I discovered a world bug.

In this divination, the scene Lin Shu saw was remarkably clear.

Although there are still some flaws in the details—for example, he can't see the faces of the people around him clearly, nor can he see what he is carrying in his hands, nor does he know why he went to the pedestrian street.

Even so, everything I saw was enough to help me avoid the risks.

Xu Changshun once said that the results of divination can be changed.

It's that simple—as long as you don't go to the pedestrian street for two days, death will absolutely not happen...

...Won't that happen?

Not necessarily.

The previous death was a "lightning tribulation," which can also be interpreted as "divine retribution" or an "accident."

But this time, I saw that person walk right past me.

And, right after he passed by, she collapsed without warning.

Judging from the figure of the passerby in the subsequent footage, that person did not go back to check the situation.

----A living, breathing person falls down right next to you. How can you not turn around and look?

This makes no sense at all!

Unless, you already knew he would fall.

That was a...

Assassin?

The word popped into Lin Shu's mind, and he instantly felt a chill run down his spine.

Someone is watching me.

Not only did he not know who they were, he didn't even know what their purpose was!

Could it also be for Xu Changshun's inheritance?

Based on this reasoning, Xu Changshun may have been targeted long ago.

His death may not even have been the "divine retribution" he thought he was receiving.

After all, even the method of death was exactly the same: "cardiac arrest"...

The veins on Lin Shu's forehead throbbed wildly. After realizing he was in "man-made danger," his first reaction was...

Call the police.

But what should I say when I call the police?

He claims he predicted his death using divination methods and is therefore seeking protection.

Who will believe?

As things stand, the ritual of "divination" remains in a state of "not being able to be verified externally." One can see it, but others cannot, and one cannot use the future seen to verify the authenticity of the divination.

Because the moment the truth is proven is the moment one dies.

If all else fails, commit a minor offense and spend 15 days in jail.

That won't work either.

Once your whereabouts are locked, it doesn't really matter whether you die sooner or later.

This seems to have become a dead end. With the enemy in the dark and us in the light, even if we wanted to fight back, it seems we had no way to do so.

What's even more terrifying is that they have absolutely no idea what methods the enemy hiding in the shadows is using.

Did they use some kind of chemical agent, some special tool, or something similar...?

Ritual?

If it really is a "ritual," then the perpetrator's methods become even more unpredictable.

But one thing is certain: at least the other party's methods must rely on "contact" to be effective.

If you're going to have contact with someone, they have to be right beside you.

If you keep someone close to you, you'll inevitably be exposed.

So, is there any way... I can counter them?

Raising snakes.

Lin Shu was startled.

Holy crap... Xu Changshun, you even foresaw this?!

Or was he always relying on this ritual to fight against potential "enemies"?

Without a second thought, Lin Shu quickly turned on the computer left behind by Xu Changshun.

Typing the keywords "snake farming" into the search box instantly brings up a document.

[Research, Practice, and Speculations on the Future Direction of Snake Farming Methods]

It remains in his usual academic paper style.

Lin Shu opened the document, and just like a real academic paper, it began with a summary abstract by Xu Changshun.

"The illusory serpent is the soul of the serpent; the serpent is without shadow or form, yet it devours people from a thousand miles away."

"Anyone who wishes to practice this art must first understand the principle of the snake's return—the snake is attached to its nest, and even after death, its spirit does not disperse; it can still be summoned, bound, and commanded..."

Following a lengthy introduction quoted from ancient texts, Xu Changshun offers his personal interpretation of the "snake-raising" ritual.

"The art of snake raising and the Miao Gu technique have a high degree of overlap in their rituals. Both require the use of venomous insects as a catalyst and achieve specific effects through complex rituals."

"Some people believe that the snake-raising technique of the Meishan School and the snake-poisoning technique of Miao witchcraft are the same kind of magic. However, based on my research and judgment, the two may have the same origin, but they have evolved into two completely different methods over a long period of time."

"If we use empirical evidence, it is clear that the Meishan snake-raising technique has been lost relatively little during its transmission."

"Meanwhile, the Miao snake poison technique has gradually degenerated into a relatively complex 'poison-making process'."

"The reason I came to this conclusion is that during my research on snake gu techniques, I discovered that the 'gu techniques' that have been passed down have completely lost the traces of rituals. The process of making gu has no time limit, nor any strict restrictions on actions or language, and it does not conform to the four elements of rituals of place, method, time, and speech at all. On the contrary, there are clear regulations on the types of snakes and the methods of extracting venom."

"This is more like a chemical or biological experiment than a ritual..."

"...In conclusion, I have decided to abandon the use of Miao snake gu techniques to supplement the Meishan snake-raising technique. Instead, I will conduct extensive research and verification to extract overlapping rituals from the orally transmitted snake-raising methods, and repeatedly recombine, sort, and trace the origins of these rituals."

"Ultimately, I developed a set of rituals that were proven to be usable and verified their authenticity."

"Similar to the yarrow stalk and tortoise shell divination method, this ritual is not perfect, but fortunately it is already usable..."

After summarizing the introduction, Xu Changshun meticulously recorded his research process—this content was not of much reference value to Lin Shu for the time being, so he simply skipped it and went directly to the final "methodology" section.

"To complete the snake-raising ritual, one must strictly adhere to the four elements of location, method, time, and words. These four key elements are also important guarantees for the effectiveness of all rituals."

"Based on this principle, I have roughly divided the snake-raising ritual into five parts."

"If any part of the process—refining materials, extracting the soul, sealing the spirit, shaping the form, and forming the bond—goes astray, the ritual will fail."

Part One: Material Refining

"Those performing the ritual must select a live venomous snake, such as a viper or cobra, as the guide, and prepare a ceramic jar, a complete snake slough, a cow horn horn, cinnabar, yellow paper, a writing brush, sufficient amounts of water, wine, rooster blood, lard, and at least 200 ml of their own fresh blood for backup..."

As Lin Shu read line by line, her brows gradually furrowed.

Complex.

It's too complicated!

He genuinely believed that the so-called "snake-raising method" was just like the Miao witchcraft, where as long as you found a venomous snake, put it in a jar and feed it every day, and performed some simple rituals, you could succeed.

But that's not actually the case at all.

The section on "refining materials" alone is three pages long, with each type of material having specific characteristics and requirements.

The other steps, such as soul extraction and spirit sealing, are even more complicated, and each step requires extremely precise control.

No wonder Xu Changshun said that there are many masters who study snake-raising methods, but few who can actually raise snakes successfully.

Although the entire ritual does not span a long period of time, from refining the materials to the final "contractual sacrifice", it only takes about 24 hours.

But these complex rituals are like a continuous, uninterrupted gamble; only by winning every single round can you achieve final success.

If even one step in the process goes wrong, the final result will be failure.

Perhaps it wasn't a complete failure; Xu Changshun also recorded some "semi-finished products," such as raising "yin snakes" that would turn on him.

But that's another issue...

After reading through everything, Lin Shu finally understood why those cultivators spoke of "wealth, companions, Dharma, and land."

Wealth is something that is incredibly important no matter where you look.

Without start-up capital, it would be difficult to even gather the materials needed to raise snakes.

After a rough calculation, he found that apart from the small amount of usable materials left by Xu Changshun himself, including common items such as ox horns, cinnabar, and yellow paper, the most valuable item was the ancient jade used to nourish the yin energy during the "soul sealing" process.

This thing is really hard to find—it's not even a matter of money.

Xu Changshun himself did not stay behind.

However, he did offer an alternative solution: if ancient jade cannot be found, it can be compensated for by the element of "ground".

Move the snake-breeding site to cemeteries or mass graves.

The only drawback to doing this is that the caster must remain in the mass grave throughout the entire process and cannot leave for even a moment...