I discovered a world bug.

Stepping into that mass grave again, Lin Shu felt a sense of familiarity, as if she were "revisiting a familiar place."

Is this also an "instinct" after taking over the mantle from his master?

Gee...

I was assimilated so quickly...

Pushing aside the thick weeds, Lin Shu found a relatively flat patch of ground between the two graves.

To the left is a newly erected tombstone, and the ground seems to have been paved with cement—it's probably because, in the nearly 20 years since I last came here, the descendants of the tomb's owner suddenly remembered that they had an ancestor buried here, so they spent money to repair it.

This actually made things easier for Lin Shu—the weeds here weren't that tall, making them much easier to clear...

Taking out a clearing knife from her backpack, Lin Shu cleared away the surrounding grass and bushes.

But he left the surrounding weeds as a barrier—he certainly didn't want anyone passing by to see what he was about to do.

Lin Shu lit three incense sticks and respectfully placed them in the ground.

"Everyone, I'm just using this space for a moment, and I mean no offense whatsoever..."

"If you have any problems, go talk to a guy named Xu Changshun."

"He used to be in charge of your area, but he's been demoted now. He's probably gotten some kind of official position now, so asking him will definitely be helpful..."

Lin Shu muttered to herself as she took out all the tools she had prepared in advance.

The earthenware jar was placed on the ground, and a snake's shed skin was wrapped around it.

Seven copper coins are placed on top of the snake's molt, with the characters facing up.

Five cups of water and wine are placed in five different locations. A chicken is killed, and its blood is dripped into the cups.

This step took Lin Shu quite a bit of time.

How many people living in the city have actually killed a chicken?

The chicken doesn't die instantly after the first cut; it continues to struggle and flap its wings wildly...

Lin Shu finally managed to hold down the dying rooster and drip its blood into the wine.

He couldn't bear to see the chicken suffer any longer, so after drawing its blood, he simply snapped its neck...

After all that effort, Lin Shu was covered in sweat.

At this point, he had only completed the first stage of his preparations.

Next, we need to "invite the gods".

According to Xu Changshun's records, the step of invoking the gods seems to be optional.

He had tried both inviting the gods and not inviting them, but the final results were not much different.

However, just to be on the safe side, he still recommends adding this step.

This added a lot of difficulty for Lin Shu—in fact, it was a completely new ritual!

It can only be learned on the spot.

Lin Shu lit three more incense sticks, then faced north and bowed, requesting permission from the ancestral master Zhang Wulang.

"At twelve, I went to study the law; at thirty-six, I returned to my hometown... Zhang Wulang, who overturned altars and caves, I obey the urgent decree of the Supreme Lord Laozi!"

Next, they kowtowed to the three Meishan gods: the Upper Cave Meishan Fu King, the Middle Cave Meishan Li King, and the Lower Cave Meishan Zhao King.

We kowtow three times to invite the five directions and five routes of rampant soldiers and generals, a total of twenty-five rampant beings, to descend upon the altar to protect the Dharma.

After the invocation of the gods was completed, red marks had already appeared on Lin Shu's forehead.

According to the lineage of the Meishan Sect, Lin Shu now had Zhang Wulang, the Three Caves Meishan God, and the Five Wrathful Soldiers protecting him, so no wandering ghosts or spirits could harm him in the slightest.

And the subsequent rituals would then have an extra layer of protection.

After resting for a while, Lin Shu turned on her phone.

The screen displays a voice reply from linguistics blogger Lingfeng.

Of course, there were also a few questions that immediately drew eager responses.

"Where did you get so many documents? Is this some kind of spell?"

"Hey, take me with you! I can be your assistant!"

"Don't forget me if you make a big discovery! Even just a little something to go with it would be fine. I haven't updated in ages..."

Lin Shu simply replied, "Still researching, I'll definitely let you know if there's any news," and then opened Ling Feng's voice message.

The ancient and powerful incantation was uttered, and even Lingfeng's own light and ethereal voice seemed to be shrouded in a thick mist.

The incantation, spanning thousands of years, carried immense power that instantly shattered the eerie atmosphere of the mass grave.

"I obey the command of the Supreme Lord Laozi, and the seven stars of the Big Dipper shine brightly."

The snake has a physical body that returns to the earth, but its soul enters my bottle.

With a single stroke, I sever the path between life and death; the three souls and seven spirits obey my command.

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

Lin Shu followed Ling Feng's pronunciation and recited until she had completely memorized the pronunciation of every word.

Next, it's time to "slay the snake".

Lin Shu prepared the yellow paper, picked up the iron pliers to clamp the snake's head, and then switched the snake's head to her left hand.

He gripped the snake's head tightly, and the struggling snake's body coiled around his arm, the slippery sensation sending chills down his spine.

But there's no turning back now. At this point, he has no way to put the snake down except to "cut it off".

The obstacle-clearing knife sliced ​​through the snake at its seven-inch mark, instantly severing its body.

Lin Shu silently recited the "incantation" and dripped the snake blood onto the yellow paper.

A moment later, when the snake's head had completely lost its vitality and the snake's body had stopped struggling, he carefully placed the snake's head and body together into the earthenware jar.

Everything seemed to be going much more smoothly than expected.

Lin Shuzhong breathed a sigh of relief.

The hardest part is over. What follows is a long, tedious, but simple process.

So this ritual isn't actually that difficult to perform.

I just don't know if I'll be able to succeed this time.

Or is it that this ritual has a certain probability of failure and requires multiple attempts?

If that's the case, it probably won't be so easy for me to gather all the materials again and start over...

do not care.

Let's finish this first!

Lin Shu took out the syringe—he needed to draw out two hundred milliliters of his own blood and pour it into the ceramic jar.

This is by no means an easy task, but of course, it is much simpler than that of the "ancients" who did not have modern medical equipment.

After all, according to Xu Changshun's speculation, in order to obtain so much blood in ancient times, it was very likely that they would have to make a large incision on their arm to bleed it out.

Despite the stinging pain, Lin Shu inserted the needle into her vein.

He loosened the restraints, and blood instantly flowed out, gushing into the pre-prepared blood bag.

This step also went very smoothly—it was even a success on the first try.

Come to think of it, with such steady hands, why did I choose to become a Taoist priest instead of a doctor?

A series of somewhat absurd thoughts flashed through Lin Shu's mind, and gradually, the blood bag filled with blood.

He removed the needle, used a sterile cotton ball to stop the bleeding, and then poured all the blood into the earthenware jar.

Seal the jar!

Lin Shu took out a brush and, based on the picture left by Xu Changshun, copied the characters "雨" (rain), "渐" (gradually), and "耳" (ear) to form a talisman for calming fright on yellow paper.

He was merely copying, and in the process, he did not feel any of the so-called "spiritual infusion" effect.

But Xu Changshun also said that such "idealistic" perception is actually not important.

What matters is only the "form," only the "material" that carries this symbol.

Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any problems.

Lin Shu covered the mouth of the jar with a talisman, took out lard and mixed it with raw rice, then poured in a bowl of clean water and placed it in front of the jar.

Another stick of incense was lit, and the smoke rose gently into the air.

All I have to do now is wait.

The contract will be finalized 24 hours later; success or failure will be revealed then...