The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 142, Volume 2 of the Dharma Scroll, and the Arrival of "The Unleashed Ghost"

A chilling aura traveled along his palm into Li Zhen's primordial spirit, causing him to stiffen.

After unleashing his powerful primordial spirit, Li Zhen suppressed the chill and instead slowly pulled the other's corpse out of the ground.

He noticed that the iron chains on the ground were being pulled upwards little by little along with the corpse.

After most of the corpse was pulled out, Li Zhen realized that the iron chain was bound to the corpse, seemingly to suppress it.

The specifications of this iron chain are different from those of the iron chain binding the corpse of the blue-faced ghost, and the talismans engraved on it are also different in degree of corrosion, so it should not have been brought in by the people of Changshan.

Not long after, Li Zhen pulled a complete skeleton, bound by iron chains, out of the ground.

After throwing the skeleton to the ground, Li Zhen pulled his "hand" out of the skeleton's hand and frowned as he looked at the skeleton.

The skeleton's arms, head, and most of its body had undergone abnormal changes, but the remaining half of its body and legs remained unchanged, just like an ordinary corpse.

The Yin energy of the entire structure converged in the pit where the corpse was dug out. Logically, it should have been absorbed by the corpse, but Li Zhen saw that the corpse did not absorb the Yin energy.

Like the Blue-Faced Demon, did he fail at corpse dissolution?
What the Wunu woman had always feared was that skeleton?
Li Zhen carefully examined the skeleton from top to bottom and found that, apart from some abnormalities in certain parts, the skeleton did indeed lack vitality.

With such a favorable feng shui layout, hundreds of years were spent, and countless schemes were expended, yet in the end, all that remained was a skeleton.
Li Zhen felt a little lost.

The meaning of the word "仙" (xian, meaning immortal) is indeed extraordinary; trying to be associated with it is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

After circling the corpse, Li Zhen removed one of the mutated fingers from the body, intending to take it back for further study.

The mutated corpses became very brittle, and it wasn't difficult to remove a piece.

The remaining remains were reburied underground by Li Zhen, and the soil was refilled and buried.

As Li Zhen buried the head of the corpse, he suddenly paused.

He saw some small words on the back of the corpse's head.

That is... a plate made of heaven and earth?
The literal meaning seems easy, but it's not easy to understand.

There is no disagreement about the meaning of "天地" (heaven and earth).

How should we understand “盘”?

checkerboard?

Or some other disk?

If we interpret these words as "chessboard", then they mean "the world is a chessboard".
This aligns with a feng shui master's understanding of heaven and earth.

What surprised Li Zhen was not the meaning of these words, but who carved them here.

Is it Wu Qiyuan from Changshan?
Wu Qiyuan has been here.

He is skilled in divination and is very likely to say such things.

The problem is that the yin energy in the pit under the five-colored stone did not leak out until Li Zhen arrived.

In other words, no one had dug this hole before Li Zhen.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Wu Qiyuan did this.

This was clearly not carved before the person was buried.

So, before or after Wu Qiyuan entered this place, someone came here and carved words on the skull without revealing the yin energy of the burial pit?
That's possible, but it doesn't seem very likely.

Besides this possibility, we cannot rule out the possibility that the owner of the burial pit carved these words on the remains himself.

There are many secrets here...

Li Zhen's entry went very smoothly, but he remained highly vigilant throughout.

The fact that the Wu woman was so wary of this place shows that it's not a simple place.

She didn't dare to come herself, yet she was willing to provide Li Zhen with a map, clearly intending to lead him here to take a look.

Putting the problem aside for the time being, and remembering those four words, Li Zhen buried the remains back in the pit.

Returning to the corpse of the green-faced ghost, Li Zhen picked up the jade talisman that had fallen from the corpse's mouth.

A special aura entered Li Zhen's primordial spirit from the jade talisman, making Li Zhen feel very comfortable.

Although he didn't know the name of the jade talisman, Li Zhen knew that its function was definitely to nourish corpses.

It can be placed under the coffin to make him more comfortable to sleep, or it can be thrown to a vampire to be used for raising corpses.

Li Zhen picked up the bronze mirror from the ground.

Upon seeing the five mountain-shaped carvings on the back of the mirror, a name immediately came to Li Zhen's mind—the Five Mountains True Form Corpse-Nourishing Mirror.

Fragmented images flashed through Li Zhen's mind, telling him that this thing was also used to raise corpses.

With such wonderful things, if the Green-Faced Ghost hadn't been so obsessed with corpse dissolution and had been buried in such a feng shui treasure land, he probably would have turned into a terrifying zombie long ago.

Carrying a jade talisman, a bronze mirror, and a nearly transparent finger bone, Li Zhen hurried outside.

He came without bringing anything, only using his primordial spirit to enter, so it was naturally very fast.

When he left, he brought something tangible with him, so he couldn't pass through the wall directly. He could only move forward along the exit, which was much slower than when he came in.

Fortunately, Wu Qiyuan had already broken the "momentum" here once, and although it took some time, Li Zhen still managed to break out of the burial ground.

Emerging from the water, Li Zhen saw a full moon that had appeared in the sky at some unknown time, its pale light casting a silver veil over Yandang Mountain.

Back inside his body, Li Zhen opened his eyes and looked at the three things he had brought back.

The three objects reflected an eerie light under the moonlight, looking somewhat mysterious.

"What is this?"

The little ghost and the mahjong ghost, who had been guarding the side, revealed themselves and looked at the jade talisman and bronze mirror with curiosity and a hint of greed in their eyes.

Both ghosts were wary when they looked at that finger bone, and didn't even dare to get close.

The cat, held in the devil's arms, squirmed uncomfortably and was then vigorously rubbed by the devil.

The ghost fetus poked its head out from the vampire's body, curiously peering at the three things on the ground, but not daring to approach the finger bone.

Even the slowest-witted vampires were showing signs of agitation.

The jade talisman and the Five Sacred Mountains True Form Corpse-Nourishing Mirror are indeed top-tier corpse-nourishing items...

Li Zhen stood up and picked up the jade talisman from the ground.

The little devil suddenly said, "Can I borrow this thing to play with for a while?"

After saying that, he immediately added, "Just for a little while!"

Li Zhen tossed the jade talisman to the little devil.

The delighted little imp hurriedly caught the jade talisman and examined it with great joy.

The cat, which had been thrown to the ground, seemed to have forgotten how to run away, and looked up at the jade talisman.

The Mahjong Ghost also looked at the jade talisman in the little ghost's hand.

It raised its head and inhaled deeply.

A faint aura of yin energy emanated from the jade talisman and was absorbed into the body of the mahjong ghost.

Seeing that Li Zhen didn't speak, the little ghost also absorbed a trace of yin energy from the jade talisman.

Is this thing even useful?

Detective Li was a little surprised.

The yin energy in this jade talisman was extremely concentrated. The mahjong ghost and the little ghost only absorbed a negligible amount, which did not cause any obvious changes to the jade talisman. Therefore, Li Zhen did not stop the two ghosts from acting.

After carefully putting away the bronze mirror and the finger bone, Li Zhen walked back the way he came.

The little ghost and the mahjong ghost returned to the vampire's body, satisfied, with the jade talisman.

The demon fetus extended a tentacle to join the fun.

As he walked along a secluded path, he suddenly heard someone call out behind him, "Friend, where is this place? I...I'm lost, I can't find my way home..."

"Come here." Li Zhen waved his hand behind him.

The voice behind him sounded surprised: "You know where this is? You know where my home is?"

"I've been lost for several days and can't find my way back. I've seen a lot of people, but no one pays any attention to me. This world...sigh."

Li Zhen said, "The world hasn't changed; perhaps they just haven't seen you."

"Is that so? No wonder no one answered me no matter how much I called out."

A young man in overalls caught up with Li Zhen, glanced curiously at the vampire, and exclaimed in surprise, "I don't know why, but I feel a bit cold, the chilly kind... Is he feeling the same way?"

He then looked at Li Zhen and was startled by Li Zhen's pale face, and dared not stay by Li Zhen's side any longer.

"Don't you want to go home?" Li Zhen kept walking.

The young man hesitated for a moment, but managed to overcome his fear and walked forward.

He dared not approach Li Zhen, keeping a few steps away from him, and followed behind him tremblingly.

"I...I'm a little scared, especially so late at night..."

The young man wanted to explain, but as he spoke, he didn't know what to say next.

Li Zhen didn't say anything.

When they arrived at the intersection, Li Zhen glanced around.

The three people had already left, taking the rooster and all the props with them, leaving only a pile of ashes from the burning paper money.

The young man said with some fear, "There's blood on the ground? Is this unburned paper money? Seeing this at night is really scary..."

Li Zhen pointed to the scattered white rice on the road directly in front of him and said to the young man, "See the rice on the ground? Follow the rice, and you'll be able to go home."

"Remember, before you get home, no matter what happens or what sounds you hear, don't pay attention to them, otherwise you won't be able to get home."

The young man quickly walked along the white rice on the ground.

After walking a few meters away, he turned back to Li Zhen and boldly asked, "Could you leave me your phone number?"

Li Zhen silently walked down another road.

The young man quickly called out, "What's your name?"

"Detective Li."

Are you from Shanxian County?

"No."

"Then how do I find you?"

As Li Zhen's figure disappeared behind a grove of trees, the young man whispered, "He's a good person..."

Feeling a bit cold, he hugged his arms and walked forward along the white rice on the ground.

Although the white rice along the road was intermittent, it could always be seen a little further ahead. Reaching a secluded bend, the young man suddenly heard people whispering below the bend.

"...Why hasn't anyone come down yet..."

"Divide the route... Fewer cars will pass by, so fewer people will get off."

"...until when..."

"Who knows? Pull your leg back, it's poking me."

The young man glanced curiously down the bend, wanting to see who was talking below, but then he remembered the man's instructions. He thought to himself that he couldn't waste time and had to get home immediately, so he continued walking forward.

……

The yin energy near Yandang Mountain is extremely strong.

In this environment, the ghosts and spirits around will become more active.

If an ordinary person with weak yang energy passes through this place at night, they are very likely to lose their soul if they are frightened.

Upon seeing that person, Li Zhen knew that the "person" was just one of the three souls of a normal person.

Seeing that the spirit resembled the two middle-aged men and women he had seen before, Li Zhen naturally knew that this spirit was the one the sorceress had summoned.

Once in the car, Li Zhen, in good spirits, drove back the way he came.

Li Xiangwen must have already found that scroll.

A whole day is enough time to hire someone to turn the pond over.

It was late at night when Detective Li returned to the vicinity of that resort.

When he sent his little devil to the pond, he saw a lot of excavators parked there.

The originally flat pond has been dug into a large pit.

The buried tomb passage below was now directly visible to Li Zhen.

A cordon has been set up around the pond, and people are guarding it.

Li Zhen scanned the area but did not see Li Xiangwen.

He sent the little devil to search around, and they found Li Xiangwen and the Xuan Gui Taoist fast asleep in a nearby house.

Both of them were covered in mud and lay on the ground.

A clean book was placed on the table in the room.

A talisman was pasted on the book.

The little devil tried to pick up the book, but was flung away by the talisman the moment he touched it.

Not long after, Li Zhen, carrying the red-eyed bat, quietly pushed open the door and entered the room.

He glanced at Li Xiangwen, then walked up to the book and reached out to touch its cover.

The talisman pasted on the book emitted blue smoke and quickly burned to ashes.

The vermilion seal beneath emitted a faint red glow, but it did not stop Detective Li from touching the book's cover.

The book's material is very special; it feels strange to the touch, like touching some kind of fresh leather.

Each page of this book is thicker than that of a regular book.

Li Zhen turned to the first page of the book and was surprised to feel a slight sense of heaviness.

Looking at the handwriting, and confirming that he had indeed received the second volume of the legal scroll, Li Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

He traveled hundreds of miles to Changshan for this.

If he still can't get this, he'll definitely be in a bad mood.

Li Zhen casually flipped through a few pages and saw that they were filled with writing, so he closed the book.

He placed a talisman he had made next to Li Xiangwen, then took the book and left the room.

Feeling the eerie chill, Li Xiangwen groggily opened his eyes and suddenly realized that the book he had placed on the table was gone. He abruptly sat up from the floor.

"How could it disappear..."

Li Xiangwen instantly snapped out of his daze and rushed to the table, rubbed his eyes, and confirmed that he hadn't misread anything; the book was indeed gone.

His heart was in his throat.

He spent a lot of time and effort on this book, and was even almost killed by that blue-faced demon.

What if the book is gone...

Just as Li Xiangwen was about to wake up Xuan Gui Dao Ren, he glanced around and saw a blue talisman on the ground.

He quickly ran to the talisman, picked it up, and checked it before he felt relieved.

Daoist Xuan Gui rubbed his eyes and mumbled, "What happened?"

Li Xiangwen hid the talisman and said with a smile, "It's alright, it's alright, you can go to sleep peacefully."

……

Stepping out of the house, Li Zhen sensed something and looked towards the Wushui River.

After a slight hesitation, he walked towards the Wu River.

On the Wushui River, Li Zhen saw the female ghost carrying a white lantern again.

"Has something happened in Yandang Mountain?" the female ghost asked first.

Li Zhen did not answer directly: "Yandang Mountain is right next to the Wu River, what could possibly be kept from the Wu Nu?"

After a moment of silence, the female ghost said, "Empress doesn't know what happened inside either. She dares not easily step inside, let alone us maids."

"Only someone as strong as you can get in and out unharmed."

Detective Li asked, "Who was the person who tampered with the burial site of the Blue-Faced Demon?"

The female ghost shook her head and said, "Your Majesty doesn't know."

It's impossible that Wu Nu was completely unaware of this matter.

Knowing that the other party had no intention of exchanging information, Li Zhen didn't say anything more and turned to walk towards his car.

Has the layout of that burial site changed?

Li Zhen didn't say anything.

"you……"

“You will die as soon as you get ashore.” Li Zhen turned to look at the female ghost who was approaching the shore.

The female ghost retreated to the center of the river in fear, wanting to say something but daring not to.

Li Zhen said calmly, "Tell Wu Nu that the person's corpse dissection may have been successful a long time ago, but she has been kept in the dark."

The female ghost quickly asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Li Zhen didn't say anything more. Under the anxious gaze of the female ghost, he returned to his car and drove away.

Li Zhen naturally didn't know the outcome of that person's "corpse dissection." He only said that to test Wu Nu, hoping to get some useful information from her.

Judging from the female ghost's reaction, the Wunu (a female deity) must have taken matters in Tibet very seriously.

However, Wu Nu did not reveal any useful information until Li Zhen left.

Li Zhen, whose attention was now drawn to the second volume of the law, didn't pay any attention to it.

Once he becomes stronger, he will definitely know what he needs to know.

As they were about to return to Dongming City, Li Zhen suddenly looked at his right arm.

The rune then sent him another notification that a quest was about to begin.

Li Zhen felt like he had only taken a nap, gone out to take care of some business, and then a new mission came along. He couldn't help but sigh at how quickly the mission had come.

But no matter how fast this mission comes, it's not as fast as the last time when you jump from one mission world to another.

However, after feeling the call of the talisman, Li Zhen still felt a sense of urgency.

He still needs to sort out the many black magic spells in his head.

Previously, he had only obtained twelve types of black magic from the Bat School from Magusu. Now, after digesting part of Nalong's memories, he can use more than twenty types of black magic, which Li Zhen needs to sort out himself.

And the female demon hadn't been fully refined yet.

In addition, the second volume of "The Scroll of Spiritual Talismans and Magic" also needs to be studied immediately, as it is closely related to Li Zhen's fundamental teachings and certainly cannot be delayed.

There's so much to do...

Back home, Li Zhen sensed that there were less than three hours left before entering the mission world.

After preparing everything he needed, he eagerly opened the second volume of the "Spiritual Talisman and Ritual Manual" that he had brought back.

This second volume does indeed contain content related to the "Method of Sublimating Evil Spirits from the Five Elements"!
In this book, this method is listed as a forbidden method and is recorded at the end of the book.

The rest of the content mainly involves the talismanic arts of the Changshan School, and much of it is related to sealing techniques.

Li Zhen, who couldn't draw the talismans of the Changshan School, wasn't very interested in those contents.

He flipped directly to the third-to-last page of the book and began to read carefully the content related to the "Method of Sublimating Evil Spirits from the Five Elements".

After reading only a section, he was convinced that this book was of great value to him.

"...The five elements interact and restrain each other, which is the foundation of the universe. Using...evil spirits as fuel, through talismans and human beings, one can refine oneself and achieve an extraordinary path...This method is profound and mysterious. Cultivators must have a firm mind and a determined will. If one is not careful, one may be devoured by evil spirits and have one's soul scattered. Be careful!"

Compared to the first volume, this volume directly discusses the application of the Dharma to the human body, unlike the first volume which was veiled and only discussed the content related to talismans.

Li Zhen continued looking down.

Upon seeing the balance of the five elements and the sign that appeared after each demon was successfully contained, he frowned and fell into thought.

His cultivation practice did indeed have some problems...

Three hours later, Li Zhen, still engrossed in the legal documents, appeared on a street.

After glancing at the street scene, his experience told him that this was Hong Kong Island in the 1980s or 90s.

This time, there's no need to search for the person who summoned you.

Forcing himself out of his thoughts, Li Zhen looked across the street at a man leaning against the railing.

The man, who had short hair and looked to be in his forties, was smoking and seemed to be waiting for someone.

Just as Li Zhen looked over, a young man nimbly climbed over the railing and appeared next to the man in his fifties, saying something to him.

Feeling that the two looked somewhat familiar, Li Zhen immediately had a guess in his mind.

This is... the world of "Out of the Cage"?

(End of this chapter)