Clutching the jade pendant that Fifth Gege had mentioned, I examined it repeatedly, but I couldn't discern anything unusual.
It was merely a jade pendant worn by ordinary people, carved with a Buddha whose name I couldn't recall. It radiated a gentle warmth, nothing remarkable.
I casually placed the jade pendant on the bed and sat cross-legged, facing it.
The benevolent Fifth Gege had instructed me to place this jade pendant on the malevolent Fifth Gege. The task sounded simple, but in practice, it was incredibly difficult.
In the presence of the malevolent Fifth Gege, I was like a three-year-old child, utterly incapable of resistance. I couldn't even get close to her because of her elongated fingernails, let alone her long hair that writhed like black snakes.
What was I to do?
Although I no longer felt hungry after waking up, it was clear that if I didn't subdue the malevolent Fifth Gege outside, the benevolent Fifth Gege would no longer care for me. I would either be killed by the malevolent Fifth Gege or starve to death here. If I had to choose a path, I decided to take a chance against the malevolent Fifth Gege.
Having studied under my master for ten years, I had not only learned skills for survival such as fortune-telling for Yin beings, arranging Yin marriages, and inspecting Yin residences, but I also knew a little about dealing with Yin beings. However, my master had told me that without a natural talent for it, learning these skills was no different from not learning them at all.
For this, I had even "argued" with my master. The predictable outcome was a "bamboo strip stew" (being beaten with bamboo sticks) to end the argument.
However, my master eventually found a method for me to deal with Yin beings, though this method was sometimes effective and sometimes not. The first time I used this method, tears streamed down my face.
The Tiangang Seal.
This was a set of seals derived by my master from the "Wen Wang Yin Shen Gua," based on the thirty-six Tiangang stars, combined with the Tiangang finger and the internal Xuan Yang Qi. According to my master, if I learned it all, I could fight a Ghost Emperor, and even learning a move or two would allow me to contend with a fierce ghost.
The Tiangang Seal had thirty-six seals, each named after one of the thirty-six Tiangang stars. Each seal was different. I had only learned the simplest ones: the Tiantui Seal, the Tianqiao Seal, and the Tiansu Seal. The Tiantui Seal was primarily for deterrence and elimination, the Tianqiao Seal could make the body more agile, and the Tiansu Seal could quickly deliver talismans onto Yin beings.
As for the other thirty-three seals, I was completely unable to use them. Not only because I couldn't grasp their profound mysteries, but also because my cultivation level was insufficient to mobilize the internal Xuan Yang Qi to cooperate with them. My master could do nothing about this either, merely sighing and shaking his head before leaving.
Even though I had only learned the first three seals at the time, I was overjoyed for a long time. Once, when my master was drunk at night, I secretly ran to the mass grave on the back mountain.
My master said that there were not only wandering spirits but also fierce ghosts here. To lure out a wandering spirit, I took half a soul-guiding incense from home, hoping to attract one to practice with.
As the name suggests, soul-guiding incense is used to attract souls, made from special fragrant materials. When lit and combined with the birth data of the person being summoned, it was unfailingly effective.
However, when I lit the incense, I completely forgot one thing: the location. If I had lit the incense outside my house, I might have only attracted one or two lonely ghosts. But I chose a mass grave, which only shows my youthful recklessness at the time.
As soon as the soul-guiding incense was lit, I immediately felt a chilling wind blowing all around, and the temperature dropped several degrees. I knew that Yin souls had been attracted. Su Dan Novel Network.
I quickly condensed my Xuan Yang Qi into my eyes and opened my Yin sight. What I saw made me dumbfounded, because I hadn't attracted one or two ghosts, but a whole swarm of them.
There were men, women, old people, and children. Some were wearing modern clothes, while others wore clothes from before the Republic of China era or even earlier. In short, all sorts of ghosts emerged. More terrifyingly, some were missing limbs, some held their heads in their hands, and some were covered in blood. The sight made my head spin.
While I was stunned, they had already absorbed half of the soul-guiding incense. Without the incense, they all turned their gaze towards me, their eyes filled with hunger.
At that moment, my legs felt weak. After all, being stared at by hundreds or thousands of Yin souls in the dead of night, I didn't believe anyone's legs wouldn't feel weak. But remembering that I had learned the Tiantui Seal to deal with Yin souls, I straightened my back.
I pressed my left thumb into my palm, my index and middle fingers bent halfway to form the Tiantui Seal, while my right hand formed a sword with two fingers to strengthen my Xuan Yang Qi.
I recited the Tiangang Seal incantation: "Tiangang stars illuminate the earth, ten thousand Yin spirits quickly retreat, ancestors assist me, with one strike, drive away all evil spirits! Chih—"
As I finished the incantation, I felt a surge of heat rush from within me to the Tiantui Seal on my left hand.
At this moment, using my Yin sight, I could see a golden light emanating from my right hand. Although not bright, it caused the Yin souls surrounding me to retreat a short distance.
Seeing this, I immediately felt more confident.
Then, I unleashed the Tiantui Seal in my hand.
A beam of golden light shot out from my hand, startling the surrounding Yin souls into scattering in all directions. I burst into laughter.
Completely forgetting my master's words: "Do not be arrogant when you are triumphant, or disaster will surely follow."
Just as I was smugly laughing, the golden light that had shot out didn't wreak havoc as expected. Instead, it began to sway in mid-air, looking as if my master had had too much to drink. Before I could react, the golden light fell from the sky and dissipated before my eyes at a visible speed.
This terrified me. Although I had learned the Tiantui Seal, I had forgotten that my internal Xuan Yang Qi could not sustain it for long. At this moment, the scattered Yin souls also stopped their retreat and looked at me with puzzled expressions.
I felt a cold sweat break out all over my back. Looking at the group of hungry Yin souls before me, only one word came to mind: "Run."
If I had been participating in a world sprint at that moment, I probably could have won first place. I cursed myself for having only two legs. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't outrun the Yin souls flying in the air. Before I could get far, they caught up to me.
Fortunately, the back mountain was not too far from my master's house. Seeing the Yin souls about to catch up, I shouted, "Master, save me!"
Fortunately, my master, having drunk too much beer, got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Seeing the light on in my room and that I wasn't inside, he heard my cry for help. As soon as my master appeared, he simply said "Scram" to the Yin souls around me, and they all fled without a trace, thus saving my life.
For this, my master beat me with bamboo strips until dawn. From then on, I never used the Tiangang Seal again. My master didn't force me, he just called me a "waste" and left me alone. However, he became even stricter with me regarding fortune-telling, inspecting Yin residences, and arranging Yin marriages.
Although the current situation doesn't involve as many Yin souls as the mass grave, the single malevolent Fifth Gege is enough for me to handle. If I want to place the jade pendant on the malevolent Fifth Gege, I must use the Tiansu Seal.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but form the hand seals, to see if I could lift the jade pendant using the Tiansu Seal.
"Tiangang stars illuminate the earth,冥灵 star light seeks traces, borrowing the power of ancestors, brilliant starlight, go quickly, Chih—"