Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 156 Behind every pig-butchering scam, there's a group of shills! [Seeking monthly votes]

After leaving the Sanqing Hall, Zhou Yi returned to his room and began packing the ritual implements he needed to take with him.

This time, without Empress Wu Zetian to assist, and without legendary generals like Chen Tang and Huo Qubing, only Abbot Zhou is there, so the ritual implements need to be prepared more thoroughly.

Eight Trigrams Jade Pendant, Black Beaded Pearl, Celestial Master's Seal, Heavenly Marshal's Ruler, Coin Sword, Peach Wood Sword, Three Pure Ones Bell, Substitute Talisman, Spirit Official Talisman...

Zhou Yi packed almost everything he could carry into his bag, almost stuffing the statues of the Three Pure Ones into the car.

However, before leaving, he still felt unsafe, and as if possessed, he stuffed the red leaf that Wang Lingguan had given him into his bosom.

I don't know what it's for, but it's better to be prepared.

With everything prepared, he locked the gates of the Taoist temple, drove down the mountain, and headed straight for Yiyang City.

At the same time, in the world of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, at the Dingxiang camp, Wei Qing held the wild boar spearhead sent by Huo Qubing, examining it from left to right, growing more and more fond of it with each look:
"Attach a long pole and test its sharpness on two Xiongnu prisoners who refuse to surrender."

Although he was certain that the weapon was very powerful, the cautious Wei Qing felt it would be safer to test it on the Xiongnu.

Su Jian, who came to the central army to ask for supplies, rubbed his hands excitedly, personally went to get a white waxwood pole, attached the spearhead, and directly pierced through a Xiongnu gatekeeper.

Danghu was a mid-level military officer in the Xiongnu and also the leader of a pastoral area. Su Jian had just interrogated him for a long time, but he refused to cooperate and even scolded Zhao Xin, who was acting as the translator.

Now, in front of all the captains of the central army, Su Jian stabbed the man through the stomach without saying a word. The screams of agony echoed throughout the entire camp, and the Xiongnu prince and the others imprisoned not far away trembled in fear.

Wei Qing asked:

"how?"

Su Jian excitedly twirled his spear, then poked the Xiongnu leader at an angle, praising him profusely:

"It goes through easily without any resistance, and it's very easy to pull out without any sticking or difficulty in pulling it out."

What he meant by "it's stuck and can't be pulled out" was the negative pressure difference in the abdominal cavity, which caused the spearhead to get stuck inside the body... Chen Tang had raised this issue before, so this time the manufacturer added a blood groove when customizing it, allowing air to enter the abdominal cavity faster and preventing it from getting stuck and unable to be pulled out.

Wei Qing took it and looked at it, then couldn't help but say:
“Truly a deadly weapon. Select ten and send them to the capital with an imperial edict, so that the craftsmen of the Imperial Household Department can make replicas.”

Although the Han Dynasty did not have high-manganese steel, it could study the structure and mechanical principles of the wild boar spear. If it could be replicated, it would definitely become a powerful weapon on the battlefield.

The mainstream weapons in the Han Dynasty were diverse, including halberds, spears, and the prototypes and variations of guns. In short, they were quite varied. Piercing weapons with blades on both sides, such as the wild boar spear, had not yet appeared at this time.

In addition to the wild boar spear, Huo Qubing also sent two sets of drones, six walkie-talkies, twenty telescopes, outdoor power supplies, solar panels and other technological equipment, all of which made Su Jian very envious, wishing he could get them all into his own army.

But Wei Qing didn't distribute them to everyone. Instead, he studied Zhang Qian's newly drawn map. He heard that Li Guang had led his army to the northwest and Huo Qubing had gone due north, so he issued an order:
"The entire army will set off for the northeast direction. All scouts will be deployed to search for traces of the Xiongnu's encampment along both sides of the river."

After giving his orders, he had Huo Qubing's men take away several hundred sets of saddles that had just been delivered from Chang'an, and send them northward to search for the main force of the Xiongnu.

Wei Qing is now confident that he can wipe out the main force of the Xiongnu as soon as he finds them.

Su Jian watched eagerly as the telescope was distributed to the scout team, and respectfully bowed to the sky:
"I hope that the immortal can bestow upon my Han Dynasty some more weapons of war to hasten the destruction of the Xiongnu and ensure that my Han people will no longer suffer from border troubles."

As he was praying, Zhou Yigang drove into Yiyang city.

"Turn right at the traffic light ahead. Please move into the far right lane in advance. After turning right, drive for another 4.2 kilometers, and you will arrive at your destination, the fortune-telling tattoo shop..."

Listening to the navigation, Zhou Yi turned into the far right lane and began to plan his actions.

There are too many people on the antique street, and taking rash action could easily cause a disturbance and potentially affect tourists. We need to come up with a foolproof plan that can both bring good karma and not disrupt the normal functioning of society.

It was already evening, and with the weekend, the antique street was crowded with tourists, and various food stalls lined up one after another. After searching for a while, Zhou Yi finally found a roadside parking space in an alley.

After parking the car, he put on all the magical artifacts he could wear, then slung a satchel embroidered with a Tai Chi symbol over his shoulder. He followed the flow of customers into the pedestrian street, casually bought a string of candied hawthorns, and walked towards the fortune-telling tattoo shop while eating them.

As he approached, he took the opportunity to throw bamboo skewers into the trash can to take out his compass and measure the distance. He found that the needle was shaking violently as it pointed towards the tattoo shop's door.

It's obvious that there's something evil inside.

Tattoos on a metaphysical level are quite different from ordinary tattoos. The materials used in tattoos are all evil things such as human blood and bone ash, which make it easier for evil spirits to attach to the tattoo.

These vengeful spirits aren't true ghosts, but rather something akin to the evil spirits raised in the Golden Sun Apartment. Once attached to a tattoo, they gradually integrate with the design, subtly influencing the wearer's fate, fortune, and even life and death. The current trembling of the needle, on the bright side, suggests this shop has genuine skills and doesn't engage in false advertising; however, it also indicates that this is a typical heretical practice, deserving of universal condemnation.

Zhou Yi put away his compass and was about to pretend to be an ordinary tourist when he worried about being discovered. He thought for a moment and bought a Fat Tiger tattoo from a nearby stall that sold temporary tattoos. He then rubbed it to make the tattoo a little blurry, so that it would look more like an old tattoo.

With everything ready, he pushed open the door of the fortune-telling tattoo shop. As soon as he entered, a sinister aura hit him. Several girls dressed in gothic style were sitting in the shop, and the walls were covered with all kinds of cult paintings. If you didn't know better, you would think you had walked into the activity center of some underground cult.

Upon seeing Zhou Yi enter, a young woman with a lip piercing and brightly dyed hair said irritably:
"What are you doing here? Do you have an appointment? If not, get out of here right now."

Zhou Yi raised his arm and said:

"Can you remove tattoos here? My girlfriend insists I get a fat tiger tattoo, and now I'm too embarrassed to wear short sleeves. My buddies always laugh at me when they see me. I want to get this fat tiger removed or changed. Money is no object."

Instead of directly asking about tattoos, which would seem too naive, he approached the other person under the guise of tattoo removal, offering payment in return, which greatly increased the chances of them taking the bait.

Sure enough, the girls laughed when they saw the fat tiger tattoo on Zhou Yi's arm.

The girl who had just been questioning him tried to get a closer look, so Zhou Yi took the opportunity to lower his sleeve and asked her:
"Are you the tattoo artist at the shop? I'd like to speak with the tattoo artist and ask him to help me redesign it."

The delinquent girl pointed upstairs and said:
"The tattoo artist is busy upstairs and probably won't be down for another half hour. If you have any ideas, you can tell me first and I'll pass them on for you."

upstairs?

Zhou Yi looked up and was about to speak when a series of thumping sounds came from upstairs, like someone dribbling a basketball or someone banging their head on the floor.

Zhou Yi, somewhat curious, smiled and said:

"Are you having a disco upstairs? Do you have any designs to choose from? I'd like to take a look first. I want something a bit more imposing, not cute characters like Gian, they wouldn't even scare kindergarten kids."

The group of girls laughed again, and the leader glared at them.
"Keep messaging Fang Yuanyuan, ask her to hang out, or find out her location so we can go find her."

After she finished speaking, she handed a picture book to Zhou Yi:

"You can take a look, but you have to hurry. Our tattoo shop is not open to the public today. If the boss sees us, we'll be fined."

The mention of punishment sent shivers down the spines of the young women; clearly, the tattoo shop owner's threat of punishment terrified them.

Zhou Yi took the picture book and sat down, flipping through it while keeping an eye on a few delinquent girls fiddling with their phones... These must be the "good friends" Fang Yuanyuan mentioned, right?
Sure enough, behind every pig-butchering scam, there's a group of shills. It's just unclear whether these young women were coerced or willingly joined in.

The catalogs at the fortune-telling tattoo shop were far less diverse than those at ordinary tattoo shops. Zhou Yi flipped through them and found that most of them were animal-themed, which was probably to make it easier for evil spirits to attach themselves to them.

Later on, there are some more complex designs, such as monks with one half normal and the other half a skull; evil black dragons with blood dripping from their eyes and their entire bodies pitch black; and bloodthirsty Guanyin in red robes with blood in her mouth, etc.

These patterns are all eerie, yet they possess a certain indescribable beauty that makes people want to get them tattooed on their bodies.

Zhou Yi flipped through the picture book with one hand, while secretly taking out a spirit official talisman from his bag with the other and placing it quietly on the table.

The room was filled with the same cult paintings as Fang Yuanyuan's house. Since they couldn't be destroyed directly, the only option was to take out the spirit official talisman and shake the paintings in the room.

Next, Zhou Yi pretended to inquire about the price, quietly approached the leading delinquent girl, and quickly stuck a sleep-inducing talisman on her forehead.

Without pausing after posting the photos, he took one for each of the girls who were engrossed in chatting with Fang Yuanyuan.

The Sleep-Inducing Talisman was originally a talisman for treating insomnia, but Grandpa modified it into a weapon for sneak attacks. As soon as it was stuck on the forehead, people would become sleepy and fall asleep without a care in the world.

Even if you peel it off as soon as you put it on the forehead, the other person will still need at least two hours to sleep.

That's enough time for Abbot Zhou to make seven in-and-out runs upstairs... provided the people upstairs can withstand seven rounds of attacks.

After the girls had fallen asleep, Zhou Yi quietly closed the shop door and locked it from the inside. He then placed a petrification talisman on the lock to prevent anyone from escaping later.

After doing all this, he affixed a concealment talisman to his body, climbed the stairs, and quietly arrived at the second floor.

The room was divided into several rooms, and the one at the very back had a sign that said "tattoo room." The sounds of basketballs being dribbled came from there.

Zhou Yi quietly walked over, gently turned the lock, and found the inside empty except for a middle-aged fat man lying in the corner with his hands and feet bound and his head covered, banging his head against the floor again and again, letting out muffled groans of despair...

(End of this chapter)