Witch Wind

Chapter 11: Serial Murders (Part )

The lake breeze blew, carrying with it a strong smell of kerosene and the pungent, burnt smell of coal. Many men who had just vomited in the yard were so exhausted that they could no longer hold on and fainted.

In the past few days, Michelle's steamer towed the cargo ship back and forth, transporting at least one or two million kilograms of high-quality coal to the dock. The arsonists were extremely cruel. The fire burned a large area, covering all the coal piles. And they didn't know how much kerosene they used. Once the coal pile caught fire, it instantly turned into a mountain of flames.

Li Kuisheng began to pass the buck: "Master Ma, the people of Xiaolongqiu Town can all vouch for me. You handed over the security of the dock to the constables and militia from the county. My patrol department hasn't even set foot on the dock these days. This matter has nothing to do with me!"

County Magistrate Ma seemed to have his bones pulled out, his whole body was limp. If it weren't for the two militia leaders supporting him, he would have collapsed to the ground.

With the help of moonlight, Xing Tianli could see clearly that the unfortunate fellow had a pale face and two thin lips that were so white that there was not a trace of blood. He looked no different from a dead person.

"Watch them, keep an eye on them!" County Magistrate Ma gritted his teeth and roared, "We can't let them leave like this!"

Xing Tianli brought a few people to the door of the inn booked by the missionaries.

What surprised him inexplicably was that a large group of men and women had gathered at the door. Around the neck of each of them, there was a small bronze icon of Our Lady of Thorns. At this moment, they held the icon in both hands and were reciting the "Universal Penance of Our Lady of Thorns" word by word with the old priest.

"All people in the world have original sin and should go to hell."

"The Virgin Mary is high up in the clouds, looking down upon all living things. She sees that all living things suffer in birth and death, and so she feels compassion for them."

"The Virgin Mary used her supreme divine power to manifest an incarnation called 'The Virgin Mary of Suffering'. She eliminated her divine power and descended to the mortal world. She walked among thorns and practiced asceticism among poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts. She used her own suffering to eliminate the sins of all living beings."

"All sentient beings, those who are wise, can be redeemed if they call out the name of the Virgin Mary and visualize the image of the Virgin Mary. All sins will be eliminated by the Virgin Mary, and after death, they will return to the Virgin Mary's seat!"

Xing Tianli stood under the eaves of a house opposite the inn, quietly watching the interaction between these missionaries and believers.

Religion is a terrible thing.

These missionaries had only been there for one day, and had only distributed some worthless rice and flour, and had only saved a few chronically ill people and one unfortunate fellow who had acute appendicitis, but they had quickly accumulated so many believers.

Town residents were coming in from all directions.

Xing Tianli had sharp ears and heard the believers who were baptized during the day shouting in the crowd: "We believe in the Holy Mother Church, so we are the second-class foreigners, understand? We are the biggest after the foreigners! Even the county magistrate dare not mess with us, the followers of the Holy Mother Church!"

"Scare me, let me tell you, if you believe in the Holy Mother Church, as long as you pay tithes to the church, you don't have to worry about all other taxes and labor services of the Great Jade Dynasty! We have the Holy Mother Church as our backer, who dares to collect taxes from us?"

"It's the tithe. If we earn ten taels of silver, we only need to pay one tael to the Holy Mother Church, and the rest is ours!"

"Look at the taxes in the Dayu Dynasty. They are already 60% to 40%. The officials take 60% and we only take 40%!"

"Hurry up and believe in religion. It's good to believe in religion. If we believe in religion, we will be the best among the people!"

In the dark night, the old priest who was leading the believers in chanting scriptures could still see Xing Tianli at a glance through the crowd. He shook the silver bell in his hand and handed the task of leading the chanting to a young female monk behind him. As a result, the voices of the believers chanting scriptures became louder and more passionate.

The old priest put his hands behind his back, walked through the crowd and came straight to Xing Tianli.

"Poor child, we meet again. This must be the guidance of the Virgin Mary, allowing us to meet again!" The old priest muttered in a mysterious manner.

"Xiaolongqiu Town is not big, with only two main streets. We live very close to each other, so it would be strange if we didn't run into each other." Xing Tianli didn't respond to the old priest's words, and said very straightforwardly: "Besides, I came here specifically to keep an eye on you."

The corners of the old priest's mouth twitched, and he also did not follow Xing Tianli's words: "So, poor child, you don't believe in the Virgin Mary?"

Xing Tianli tucked the Tongtian Magic Bamboo under his armpit and bowed to the old priest: "Immortal longevity and blessings, Three Pure Ones, I am Li Li, greeting you, old donor."

The old priest sighed and said, "Poor child, you have fallen into the trap of paganism. However, the Virgin Mary is merciful. She sits high in the clouds, overlooking you."

"As long as you convert to the Virgin Mary." The old priest raised his hand and wanted to touch Xing Tianli's eyes: "The Virgin Mary will surely grant you grace and heal your eyes!"

Xing Tianli took a step back, avoiding the old priest's palm. He chuckled and said, "Your words are not pleasant to hear. To me, you are the pagans."

The old priest said in a deep voice: "Child, your eyes..."

Xing Tianli said coldly: "Old man, someone died next door to you. Many people died! The murderer may be hiding in your inn. Aren't you afraid at all?"

The old priest sighed and said, "Lost lambs, the merciful Virgin Mary will always open her warm arms and welcome children back to the correct faith."

The old priest glanced at the few men from the inspection department who were following Xing Tianli. He gently shook the silver bell in his hand, turned around and walked away slowly.

Xing Tianli coughed lightly and said, "This morning, you saw a few guards around me and were sure that I was a wealthy family in the town, so you were so enthusiastic, right? Is preaching also based on who you choose?"

The old priest said without even turning his head, "Our Lady has arranged everything. Among the secular beings, some are disgraced by Her, while others are exalted by Her. Those who are disgraced are homeless and hungry; those who are exalted are rich and prosperous and enjoy their lives. As servants of Our Lady walking in the secular world, of course we must be close to those who are exalted by Her!"

Xing Tianli opened his mouth, speechless.

This old guy actually found an extremely reasonable logical closed loop for their Madonna's teachings of 'disdaining the poor and loving the rich' and 'looking down on people for favors'... He is clearly shameless, how else can you confront him?

However, the old priest said he could cure his eyes?
Xing Tianli touched his eyes. These guys, do they have such good medical skills?

"Hey, old man, there might be a murderer among you, aren't you afraid?"

Xing Tianli deliberately made things difficult for the old priest.

The old priest shook the silver bell in his hand and whispered, "Everything is arranged by the Virgin Mary."

The old priest walked through the crowd and returned to the inn. The beautiful, broad-chested nun chanted more and more loudly. After reciting the "Sutra of the Suffering Virgin Mary", she began to preach the basic doctrines of the Virgin Mary to the believers and townspeople present.

Several young nuns, no older than fifteen, came out, carrying delicate silver incense burners, and walked among the crowd. Wisps of white smoke rose from the incense burners, and the rich and mellow fragrance filled the air. When everyone inhaled the fragrance, they felt their spirits quickly relax, their whole bodies relaxed, their bodies and souls warmed up, and an inexplicable sense of happiness, satisfaction, and security filled their bodies.

Xing Tianli sniffed the smoke and hurriedly left with his men.

“Even such a high-end foreign religion has learned such despicable underworld methods?” Xing Tianli is proficient in medicine. In his previous life, he was a top Taoist doctor. In this life, he has obtained the extremely profound inheritance of "Witch Doctor" and has a deep understanding of the effects of various medicines.

When the aroma entered his nose, he smelled three kinds of drugs that calmed the soul and calmed the mind, as well as five kinds of drugs that were slightly anesthetic and psychedelic.

If the concentration of the smoke in this incense burner was a little higher, it would be enough for a flower thief to use it to steal young ladies.

As midnight approached, the number of believers and townspeople gathered near the inn did not decrease, but increased. The street in front of the inn was crowded with people, and the two courtyards of the inn were filled with hundreds of believers who were baptized during the day. The candles were bright, the incense was rising, and the people followed the missionaries to chant scriptures, kowtow, and worship the holy images.

Even in Xiaolongqiu Town, there were several wealthy families who, upon hearing that they only had to pay the tithe after converting to religion, had already brought their entire families to join the Holy Mother Church and paid a generous amount of religious tax in public.

Plates of silver ingots were stacked in the yard of the inn. The moonlight and lamplight fell on the silver ingots. The hazy silver light stimulated the believers to become more excited, and the chanting became louder and louder.

A patrol inspector clapped his hands vigorously. "Well, they just sent out a few kilograms of flour during the day? Now, it's all back, and they've made at least dozens of times more!"

With the sound of "thump thump", the small steamer turned back from Dalongqiu County on the other side of the lake.

At the dock, the coal in the yard had not yet been burned out, and the piles of coal were still red and emitting terrible heat. The steamer could not dock at the pier and could only stop at the shallows in the distance.

Two middle-aged men wearing silk robes with copper coin patterns jumped off the passenger ship towed by the steamer with dozens of men in a rage and rushed into the house rented by Michelle, shouting and cursing.

Crazy sounds of vomiting and screaming were heard, and the two middle-aged men, together with the man accompanying them, almost crawled out. None of them could stand steadily, and they all lay on the ground vomiting loudly.

Li Kuisheng approached Xing Tianli and gestured to the two middle-aged men.

These two were the White Lotus leaders who were in charge of the Sihai Old Inn in Dalongqiu County, as told by Boss Sun a few days ago. They seemed to be the "incense masters". They bribed the county magistrate of Dalongqiu County, Master Lu Decai, and County Magistrate Ma, and forcibly accused Li Kuisheng of framing innocent people and severely beat him with 20 sticks in the county hall.

If Li Kuisheng had not been in the governor's office of Jiangdong Province and had former comrades in charge of the inspection offices in various places, if it had been an ordinary person with no background, he might have been stripped of his official position by County Magistrate Lu that very day.

"He vomited so badly, he doesn't look like a soldier!" Xing Tianli asked Li Kuisheng softly.

"The White Lotus Sect has a complicated character. These two must be from wealthy families. They are neither soldiers nor gang members. That's why they can collude with the government so easily!" Li Kuisheng sneered.

The two White Lotus Fragrance Masters vomited violently, and after finally regaining some energy, they began to erupt in hysterical and impotent rage.

They pointed at County Magistrate Ma and started cursing at him, and then they scolded the militiamen sent by their branch like crazy, even talking about their ancestors for eighteen generations.

Fortunately, they still had some brains. They looked at Xing Tianli and Li Kuisheng several times, but in the end they didn't dare to run over and scold Li Kuisheng.

There was great noise all night long.

The patrol officers, the militia, and the people brought by the two incense masters surrounded the huge inn. The missionaries seemed to be completely unaware of what was happening outside. They preached and taught for the entire night.

Under the effect of the magical incense burner smoke, all the townspeople attending the sermon meeting were full of energy. After a whole night of hard work, their faces were glowing and they did not look tired at all.

Early in the morning, the sound of motors could be heard again on the lake.

Four tugboats were connected end to end, towing the long cargo ship to Xiaolongqiu Town. The tugboats were spewing black smoke and were weakly leaning against the shore. The men on the boats shouted at the top of their lungs, urging the dock to quickly replenish coal, water, drinking water and rations.

After replenishing coal and water in Xiaolongqiu Town, the tugboat can continue sailing for another five or six hundred miles, which means it will reach Pinghai City, the first port opened to the outside world in the Dayu Dynasty, and the location of the largest international concession in the Dayu Dynasty, in one day.

In the past few days, matters such as replenishing coal and water, and providing rations and drinking water were all taken care of by several Chamber of Commerce assistants brought by Michelle. With their overall coordination, the constables and militia at the dock, as well as the hired porters and townspeople, were able to complete this set of work in an orderly manner.

Now Michel is dead, and several of his assistants are dead too. County Magistrate Ma is a typical bureaucrat who is the loudest among all the others, but is completely clueless when it comes to practical work.

There was chaos and confusion at the dock. After a busy period, when several parties connected, they found out that all the coal had been burned last night and there was no food at all.

The men escorting on the tugboat yelled and cursed at the top of their lungs. The two White Lotus Incense Masters staggered over and gave them another barrage of scolding.

The four tugboats were completely shut down, and more than a hundred strong escorting men went ashore together.

There was another flurry of activity on the dock, but Xing Tianli watched for a long time without understanding what County Magistrate Ma and the two incense masters were busy with.

A whole day passed like this.

The night was calm.

Two days passed like this, when Michelle's body had already begun to stink in the coffin. At noon, three small passenger ferries with all-metal structures, escorted by two inland gunboats in front and behind, sailed into Xiaoyandang Lake along the Jing River.

When Xing Tianli received the news and rushed to the dock, three small passenger ferries had already docked at the dock, and two teams of one hundred British soldiers wearing red upper and white lower uniforms and wearing tall round helmets were already lined up neatly on the dock.

Several gloomy-looking Yingjishi men were talking to two White Lotus Incense Masters on the pier. It was unclear what they were talking about. The leader, a blond-haired, blue-eyed Yingjishi man, acted in a bossy manner, like an official.

Behind those English men, there were several men wearing black uniforms and with cold and capable expressions.

The two inland gunboats were parked far away on the lake, at least half a mile away from the shore.

The two small-caliber naval guns at the front and rear of the two gunboats had their gun covers torn off, and the four black gun barrels, about the thickness of a small bowl, were pointing obliquely towards the direction of the dock.

On the deck of the gunboat, there were English sailors in light blue uniforms, smoking cigarettes, pointing in the direction of the town and laughing, looking as if they were out sightseeing in a leisurely manner.

"Just a merchant died, but the Yingjishi actually sent out an army?" Li Kuisheng rubbed his smooth scalp vigorously, and murmured in disbelief: "Although there are only a hundred people, this is also a legitimate Yingjishi army!"

"According to the 'International Concessions Regulations' signed between the Great Yu Dynasty and them, these foreign soldiers cannot leave the concessions and go to the Great Yu Dynasty's territory to cause trouble."

"Isn't it just that a businessman died?"

"Or maybe Michel is not a simple person... It's impossible. He was sent to our town and threatened you by claiming to be a foreigner. He is just an ordinary British merchant, a nobody."

"Then the Chamber of Commerce they belong to must be something special." Xing Tianli murmured, "How could a legitimate Chamber of Commerce traffic in so many people?"

While Xing Tianli was speaking, a gunshot was heard in the distance.

On the pier, the blond-haired, blue-eyed man who looked like an English officer suddenly spurted blood from the center of his brow. A hole the size of a bowl appeared on the back of his head, and his brain and blood sprayed all over the men behind him.

Xing Tianli turned around suddenly and looked in the direction where the gunshot came from.

"Uncle, this way!" Xing Tianli whistled and crawled at his feet. Several wolf mastiffs raised by the Inspection Office jumped up and followed Xing Tianli out silently.

Xing Tianli ran through the streets and alleys with the wind, heading straight to where the gunshots came from. He heard it clearly, the place where the gunshots were fired was not far away, just outside the dock in a small forest.

Li Kuisheng was so anxious that he cursed loudly and hurriedly led a large group of people to follow Xing Tianli.

However, several wolf mastiffs were running very fast, and Xing Tianli ran faster than the dogs. Li Kuisheng and others had just run a few steps when they couldn't even see Xing Tianli's back.

"This kid, this kid, I, I..." Li Kuisheng cursed angrily.

At the dock, the Yingji soldiers were in chaos. Soon, a man in black uniform shouted a few words, and a hundred Yingji soldiers threw away their huge backpacks and strode towards the direction where Xing Tianli went with their guns.

Xing Tianli has already rushed into the grove.

He smelled a faint smell of gunpowder in the woods.

He shouted softly, and released his soul power. Within a radius of ten feet, every blade of grass, every branch and every leaf was under his control. He took two quick steps in the direction of the smell of gunpowder, and his soul power had already locked onto the traces left by the person who fired the gun on the ground.

"Hey, brother, you shot and killed people in front of the Taoist uncle, and you specifically killed important people. Do you think you are being treated well?"

Xing Tianli stepped on the Yu Step, his body was as fast as the wind, moving like a dragon. The dense forest could not stop his body. He created a gust of wind and easily passed through dozens of feet. A burly figure was seen in front of him.

"Stay! Explain what you have said."

"You must give an explanation for killing someone in our Xiaolongqiu Town!"

Xing Tianli shouted loudly and waved his right hand towards the ground. A stone the size of a human head suddenly flew up from the ground without any wind, bringing up a gust of evil wind, and with a "whoosh" it smashed straight towards the burly figure.

In the heart, the big cauldron rotates slowly.

A ray of golden light burned like incense, and colorful mist filled the air in all directions, stirring up the internal organs.

Five-colored auras slowly rotated between the five internal organs, and a strange power permeated around Xing Tianli's body. Within a radius of ten feet, all the five elements of the acquired nature were easily controlled by him.

'Boom'!
The flying stone hit the figure from behind, causing him to stagger. He leaped forward three or five steps and almost hit a big tree.

"Little guy, do you want to die?"

The man was furious, stopped and slowly turned around.

(End of this chapter)