Mythology Returns! Starting with Folklore and Strange Tales

But then again, one shouldn't advise others to do good without experiencing their suffering firsthand.

He simply couldn't empathize with demons, especially those that harmed people.

But it's quite absurd that a silhouette of a newcomer could include Fang Xiangshi.

The ancient book *Zhou Li* records that the Xia Guan Sima (夏官司马) had a Fangxiangshi (方相氏) under his jurisdiction, who employed four madmen. The Fangxiang, according to old commentaries, was a person with a terrifying and unsettling appearance...

This means that the position of Fangxiangshi existed as early as the Zhou Dynasty. It consisted of four assistants dressed in terrifying attire, tasked with warding off evil and plague...

Another legend says that Fangxiangshi was a descendant of the ancient Momu. When the Yellow Emperor was touring the world, his wife died on the road. The Yellow Emperor ordered Momu to take care of her and made her Fangxiangshi.

Legend has it that many plague demons and old spirits were driven away and killed by this person.

The silhouette of a newcomer, and the emergence of a priest who appears to be from the ancient Zhou Dynasty, or even the Xia and Shang Dynasties, is already terrifying enough. But when this priest is also interpreted as an ancient Nuo god, it becomes even more difficult to judge!

Of course, the eldest brother doesn't laugh at the second brother, because he's not exactly a respectable person either.

Upon arriving at his dormitory and bidding farewell to the staff, Zhang Wei turned on his personal tablet as instructed.

Although myths are descending these days, the atmosphere hasn't become retro; a simple flat panel can accommodate all the patrolmen's needs.

It includes everything from catalogs of museum collections and rare treasures to personal information, mission details, and silhouette descriptions.

Although some items can only be viewed on a tablet, it's still very convenient.

Looking at the 1500 indicator on his personal information page and the notes following it, Zhang Wei was somewhat moved.

Under normal circumstances, it is equivalent to internal currency, and of course it can be exchanged for money. One indicator is equivalent to 10,000 yuan, but generally speaking, not many people will choose to exchange it this way.

Firstly, the quotas can only be obtained by inspectors by completing tasks or through activities and rewards. Each time an inspector completes a task, they will receive a quota along with a cash reward.

Secondly, 10,000 yuan of equivalent value is insufficient to buy most things of equivalent value.

While you can't get rich overnight, with hard work, it's not impossible to earn hundreds of thousands or even millions a month.

As for cash that can only be spent in the present world, even in the millions, if it's not for investment, you wouldn't spend that much just on enjoyment. There's no need to waste more valuable resources on it...

Of course, these things have little to do with Zhang Wei.

In fact, as early as when the terms were being negotiated, when it was mentioned that there would be job opportunities for relatives and protection slots for patrols, money had already lost most of its value to Zhang Wei.

When he was settling accounts before, he was only thinking that if he quit his job and had no income, his mother, a street vendor, would have a hard time making a living on her own. He needed the money because he was worried about his mother, but now that's no longer necessary.

So, after briefly checking out the various functions of the tablet, he directly opened the warehouse interface and started browsing.

As a newly appointed inspector, in addition to the initial sacrificial rites, he also has the right to choose a spell and a cultivation method.

Although he already possessed the Four Seasons Qi Absorption Method, there was no harm in looking at it. Moreover, after reading about the Four Seasons Qi Absorption Method and hearing about the current level of cultivation, Zhang Wei was quite interested in the many similarities between them.

After looking around for a while, Zhang Wei selected a book on the practice of Shangqing Tongmai Method, along with a book on the rough explanation of talismans.

The cultivation methods of the Taoist sect are never too bad, and as for the rudimentary understanding of talismans, he has no shortage of methods for attacking and killing. Zhang Wei simply regarded it as a supplement to the Yazi method in other aspects.

The spells and basic benefits will be delivered together. During this break, Zhang Wei will also take the opportunity to check if there is anything he needs in the quota exchange warehouse. If there is, great. If not, he will take a quick rest and prepare to accept the mission.

But you won't believe it until you see it, and what you find will shock you.

The twenty-four solar terms that form the foundation of the Four Seasons Qi Cultivation Method are only available in fifty quotas in the Meteorological Bureau's exchange database.

Meanwhile, the Sun Essence and Moon Essence, which Zhang Wei cherishes, are even cheaper, costing thirty indicators per set.

Zhang Wei: "..."

That was quite surprising!

The rewards I received from the silhouettes, or even from the patriarch, seem to be commonplace here.

After opening the description, I realized that it does seem a bit generic and common.

While practices like the seasonal cultivation of Qi are few, the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, as a traditional system of the Chinese people, serve to mark and define the four seasons. In this mundane world where silhouettes constantly fall from history, day and night frequently reverse, and atomic clocks cannot accurately record time...

Scientists used the lunar calendar and instruments to fix the four seasons and created a set of accurate timekeeping rules.

Although the clock has to be reset every time the seasons change, it is still much more convenient than constantly checking the time when traveling between the secular world and the present world!

The energy of the solar terms is not only used for calendar time. For example, the thunder energy of the Awakening of Insects is a necessity for spirits and practitioners of Yin spirits. Other solar terms also have their own uses.

Once demand becomes widespread, the tech giants of Yanhuang will be able to come up with solutions that lead to massive price reductions.

However, the so-called price reduction only applies to our own people. For everyone else, if you want the seasonal energy, you either have to collect it yourself year by year, or you have to spend a lot of money to exchange it from the meteorologist. Even if you pay two or three times the price, you still have to be half of our own people. If it's just a pure business transaction, you'd be lucky if you didn't get it ten times the price!

The Sun Essence and Moon Essence is a similar version, but it is easier for people to understand.

You know what a solar panel is, right?

With a slight modification, the solar panels used for solar power generation in the modern world can instantly become treasures that absorb the essence of the sun and moon!

Although the cost of mass production on an assembly line is a significant decrease in the condensation of the gas, with five portions here possibly being equivalent to one portion collected under normal circumstances, the sheer quantity offsets the disadvantage of reduced concentration.

Fifty indicators?

Cheap!

Come on, let's have five servings of each to try, one salty and one bland.

Sun Essence and Moon Essence?

We should also have some; we can't just focus on cultivating our magical power and neglect our health. We should have ten portions too.

The total quota was 1,500, but these two combined only amounted to 1,300. The remaining 200 Zhang Wei were exchanged for two pieces of sandalwood, an altar blessed by a high-ranking Taoist priest, 500 sticks of incense made by craftsmen, and some fruits that had been cultivated for generations and had a slight, strange effect.

After he got his hands on these things, he first assembled them in his dormitory and then enshrined the ancestor and master.

He wasn't exactly diligent in burning three incense sticks every morning, but he would always offer incense on time whenever he was in the office.

As a disciple or junior, one must have self-awareness. One cannot pray to gods and Buddhas when there is trouble, and resort to feudal superstition when there is nothing to do. With this attitude, not only will people look down on you, but even if it is your own father and son, they will not communicate with each other and only know how to ask for money. Over time, they will be too lazy to pay attention to you!

After waiting for about half an hour, staff delivered all the items he had selected, along with the inspector's uniform, insignia, and personal equipment.

It could have been done faster, but customizing memorial tablets takes time.

Moreover, given the real existence of demons and monsters, every sacrificial tablet had to be inspected multiple times. Even Zhang Wei was only allowed to place a tablet in his dormitory after being contacted via internal messaging on a tablet and questioned by phone. Even so, the two tablets had to be inspected every two weeks thereafter. If anything was wrong, not only would the sacrificial ceremony be terminated, but he would also be implicated.

The rules are a bit inhumane, but if you think about Liu Ruyan, who empathized with snakes and even saw herself as a snake, you can understand everything!

Let's leave aside the cultivation supplies for now.

Although Zhang Wei requested it hastily, the logistics team still managed to polish the two memorial tablets to a very high standard within half an hour. The two red and purple tablets were engraved with the titles of Ancestral Master and Quasi-Master, respectively.

Because of the instructions given by the prospective master who possessed Master Yiming, Zhang Wei did not dare to directly overstep the rules.

Let's just carve it like this for now; we can always change it later.

But as soon as the memorial tablet was placed on the table, and Zhang Weigang turned around to arrange the offerings, the ancestral tablet on the left side became unstable and knocked over the master's tablet.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei assumed it was a problem with his placement, so he righted it and, seeing that the memorial tablet hadn't moved, breathed a sigh of relief and went back to arranging the offerings...

"Thud!"

In the blink of an eye, the two memorial tablets bumped into each other again.

It was just like the way the patriarch had been suppressing his master.

This piqued his interest a little!

I picked up the memorial tablet and looked at it from left to right. I made sure that the edges were sharp and the stitching was neat. If the problem wasn't in the workmanship, then where did the problem lie?

Is there a conflict between the two ancestral tablets and the deities they represent?

Putting aside the question of whether they are contradictory or not, how did these two ordinary memorial tablets, which were just made in the warehouse, not consecrated, and not worshipped, get such great ability to be bumped and knocked?

Just as Zhang Wei let go, the two memorial tablets bumped into each other again.

Now they won't hide it from him anymore!