Chapter 41: The Shangqing Great Ban: Binding the Dragon Talisman

The quiet room was located behind the Golden Wind Hall, surrounded by dappled bamboo shadows that blocked the outside clamor; sunlight streamed through the carved window lattices, mingling with the drifting incense smoke, making one feel momentarily dazed.

Hong Xin invited Gu Zhao to sit and served him fragrant tea.

Gu Zhao took the teacup and asked, "Are you the overseer of this Golden Wind Hall?"

"Precisely!" Hong Xin grinned, "The Sect Master took notice of me and appointed me as Altar General."

Perhaps out of pride, perhaps because he'd been tickled just right, perhaps because he was back in his own territory and no longer cared, Hong Xin's eyes darkened for an instant as a trace of ghostly aura briefly spread—then vanished.

"So, Hong Brother, you're the most powerful person in Xiuyue County for the Golden Wind Hall?" Gu Zhao asked again, smiling.

"Of course!" Hong Xin laughed loudly, then teased, "What, Zhang Brother, thinking of joining the Sect?"

Gu Zhao asked curiously, "Didn't you bring me here precisely to recruit me?"

Hong Xin sighed theatrically, "Zhang Brother, with your noble bearing and extraordinary presence, I would have begged for you to join under normal circumstances."

"Hm?" Gu Zhao blinked, genuinely surprised.

He'd assumed Hong Xin had gone to Lu the Painter to snatch him because he didn't want Lu to kill him—he wanted Gu Zhao to join the Golden Wind Sect and supply spiritual energy to the Golden Wind Divine King.

Raised in the modern era, with ample meat and eggs, plenty of fruits and vegetables, strong physique and vibrant spirit, he was, by all rights, a rare incense battery; thus, when he recited his poem earlier, he'd played up the "simpleton" act, appearing easy to deceive.

But now, from Hong Xin's words, it seemed he was wrong?

Meeting Gu Zhao's curious gaze, Hong Xin smiled faintly, "A few days ago, a senior relative came to the household. As a junior, I must show filial devotion before such an elder."

Here, Hong Xin sighed again, "Unfortunately, Xiuyue County is a backwater—I picked several gifts for the elder, but none pleased him."

I was nearly frantic, wandering aimlessly outside, when I happened to hear that Lu Sheng had encountered a stranger. I thought, 'Might as well try anything,' but when I saw you, Zhang Brother, your radiance truly delighted me."

Gu Zhao understood now: "So… I'm the gift?"

Hong Xin regarded Gu Zhao with interest, grinning openly, "Looks like Zhang Brother isn't stupid after all!"

Saying this, Hong Xin stepped back, standing at the doorway of the quiet room to block Gu Zhao's escape, then bowed his head, lowering his voice: "Is the Grand Protector satisfied?"

The next moment, a massive man, half a head taller than Hong Xin, broad-shouldered and burly, with a rugged face, pulled aside the curtain and entered, his eyes scanning Gu Zhao up and down, gleaming with malice as he nodded in approval.

"This one's decent—far better than those twisted, rotten pieces you presented before. I don't want frail scholars—I want handsome youths like this!"

"As long as the Grand Protector is satisfied," Hong Xin finally exhaled in relief.

"Leave," the giant waved dismissively, then greedily approached Gu Zhao. Seeing Gu Zhao's incredulous expression, he chuckled lewdly, "Young lad, come here, let Uncle give you some tender loving care."

Watching the giant draw nearer, Gu Zhao's face remained expressionless.

Hong Xin cast him a pitying glance and turned to leave—but as soon as he turned, he felt a surge of magic power behind him, and heard Gu Zhao's cold, light voice: "Three Yuan, Three Officials, Nine Rivers, Nine Streams—turn to iron chains, bind every limb."

Hong Xin whirled around and saw his own Grand Protector collapse heavily to the ground.

"What?" Hong Xin gasped in shock.

The giant lay sprawled, revealing Gu Zhao's figure; a wisp of ash drifted from his hand, and with the obstruction gone, their eyes met—Hong Xin finally saw Gu Zhao's expression.

He was smiling.

"Thank you," Gu Zhao said, "for letting me approach him without suspicion."

"Hong Xin!" The giant, startled, turned to Hong Xin and roared, "You dare betray the Divine King!"

"I didn't!" Hong Xin instinctively denied.

In the brief pause between their words, Gu Zhao's left hand dipped into his waist pouch and withdrew another folded yellow paper triangle; his right hand pointed at Hong Xin, and a thread of spiritual energy transformed into an iron chain, crossing space to coil around Hong Xin's body.

Hong Xin realized and tried to resist—but before he could summon his inner magic power, he heard Gu Zhao's voice: "Three Yuan, Three…"

As Gu Zhao chanted, Hong Xin felt the spiritual iron chain pierce into his body, tightening relentlessly, locking his magic power and spiritual awareness entirely within, rendering him utterly powerless.

When the final word of the incantation fell, the iron chain instantly formed a closed loop; now complete, Hong Xin could no longer stand—his legs buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

"He didn't," Gu Zhao nodded to the giant. "I said that only to stop him from fleeing."

The giant's eyes bulged with rage.

Hong Xin's mind raced—he opened his mouth to scream—but Gu Zhao's right hand flicked several times, and Hong Xin's voice vanished, as if strangled like a cat.

"This is the Shangqing Great Ban: Binding the Dragon Talisman," Gu Zhao kindly explained. "Its primary function is to seal your dantian and spirit sea, preventing you from using magic power or spiritual perception."

"It also has auxiliary functions—temporary control over basic physical strength, speech, and the functions of your five viscera and senses."

Gu Zhao paused, then snapped his fingers. "Think of it as a single-target spell that disables magic and immobilizes."

Now that the chains were embedded, Gu Zhao could clearly sense: the burly giant was a standard hungry ghost, while Hong Xin was a living human—but a ghostly entity was hidden within him, now bound by the same chains.

"Who are you?" the giant asked, his ghostly aura surging involuntarily in resistance—yet the iron chains trembled under the pressure.

"Huh?" Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow, pulled out another Shangqing Great Ban: Binding the Dragon Talisman, and then…

Watching the giant now utterly motionless, Gu Zhao asked again, "Who are you?"

The giant gritted his teeth, utterly incredulous: "You don't even know who I am?"

Gu Zhao sighed, his left hand forming the Supervising Seal, right hand becoming a sword finger: "Heaven's net unfurls, spreading in all directions—capture demons, let no ghost escape form."

A streak of fire shot from his fingertip, striking the giant's body.

The next instant, the fire became a luminous net, sinking into the giant's body, tightening slowly from outside to inside, gradually burning and melting his ghostly form.

"Aaaah!" The giant shrieked, feeling himself scorched by this righteous, yang flame—his ghost body crumbling bit by bit, while his magic power and ghostly aura were locked tight by the twin chains, utterly unable to resist.

"I am Ren Tianhe, First Guardian of the Jiao Sect's Sect Master!" the giant screamed.

"Now that's better," Gu Zhao nodded, settling back into his chair. "Rules are set. Let's begin our pleasant conversation."