Seedling Mother

The Binding Offering is a ritual specifically designed to lure out specific spirits or deities.

The original Binding Offering required braids made of human hair, which were then soaked in human blood and urine.

Because human blood can preserve the aura of ghosts and gods, it is considered the best.

However, since Zhou Yang had ointment, which was better at preserving various auras, he naturally chose to use this instead of human blood.

This item requires the corresponding spirit's aura to be sealed within the offering, but Zhou Yang has not been able to detect the aura of the strange stomach growing on Zhou Heigou's abdomen. So, he will directly use Zhou Heigou's own aura as a substitute and see if this offering will be effective.

Summon that strange stomach.

After arranging the offerings, a cloth must be placed over them, and the vajra pestle placed on top of it, so that the summoned ghosts will not discover the signs in advance and fail to respond to the summons.

Zhou Yang's Ghost Ruler has not yet been forged into a Vajra Pestle.

However, it already had the basic shape of a vajra, and Zhou Yang felt that it wouldn't be a big problem to use it temporarily.

On a coarse cloth, a vajra with five claws at each end, bronze in color and covered with cracks, yet cracked but not broken, is placed on the stove.

This was Zhou Yang's first time using offerings to summon spirits, and he was very curious about how the offerings would work. So after setting up the offerings, Zhou Yang sat cross-legged beside the clay stove, staring intently at the stove covered by a coarse cloth, not missing any movement that might occur within it. He waited only a moment.

Then they heard a "gurgling" sound coming from the clay stove.

Like solidified fat in a clay oven, which melts into liquid in an instant, the braid of hair that was soaked in it flows slowly in the liquid, making a sound.

The sound lasted for a moment, then fell silent.

Suddenly, a small gap appeared at the edge of the black cloth covering the clay stove.

Clumps of hair, like new branches sprouting from a willow tree, emerged from the gaps in the branches.

Her long hair cascaded to the ground, and this thick hair that hung around the edge of the clay stove was more than ten times the amount of hair that Zhou Yang had cut off himself!

Zhou Yang was taken aback by this sight!

Unexpectedly, the hair in the clay furnace defied common sense and began to grow on its own.

These strands of hair grew longer and longer until they dragged on the ground. Then, suddenly, right before Zhou Yang's eyes, all the strands of hair vanished completely!

Zhou Yang only saw a patch of dot-like holes, like hair follicles, appear on the ground around the clay stove. Then those holes disappeared completely, leaving only a strange "aura" that was out of place in the room, lingering around the clay stove and its surroundings.

Zhou Yang then had a strange intuition—if he removed the Ghost Ruler from the coarse cloth, the disharmonious energy lingering on the clay stove and its surroundings would dissipate completely. "The offerings... are truly bizarre and mysterious..."

Was this offering made to the spirit or deity it corresponds to, or to another kind of "aura" or "energy"?

"It's like a technique of transferring essence and exchanging energy, causing the normally circulating energy here to suddenly become disharmonious or deficient. This deficiency might correspond to the ghost or spirit I'm about to summon—once that ghost or spirit arrives here, the deficient energy field will be immediately replenished..."

Zhou Yang kept guessing in his mind.

He would just have to wait and see what he summoned, and whether the things he summoned could dispel the disharmonious energy lingering around the clay furnace, and then he could verify his guesses.

On the edge of Guan Village.

Large tracts of farmland are enclosed by circular furrows, which are distributed throughout the area.

The rice stalks, nearly as tall as a person, bore ears as big as a person's head, yet not a single stalk as thick as a little finger supported such large ears, without showing the slightest sign of bending.

Those enormous ears of rice seemed to have no weight at all.

The wind blows, but the lush green rice paddies remain perfectly still.

Zhou Heigou followed the Laogou and plunged into the field of crops, as if entering a dense and secluded forest. Even though the rice paddies on all sides were lush and green, Zhou Heigou could not sense any vitality flowing through the area. There was only a deep and cold gloom that seemed to be solidified in this boundless forest of rice.

As he passed by the rice stalks, he was momentarily stunned, as if each stalk was topped with a human head.

The rotting human heads stared intently at him, making him feel as if all the blood in his body had frozen!

"If it grows for another month, these crops in the fields will be ready for harvest."

Zhou Laogou walked ahead of Zhou Heigou with his hands behind his back. As he walked, he talked, his voice full of a farmer's joy at the harvest. "When the time comes, we have to tie all these rice stalks up in advance, so that they won't disappear as soon as they hit the ground after they ripen."

"We need to bring over the stone mortar and pestle from home. As soon as the rice ears are cut, we need to husk them immediately. The plump, white rice seedlings will all be transformed into Blessing Rice in the mortar!"

"This year, my dad and I have been frequently tending to the crops in the fields. Our winter harvest will definitely be more than any other family in the village!"

Zhou Heigou seized the opportunity to boast about his achievement. He hadn't really understood the meaning of Zhou Laogou's words, only Guan Village to harvest rice. "This year's winter harvest will surely last until next winter's harvest, right?"

"The Blessing Rice isn't for you to eat." Zhou Laogou turned to look at Zhou Heigou, his face turning blank. "The Blessing Rice is only for me and your mother."

Every winter harvest, I spend several days working in the fields.

"The collected Blessing Rice was not even a bushel."

"Once your mother and I have each eaten our fill of five pecks of rice, our family will be able to have more members." Eating enough five pecks of rice would mean the Zhou Family would "have more members"?

Upon hearing Laogou's words, Zhou Heigou felt a sudden chill run down his spine!

He had done his homework well before entering the Human-Skin Guan Village.

In fact, for several generations, his family had been known as "Zhou Heigou" in the Zhou Family in Human-Skin Guan Village.

The "Choked-to-Death Puppet" on the Heigou's belly, which could keep growing internal organs, was a family heirloom passed down for generations, specially prepared for the Revelation Ceremony in Guan Village!

Because he knew the situation in Guan Village quite well, Zhou Heigou was even more aware that his father, as well as his mother and elder brother, were actually just ghosts in human skin!

Human skin, dead!

The ghost is dead beyond dead!

These two inanimate parents, getting together, actually think about "adding a new member to the family"?

Can they still have children?

Is it the function of these Blessing Rice that allows two human skins to unite and give birth to a "new person"? And is this new person a human skin, or a ghost?

All of this made Zhou Heigou tremble at the mere thought. Laogou led Zhou Heigou to a high slope, pointed to a circular field in the distance that was several times larger than the surrounding fields, and said, "Look, how well the Liu Family's rice is growing."

In that large field, several ears of rice sprouted from the top of the rice stalks, which were as tall as a person.

The ears of rice, as big as a human head, are crowded on top of the rice stalks, like bunches of grapes growing on a grapevine.

In the surrounding fields, only one ear of rice grows on each stalk, but in the Liu Family's fields, it's common to see three to five ears of rice growing on each stalk.

The Liu Family has a good method for Seedling Sprouting.

"They say they raise ' Seedling Mother ' at home," Zhou Laogou said slowly. "They have more Blessing Rice than they can eat. The Liu Family has the largest population in our village, so don't mess with them."

"I've always been very honest, Father," Zhou Heigou quickly replied.

The father and son walked down the earthen slope for about a hundred steps before stepping into the Zhou Family's farmland.

Once he arrived at his own field, Zhou Laogou dropped his farming tools, and a look of eager greed suddenly appeared on his numb face.

He stared intently at Zhou Heigou's stomach. "Heigou, I'm hungry."

You know how to be filial to me, you love me, that's why I love you.

"If you stop being filial to me, I won't take care of you anymore." Zhou Heigou's face was pale.

When his father called him to tend the crops so early, he already understood his father's purpose.

Even though he was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help feeling afraid when the time came.

Although the Choked-to-Death Puppet's stomach could continuously produce internal organs, each of these organs was ultimately transformed from its own vital energy and blood.

When he first arrived in Guan Village, he carried with him the tonics prepared by his family. At that time, he used the Choked-to-Death Puppet without any restraint.

Now that the tonics are all gone, Zhou Heigou needs to use his own blood and energy to nourish the Choked-to-Death Puppet even more. Zhou Heigou's body is getting weaker day by day. Even if he wants to restrain himself now, Zhou Laogou will not agree.

It's his own fault. He made things too complicated from the start, spoiling Zhou Laogou and making him even more greedy.

Now he can only grit his teeth and get through these last few days— the Revelation Ceremony is getting closer and closer.

"Father, I give you my heart, my lungs, my guts."

"I'll give you everything I have; I'll serve you wholeheartedly!"

Zhou Heigou's face was pale, but he still managed a fawning smile. While professing his loyalty to Zhou Laogou, he quickly pulled off his belt, opening his shirt to reveal his lower abdomen. He took out a small knife he always carried, the tip of which was pointed at a cashew-shaped spot on his lower abdomen where the skin was slightly darker than the rest of his body. He gritted his teeth and prepared to plunge the knife in!

Although this stomach was a Choked-to-Death Puppet, the pain of having his intestines cut open would be something Zhou Heigou would have to endure himself! And then...

The moment the Heigou's knife tip touched the stomach of the Choked-to-Death Puppet, the cashew-shaped patch of skin on his lower abdomen quickly faded in color, becoming the same color as the surrounding skin in an instant.

A feeling of emptiness suddenly arose from the Heigou's lower abdomen!

"It's over!

"Why isn't the Choked-to-Death Puppet obeying its commands now!"

A thought popped into Zhou Heigou's mind. He looked up and saw the Laogou staring intently at his abdomen. His scalp tingled, and a layer of white sweat broke out on his back!

"Father, please calm down..."

The Heigou uttered a trembling sentence, then tightly closed its mouth, its tongue beginning to tap incessantly against its upper teeth, making a "tap tap tap" sound.

He then opened his mouth wide and forcefully stretched his tongue out—

This tongue is connected to the stomach of the Choked-to-Death Puppet!

By struggling to move its tongue, it is like pulling on that invisible thread, dragging out the stomach that the Choked-to-Death Puppet had hidden away!

At the same time! In Zhou Yang's room.

Looking at the black cloth covering the clay stove, something seemed to be growing from beneath, pushing upwards rhythmically, causing the Ghost Ruler pressed against the cloth to begin to tumble. Just as the Ghost Ruler was about to be pushed aside and roll off the black cloth, Zhou Yang raised an eyebrow—

His Mindfulness suddenly shifted, and he gripped the Ghost Ruler, causing it to press down violently!

The black cloth, which had been stretched out like a tent, immediately flattened out again after being struck by the Ghost Ruler!

But the next moment, the clay furnace suddenly began to shake violently!