Chapter 5: Spiritual Medium

  "If I become a Heavenly Master, will I have to experience this kind of life from now on?" Shi Yi'an asked blankly, his throat rolling.

  "I'm afraid so." Little Shu, and he returned to his usual mischievous self.

  "No way, I'm leaving, I won't study anymore. It's safer for me to stay in the lab, why do I have to risk my life with this thing?" Shī Yǐ ān turned around and was about to leave when he was pulled back by his younger uncle who was standing on the side.

  The little uncle leaned over and sniffed him, saying: "No wonder he was attracted by Little Corpse King."

  "Huh? Shi Yi An sniffed along her own shoulder and smelled herself, except for the smell of bath lotion that hadn't been rinsed off clean, there was no other smell."

  "The spiritual energy on you is extremely heavy, how to put it. If you've learned Taoist magic, for ghosts and monsters, you're a valuable opponent. However, if you don't have spiritual energy..." Xia Shu emphasized the three words "valuable opponent" and then paused at a place that made Shi Yian's scalp tingle.

  "What." Shi Yi'an looked at Xiao Shu's fiery eyes and asked nervously.

  "You are a fragrant and perfect tonic for them."

  The teacher standing beside him added coolly, "There's a saying online that goes like this: 'Remove the head and eat, crispy and tender, chicken flavor.'"

  "...You're all bad people, ganging up on me like this."

  Later, Shi Yi An learned from Shi Yi Xing's explanation that the one who launched a surprise attack on his family tonight was a small corpse king, a type of zombie. This small corpse king is much more powerful than ordinary zombies. Although this corpse king has no culture, it is highly intelligent and has been playing tricks on several heavenly masters who wanted to destroy it before. Uncle San was also defeated because he underestimated the enemy. However, when the corpse king injured Uncle San earlier, it didn't really want to kill him, but rather followed the trail of blood left behind by Uncle San all the way here. Originally, the corpse king couldn't climb up to the area near Shi's house, but at that time, Uncle San was bleeding internally, so his younger brother called an ambulance, and the small corpse king hid under the ambulance and rode it up the mountain.

  "We previously used paper to stick a fake person on the school field to attract it, and also used Taoist methods to injure him. We didn't expect that he would actually escape. Maybe because he smelled your scent on the way, so he went to Si Wei Ju. As soon as we heard the alarm from Si Wei Ju, we rushed over, fortunately in time." said Shi Yihang.

  "When the Corpse King arrived, Si Wei's residence was shaken at that time with a loud ringing sound. What kind of thing is this ringing sound?"

  "The Yao Shake Bell, also known as 110. Only demons and monsters can touch the thing that makes a ringing sound. Every courtyard has one of those bells hanging up, if you hear it ring, usually it means demons or monsters have arrived." Little Uncle explained.

  "...". Sounds very high-end.

  "Alright, that's it for today. I think Si Wei Ju has been demolished enough for tonight. You two go to the side room and sleep there for tonight." San Shu hurriedly sent Shi Yi Xing and Shi Yi An away, then turned to Yun Mo and said: "Yun Mo, you've worked hard today."

  Yun Mo replied coldly: "It doesn't matter, just give me that agarwood bracelet and I won't bother you."

  "It's all about the weight now. The agarwood is sold by the kilogram." Third Uncle paused and said, "Alright, I'll give you that agarwood ring of mine as compensation for burning the table this morning."

  Yun Mo didn't say whether it was good or bad, and turned around to return to his residence.

  Shi Yi'an watched as Yun Mo's back figure got smaller and smaller, like a shrinking water, until it returned to its original size. After experiencing such a night, Shi Yi'an felt much more at ease seeing Yun Mo's shrinking back figure.

  Shi Yi'an, who had spent the night in the side room, got up early the next day. As he passed by the front hall, he happened to see Old Master Shi scolding his younger brother with a fan.

  "Lao San has been hospitalized, and you didn't tell me. Xiao Xiao Shi Wang even dared to barge into our home, and you still didn't tell me! Now I'm not dead yet, but you're all keeping secrets from me. Once I die, you'll be turning the world upside down!" The old man's scolding was full of energy, his eyes wide open, his hair standing on end, as if he might burst into a loud "Wah wah wah wah" and start singing at any moment.

  Scolding just now, the old man slightly tilted his head and saw Shi Yian standing outside the door. In an instant, he transformed into a kind-hearted old man. His expression and tone suddenly became gentle, waving his hand to beckon Shi Yian over: "Little An, you're up so early."

  ……

  "Nothing happened last night, it was just a small corpse king, nothing happened." Playing a good variable face.

  "Actually, it was mainly Xiaoshu and the others who were quite fierce and killed the Corpse King." Shi Yifei replied calmly.

  "It's alright, let's go eat, Si Wei Ju has been fixed, you can go back and live there today." The old man smiled and took Shi Yi An to have breakfast.

  "The fragrance is distant, but the stench is near." After sighing with emotion, Xiao Shu also had nothing more to say and followed them to eat breakfast together.

  Shi Yi was exhausted from last night's exertions and today he completely collapsed, lying in bed with a pale face, using a handkerchief to cover his mouth as he coughed desperately. He looked like Lin Daiyu had possessed him.

  "Cough, sit." Shī Yì walked over and leaned against the head of the bed with a weak voice, pushing the stool at the head of the bed to Shī Yì ān.

  Shi Yi An sat down at the sound, adjusted his direction, and faced Shi Yi Xing while sitting, making it convenient for Shi Yi to speak.

  "Third Uncle is ill, and Third Brother and Fourth Sister will be back in a day or two." Just then, Shi Yi coughed up blood while speaking, but he calmly wiped it away with his handkerchief and even went on to comfort Shi Yan, saying that he was already used to it.

  Shi Yi An was so shocked by this mouthful of blood that he didn't dare to breathe loudly, fearing that if his voice was slightly louder, the weak person in front of him would cough up another mouthful of blood.

  "What's wrong with you?" Shi Yi'an asked.

  "The people of the Shi family mostly use heavenly opposing techniques, and only after mastering them can they sign a coexistence contract with their guardians to live safely until old age. Most people without guardians, like me, find it difficult to survive past middle age." He said this not out of regret for his own unfortunate life, but rather as a straightforward statement, after all, in the over 1,000 year history of the Shi family, there have been many people without guardians. As someone who divines and calculates fate, he understands better than anyone else the value of life.

  Shi Yi'an didn't quite understand these things, and after hesitating for a while, he couldn't think of any comforting words to say, so he just kept silent.

  "Don't pretend to be so profound, it makes you seem quite sentimental." Shi Yi Xing chuckled lightly and continued: "These past few days, your uncle and younger uncle have been busy and haven't had time to teach you, so I'll tell you some simple things instead."

  "Go on, you tell me."

  Shi Yi Xing lectured on some basic knowledge that needed to be known, and also had the house spirit of his own home find a few books from the study room for Shi Yi An to read by himself. Afterwards, Shi Yi Xing showed signs of fatigue, and Shi Yi An didn't dare disturb him too much, so he took the books and hastily returned to his room. Along the way, he passed through the Peach Blossom Forest and saw a few peach blossom spirits surrounding the fat man who was fertilizing the peach blossoms, crying and making a ruckus.

  Look again at those peach blossom spirits with burn marks on their postmodern hairstyles, and Shi Yian understood. Last night when they were destroying the corpse king, they used fire attribute talismans which also burned a lot of the nearby peach blossoms. Now those little demons... Apparently, that man's ability to comfort people was limited, his mouth was clumsy, and after half a day not only did he fail to solve the problem, but instead provoked several of the little demons to scratch his face with their hands. The man didn't get angry, instead he grabbed one of the little peach blossom spirits and hugged her in his arms, refusing to let go as she struggled in his embrace.

  The Si Wei Ju has been repaired, and Yun Mo is sitting under the eaves to cool off. He sees Shi Yi An coming in and nods his head as a greeting. Although it's just a nod, it makes Shi Yi An feel like their relationship has become much closer, after all, they were once comrades-in-arms. Shi Yi An responds with a smile that shows sixteen teeth, making Yun Mo's hair stand on end.

  Yun Mo Dao said: "Did something happen to you again today?"

  "It's nothing, I just think you look really cool now that you've grown up," said Shi Yian.

  Yun Mo looked at Shi Yi'an with sympathetic eyes and turned away.

  “……”

  Bored out of his mind, Shi Yian slipped out of the small back door and found a pavilion to sit in, where he began to read the book that Shi Yian had given him. As he flipped through the pages, he found that they were filled with obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient texts, which were completely different from what he had studied before, making it impossible for him to decipher them based on his past experience. However, after flipping through a few pages, Shi Yian's mind began to wander, and he stared blankly at the two clusters of red flowers outside the pavilion.

  "This is called Mandala." The voice was soft and pleasant, making people feel a sense of comfort in their hearts.

  Shi Yi'an turned around and saw someone standing outside the pavilion. The person didn't look like a top-notch beauty, but had a unique charm. She was wearing a light green one-piece dress with a modern style that was rare in this mansion. When she felt Shi Yi'an's gaze, she looked embarrassed and lowered her head, saying softly: "You must be Second Brother Shi Yi'an, I am Shi Yi-mei."

  "It's actually my sister, come and sit down." Shī Yì ān used the book in his hand to brush off the dust on the stool next to him, then sat down himself, yielding his stone stool to Shī Yì míng.

  Shi Yi Mian also felt a bit tense facing this sudden appearance of her brother and sat stiffly on the stool.

  "I heard Uncle say that you're good at divining with rice." Shi Yi'an was glad for the first time that his memory was good enough to recall what Uncle had said back then.

  "When it comes to his specialty, he visibly relaxed a lot: 'It's not that I'm good at it. It's just that I can help the people below me with their words.'"

  "My goodness, how were these children raised? Each and every one of them is so humble," thought Shi Yi'an.

  "I've never seen it before, can you perform it for me?" Because they had also watched a lot of horror movies in the university dormitory before, they were quite interested in asking Mi to communicate with spirits.

  "It's possible, but I need to tell you in advance that there are three types of people we don't ask about: those who died unjustly, close relatives, and those with no name or surname. Alright, who do you want to invite back?" Master Yifeng explained slowly for half a day, asking Master Yan who he wanted to invite back.

  The question stumped Shi Yian, and indeed, he didn't have anyone to ask. After thinking for a long time, he asked in a low voice, "Why can't those three be asked?"

  Shi Yiran's face turned slightly red as he replied in a mosquito-sized voice, "Because, because summoning those three spirits back to the world of the living requires extra money."

  Add money...

  Shi Yi An thought that since he had already chosen this path, he would have long given up on pursuing wealth and material possessions. He truly hadn't expected to receive such an answer.

  "Haha, really?" Shi Yinan chuckled twice, not knowing how to continue the conversation. Finally, Shi Yinan spoke up: "How about this? I'll guess that Second Brother doesn't have anyone he wants to invite back either. I'll invite an ancestor of the Shi family to come back and let Second Brother take a look. At the same time, if there's anything Second Brother doesn't understand about the Taoist teachings, he can ask too."

  "It's okay." Shi Yi An agreed in one breath.

  Shi Yiran stood up and sat down in front of Shi Yian, stretching out her slender hands to grab Shi Yian's palms. A strange gust of wind blew from behind Shi Yian, making his spine numb. His hand was grasped by Shi Yiran's, with icy fingertips touching his scorching palm, as if something was being sucked out of his body. At this moment, Shi Yiran was completely different from her previous gentle self, her piercing gaze fixed on Shi Yian, causing him to look back at her. The instant their eyes met, Shi Yiran's face turned red, and she flung away Shi Yian's hand as if she had seen a ghost.

  "What's wrong? What happened?" Shi Yi'an asked hastily, startled.

  Shī Yì Fēng lowered her head and shook it, indicating that nothing was wrong. Shī Yì Fēng was indeed a bit nervous. After all, except for her brothers at home, she had never held hands with boys of the same age before. It's not like many young people still believe in this nowadays. Although she knew clearly that Shī Yì ān was her second brother, after all, this second brother was also someone she met for the first time, and it wasn't easy for her to muster up the courage to talk to him at the beginning.

  "Second brother, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you ask for rice today." Shi Yifeng's tone was full of apology, and she was eager to go back and adjust her mood.

  "It's okay, we're all family, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."