Pei Hao Hong was so frightened that he stood up. "I don't understand what you mean, sir."

Shang Xingyan looked at him coldly and said, "Pei Hao Hong, do you think I'm a fool?"

As soon as Shang Xingyan said this, Pei Hao Hong knelt on the ground again in fright. "Please be aware, my lord, everything I've said is true!"

Shang Xingyan slowly walked up to him and asked condescendingly, "You said Xia Chuan is your hidden pawn, and you also said you wanted to turn Xia Mengying into a traitor to Confucianism."

"Don't you think these words contradict each other?"

"Since you can control Xia Chuan, you can control the Xia family. How many great Confucian scholars are there in the Stele Forest from the Xia family? Which of them couldn't make a few small moves?"

"Are you deliberately wasting my time?"

"No, no, no...it's not..." Pei Hao Hong waved his hands repeatedly. "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare."

"Luring Xia Mengying to become a traitor to Confucianism was actually Xia Chuan's idea!"

Pei Hao Hong explained, "Ever since the family head left Ban Xian Village with the Soul Gathering Coffin, Ban Xian Village made a rule to prevent similar things from happening: Great Confucian scholars and above can only be active outside the Stele Forest and cannot enter the Stele Forest."

"If they must enter the Stele Forest, at least three people must be present."

"Xia Chuan has already reached the realm of Great Confucian. It's impossible for him to enter the Stele Forest alone."

"Xia Mengying is the most likely person to enter the Stele Forest, especially when something happened in Ban Xian Village and someone urgently needs to enter the Stele Forest to suppress demons. Xia Mengying can enter the Stele Forest easily."

Shang Xingyan sneered again, "Pei Hao Hong, are you really stupid, or are you pretending? Or are you acting crazy to fool me?"

Pei Hao Hong was really anxious and said, flustered, "Lord Shang, why do you say that? I really wouldn't dare to deceive you!"

Shang Xingyan asked in succession, "How many disciples does the Xia family have?"

"How many of them are successful? How many can become Xiucai (successful candidates in the imperial examination at the county level)? How many can become Juren (successful candidates in the imperial examination at the provincial level)? How many can become Jinshi (successful candidates in the imperial examination at the national level)? How many can become Bachelors?"

"Does the Xia family only have Xia Mengying who can enter the Stele Forest Academy?"

"This...this..." Pei Hao Hong "this-ed" for a long time without saying a word!

Shang Xingyan said coldly, "Who came up with the idea of gathering ghosts and gods in Shanglin Community?"

"Think carefully before you answer me!"

Pei Hao Hong trembled all over and said, "It was also Xia Chuan's idea! He said: We need to be prepared. If he can't trigger a crisis in Ban Xian Village, then we'll start from the outside and use ghosts and gods to lure out the experts from Ban Xian Village."

"Once the Confucian scholars of Ban Xian Village are mobilized on a large scale, he can take the opportunity to enter the Stele Forest. In this way, he himself may be able to trigger a crisis in the Stele Forest."

"I thought his words were beneficial, so I started to arrange things in Shanglin Community."

"So that's how it is!" Shang Xingyan nodded and said, "Then I'll ask you, what was the purpose of you bringing the Soul Gathering Coffin to the Kong family's mansion?"

Pei Hao Hong said in a low voice, "To lure ghosts and gods!"

"Our ancestors once studied the Soul Gathering Coffin, and he discovered that the Soul Gathering Coffin can not only gather scattered souls, but also attract ghosts and gods to actively enter the coffin."

"The souls that enter the Soul Gathering Coffin are like tamed beasts. After a period of time, they will be loyal to their master."

"The reason why those ghosts and gods that I arranged in Shanglin Community obeyed me was because of the Soul Gathering Coffin."

Shang Xingyan said sternly, "How can you make the ghosts and gods in the coffin work for you?"

Pei Hao Hong gestured and said, "On the Soul Gathering Coffin, there is a groove, roughly at the upper part of the coffin head, which can just hold a jade bowl."

"As long as the blood fills the jade bowl after the ghosts and gods enter the coffin."

"I just need to wait for the blood in the bowl to dry naturally, and then open the coffin, and the ghosts and gods inside will obey me."

"However, those ghosts and gods also need to be fed."

Shang Xingyan said with a smile that was not a smile, "How long does it take for you to drip blood once to dry the blood? Also, how much wealth does your Pei family have to feed the ghosts and gods?"

Shang Xingyan's ridicule was not without reason. It is not uncommon for warlocks to raise ghosts and spirits, but very few can support ghosts and gods.

Raising ghosts and spirits only requires three sticks of incense in the morning and evening, and some seasonal fruits as offerings. The expenses are not large. Even raising fierce spirits only requires some chicken, duck, or livestock blood, which is within the range that ordinary warlocks can bear.

However, raising ghosts and gods is different. The requirements of ghosts and gods are often a burden that ordinary warlocks cannot bear. Moreover, some ghosts and gods need to be fed with human blood or even essence, which is even more difficult for ordinary warlocks to bear.

Pei Hao Hong said, "The time to control ghosts and gods depends on the strength of the ghosts and gods themselves, sometimes a few days, sometimes a month. This time, it has been three months since I sent the coffin over, and the blood has not completely dried yet. I'm afraid the ghosts and gods inside are not weak."

"As for the cost of raising ghosts and gods, it is all provided by Xia Chuan."

"As expected!" Shang Xingyan asked again, "What other plans does Xia Chuan have?"

Pei Hao Hong said, "According to Xia Chuan's original plan, when he sends Xia Mengying here, I will capture them all in Shanglin Community, and then turn Xia Mengying into a traitor to Confucianism in the shortest possible time."

"As for the others..."