After placing his stall and folding chair on the ground, the swindler from the Hemp Gate turned and left Eight Gates Alley.
Mu Dian and his apprentice waited for a long time. Seeing that they couldn’t wait any longer, Mu Dian took out a flying insect. The two of them followed it in search until they finally found the swindler in a marketplace den.
"Where did this savage come from? Who took your insect? Stop making trouble!"
The Hemp Gate swindler was startled when he saw Mu Dian, but recalling the savage’s identity, he grew bold again.
Two savages, what trouble can they cause?
Calling in the enforcers in the building to handle the situation, Mu Dian and his apprentice were pushed and shoved out by the crowd.
The Hemp Gate swindler opened a window and leaned out, shouting down at the master and apprentice in the street, "In the Capital, a master is a master. If you dare to make trouble again, be careful, or you’ll get your legs broken!"
This is just bullying honest people!
Mu Dian was furious, but seeing as there were many talented people in the Capital due to the Water and Land Conference, he didn’t dare cause trouble under the Emperor’s seat, but he couldn’t swallow the anger.
That night, while the swindler was galloping and whipping in the market den, he suddenly had a brain aneurysm. When others responded, the swindler was already frothing at the mouth and completely silent.
Meanwhile, outside the dens, Mu Dian shook a bell and walked downstairs just as a lustful insect bit through the window paper, falling into the cloth bag he’d just opened.
After leaving the den, Mu Dian turned and arrived at Feng Mansion.
The butler who opened the door asked him what he wanted. He said he came for the Golden Tortoise Insect.
Upon hearing this, the butler candidly said, "Then you’re too late. During the day, when the young master heard about using the insect for medicine, he found it disgusting and fed it to the bird in the cage."
A priceless insect, and you fed it to the bird?
As soon as the butler spoke, Mu Dian became red-eyed with anger.
How could everyone in the Capital be such beasts?
Fine! If you’re going to make me uneasy, don’t think you’ll be at peace either.
Turning his head, Mu Dian scattered numerous splintered bamboo charms on the road outside Feng Mansion.
What is a splintered bamboo charm?
They are bamboo slats coated with potion charms placed on the road. As pedestrians step over, the charm worms attach to their legs, causing extreme pain and eventual deformation of the feet. A person might not live past four or five years. That’s what splintered bamboo charms are.
Just as at this moment, the fate of Feng Mansion was not doomed. While Mu Dian was scattering bamboo slats, a monk riding a reverse donkey stood at the alley entrance, watching him.
Once Mu Dian finished scattering the charms, the fat monk waiting nearby rushed out on his skinny donkey.
When the skinny donkey came out, it started stomping wildly on the splintered bamboo charms, leaving Mu Dian stunned. Could it be that Luojing City is against him in every way? Why is there always someone thwarting him?
Inside Feng Mansion, when Master Feng heard that a monk was wandering at the gate, he came out to investigate.
Upon stepping out, Master Feng immediately saw a fat monk cornering a savage, preaching to him to do good.
Not understanding what was happening, the butler beside him explained that the savage laid charms at their gate intending harm, and the monk dispelled it, saving them.
Saying this, the butler pointed at the shattered bamboo charms on the ground, many of which still had flattened insects stuck to them.
After lecturing Mu Dian for some time, the monk approached Master Feng.
"A few days ago, this humble monk lost a golden insect. The insect has a story; it was a tortoise insect residing under my meditation mat, having developed some spirituality. When I left the retreat, it followed, unexpectedly..."
Upon hearing this, Butler He said awkwardly, "Master, that golden insect was fed to the bird by our young master yesterday..."
"No matter, just bring that bird here."
When Butler He returned with the birdcage, the fat monk took the bird, created an incision in its crop, and after some digging, retrieved the sticky golden tortoise insect, returning it to the daylight.
"This is merely a common bird. As long as twelve hours haven’t passed, the insect’s fine."
After saying this, the fat monk made the golden tortoise insect crawl to the pet bird and spew some black slobber at its crop.
Once touched by the black slobber, the pet bird’s wound visibly healed.
Master Feng watched in amazement. Though he’d played with insects before, he’d never seen such an impressive one. Just a few spits, and it was more effective than the best wound medicine.
Storing the golden tortoise insect in his coat, the fat monk looked at Mu Dian again, "This man’s heart is not right; he won’t be able to hurt me, but may hold grudges against your family. What does the benefactor plan to do?"
Without hesitation, Master Feng responded, "What good is a troublemaker ? Better hand him to the authorities."
The fat monk nodded, saying, "If handed to the government, it can only be brought to the Demon Hunting Bureau; anywhere else, they might not be able to discipline him."
With the monk presiding, Feng Mansion reported to the authorities. Soon afterward, people from the Demon Hunting Bureau arrived with hooks and chains, piercing Mu Dian’s sternum and taking him to the prison.
In the alley, a twelve or thirteen-year-old Li Achuo witnessed the scene.
Mu Dian never returned after entering the Demon Hunting Bureau, leaving the crippled Li Achuo orphaned, forced to fend for himself.
After the Water and Land Conference ended, five years passed, and a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young cripple appeared outside Feng Mansion’s gate...
The following events were as Second Master Feng narrated, with the entire Feng family succumbing to the harm of charm insects overnight, leaving only Second Master Feng alive.
The reason Second Master Feng survived was due to the bird he had raised five years earlier.
Li Achuo harbored immense hatred for the Feng family, and Second Master Feng—this barely killable heir—remained the thorn in his side.
Second Master Feng, timid by nature, fled his home after the incident occurred. Fortunately, Butler He’s son was handling family business outside, providing refuge as he escaped to Jiangnan.
After staying in Jiangnan for a while, Second Master Feng ate something that upset his stomach, causing vomiting and diarrhea. He mistakenly thought it was due to the filth catching up to him, so he brought the newly appointed ’Butler He’ in search of a way to quell the evil spirits.
When Li Achuo’s tracking charms finally sensed Second Master Feng’s trail again, they discovered him serving the Yin Organization as an agent of ’Feng Immortal.’
Chickens are inherently resistant to charm insects, and Second Master Feng’s newly raised white rooster, passed down by an expert, was even more formidable than the original bird blessed by the fat monk.
Each time Li Achuo tried to approach, he was deterred, compelling him to return to the southern estate for nearly twenty years until only recently coming to Jin Sect...
In his view, a white rooster could only live for so many years.
Yet upon reaching Jin Sect, he found the white rooster daily fed premium rice and fattened insects, drank water mixed with caterpillar fungus, and even had dedicated caregivers.
Li Achuo sensed that, given the circumstances, he might not outlive that rooster!
Until one day, a pathfinder insect sent out daily to deliver food finally returned alive.
Li Achuo rejoiced, believing heaven does not forsake an earnest seeker, finally earning his chance.
Without the divine Spiritual Bird overseeing, Second Master Feng becomes a lamb ready for slaughter in his eyes.
Then, Li Achuo witnessed Golden Simurgh flying out from a paper palanquin.
Until his death, he never understood where this enormous rooster, too big to fit in two pots, came from.
After his life played out, the Sutra of Salvation assessed his remains, rating them as earth-grade mid-quality.
The rewards included a secret technique for cultivating charm insects, a method for controlling charm insects, and a pair of golden cicada shells.
The cicada shells have a straightforward function: when faced with danger, they enable the use of the golden cicada syndrome, leaving behind an empty shell while the performer transfers their presence to another buried cicada shell, emerging anew.
However, these cicada shells carry limitations, only allowing the technique to be performed once.