My daily mountain driving, I met a fox at the beginning and got married

Hao Xie nodded, then turned and ran to the warehouse, and took out the various props he needed for paper-making in recent days: hay, branches, paper pulp, white paper, paintbrushes, etc., and placed them one by one in front of Zhang Hao.

After the arrangement was completed, Hao Xie couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhang Hao, there is one thing I don't quite understand. You said to give life to the paper figures. Is their life the same as ours?"

Zhang Hao shook his head slightly and explained: "This paper-tying technique was unique in ancient times. It is different from corpse-driving techniques, corpse-retrieving techniques, Maoshan Taoist techniques, etc. It is very special.

However, the art of paper-folding does not really give life to paper figures, but rather endows them with a short lifespan, which is different from the lifespan of living people.

With this Yin Ling, the paper man can move his body and transform into a human form.

Unless the Yin age is exhausted, what ordinary people see is a living person, not the real body of the paper man.

Of course, if you look closely at the details, you can still tell them apart.

The more skilled the paper-folding craftsman is, the more lifelike the paper figures will be.

Legend has it that the best paper-making craftsman in ancient times could make a King of Hell that looked so real that it could be mistaken for a real one! "

Zhang Hao continued, "The life of a paper man is different from our lifespan. They are more like borrowing the body of a paper man to return the soul of a wandering ghost. Through the art of summoning souls, a part of the ghost's age is sealed in the body of the paper man, so that the paper man can obey your orders and be at your disposal. Therefore, the skill of a paper-making craftsman is not only about paper-making, summoning souls is equally important. In ancient times, paper-making craftsmen were divided into two major schools. One school focused on paper-making skills, and the paper mannequins were extremely strong. According to legend, they were even invulnerable to swords and guns, and were immune to water and fire. The other school was better at summoning souls. The paper mannequins were extremely agile and could use 70% to 80% of the power of the ghosts, which was also extremely powerful. You can understand it as one is horizontal training kung fu, and the other is a master of internal energy. These two techniques are not mutually exclusive, but a person's life is limited, and at most one can only reach the extreme on one of the paths."

Hao Xie was confused by what he heard, but he felt it was extremely magical in his heart, and the anticipation in his eyes became even stronger.

He observed Zhang Hao's technique and marveled inwardly: It turns out there are so many tricks to paper-folding!

From what Zhang Hao said, it seems that paper craftsmen are so powerful. If the paper figures they make are invulnerable to swords and guns, wouldn’t they be gods?

If there were more paper people, he wouldn't have to guard the yard all the time. Any intruders like the nine-headed bird would be directly chased away by the paper people, and he wouldn't have to keep watching the yard. This could save him a lot of trouble.

As for spiritualism, it sounds a bit difficult.

When Zhang Hao was teaching them the art of corpse-driving, he mentioned the importance of necromancy, which can be used in both corpse-driving and corpse-retrieval.

But at that time, Zhang Hao didn't expect that there would be a paper-folding craftsman in their yard, and he didn't expect Hao Xie to have talent in this area!
Now it seems that the most suitable person to learn the art of summoning spirits is the paper-folding craftsman.

Hao Xie thought to himself that he did not expect to be able to unleash 70% or 80% of the abilities of ghosts like the ancient paper-folding craftsmen. As long as he could unleash 20% or 30% of the abilities, it would be enough.

So he asked, "Should I start learning paper-folding now?"

Zhang Hao looked at the straw man in his hand and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

This kind of work, which is somewhat artistic, doesn't seem to be suitable for him.

The paper figure he made was indeed inferior to Hao Xie's.

So he smiled and said, "Before you learn the art of paper-folding, I have to tell you about the taboos of this industry. The paper figures you make must be clearly defined for whom, for yourself or for others. For paper figures for others, are they to be burned for the dead or for the living? This ancient industry has many rules and taboos, and the details are countless. Because of its special nature, its details and rules are even more numerous than those of corpse-carrying craftsmen! Therefore, it is not as simple as just making a paper figure to fool the living."

Hao Xie nodded, and then asked: "What if it is a paper figurine for a living person?"

Zhang Hao explained: "Paper figures for living people can have yin energy, but not too much. As for evil spirits, they cannot have any. So when you decide to attach a spirit to a paper figure, make sure that the yin spirit you attract can be suppressed, otherwise you will be asking for trouble. Paper figures for the dead are relatively simple, but remember one thing, the paper figures cannot be in the shape of children, because ghost babies are taboo, otherwise it will ruin your yin virtue and damage your Tao fruit! In modern terms, this is immoral and too harmful to heaven and earth, after all, it is just a child. In addition, if it is a boy or girl, you must follow the principle of red men and green women, that is, boys should be all red and girls should be all green. If a guest wants to hold a funeral for a man, you suggest that he burn a paper horse, and if it is a woman, you suggest that she burn a paper cow.

"If you get it mixed up, you won't be able to pass the gates of hell. Also, paper figures used for sacrifices cannot have eyes painted on them, but paper figures that you want to possess spirits on must have eyes painted on them, and this is called 'Qiling'!... Well, it's somewhat similar to your name, haha! Maybe the person who gave you this name was a paper craftsman! Let's get back to the point! At the same time, when making paper figures, you have to use needles to poke their eyes, ears, mouths and noses, but if it's a paper figure to be burned for the dead, it doesn't matter."

Hao Xie nodded seriously, keeping every word Zhang Hao said in mind.

Then he watched Zhang Hao tie a paper man and stand it up, pointed at the eyes of the paper man and said, "Generally speaking, it's done when you get to this step. As for the eyes, you don't have to draw them when you're tying the paper man, but if you've already drawn them, you have to summon the soul and possess the spirit immediately, otherwise a wild ghost will possess you and do you harm. Now I'll teach you how to summon the soul and possess the spirit!"

Hao Xie nodded again and watched Zhang Hao carefully add eyes to the clay sculpture of the paper man and then paint it with a brush.

Then Zhang Hao drew a spell on the paper man and said, "The dust and dirt are removed and the nine orifices are filled with spirits. Let me change back to the form of a child. Let the heaven and earth live together to shape its true form!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Hao sprinkled a bowl of chicken blood on the paper man, and then placed his hand above the paper man's head, about three inches away.

Just like before, the chicken blood was completely absorbed by the paper man, but the paper man did not turn deep red, and still maintained its original color.

Then Zhang Hao slowly pressed his palm downwards. Although he did not directly touch the paper man, he could see wisps of red steam beginning to emerge from the paper man's body.

Immediately afterwards, Hao Xie was shocked to find that the places where Zhang Hao's palms had passed began to move, and the skin of the paper man began to become delicate and smooth, and even individual pores and sweat hairs could be seen.

When the palm moved to the paper man's neck, the paper man's head had completely changed, with its eyes moving very agilely and its hair swaying and flowing elegantly.

Hao Xie could even feel the paper man's breath.

The paper figure was looking at Hao Xie with a confused look on its face at this moment, as if it was a newborn baby, full of curiosity about everything around it.

Then, Zhang Hao's hand brushed over the whole body of the paper man. The paper man raised his hands, looked at them in confusion, then turned his gaze to the yard and asked in confusion, "Where am I?"

Looks silly and seems to have a low IQ.

Zhang Hao was limited by his own paper-making skills, and this was the best result he could achieve. But compared with the real ancient paper-making craftsmen, it was still far behind.

However, this was shocking enough for Hao Xie.

He widened his eyes, pointed at the paper figure and said in disbelief: "Brother Zhang Hao, this... this paper figure is talking!"

Zhang Hao smiled faintly, then looked at the paper man and said in a deep voice: "I only gave you one day of Yin age, so you don't need a name. You can do whatever you want in this day, but there is one thing, you can't leave this yard. Once you leave, I will immediately turn you back to your original form! Do you understand?"

Zhang Hao was actually bragging. Even if he wanted to give Yin Ling two days, he couldn't do it because he didn't have the technology to do it at the moment!

The paper figure was stunned for a moment, staring at Zhang Hao in a daze, and then remembered all three of Zhang Hao's words in his mind. He bowed to Zhang Hao and said, "Yes, Master! Don't leave the yard, or I will return to my original form!"

Zhang Hao nodded slightly, then pointed at the paper figurine and said, "Well, you should have learned almost everything, right?"

Hao Xie looked left and right at this time, and couldn't help but exclaimed in amazement: "Brother Zhang Hao, you are too amazing! This is simply a real person! Are you creating a human? Isn't this much more powerful than that damn metaverse and intelligent AI robots? It seems that our ancestors are still more intelligent!"

Zhang Hao smiled, having expected Hao Xie to behave like this.

When a paper figure turns into a living person, anyone who sees it should have this expression, right?
If there was a scientist here, he would be shocked.

So he patted the paper figurine on the shoulder and said, "You practice first. If you have any work, you can let this paper figurine do it. As for the advanced techniques, I won't teach you yet. You won't understand even if I teach you. Get started first, learn the most basic ones, and then I'll teach you other practical paper-making techniques."

Hao Xie nodded quickly, carefully looking at the paper figure that had turned into a living person, and said in shock: "This is too magical! It's a living person! I wish I could do this!"

Zhang Hao smiled at this time, "You have the potential in this area, I think you should be able to learn it quickly. Remember when Zhang Qilin first learned to drive corpses? He had the potential to drive corpses, so he learned it very quickly. I think your potential in paper-making is not inferior to his potential in driving corpses, so don't worry about how long it will take to learn. What you need to worry about is whether you can comprehend those advanced paper-making techniques once you get started! For example, scattering beans to make soldiers, ghosts carrying sedan chairs, five ghosts carrying things... These advanced paper-making techniques are varied, and that's what's really difficult to learn."

Hao Xie nodded, then looked at Zhang Hao with great gratitude.

"Thank you very much, boss! I will study hard!" Zhang Hao nodded slightly and then walked back to his room.

Hao Xie hurriedly sat down by the well, imagining the appearance of Zhang Hao in his mind just now, and then began to make paper figures.

"If I learn this trick... I won't be afraid if I encounter sea monkeys again in the future! At worst, I can just pull a cart of paper figures to the grave! This skill is awesome!"

At the same time, in Sanjiashan Village, the moon disappeared into the clouds, making the already dark night even darker.

However, the village seemed very lively, with the sounds of chickens crowing, cows mooing, and dogs barking intertwined.

At this time, almost all the people in the village were standing in the yard, some were holding a chicken, some were standing next to a cow, and some had a snake coiled around their body.

Such a scene may seem strange to those who are not in the know, but everyone in the village knows that today is the day mentioned by the Yin-Yang master to ferry souls.

They had all seen their own shadows coming out of the bodies of the Ten Corpses before, so they were all preparing to take their remaining souls home on this day.

Fatty Wang and Zhang Qilin were also standing in the yard, watching the village chief holding the family spirit.

Fatty Wang joked to Zhang Qilin, "Brother Qilin, when the ferry opens, will the ghost messenger and the Black and White Impermanence that you met before appear? What would you say if they meet you again? It seems that Brother Zhang Hao gave you a talisman for the rank of fourth-rank official, right? It should be useless after you use it, right?"

Zhang Qilin glanced at Fatty Wang indifferently, glared at him and then continued to look at the village chief.

Seeing the two chatting, the village chief came over, touched the chicken's feathers, and asked worriedly, "Gentlemen, will our residual souls really come back tonight? Does Mr. Yin Yang have anything else to tell you? I'm always a little worried!"

Zhang Qilin walked aside and didn't want to say anything more.

Fatty Wang smiled like a seasoned man, touched the chicken head in the village chief's arms, and said with a smile: "Village chief, you know our shopkeeper. Do you think our shopkeeper would not tell you if there is something important? Besides, our shopkeeper is a good person. When Tiezhu placed the order at the inn, he only said that he wanted to change the feng shui of your Sanjia Mountain. As for the matter of ferrying souls, it was our shopkeeper who helped you a lot. It's a bit wrong for you to think so of our shopkeeper!"

The village chief quickly smiled and waved his hands, saying, "No, no, no, Mr. Wang, please don't misunderstand me. I didn't mean anything else. It's just that I've never experienced soul-guiding at the ferry before, and I'm afraid something unexpected might happen. Everyone in Sanjiashan will remember Mr. Yin Yang's kindness, and we've even decided to build a temple for him. How could we slander him?"

"Establish a ancestral temple?" Fatty Wang was stunned.

He just thought that the people of Sanjiashan Village were very grateful to Zhang Hao, but he didn't expect that they would be so grateful as to build a ancestral temple.

This is worshipping Zhang Hao as a god!

Fatty Wang nodded, patted the village chief on the shoulder with a smile, gave him a thumbs up and said, "Sure! Village chief, I like you! You know how to repay a favor! From now on, you will always be a guest of our Yin Yang Inn, haha!"

As soon as he finished speaking, it was already past midnight.

The barking of dogs in the village was originally chaotic, but at this moment, they suddenly barked in unison. "Wang!"

The night suddenly became darker, and a cold wind suddenly blew in the village, as if carrying some ominous omen.

At this moment, the village suddenly lost power and was completely dark. (End of this chapter)