People worship their ancestors: I'm just burning some paper money, how did I become a Taoist ma

In the period that followed, Li Mu also received several small religious rites through introductions!

The pay for each order isn't much, ranging from a few thousand to twenty or thirty thousand for the more generous ones!

During this period, Li Mu gradually discovered some problems.

The Taoist lineage also exists in this world, but many of its concepts are too general and too unrealistic, so they don't have much effect even in this world!

It's completely different from what he learned in his previous life!

The most obvious example is the Taoist culture that has been passed down in this world, which also has no effect on the worship of ancestors!

Therefore, the genuine rituals performed by Li Mu did indeed win over some people, making them willingly spend money, and they all said that in the past, finding someone to perform rituals was simply giving away money!

Some people even said they would ask Li Mu for help with anything they needed in the future!

Li Mu was quite happy about this, since performing more rituals could also help him grow!

After all, he has to draw talismans, chant incantations, and perform rituals for each case, which is very taxing. But after each case is depleted and he recovers, he can feel that his "cultivation" has increased slightly and his skills and procedures have become more proficient!

Just like playing a game, the experience bar increases a little bit with each task you complete.

Although it's slow, at least we can see hope.

……

That afternoon, Li Mu was at home studying a Taoist classic he had bought online.

Most of the content is fake, but you can occasionally find some useful, though not very useful, things in it.

Just as Li Mu was watching intently, his cell phone, which was on the table, rang!

It was an unfamiliar number, from a local Tianhai city.

"Hello, is this Mr. Li?" The voice on the other end of the phone was that of a middle-aged man, steady and powerful, sounding like he was in business.

"Yes, who are you?"

"My name is Zheng Hongyuan. I was introduced to you by Wang Qingyu." The middle-aged man paused. "Mr. Li, I've encountered some problems and would like to ask for your help."

"What is it?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Zheng Hongyuan said something that made Li Mu's heart skip a beat.

"Mr. Li, have you ever heard of... raising ghosts?"

"Raising ghosts?"

Li Mu's fingers tightened slightly as he gripped his phone.

He had heard this term countless times in his previous life, mostly in folk tales, such as "raising a ghost child" and the like. It sounded mysterious, but he had never seen anything real.

The word itself sounded rather eerie, and Li Mu really didn't expect anyone to mention such a thing to him over the phone!

In this world, he dealt with lingering spirits, spirits trapped by objects, and the vengeful spirits of former homeowners, but the meaning of "raising ghosts" is far more complex than those cases he had dealt with.

Raising ghosts doesn't mean that the deceased's spirits linger on their own.

It was done intentionally by someone.

It is a tool used by the living to imprison the souls of the dead and refine them for their own use.

In Taoist precepts, this is among the most forbidden.

"Mr. Zheng, it's hard to explain over the phone. Let's arrange a place to meet and talk in person." Li Mu's tone became serious.

"Okay, Mr. Li, are you available now? I'll have someone come pick you up."

"No need to pick me up. Just tell me the location, and I'll go there myself."

"Well... Tianhai Hotel, rooftop executive lounge, I'll be waiting for you there. Just tell me my name."

After hanging up the phone, Li Mu sat on the sofa in silence for a moment.

He picked up his phone and sent Wang Qingyu a message: "How much do you know about Zheng Hongyuan?"

"The head of the Zheng family in Tianhai, who's in real estate and finance, is worth no less than our Wang family. What's up? Did he contact you?" Wang Qingyu replied immediately.

"Yes, he said you introduced him!"

"Yes! The problems you've handled recently have been widely praised. Although your reputation isn't immediately apparent, it's gradually spreading within your inner circle, which is why Zheng Hongyuan came to me!"

"Okay, I understand, thank you!"

Li Mu didn't ask any further questions; the specifics would become clear once they met.

He changed his clothes, checked and packed everything he needed, and then went out!

……

Tianhai Hotel, Rooftop Executive Lounge.

When Li Mu mentioned Zheng Hongyuan's name, the waiter immediately and respectfully led him to a private room by the window.

As I pushed open the door, a man in his fifties stood up.

Zheng Hongyuan was younger than Li Mu had imagined. He was wearing a dark gray custom-made suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he exuded the shrewdness and competence of a successful businessman. But in his eyes, there was an undisguised weariness and anxiety.

"Mr. Li, please have a seat." Zheng Hongyuan extended his hand with a firm grip.

The two sat down, and the waiter served tea before leaving the private room and closing the door.

Zheng Hongyuan didn't beat around the bush; he took out a stack of photos from his briefcase and pushed them in front of Li Mu.

"Mr. Li, please take a look at this first."

Li Mu picked up the photos and looked through them one by one.

The photos show the interior of a luxurious villa, but every photo has one thing in common—faint shadows in the corners, on the ceiling, and at the corners of the stairs.

It's not a problem with the photography or the lighting; it's something real that shouldn't be in the photo.

It's not a problem with the photography or the lighting; it's something real that shouldn't be in the photo.

The last photo shows a room with a shrine in the center. Inside the shrine is not a statue of a deity, but a palm-sized, dark jar. The jar is wrapped with red rope and covered with yellow paper bearing runes familiar to Li Mu.

Soul-binding talisman.

Li Mu's eyes narrowed.

"Is this your home?"

"It's not my home." Zheng Hongyuan shook his head, his voice low. "It's the home of one of my business partners. He runs a building materials business in Tianhai. His surname is Liu, and his name is Liu Jianguo. Three months ago, his son brought back a jar from outside, saying it was a handicraft given to him by a friend, and he put it in the house as decoration."

"And then?" Li Mu pressed.

"Then things started to go wrong." Zheng Hongyuan tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "First, his nanny said she heard a child crying all night. Then, Liu Jianguo's wife woke up in the middle of the night and saw the shadow of a small child standing at the head of the bed, dark and less than a meter tall. After that, Liu Jianguo himself started having nightmares, dreaming that a child was choking him and trying to kill him."

Li Mu's brows furrowed more and more deeply.

"Didn't they have someone look at it?"

"We've invited several," Zheng Hongyuan said with a wry smile. "One self-proclaimed expert went in, but came out pale-faced after less than ten minutes, refusing to go back in and not even asking for money. Another Taoist priest performed rituals in the villa for three days, and on the morning of the fourth day, he was found unconscious in the living room. He was taken to the hospital, and the doctor said he was severely frightened and had suffered serious mental trauma."

Li Mu put down the photo and looked at Zheng Hongyuan.

"Mr. Zheng, what does this have to do with you? Why are you getting involved?"

Zheng Hongyuan was silent for a moment, then took out another document from his briefcase.

It was a copy of a will.

"Liu Jianguo is my long-time business partner. We've been doing business together for twenty years. He made this will a month ago, leaving 30% of his assets to me, on only one condition—help me get rid of that thing and save his family's lives."