Fox Demon Crossing

As for the most important heritage of Maoshan, it has always been passed down orally and it is absolutely impossible to display it in the library for external display.

The library is quite large and looks like a three-story pagoda building.

An old man in Taoist robes was on duty. He did not stop Jin Renfeng, but just closed his eyes and rested.

Jin Renfeng bowed respectfully before ascending to the second floor.

Chapter 77: Leaving the mountain, the village is haunted

Going up to the second floor, what comes into view are rows of neatly arranged bookshelves.

There are a wide variety of books including "The Art of the Soul Leaving the Body", "The Tiangang Steps", "The Origin of All Laws", "The Art of Paper Cutting", "Finding Dragon Caves", "The Art of Controlling Spirits", "The Art of Driving Corpses", "The General Outline of Maoshan Magic Arrays", "The Collection of Shangqing Talismans", "The Art of Inviting Gods to Possess the Body", and "The Process of Opening the Altar and Performing Rituals". Most of the Taoist techniques of Maoshan can be found here.

However, his gaze did not stay here for too long, because in the past nine years, he had visited here many times, and most of the Taoist techniques on the second floor had been read by him until they were almost worn out. Even if he had not learned the specific content, he had already memorized it by heart.

The founder asked him to come here to choose a Taoist technique before going down the mountain. It would definitely not be the ordinary Taoist techniques on the second floor, but the forbidden secret techniques on the third floor.

In the past, whenever he wanted to go to the third floor to take a look, the old man guarding the library on the first floor would always appear behind him at the right time. He would not only beat him with a stick, but once he even hung him on a nearby tree for two whole days, leaving him to the wind and sun.

But this time, when he stepped onto the stairs leading to the third floor, Jin Renfeng suddenly turned around, only to find that the old man was not there, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Look, it has already caused psychological trauma.

At the door on the first floor, the old man's eyelids trembled slightly, but he did not open his eyes in the end.

It's rare to be ignorant for once, so just pretend you don't know.

After all, the ancestor has already given the order.

Feeling both nervous and curious, Jin Renfeng finally arrived at the mysterious third floor.

However, the sight before him left him dumbfounded—the empty bookshelf had only a single book on it.

He certainly wasn't naive enough to think that there was only one book of Maoshan's forbidden secrets. It was obvious that all this had been planned in advance. The so-called letting him make a choice actually meant that only one book was reserved for him.

Well, it turns out he didn't have a choice at all.

The Five Ghosts Moving Technique

This is not the "Five Ghosts Bring Wealth" but the "Five Ghosts Move Things". Although the two are only two characters apart, their meanings are actually very different. No matter which one it is, it is regarded as an evil technique in Maoshan.

In Maoshan, raising ghosts has always been a forbidden act.

The so-called ghost is essentially a soul, and it is a soul whose reason is blinded by hatred.

After a person dies, the resentment in his heart will turn into a ghost.

Raising ghosts will reduce your good deeds.

It would be fine if the ghost wanted to stay voluntarily, but if one uses the soul-binding technique to forcibly keep the ghost, the loss of good karma would drop rapidly.

The Five Ghosts Moving Technique

By raising five ghost soldiers, one can travel a thousand miles at night; by raising five ghost generals, one can travel ten thousand miles at night. It is undoubtedly the best tool for traveling (escaping).

Jin Renfeng did not feel too disappointed. He turned the page of the book and began to read. Only after he was sure that he had memorized all the contents did he leave the third floor and return to the first floor.

"Old man, I'm going down the mountain." Jin Renfeng said to himself, "If I want to drink in the future, I can ask the disciples who go down the mountain every month to buy things. Don't forget to give them some tips. Although you are of a high generation in Maoshan, you should always give some benefits to people who help you do things. Don't be so stingy. Watch out for them peeing in your wine..."

The old man, who originally felt a little reluctant, became more and more gloomy as he listened.

"Okay, I'm leaving."

"and many more!"

Suddenly, the old man called him and said, "The things on the table are left for you."

Jin Renfeng touched his head and said in surprise: "Old man, you have finally figured it out today. Let me see what it is."

On the table in front of the old man, there was only a gourd magic weapon covered with runes.

"There are five ghost soldiers inside. Remember to release them to the underworld on the fifteenth day of the seventh month thirty-four years from now."

"Thank you, old man!"

Jin Renfeng showed a delighted expression on his face. He was originally worrying about where to find five ghosts willing to join him after going down the mountain, but he never expected that the old man would give him an unexpected surprise.

"What a pity, he's not a ghost general."

The old man's face turned pale in an instant, and he was filled with rage, but he suppressed it.

I am such a decent and serious person. Every time I see this guy, I want to beat him up.

This kid thought the ghost general could be caught so easily.

Ghost generals and ghost soldiers do not refer to the realm of ghosts, but to their professional identities during their lifetime.

Generally speaking, ghost soldiers are more powerful than ordinary ghosts because they were contaminated by the evil spirits of the battlefield during their lifetime. If they have never killed the enemy with their own hands, they cannot be called ghost soldiers at all.

The strength of the ghost general is even better than that of the ghost soldiers.

Those generals who once commanded a region during their lifetime turned into ghosts after their death. Their power was even more terrifying. When the ghost soldiers passed through the border, even many powerful Taoists were unwilling to encounter them easily.

Standing at the foot of Mount Mao.

Carrying a small bag, Jin Renfeng decided to go find his master Taoist Qianhe first.

Nine years have passed, and even greater changes have taken place in the outside world.

I heard that the Qing Dynasty is about to perish.

Today, it has long been in name only, and the Republic of China era is about to come.

Although he had not left Maoshan in the past nine years, he still learned a lot of news. In a letter a few years ago, his master, Taoist Qianhe, had already noticed the signs of the Qing Dynasty's demise, and the situation in the capital had become extremely chaotic, so he had no choice but to leave with his disciples.

They settled down in Wangjia Town and opened an almshouse to maintain peace in the area.

Near noon, in a small village.

Jin Renfeng took a bite of the dry and hard bread and walked into the village. He found that every household had a yellow talisman pasted on the door. He stood at the door of a house and carefully examined the yellow talisman on the door.

It feels awkward no matter how I look at it.

This yellow talisman looks like an talisman for exorcising evil spirits, but it is not drawn coherently and does not appear to be a work completed in one go. It lacks a sacred aura and there are obvious mistakes in several places.

Such a spell is useless.

It’s too small even for wiping your butt.

It seems that the villagers have encountered a swindler.

"Uncle, what are you doing?"

Inside the house, a little girl with two braids was leaning against the window and looking out at him curiously.

Jin Renfeng smiled and asked, "Little boy, where are your parents?"

The little girl answered fearlessly: "My father was called away early in the morning, and my mother is busy planting vegetables in the backyard. Uncle, are you from another place?"

"Who are you talking to, you idiot?"

"Mom, there's an uncle I don't know at the door."

"Huh? Who is it?"

At this time, a plump woman in washed-out white cloth came out. Seeing Jin Renfeng dressed as a Taoist priest, she asked cautiously, "Master Taoist priest, what do you want from us?"

Jin Renfeng's accent was instantly distorted: "Don't be afraid, sister-in-law, I'm not, ahem, I'm a wandering Taoist priest passing by. I saw that there are yellow talismans posted on the doors of each of your houses, so I wanted to ask what happened?"

He scratched his nose, as he always did when he felt embarrassed.

"My family doesn't have money to offer incense."

"Well, I am a Taoist priest, not a begging monk..."

"Really?"

"real."

"What do you want to ask? Feel free to ask, but my husband is not at home, so it's not convenient for you to come in."

Jin Renfeng was silent, feeling that his accent had been distorted.

"Sister-in-law, why do you have to put yellow talismans on the doors in your village?"

"Is there any need to ask? Of course it's to prevent ghosts."

"Is the village haunted?"

"Yes, it has been several days. Everyone is too scared to go out at night."

"These yellow talismans were made by a master that our village chief invited from the city. The master was a really nice guy. He only charged us three copper coins for each yellow talisman."

Jin Renfeng was speechless. It was clearly like spending three copper coins to buy a piece of waste paper.

"So after you bought the yellow talisman, the ghosts stopped haunting you?"

"Not really. The master said that the ghost is very fierce. This yellow talisman can only resist it for a while. If it enters your house, you can only consider yourself unlucky. Let me tell you, it broke into Ma Si's house yesterday, and it is said that the whole family died miserably!"

Jin Renfeng asked again: "Since you have invited the master, why hasn't the master helped you solve the problem yet?"

"How can you say it's not solved? My husband went over to help early this morning. The master said that as long as the remains of the female ghost are burned at noon today, the female ghost will be burned to death."

"Can burning a ghost's body kill it?" Jin Renfeng muttered in a low voice. Of course, this is impossible. At most, it can only make the ghost lose its place to live. However, if it has just become a ghost and still has a certain dependence on the body, burning the body can weaken the ghost's power, but it is only limited to newborn ghosts.

In general, burning a corpse does not actually kill a ghost, but it does prevent the corpse from mutating.

"Sister-in-law, can you tell me how that female ghost appeared?"

My sister-in-law's eyes became alert and she was obviously unwilling to talk more.

Seeing this, Jin Renfeng took out four copper coins from his pocket, which made the other party's eyes light up. Although it was not much, these four copper coins were enough to buy a pound of rice. No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat.

The other party took the coin calmly, and then slowly recounted what had happened.

It turned out that this incident happened seven days ago... The newlywed wife of the village chief's son died, and since that day, a female ghost has appeared in the village.

Jin Renfeng thought: "The female ghost is the bride?"

"That's right. Half a month ago, the village chief's family held a wedding banquet, and I took my little daughter to the banquet. When I saw the bride, she was very fair, with no calluses on her hands, and her skin was so soft that it was soft as water. I could tell at a glance that she was a daughter of a wealthy family from the city."

"I also heard..."

Just when Jin Renfeng was listening intently, the other party stopped talking and glanced at his pocket from time to time. The meaning was very clear - if he wanted to continue listening, he had to pay.

"..."

After receiving the money, the eldest sister-in-law continued to talk contentedly: "I heard that the new bride hanged herself in her room. She was still wearing a bright red wedding dress, her tongue was sticking out very long, and blood was oozing from all her orifices. The village head's wife was so scared that she was stunned."

"I am not taking your money for nothing. Let me tell you one more thing. The night before the new bride hanged herself, someone heard quarrels and the sound of things being smashed coming from the village chief's house. The neighbors all heard it and said that the new bride was not faithful to her husband..."

After bidding farewell to the sister-in-law with a heavy accent, Jin Renfeng had a general understanding of the situation in the village. According to the existing clues, the cause of the incident was not surprisingly related to the quarrel that occurred in the village chief's house the night before the bride hanged herself.

So the next day, the bride committed suicide.

She hanged herself in her wedding dress shortly after her wedding. How deep must the resentment contained in this?

What was supposed to be a happy occasion has now turned into a funeral.