Chapter 110: The Paper Effigy Master

"Master Dao, what fine craftsmanship!"

Inside the old village ancestral hall, Sha Hearing Sha Lifei couldn't stop praising him.

The nearby palanquin bearers also clicked their tongues in admiration.

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei had set out early, making several trips back and forth to bring back plenty of bamboo strips and paper, while Wang Wang Daoxuan had boiled a pot of paste, working non-stop from morning until night until he finally finished all the paper effigies.

Of course, he couldn't have made many on his own.

But whether it was the exquisite and tall soul-summoning banner, or the golden bridges and paper wreaths, everything was complete, and not a bit inferior to what one would find in a shop.

"It's just a bit of superficial skill..."

Wang Wang Daoxuan was clearly somewhat exhausted; he shook his head slightly and said, "Compared to those true masters of paper effigies, this is nothing worth mentioning for this humble Daoist."

"You are being too modest, Daoist." Li Yan looked at the items that had been prepared and said, "Everyone, eat your fill and get some rest early; we have to rise early tomorrow."

"Young Brother Li is right."

The palanquin bearers had handled countless funerals, and although this one was a bit special, they were familiar with the process.

Plus, they had spent the day moving plenty of mud, sand, and stones to the Dongshan, as well as driving stakes and winding ropes, and they were all exhausted.

After eating some dry rations, they all went to sleep early.

The sky gradually darkened, and faint firelight flickered in the center of the village.

Beside a forest on a hillside ten miles away, Zhao Kui hid with over forty men, all dressed in constable uniforms and holding sharp blades.

Under Brother Qiao Brother Qiao Sanhu's command, they had long been accustomed to this.

Wearing this official uniform meant representing the law!

Even those Some Jianghu gangs had to dodge them when they met; although it wasn't armor, it was sometimes more useful than armor.

"Any news from the city?"

Gazing at the firelight in the distant village, Zhao Kui asked aloud.

A one-eyed man replied in a low voice, "Our people haven't discovered any movement from Lu San, and as for the people from the Wind-Hearing Pavilion, they claim to know nothing."

"Hmph!"

Zhao Kui sneered, "These Some Jianghu people are all damn unappreciative. One day when I'm in a bad mood, I'll drive them all out of Fengyang City."

Having said that, he cupped his hands toward the person beside him and said ingratiatingly, "Master Lu, the Magistrate has business in Shangluo and said that everything tonight is to be arranged by you."

"Mm."

"Master Lu" stared at the village and said in a deep voice, "You all will set off in a moment and stop one mile outside the village. Do not get close under any circumstances. Wait for me to perform my rites and battle the people inside."

"Once a signal is sent from here, you are to charge in. As long as they are living people inside, don't care who they are—slaughter them all!"

"Yes, Master."

Zhao Kui cupped his hands respectfully, but there was a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

He hadn't even confirmed if Lu San was inside, but looking at this "Master Lu," he seemed to know who was inside and was even prepared to perform magic.

This guy was definitely hiding something!

Although he had his suspicions, Zhao Kui was sensible enough not to talk nonsense; if he annoyed this dead-faced man, even if he were slaughtered, the County Magistrate wouldn't care.

Just like that, the group hid in the forest and waited.

Unknowingly, some people began to yawn, their faces full of boredom, and there was some dissatisfaction in their eyes.

These people lived off Brother Qiao Brother Qiao Sanhu's money, had no worries about food or drink, threw their weight around on weekdays, and spent every night drinking, gambling, and chasing women—their lives could be described as carefree.

They had thought they were just killing someone, but they hadn't expected to wait so long.

Of course, no one dared to complain.

After another while, the forest grew increasingly cold.

The group then discovered that at some point, a layer of white frost had formed on the ground, and in the distance, there were flickering shadows and several eerie green ghost fires floating up and down.

"C-Constable, something's not right..."

A constable swallowed hard, his voice trembling.

Zhao Kui felt his scalp tingle, and he turned his head to look behind him.

He saw "Master Lu" unloading a black cloth bag from his back; after opening it, inside were rows of mourning sticks.

Willow wood for the poles, wrapped in white paper tassels.

Seeing the fearful and uncertain looks of the people around him, "Master Lu" sneered, "Today is the Day of Cold Clothes for ghosts; naturally, there are more good friends around."

"Go now. Remember, every intersection must be guarded!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kui drew his sword and shouted, "Move! Follow the previous instructions. Whoever dares to mess this up, I'll skin them alive!"

"You can count on us, Constable!"

"Not even a mouse will get away!"

With a shout, the group rushed out of the forest.

This bunch were all hoodlums and riffraff, a motley crew, but many had blood on their hands and possessed a fair amount of murderous intent.

Whoosh!

For a moment, the birds in the forest were startled into flight.

"Idiots!"

Seeing this, "Master Lu" in the rear couldn't help but curse in anger.

He had brought these people far away to avoid alerting the people in the village; after all, the methods of a sorcerer were varied, and they might be alerted.

He hadn't expected them to pull a stunt like this before leaving.

However, he couldn't afford to scold them now. "Master Lu" looked at the sky, his eyes growing increasingly resentful and even somewhat manic, muttering, "Junior Brother Wu, so many years have passed—it's time to settle the score..."

Having said that, he stuck the mourning sticks into the ground one by one, forming a perfect circle—twelve mourning sticks in total, representing the twelve earthly branches.

And in the center of the circle formed by the mourning sticks, a three-foot-deep pit had been dug in advance, with a coffin placed inside.

"Do it!"

"Master Lu" gave the order and lay directly into the coffin.

Several constables were left behind to assist; seeing this eerie situation, the hair on their backs stood on end, but they didn't dare to disobey.

Trembling, they first closed the coffin lid, then shoveled the loose soil to quickly bury the coffin.

Whoosh~

In an instant, eerie winds rose all around.

Those ghost fires gathered more and more, actually circling above the coffin, and then drifted toward the Wu Family Ditch village...

On the Dongshan, Lu San was lying under a tree sleeping.

Whoosh!

A flock of birds streaked across the night sky, landed on the tree trunk, chirped a few times, and then more night birds rose from the forest.

Lu San opened his eyes abruptly and stood up quickly.

The so-called mastery of bird and beast language wasn't about conversing with them, but rather using the ear-divine ability to listen to the information passed between birds and beasts.

The meaning of the bird calls just now:

Opposite mountain, many people, yin objects, danger!

Lu San gazed into the distance, his eyes filled with shock and uncertainty. Suddenly thinking of something, he slammed his head hard, and without a word, he ran down the mountain.

He already had a vague suspicion that he had fallen into a trap.

Originally, with his caution, he wouldn't have made such a mistake, but the anger he felt after seeing the Wu Family Ditch ancestral graves dug up had caused him to slip up.

Those in the village were good people; they couldn't die because of him...

Lu San ran faster and faster, his hands and feet on the ground, leaping like a wild beast, while holding a bone whistle in his mouth, blowing a desolate and ancient melody.

The art of beast taming wasn't that simple.

In this world, there was no spiritual energy, let alone blood contracts; controlling animals to obey one's commands was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Generally speaking, it was either the "martial" way or the "civil" way.

The martial way involved whipping them and using drugs to control them, like some monkey trainers, or the Beggar Gang using snakes and dogs.

The downside was the ease of backlash; for example, in the battle at the mass grave, Li Yan and the others used sorcery to disturb them, causing several evil beggars to lose their lives in a snake formation.

The other way was the civil way.

Slowly cultivating affection, or using sorcery to convey goodwill. In the past, there were shamans who, when sleeping in the wilderness, would be guarded by beasts—that was the art of beast taming.

Lu San chose the second way.

His master was the village guardian elder.

No one knew what the true identity of this village guardian elder was, where he learned his sorcery and martial arts, or even that he had never revealed them in front of outsiders.

He had only passed them on to Lu San. Lu San was raised by the village guardian elder, who was sometimes manic and sometimes lucid, and after awakening his divine ability and understanding bird and beast language, while mastering this path, his personality also became different from ordinary people.

Wang Wang Daoxuan was right.

Lu San was like an old dog; although Wu Family Ditch was small, everything here, like a scent, made him feel at ease.

He collected the remains not because he had deep feelings for those villagers, but because his home had been destroyed, and he was lost and wanted to do something.

Even becoming enemies with Brother Qiao Brother Qiao Sanhu was for this reason.

In the dark night, the whistle was desolate and strange.

This mountain range seemed to have been awakened; wherever Lu San passed, venomous snakes crawled out of crevices, slithering with a rustle, and badgers and foxes poked their heads out one by one, like spirits under the moon...

In the darkness, Li Yan opened his eyes abruptly.

"Wake up, something's happened!"

!.

With a sharp shout, everyone sleeping in the ancestral hall woke up one after another.

"What's wrong?"

"Did wolves get into the village?"

Everyone was still a bit dazed, but they quickly discovered something was wrong.

Although it was the first day of winter and the night was cold, they could withstand it with the bonfire, but for some reason, this chill was growing increasingly intense.

Outside the door, it was pitch black, and the silence was somewhat eerie.

"There are many unclean things!"

Li Yan stared fixedly outside and said in a deep voice, "Daoist, find a way to protect everyone. Everyone, close your eyes; no matter what you hear or see, do not be afraid."

When he said this, everyone became even more afraid, but at this time, they could only follow his instructions and closed their eyes one after another.

As for Wang Wang Daoxuan, he hurried to the offering table.

There were five grains prepared in advance, placed in a wooden box.

They were originally prepared for the funeral; Sha Hearing Sha Lifei didn't know the depth of it and bought a few extra jin, which now came in handy.

Rice (white), millet (yellow), sorghum (red), mung beans (green), and black beans (black) symbolized the five elements and were called the Five Grains Rice.

Whoosh!

Wang Wang Daoxuan recited the incantation silently, stepped out the pace of the Big Dipper, and scattered all the Five Grains Rice in the northeast and southwest directions of the ancestral hall.

On these two sides, one was called the Outer Ghost Gate, and the other was called the Inner Ghost Gate.

And this sorcery was the Five Grains Exorcism Art.

After scattering the five grains, Wang Wang Daoxuan still wasn't at ease; he took out the two talismans for guarding the house and exorcising evil that Luo Luo Mingzi had given him, pinched the magic seal, and pasted them on the two pillars of the ancestral hall respectively.

He knew that Li Yan being so vigilant meant it definitely wasn't that simple.

Li Yan wasn't idle either; he took out the Cloud-Thunder Divine Drum, placed it on the drum stand, stood in a horse stance, and got into position.

At the same time, strange phenomena appeared outside the door:

Green ghost fires appeared at some point outside the ancestral hall gate, drifting and flickering, wandering aimlessly.

"Someone is driving ghosts to cause trouble!"

Wang Wang Daoxuan took one look, and his expression turned solemn. "Today is the Day of Cold Clothes for ghosts; the yin evil energy between heaven and earth is intense. Daoist temples and monasteries perform rituals to soothe the wandering souls of heaven and earth, but evil paths also take the opportunity to cause trouble."

"Who is targeting us?"

"Not sure."

Li Yan shook his head.

Along this journey, he had offended quite a few people—the remnants of the Maitreya Sect at the mass grave, the Jiangzuo sorcerer Yu You the Fourth—who knew if it was their companions.

Wang Wang Daoxuan didn't have time to think carefully; he called Sha Hearing Sha Lifei to help him quickly set up a magic altar.

His yin soldiers and little ghosts had been destroyed, and he couldn't go out to investigate, so he could only use some simple sorcery to help Li Yan.

That's right, to deal with these, Li Yan was the main force.

Whoosh~

Outside the door, eerie winds began to howl.

"Daoist, look, look quickly!"

Sha Hearing Sha Lifei widened his eyes and pointed to the southeast.

He saw frost beginning to spread on the ground, and those grains of five grains were suddenly charred black, while others crackled and burst.

"So many..."

Wang Wang Daoxuan also gasped.

His divine ability could currently only distinguish information through taste, so naturally, he couldn't detect the number of ghosts.

But looking at it now, the number far exceeded his imagination.

Boom!

Right then, Li Yan suddenly beat the drum, simultaneously chanting the "Hum" mantra, concentrating his spirit to drive the divine drum.

The drum sound was like a thunderclap, resounding through the night sky.

Whoosh!

Those ghost fires outside the door scattered instantly.

And the five grains scattered on the ground stopped changing.

"Young Brother Li is mighty!"

Although Sha Hearing Sha Lifei was a layman, having followed Li Yan and Wang Wang Daoxuan, he understood quite a bit, and seeing this, he immediately cheered.

"Close your eyes, don't speak..."

Wang Wang Daoxuan hurriedly reminded them in a low voice, "The seven emotions of living people change, and their life force changes accordingly; it's easiest to attract yin objects, and they also find gaps to possess people during these changes."

When Sha Hearing Sha Lifei heard this, he hurriedly shut his mouth.

But he was truly curious, so he squinted to peek.

Sure enough, the yin objects outside the door began to gather again.

Those ghost fires were just a facade; in reality, Li Yan could clearly smell groups of rotting, cold, or bloody and perverse scents circling outside the door, and they were gathering more and more.

Seeing this, how could Li Yan dare to hold back?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He simultaneously used dark energy, concentrating his spirit to drive the Cloud-Thunder Divine Drum.

First slow, then fast; the drum sound was like thunder, shaking in all directions.

The large and small yin objects outside were like startled rabbits, quickly retreating, but they seemed to be driven by something and didn't leave the village, instead scurrying about, stirring up eerie winds.

Whoosh~

To the people in the ancestral hall, the wind howled outside, and faint sounds of mourning and wailing could be heard.

Wang Wang Daoxuan's expression darkened. "It's the Soul-Hooking Art. Everyone, no matter who you hear speaking, do not respond!"

Sure enough, the wind sound entered everyone's ears and immediately changed, becoming the cries for help of their closest relatives.

Fortunately, they had Wang Wang Daoxuan's reminder, and since they were all old Some Jianghu hands, especially the palanquin bearers who knew many taboos, they all kept their mouths shut tight.

But even so, they were scared to death.

"You don't know when to quit..."

A hint of anger rose in Li Yan's heart; he took the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel from his bosom and hung it on the copper nail dragon mouth of the divine drum.

This time, concentrating his spirit to drive it felt exceptionally difficult.

The two magic artifacts worked together—one contained cold murderous intent, the other had the changes of yin and yang, and the drum sound could amplify the range of the sorcery.

The effect was far from a simple one plus one.

When Shopkeeper Wan made the drum, he had warned Li Yan that with his current cultivation, he couldn't use this combination, and even if he forced it, his spirit would be injured.

He didn't know that for Li Yan, this wasn't a problem.

Concentrating his spirit to drive it, the divine drum suddenly changed.

The Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel swayed gently, cold murderous intent overflowed, shrouding the divine drum, and the murderous intent of the thunder energy within the thunder-struck wood drum body was also stimulated.

Boom!

A thunderclap shook the heavens.

The drum sound echoed, and the weak yin objects along the way instantly vanished into thin air...

Promoting a friend's book.

Book title: 【Logging into the Primordial World from the Cultivation World】

Synopsis: Su Ze, a senior student at a cultivation academy, is working hard to cultivate in preparation for the entrance exam to a higher cultivation institution. Originally, his biggest dream in this life was to successfully build his foundation.

Until he discovered that he could log into the ancient Primordial World, and then his dream changed.

(End of chapter)