Go and capture those thirty-six fierce villains.

"So trendy..."

Half-asleep, Qin Ning was awakened by the dampness and mumbled while rubbing her nose.

"I told you not to open the windows during the rainy season! Which of you opened a window to let in some fresh air in the middle of the night? Turn on the dehumidifier your dad bought you... Holy crap, where did you get here?!"

Qin Ning stood up, her right hand frozen in mid-air, staring blankly at the scene before her, wide awake.

The environment was dim, the walls were mottled, the floor tiles were covered with moss, and there was an incense burner with one of its handles missing.

This doesn't look like his nice dormitory room at all, where a yearly accommodation costs only 500 yuan, but it has a bunk bed with a desk underneath, air conditioning, a balcony, a shower, and a toilet.

"Am I dreaming? Or have I traveled through time?"

Qin Ning stood there for a long while, then awkwardly got up from the moss-covered floor tiles.

Suddenly, two round balls, one blue and one yellow, emerged from the corner beneath the cauldron.

He looked over curiously and saw a small cat with heterochromia, resembling a lion cat but entirely black, staring at him with curiosity. No wonder he hadn't noticed it before.

Qin Ning looked at the black cat warily, and the black cat was also looking at Qin Ning.

As the man and the cat stared at each other, Qin Ning quickly took two steps back, a few beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and rolling down his cheeks.

The seemingly harmless black cat was actually holding a human little finger in its mouth!

"What kind of place is this... It doesn't look like a prank, those guys in the dorm wouldn't go to such lengths, and it doesn't look like a kidnapping either. I've never heard of kidnappers using cats to guard their victims."

"So... either I'm dreaming, or... I really time-traveled?"

Qin Ning's mind raced as she looked at the heterochromatic black cat with a human finger in its mouth, and a strange sense of familiarity suddenly welled up inside her.

Not at the cat, but at my finger.

The little finger has a slight deformity at the knuckle, which is obviously caused by frequently holding certain objects; there's also a mole on the inside of the base of the finger...

Qin Ning subconsciously raised her left hand...

It's confirmed! The black cat was carrying his left pinky finger in its mouth!

Qin Ning's brain went blank for two seconds.

Taking advantage of the moment, the black cat darted into the dimly lit environment and disappeared without a trace.

"My finger..." Qin Ning subconsciously took a step forward, but then abruptly stopped.

He doesn't watch many horror movies, but he knows that many supporting characters are attracted by something and wander around in unfamiliar places, eventually "running" themselves to their deaths.

Moreover... Qin Ning held his left hand, missing his little finger, in front of his eyes and waved it. He didn't feel any pain, and there was no wound on the base of his palm. On the ground... he squatted down and looked at it, and there was no blood on the ground.

"Even if it's time travel, shouldn't one be able to feel pain? Am I really having a lucid dream?"

Qin Ning looked puzzled and gently pinched her waist.

A faint pain was felt.

"If the pain is there and it's not a dream, then there's something wrong with the cat and this place."

He tried to make a calm judgment, glancing past the incense burner in front of him and looking into the dimness in the distance, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Although I don't know why I'm here, I can't just stay here and wait.

Exploring rashly could be dangerous... but for me right now, there doesn't seem to be any good option.

"Let's be as cautious as possible..." Qin Ning took a deep breath, took a few steps, and heard a clattering sound from the ground.

He looked down, his expression surprised, and bent down to pick up a wooden box from the ground.

XXX University-specific acupuncture practice kit.

This is what Qin Ning placed by her pillow last night before going to sleep.

He had originally planned to tutor a female student in acupuncture and acupoints the following afternoon, and this item was a teaching aid. Unexpectedly, he ended up in this place along with her.

It's definitely not going now.

With a sigh, Qin Ning put the practice bag into her pajama pocket and continued to explore carefully.

......

Fifteen minutes later.

Qin Ning returned to the broken incense burner and rested for a while.

This place seemed to be a Taoist temple. He saw the offering table for the spirit official at the single-room entrance, but the statue of the spirit official that should have been receiving offerings was nowhere to be found.

Qin Ning tried many methods to open that door that looked like it could be blown down with a single breath, but to no avail.

He didn't dare to enter the main hall for the time being. The side rooms on the east and west sides were empty, and the black cat with heterochromatic eyes didn't reappear. Qin Ning guessed that the other party might have sneaked into the main hall.

Looking up at the sky, the unnaturally heavy grayness made Qin Ning feel suffocated.

After resting for a while, he mustered his courage and moved toward the main hall, which he had not yet explored.

Step over the high but dilapidated threshold.

Qin Ning hadn't even had a chance to take in the situation inside the main hall.

"Hey!"

The sudden sound behind him made him turn around sharply, and a fist quietly clenched.

Nobody here?

Qin Ning stared at the empty courtyard, a look of suspicion flashing in her eyes.

Could it be that I'm under too much pressure and am hallucinating?

Qin Ning loosened her fist slightly, then turned back. Her pupils contracted, and she subconsciously took a step back, almost tripping over the threshold.

Beneath the altar of the dilapidated statue in the main hall, a handsome young man dressed in a dark blue Taoist robe sat down, smiling at him.

"You were startled by me, weren't you?"

The boy waved, his face beaming with a triumphant smile.

Qin Ning leaned against the slightly chipped door frame, remaining silent.

He didn't know who the boy was, but he knew very well that the other person was not human, or rather, not human in the normal sense.

because.

Half of the other person's buttocks overlapped with the offering table...

It's somewhat similar to clipping issues commonly seen in games.

Noticing Qin Ning's gaze, the Taoist-robed youth lowered his head for a moment, then casually jumped off the altar... his feet sinking back into the bluestone floor tiles of the main hall.

"Ugh... not having a physical form is such a hassle. Hey you, come here."

Qin Ning leaned against the door frame and silently stepped outside, ready to run at any moment.

"Who are you?"

His voice was a little hoarse because he hadn't spoken for a long time.

"Me? I am the Dao Lord of this realm, and this is my Daoist temple!" The young man spoke with pride, and to avoid embarrassment, he simply floated in mid-air.

"The Dao Master? The Daoist temple?"

Looking at the spirited but still somewhat childish young man, Qin Ning found it hard to associate those four words with the man himself and the dilapidated and simple Taoist temple.

"You don't believe me?" The young man in the Taoist robe floated leisurely to the door, raised two fingers together, and said, "Come, let me, the Taoist master, bestow the ordination upon you." As he spoke, ignoring Qin Ning's surprised and suspicious gaze, he pointed a finger at the other's brow.

"..."

Nothing happened.

Qin Ning blinked, and this time, he clearly caught the embarrassment on the boy's face.

"Cough, I knew it would be really troublesome not having a physical form." The Taoist-robed youth awkwardly withdrew his fingers and quickly made a hand gesture that Qin Ning couldn't understand.

A spark of inspiration appeared.

"Wait, you..." Before he could finish speaking, the glimmer of light passed through Qin Ning's concealed arm and drifted into his mind.

boom--!

Qin Ning felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in his mind. That spark of inspiration seemed gentle, but in reality, it was extremely brutal!

"To transmit the Way, to act according to the workings of nature; to bring peace to the people, and to quell evil..."

After an unknown amount of time, the sound faded away, and Qin Ning regained his senses. Then, he strangely discovered that a booklet, half black and half white, was floating in his mind.

With a thought, the booklet appeared in his hand. Qin Ning looked down and saw the ancient characters "Thirty-Six Great Evil Records" written on it.

The font was ancient and strange; he had never seen it before, yet he could still understand it.

In addition to this, Qin Ning had a large amount of additional information in his mind.

"In Taoism, there are nine ranks, the first being a 'child spirit,' whose vital energy can exorcise demons and evil spirits..."

"Hey!"

The boy waved his hand in front of Qin Ning's eyes, interrupting his thoughts: "Time is of the essence, stop thinking about it and come with me." With that, he leisurely floated back to the offering table.

Qin Ning hesitated for a moment, then took the booklet and followed.

The other party had already demonstrated their supernatural abilities to him, although the process was somewhat rough and without his consent.

But... the other party doesn't seem to have any malicious intent.

On the two-meter-long altar, two items sat empty. One was a blackened wooden sword, as if half of it had been burned by a flame. The other was a Bagua (Eight Trigrams) plate, cracked in the middle but still appearing relatively intact.

"I know you have many questions, but listen to me first." The boy spoke quickly. "This peach wood sword is to help you deal with the evil spirits. This Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams compass is to help you find the evil spirits. You can study its specific uses later."

"As the sole successor of the Taoist sect in this world, your duty is to seal or eliminate these thirty-six evil spirits as soon as possible. Furthermore, when you travel in the world, remember, remember, never to reveal your identity as a successor of the Taoist sect."

"Alright, is there anything else you want to ask?"

There are so many questions I want to ask!

Hearing this, Qin Ning immediately perked up and cleared her throat: "Why did you choose me? What are the Thirty-Six Fiends? Why can't we reveal our Daoist identity? Where is this, and how do we get back?"

Finally, could we please find someone else? My senior even invited me for a drink tonight!

Of course, he only thought this to himself.

The young man in the Taoist robe raised his hand to his forehead: "You talk too much."

Qin Ning's eyes widened. "Didn't you tell me to ask that?!"

"You weren't chosen by me, you were chosen by the Dao. The Thirty-Six Fiends were thirty-six extremely fierce creatures that I, the Dao Master, suppressed back then. Exposing your identity will result in death. Now that you've advanced to the first rank of the Daoist sect, you naturally have the ability to return."

"Alright, stop asking. Grab your peach wood sword and Bagua compass, and come with me."

The boy pursed his lips impatiently, stumbled along to the side door leading to the backyard, and waved to Qin Ning.

Qin Ning, still processing the information, hesitated for a moment, then put away the two items on the offering table and followed the other person to the side door.

"The ninth-rank child can already perform basic thunder magic. There is a crippled ferocious beast in the backyard; go and subdue it. The supernatural powers on that beast will be the foundation for your survival in the world in the future."

Unexpectedly, Qin Ning was about to face a ferocious beast so soon, even if it was incomplete.

Ignoring the boy's urging gaze, he hesitated and said:

"What if, and I mean what if, the chosen one comes and just sits there doing nothing, instead of sealing or eliminating the ominous creature? Look at me, I can't lift a finger, so why don't you let the chosen one take over..."

The boy gave Qin Ning a strange look and interrupted him.

"I'll die..."

"I advise you not to have such thoughts. Those evil spirits are all very vengeful. If you get involved in the karma of the Taoist sect, some of the more powerful ones will naturally come looking for you after a while."

In other words, I'm now completely at their mercy?

Qin Ning, who wanted to struggle a little longer, was pondering.

The young man in the Taoist robe made a hand seal, and a tremendous force rose from his back.

"You talk too much. Go inside."

Accompanied by slightly disdainful words, Qin Ning was pushed through the side door as if she were being forced into a corner.

He cursed inwardly and reached for the peach wood sword he had just put in his pocket.

At the same time, his missing left hand made a hand seal based on his memory, and streaks of lightning wrapped around his knuckles.

Just as I was getting ready, I heard the sound of a baby crying.

Qin Ning looked up and saw a ferocious humanoid creature with the body of a sheep and the face of a human, with eyes growing from its armpits, baring its teeth and scrutinizing him. The fangs were very long and resembled tiger teeth.

In a daze, two words suddenly popped into Qin Ning's mind.

gluttonous!

No, this ferocious creature looks exactly like the Taotie from the Classic of Mountains and Seas that he read before going to bed.

A ninth-rank Taoist disciple, challenging one of the Four Fiends right off the bat?!

"Master, if you want to replace him, just say so!"