One divination a day, a trainee celestial master

Jiang Shou sat at the mahogany desk, not even bothering to eat breakfast, and opened the book "Shouyi Guan: Introduction to the Three Arts".

With his fingers wet with saliva, he finally found the diagram for the [Soul Summoning Talisman] on the last few pages of the [Basic Talisman Techniques].

Jiang Shou's scalp tingled at just one glance.

"Holy crap... this [Soul-Soothing Talisman] is on a completely different level!"

On the pages, the lines of the [Summoning Talisman] were extremely intricate and complex, not only with bizarre patterns but also interspersed with many talismanic characters resembling ancient hieroglyphics. Jiang Shouguang stared at it for a minute before his eyes started to ache, and his mind, which had been perfectly clear due to the infusion of true energy, began to ache faintly.

Jiang Shou rubbed his temples, then looked down and saw a long note in tiny characters below the talisman.

He read it word by word, his face growing darker with each reading.

[Note: This talisman calms the soul and stabilizes the spirit, pacifying the individual's own fears; it summons the soul and guides the spirit, seizing the power of heaven and earth. This talisman is not something an ordinary person can draw. When drawing it, one must mobilize the true energy within the body, concentrating the vital energy at the tip of the brush, completing the drawing in one breath. Without the blessing of true energy, the talisman paper is useless, at best backfiring on the mind and spirit of the drawer, at worst attracting the covetousness of wandering ghosts and spirits.]

[Note: When applying this talisman, the practitioner must infuse their true energy into their mind, recite the soul-gathering incantation, and ignite the talisman paper.]

"..."

Jiang Shou's facial muscles twitched violently as he read this passage.

"Holy crap!"

He mentally slammed the table and roared, "This thing is way too troublesome! It requires true energy to enhance the brush tip? And it requires true energy to ignite a fire and recite incantations?!"

Jiang Shou subconsciously touched his lower abdomen. Although he did have a lemon-sized ball of true energy in his dantian, who knew how much it would take to draw this [Soul Summoning Talisman]! What if he ran out of true energy halfway through and it was forcibly drained? Wouldn't he be completely helpless on the spot, suffer a qi deviation, and die instantly?

Moreover, even if one were exceptionally gifted and had sufficient true energy to draw the talisman, one could still achieve this.

and then?

Holding this piece of paper with a red circle drawn on it, I ran to the third floor of the inpatient department of Qiyun County People's Hospital and rushed into the intensive care unit.

Jiang Shou imagined the scene: himself dressed in a Taoist robe, standing in front of a patient's bedside, covered in tubes and connected to a ventilator and electrocardiogram monitor, taking out a lighter to burn the talisman, and then dancing around shouting, "Soul, return!"

"No, no, absolutely not!" Jiang Shou shook his head vigorously, a chill running down his spine. "What kind of place is a hospital? It's where the light of materialism shines brightest, and the defenses of science are strongest! If I dared to openly engage in feudal superstition in there, the doctors and nurses would immediately ring the alarm, inject me with a sedative in the thigh, and then send me to the mental hospital next door!"

This job is impossible! The difficulty level and the risk of social death are both way too damn high!

Jiang Shou weighed the options in his mind. This Winter Solstice Order was like a bounty board in a game. If he received a high-difficulty task that was beyond his level, what would happen if he chose to give up and not complete it?

Will the system erase the host? Probably not, this wooden sign looks quite respectable. Will new daily tasks automatically refresh tomorrow?

"That must be it!" Jiang Shou quickly convinced himself, relying on his years of experience playing games.

He stood up, clasped his hands together, and bowed to the air, silently chanting with utmost sincerity, "Three Pure Ones Patriarch, old man, please forgive me. It's not that I'm unwilling to rescue people, but the difficulty and location of this mission are far beyond my capabilities. My magical power is currently too weak, and I'm afraid I'll tarnish the reputation of our Shouyi Temple."

"Please, Ancestral Master, have mercy and refresh my 'Gold in the Soil' treasure hunting quest tomorrow! Your disciple will definitely complete it perfectly!"

Jiang Shou made up his mind to be a "deserter" for today and ignore Sui Hanling's mission about the soul separation disorder.

"Since we're not taking orders today, we might as well take advantage of the free time and go down the mountain to do some shopping."

Jiang Shou patted his empty stomach. "I'll also go to the farmers' market or wholesale street. I've ruined too much of the yellow paper and cinnabar I bought last time. I need to quickly replenish some high-quality stuff. Hmm... and I'll also pick up a few fat fish from Old Jiang's seafood stall."

After thinking it over, Jiang Shou took off his conspicuous blue Taoist robe and put on a comfortable tracksuit.

After washing up, Jiang Shou whistled and walked out of the main hall in a very relaxed mood.

As soon as I stepped outside, I saw Fat Tiger still in that "dead pig doesn't care about boiling water" posture, lazily dozing off on the high threshold of the gate.

"Hey, Fat Tiger." Jiang Shou walked over, looking down at the fat cat, and chuckled. "I'm taking a day off today. I'm going down the mountain to get some ingredients. You stay home and guard the house. I'll make you some pan-fried yellow croaker again tonight."

The fat orange cat didn't even open its eyes, its body remained motionless, as if it hadn't heard Jiang Shou's nonsense at all.

But under the sunlight, Jiang Shou's extremely sharp eyesight clearly caught a detail: when he heard the words "pan-fried yellow croaker," Fat Tiger's orange right ear twitched back twice uncontrollably.

"You fat, gluttonous cat!" Jiang Shou muttered to himself angrily. "Such a pretentious show-off, all you ever do is act all high and mighty! The day I'm more powerful, I'll definitely turn that fat cat into a ball!"

"Why……"

Jiang Shou sighed and stepped out of the door.

"Bang!" Jiang Shou suddenly tripped over something heavy. Caught off guard, he stumbled forward and almost fell flat on his face in an extremely embarrassing "Wild Goose Descending on Sand" style.

"Holy crap! What the hell is that?!"

Jiang Shou steadied himself, muttering curses as he looked down.

Right in the center of the bluestone steps at the entrance of the Taoist temple, there was an old wooden plaque that was already somewhat rotten and cracked.

It was the old plaque that the old man had left behind, which was taken down when Da Long and the others came to replace the new plaque!

Jiang Shou was so focused on looking at the gleaming new signboard that he casually tossed the old piece of wood he had taken down into the weeds at the corner of the gate.

"That's strange..." Jiang Shou frowned and looked around.

Halfway up Cuiwei Mountain, apart from the guests who come to offer incense, there's usually not a soul in sight. How did this broken solid wood plaque, weighing at least twenty pounds, suddenly grow legs from the corner of the wall and end up blocking the way on the steps in the center of the gate?

Although Jiang Shou had been in the side room, he was extremely confident in his hearing, which had been enhanced by his true essence. If there were people outside, there was absolutely no way he wouldn't have heard them!

Since it wasn't moved by a person...

Jiang Shou turned around and looked at the fat tiger that was "dozing" on the threshold of the main hall with extreme suspicion.

The orange cat kept its eyes closed, its tail swaying gently in mid-air in a very rhythmic manner.

Jiang Shou picked up the old plaque from the ground with one hand and weighed it in his hand. With his current strength, the twenty-pound piece of wood felt as light as a feather.

He originally intended to swing his arm and throw the broken piece of wood directly into the nearby woods and ravines along the mountain path.

But as soon as he raised his arm, he suddenly froze for a moment.

Jiang Shou turned his head and looked at Pang Hu on the threshold again. Pang Hu had already stood up and was looking at him with a strange expression.

Jiang Shou raised his head again and glanced at the extremely impressive new gold-plated plaque above the gate.

Finally, his gaze fell back on the broken wooden board in his hand, riddled with holes from the erosion of time.

Jiang Shou sighed.

"Forget it." Jiang Shou put his arm back down and tucked the old plaque back under his arm. "Although you're old and worn out, you've been with this old man on this mountain for his whole life, exposed to the wind and sun. You're a veteran of Shouyi Temple. Throwing you away like that would be a bit disrespectful to history."

Jiang Shou turned around and walked back to the courtyard. He carefully wiped the dust off the old plaque and then put it into an empty room in the backyard that was used to store miscellaneous items.

After placing the plaque down, Jiang Shou dusted off his hands and stepped out the door again.

"They're really leaving this time! Take good care of the house!"

Jiang Shou took out his keys from his pocket and got on the dilapidated three-wheeled motorcycle parked by the side of the mountain road.

"Rat-a-tat-tat..."

A plume of black smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe as it sped along the winding mountain road toward the county town below.

A cool mountain breeze of early autumn blew in, temporarily banishing the worries of the hospital and his dissociative identity disorder. Jiang Shou, gripping the handlebars, hummed a slightly off-key tune: "The great river flows eastward, the stars in the sky point to the Big Dipper..."