For ten years I practiced Gu poison in Southeast Asia; all living beings revered me as a deity.

Alanshi and Luofeng escaped from the wooden house one after the other.

The two ran as fast as they could, trying to get as far away from the wooden house as possible.

Because their intuition and instincts told them that the room was very evil.

After escaping to a safe distance, Alan and Luo Feng stopped and caught their breath.

"Senior Brother Alanshi," he immediately asked, "that thing should be a demon-level monster... How could Kelong Village possibly attract a monster of that level?"

Don't ask me.

Alanshi shook his head.

"That thing was extremely ferocious, and I don't think my human head Gu could subdue it... Fortunately, I was lucky this time, and the other party didn't intend to confront it head-on, so I managed to force the evil spirit to retreat."

He patted the drum at his waist.

"This head drum is a cursed artifact that I painstakingly crafted over ten years. It uses a binding curse to seal away a ferocious evil spirit. Every time this head drum is used, a part of the evil spirit will revive."

"You must have seen that ghostly face just now! Actually, every time this drum is used, it turns into a smiling face. If this drum is used recklessly, the ghost will be completely resurrected, and I, the one bound by the curse, will be devoured alive."

"Fortunately, using a binding artifact is much safer than binding evil spirits inside one's own body, because if a binding artifact malfunctions, it can simply be discarded. However, a person only has one physical body, which cannot be discarded."

"On the other hand, if you don't want to trigger the resurgence of evil spirits, there is only one way, which is to 'fulfill your vows and appease the evil spirits.' This involves appropriately fulfilling the evil spirits' wishes, similar to making a vow to a deity. You should regularly make offerings and sacrifices to the deity... Your teacher should have taught you about these things as well."

Alan quickly explained, and Luo Feng nodded.

Putaon also told him about the method of "fulfilling vows and giving thanks to the gods," claiming that this was a secret method that the Lanna shamans learned from the Brahmanical rushi.

—Lussi is the Thai term for a Brahmanical practitioner.

The ancient Indian epic Ramayana features many powerful immortals and ascetics, which correspond to the Lersi of Thai Brahmanism.

The Lersi were renowned for their ascetic practices, spending years in the deep mountains practicing Vedic teachings and acquiring various extraordinary powers.

The Lanna shamanism also interacted with Buddhism and Brahmanism, and learned the secret methods of offering and sacrifice.

A variety of thoughts flashed through his mind, but Luo Feng cleared them away and said, "A demon of the 'Spiritual Demon' level... it seems that even with your binding magic artifacts, Senior Brother, it would be difficult to deal with it, wouldn't it?"

He felt that the drumbeats from the human-headed drum were indeed somewhat effective, quite useful against ordinary ghosts, but difficult to suppress demons of the highest level.

"These are demonic creatures of the 'Spiritual Level,' which are beyond our capabilities to contend with."

Alan nodded.

"Let's return to Mokusei-ji Temple immediately and write to Master Tapuon. If Master Tapuon were to intervene, perhaps there would be a chance to suppress this evil spirit of the 'Sui' level..."

The two looked at each other and both felt that this was the best decision.

"Let's go back to Mokusei-ji Temple first!"

Alan quickly prepared to walk forward.

"Wait a minute... Senior brother."

Luo Feng felt uneasy thinking about the scarecrows in the rice paddy on the way here.

"Returning the way we came might not be a good idea!"

He explained the matter of the scarecrows.

"The scarecrow in the rice paddy, the straw doll in the wooden house, the straw that mysteriously floats down from the roof... I always feel they're all related to straw or something like that. Shall we not take this risk and go another way?"

"it is good."

Alan nodded.

"I know a long way, let's go!"

He led the way, and the two did not take the original route, but instead took a longer route back to Muqing Temple.

Time flew by, and the sun had long since set. The sky grew darker and darker until the moon rose, at which point Luo Feng and Alan Shi returned to the temple outside the village.

"arrive."

Alan stopped in his tracks.

Luo Feng looked up at the sky. The moon overhead was not bright, but had a hazy halo around it, as if it had a luminous beard.

In his hometown, this is called "hairy moon," an ominous sign.

Something seems off...

He murmured to himself, a strange sense of unease and oppression settling over him.

"Let's go to the temple to rest first."

Alan Shi said in a deep voice, "I've made arrangements in the temple, so that thing won't come after us. This place can be considered a safe location."

"it is good."

Luo Feng also breathed a sigh of relief.

He was on edge the entire way, his mind like a taut string, so tense it could snap at any moment.

Only at this moment did he feel a sense of relief. He lowered his guard and entered Mokusei Temple at the same time as Alan.

However, the two of them froze on the spot as soon as they arrived at Bunsen Square.

In the moonlit square, a dozen scarecrows stood motionless.

A gust of wind suddenly blew in from somewhere, and as it passed by, it made a wailing sound, like the wailing of ghosts.

The wind was strong, making the nearby grass and trees rustle.

The little windmills in the scarecrows' hands were also spinning in the wind.

Their lower wooden poles are firmly rooted to the ground.

In that instant, Alanshi's expression changed.

Ding ding, ding ding ding...

The bell in her arms kept ringing.

"What?"

Luo Feng immediately felt a chill and knew that things were not going well.

"Retreat."

Alan quickly took out the human head drum and retreated step by step.

Luo Feng also retreated, but halfway back, he bumped into something.

"What?"

He glanced at it and saw a straw doll on the ground.

Go pick it up!

Go pick it up!

Luo Feng was in a daze, and as if possessed, he reached out and picked up the straw doll.

"You! What are you doing?!"

Alan shouted.

"Why aren't you throwing that thing away...?"

Luo Feng then woke up with a start and noticed that there was a straw doll in his hand.

Not good!

He immediately tried to throw away the straw doll in his hand, but the countless straw stalks seemed to stick to his flesh and pierce his palm.

Seeing this, Luo Feng felt a chill run down his spine.

He forcefully tore off the straw doll and threw it far away. His palms burned with a stinging pain, but he was still powerless to remove the straw stalks that had crawled into his hands.

"This...this kind of thing..."

A strange power was eroding his right hand. Luo Feng took a few steps back and looked at his hands, which had turned into straw at some point.

"Once you get infected... is it unavoidable?"

He was terrified, muttered a few words to himself, and froze on the spot, turning into a scarecrow.

Darkness enveloped consciousness.

Everything came to a halt.

【you are dead. 】

After experiencing death once again, turning into a straw man.

Luo Feng slowly opened his eyes, and he had gained some understanding and speculation about the killing rules of the "Straw Ghost".