strive to explore. How can I just act on speculation?”

Alright, everything you say is right, let’s move on. All the ministers supported their foreheads one after another, showing a lifeless expression. Only the Ninth Prince rested his chin on one hand, gazing at his lover, his eyes full of affection and fascination. So this is the lid that perfectly fits the pot, the courtiers thought in their hearts.

You Shu solemnly dismissed everyone’s request, and then his fingertips moved slightly as he shot out a split-air talisman, splitting the madly barking dog in half. A heart fell to the ground, emitting a strong stench. This stench seems to have a magical power, strongly attracting nearby animals. You Shu had already prepared more than a dozen mice and locked them in a small cage next to them. Now they were all restless and noisy.

You Shu opened the enchantment and put all the mice in. They didn’t go to eat the carrion, but pounced on the heart, quickly eating it up in a few bites. After a few breaths, their eyes began to turn red and they slaughtered each other until the strongest mouse won. Following its instinct, it ate the corpses of its companions one by one, and within a short time it had grown to the size of a wild cat, and its fur began to rot and mottle, looking very similar to the appearance of the previous dog.

All of this proved You Shu’s previous speculation. Under the stagnant gazes of the courtiers, he then threw a fire talisman and burned the mouse in the cage to ashes.

“Long live the Immortal Master, long live the Immortal Master!” The hall was quiet for a quarter of an hour before everyone’s relieved voices of relief rang out.

From this day on, all the officials in the capital, big or small, never dared to say a bad word about the Fifth Young Master Zhao. Even after he married the crown prince, he was granted the title of National Teacher and moved into the Zhaixing Mansion. Everyone strongly agreed and warmly congratulated him. 

Whenever something strange happened in someone’s family, they would go to Zhao mansion and pester Zhao Zhizhou or Mrs. Wang, begging for an item from the Immortal Master, saying that it can exorcize evil spirits. Moreover, various sculptures were made, imitating You Shu’s appearance and were placed in people’s homes, offering incense candles every day.

Accompanied by You Shu, the Ninth Prince fought various battles everywhere and created a lot of killing karma. Although You Shu had said that there would be no retribution, the Ninth Prince, no, he should be called Emperor Yuan now, couldn’t help but worry. After the two got married, he began to practice vegetarianism, and widely implemented benevolent policies in Kyushu, ensuring that the people lived in peace and their families prospered, restoring the prosperity that Emperor Zongsheng once achieved.

The two of them lived together in the deep palace, never separating for a moment. Emperor Yuan didn’t accept any concubines until his death. He only adopted a few children and carefully nurtured them when he was in his forties.

After abdicating the throne and entrusting it to the most capable one, he took the National Teacher with him and traveled around the world.

In their late years, the two of them quietly returned to the capital and passed away one after another. It is said that their bodies were buried in the imperial tomb of Emperor Zongsheng, where there is a reincarnation formation that can keep them together forever.

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