Pulling the Tiger's Skin

Countless ghosts, having died with nowhere to go, gathered together Yin Spirit.

They either cling to grass and trees, or appear as sinister monsters, howling mournfully beneath the sky. Their groans echo during storms, and plagues spread, disturbing livestock, fields, and silkworms with their Yin Qi. Suddenly, the mountain village is filled with the howling of cattle and barking of dogs, and utter turmoil.

All I could see in the sky was:

The clouds were as black as ink, and blood fell like rain.

The smoke rose to the sky, obscuring its shape.

A sinister atmosphere filled the air, and a malevolent aura permeated the atmosphere.

Countless ghosts and monsters lurked in the Black Mist, surrounding this ordinary mountain village.

In the mountain stronghold, the young men's faces tightened, and they all drew their weapons and rushed out, while the women hurriedly grabbed their children and hid in the houses.

At the same time, the village elder, his eyes wide with anger, suddenly slammed his pear wood cane down!

This is the same hunched old man from before, but now he appears exceptionally tall.

He shouted, "Tenth Brother! Put the pigs away! Go inside and tell all the men over fifteen to come out, and all the women and children to hide. We have an unwelcome guest today!"

As he spoke, a magnificent energy suddenly erupted behind him, overwhelming everything and even forming gusts of yin wind.

This was also a Shaman, but not Ghost Shaman, and his cultivation was in no way inferior to any of the three outside.

It was just an ordinary mountain village with only about a thousand people, yet it had a village elder of the eighth rank!

This demonstrates the quality of the population in the hinterland of Wushen Mountain.

The village elder, of the eighth rank, looked up at the countless wronged souls shrouded in the sky.

Behind him is the ancestral hall of this mountain village.

He walked up to the ancestral hall and shouted loudly, "Ancestors above, every year the Lijia Village personally performs sacrifices and cultivates the fields, with all the necessary rituals of sacrificial animals, silk, and wine prepared. Today, we offer this sacrifice to report that an evil guest has come, intending to harm our descendants. We beg our ancestors to show their divine power!"

As he spoke, one could see that the originally ordinary ancestral hall was suddenly filled with the reappearance of countless ancestral spirits.

With a sudden boom, countless golden lights surged out from inside the ancestral hall.

See again:

The wind howled, and the golden light shimmered.

Smoke billowed and curses roared.

A pure and serene atmosphere pervades the air, a sign of divine intervention from our ancestors.

These ancestral tablets, which were usually worshipped in the mountain village, all began to tremble and heat up at this moment, and countless evil spirits emerged from them, drifting and swaying, confronting the myriad ghosts outside.

They were all furious, pointing at the unworshipped evil spirits outside and cursing them.

However, compared to those unworshipped spirits, the spirits in this shrine are surrounded by incense, blessed by the power of vows, and adorned with offerings of venison, pork belly, and silk cloth, making the difference quite obvious.

The difference between those who regularly offer sacrifices and those who do not.

Outside, countless ghosts, now without a master, heard the cursing from inside. The cursing seemed to be baring its teeth at the mountain stronghold. They could smell the blood!

Without anyone to offer sacrifices or incense, and being enslaved by Ghost Shaman, they have no choice but to seek out blood offerings themselves, at the behest of the Ghost Shaman!

These wandering ghosts can't hold back any longer. Without incense offerings, they'll demand blood offerings!

This village is a good target!

Normally, these wandering ghosts would never dare to invade these mountain strongholds.

As we saw before, this mountain village's ancestral hall is protected by its ancestors and guarded by an eighth-rank village elder. Ordinary wandering ghosts and spirits that enter will surely be utterly destroyed.

To be able to establish themselves in Wushen Mountain, these villages must all possess their own unique skills, which they can use to protect themselves in critical moments.

But things are different now.

These three Ghost Shaman summoned them and gave them support. Now that they are united, they will surely be able to devour this mountain stronghold completely, leaving not Root Bone behind!

With the support of his ancestors, the eighth-rank village elder became much bolder. He stepped forward and offered his blessings to the countless ghostly figures in the sky.

That's right, it's a blessing. This eighth-rank village elder, although not Shaman, seems to have obtained some Shaman Technique Method from various places and used them here.

He shook his voice and shouted loudly to the ghosts outside, "Under the heavens and on the Houtu, there are people and ghosts everywhere. Although the ways of Human-Ghost, the netherworld and the mortal world, are different, their principles are the same."

"The village has established a system for governing the people and the gods. However, considering that there are many unworshipped spirits and gods in the Unseen, we will set up an altar in the north of the village on the fifteenth of next month, prepare sacrificial animals, wine, soup, and rice, and offer sacrifices to the unworshipped spirits and gods. They will sit down in order, enjoy themselves to the fullest, and then leave. Our intention is to respect the gods and maintain harmony in the village!"

"Ghosts depend on humans for food and offerings, and humans respect ghosts and know the law. Spirits will be impartial and report all equally. In this way, ghosts and gods will have the wisdom to observe, and all the ghosts and spirits present will come to the altar on the day to enjoy the sacrifice!"

As soon as the blessing was uttered, the momentum of the ghostly horde outside faltered.

The village elder in front of them made it very clear: if they were willing to leave, he would hold a sacrificial ceremony on the fifteenth of next month to provide incense for them.

To be honest, all they wanted when they were gathered together was a meal of blood and flesh. If they could have incense offerings, why would they fight to the death with the other side?

Looking at the ancestral spirits in those ancestral halls, and then at that eighth-rank Shaman, neither of them are easy to deal with. If we all rushed at them, we might win, but everyone would suffer heavy casualties...

However, at that moment, two Ghost Shaman emerged from the swirling, eerie winds of the ghostly horde.

It was that middle-aged man, and the bald one too.

The middle-aged man at the head of the group smiled and said, "Old man, don't worry, we're just here to ask a few questions, we'll leave after we're done."

Upon seeing two eighth-rank officials emerge, the village elder's expression changed, but he still forced a smile and asked, "What do you gentlemen wish to ask? Furthermore, if it's merely a matter of inquiring about matters, why go to such lengths, even summoning a hundred ghosts to surround the area?"

"Oh, we brothers are ugly, and we were afraid of upsetting everyone if we went out, so we discussed it and decided to gather all the ghosts first, and then ask them. I think the old man will tell you everything he knows, and there won't be any arguments," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

The village elder, of course, did not believe such nonsense, but he still said, "There is no need for that. Why don't you all disperse the ghosts and sit down to talk about what's going on? We will not hide anything you want to ask."

"There's no need to sit down and talk. We'll leave after we ask. We just wanted to ask if anyone in this village has ever seen a Green Scaled Dragon Steed across the sky before? We're here on the orders of a very important person." The middle-aged man said politely.

Hearing this, the village elder thought for a moment, and while remaining cautious, he said, "I don't know what Dragon Steed is, but as for the Azure Scale, I did see a four-legged monster with azure scales fly across the sky a few days ago and head east. I wonder if it is the Green Scaled Dragon Steed you are talking about."

"Ah, yes, yes, that's it. It went east, right? Are you sure you're not lying to me?" the middle-aged man said.

"Of course we won't hide it. Lijia Village has always treated people with sincerity!" The old man nodded.

"That's good, then we'll go after them. Thank you, sir." The middle-aged man said, disappearing into the horde of ghosts.

Then, the ghosts began to disappear.

Seeing the other party retreat, the old man, though still wary, subconsciously relaxed for a moment.

The ancestors in the ancestral hall also began to leave.

But at that very moment—

From underground, the burly man who hadn't appeared before suddenly emerged and, under the cover of the retreating ghost horde, punched the old man!

That punch landed squarely!

That burly man had actually practiced martial arts! With a single punch, he shattered the old man's bones and tendons!

At the same time, a cacophony of ghostly cries erupted! They roared and surged towards the village!

Moreover, it was accompanied by the arrogant words of the middle-aged man. "This village actually lied and tried to deceive the Shaman Wushen Mountain. Their crime deserves to be punished! We will deal with you on behalf of the adults!"

What? You mean you went east?

No matter what, you're definitely lying!

I said you're lying, and you are lying! Looking at you acting suspiciously and warily, do you have a problem with Shaman?

You say you don't have it? Well, that's none of my business.

Anyway, the three of us brothers were doing things for that Shaman!

Once they've got this tiger's skin on them, who dares to interfere?

Who would risk offending these three people for the sake of an ordinary, unaffiliated village?

Even if the Shaman asked about it later, he simply said that it was to perform Secret Method, so some Blood Sacrifice was required.

Besides, we didn't want to Blood Sacrifice them, but they refused to cooperate, lied to us, and were disrespectful to the Shaman.

The three of them were about to leave when they heard him insult the Shaman, so they took action in anger and wiped out the village to Shaman and vent their anger.

What? We went to great lengths to Shaman, using Secret Method to find him a mount and even killing a disrespectful village shaman. Does he still want to blame us three?

However... the other offerings, treasures, and the memorial tablet in the ancestral hall in this village...

Anyway, that witch Shaman from the Wushen Mountain definitely doesn't need it, so it's naturally ours; we just picked it up.

We did help him find a mount, and this was just a small Blood Sacrifice to find the mount; the Blood Sacrifice was something he brought upon himself.

As for the Lijia Village that was massacred?

They're dead, and the dead can't speak.

No matter who asks, they are all sinners who deceive and insult the Shaman. I only acted out of righteous indignation. Besides, if I find the Dragon Steed afterward, I might even receive a reward from the Shaman!

High-ranking figures will not look down on these ants.

They are very experienced.

Past experience has taught them that important people don't really care about such things.

This sudden attack severely injured the village elder, who was of the eighth rank!

Suddenly ambushed, and facing three opponents alone, how could one possibly withstand the attack?

Then, a few seconds later—

A chilling wind howled!

The dark clouds collapsed, bringing with them an endless horde of ghosts, and rushed towards the mountain stronghold!

The ancestral spirits in the ancestral hall immediately appeared, roaring as they faced the horde of ghosts.

It was pitch black; nothing could be seen.

However, I could hear a lot of sounds.

There were sounds of sucking, chewing, and tearing flesh, along with sobbing, laughing, and roaring, all mixed together and carrying for dozens of miles, enveloping the mountain stronghold along with the black mist.

A Chen passed.

In this village, you can hardly find any living creatures left.

The entire ground turned into a sticky pink, with countless evil spirits crawling on it, licking and fighting each other.

On the road, liver and lungs are ravaged; intestines and stomach hang upstairs.

The stench covered the mountain, and the white bones lay scattered about, their origins unknown.

When a person's tendons are stretched into a thread, their soul grieves.

The ground was littered with white bones; it was unclear whether they were human or animal, or perhaps both.

In the center of the village, a sacrificial ceremony was being held.

This was a typical Blood Sacrifice.

This Secret Method requires the use of brains and blood as sacrifices to follow the law of cause and effect.

The specific method is also very simple.

The pure gold was forged into a tube that was flat at the top and pointed at the bottom, and then heated in a raging fire until it turned bright red.

Then, the person whose memory was to be extracted was tied to a stake with scissors behind their back, their hair was parted, and a hot, hollow gold tube was taken and drilled into the top of their head to suck out their brain marrow.

Then, the soul is forced out of the body and refined with gold and fire to force its true spirit to appear, thus extracting the causal connection from it.

The true spirit is the key to cause and effect, and memory serves as a clue to guide us.

In this way, by using a two-pronged approach, with cause and effect as the main framework and memory as the secondary element, one can find what one wants in most cases.

However, this Secret Method is actually somewhat useless.

Because... if the other person has this memory, it's not difficult to find it by simply asking them to say it.

Furthermore, matters involving cause and effect do not necessarily require killing. There are many Secret Method that can find causal connections from living people, without having to kill someone and then extract their true spirit.

So, this really is just a shabby Secret Method from a country shaman.

But no matter what...

It's still useful.

The other two people stared nervously at the middle-aged man, fearing he might fail.

If we fail, it will be difficult to explain to Shaman.

In their view, using someone else's name to do these things was a minor matter; the important thing was to complete the tasks assigned by the Shaman, so that they would have someone backing them up.

After a while, the middle-aged man opened his eyes.

"Found it! No one can be faster than us. Come on, let's pack up our things and go back to find the mountain gods," he urged.

He had indeed sensed the location of that Dragon Steed!

The other two immediately perked up.

They immediately began collecting anything that might be useful here.

The first to be affected were the spirits of the dead. All the souls of the people who originally lived in this village were taken away by these Ghost Shaman and could not be reincarnated.

They will become part of those ghostly hordes, infused with fear and resentment, and ultimately driven by the Ghost Shaman.

Then there are the ancestral tablets in the ancestral hall here.

After erasing the spirits inside, these spirit tablets made from the yin water of locust wood become containers that can hold many spirits, greatly increasing the number of ghosts they can control.

Next came a Blood Pill, refined from the remaining flesh and blood of these thousand or so people.

This village is too poor and doesn't have any Law Treasure, but it does have some herbs and minerals that it can collect.

It took about fifteen minutes to pack all of these away.

Then they returned to the place the mountain god had promised to return to.

You can notify the other mountain gods that they have found the location.

This achievement is hereby secured.

At that moment, Li Qi, who was pondering cultivation issues with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

"What... what does this feel like? Why did my shoulder feel heavy, and why is there a rush of blood towards me?" Li Qi frowned.

Shaman often act on whims, as has been said many times.

Just now, Li Qi had this feeling.

It seems that there is a blood debt that has been settled on his head?

However, it shouldn't be the whole; he only bore part of the consequential consequences.

Huh? What did he do?