291 Drinking The Divine Water (2/2)

Her scathing response almost made Xiao Ping burst out laughing from sheer satisfaction.

The smile on Xiao Qiudong's face froze, and his lips unconsciously drooped downwards, giving him a rather vague expression. But with his pride at stake, he laughed out loud and said, ”Hahaha… what an interesting person you are, Miss Ji. There's a phrase that goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It seems that it is true.”

Behind his rambunctious laughter, his eyes were burning with rage, as Ji Siying's words had literally trampled on his dignity. It was immensely humiliating to Xiao Qiudong that Xiao Luo could be rated as ”better than him in everything.” Deep inside, he felt the urge to call out Xiao Luo as a gigolo and nothing more than the garbage that wasn't qualified to be compared with him. But he kept his composure and decided that he would maintain his pretense of cordiality with Xiao Luo for now.

Xiao Luo didn't say a word but merely glanced at Ji Siying with smiling eyes. He admired her feistiness and thought to himself, ”Hmm, this liaison officer is not bad, not bad at all!”

The truth was he found Ji Siying interesting. She was certainly attractive and well-limbed and had a great personality. But more importantly, his grandparents really liked her. If by chance, something were to spark between them, he would likely consider it.

The gong and drums were now struck with more urgency, expressed in a rubato, taking on a quicker tempo then slowing down repeatedly. The chanting of old man Xiao Quanren was getting faster, and so was his hand movements, scribbling with the fulu. The ceremony was coming to a climax.

All of a sudden, old man Xiao Quanren opened his eyes. His piercing, old eyes were forbidding and deterred the people from looking into them.

The sound of the drums and gong halted the moment his eyes opened. Then his old gravelly voice echoed with a dynamism that belied his age. ”Spirits of blood, shower thy divinity upon us! Give the Xiao clan thy blessing, grant us health and our bodies the ability to resist all illnesses!”

All the Xiaos present stood up immediately and positioned themselves in three rows before him, gazing with deferent eyes at the Seekong altar. Old man Xiao Quanren then held up a rooster, severed its head, and drained its blood. He held his index and middle finger together, dipped them in the blood, and drew a red mark between the eyebrows of every Xiao present. He brought forth a bowl of divine water, filled from the barrel located in the innermost section of the shrine.

”Mr. Xiao Luo, are we about to drink the divine water?” Ji Siying whispered.

Xiao Luo nodded, ”From between our eyebrows, we will receive the blessing from the divine water.”

”Do we need to finish it?”

”You may if you can finish it, but if you can't, take three small sips and splash the rest on the wall. Don't pour it on the ground,” Xiao Luo explained. These were rituals that had been instilled in him since he was a child. The divine water should never be poured onto the ground; otherwise, one would be reproached by the crowd.

”Alright.”

Ji Siying nodded her head eagerly.

”And who could this lady be?”

Old man Xiao Quanren stood in front of Ji Siying, a questioning look showing on his aged, wrinkled face.

”Wise One, she is Xiao Luo's girlfriend,” Xiao Dizhang said.

”Who?”

Xiao Quanren was advanced in age and was hard of hearing.

Xiao Dizhang came up close to him and roared in his ears, ”She is Xiao Luo's girlfriend. She especially came to pay homage to Seekong. She will be married into the Xiao family soon.”

”Ah, Xiao Luo's girlfriend, you are. Very good. How capable of Xiao Luo to find himself such a beautiful girlfriend.”

Old man Xiao Quanren looked at Ji Siying with a smile, extended his hands and tapped his finger between her eyebrows. The crimson blood splashed down between Ji Siying's eyebrows like vermillion, making her look almost like a deity. ”Child, as I smear this blood on your forehead, Seekong shall bless you with life-long peace. Now, drink the divine water, and Seekong will grant you a blessing to deter all illnesses!”

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