World Occult Usage Guide

Chapter 207 The Ritual Ends
The rainforest wind was so humid it was almost dripping with water. The Thunderbird carried Lin An over the lush, green forest and landed on a patch of dark, soft, muddy ground.

"Pfft!"

Upon arriving at their destination, Lin An leaped off the Thunderbird's back, nearly causing the little man in the bottle to sink into the swamp with his short legs.

Seeing this, the Thunderbird plucked a feather, tore it in half, and made it into shoes for him.

"Thank you, Brother Lei." Lin An stepped on the Thunderbird's smooth feathers, as if an airflow lifted his body, preventing him from sinking any further. "Is the little canine tooth right here?"

“Listen to the sound of the stream over there, Lin An.”

Lightning flashed from the Thunderbird's fingertips, like candles made from dark clouds, the flickering white light illuminating the world around Lin An: every tree, every shrub, and every blade of grass.

"Go find her."

"Brother Lei, aren't you coming along?"

“You have always had my blessing.” Thunderbird pointed to Lin An’s forehead, indicating the kiss from the sky. “Besides, unlike the tense guard of the tent, I don’t want to stop Little Fang from pursuing her desires.”

"what?"

Lin An was slightly taken aback. The Thunderbird gathered its strength in its wings and flew into the sky. Whether it was an illusion or not, he seemed to show a helpless and sentimental expression before leaving.

After a moment's thought, Lin An came to a conclusion.

Sister Rat didn't want to get too close to the four native gods. Thunderbird, as the leader of "Wakataka," couldn't side with any of them, so she hoped that Lin An would personally negotiate with another creator god, Coyote, to bring them closer together.

It seems that at least Brother Lei is willing to form an alliance with me.

As Lin An pondered this, he grasped the warm, harmless lightning bolt and took a step forward.

Along the flowing Amazon River, bright orange torches flickered, their halos reflecting rainbow colors in the mist and illuminating the lake's surface. Lin An caught a glimpse of a swarm of butterflies shimmering with blue-pink scales, their glittering powder sparkling like fireflies.

He could hear the cheerful sound of dew splashing into the river, and he took another step forward. Layers of banana trees, banyan trees, and groves of ferns made way for a small clearing.

The view suddenly opened up, and the moon hung in the sky.

Amidst the babbling of the water, Lin An faintly heard a sigh.

"anyone there?"

His question was met with a five-second silence, followed by a sudden gust of wind, like a leopard running wildly through the jungle, as someone emerged from the dense vegetation.

Although the newcomer was wearing a coyote mask, Lin An recognized her as Little Fang at a glance.

After all, when he first met her, Little Fang was just an ordinary human.

After more than a month apart, Little Canine Tooth was as strong and tall as I remembered, with thick gray-purple fur covering his arms. Only his abdomen still had human muscles, with clearly defined eight-pack abs painted with red and green paint.

Different colored feathers adorned her jet-black hair, which fluttered in the wind, resembling an intricately woven woolen blanket.

"Lin An?"

Her gaze was first drawn to the lightning of the Thunderbird, then shifted to the tiny figure in the bottle, now about half a meter long. After a moment's hesitation, she asked uncertainly.

"Who are you? Your voice sounds exactly like Lin An's."

Lin An cleared his throat and sang loudly.

"Two-legged creatures, muster your courage! My strength will become your strength, and you need this strength too. A beautiful nation will soon traverse the earth!"

His singing instantly ignited the passion in Little Fang's eyes, because it was the same song Lin An had sung during the sand painting ritual. She pounced over, then stopped in place, carefully lifting the little figure in the bottle with both hands, afraid of damaging him.

"Lin An, you're only this tall now?" Her tone carried a hint of heartache. "Could you be injured?"

"This form is called 'the man in the bottle,' and it's similar to the puppet and master relationship between us. The Lin An you saw is still alive and well."

After hearing Lin An's explanation, Little Fang felt relieved.

"How long are you planning to stay this time? Sigh, if I had known you were going to the carnival, I wouldn't have left so soon."

"Actually, I'm leaving in five minutes," Lin An replied. "I'm just here to gather some inspiration from the Thirteen Heavens and see how you're all doing."

"Why is our time together always so short? Lin An, you once danced at the sand painting ceremony. Does this mean that from now on, we will be like the sand painting, rarely together, only able to preserve a fleeting moment of beauty before the wind arrives?"

The little canine tooth bluntly expressed her dissatisfaction, paused, and then added.

“I love our tradition of illusion, but I don’t want you to be a fleeting illusion.”

"Don't worry, I'm a real person, not some VCR that Brother Lu plays every day." Lin An quickly reassured him, "Little Canine Tooth, believe me, it won't be long before I can truly sing and dance with you all."

Upon hearing this, Little Fang finally beamed with joy: "This way, we can keep talking to each other, right?"

"I'll keep talking until you're too lazy to bother with me anymore."

"So long." The little dog's bright, gleaming eyes almost shattered the coyote mask, turning into stars that fell upon Lin An. "You gave me new hope for the future. Unfortunately, today you are once again an unfathomable sand painting." She picked up Lin An and, illuminated by the lightning, walked step by step towards the Amazon River.

"Is this the end of the carnival?" With the countdown in its final stages, Lin Anpao said in rapid succession, "Your ceremony concludes by a river."

"Yes, we take off and discard our masks. Let the water carry everything away."

Little Canine Tooth removed the mask from her face, and Lin An finally saw her face.

The girl's features were wild, her skin was smooth and firm, almost bronze in color, and her eyes were large and beautiful. When she looked at Lin An, he couldn't help but think of the expression on a cat's face when it was hunting a sparrow.

Sensing his gaze, Little Canine Tooth smiled broadly, revealing his teeth.

"You should throw your mask into the water too."

Lin An removed the poison dart frog mask and, in sync with Little Fang, tossed it high into the air. They traced an arc, splashing water in the murky river.

"The mask of the Thirteen Heavens represents the medium between us and death, our ancestors, and the spiritual world. When we put on the mask, we are actually wearing what we call death on our faces."

Lin An watched thoughtfully as the mask was washed away by the river, while Little Fang stared at him intently and continued to explain.

"But by experiencing death, one can truly feel the finiteness of life and its certainty. At the end of the ritual, we throw the masks representing our ancestors into the water, sending death back to the spiritual world and bidding farewell to physical illness."

"It sounds like the people of Lower East Asia believe that death and life, good and evil, divinity and humanity are one, originating from two sides of the same sacred concept," Lin An said. "Is that what you mean, Little Canine Tooth?"

No, I mean, I hope you stay healthy and strong forever.

Little Canine Tooth tightened its arms, holding Lin An tightly in its embrace, its heart pounding in its chest as it spoke in a firm tone.

"Hold on to beautiful things, even if they are a handful of sand; hold on to the responsibilities you must bear, even if they are as heavy as a mountain; listen to my heartbeat, even if we are about to part."

The emotionally charged words deeply moved Lin An.

As the other three native gods said, even though the shape of the soul is determined the moment it is placed into the body, the personal experiences along the way have given Lin An the opportunity to continuously replenish, reshape, and fill it again.

"Thank you, Little Canine Tooth, you're such a warm-hearted person." Lin An patted her shoulder with satisfaction.

"So when can we meet?" Little Fang sensed the energy around Lin An gradually distorting and made no attempt to hide the disappointment in his voice. "I hope it won't be more than a month."

“Definitely,” Lin An said confidently. “In the meantime, you might as well go to a nearby supermarket and get a SIM card to video call me.”

"Will this make that red exclamation mark disappear?"

“Ask the tent keeper, she knows how to buy it,” Lin An laughed. “Speaking of which, apart from Brother Lu, all three of you can use Green Bubble now, so why don’t I just create a group chat?”

But I still prefer to see you in person!

Give me just a tiny bit more time.

Little Fang thought for a moment, then lifted Lin An up, and the two of them looked together at the vast and boundless beauty of the rainforest.

“You swear on these things,” she said. “You swear on your shadow, your eagle feathers, and your silence. You swear on the green mountains and the towering rocks that you will come back to me.”

"I……"

Before Lin An could finish saying "Of course I'm willing," in the lingering gaze of Little Canine Tooth, space shifted and stars moved, her face shattered before his eyes, turning into a dark and boundless void.

The witch's teleportation was activated, the six-pointed star magic circle flickered, and the smaller five-pointed star emitted a faint white light, guiding Lin An back to his original coordinates.

On the boat near the International Bridge, he opened his heavy eyelids and saw that the witch had fallen into a deep sleep. The other three people rushed over to him with concern when they saw that he had regained consciousness.

"Teacher, are you alright?" Joshua, who was closest, asked.

"Very healthy and strong."

Lin An stretched and finally returned to a normal human body, no longer having to experience the perspective of the little person in the bottle looking up.

The dry air of Dietrich filled his lungs, making him feel refreshed after breathing in the moisture of the rainforest.

"Exactly two hours." Anna glanced at her watch. "Lord Ghost, was your experiment a success?"

"It has exceeded my expectations countless times." Lin An's lips curled into a faint smile. "Perhaps it is true, as they say, that a single personal experience is far more valuable than tens of thousands of pale and empty words of preaching."

"Xiao Lin, you're finally back safe and sound." Zhou Qingqing breathed a long sigh of relief. "Then I'll go back to the restaurant to help out. It's almost time for the evening rush hour."

"Goodbye, senior sister."

"Bye-bye, Xiaolin, happy 22nd birthday again." Zhou Qingqing picked up the takeout box. "I'll bring you more delicious food next time."

Thank you to Jiang Daoxin, Cuttlefish Brings the Captain Back to Me, Mingwuming, Mingyue Ruying, and Book Friend 20200823065651411 for the monthly tickets, and thank you all for the recommendation tickets and subscriptions.

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(End of this chapter)