With virtue

Zhao Yunshu remained calm and said, "No matter what, sister-in-law, we won't do anything. We just want to stay the night. We don't need to prepare any food or drink. How about it? Could you give us three rooms?"

Bai Qian seemed a little uncomfortable with these words, but she didn't say it aloud.

It's understandable that she'd feel uncomfortable; she'd never tried living with a young man and woman in the same room before. But she wasn't stupid. Talking about gender differences in this place at this moment would be too foolish. Besides, if they lived separately, no one might even claim their bodies if she died.

Only a fool would be alone in a room under such bizarre and illogical circumstances.

On the other side, after Zhao Yunshu finished speaking, the woman quickly agreed, then opened the door and let them go to the side room.

This small courtyard has three rooms, all of which are earthen houses: one main room and two side rooms. There is a small courtyard in front of the door, which is surrounded by a wall and a gate. Although it looks ordinary, it is small but complete, with everything a courtyard should have.

The woman went out, and although she looked a little tired, she still hurriedly tidied up the room.

Zhao Yunshu stopped her, saying, "Sister-in-law, you're not feeling well, so you don't need to do all this. Just open the door for us, and then go and get some rest."

The woman nodded repeatedly and went out.

After the other party left, Zhao Yunshu found a place to stick the torch in the fire, freeing his hands to let the surrounding environment have some light, and then he looked around.

It's just an ordinary mud house, nothing special.

There were no tables or chairs, and almost no furniture. The only thing was a mud pit made of mud and stones used as a bed, but it only had a few planks on it. It was clear that the tables and chairs in the main room were very precious furniture. There were none in the side rooms, but the side rooms still had windows and paper window curtains, and cloth curtains. The floors were also tamped down, and the walls were decorated with fish tails and dried flowers. Some ears of wheat were also placed next to the kang (heated brick bed). It was clear that they had tried their best to decorate the room, and it had a very homey feel.

Anything that can be made by hand or found in the wild can be used for decoration, but anything that requires money is out of the question.

"Everything looks normal; there must be people living here regularly," Bai Qian said.

"Some people live here permanently, but that doesn't mean they live here permanently. The real owner may not be anywhere," Zhao Yunshu said.

Bai Qian remained silent, and Yao Mei covered her ears to refuse to listen.

I can't listen, it's too scary.

As for sleeping, there's only one earthen bed. Squeezing in shouldn't be a problem. As for bedding and cotton quilts, there's nothing we can do. Zhao Yunshu can't possibly carry bedding with him when he goes out. We're all people of the martial arts world, so let's just make do.

But while they were still observing the area, there was another knock on the door.

dong dong dong.

Bai Qian immediately grabbed his sword.

Zhao Yunshu pressed her down, then got up from the earthen bed, looked towards the door, and asked, "Who is it? What's wrong?"

The voice of his wife came from outside: "It's me, I've come to deliver some things to the three of you!" Zhao Yunshu became alert, put his hand on the hilt of his sword behind his back, walked over, and gently pushed open the door.

Outside, there really was her original wife standing. She had just gone out and had only been gone a short while before returning.

After Zhao Yunshu opened the door, she came in. You could see that she had brought several bundles of dry grass from somewhere, and she neatly spread them on the earthen bed. She said with a smile, "The house is indeed a bit shabby, please make do with it."

"That was already very good, but thank you very much, sister-in-law." Zhao Yun breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded to express his gratitude, and took out a few copper coins, carefully handing them to her.

The woman was overjoyed and quickly took it, expressing her deepest gratitude and leaving with profuse thanks.

"It seems pretty normal now, there shouldn't be any problems, right?" Bai Qian looked much more relaxed. With so much of the everyday life around, plus the straw laid out, everything looked so normal.

The youngest sister looked much better. She lay down on the straw and waved her arms and legs around, saying, "Now I can finally get a good night's sleep!"

Seeing this, Zhao Yunshu just smiled and said, "Don't sleep yet, we still need to make some preparations. It's better to be prepared than not."

After speaking, the young Taoist priest took out another small bundle from his bundle. This bundle was wrapped in coarse cloth from top to bottom and then carefully tied with a rope to prevent it from being jostled or moved around.

This naturally includes his four-piece talisman-drawing set.

They took out a white jade inkstone, cinnabar, and a purple-tipped talisman brush.

Then he snapped his fingers lightly, and clear water appeared out of thin air in the white jade inkstone, a truly wondrous sight. His youngest sister exclaimed "Wow!" and Bai Qian's eyes widened in astonishment. Just moments ago, fire had appeared out of thin air, and now water had appeared out of nowhere…

Could this Taoist priest really be some kind of deity?

Zhao Yunshu ignored them and simply beckoned to his younger sister: "Come, help me grind some cinnabar."

The little girl responded and obediently got up from the earthen bed, moved to the other side, and began grinding cinnabar with an inkstone on the bed. Her little hands moved slowly, but she seemed to be grinding very seriously.

Bai Qianben was still sitting with his sword in his arms, preparing to rest, but when he saw Zhao Yunshu making such a show of force, he couldn't help but come over to see what was going on.

However, after glancing at the white jade inkstone and the purple-tipped talisman brush, her expression immediately changed, and her eyes revealed astonishment: "Purple-tipped brush, white jade inkstone, arrowhead sand! You Taoist priest... have you robbed the national treasury? Or are you some kind of nobleman?"

Zhao Yunshu ignored her.

Pshaw, you poor bastard!

Before long, the cinnabar in the inkstone had been ground into thick red ink. He picked up his brush, dipped it in the red ink, and walked to the door. There were two doorposts there, supporting the eaves and the door frame. He held his breath and focused his mind. The tip of his brush fell, and he began to draw runes.

He wrote talismans to ward off evil spirits, each stroke meticulously crafted.

The purple hairs have excellent elasticity, and the cinnabar is free of impurities, emitting a pure dark red color under the torchlight.

As Zhao Yunshu wrote, he said, "Although it seemed fine just now, this place is clearly not right. The place name is wrong, and the people may not even be human. In the current situation, we definitely can't go out at night. It's dangerous to go out rashly without knowing the direction at night." "So, since we're here, we might as well make the best of it, but we can't be without some precautions." As he spoke, in no time, he wrote a series of runes on the pillar that no one else could understand. They were bright red and made people feel a chill and get goosebumps.

Although Bai Qian prided himself on having roamed the martial world for many years and witnessed countless supernatural events, this was the first time he had ever seen someone draw a talisman. So he asked, "Are these few strokes really effective?"

Zhao Yunshu ignored her, switched to another pillar and continued writing: "I hope it won't work."

Bai Qian snorted, but still got up on his own initiative, picked up his sword, walked to the door, stood with his back to the house, and stood guard.

The youngest sister was still sitting on the kang grinding cinnabar, as quiet as a kitten. The torchlight was not bright, but dim, casting the shadows of the three people on the mud wall, flickering with their movements.

Zhao Yunshu wrote several lines of dragon and phoenix seal script on the wall with cinnabar.

The effects of cinnabar are self-evident. It is inherently a masculine substance and has the effect of returning energy. It is also the highest quality arrowhead cinnabar, which is best able to support talismans.

The characters themselves are not necessarily so; they resemble dragons in the clouds and phoenixes in the mist, spiraling and twisting. To the average person, they seem like crooked, illegible writing. But these are the characters of dragon and phoenix inscriptions, the characters of spiritual talismans, different from ordinary writing in the world, and can only be deciphered in the dark.

It is said that this book was created when heaven and earth were first created and yin and yang were first separated. The three elements, five virtues and eight energies of heaven and earth were generated. No one moved on their own, and the trajectory of their flight was the book of heaven, hence it is called the "heavenly book".

This trajectory was recorded by people and written in the Eight Dragons Cloud Seal, the Chapter of Bright Light. Previous people interpreted it into the text of many books, and the painting naturally flew into the mystery, forming a talisman in the void. The Taoist Ancestor obtained this book and bestowed divine talismans upon his disciples. It possessed pure Yang virtue and contained the ultimate principles of the Five Elements. From this, the lineage of "talismans" came into being.

At first glance, Zhao Yunshu's writings may seem incomprehensible, but those in the know can discern that they are prayers addressed to the gods.

This prayer cannot truly command deities to descend to earth, as the lesser Taoist priest's cultivation is limited and he doesn't have that much influence in the Heavenly Court. However, it can borrow a bit of celestial energy to protect the people inside from external evils. It's not a method of killing, but simply a prayer for peace, thus possessing a particularly powerful effect in defending against external evils. Go to Bing and search for "Deqi" to see the latest chapter!

After he finished writing, he felt it wasn't safe enough, so he took out the peach wood charm he had gotten from the sorceress.

The peachwood charms, hung on the door and imbued with the fragrance of incense for fifty or sixty years, had become ritual objects. Under the lamplight, the door gods depicted on them could be clearly seen.

He hung the peachwood charms neatly in the center of the gate, which complemented the cinnabar charms on the pillars.

The youngest sister, watching from the side, whispered, "Master Daoist, will this really keep out the ghosts outside?"

Zhao Yunshu replied, "It's better to be prepared. No talisman is invincible, but it's definitely better than having none."

He then went to the window and continued to write and draw.

However, the door gods cannot be used by the window.

This is mainly because the spells used are different depending on the location of the house. For example, the cinnabar beam talisman is useless if you stick it on the door; it must be stuck on the main beam of the house.

The matter of houses and dwellings is profound and unpredictable. There are different types of houses, such as family, courtyard, hall, room, house, dwelling, mansion, residence, palace, and imperial palace. Each type has its own distinct characteristics and corresponding structure, and thus its effects are also different.

Columns, beams, brackets, corbels, caissons, door knockers, platform railings, railings, roof tiles, eaves, and roof panels—each place carries different things and has different symbolic meanings.

So, everyone has heard of door gods, but no one has heard of window gods, right? However, because these things are classified in too much detail, their effects are not obvious in many places. Therefore, in houses, they are often divided into five sacrifices and six gods.

The *Baihu Tong* states: "What are the Five Sacrifices? They refer to the gate, door, well, stove, and central hall. Why are they sacrificed to? Because these are the places where people live, enter, exit, and eat; therefore, they are worshipped as gods." How do we know that the Five Sacrifices refer to the gate, door, well, stove, and central hall?

The Monthly Ordinances states: "They worship the door." It also states: "They worship the stove." "They worship the central hall." "They worship the gate." "They worship the well."

The Lunheng explains it even more clearly: "Doors and gates are where people enter and exit; wells and stoves are where people want to eat; and central halls are where people entrust themselves. These five things have equal function, so they are all worshipped."

Among these, the most famous are naturally the door gods, who each have their own set of special spells.

This cannot be used on windows.

Many self-taught practitioners, although they have some level of cultivation, often fail to master it and even bring trouble upon themselves because they cannot distinguish the many intricacies. They understand some things, but only a little.

Zhao Yunshu was different; the old Taoist priest taught him a very systematic approach.

If talismans and writing are hung on the door, the corresponding way to decorate the window is with paper-cut window decorations.

Ultimately, this kind of thing belongs to the category of incantations, so I have actually studied it, but my level is limited.

But then the young Taoist priest used a sword as a knife, took out yellow paper, dyed it red with cinnabar, and then began to cut paper.

The paper-cut he made was a tiger. To say his skill was limited would be an understatement; after he finished, the tiger was clearly distorted.

It's called a tiger, but it actually has a round head, short and thick limbs, no neck, a tail held high, and a few crooked sharp teeth in its mouth. It doesn't look like a tiger at all; instead, it looks like a big, snarling dog.

Bai Qian, standing to the side, asked in confusion, "What is this?"

"A fierce tiger," Zhao Yunshu said earnestly.

Bai Qian couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Hahahaha! That's too rough, my goodness! What tiger? I think you're just your watchdog!"

Zhao Yunshu's face flushed, and she forcefully retorted, "The heart knows the spirit; even if I'm ugly, I'm still a fierce tiger. Otherwise, why don't you try it yourself?"

Bai Qian drew his sword, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "I'll do it! Let me teach you what 'tiger-cutting' means."

She stepped forward, concentrated for a moment, and began cutting.

Strangely enough, Bai Qian, who seemed carefree, was quite agile at this moment. She first laid the paper flat on the table and began to fold it according to the pattern. Then, she drew the outline of the paper-cutting in one go. In no time, the outline of the paper-cutting was completed.

Then, following the drawn lines, he made a series of quick cuts and scissors, and with a flick of the paper, a fierce tiger descending a mountain leaped onto the window.

The tiger looked back with its head held high, its front paws on the ground and its hind legs slightly crouched. It looked very spirited, as if it was about to pounce down the mountain. Its eyes were wide open, and it was very lifelike.

Bai Qian sheathed his sword, then shoved the tiger paper-cut he had made into Zhao Yunshu's hand, clapped his hands, and said, "How is it? Does my work meet the Daoist's standards?" Zhao Yunshu stared at the tiger for a while, then looked at the dog he had cut out, and was speechless for a moment. He could only cough and say, "It's alright."

Bai Qian became smug and gestured with his chin towards his younger sister.

The youngest sister looked at Bai Qian, then at Zhao Yunshu, and whispered, "They're both beautiful, both are beautiful!"

Bai Qian laughed and ruffled her hair.

The three of them made a scene, which eased the tense atmosphere considerably.

Because of her young age, the little girl soon fell asleep leaning against Zhao Yunshu's arm.

Zhao Yunshu didn't call her, but simply pasted the tiger she had just cut out onto the window.

Then he and Bai Qian sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), with their sleeping younger sister in the middle.

In this situation, neither of them could sleep, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.