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

Li Mu turned and walked out of Maolin Antique Shop.

As he reached the door, he glanced back.

The door behind the counter was ajar.

The young man named "Xiao Zhou" was standing behind the crack in the door, staring at him with his snake-like eyes.

……

It was almost dark when we came out of the antique market.

Li Mu stood on the street, took out his phone, and looked through the information sent by Zheng Hongyuan.

Sun Zhiming's address is in a high-end villa area in the east of Tianhai City, not far from Shen Yi's home. Zhou Lingsu's villa is in the suburbs, more than an hour's drive away.

Two lines, which one to take first?

After thinking for a moment, Li Mu decided to start with Sun Zhiming.

This man is rich and powerful; he is Zhou Lingsu's financial backer and spokesperson. If we can get him to talk, half of Zhou Lingsu's true colors will be revealed.

But he cannot deal with Sun Zhiming in the same way he dealt with Zhou Maolin.

Sun Zhiming is not an antique dealer, but an entrepreneur with a net worth of billions. He has bodyguards, drivers, and various social connections.

If you rashly affix talismans, you might be mistaken for a kidnapping or illegal detention.

We need to think of a more roundabout way.

Li Mu stood on the street for a while, then dialed Wang Qingyu's number.

"Hey? Li Mu?" Wang Qingyu's voice came from the other end of the phone, tinged with surprise. "Why did you suddenly decide to call me?"

"Miss Wang, I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"you say."

Do you know Sun Zhiming?

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"I know them, but we're not close. I've dealt with most people in the Tianhai business world to some extent. What's up?"

"I want to find an opportunity to meet him. A formal, unassuming meeting."

Wang Qingyu thought for a moment and said, "The Tianhai Chamber of Commerce is having a charity gala next week, and Sun Zhiming should be attending. I'll have the organizers add an extra invitation; you can go as my friend."

"Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome. By the way, how's the matter with Shen Yi's family going?"

"Still being processed."

"Okay, that's settled then!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Mu stood on the street, watching the traffic flow, and went through all the clues in his mind again.

Zhou Maolin has confirmed that Zhou Lingsu sent him to collect the bronze tree in order to fill the bells on the big tree.

The bells of the big tree.

Shen Xiao said that most of the bells on the big bronze tree were empty, and Zhou Lingsu needed to "restock" them.

The little devil raised in the jar, the soul trapped on the bronze tree—these are all "goods".

The wealthy families selected as targets are the breeding ground for "goods".

The bells on that great bronze tree need to be filled with the souls of the dead. And the quality of the souls determines the "quality" of the bells.

The resentment of ordinary people's dead souls is not enough, and the little ghosts they create are too weak to be of any use.

But wealthy families often have more conflicts, more entanglements of interests, and more resentment. Children raised in such an environment are more resentful and of higher character.

This is why Zhou Lingsu chose families with financial resources as her targets—not because of their money, but because their "environment" could raise better children.

Thinking of this, Li Mu felt a chill run down his spine.

This person is not raising ghosts.

She is "planting" a ghost.

Use each family as soil to plant the seeds of evil, and then harvest them when the harvest season arrives.

The imps that were picked would be stuffed into the bells of the great bronze tree, becoming sacrifices in some evil ritual.

Li Mu took a deep breath, put his phone in his pocket, and hailed a taxi.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

Li Mu thought for a moment.

I gave them an address: "Tianhai City God Temple".

Since the City God knows about this, he should know more.

Tianhai City God Temple.

As night fell, the area around the City God Temple became quiet.

The streetlights couldn't reach the temple gate; only the lights of distant residential buildings reflected on the horizon, casting shadows over this half of the ancient buildings.

Li Mu pushed open the half-closed mountain gate and entered the main hall.

There were no lights in the main hall, only the eternal lamp in front of the shrine emitted a faint light, which shone on the statue of the City God, making his majestic face appear to flicker between light and shadow.

"They're here?" a voice came from behind the statue.

Master Zhao emerged from the shadows, carrying a cane and wearing a gray robe, looking like an ordinary old temple keeper.

"Where is the City God?" Li Mu asked.

"The City God is not here today." Steward Zhao sat down on a chair next to the offering table and gestured for Li Mu to sit down as well. "If there's anything you need, just tell me."

Li Mu sat down opposite Chief Zhao and recounted in detail the information he had learned from Shen Xiao that day, as well as the information he had pried out of Zhou Maolin.

After listening, Chief Zhao remained silent for a long time.

Then he took out a thin booklet from his sleeve and handed it to Li Mu.

"This is a copy of the Tianhai City God's records from 120 years ago. The City God asked me to find it when you asked about the Bronze Tree."

Li Mu took the booklet and turned to the first page.

The file was written with a brush, the handwriting was neat, but the paper was yellowed and brittle, and there were many missing pieces at the corners.

"In the autumn of the thirtieth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, the Tianhai City God's Office received a report that a large number of the dead had gone missing in the Dongshan area. Underworld officials investigating discovered that someone had set up a soul-locking array to imprison the dead. Upon investigation, it was found that the array was set up by Zhou Yan of the Zhou family of Tianhai. Zhou Yan used evil magic to refine the souls, creating a Soul Bell Tree with hundreds of bells, trapping the dead within. The City God's Office dispatched underworld officials to apprehend him, but to no avail. Zhou Yan and the Soul Bell Tree disappeared without a trace."

Li Mu turned to the second page.

"In the spring of the thirty-first year of the Guangxu reign, Shen Heming, a disciple of the Xuanmen sect, arrived in Tianhai, claiming that he had been entrusted by his sect to investigate Zhou Yan. The City God Bureau cooperated with him in the investigation. In the autumn of the same year, they discovered the core of the Soul-Locking Array in the mass grave ditch of Dongshan. There was a huge rock in the array, engraved with runes, which was the core of the array. Shen Heming failed to break the array and was injured instead."

Page 3.

"In the thirty-second year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign, Zhou Yan appeared in Tianhai and fought Shen Heming atop Dongshan Mountain. The battle was undecided, and Zhou Yan fled. Shen Heming was seriously injured and died a month later. Before his death, he left a message: 'Zhou Yan is not dead, and the evil weapon is not destroyed.'"

The fourth page is the last page, and the handwriting is messy.

"After Zhou Yan disappeared, the Soul-Locking Array was left unmaintained and sealed itself. The Soul Bell Tree has vanished without a trace. This case remains unsolved and is listed as an unsolved case, awaiting investigation by future generations."

Li Mu closed the booklet and looked at Chief Zhao.

"What's written in the case file basically matches what Shen Xiao said."

"Yes." Chief Zhao nodded. "But what the case file doesn't say is that the City God suspects Zhou Yan wasn't alone back then. He had someone backing him."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know." Steward Zhao shook his head. "The City God has investigated for over a hundred years but still hasn't figured it out. He only knows that Zhou Yan's evil arts don't seem to be something he figured out on his own; there's a deeper source behind them."

"Is the City God not here today? Did he go to investigate this matter?"

Zhao, the steward, glanced at him but did not answer directly. Instead, he said something that surprised Li Mu.

"Don't ask questions about the City God's affairs that you shouldn't. Just do your job. When do you plan to deal with that little bronze tree?"

"Three days from now, whatever the outcome, I will deal with the spirits on that bronze tree."

"Do you need any help?"

Li Mu thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"Not for now. If it can't be resolved, I'll go see the City God."

Master Zhao stood up, leaning on his cane, and slowly walked towards the depths of the main hall.

"Be careful. Those people are not easy to deal with."

Li Mu stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhao, the head of the temple, and then turned and walked out of the City God Temple.