When Humans Light Candles, Ghosts Blow Them Out

The Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique was said to be a spell, but it was actually a whole series of techniques.

Among them were specialized methods for paper effigies and wood carving.

As Chen Shaojun received the spell, he naturally came to understand these techniques as well.

Paper effigies looked simple, but they required special talisman paper. Using the three-fold, three-part method, one had to fashion the talisman paper into a paper figure, then dot its eyes with Yin Water and paint its shell with Yang Water.

Though so-called Yin Water and Yang Water were, in truth, stagnant water and living water—water with a source and water without one.

Of course, if one was wealthy, one could directly melt gold and silver into water.

Gold and silver were the root of all evil; with money paving the way, nothing was impossible, and the results were naturally even better.

But Chen Shaojun was poor.

He could not gather everything he needed in a short time, so he chose the wood-carving method.

One piece of wood, one carving knife.

After spending less than half a shichen, the image of a black dog appeared before him.

Then he took out dog fur, bound it to the wood carving with black cloth, and only then began casting the spell.

Without Dao Origin, he likewise used his mind as the guide.

Yet the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique was far more profound than the Divine Gaze Technique and the Spirit Eye Technique. It required him to draw talismans with his mind and imprint them onto the wood carving in the form of runes.

The rune structures themselves were not complicated.

This spell involved no more than three runes in total.

But the difficulty lay in using his mind to trace those runes and carve them into the wood.

Chen Shaojun's mental strength had already been more than half depleted from repeatedly using the Divine Gaze Technique to appraise treasures, leaving him utterly exhausted.

Now, after inscribing the three runes, he was nearly drained dry.

His mind was weary and his blood and qi depleted, as though he had not slept for three days and nights. His head felt hollow; it spasmed from time to time, as if someone were pounding his skull with a heavy hammer, sending waves of pain through him.

This is what it feels like when one's energy is exhausted and can no longer continue.

Chen Shaojun shook his head. He felt that if he closed his eyes, he would probably fall asleep the next instant.

He had not experienced this feeling of overexerting his mind in a long time.

Not daring to hesitate, he hurriedly took out a spiritual pill.

It was one of the seven treasures previously rewarded by the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror: a Spirit-Nurturing Pill.

It could restore one's energy and nurture the soul.

It was also one of Chen Shaojun's sources of confidence against the ghost within the Jade Ruyi.

He swallowed the Spirit-Nurturing Pill in one gulp.

Almost instantly, a cool sensation swiftly rose within his mind.

His depleted mental strength seemed to receive water and nourishment, rapidly beginning to recover.

At the same time, Chen Shaojun felt his entire body and mind sink into a warm, blissful state, as though he were lying in a warm bed or resting within his mother's womb. It felt so comfortable that he almost lost himself in it.

But the effects of a spiritual pill would eventually run out.

Before even the time it took an incense stick to burn, Chen Shaojun had awakened from that peculiar state.

As expected of a Spirit-Nurturing Pill.

Just one pill completely restored my depleted mental strength.

In fact, I feel that my mental strength has grown by a considerable margin compared to before?

Chen Shaojun opened his eyes. Feeling his mind active and faintly radiating from within him, he compared it to before and naturally understood that his mental strength had not only recovered, but become much stronger than it had been.

This improvement was an unexpected delight to him.

His mental strength restored.

The preparations for the Plum-for-Peach Substitution Technique were complete as well.

Chen Shaojun finally turned his gaze to the Jade Ruyi.

The Jade Ruyi was somewhat yellowed and dim overall. From afar, it even looked black as ink—the result of Yin energy gathering and accumulating over a long period of time.

It had to be said that its appearance was not particularly impressive.

He did not know how the scar-faced man had spotted this Jade Ruyi at a glance and insisted on buying it no matter what.

Chen Shaojun gave a cold smile and reached out to seize the Jade Ruyi. The icy touch made his hand tremble involuntarily.

He quickly placed the Jade Ruyi on the table, then began lighting candles and burning incense.

The moment he lit the candle, a faint breeze passed through, making the flame sway as though it could be extinguished at any moment.

Shielding it from the breeze, Chen Shaojun placed the candle in the southwest corner.

Then he took out three bamboo incense sticks, lit them one after another, and placed them before the Jade Ruyi.

Whoosh!

A sudden gust of Yin wind swept through the sealed room.

The candle in the southwest corner was snuffed out at once.

Chen Shaojun looked again at the lit bamboo incense.

Though they were still burning, changes had already begun to show. The two incense sticks on the sides were clearly burning faster and had already burned down by one-third, while the middle stick had only just begun.

When humans light candles, ghosts blow them out.

It really appeared.

A chill ran through Chen Shaojun's heart.

After hesitating for a moment, he rose and lit the candle again.

But he had barely turned around when another gust of Yin wind swept past.

The candle went out again.

He could not light it a third time.

He knew that nothing happened more than three times; even ghosts would grow impatient.

If he lit it a third time, the ghost would think he was teasing it and reveal itself directly to cause him trouble.

Looking to the other side, he saw that all three bamboo incense sticks had gone out.

They had formed the exact pattern of two short and one long.

People fear three longs and two shorts; incense shuns two shorts and one long.

Both omens have come true.

Chen Shaojun took a deep breath.

Though he had known this already, he still steeled himself and began the appraisal.

Fortunately, the rewards from his previous consecutive treasure appraisals had given him confidence, preventing him from being left helpless.

Before beginning the appraisal, however, he glanced around the room.

To his surprise, the White-Cut Stones placed in all four corners of the room, once gleaming white, had already begun to turn black.

That truly surprised him.

He had not expected Ayong's Four-Square Formation to be simple yet genuinely effective.

Unfortunately, what he faced this time was not ordinary Killing Intent, but a real ghost.

The Four-Square Formation could only have limited effect.

Let's begin!

Chen Shaojun took out the Black Dog Wood Carving and held it before himself, then calmed his breath and focused his mind.

But the first technique he used was not the Divine Gaze Technique.

It was the Spirit Eye Technique.

He needed to see more clearly how the Yin energy would shift, and how the ghost hidden within would strike.

The Spirit Eye Technique was activated.

Changes immediately appeared upon the Jade Ruyi.

Yin energy covered the crown, and a ghostly dwelling coiled within.

This time, Chen Shaojun was closer to the Jade Ruyi.

Thus, the dense Yin energy and the ghost lurking within it became even clearer to see.

There are at least a hundred strands of Yin Baleful Intent.

Once Yin energy reaches a hundred strands, it gathers together to form a crown?

That ghost's soul body is somewhat illusory and not particularly stable. Even when it occasionally bares its fangs and claws, it seems weak.

This ghost should not be very strong, right?

Chen Shaojun's eyes widened, but his heart had no certainty.

Even the weakest ghost was still a ghost.

The unknown was what people feared most.

The only thing that comforted him somewhat was that he had recognized the ghost's appearance. It was Zhao Quan, who had died at the scar-faced man's hands.

That made him secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Every grievance had its source, every debt had its debtor.

No matter how one counted it, this Yin Soul's enemy should not be him.

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