Chapter 6: Methods of Self-Study

  For the next three days, Old Spirit Head moved out his treasured antiques that he had kept for over a hundred years from his own bedroom. He packed them into a large trunk which looked very heavy.

  Among these antiques was a wolf-hair brush, an ink that emitted a strange smell, and a stack of neatly cut paper.

  "These are the tools used to draw talismans when driving out demons, and the talismans originated from Taoist. However, our lineage is not of the Taoist, so we can only say that we borrowed them." The old spirit head sorted these tools out of a large trunk and packed them into a simple bundle.

  He still didn't stop, and the box made a clattering sound. A half-foot long sword, milky white in color, couldn't tell what material it was made of, looked like a toy sword for kids to play with.

  "Qīng Píng Sword, the ancestor's treasure, a pre-heavenly precious artifact, a sharp tool for beheading ghosts and exorcising demons!" The old spirit head carefully placed the long sword on the ground beside him. He then turned around to rummage through the large trunk again.

  A strange bell the size of a palm, with a body of mixed five-color stripes, and only the handle on top of the dongdong is black and looks weird.

  "The Town Soul Bell, also known as the Ancestor's Treasure, is a pre-heavenly treasure. It was cast from the Five Elements' Mysterious Iron and when rung, its sound can shock and intimidate ghosts, used to drive out demons and control souls." The old spirit head took out the bell and didn't forget to introduce it.

  Watching Lao Lingtou take out these strange objects, Yu Xianyao felt a bit dizzy. These things looked ordinary, but Lao Lingtou spoke of them with exaggerated praise.

  These were his treasured possessions, hidden away for over a hundred years, never once taken out. Although he had mentioned them before, his tone was always serious and mysterious, like something that couldn't be seen or touched. At the time, Yu Xianyao didn't quite believe him, but now that he saw the real thing being brought out...

  It made him itchy, wanting to pick it up and play with it, to see if it was as magical as the master had said. However, he didn't dare to move, he was afraid of Old Spirit Head, and without Old Spirit Head's explicit permission, he didn't dare to go near it.

  If you make a false accusation, it's not just a matter of slapping your fingers as punishment, I reckon you'll lose at least a layer of skin and shed a lot of blood.

  Yu Xianyao looked curiously at the large box in front of Lao Ling's body, but he didn't dare to neglect his words. He could only pretend to listen seriously to his introduction and silently memorize these things in his heart.

  Lao Lingtou's movements didn't stop, one by one, all sorts of objects were things that Yu Xingyao had only heard of but never seen before.

  A large six-soul banner, transformed from the resentment of Tianmo's death, is a great evil instrument. It can harm the holy people of the Heavenly Way. This time it presents a triangular shape, with an all-black body and a hint of demonic energy. Under the banner are six banner tails that flutter lightly. The names of people are written on the banner tails, and after using talismans to worship morning and evening for seven days, shaking the banner can immediately take someone's life.

  A purple gavel as long as a hoe, a congenital treasure that can summon heavenly thunder. It is a great killing tool, in charge of the world's thunder punishment, and is a beneficial instrument for eliminating evil and expelling demons.

  These things were taken out one by one from the old spirit's head and then carefully sealed with a talisman, it's strange to say, I don't know what method he used.

  Four treasures were like magic, after wrapping them in that ghostly symbol-like paper, they all instantly turned into the thickness of fingers.

  Yu Xing's mind was greatly shocked at this moment, and he couldn't help but believe that magic really existed in this world. And this magic, he had just witnessed it with his own eyes.

  "Master, what kind of magic is this?" Yu Xingyao still refused to believe it, everything that was happening before his eyes was too illusory, making it hard for him to accept.

  "What nonsense, you little brat! If you dare to spout more rubbish, I'll slap you to death!" Old Ling's face turned cold, and he glared at Yu Chengyao. He put away all the things he had taken out into that simple bundle.

  Lao Lingtou's stern rebuke made Yu Chengyao tremble like a cicada in winter, and he didn't dare to make another sound.

  After seeing Yu Xingyao leave, he turned around and continued to rummage through the box. Before long, he took out some miscellaneous items, including a peach wood sword, a brush pen, and cinnabar.

  They are all some very ordinary things, when someone dies in the village, the Taoist priests who come to perform the rituals will bring these.

  Among them, a tattered book and a bamboo scroll caught Yu Xingyao's curiosity, which he had never seen before. He looked at the busy back of Lao Lingtou, wanting to ask questions but not daring to disturb him.

  After waiting for a long time, Lao Lingtou seemed to have finished collecting his things. He covered the large trunk and pointed to the inner room: "Put it under the bed, don't take it out when I'm not around!"

  Yu Xianyao was very quick-witted, and before Old Leng's words were finished, he had already carried the heavy wooden box towards the inner room. Having followed Old Leng for ten years, he was extremely familiar with this awe-inspiring old man in front of him, and a single glance could make him understand what he wanted him to do.

  After the presentation, those peach wood swords were neatly placed on the table by Lao Lingtou. Lao Lingtou held the black book in his hands and said: "This is the ancestor's notes, I tore off all the forbidden chapters inside, you start from scratch, learn as much as you can in a month!"

  As the old spirit head flicked his wrist, the black book flew towards Yu Xianyao, who hastily reached out to catch it. Immediately afterwards, a bamboo scroll came flying over, accompanied by the old spirit head's voice.

  "This bamboo scroll records the method of communicating with the Golden Snake Spirit, take a look yourself and you'll understand. No more nonsense, in one month's time, learn as much as you can, you must master the contents of the scroll! I'm leaving!"

  Lao Lingtou finished speaking and didn't waste any more words, grabbing his simple bundle and leaving immediately. His speed was extremely fast, like a gust of wind blowing past Yu Xiangyao's side.

  Yu Xian was staring blankly at the black book and bamboo scroll in his hand, on the verge of being dumbfounded. Didn't they agree earlier that he would be following him to learn?

  How did it become self-study again? Looking at the things on the altar, all the treasures were taken away by him, leaving a pile of garbage for himself.

  "What's going on?!" Yu Chengyao rushed out of the door to take a look, wanting to ask what was happening, but Lao Lingtou's figure had already disappeared.

  Helpless, Yu Xiang could only open the black book and bamboo scroll to take a look. He sat on the threshold of the bamboo house door. The black book recorded some talisman drawing methods and uses, as well as matching incantations and hand seals.

  What made Yu Xianyao helpless was that the original texts were all ancient and indistinguishable characters. The notes translated into modern simplified Chinese were also vague and unclear, looking very laborious.

  The text on the bamboo scroll is a bit better, although it's traditional Chinese characters, but Yu Xiangyao can still easily identify them. It records the communication method of Jin She Kuang, simply put, it's using one's spiritual consciousness to communicate with Jin She Kuang.

  The soul is a person's spirit. Yu Xingyao felt a sense of helplessness, this thing called the soul is so elusive and intangible, who knows if it exists or not. If you don't know if it exists, how can you use it?

  He tried various methods, learning from the bamboo scrolls, first sitting on the ground with his hands covering his chest and mouth. He recited incantations, then attempted to communicate with his divine consciousness. However, after completing all the above actions and finishing the incantations, he still couldn't understand this divine consciousness communication.

  He tried to summon the Golden Snake Slayers in his heart, but there was no response from his chest. He called out again, still nothing. In a fit of rage, he slapped his own chest hard. The pain made him grit his teeth, yet there was still no response.

  "What a broken bamboo scroll! All of you are cheaters, cheaters!" Yu Xianyao became impatient and in one breath, he threw the bamboo scroll into the house. It hit the incense burner on the altar with a loud crash, and instantly, incense ash was all over the floor.

  Yu Xian's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly calmed down. He hastily got up and grabbed the broom and dustpan to clean up, if Old Ling saw this, he would probably be beaten half to death.

  He was picking up when a low and hoarse laughter suddenly came from beside his ear: "Haha, you can't live if you do evil!"

  Yu Xianyao was taken aback, and immediately stopped his actions. He turned around to look at the surroundings, on the quiet mountain top, there was only the sound of the wind blowing through the trees.

  There was still a figure somewhere, but that laughter just now was so clear. Yu Chengyao shrank his hand and felt a chill on his back.

  He felt a sense of unease in his heart. It's daytime, it shouldn't be haunted, right? Why did he seem to hear someone talking just now? Now there is no one in sight!

  After the incident at Zhuzi Rock Cave, he seemed to have become more timid than before. He was a little afraid and looked around suspiciously, then turned back to the door and peeked out to take a look around.

  However, the result was an eerie silence, as if no one had been there at all.

  "Haha, coward!" Suddenly another burst of sarcastic laughter, the voice was close to his ear. Still low and hoarse, this time Yu Xingyao heard it clearly.

  "Who is it, trying to scare me with such tricks? Come out and show yourself, or I'll find you and break your dog legs!" Yu Chengyao heard clearly and felt another surge of anger.

  Even if he believed that there were ghosts in the world, he would never believe that a ghost would make trouble in broad daylight. People all say that ghosts are yin things and can't stand too much sunlight. At this moment, with the sun shining brightly, it being high noon, he wouldn't believe it even more.

  But the next sentence made him shiver: "What's with the nonsense, I'm right on you, how about it, are you going to hit me?"

  Suddenly, Yu Xianyao felt a heat in his chest, and a golden snake head emerged from his chest. The snake head stretched out towards Yu Xianyao, spitting out its tongue with a provocative tone.

  Yu Chengyao was startled and his hand shook, causing the broom to fall to the ground: "Ah, damn it, when did you pop out!"

  After he finished speaking, Jin Shegui didn't respond to him. He drilled back into his body and disappeared. After Jin Shegui disappeared, no one spoke again beside him.

  Yu Xian let out a sigh of relief, only then did he realize that he had been toyed with by this little thing. However, he also felt a bit happy in his heart, as this meant that he had already made contact with the Golden Snake Gu.

  In the following days, Yu Xingyao continued to study the contents of the black book, drawing symbols, reciting incantations, and performing rituals.

  The days of studying were always dull, and it had been fifteen whole days on the mountain when a shout came from below.

  "Shining, shining! Xiaohai is back, Xiaohai is back!" A tall and slender boy climbed up from the nearby forest.

  "Really? So soon? That's great! I'll go with you to see!" Thinking of Xiaohai, half a month ago, he had just recovered from the critical period when he returned from the hospital.

  Everything in the village is taken care of by Da Gang Shu, but I don't know if that short-lived kid Li Boss has paid enough compensation yet!