Chapter 334: Cheat! Someone Here Is Using a Cheat!

Mysterious Mirror, Mysterious Mirror......

Since ancient times, there has been the custom of referring to a mirror as 'jian'.

But what kind of mirror exactly can be called a 'mysterious mirror'?

The stinky Daoist desperately sought the character 'xuan' but to no avail; earlier he had repeatedly asked about the 'xuan' in his surname, and upon learning it, he then put on an act of sudden realization.

Coincidentally, the other party seemed to have forgotten......

Here, there is still another 'xuan'.

The crying sound beside his ears still buzzed; Xuan Feixing's thoughts turned, and in a breath he abandoned all the noise in the carriage, bent over, and picked up the Mysterious Mirror that had fallen to the ground.

He did indeed have some interest in this little stinky Daoist's ever-present Mysterious Mirror, but what exceeded his expectations was——

That palm-sized Mysterious Mirror, aside from being light and thin to the touch and the stone body slightly cool, was hardly different from an ordinary river pebble smoothed by flowing water.

However you look at it, it is merely a plain, unremarkable dark thin stone.

If not for saying there is something 'mysterious' about it......

Only then could it be said that the stone surface, which could barely be called a 'mirror surface', retained many traces of having been peeled and polished.

What does 'peeling and polishing' mean?

As the name suggests, it means stripping the surface layer and polishing and refining.

The stone body of this Mysterious Mirror in Fu Cu Zi's hand is not like a stream stone; on the contrary, it somewhat resembles the layered stone known as stratified shale.

If this kind of stone is cut horizontally, one can see that it has layers from the outside to the inside.

But precisely because of this, if one wants to make it look brand new, it is also very easy.

As long as one lightly knocks off that outer layer of stone and does a little polishing, it becomes another beautiful good stone.

Judging by the leftover edges and corners around this stone, it must have originally been quite large.

But for some unknown reason, after being peeled and polished layer by layer by Fu Cu Zi......

In the end, only this palm-sized piece remained.

But why repeat this peeling and polishing?

Earlier on the stone surface......

What exactly was there?

Xuan Feixing pondered left and right but could not figure it out; he simply endured the sound of Fu Cu Zi's crying in the carriage, which was like boiling water, then picked up a slightly sharper stone from the ground, casually tapped it lightly, preparing to peel off another layer of the stone surface to see what lay inside.

However, however.

Only after the stone tip lightly touched the mirror surface for a few breaths did Xuan Feixing immediately realize something was wrong——

Logically, his casual chiseling and grinding leaving marks on the mirror surface would be quite normal.

However, the many scratches on the mirror surface were chaotic......

Among them, one stroke actually did not follow his own hand movements at all!

The greenish mark appeared without anyone carving it, moving on its own from the mirror's center, winding and twisting: first looping around half a circle, then a straight line, then leaping into the air, and finally slamming down a point......

Finally, it slowly came to rest on an extremely simple Ascending Talisman, 【？】.

In the chaotic chisel marks, only that one streak stood out conspicuously, faintly revealing a sense of eeriness.

Rather than saying it is a manifestation of heavenly and earthly numinosity, it is more like......

Rather, it is......

There is a person whom he cannot see or hear, also lingering before this mirror surface.

Because the two can only communicate via this small mirror surface.

Therefore, he can only stare at this mirror surface constantly, just like him, and make marks together.

According to his knowledge, this situation is not without comparable scenes.

However, that is on the Holy Canon of the Shaman Tribe!

Because the Shaman Ancestor does not always have time to respond to the people, the Shaman Folk, aside from sacrificing to the Shaman Ancestor, also have an important matter: the forefathers' prayers.

During the ceremony, the Shaman Tribe's shamans first bathe and burn incense, respectfully await, and when the auspicious time arrives, they then offer the prepared offerings to heaven......

Afterward, they can begin divination.

When divining, they first inscribe the tribe's questioned issue in two completely opposite ways, respectively on the two ends of the tortoise shell.

If the offerings are satisfactory, the forefathers will, at the very end of the ritual, leave a shallow scratch on the end bearing the correct answer.

Thus, upon receiving the indication, the ancients will act according to the correct answer.

Take the simplest example——

In the xx year, they pray for a good harvest, offering to the xx ancestor ten cattle, twenty pigs, and a hundred people, which is permissible.

The other end is largely the same, but the inscription ends with "... not permissible."

Then they use yarrow stalks to begin the divination.

If the invoked ancestor is willing, they will leave a mark on the 'acceptable'.

But if they are unwilling......

Then it becomes extremely troublesome.

The forefathers, being forefathers, those with a sharp temperament will directly leave the 'unacceptable' mark, or else directly inscribe a mark on the tortoise shell's written offerings, demanding to replace them with something they prefer.

Those with an uneven temperament will not directly show their dissatisfaction; one must rely on people's speculation.

The Shaman Folk cannot predict whether the forefathers prefer cattle, sheep, and pigs, or prisoners of war, so they can only gradually increase the offerings.

If it is prisoners of war, that is still okay, for in the Shaman Folk's prosperous era, prisoners of war mean instability and also waste grain; once offered, it is simply offered.

But cattle, sheep, and pigs, especially cattle, are tangible assets.

The Shaman Folk can only start by adding prisoners of war; if not allowed, then add sheep and pigs; if not allowed, then add cattle......

They keep adding until they hit the forefathers' preference.

Adding it to the ancestors' preferences does not mean that the things previously promised to be sent elsewhere can also be reduced.

Therefore, whenever the ancestors do not consent, the resulting consequences that injure the muscles and bones are considered minor.

But fortunately, as long as one sincerely handles the holy scripture, the rewards bestowed by the heavens are also extremely abundant.

Otherwise, the Wu people would not miss out on benefits, and would still continue to follow the holy scripture in a muddled way.

But, that is the Wu tribe's holy practice!

That is the Wu tribe's holy practice!

Why does this unremarkable little Taoist in front of us, without needing a tortoise shell or making offerings, merely need to casually smear and draw on this stone to obtain an answer???

Xuan Feixing did not understand, and even, rarely, a hint of bewilderment arose.

But what he didn't expect even more is still ahead——

The previous strange little symbol was smoothed flat; the originally not-large stone mirror was once again scraped off a layer of stone skin.

Immediately, on the mirror's surface, some incomprehensible strange characters began to appear sporadically:

Unrecognizable characters.

Since ancient times, the instructions sent down from heaven have required someone to interpret and divine.

Otherwise, there would not be a specialized profession such as sacrifice.

Therefore, the appearance of completely unintelligible characters on the mirror's surface is not particularly surprising for Xuan Feixing.

What actually surprised him was only one thing——

That little smelly Taoist actually truly possesses something extraordinary about him!

Someone with such feeble strength, unable to even truss a chicken, can actually communicate with heaven and earth and obtain the favor of the Witch Ancestor......

Why then can't he?

Why on earth can't he?!

On what basis, after he was born wailing, must he flee with his parents, living in fear of being found by the Wu tribe, and even have to watch helplessly as his parents are beaten to death......

But this little hairy Taoist who can't even beat a roadside bandit, yet can have such an encounter!?

?? This chapter ends here; those who want to know more can go learn about the Shang Dynasty's sacrificial customs~