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

Li Mu leaned back on the sofa and stared at Sun Zhiming's photo on his phone screen for a long time.

Vice President of Dongcheng District Chamber of Commerce. Chairman of Zhiyuan Group. Member of Collectors Association.

A businessman with a net worth of billions organized a tour of an ancient town. Subsequently, the homes of the three entrepreneurs who participated in the tour all showed signs of being invaded by a ghost.

This is no coincidence.

Li Mu dialed Zheng Hongyuan's number.

"Mr. Zheng, how much do you know about Sun Zhiming?"

"Most people in Tianhai's business community know him. He has one particular characteristic: he believes in feng shui very deeply. He has a statue of Guan Gong in his office, a statue of the God of Wealth in his home, consults the almanac before going out to discuss business, and visits the Tongling Temple to worship his ancestors every week."

"Does he have any...special circles? Like being close to the antique world, or some 'masters'?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm reminded of something. Sun Zhiming is very close to a non-governmental organization called the 'Spiritual Retreat Society.' This organization is said to study traditional culture and often organizes lectures, meditation sessions, and the like. It has some influence in the upper echelons of Tianhai's social circle, but I'm not quite sure what they do specifically."

"A spiritual retreat?"

"Yes. The president is a woman, I forgot her name. I heard she's quite skilled, and many people consult her for feng shui and fortune-telling. Are you interested in getting to know her?"

Li Mu pondered for a moment: "No rush. Let's figure out Sun Zhiming's line of work first."

"Okay. I'll have someone continue the investigation."

After hanging up the phone, Li Mu sat in Shen Yi's villa for a while longer.

He's thinking about something.

The bronze tree, the stones of Dongshan Village, the jars of Laojun Temple, the rune walls of Qingxi Ancient Town... these clues are like threads, slowly twisting into a rope.

Zhou Yan 120 years ago, now Sun Zhiming, spiritual retreat, ghost raiser.

What exactly is the relationship between these people?

Li Mu stood up, walked to the door of the study, and checked the talisman on the door.

The talisman was intact, and its golden light remained.

He turned and went downstairs, leaving the villa.

……

The next morning, Li Mu received a call from Shen Yi, who asked to meet him!

Li Mu frowned upon hearing this, then agreed, wondering what Shen Yi wanted to do by inviting him at this time.

Soon after, Li Mu arrived at the agreed-upon place, a shop on the antique street!

Li Mu pushed open the door and went in, and saw a person sitting in the shop, who was Shen Yi.

However, upon closer observation, Li Mu had a strange feeling. The Shen Yi in front of him seemed different from the one he had met at the villa yesterday!

"Master Li, we meet again." The young man stood up, smiled slightly, and said, "Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Shen Xiao, and Shen Yi is my brother."

He sensed something was off about the young man at the dinner party yesterday. Later, when Shen Yi invited him to see the villa, the man who called himself Shen Yi didn't seem to have that same strange feeling about him.

This person looks extremely similar to Shen Yi, but is younger and has fairer skin, but there are still obvious differences in his demeanor!

The Shen Xiao in front of me is the same "Shen Yi" from yesterday's dinner party, and the person who accompanied him to the villa is not the one in front of me!

"What's your purpose in leading me to your brother's villa?" Li Mu asked bluntly.

Shen Xiao's smile remained unchanged. "Master Li is indeed a wise man. My brother's bronze tree wasn't bought by him, it was bought by me. I know there's something wrong with it, but I can't solve it. I need to find someone who can, so I'll have to test your abilities."

"You sent your brother into danger just to test my skills?" Li Mu sneered.

Follow the pen of a lazy person and embark on an adventure in Cola Novels titled "Everyone Worships Ancestors: I Burned Some Paper Money and Became a Celestial Master".

Shen Xiao looked at Li Mu, remained silent for a few seconds, then took out a black wooden box from the drawer and placed it on the table.

The wooden box was small, about the size of a palm, and completely black, making it impossible to tell what kind of wood it was made of.

Li Mu sensed a faint fluctuation on the surface of the wooden box, which didn't seem like evil energy, but rather more like a sacred aura.

"Open it and take a look," Shen Xiao said.

Li Mu glanced at him and reached out to open the wooden box.

A jade pendant lay inside the box.

The jade plaque is rectangular, entirely emerald green, with a rune engraved on the front and two characters engraved on the back:

"Mysterious Gate".

Li Mu stared at those two words, his pupils shrinking slightly.

Xuanmen (玄门).

The Taoist name for its own lineage.

"This is something passed down from my ancestors." Shen Xiao's voice became low. "My ancestors were disciples of the Xuanmen sect. One hundred and twenty years ago, a major incident occurred in Tianhai. The Xuanmen sect sent someone to handle it. That person's surname was Shen, and he was my great-great-grandfather."

Li Mu raised his head and looked at Shen Xiao with a strange expression.

"That's something unexpected I heard."

The more you learn about this world, the more astonishing it becomes, as if your understanding is never complete.

"However, the family genealogy doesn't record everything that happened afterward. All we know is that my great-grandfather came to Tianhai, found the Zhou family, but ultimately failed. He couldn't find the bronze tree or the imprisoned souls. My great-grandfather died soon after returning to the sect, filled with sorrow." Shen Xiao's tone was calm, but there was a subtle, almost imperceptible, tremor in his eyes. "One hundred and twenty years later, this bronze tree reappeared in Tianhai. It wasn't a coincidence; someone did it deliberately."

"So you've been waiting for someone who can handle this."

"Yes." Shen Xiao looked at Li Mu. "Master Li, you are the person I've been looking for."

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

"Shen Xiao, just tell me what you want me to do."

"I've looked into the person who sold the bronze tree to Zhou Maolin. It's Liu Laogen, a farmer from Dongshan Village. I've also been to the land where he dug up the bronze tree. You saw the stone with runes engraved in the mass grave yesterday too."

Li Mu's heart stirred.

"Go on."

"That stone is the core of the formation. The bronze tree is merely a magical artifact; the stone is the source. One hundred and twenty years ago, Zhou Yan set up a soul-locking formation here, imprisoning the nearby dead souls inside the bronze tree. Later, he was pursued by the Xuanmen sect and fled in haste, not having had time to take the bronze tree with him, so he buried it in the ground. One hundred and twenty years later, someone dug it up with the help of local villagers and let it circulate."

"A descendant of Zhou Yan?"

"Very likely," Shen Xiao said. "Although the Zhou family has fallen, the lineage of their evil arts has not been broken. I've investigated Zhou Maolin. He's not an ordinary antique dealer. His grandfather was from a collateral branch of the Zhou family."

Li Mu's mind raced.

Zhou Maolin, Sun Zhiming, spiritual societies, ghost breeders...

These clues are gradually piecing together a complete picture.

"Where is Sun Zhiming? What is his connection to this?"

Shen Xiao took another document out of the drawer and pushed it in front of Li Mu.

"Sun Zhiming is a core member of the spiritual retreat. The president of the spiritual retreat is Zhou Lingsu. She is a direct descendant of Zhou Yan."

Li Mu opened the file, which contained Zhou Lingsu's photo and personal information.

A woman in her forties, with a beautiful face, wearing a white robe, stood in an antique-style room, her hands clasped together and a smile on her face.

Below the photo is her biography: founder of a spiritual retreat, researcher of traditional culture, and inheritor of Taoist culture.