"Oh, young man, you're quite the catch, getting ready to have a baby at such a young age?" Before I could react, the driver in the front seat was already wearing a lecherous smile.
"Baby? What baby?" As soon as I heard this, Xia Xiaoyi and I couldn't help looking at the driver subconsciously. I thought to myself, why is he bringing up babies now?
Wait, the more I look at this driver, the more lecherous he seems to be.
A baby... Wait a minute! Upon careful recollection of our conversation just now, it suddenly dawned on me. Sure enough, just from the conversation Xia Xiaoyi and I had, it certainly seemed quite suggestive.
"Do you want to do something tonight? Yes, I've already made sure of the timing." This kind of conversation, to an outsider, wouldn't it sound like planning to have a baby during the ovulation period?
"Haha..." Thinking of this, I couldn't help but laugh, and at the same time, cast a "mischievous" glance at Xia Xiaoyi.
"What?" At this moment, Xia Xiaoyi was still puzzled, seeing me laugh, she couldn't help but show more suspicion in her eyes. "What are you laughing at?"
"Uh, it's nothing, just suddenly remembered a joke..." I didn't want to "die young," so where would I dare to tell her the truth at this moment? I quickly waved my hand, wearing a vague expression on my face.
"Oh..." Nodding with suspicion, Xia Xiaoyi did not continue to ask, but directly reclined in her seat, starting to rest her eyes. After all, being a girl, having just experienced a battle, her body was still a bit overwhelmed.
As she started resting, I began to take a good look at her through the corner of my eye. This figure, hmm... from a side glance, she's truly stunning, to use a colloquialism from my hometown, she's really something else! If someone could marry her, it would be a stroke of great luck... but her temper, if it's a bit off, I'll have to discipline her properly after marrying her...
Happy times always pass by especially quickly. Just as I had carefully scrutinized Xia Xiaoyi, the driver gradually parked the car by the side of the road and turned back to smile at me: "Brother, you've arrived."
Already?
Instinctively, I glanced outside the window. Wait a minute, this definitely isn't the school, it looks more like a wholesale market!
"Get off!" Without waiting for me to voice my doubt, Xia Xiaoyi was already the first to push open the car door and walked straight down.
"Oh..." After she said that, I quickly paid the fare and followed her into the market.
"Hey, isn't this the old market on West Street?" Walking into the market, I finally recognized the location and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "What are you doing here?"
"Shopping!" Xia Xiaoyi's response was as succinct as always. As soon as she finished speaking, she walked straight towards a small stall by the roadside, "Boss, do you have cinnabar?"
"Yes, five yuan per ounce, how much do you want?" The boss, a slightly sloppy old man with a small goatee, was currently holding a lunchbox, paying no attention, and said with indifference.
"Fifty yuan per ounce, I want half a pound!" Fifty yuan per ounce? Hey, what an extravagant girl, who bargains like this? He's clearly said it's five yuan per ounce, and you're giving him fifty yuan?
Hey, you're just spending my money, aren't you concerned at all?
"Hmm?" As soon as he heard this, the boss put down the lunchbox in surprise, looked at Xia Xiaoyi with interest, and said with a smile, "Oh, so you're an expert... My apologies..."
With a lot of fumbling in a big cardboard box behind him, the old man carefully took out a small iron box, and handed it directly to Xia Xiaoyi, "Authentic Cinnabar from Chenzhou, bright red, delicate, and fragrant..."
Xia Xiaoyi took a look, pinched it with her fingers, nodded in satisfaction, and looked directly at me, "Give the money!"
"..." After wandering the old market, Xia Xiaoyi had successively bought yellow paper, black dog blood, and saltpeter! She then contently led me out of the old market. We had arrived by car, but we chose to walk back, not for the sake of leisure, but because I was broke.
Just buying a bunch of odds and ends cost me more than a thousand yuan! The worst was the black dog's blood, for a little over half a bowl of blood, the price of the whole dog was counted on our heads!
Alas, in the next few days, I guess I'll only be able to eat instant noodles every day...
Back in the shabby room, Xia Xiaoyi started to mix these things non-stop, preparing to draw symbols. But I didn't understand anything, and didn't even have the qualification to assist her.
Of course, I wasn't idle either. While she was preparing the ink, I quickly cooked up two dishes on the induction cooker. Unknowingly, it was already three in the afternoon, and both Xia Xiaoyi and I were hungry.
Originally, I had planned to take her out for a good meal after returning, but now the money was all gone, so we had to make do with what we had.
After a barely passable meal, Xia Xiaoyi wasted no time and began cleansing her hands with incense, just waiting for the time of You (5-7 PM) to start brewing.
There are many taboos in drawing symbols, the first is choosing the right time. Generally, the best days for drawing symbols and making talisman water are on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival. The best time is the midnight or pig hour of the day, because it is the time when yin diminishes and yang grows, when the vital energy is heaviest. Next would be the noon, dawn, and You (5-7 PM).
However, we were eager to eliminate the "evil spirit mother", and it was naturally impossible to wait until next year's Dragon Boat Festival, nor could we wait for the midnight or pig hour. We could only make do with the time of You, which was from 5 to 7 PM.
In addition to the time, the method of writing symbols is also important, as the saying goes, "Without knowing the technique for drawing symbols, one will arouse the laughter of ghosts and spirits; If the technique for drawing symbols is known, one will alarm the ghosts and spirits."
This sentence mainly emphasizes two points. One is that when drawing symbols, one must be sincere. The symbol harmonizes yin and yang. Only those who are most sincere in the world can use it; without sincerity, it will naturally not be effective. The second point emphasizes that when drawing symbols, luck is needed, and it should be done in one go. When drawing symbols, one must release the vital energy at the tip of the brush, in order to make the symbol possess the vital energy of the practitioner!
After brewing for nearly five minutes, suddenly, Xia Xiaoyi moved!
Wielding the brush like a knife, her movements were practically like flowing water. I didn't expect Xia Xiaoyi to have such good handwriting! Just based on this, it was enough to make some self-proclaimed calligraphy masters ashamed and embarrassed.
Seeing her skillful drawing, I subconsciously thought that this talisman would definitely be successful. However, after finishing it, Xia Xiaoyi couldn't help but frown tightly, and then slammed the table, "Damn it! How dare they deceive me!"
"Ah? What's wrong?"
Upon hearing this, I was suddenly startled and hurriedly ran over.
"This is not black dog blood at all! There's not enough yang fire inside. The power of the symbol will be greatly reduced!"
Xia Xiaoyi's face turned deathly pale. Thankfully, she found out in time. Otherwise, if we had taken these symbols to deal with the "evil spirit mother", the two of us would have been in big trouble.
"The scoundrels! I'm going to settle the score with them right now!"
When Xia Xiaoyi bought the black dog blood, she emphasized again and again that it had to be the blood of a real large black dog. For this, she even gave the boss an extra hundred yuan. Unexpectedly, she was still deceived in the end!
It's not that we were not careful, it's just that these scoundrels were too cunning! They actually smeared cinnabar in the blood bowl, which fooled us. After mixing it, the truth was revealed at once!
"It's too late!"
I was about to go out and confront those unscrupulous traders, but Xia Xiaoyi stopped me in one fell swoop, with a grim face, saying, "It's almost an hour until You, the time we need!"
"Ah? What to do then?"
Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but feel discouraged. If we couldn't draw the talisman by the time of You, wouldn't we have to confront the 'evil spirit mother' bare-handed tonight?
Thinking of the horror of the "evil spirit mother," I felt a chill in my heart. It wouldn't be so frightening if Old Zhang were here, but now...
"There is a way, it's not impossible..."
After pondering for a while, Xia Xiaoyi suddenly looked at me, with a malicious intention in her eyes, "But it might require you to shed some blood..."
"Shed blood again? I really don't have any money..."
I subconsciously shook my head, and said in embarrassment. I only had a little over a thousand yuan for this month's living expenses, and I had already spent it all in the flea market...
"Hey, it's for free..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Xiaoyi suddenly smiled at me mischievously, and then dragged me over. With a little force in her hand, the wound on my middle finger, which had just scabbed over, burst open again, and a stream of fresh blood flowed into the bowl!
"Damn!"
So she really was making me "shed blood"!
After all this, it turns out she was after my blood all along?
At that moment, I really felt like crying without tears. I should have known, she must have done it on purpose...