My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 485 Hungry Ghost
Jiang Xinghuo looked up at the wall clock. In reality, it was already past ten o'clock in the evening.

Although the time in the game and reality flow synchronously, this rule is only limited to the current secular world and does not seem to have any effect on the relics of the old secular world.

I don’t know whether the time recorded by the Lord of the Five Grains Cycle in his notes refers to the time rules within this old secular relic or the speed of time flow in reality.

Jiang Xinghuo could only go into idle mode and wait overnight to see if there would be any other changes in the process.

He just threw his phone on the bedside table, then picked up the handheld game console next to him and started playing.

In this way, several hours passed quickly, until about two o'clock in the morning, Jiang Xinghuo suddenly heard a prompt sound coming from the game, so he immediately opened the screen to take a look.

A new day began in the old house.

This also confirmed a guess in Jiang Xinghuo's mind that the time rules in the ancient house were completely different from those in the outside world, and it had a unique internal operating system.

Perhaps, the seven days in the ancient house were just three or two days for the outside world, or even a shorter time.

"You woke up in the old house and found that it was already bright outside. However, unlike last night, the door of the old house was wide open. There was also a dragon bath in the east of the courtyard. There were also some noisy sounds coming from the backyard... What are your plans next?"

"Would you like to sit here and do nothing, or go through the corridors on both sides and go to the backyard to find out what's going on?"

When the options came out, Jiang Xinghuo chose to explore the backyard without hesitation. There was no other reason, he was just out of curiosity. He just wanted to see what secrets were hidden in this ancient house.

According to the notes left by the Lord of the Five Grains Reincarnation, today should be the day when the owner of this ancient house holds his coming-of-age ceremony. The dragon basin placed outside also happens to confirm this point.

In ancient times, people attached great importance to the ceremony of capping, which they regarded as the beginning of etiquette and the first auspicious ceremony in life.

Not only does one have to divine an auspicious day, but one also has to send a letter in advance to invite guests, and the choice of the place to give gifts is also very particular.

Ordinary families would choose to hold the ceremony of coming of age in the east room, while aristocratic families would choose to hold the ceremony in the ancestral temple.

"The Book of Rites: The Meaning of the Crown" says: After a person has been crowned, he is given a name, which is the way to become an adult.

The ceremony of taking a courtesy name is also held simultaneously with the coming-of-age ceremony.

thus.

Men can truly participate in various affairs as adults.

Before this.

Everything they did could be considered as just children's mischief.

The dragon basin is one of the objects used in the ceremony of coming of age. As for the actual place where the ceremony of coming of age is held, it should be set up in the ancestral temple in the backyard.

After all, judging from the description in the text, the owner of this ancient house must be either rich or noble, and he certainly couldn't simply find an east room to hold the ceremony like an ordinary family.

"You stood up from the armchair and planned to explore the backyard, but the moment you stood up, the Treasure God suddenly jumped out of your pupil, crouched on your shoulder, and called a few times to the dragon, as if reminding you to go over and take it into your pocket."

"Do you want to go over and wash and put away that dragon?"

Jiang Xinghuo was a little surprised. When the text popped up, he set his eyes on Long Xi. However, he soon discovered that no interactive options popped up.

This kind of text game has no room for operation without interactive options. No matter how fantastic the text description is, to him, it is just visible but intangible.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo felt that he had no chance of being washed by the dragon, and he didn't want to hold back, so the treasure god jumped out of his pupil, triggering the corresponding interaction and options.

"Do you want to follow the advice of the Treasure God and go over and pick up the dragon?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes without hesitation, controlled the game character to walk over and pick up the thing.

The Tathagatagarbha is also opened accordingly.

“Water Dragon Basin (Excellent Prop), a water vessel forged from dragon bones and scale fragments, incorporates the essence of a water vein, and has a world of its own inside. If placed in a corner of your home, it can continuously release mist, which has the effect of purifying the environment, clearing your mind and eyes, and nourishing your spirit.”

When Jiang Xinghuo saw this, he thought that the man was really rich and powerful. He even dared to use dragon bones for a washbasin. He wondered who the owner of this ancient house was.

Jiang Xinghuo brought the thing into reality, and it turned out to be a light golden dragon wash basin. The dragon pattern on it was no longer clear, probably because of its age.

However, the basin was filled with water vapor, and dragon patterns could be vaguely seen moving in it. The air around it was also refreshed, giving a different feeling and experience.

After Jiang Xinghuo tried it, he placed the copper basin in the store. It was like having an additional high-power air purifier that did not consume electricity and would not break down.

Afterwards, Jiang Xinghuo came to the backyard of the ancient house based on the clues from the interaction and found the ancestral temple there.

"You found an ancestral hall behind the old house, but the doors and windows on all four sides of the ancestral hall have been welded shut with iron plates. Only a small door is half-open, and you can vaguely see a dim light coming from behind."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the game text, and before he could react, he felt his phone vibrate slightly. Then the phone interface flashed, and a slightly yellowed picture popped up, like an old-fashioned photo from the Republic of China period.

The background of the photo is a black building, which looks somewhat similar to a temple, but the doors and windows are all sealed, with only a wooden door half-open. However, due to the pixelation of the photo, it is not clear what is behind the door. However, Jiang Xinghuo instinctively feels that there seems to be something behind the door, peeping at him through the wooden door or the photo.

This is not something that is seen directly by the naked eye, but is just a psychological sense.

But judging from Jiang Xinghuo's current practice, illusion is almost non-existent.

In other words, there might really be something behind the door in this photo, spying on me, or... spying on the person who took this photo? ?

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head, somewhat uncertain. The things in the secular world were weird enough, and the things in those ruins of the old secular world were even worse than those. Even if a ghost hand stretched out from the photo now, he would not feel particularly surprised.

Jiang Xinghuo wanted to try to take a screenshot and save the photo, but the screenshot was completely black with nothing left on it. After the photo popped up, it lasted for about half a minute and then disappeared. There was no record of it in the text log, as if it had never appeared.

Jiang Xinghuo did not show any abnormality in this regard. This kind of thing has happened before. Usually, it involves unknown secrets, which will lead to texts or pictures that cannot be saved and are destroyed after reading.

"Do you want to go into the ancestral hall and investigate?" Jiang Xinghuo looked at the two options, yes or no, it was not difficult to make a choice.

"You pushed open the half-open wooden door and walked into the dimly lit ancestral hall. The dampness in the air made you feel a little uneasy. You have only half a foot in the ancestral hall. If you want to leave, it's not too late now. Once you are completely inside, it will be too late to leave."

The game text was still "advising" Jiang Xinghuo to leave the ancestral hall, but Jiang Xinghuo was stubborn and insisted on going all the way. He completely ignored the game text's advice and chose to enter and explore.

"You walked into the ancestral hall, and the wooden door behind you closed, blocking your way out. You looked around the hall carefully. Although the furnishings were simple, the items placed there were very exquisite. There was also a golden statue of a deity enshrined on the altar in the middle."

"Do you want to investigate the ancestral hall?"

"You explored the ancestral hall, but your harvest was not very encouraging. There was almost nothing valuable. But at this moment, you suddenly found that the statue on the altar seemed to move, as if it was looking at you and smiling."

"Under the gaze of the statue, you felt dizzy, followed by a strong feeling of nausea, and then began to vomit continuously. You looked at the things in front of you and found that they were your internal organs and intestines."

"In the end, you actually vomited all your internal organs out of your body. What frightened you even more was that the statue on the altar came to life and opened its big mouth to swallow you..."

"You feel your body being ground by sharp teeth and stomach sacs, and soon you lose your last consciousness."

"But before you completely lost consciousness, you also sensed the secret of this statue through the Tathagatagarbha."

"You have discovered the corpse of the Hungry Ghost Lord's follower."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the last text message and raised his eyebrows. The corpse of the Hungry Ghost Lord’s believer?
Where did this hungry ghost master come from? ?

This was the first time he had come across this name.

Jiang Xinghuo clicked on the flashing red font, and the entry about the Lord of Hungry Ghosts popped up immediately.

"The Lord of the Hungry Ghost Realm, the Lord of six of the ten hells in the underworld, masters the legendary Law of Famine and Disaster. He is also the strongest person second only to the Lord of the Underworld. The completeness of the laws he masters has exceeded 50%."

"In the secular world, if the degree of completeness of the law exceeds 30%, one can become a Dao Master, and if it exceeds 50%, one can be called a 'Dao Lord', which means the master of a law. No one can surpass the Dao Lord in the corresponding law."

"The deity that just swallowed you is a follower of the Hungry Ghost Lord, the Skinny Jackal Ghost."

"According to the Old Customs and Strange Tales, the skinny jackal ghost has the ability to gather wealth and fortune. As long as you offer it three animals as sacrifice at home, it can ensure that the family's wealth will continue and blessings will be bestowed on nine generations."

"You triggered it, Kitchen God's Notes, Ugly."

"You have read the relevant records in the notes left by the Kitchen God. Although the skinny jackal ghost can gather wealth and fortune, it can also bring blessings to nine generations of descendants."

"But the price you pay is that your descendants will be extinct. You will enjoy wealth and glory for nine generations, but after nine generations, your descendants will be cut off and disappear from this world."

After reading the introduction about the Lord of Hungry Ghosts, Jiang Xinghuo had some guesses about this ancient house.

Perhaps the ancestors of the owner of this ancient house made their fortune by worshipping the skinny jackal ghost, which is why the ancient house has become what it is today.

He even suspected that the owner of this ancient house was the Taoist priest of that time, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why there were fragments of the traditional laws here.

Perhaps, the Taoist master is the last generation of this family. He used his own abilities to make some unknown changes to this ancient house, thus avoiding the curse of extinction of descendants after nine generations...

Of course, all of this is just speculation at the moment. Before finding definite evidence, Jiang Xinghuo dare not be sure whether his guess is true or false.

However, he had a hunch that the general direction of his guess should be correct, and at most there were some mistakes in the details.

"Do you want to activate the Fall Guy?"

"You have reawakened in the ancestral hall. Looking at the golden statue in front of you, what are you going to do next?"

There are two options, either pretend that nothing happened and accept the loss, or smash the statue and face off against the skinny jackal.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't think too much about it. He just knew one thing: he absolutely couldn't afford to lose this, so he chose the latter without hesitation.

"You took out the Dragon King's Taoist soldiers, smashed the golden statue on the altar, and started a fierce battle with the skinny jackal ghost."

"Although this skinny jackal is more powerful than you, your thunder magic and Dragon King's Dao soldiers are its natural nemesis. With the help of Black and White Impermanence, you will soon kill this skinny jackal."

"You have killed the skinny jackal."

"You have obtained, Incense +1000."

"You have obtained the body of the skinny jackal."

"Thin Jackal Ghost (rare), looks like a hungry jackal, a fierce ghost suffering from hunger in the six paths of hell in the underworld. It can't eat enough and is always hungry. It has low combat power, but has the ability to gather wealth. It is also one of the six evil ghosts in the underworld."

Ok?
Six evil spirits? ?
When Jiang Xinghuo saw this, his eyes suddenly lit up. Aren’t the remains of the six evil ghosts the necessary materials for casting the Six Paths of Reincarnation Dharma Image?
He originally wanted to explore the underworld to see if he could find this kind of material, but he didn't expect to find one of them by accident in this ancient house.

"Do you want to pat the body of the skinny jackal?"

"You chose to touch the corpse, and you gained something."

"You have obtained a box of hungry ghost insect eggs, a hungry ghost three-pronged fork, an admission card to the Six Paths of Hell, and a fragment of a map of the Six Paths of Hell."

"Hungry ghost worm eggs (common material). Although the hungry ghost worm eggs that have lost their vitality can no longer make people overeat and turn into living hungry ghosts, the remaining eggs can be used as the material for refining appetizer pills, which have the magical effect of increasing appetite."

Such a strong taste!!

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the description in the text and thought that if anyone knew that the appetite-stimulating pills were made from this thing, they would probably vomit up the overnight meal.

(End of this chapter)