Demonic Talisman

In Zheng Qingbo's usual room, a faint sandalwood scent wafted along with the incense candles.

Although Heavenly Gate already has some high-tech alternatives for cultivation, such as electronic sandalwood and artificial sandalwood.

However, this is overseas, and many old customs have been preserved here, such as hand-ground sandalwood powder, candle wax made from coconut oil, and copper incense burners.

After refusing the care and attention of his mistresses during the day, Zheng Qingbo slept here.

In the darkness, Zheng Qingbo opened his eyes, his gaze intense.

His memories were not lost, so after being affixed with the Three Yin Life and Death Talisman, he had almost complete control over all related memories, such as being manipulated into signing various transfer agreements, doing things according to the other party's instructions during the day, and being responsible for promoting the top ten leaders at night.

Although he was still conscious, all his thoughts were based on following the other party's instructions.

Zheng Qingbo slowly searched his body and quickly found three personal protective protective items. These protective items were ten times more expensive than other types because they could defend against Jiangtou.

And what can be found in him is the best of the best.

However, none of the three protective artifacts reacted at this moment.

So what's controlling me isn't some kind of Jiangtou or witchcraft, then what is it? Demonic Evil Method? Or some New Demonic Path technology?

I've never heard of Heavenly Gate using similar methods.

He didn't realize that Heavenly Gate's gaze would fall on him, a small local tyrant.

He is very careful in his actions.

Even the sacrificial animals used to worship the Human-Body Buddha were not from the Heavenly Gate.

Could it be Buddhism?

Is he a Living Buddha from Sumatra?

I've heard that recently, many monks claiming to be from the Western Earth have appeared in the Palembang there.

But wasn't the Heavenly Blood Python from the Heavenly Gate, or Sealed Holy Son left behind by the demonic path?

How could demons and Buddhas be involved together?

During his five years in Java, he was practically under his nose, and he never heard of the other party ever going on a long trip, such as a pilgrimage to the Saha Continent.

So where exactly does Buddhism come from?

Even though he seemed to have regained control and felt no restrictions on himself, Zheng Qingbo remained motionless, even closing his eyes as if preparing to continue sleeping.

Without figuring out who was behind Hu Mang, he didn't mind serving his new boss. He had managed to rise from a smuggler to his current position, and even Golden Core was at his beck and call. When it came to enduring humiliation, he was more tolerant than anyone else.

"See? That's why I only used one talisman. As long as he interacts with people more, our Boss Zheng will soon notice something's wrong. In just one day, his consciousness will have almost fully recovered. Although Boss Zheng's cultivation is still in the Foundation Establishment Realm, his mental defenses are better than even those of ordinary Golden Core cultivators."

The room lights turned on automatically, and Hu Mang and Jiacha stood not far from the bedside.

Zheng Qingbo's eye twitched violently. With the help of the sandalwood incense's glow, he realized that there hadn't been a single person in that spot just moments before.

However, Zheng Qingbo did not panic. He opened his eyes again and forced himself to remain calm, saying:

"If you are a member of Heavenly Gate, I can obey your orders and help you deal with the Immortal Dynasty. Don't you want to know who in the Yu Household is on the side of the Immortal Dynasty?"

"I like getting straight to the point, but the problem is, I wasn't sent by the Heavenly Gate authorities."

What do you want?

I want you dead.

As Hu Mang spoke, the living aura on Zheng Qingbo quickly faded, and the stench of death visibly permeated the air. His body temperature began to drop, his heartbeat slowed, and even the light in his pupils dimmed rapidly.

Then, his head lolled to the side, and he died.

Jiacha, standing behind Hu Mang, suddenly widened his pupils.

He was brought here by the other party and never expected to see this scene.

Without Zheng Qingbo, Zheng Family Garden will definitely fall apart!

Is the other party planning to transfer assets and abscond? But didn't they just say yesterday that they wanted to turn Zheng Family Garden into Hu Household Garden?

Hu Mang's lips curled up slightly.

A strange thing happened.

Zheng Qingbo has come back to life.

His body convulsed violently, like a corpse that had been electrified. His chest began to rise and fall again, and his lungs started working again. His skin changed from grayish-white back to its normal color, and the stench of death vanished completely within seconds, replaced by a normal, sandalwood-scented body odor.

His pupils lit up again, his eyes blinked, refocused, and then, with a look of bewilderment and confusion, he looked at the ceiling, then at the Hu Mang Jiacha standing at the head of the bed.

"Go back to sleep, you have a lot of people to greet tomorrow."

Zheng Qingbo nodded silently and closed his eyes again.

Jiacha's back was already soaked with cold sweat.

He had absolutely no idea how the other person had managed to do it.

"Do you understand now why I don't control multiple people at once? The reason is simple: I need to send some people out to do things. Once they come into contact with more people, their self-awareness will naturally return. Once their awareness returns, the life-and-death effect of the Life and Death Talisman will transform, putting them into a state of suspended animation. When the suspended animation ends, their consciousness will be renewed and they will obey my will, and so on in an endless cycle."

"If someone sees this strange phenomenon, it will become a weakness."

Hu Mang turned his head, smiled, and patted the other person's shoulder, which was wet. He then quietly wiped himself on the other person's body.

"Now you understand why I want you by his side. Do you know what I need you for?"

Jiacha bowed deeply, his voice still trembling slightly.

"I understand what you mean, boss. Before Boss Zheng enters a state of suspended animation, I need to settle him in properly, and after Boss Zheng 'comes back to life,' I need to guide him to continue serving you."

"Yes, that's why I kept you as my chief secretary," Hu Mang said without turning his head. "You might still think that if Boss Zheng's consciousness is revived, you could perhaps join forces with him to escape from my grasp. Now I'm telling you clearly, once the Life and Death Talisman is activated, unless Boss Zheng is truly dead, he will never be able to escape my control in this lifetime. So regardless of whether you had any ideas before, after tonight, you'd better not have any ideas at all."

Jiacha bent over even lower.

Hu Mang was obviously talking nonsense.

To grasp life and death in one's hands is something perhaps only someone at the level of the Ghost Lord could even begin to understand.

As for Hu Mang, it would be more appropriate to discuss this topic after he has reached the Void Refinement.

However, it should be enough to fool a local from Nanyang.

The Three Yin Life and Death Talisman cannot control life and death, but it takes a clever approach. It does not directly confront the controller's consciousness. Instead, whenever the other party's consciousness crosses the line, it uses the evolution of the other party's sea of consciousness to stimulate the Three Yin Talisman in their body, causing them to enter a state of suspended animation. After the suspended animation ends, the part of the self-consciousness that was too strong will be digested, and what remains is a qualified subject to be controlled.

Of course, this kind of demonic talisman technique is not without its flaws.

The biggest drawback is that, in the state of feigned death, a trace of Demonic Qi will leak from the opponent's body.

If there are righteous people in the area, they will surely discover this Demonic Qi. If this righteous person has a higher level of cultivation and can comprehend the transformation of the three yin into the three yang, and then use the three yang fire in their heart to burn away the three yin demonic talisman in the other person's soul, they can naturally remove the influence of the demonic talisman.

First, there are no such powerful cultivators locally. Second, even if one's cultivation level is high, one's Dao cultivation may not be high enough, as Earth Star does not practice "Heavenly Secrets Evolution".

Therefore, Hu Mang was confident in controlling Zheng Qingbo.

The problem is that even without breaking the demonic talisman, the fact that Zheng Qingbo simply fell into a deep sleep without moving is a huge issue.

Therefore, a personal secretary is needed to assist Boss Zheng in his work.

As for how to control this Grand Secretary, the evil Buddha's thoughts of gods and Buddhas, as well as his own Bright King Buddha thoughts, will be double-insured.

If even this can't be resolved, and this chief secretary is unexpectedly loyal... then Hu Mang has other options.

The simplest solution is to seek revenge for being cuckolded and for the murder of one's child. By sleeping with Zheng Qingbo's wife and killing a few of Zheng's children, even the most loyal person would be forced to board Hu Mang's pirate ship.

But clearly, it's not time yet.

What Hu Mang wanted was a complete Zheng Family Garden, and only "Zheng Qingbo" could give him that complete Zheng Family Garden.

Any actions that could lead to the collapse of the organization should be avoided for the time being.

Everything can be taken slowly.

He doesn't need to step into the spotlight immediately, and ideally, he should never need to.

A new broom sweeps clean.

The next morning, as the newly appointed head of the guild, Hu Mang summoned the seventeen alley leaders who were still staying in Zheng Family Garden. The meeting place was a discussion hall in the front yard, where the Datuk Gong's incense was slowly rising behind Hu Mang.

The seventeen alley leaders entered the Yixiang Hall one after another and sat down in their usual seats. Their expressions varied: some looked uneasy and kept rubbing their palms; some pretended to be calm and picked up the rough porcelain teacup on the table to drink tea; others were expressionless and looked down, as if it was none of their business.

But their eyes all secretly drifted towards the young man sitting at the head of the table.

"Oh, these are all old acquaintances."

Hu Mang gave a half-smile.

"Fatty Liu, I remember that knife I took for you that year; it almost dislocated my shoulder. And what did you do? You bought me a watered-down drink afterwards."

A bald, burly man with an old centipede scar on his left eyebrow was looking down, pretending to examine the cracks in a teacup, as if he wanted to bury his whole face in the cup.

"Old Zhou, I remember the last time you challenged me, I kicked you into the harbor. I heard that when you climbed back up, there was a crab still hanging in your hair. How about it, still holding a grudge?"

Hu Mang then looked at a man with a thin face who looked more like an accountant than the alley owner.

The thin, middle-aged man called "Old Zhou" gave a wry smile and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, "Brother Mang, you're joking. I was ignorant that time and offended Brother Mang. I deserved to be beaten. Brother Mang and wouldn't hold a grudge against someone like me."

"Xiao Wu, not bad! You've reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Did you break through in the last six months?"

Xiao Wu's body was tense, and he almost jumped up when he heard Hu Mang's voice.

"You broke through three months ago, Brother Mang!"

Next, Hu Mang called out names one by one. There was no way around it; back then, Heavenly Blood Python was too powerful. He didn't know everyone, but everyone present definitely knew him.

"When I left, there were fewer than ten alley owners. In less than half a year, there were more than twenty. It seems I left too early."

Hu Mang finally focused his gaze on the last six modified cultivators, whose faces were somewhat unfamiliar.

The modification technique looks quite familiar.