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

When Li Mu came down from Dongshan, it was already dawn.

The taxi driver was still waiting by the roadside. Seeing him disheveled, with his clothes stained with ash and dark red liquid, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Dude, did you... fall?"

"Yeah, the road's tough." Li Mu opened the car door, got in, and leaned back in his seat. "Back to the city."

The driver glanced at him several times in the rearview mirror, but didn't ask any more questions, and started the car.

Li Mu closed his eyes, his mind replaying the events at the Lao Jun Temple.

He remembered what the shadowy figure had said—"I'm just a gatekeeper. The people upstairs already know you touched the jars here."

The people above.

In other words, this organization has a hierarchy and a division of labor. The gatekeepers are responsible for guarding the jars, the jar sellers are responsible for distributing them, and the ghost breeders are responsible for creating little ghosts.

Who are those people up there? Where are they? What is their ultimate goal?

As Li Mu pondered these thoughts, drowsiness overcame him, and he drifted off to sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, the car was already parked at the entrance of his residential compound.

"Brother, we're here." The driver turned around and called to him.

Li Mu rubbed his eyes, paid the fare, and got out of the car.

The first thing Li Mu did upon returning home was to take the bulging paper package out of his bag, open the small metal box at the back of the wardrobe, and put the paper package inside.

Inside the iron box were the black token that the City God had given him, as well as several spare talismans that he had drawn.

He affixed three spirit-sealing talismans to the iron box and a house-protecting talisman to the wardrobe door before closing it.

After taking a shower and changing into clean clothes, Li Mu lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When I woke up again, it was already past 2 p.m.

Li Mu picked up his phone and glanced at it; there were more than a dozen unread messages.

Zheng Hongyuan sent two messages. One was "Mr. Li, I have found out some new information," and the other was "Call me back when it is convenient."

Wang Qingyu sent a message: "I heard you went to Dongcheng?"

Li Xiaoran posted several photos, all of which were of her travels—the seaside, the beach, and the food, with captions such as "Look how blue the sea is here," "I ate this and it was super delicious," and "I brought you a souvenir."

Li Muxian called Zheng Hongyuan back.

"What did you find out?"

"I had my people investigate those three people you asked me to look into, and we found they have something in common," Zheng Hongyuan said with a hint of urgency. "All three of them participated in the same event six months ago."

"What activity?"

"A chamber of commerce gathering in Qingxi Ancient Town. The chamber of commerce of Dongcheng District, Tianhai City, organized a tour of the ancient town and invited some entrepreneurs from Dongcheng District to participate. Chen Guodong, Sun Lihua, and Zhao Guoqiang all went."

"What happens after the party?"

"After the party, each of these three people had an extra jar in their home." Zheng Hongyuan paused, "But interestingly, none of them admitted to buying it. Chen Guodong said it was his daughter who bought it, Sun Lihua said it was her husband, and Zhao Guoqiang said it was his son. They all said it was bought by other family members."

Li Mu frowned.

"In other words, that jar was deliberately delivered into these families through a younger member of the family."

"Yes. And I checked the schedules of those younger people, and the time they went to Qingxi Ancient Town coincided perfectly with the time of the Chamber of Commerce gathering."

Li Mu leaned back on the sofa, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.

"Mr. Zheng, could you please help me find out who organized that chamber of commerce gathering and the complete list of attendees?"

"They're already investigating. The results should be available in the next couple of days."

"it is good."

After hanging up the phone, if he could only read one urban novel in his entire life, it would probably be "Everyone Worships Ancestors: I Burned Some Paper Money and Became a Celestial Master." Li Mu then sent Wang Qingyu another message: " Went to the East City to take care of some business, nothing serious. I'm back."

Wang Qingyu replied instantly: "Oh! There's a dinner party next Friday. Everyone there is a big shot in Tianhai City. Do you want to come? It'll be good for you to get to know people."

Li Mu thought for a moment, then typed back: "What kind of dinner party?"

"It's just a few friends getting together to talk about business, and... you know. Your reputation has spread in our small circle recently, and some people want to get to know you."

Li Mu hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

He definitely needs to expand his network right now.

If those ghost breeders are indeed an organization, it would be too slow for him to investigate alone.

Getting to know more people and having more sources of information is never a bad thing.

……

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Li Mu was at home studying the fragment of the Lao Jun Temple jar when his phone rang again.

It was an unfamiliar number.

"Feed?"

"Li Mu, it's me." An aged voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding somewhat familiar.

Li Mu was taken aback for a moment, then realized: "Manager Zhao?"

This was truly beyond his expectations; the people of the underworld actually knew how to use cell phones?

"The City God wants to see you. Come now."

"Now?"

"Yes. The City God said you have something new, so don't keep it to yourself, bring it over."

Li Mu's heart skipped a beat.

He had just collected dozens of little ghosts from the Lao Jun Temple in the early hours of the morning, and the City God found out immediately.

That's incredibly well-informed!

"Okay, I'll be right there."

The Tianhai City God Temple remains unchanged, eerily quiet.

When Li Mu entered the main hall, the City God was already sitting in the armchair next to the shrine, holding a cup of tea and sipping it slowly, without any worry about being discovered!

Zhao, the steward, stood behind him, expressionless.

"You've arrived?" The City God put down his teacup and beckoned to him. "Bring me the things."

Li Mu took the paper package out of his bag and placed it on the offering table.

The City God glanced at the paper package and frowned slightly.

"So many?"

"Thirty-seven in total," Li Mu said. "They were all collected from a jar at the Lao Jun Temple in Dongshan."

The City God stood up, walked to the offering table, reached out and lightly pressed his hand on the paper package, closed his eyes and sensed it for a few seconds.

Then he opened his eyes, his expression becoming somewhat serious.

"You're filled with resentment! Tell me what happened to you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Mu recounted his experience at Lao Jun Temple the previous night in detail.

After listening to Li Mu's story, the City God took a deep breath!

"Li Mu, let me make this clear to you. The ghost keeper behind these little devils is not someone you can deal with. What you encountered last night was merely a gatekeeper puppet; the real mastermind has not yet shown himself."

"Does the City God mean... that I should stop?"

"What I mean is, you can investigate, but be careful," the City God said, his gaze piercing. "The help I can offer is limited. The underworld doesn't concern itself with the affairs of the living; that's the rule. Therefore, I cannot guarantee your safety; a single misstep could put your life in danger!"

"I understand. I haven't lived enough yet, and I won't easily joke around with my life!" Li Mu smiled.

"Good that you understand." The City God waved his hand. "Alright, I'll accept the gifts. You may leave. Remember, don't fight head-on. If you can't win, run. As long as you're alive, you can always make a comeback."

"Thank you, City God."

……