The tree hole is more spacious inside than it looks from the outside, but it's just a mess.
There were piles of tattered books and papers piled up against the wall. Some were tied with hemp ropes, and some were spread out on the ground, covered with a thick layer of dust.
There was half a clay pot in the corner, with a big gap in the mouth and a few bald pens stuck in it.
The walls were tidied up, and rice paste was used to paste paper all over the wall.
Large and small, horizontal and vertical, the corners are all warped. Some writings are blurred by moisture, but some are still clear.
Shen Hui took a closer look and saw a crooked writing on the first page:
"Ghost Market Rules: No fights or fights are allowed in the market. Those who have been wronged should seek redress from the supervisor Seventh Master."
There is another article at the bottom. "When living people enter the market, they must not be disturbed, and they must not use ghost money as gold and silver. Anyone who enters by mistake will be returned to Yang Road."
Looking further down, there are more than a dozen items listed densely, including prohibition on driving up prices and prohibition on using illusions to deceive similar people.
The last one was written in particularly bold terms, "Anyone who causes harm to others or takes away their yang energy will be expelled together and will not be allowed to enter this city again."
Shen Hui looked at each item one by one, and raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling a little surprised.
Although these things are crudely written and the wording is not very particular, they are clearly organized and have appropriate rewards and punishments. They are actually more comprehensive than many notices in the Yangjian Yamen.
He glanced down a few more times and found that there were some small print comments added at the back.
Why, "Old ghost Wang broke this rule and was expelled" and "Li Sanniang sold fake wine and was fined three hundred guan", but he still kept the account.
"That's interesting."
Shen Hui whispered.
The crow had already fluttered its wings and flew back to its nest on the treetop. After rustling for a while, it flew back with a volume of books in its mouth.
It landed in front of Shen Hui, loosened its paws, and the book was spread out on the table.
Shen Hui reached out to pick it up, and immediately felt something was wrong.
The book looked old and worn, and the cover had frayed edges, but when you opened it and took a look, it was densely packed with annotations.
Some have ink pens, some have ink pens, and some have used charcoal strips to scribble on it. They have added, changed titles, circled, and crossed out, almost filling up the lines of the original book.
The handwriting is inconsistent. In some places, entire paragraphs have been crossed out and rewritten on a new line. It shows that it has been written by many people and is more like a handbook.
He turned two pages, then frowned, then turned back to the cover and read the title of the book.
"Hun-yuan Demon-Slaying Three-Five Dūgong Register."
I read the title of the book once and flipped down:
"Internal Refinement, External Methods, Mnemonic three chapters, Internal Refinement is the body, External Methods is the use, Mnemonic is the pivot..."
"Practitioners must first understand Internal Refinement before applying External Methods; those who do not understand Internal Refinement and forcefully recite Mnemonic will suffer from sores in the mouth and tongue at the least, and in severe cases, Yao Qi will be regurgitated and turn into 'Demon Lure'."
He turned to a place and saw the following written in small regular script:
"This sentence doesn't make sense, so I tried it. My Qi was reversed for three days, and I couldn't stop bleeding. I almost died. People in the future must remember not to imitate it."
Turning another page, I saw another line of big words:
"There is an error in the sentence segmentation here. It should be 'Don't control the Qi with your mind, let your Qi move with your spirit', not 'Don't control your Qi with your mind, let your spirit move'."
Next, someone struck a mark with a red pen and wrote four words:
"Nonsense."
Someone next to me added four more words:
"That's bullshit."
Shen Hui looked at it for a long time, shook his head, and closed the book.
No wonder this crow spirit can't understand.
There are no broken sentences at all in the original book, one sentence after another, it reads like a heavenly book.
Most of the comments made by later generations are wrong.
Fortunately, crows can't understand. If I had practiced according to some of the comments above, I would have Qi Deviation died suddenly.
He closed the book and looked up at the crow spirit:
"Where did you get this?"
The crow spirit squatted on the edge of the table and answered honestly:
"More than two hundred years ago, a Daoist priest died behind this slope with this scroll on his body. I picked it up and looked at it for a long time, and I can recognize all the words, but when they are connected together, I don't know what it says."
Shen Hui put the book on the table and said bluntly:
"This is a serious method of subduing demons."
The crow spirit's eyes lit up and he flapped his wings twice.
"Hold on and be happy."
Shen Hui raised his hand and pressed it. "This thing is meant for people to practice. If you want to practice it, you have to wait until you transform before you can use it."
When the crow spirit heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then turned into a black smoke and rolled down from the table. When he landed on the ground, he had already turned into a human figure.
It's just that this human form really doesn't look like that.
The arms and legs are human-like, but there is still a half circle of black feathers on the head.
The face plate is also pointed, and the mouth is retracted, but there are still a few stiff feathers protruding on both sides of the cheeks, just like wearing a mask.
It raised its hand and wiped its face, but the few feathers did not move at all, and it stamped its feet anxiously.
Shen Hui glanced at it and sighed.
When the crow spirit heard this sigh, he immediately panicked:
"Senior, but... but I can't practice like this?"
Shen Hui was not in a hurry to answer. He walked around it, looked up and down, and then slowly spoke:
"How many years have you been practicing spiritual wisdom?"
"Senior, it's been more than six hundred years."
"More than six hundred years."
Shen Hui repeated it with some emotion in his tone:
"If no one guides the way, it would be rare to be able to build it to this extent."
This is the truth. This crow has no feet and no teachers. He only relies on his tenacity, which is really not easy.
After hearing this, the crow spirit's eyes turned red, but he held it back:
"But senior just sighed..."
"What I lament is that you have gone astray."
Shen Hui pointed at its head. "The essence of a monster's transformation is not to change its skin. It is to reconnect the flesh, blood, meridians, Blood Qi soul and Heaven and Earth’s Dao Principles."
"To put it bluntly, transformation is a Nirvana. What is required is both form and spirit, and you just took a shortcut."
The crow spirit was confused when he heard this, but Lu Huan couldn't help it at first:
"What do you mean?"
"It means that the transformation should be done in one step. Don't dig it out bit by bit. If you want to change, change it completely."
Jinghui added next to it:
"Reach to the sky in one step."
Shouyuan pursed his lips:
"It's done in one fell swoop."
Green Bamboo frowned when he heard this and thought for a while before saying:
"This sounds more like a shortcut, right?"
Shen Hui shook his head. "On the contrary. This road seems to be 'achieved overnight', but in fact it is accumulated over time. It is very time-consuming and even more energy-consuming."
Shouyuan stroked his beard and added:
"That's right. When a monster has cultivated to perfection and accumulated enough strength, it can only break out that last shiver. It's almost impossible..."
The old man said and pointed at the crow spirit:
"As for you, who has the body of a monster, or human hands and feet, with half scales and half hair, you are really fast, but it only changes the appearance, not the inside, just like... just like..."
"Build a shed to live in first, and then slowly mend the walls."
"That's right, that's right."
When the Crow Spirit heard this, he suddenly panicked.
It made a bow like a human, bending its waist very low:
"I hope some seniors can clear up my doubts. What are the disadvantages of... this?"
Shen Hui raised a finger:
"The first one is that the body and soul are not in harmony."
"You use a human shell to put a monster's core into it, and your soul will feel very uncomfortable with this body. It will be easy to become restless during cultivation, and it will be difficult to calm down and concentrate."
He said and looked at the crow spirit, "When you meditate like this on weekdays, do you always feel out of breath, and your mind is in a mess, and the more pressure you have, the more chaotic it becomes?"
The crow spirit nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, I thought it was because I didn't practice enough..."
Shen Hui raised a second finger:
"Article 2, Qi and Blood meridians mismatch."
"Demons are different from humans. You look like neither a human nor a demon now. Qi and Blood got stuck halfway through. Not only did your practice not go faster, it actually became slower. If you accidentally strayed, Qi Deviation is also possible."
When Crow Spirit heard the words "Qi Deviation", his neck shrank unconsciously. He didn't know if there was any precedent.
"Furthermore, the foundation is illusory."
Shen Hui went on to say, "If the shape is irregular, it is difficult to recognize disaster. If you practice with this appearance, there will be disasters everywhere, especially Heart Demon Tribulation."
"After all, you don't even know whether you are a human or a demon, and you will be able to identify your inner demons as soon as you find out. If you are injured, emotional, or robbed, you will return to your demon form if you are not careful."
The crow spirit was sweating profusely, but still asked:
"Any more?"
Shen Hui glanced at it.
The most important thing is that the self-understanding is confused. It is difficult to live in a demon body, and it is difficult to truly understand the Tao with the human heart.
At the end of my cultivation, I don't know what I am!
However, he looked at the crow spirit's confused look and did not say this out loud.
Shouyuan actually added:
"Also, it is difficult to get into the mainstream, and it is easy for people to see through you. If you go out with such a head, you can tell at a glance whether you are a person or a monster. If you are seen through, you will be easily targeted. Don't you think so?"
Several people nodded in agreement.
The crow spirit lowered his head and said in a low voice after a long while:
"No one ever told me this."
Shouyuan was very happy. "How strange, I only found out about it after Core Formation."
Shen Hui patted the crow spirit on the shoulder and comforted:
"Don't be discouraged. You don't have the foundation and inheritance to begin with. It's rare in the world to be able to cultivate to this point."
The crow spirit shook his head, with a bit of confusion in his voice:
"It has been hundreds of years since I opened my spiritual wisdom, but I have always cultivated it wrong..."
Shen Hui looked at it, and when he thought about how difficult it was for the other party to ask for guidance, his tone couldn't help but soften:
"It's not that it can't be corrected, it just takes a little more time."
The crow spirit was stunned when he heard this, and then he knelt down with a plop, knocking his head straight to the ground:
"Please give me some advice from my seniors!"
"Don't be in a hurry to kowtow."
Shen Hui picked it up and used some force on his hands:
"You take care of this Ghost Market on weekdays, restrain Lonely Ghost and Wild Spectre, and prevent them from causing chaos, which can be considered as accruing merit. I will tell you today how to make up for it."
The crow spirit's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but express his gratitude.
Shen Hui When it calmed down, Fang said:
"This method is not difficult to say, but it is not easy to say it is simple. It is to let your soul recognize this appearance first, visualize it in human form every day, and follow the form, walking, standing, sitting and lying according to human form."
"As long as you get rid of the obsession that 'I'm just wearing human skin', transformation will be a matter of course."
The crow spirit was startled. "Just... that's it?"
Shen Hui nodded. "You think it's easy?"
The crow spirit thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head:
"It sounds like it's not difficult, just one sentence. But if you think about it... it doesn't seem to be easy at all."
"You're right."
Shen Hui patted it on the shoulder. "Principles are the least valuable, what is valuable is how to do it."