From the beginning of this turbid world, the Taoist priest descended the mountain.

After some deliberation, Lin Ye decided to follow Aunt Liu's advice and go to the north of the mountain to have the trapping nail removed, and also rescue Zhang the hunter.

Mei Lingyun followed behind Lin Ye, and after hearing Lin Ye say that this was arranged by Aunt Liu, she showed some curiosity.

"But I've never heard my godmother speak since I was a child. Brother Ye, how could you..."

"I am a legitimate Taoist priest. Taoist priests are those who communicate with Heaven above and with Yin and Yang below. It's normal for me to be able to see and hear things you don't know."

Mei Lingyun nodded, her gaze towards Lin Ye filled with admiration, even a hint of worship.

As expected of Brother Ye, he's truly impressive.

"If you look at me with that disgusting gaze again, I'll go with your godmother." Lin Ye squinted and turned to look at Mei Lingyun.

"Brother Ye, you..."

Mei Lingyun stomped her feet and followed Lin Ye angrily.

She was, after all, a gentle and refined nature nurtured by poetry and literature. After her anger subsided for a while, she spoke with Lin Ye again.

"Brother Ye, I've heard that the north side of this mountain is always rife with miasma. Miasma breeds evil spirits, do you think Uncle Zhang might be involved?"

Lin Ye shook his head in denial, saying, "Where would Daqingshan get any miasma? Miasma grows in deep ravines, where the trees are dense and the sun never shines. In Western terms, it's a poisonous gas, what does it have to do with evil spirits..."

Before Lin Ye could finish speaking, a deathly pale face flashed through the woods, disappearing in an instant.

He seemed to have forgotten that Mei Lingyun was not only considered a top-grade medicine by those wicked sects, but was also coveted by many evil spirits in these deep mountains and forests.

Sure enough, before the forestry department could make any preparations...

Then a sound came from the woods.

"Ouch, is that Xiao Lingyun? Come quick, my leg is stuck."

Mei Lingyun didn't move, but looked at Lin Ye and said, "Brother Ye, it's Uncle Zhang."

"Oh, that's a really 'good uncle'."

Lin Ye sneered, tied a blood-stained brown rope around his arm, drew a Tibetan Buddhist knife from his waist, and finally put a finger to his lips, signaling Mei Lingyun to be quiet.

He followed the sound and entered the woods.

"Oh, is that Xiao Lingyun? You've finally arrived."

When the forestry worker arrived there, there were hardly any hunters there.

Instead, it was a malevolent monster with a human face and a snake's body, coiled on the open ground, its white scales gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

The sound just now came from its belly.

The human-faced snake is a legendary creature that cultivated itself in the deep mountains and forests, unable to transform into a dragon or a jiao (a type of dragon). Over time, it became tainted by the miasma of the mountains and forests, and the greed of people caused its head to transform into the head of a beautiful woman.

It specifically lures passersby, devouring them and their bones. For every ten people it eats, its body swells to a size of ten feet.

Although the beautiful snake-woman had a head that looked like it was about to cry, once it opened its orange-yellow vertical pupils and exhaled its scarlet fury, it lost almost all its beauty.

It immediately lunged at the forestry plant, entwining and biting it.

Lin Ye's lips curled into a cold smile. He knew perfectly well that there was no human being inside. He had come in to kill this thing and prevent any other trouble from arising.

He leaped into the air, his toes barely touching the ground, and swung the hanging rope wrapped around his hand at the snake's head. The rope looped in mid-air and landed between the snake's snout.

[Impure Vessel]: Hanging Rope

Effect: Once the rope binding someone who has been hanged upside down is in place, they cannot break free for twenty breaths.

This thing was originally the rope used by a hanged ghost (due to dialect differences, people in the south often say "hanged dead") when they hanged themselves. It has become tough and difficult to break free from because it is tainted by the ghost's resentment.

This was originally a rope used for hanging oneself and finding a substitute. Lin Ye killed it before coming here and obtained this corrupted artifact.

If this can bind people, binding snakes should be no problem either.

Soon the rope was knotted around the snake's head, tightly wedged around the snake's neck.

The thick snake tail, like a millstone, lashed out at Lin Ye from the other side. Lin Ye was agile enough to leap up and dodge it like a live ape.

He plunged the Tibetan Buddhist knife, Danzhu, into the vital spot of the human-faced snake.

The human-faced snake immediately raised its head and let out a mournful howl. Thick, turbid black energy surged out from it, carrying a faint, eerie green light.

The base color of turbid air is black, and there are subtle differences in color among the five types of turbid air.

The turbid black of the calamity is tinged with red, with faint crackling sounds of snakes and lightning; the turbid black of fate is tinged with blue, revealing a hint of decay; the deep green within the turbid black is the chilling aura of evil spirits; the turbidity of sentient beings and the turbidity of afflictions are tinged with blue, and the blue in the turbidity of sentient beings is indigo, like wisps of smoke from a furnace.

At this moment, the human-faced snake's cultivation was broken, and the beautiful woman turned her head to look at Lin Ye with a hint of resentment, clearly intending to drag Lin Ye down with her.

Unexpectedly, the Tibetan Buddhist knife stuck in its body lit up with engravings from the secret Tibetan region on its blade.

"Om Mani Padme Hum—"

The six-syllable mantra had just reached Lin Ye's ears, filling his mind like a demonic chant. Countless white figures flashed before his eyes.

In just a few moments, everything returned to normal.

The human-faced snake, impaled by a Tibetan Buddhist knife, gradually decayed and lost its vitality, splitting open on the spot like a broken plaster sculpture.

Lin Ye put away the Buddhist knife with a lingering fear, knowing that it had the power to suppress evil spirits.

I didn't expect such a side effect; I still felt numb after using the Buddha knife this time.

When they first received it, the forestry department carefully wrapped it in cloth, but as time went on, they became careless and thought it was fine.

Unexpectedly, this thing not only sent the human-faced snake away with a single strike, but also triggered the Six-Syllable Mantra.

The heavy white shadows that had just appeared in front of him were causing Lin Ye great concern; they seemed to belong entirely to this place.

(The human-faced snake that had entrenched itself in the Daqingshan Mountains for many years was easily slain by you, with the Buddhist sword from the Western Tantric region playing a crucial role. This is a special, impure artifact. Use it to exorcise evil spirits, and one day it will come to exorcise you itself. It can seal the scriptures and alleviate the troubles caused by your spiritual child karma.)

(The large amount of turbid energy brought by the elimination of evil spirits was collected by the Mind Monkey. The Mind Monkey purified the turbid energy, and your constitution underwent a transformation. Your Qi and Blood +2. But the stronger the Mind Monkey becomes, the more unruly it becomes.)

[Year Lord: Forestry] (Nourishment) (Living Children)

[Qi and Blood: 14]

[Strength: 10] (Method: Life Fire Furnace)

[Agility: 9]

[Divine Sense: 10] (Method: Technique for Observing Turbid Qi)

[Ordination]: ...

[Techniques]: Five Animals - Walking Ape Technique (Mastery), Five Animals - Pig Body Lean (Minor Success)

[Life Fragments]: Golden Ape Fire Lungs, Kidney Pig Wood Liver (Requires [Water Fragments Skill] to reach full penetration to unlock)

[Impure Vessels]: Rootless Talisman, Tibetan Buddhist Knife (Danzhu), Hanging Rope

Lin Ye swallowed hard, not because he was happy about gaining a few more drops of blood.

Instead, he noticed a new label next to his name: "The Career of a Spirit Child."

Sure enough, the more powerful the turbid artifact, the easier it is to attract something bad.

Things like rootless talismans and hanging ropes may seem ordinary, with simple abilities like binding people or warding off poison, but at least they don't have side effects like Tibetan Buddhist knives.

Who knows what this "spirit child" profession is?

Lin Ye gasped, carefully put away the Buddha knife, and prepared to walk outside.

Just then, a scream came from outside.

When Lin Ye emerged, he discovered that Mei Lingyun's surroundings were crawling with countless black, long-legged centipedes.

Not far away, a man dressed in black homespun cloth from western Hunan was standing there.

Upon seeing Lin Ye, a cold smile appeared on his face.

"You're the Taoist priest who harmed my great-uncle!"