All-out Horror Survival: My Awakening Skill Point Allocation Sequence!

After leaving Blind Man's Alley with a group of people, Zheng Sheng returned to Survival Highway and headed south of the city.

Everyone was carrying a lot of supplies. Zheng Sheng wanted to get two cars, but the traffic on the road was too bad. There were overturned or collided cars everywhere, and the traffic jam was very serious.

In the end, each person could only push a bicycle, carrying a lot of supplies, and move forward quickly.

"Captain Zheng, did you specifically seek out peach wood to deal with the strange creature?"

Han Daoyuan, who was standing nearby, suddenly came up and started a conversation.

His experience at the coffin shop was so terrifying that he still vividly remembered it and was disappointed in his own performance.

She and her son were nothing but a burden; how could they possibly gain Zheng Sheng's approval and be accepted into the team?

So he decided to take the initiative and demonstrate his value once again.

"Captain Zheng, I've loved Taoist culture since I was a child. I'm very knowledgeable about ancient myths, Taoist magic, and strange tales. I also know many myths and legends about peach wood..."

Zheng Sheng initially ignored the other party, but Han Daoyuan's last few words instantly piqued his interest.

"Mythological texts, Taoist magic? You really know all that? Then tell me, why is it a common belief that peach wood can ward off evil spirits?"

Seeing that Zheng Shengguo was indeed interested in his topic, Han Daoyuan was overjoyed.

He slowly began to speak:

"The folk belief that peach wood can ward off evil spirits has existed since ancient times..."

According to ancient books such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

"In the middle of the vast sea is Mount Dushuo, and on the mountain grows a giant peach tree that covers three thousand miles."

"To its northeast lies the 'Gate of Ghosts,' through which all ghosts enter and exit. Beside the gate stand two divine beings, namely Shen Tu and Yu Lei."

"They specifically monitor evil spirits, and once they discover a ghost or monster causing havoc on humankind, they bind it with reed ropes and throw it to feed tigers."

"And the 'dwelling' and 'altar' of the two deities were that great peach tree that covered three thousand miles."

"And it is calculated according to the Eight Trigrams."

"The northeast corner of the large peach tree on Mount Dushuo is the Ghost Gate. In the Later Heaven Bagua, the northeast corresponds to the 'Gen' position, which represents a mountain and signifies cessation or obstruction."

"Peach wood placed at the Gate of Hell inherently possesses the function of 'setting up barriers and sealing off areas,' and has the divine power to suppress the Gate of Hell and deter all ghosts."

"It was also because of these myths and legends that the ancients developed the custom of carving peach wood into the shapes of Shen Tu and Yu Lei, or directly writing their names on it and hanging it on the door. This was the prototype of 'peach charms'."

When Han Daoyuan spoke about his professional knowledge, he was no longer timid as before, and his face was full of confidence.

He continued.

"Moreover, within the Taoist magical system..."

"Peach wood struck by lightning is the most powerful 'lightning-struck wood'!"

"Heavenly thunder represents the righteous energy of heaven, the ultimate yang and strength, and is the ultimate nemesis of demons and monsters."

"Peach wood struck by lightning possesses both the earthly restraining power of peach wood and the heavenly punishment power of lightning, making it a top-tier material for crafting exorcising swords!"

"The Five Elements' generating and restraining relationships are further explained as follows: Ghosts belong to Yin, reside in the netherworld, and belong to the Water element..."

"Peach wood belongs to the element of wood in the Five Elements theory, representing Lesser Yang... More importantly, it has a pungent taste, and in the theory that the five flavors correspond to the five elements, pungent belongs to metal..."

"Metal can generate water, but metal also overcomes wood... Peach wood possesses the energy of both wood and metal, which can both drain the yin of water and use the sharpness of metal to 'slay' evil spirits..."

Han Daoyuan became more and more excited as he spoke, and he started using a lot of technical terms.

Although Zheng Sheng didn't understand everything, he roughly grasped the meaning:

Peach wood is strong, but lightning-struck wood is even more amazing!

If you want to kill the eerie creatures, choose lightning-struck wood!

After listening, Zheng Sheng looked at Han Daoyuan with some surprise. The other party was not just talking, but really had a great deal of knowledge about Taoist culture, mythology and ancient books.

"What did you do for a living before?"

Seeing that he had piqued Zheng Sheng's interest, Han Daoyuan breathed a sigh of relief and answered respectfully.

"I used to be an archaeologist, and later I began to study ancient myths and texts of the Xia Dynasty, Taoist culture, and Buddhist culture, so I have quite a few insights."

Zheng Sheng nodded. No wonder Han Daoyuan knew so much about the Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries in Shaluo County.

After a conversation, the two became noticeably closer.

Along the way, Han Daoyuan also began to tell Zheng Sheng all sorts of folk ghost stories and myths. The more Zheng Sheng listened, the more his brows furrowed.

He seemed to have a premonition.

These myths, legends, and long-standing folk tales about the strange and supernatural contain methods for warding off evil spirits, which may very well be effective against the eeriness of this world.

Black dog blood, peach wood, cinnabar, rooster comb blood, boy's urine, glutinous rice...

Zheng Sheng silently memorized these legends and stories, preparing to verify them one by one in the future.

At least two can now be confirmed.

Pure black dog blood can indeed ward off evil spirits, protect against ghosts, and break spells.

The "Paper Doll Chapter" also records that peach wood is an essential material for making extremely yang paper dolls, which have the effect of exorcising evil spirits and killing ghosts.

"So, does that mean my 20+ years of virgin urine is also a treasure?"

Zheng Sheng thought to himself, deciding that next time he encountered something strange, he would try splashing it with urine.

The two walked and talked, and soon they passed through the city streets and arrived at the southern edge of the town of Saluo County.

The distance was open and spacious.

Unlike the previous urban areas, the southern edge of the city does not have many high-rise buildings, the housing density is greatly reduced, the roads are wider, and there are many more corrugated iron factories, which are densely packed as far as the eye can see.

Moreover, once they entered the southern edge of the city, the stench in the air became even stronger, forcing everyone to wet their cloths and cover their mouths and noses.

Zheng Sheng looked at the processing plant in the distance.

The signboard was dilapidated and read "Shaluo Snail Processing Base," and the surroundings were eerily quiet.

Surprisingly, there weren't many snail eggs around.

Little Blackie stared intently at the snail farm in the distance, its black fur bristling, baring its teeth but making no sound.

Zheng Sheng frowned as he looked at Xiao Heizi. Clearly, there was something strange about this snail farm, and there might be quite a few of them.

"Li Xia, where is the peach grove?"

Li Xia stepped forward and pointed to her right.

"It's right next to the snail farm. Walk about one kilometer in this direction and cross this green belt, and you'll get there."

Zheng Sheng nodded, not rushing into the snail factory to kill the strange creature. This place was a bit eerie, so he decided to get the peach wood first.

Zheng Sheng continued to lead the group forward, and soon they crossed the green belt where Li Xia was and arrived at a high point.

Look around.

Sure enough, a withered black peach orchard appeared in the distance.

This peach orchard is very large, covering at least hundreds of acres and containing tens of thousands of peach trees. Thick dark clouds cover the sky above the orchard, making it look extremely oppressive.

No one knows what happened, but the entire peach orchard withered, as if it had been burned by a fire. All the peach trees turned black, exuding an eerie and sinister aura.

"How come they're all dead?"

Seeing the scene before her, Li Xia felt a little uneasy. She had specially brought Zheng Shengsheng here, only to find it was all for nothing. Wasn't that a complete waste of his time?

"Captain Zheng, I... I didn't know it would turn out like this. When I escaped, this peach grove was perfectly fine. I don't know who was so heartless as to burn it all down... I'm so sorry... I really didn't know..."

Li Xia kept apologizing, but Zheng Sheng, who was looking into the distance, had increasingly bright eyes and was overjoyed!

He took out the military binoculars he had obtained from Li Yong from his waist.

I opened it and took a look.

Deep within the peach grove, large patches of dark clouds gathered overhead.

A large peach tree stands tall in the forest, yet it is being struck by countless bolts of lightning!