Uncle Nine: You were supposed to drive corpses, so you summoned the Monkey King!

By evening.

Three large bowls of diluted black dog blood were placed in the courtyard.

Lin Chen instructed four guards to pour the black dog's blood into the prepared bamboo skewers.

The bamboo skewers were soaked in black dog blood, turning them bright red.

"Alright, let it soak overnight, then bury it on the outer wall first thing tomorrow morning." Lin Chen clapped his hands.

Dinner time.

Everyone sat around the eight-immortal table.

Master Qianhe forced himself to get out of bed, but his face still looked terrible.

"Senior brother, this trap can only hold them off for a while. The zombies are incredibly strong. If we really try to force our way through, a few bamboo sticks won't be enough to stop them."

Master Simu took a sip of brown rice porridge.

"I know the bamboo skewers are for warning; if it dares to step on them, the black dog blood will make it hurt for a while."

"That will give us time to prepare."

Lin Chen ate his meal and then chimed in.

"Don't worry, Uncle-Master. The trap is just the first line of defense. The key is still the weapons we have."

Master Qianhe looked at Lin Chen.

"Junior Nephew Lin, we owe you a great debt this time, otherwise we would all have died in the mountains."

"Your boxing and footwork are truly a direct descendant of the Maoshan School."

Master Simu continued the conversation.

"That's right, look who taught this disciple."

Jiale spoke quietly beside him.

"Master, it seems you haven't taught your junior brother anything except how to draw talismans."

Master Simu tapped Jiale on the head with a chopstick.

"Eat your food! Why are you talking so much!"

After dinner, Lin Chen returned to his room, where the clock on the wall ticked.

It's midnight.

[Ding! It's midnight. Begin today's cultivation settlement.]

[Today, I crafted a large number of defensive traps, which improved my hand-eye coordination and granted me +1 Agility.]

[Today's personnel coordination and command were decisive; earned +1 to Spirit.]

[Today I chopped down 1,000 bamboo stalks, exerting my full strength, and gained +1 Strength.]

[Congratulations, host, on completing the special daily task: Dojo Defense.]

[Trigger Reward: Maoshan Qimen Formation Technique (Beginner)]

A flood of knowledge about Qimen Dunjia, the Five Elements, and the Eight Trigrams rushed into my mind.

The locations of various formations and the intricacies of the life and death gates were all imprinted in his mind.

Just in time.

Lin Chen was worried about how to bury the bamboo sticks most effectively tomorrow.

Now that we have this array formation technique, those bamboo sticks are no longer just ordinary traps.

It can be arranged into a simple Bagua trapping evil formation.

Early the next morning.

As soon as it was light, Lin Chen woke up his four guards.

The four guards didn't sleep well last night and had dark circles under their eyes.

"Fill out the bamboo skewers and come with me to dig a hole outside," Lin Chen said.

The four guards worked diligently, and the outer perimeter of the temple was surrounded by a rammed earth wall.

Lin Chen held a twig and drew lines at the base of the wall.

"Dig half a foot deep here and bury three bamboo sticks with the pointed ends facing upwards."

"Take three steps to the left, dig a hole one foot deep, and bury five sticks."

Lin Chen used the Qimen formation technique he had obtained the previous night to plan the location of the famous trap.

This wasn't buried randomly.

Each trap corresponds to a position in the Bagua (Eight Trigrams).

Once a zombie steps into this area, it will trigger the earth's energy, increasing the trap's power.

Four guards took shovels and dug holes according to the lines drawn by Lin Chen.

After digging all morning, the area outside the temple grounds was riddled with holes.

Bamboo skewers soaked in black dog blood were buried one by one, covered with a thin layer of soil and fallen leaves.

From the outside, there is nothing unusual about it.

Master Simu walked out yawning, frowned as he looked at the craters all over the ground.

"Lin Chen, you buried them way too haphazardly. If a zombie walks through the middle, it'll all avoid them!"

Lin Chen patted the dirt off his hands.

"Master, this is the Bagua Trapping Evil Formation, and the key points of the formation are interconnected."

"No matter which direction it comes from, if you step on one, you will lose your way and step on a series of other things."

Master Simu walked to a pit, looked at its location, and then looked at the other pits next to it.

He did some mental calculations.

"The Qian position is the Gate of Life, the Kun position is the Gate of Death... This... is it really a Bagua formation?"

Master Simu was stunned.

Although he majored in corpse driving and summoning gods, he also knew a little about formations.

Although the formation set up by Lin Chen was simple, its orientation was very accurate.

"When did you even learn formations?" Master Four Eyes asked, somewhat surprised.

Lin Chen casually replied.

"I bought a tattered book on formations in town before, and I would try to figure it out on my own whenever I had free time. It just so happens that I can use it today."

Master Four Eyes rolled his eyes.

You think you can learn the Bagua Formation just by buying a tattered book? That's a really flimsy excuse.

But now he's too lazy to ask any further questions. Anyway, the more capable his apprentice is, the more face he has.

Around noon.

Everyone is having lunch in the lobby.

A series of chaotic footsteps came from outside the dojo.

Then came the sound of the door being pounded on.

"Help! Help me!"

Jiale ran over and opened the door.

A hunter dressed in coarse cloth stumbled in.

The hunter was covered in mud, his clothes were torn in several places by thorns, and he looked terrified.

"What happened?" Master Four Eyes put down his chopsticks and went over.

The hunter, panting, pointed towards the back of the mountain.

"A monster...a monster! There's a monster in the back mountain!"

"I was setting traps in the woods just now and saw three herb gatherers get bitten to death by a monster!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people in the lobby changed.

Master Qianhe stood up, supporting himself on the table.

"What does that monster look like?"

The hunter trembled all over.

"Wearing tattered official robes, covered in black hair, and possessing terrifying strength."

"It bit through my neck in one bite. I hid in the tree pit and didn't dare to make a sound, which is how I escaped."

Master Qianhe sighed.

"It's this one."

"Having drunk the blood of three living people, its wounds are probably almost healed."

Upon hearing this, Minister Wu dropped his chopsticks on the ground.

He crawled under the octagonal table, hugging the table leg and trembling.

"It's all over, it's all ruined! It's coming for the young prince!"

The little boy sat on the chair without crying, his little hands clutching the hem of his clothes.

Master Simu took out a talisman and handed it to the hunter.

"Hurry down the mountain, run along the main road, and don't look back."

"This talisman, when affixed to your body, will ensure your safety for a time."

The hunter took the talisman and ran out of the temple.

No one spoke in the lobby.

Lin Chen walked to the door and looked at the gloomy sky outside.

"It will definitely come tonight," Lin Chen said.

Master Simu turned and walked into the study.

"Jiale, bring out all the peach wood swords and soak them in black dog blood!"

"Lin Chen, come in and help draw the talismans. Draw as many as you can!"

Master Ikkyu came over from next door, carrying a repaired vajra.

"Amitabha Buddha, tonight will be another fierce battle."

Lin Chen entered the study, picked up a brush, and dipped it in cinnabar. Without being urged by Daoist Simu, he lowered his head and began to draw talismans.

[Drawing talismans is in progress, current progress: 10/100.]

[Drawing talismans is in progress, current progress: 30/100.]

Lin Chen's mental attributes are currently high, so he can draw the corpse-suppressing talisman very quickly.

After the talisman was drawn, its surface flashed with a golden-red light.

A skilled-level corpse-suppressing talisman is more than twice as powerful as a regular one.

Master Simu watched from the side.

It takes him most of the day to draw a talisman, but Lin Chen draws talismans much faster.

"Master, don't just stand there, go and prepare some boy's urine," Lin Chen said without looking up.

Master Simu asked.

"Boy's urine? What would you need that for?"

"Zombies are afraid of filth. A child's urine mixed with black dog's blood can break through its tough skin and iron bones," Lin Chen explained.

Master Simu looked at Jiale, then at himself.

"Jiale, go pee in the pot and come back."

Jiale had a bitter face.

"Master, I was so scared that I peed myself, and now I can't squeeze it out."

Master Simu kicked him.

"You have to try even if you can't squeeze! Drink more water!"