Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 698 Giving Up? Helpless

Fangting County is a lower-level county in Baiyi Prefecture. Most of the county is mountainous, and even the county seat is built between two mountains, making it narrow and small.

Beside the county town, there is a river with rapid currents that make a thunderous sound as it rushes by.

When Shang Lu arrived at Fangting County with Du Feng, Zhu Quan, and others, the people there were holding a river worship ceremony, praying for favorable weather and that there would be no floods or similar disasters.

Sacrifices are the work of shamans in the local area, so Shang Lu led the group forward on horseback, but they did not see Bai Lingxu.

The person presiding over the ritual was an unfamiliar old man. Although he had some magical energy fluctuations, they were weak and not pure, making him somewhat like a folk shaman.

Shang Lu and his group of unfamiliar "outsiders" also attracted the attention of the sacrificial party.

Soon a man dressed as a constable came up and stopped them, asking, "Who are you? What brings you here?"

Shang Lu's main practice was Nuo shamanism, so he naturally knew that there were many rules and regulations during the sacrifice. These people were afraid that they would not understand the rules, violate the ritual, and ruin the important sacrificial ceremony.

Du Feng was about to introduce himself when Shang Lu stopped him with a gesture of respect. He smiled and bowed to the constables, asking, "We are just passersby who stopped to observe your river-worship ceremony. Is the shaman presiding over the ceremony your local priest? He has an air of otherworldly wisdom and is truly admirable."

Under the influence of his silver tongue and the charm of the beast, the constable had a very good impression of Shang Lu. Although Shang Lu did not answer his question, he was not angry at all, but instead answered Shang Lu's question:

"Old Sun isn't a local shaman in our county; he's just a village shaman, but he's quite capable and has helped solve many strange problems in the surrounding villages. He's very respected here."

Shang Lu deliberately provoked, "Then I don't understand. Shouldn't the shaman be responsible for sacrificial rites? Even if the village shaman is very prestigious, it's not in accordance with the rules, is it?"

The constable sighed and said resentfully, "That's the truth, but who can blame us for the new shaman who comes to Fangting County? He just gets drunk every day and doesn't care about anything else. Take today's river sacrifice, for example. He was supposed to be in charge, but he was too drunk to wake up. The magistrate had no choice but to invite Old Sun to preside over the ceremony, hoping that the river god wouldn't blame him and bring disaster."

Shang Lu frowned inwardly, not expecting Bai Lingxu to be so severely affected, to the point of becoming despondent and giving up on himself.

It seems his situation is more than just a decline in cultivation and having his breakthrough materials stolen.

He sighed inwardly, but outwardly, Shang Lu put on an expression of indignation and empathy, gritting his teeth as he said, "Such a thing has happened? Where is that shaman? In the shaman's temple?"

“You think too highly of him. Since he came to Fangting County, he has hardly spent any time in the witch temple. He spends most of his time in brothels and taverns.”

The constable snorted again, cursed in the local dialect, and continued, "I heard this new shaman is from our Fangting County, but I never expected him to be like this. He's truly a disgrace to us."

After Shang Lu figured out where Bai Lingxu was, he didn't stay there for long. He led everyone around the sacrificial site and into Fangting County.

When entering the city, Shang Lu did not show his newly issued witch token, but instead produced a fake merchant's certificate.

This certificate was issued when we supported the Bureau of Corruption, to facilitate investigations while concealing our identities. Therefore, although the certificate itself is fake, the signatures and seals on it are genuine.

Although the constable said that Bai Lingxu was not at the Witch Temple, Shang Lu still went to the Witch Temple first after entering the city.

As expected, Bai Lingxu was not found here.

The people inside the temple were also lazy and slacking off because the shaman was not there. A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the offering table, and no one was wiping it off.

Like other shamanic temples in Baiyi County, this temple primarily worships Houtu Niangniang (Goddess of the Earth). In addition, it houses several local deities, including the mountain god and river god.

Shang Lu offered incense to them one by one, and at the same time released paper figures to search for Bai Lingxu's whereabouts and see which brothel or tavern he was in.

Soon, the paper figure made a discovery and returned to report to Shang Lu.

"Drunken Flower Pavilion? Senior Brother Bai certainly knows how to have fun..." Shang Lu clicked his tongue, then sneered coldly, "As a cultivator, to be so unambitious and instead linger in brothels in a life of debauchery is a disgrace to our generation. I should go and properly criticize him and bring him back on the right track!"

After saying that, Shang Lu turned and left the Houtu Hall.

Horses were not allowed to run in the county town, so Shang Lu left Tu Bi and a few others at the witch temple to look after the horses, and only took Du Feng and Zhu Quan on foot.

Black Cloud also wanted to join in the fun, but Shang Lu tapped it on the head, telling it to stay obediently in the Witch Temple.

Little Black Fox followed closely behind Shang Lu, not forgetting to turn around and wink at Black Cloud in a provocative manner, as if to say, "Brother only took me, not you. It seems that brother still cares more about me."

Hei Yun tossed his head, let out a heavy snort, and really wanted to raise his horse's leg and trample this sly fox to death.

Actually, the little black fox did this not to compete for favor, but simply to tease Black Cloud. Seeing Black Cloud angry made it happy and fun.

Shanglu saw all of this clearly, but simply couldn't be bothered to pay attention.

Soon, Shang Lu, Du Feng, Zhu Quan, and a few others arrived at Zuihualou.

As soon as they reached the door, someone eagerly greeted them. However, before they could speak, Shang Lu said, "We are here to find someone. Where is the newly arrived shaman?"

"Sir, we at Zuihualou have a rule that we cannot disclose our guests' information."

The servant, whose appearance was as delicate as a woman's, looked troubled and hesitated to speak.

"It's okay if you don't tell me. I know where he is. Go find him yourself."

A paper figure had already entered the Drunken Flower Pavilion, floating ahead to lead the way. Shang Lu immediately followed. The servant hurriedly tried to stop him, but found that he couldn't move at all, as if there was an invisible wall blocking him.

The servant tried to call out, but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.

Just as he was feeling panicked, a gentle voice rang in his ears: "Don't be nervous, I am an old friend of his, here to catch up with him."

The voice possessed an indescribable magic, not only calming the servant down but also leaving him standing frozen at the door until someone noticed him, patted him on the shoulder, and asked, "What are you daydreaming about? Trying to slack off?"

The servant then came to his senses, but had forgotten everything that had just happened. He scratched his head and muttered, "Why did I suddenly space out? That's really strange!"

At this moment, Shang Lu, along with Du Feng and Zhu Quan, had already found the guest room where Bai Lingxu was staying.

He had expected some kind of indescribable scene in the guest room, but when Shang Lu pushed the door open, he found only a strong smell of alcohol inside, and Bai Lingxu lying on the floor fast asleep.

Some of the imagined restricted scenes simply don't exist.

Shang Lu was somewhat disappointed, thinking to himself, "Just to drown your sorrows? Why come all the way here? I thought you came here to cultivate the Yin-Yang Cantong Qi."

Upon entering the house and closing the door, Shang Lu first placed a paper figure on the door to seal it and prevent unauthorized entry. Then, he took out the remnant of the "Unspeakable" spirit and placed it inside to block eavesdropping. Only then did he approach and nudge Bai Lingxu, who was sprawled on the floor. Bai Lingxu was fast asleep, and Shang Lu tried several times to nudge him, but to no avail. Left with no other option, he put on his newly crafted Wuzhiqi Nuo mask, condensed the surrounding moisture into a stream of icy water, and poured it over Bai Lingxu.

"what--"

Bai Lingxu was instantly jolted awake by the cold, letting out a scream like a pig being slaughtered. He had just opened his eyes and was about to curse when he saw a person wearing a monkey-faced Nuo mask and surrounded by water vapor, which made him pause in surprise.

Immediately, he realized something, got up from the ground, sat up, and resignedly laughed, saying, "So you still won't let me go? Come on, give me a quick death."

"Senior Brother Bai, do you really want to die?" Shang Lu sneered, raised his hand and wiped his face, putting away the Wuzhiqi Nuo mask and revealing his true appearance.

"Junior Brother Shang?" Bai Lingxu was startled when he saw him, but instead of showing joy, he smiled bitterly: "It seems I'm already dead, otherwise how would I see Junior Brother Shang?" He then looked around: "My soul didn't go to the Netherworld? Hey, why don't I see my corpse?"

"Because you're not dead yet," Shang Lu said irritably.

"I'm not dead?" Bai Lingxu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Shang Lu: "Then you came to see me in a dream? Unfortunately, in my current state, I'm afraid I can't help you much... Wait, didn't you perish in body and soul? How can you still see me in a dream?"

"Who said my body and soul have perished?" Shang Lu asked.

Bai Lingxu subconsciously replied, "Back then, news came back from Xingshan that you and the others had died in battle. Senior Brother Lu Dao even asked a teacher in the Witchcraft Academy who was proficient in ghost witchcraft to perform a ritual to summon your souls, but he couldn't summon your spirits. That teacher said that you must have been completely annihilated, body and soul..."

At this point, his spirits lifted considerably, and he suddenly realized that the Shang Lu before him did not look like a wandering ghost at all; in fact, he exuded a strong yang energy.

After a moment of surprise, he asked in astonishment, "Junior Brother Shang, you're not dead?"

Shang Lu laughed, "Of course I'm not dead. What, you were hoping I'd die?"

"How could that be! I knew it! You were known for your great fortune, how could you suddenly die in Xingshan? Haha, good thing you didn't die, good thing you didn't die."

Bai Lingxu leaped up from the ground and patted Shang Lu hard, whether to vent his excitement or to confirm whether Shang Lu was a human or a ghost, it was unclear.

After the initial excitement, Bai Lingxu shivered and realized he was still soaking wet and disheveled. He quickly made a hand seal, and a strange rune appeared on his body. Then, a fiery red bird flew out from the rune, opened its beak and breathed on him, instantly evaporating the cold water on his body.

After putting away the firebird, Bai Lingxu clasped his hands in a fist salute to Shang Lu: "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Junior Brother Shang. What brings you here to look for me?"

Shang Lu replied, "When I returned to the Witchcraft Academy, I heard from my Uncle Lu Dao that you had requested to be transferred to another post and returned to your hometown to work as a shaman. I also heard about your situation, so I came to see you. I never expected that you would be so dejected."

Bai Lingxu sighed, walked to the table inside the room, pulled out a stool for Shang Lu to sit down, and then glanced at Du Feng and Zhu Quan, who were guarding the door like door gods.

Shang Lu said, "You should know these two, Senior Brother Bai. They are brothers who have followed me through thick and thin, and they are trustworthy."

Hearing this, Bai Lingxu nodded, withdrew his gaze, and sighed, "It's not that I want to be despondent, it's just that I have no other choice... Junior Brother Shang, don't ask any more questions, I won't tell you even if you do."

Shang Lu opened his spiritual eye and looked Bai Lingxu up and down, but he couldn't see anything wrong with him, which surprised him greatly.

"Could it be that I made a mistake?"

Just then, Third Sister appeared and circled around Bai Lingxu.

Bai Lingxu couldn't see Third Sister, but sighed, "Junior Brother Shang, I know you mean well, but given my current situation, my path of cultivation is already cut off. No matter how hard I try, I'll just be doing all the work for someone else..."

Just as he was lamenting, Third Sister seemed to have noticed something, raised her hand, and patted him several times.

Bai Lingxu, whose cultivation level had dropped drastically, was completely unaware of this.

Shang Lu, who had opened his spiritual eye, clearly saw that right after the Third Sister patted him, ripples appeared on Bai Lingxu's body.

Immediately afterwards, it was as if something was silently "broken," allowing Shang Lu's spiritual insight to see the true situation inside Bai Lingxu's body—three writhing black energies were entrenched in his upper, middle, and lower dantian.

These black wisps are not ordinary curses, but a powerful form of Gu curse.

They not only monitored Bai Lingxu's every word and action, but also continuously eroded Bai Lingxu's witch energy.

No wonder Bai Lingxu chose to give up and do nothing. With these curses around, no matter how hard he tries to cultivate, it will all be taken away by these curses.

The more he cultivated, the more powerful the Gu curse became.

The day the curse breaks free from his body will be Bai Lingxu's death day!

The person who "bought" Star Marrow, Earth Milk, and Thousand Family Millet from Bai Lingxu did not intend to kill him.

Instead, they want to squeeze every last bit of value out of him!
Moreover, by doing this, when Bai Lingxu dies, not only will no one care about a shaman in a county town, but no one will connect the death of this lowly shaman with those high-ranking figures.

What a good plan!

Shang Lu remained calm and composed, activating the [Strike at the Void] skill while simultaneously casting several Confucian mantras on himself, such as "Insight into the Problem" and "Perception of Everything".

With the aid of military tactics and Confucian teachings, Shang Lu's spiritual insight became increasingly detailed. He not only locked onto the three Gu curses but also took in their movement patterns and other details.

Bai Lingxu was unaware of all this. He rambled on, but Shang Lu just stared at him intently without saying a word. Bai Lingxu was surprised and quickly asked, "Junior Brother Shang, what's wrong with you...?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shang Lu suddenly opened his mouth and exhaled a breath.

This energy was extremely violent, like a sharp sword aura, emitting a piercing shriek as it hurtled straight towards Bai Lingxu.

Bai Lingxu immediately felt a sharp pain all over his body, as if he would be cut down by this sword energy at any moment!

He was horrified and couldn't understand why Shang Lu wanted to kill him.

It was too late to hide.

You can't stop it even if you try.

He could only watch helplessly as the sword energy split into three and pierced into his body...

(End of this chapter)