Zombie World: Starting as an apprentice of the Thunder King

"Are your injuries healed?" Shi Jian walked out of the main room, holding a teacup in his hand, and glanced at his two disciples.

Lin Bei patted his chest and laughed, "All done, all done."

"Then don't just sit around." Shi Jian took a sip of tea. "If you're not strong enough, then go and draw more talismans. We used up a lot of talisman paper last time we fought the weasels, so draw some more to keep on hand."

"Yes, Master! Those weasels from last time..."

Lin Bei replied immediately, but his gaze was fixed on Shi Jian, his eyes full of anticipation.

"There's plenty of meat left; wait until you've digested the spiritual energy within your bodies!"

"Okay!"

Lin Bei grinned, and then the two of them moved a table to the courtyard, spread out yellow paper, ground cinnabar, and began to draw talismans.

Lin Bei first drew exorcism talismans, which was his specialty. He completed nine out of ten in one go.

After reading it, Shi Jian nodded imperceptibly.

This disciple not only has a strong talent for cultivation, but he is also very willing to put in the effort to draw talismans. When his cultivation reaches the level of a Daoist master, he may be able to try drawing blue talismans.

If it were Shi Shaojian, he definitely wouldn't think that way, because he discovered that Lin Bei's spiritual power far surpassed that of others of the same level. Normally, only after reaching the level of a mage and having sufficient spiritual power can one have the ability to draw blue talismans.

As for the purple talisman, that's not a matter of cultivation level; some people can't even gather all the materials in their entire lives.

After drawing dozens of exorcism talismans, Lin Bei began to draw talismans to ward off evil spirits.

The Demon-Breaking Talisman is much more complex than the Exorcism Talisman. In Maoshan talismans, it is considered an intermediate-level talisman and has a strong restraining effect on demons.

Lin Bei focused his mind, clearing his thoughts of all distractions. He channeled his spiritual and magical power into the tip of his brush, and the process of drawing the talisman flowed smoothly. In just a few breaths, he had completed the talisman for dispelling evil.

After finishing drawing the talisman, his face was slightly pale, obviously due to excessive mental energy consumption, but looking at the flowing light on the talisman, Lin Bei smiled.

"Hehe, senior brother, I've drawn a talisman to ward off evil!"

Shi Shaojian glanced at the talisman in front of Lin Bei, pursed his lips, and then focused on drawing the talisman.

His talisman-drawing skills were far inferior to Lin Bei's; he was lucky if he could draw five or six out of ten.

So asking him to draw a talisman to ward off evil spirits now is really putting him in a difficult position.

The two spent the whole morning drawing. In addition to drawing thirteen evil-dispelling talismans, Lin Bei also drew eleven demon-suppressing talismans. Including the exorcism talismans he had drawn before, the total number of talisman papers exceeded eighty.

Shi Shaojian also drew more than forty exorcism talismans and more than a dozen corpse-suppressing talismans.

"The materials are all used up." Lin Bei rummaged through his bundle. There was only one cinnabar left, a few sheets of yellow paper, and no more blood ink.

Shi Shaojian looked at his own and said, "I'm almost there too."

The two immediately went to find Shi Jian.

Shi Jian was meditating in the main hall when he heard the two enter and opened his eyes.

"What is it?"

"Master, we've run out of cinnabar, yellow paper, and blood ink. We'd like to go down the mountain to buy more," Lin Bei said softly.

Shi Jian took out five silver dollars from his sleeve and threw them to Lin Bei.

"Remember, the cinnabar must be of good quality; don't buy the fake kind mixed with red clay. The yellow paper must be from Jiangxi Province; paper from other places won't do. As for the blood ink..."

Shi Jian paused for a moment, "The blood ink must be from rooster blood and black dog blood that are at least three years old. Don't try to save money by buying inferior materials."

After Lin Bei made a note of it, he nodded: "I've got it."

"Go, come back before dark." Shi Jian closed his eyes and continued meditating.

Lin Bei and Shi Shaojian changed into clean Taoist robes, stuffed the silver dollars into their pockets, and went down the mountain.

The weather is nice today; the sun is shining brightly overhead, making everyone feel warm and cozy.

The bamboo on both sides of the mountain road was a bright green, and it rustled in the wind, with the bamboo leaves falling like rain.

The two walked quickly and arrived in town in half an hour.

The town remained the same, with people coming and going on the main street and vendors calling out their wares.

As soon as Lin Bei entered the town, people greeted him.

"Master Lin is here!"

"Master Lin, what happened to the injury on your face?"

"Oh my, Master Shi is here too. I heard there was a fight at your temple a few days ago?"

Lin Bei responded to each question: "Alright, alright, everything's alright. Aunt Wang, are you still worried about your chickens? Uncle Zhang, is your back still hurting?"

"No, no, it's all thanks to the talisman you drew."

"It doesn't hurt anymore, it doesn't hurt anymore. I move around every morning and it's much better."

Shi Shaojian chuckled from the side, "Wow, junior brother, I didn't realize you were so popular!"

"Of course!" Lin Bei raised his head, a smug look on his face.

Next, the two went to a shop that sells cinnabar.

The shop wasn't big, located at the west end of town. The owner was an old man in his fifties surnamed Liu, known as Liu the Half-Immortal.

Of course, this "half-immortal" title is just a fabrication. Manager Liu is just a merchant who sells cinnabar. He knows a little about unorthodox feng shui, but he doesn't have any real skills.

"Manager Liu, give me two ounces of cinnabar, the best quality one." Lin Bei slapped the silver dollar on the counter.

Manager Liu took out a small porcelain bottle from under the counter, opened the lid, and poured out a little cinnabar onto the paper.

The cinnabar is bright red in color, with uniform particles, and does not have any discoloration when rolled on paper.

"Master Lin, take a look. This is genuine Chenzhou cinnabar, one tael and eight mace of silver," Manager Liu said with a smile.

Lin Bei picked it up, looked at it, and smelled it. It wasn't bad; it could barely be considered top-quality cinnabar.

"Okay, I'll take them all!"

Then I bought half a ream of yellow paper, produced in Jiangxi Province. The paper is fine and slightly yellow, making it a top-quality product for drawing talismans.

The two items cost three silver dollars, and now all that's left is the blood ink.

Blood ink is hard to buy; there are no shops in town that specialize in selling it. You have to find a butcher who slaughters pigs or a chicken vendor.

The two walked around the street and asked several vendors, but they all said they didn't have any.

"Rooster blood from a rooster over three years old? That's very rare." An uncle selling chickens shook his head. "Roosters aren't like hens, which are raised for a year and then slaughtered for meat. Where can you find one raised for three years?"

"Black dog blood is even harder to find. Black dogs are already rare, so who would be willing to kill one for its blood?"

Lin Bei was a little worried, and Shi Shaojian was also anxious: "What should we do? We can't draw talismans without blood ink."

"Let's ask Manager Li." Lin Bei thought of Manager Li of Jufulou Restaurant. He ran a restaurant in town and knew many people, so maybe he could introduce him.

The two entered Jufulou Restaurant. Manager Li was doing accounts behind the counter when he saw Lin Bei, and his face immediately lit up with a smile.

"Master Lin is here! Please have a seat. What would you like to eat today?"

"Manager Li, I'm not here for dinner, I just want to ask you something." Lin Bei walked up to the counter. "Do you know where I can buy rooster blood and black dog blood that are at least three years old?"

Manager Li paused for a moment, then thought for a moment: "Rooster blood that's been aged for more than three years...that's hard to find."

"But Butcher Zhao from the east end of town killed a black dog a couple of days ago, so there might be some blood, like rooster blood..."

Shopkeeper Li slapped his forehead: "Oh, right, Old Wang Liu on the west side of town raises a flock of chickens, and one of the roosters is quite old, I heard it's about four or five years old. Why don't you go ask him about it?"

Lin Bei was overjoyed: "Thank you so much, Manager Li! I'll treat you to drinks another day."

"Don't mention it, it was nothing!"