The Taoist, fearing severe punishment from Wu Tian, hurriedly spoke, "I was wrong, I know I was wrong. Truthfully, I didn't want to do this."
"But she's my sister, I had no choice!"
Wu Tian extended his hand and said, "I don't want to hear your excuses. Instead of telling me all this nonsense, why don't you give me that effigy first?"
"Oh, right, right, right," the Taoist dared not delay.
He quickly got up, walked unsteadily, retrieved the effigy, and handed it to Wu Tian.
It was a cloth doll, with strange incantations drawn on it.
And just as Wu Tian had said, a long silver needle was indeed stuck into the effigy's forehead.
Without a word, Wu Tian pulled out the silver needle. With a gentle swipe of his finger, the incantations on the effigy were immediately wiped away.
Black energy billowed out from the doll. In no time, the effigy lost all its power, becoming no different from an ordinary doll.
After finishing, Wu Tian casually tossed the effigy aside, then took out his phone and called Zhou Qian.
Upon connecting, he immediately asked, "Hello, Zhou Qian, has your mother woken up yet?"
A voice filled with immense joy came from the phone, "My mother has woken up, and she's completely fine!"
"Wu Tian, did you do this!"
Hearing that Li Lanfang was alright, Wu Tian felt a sense of relief.
He smiled and said, "I've almost resolved things here. Take good care of your mother, and we'll discuss the specifics when I get back."
With that, Wu Tian hung up the phone and looked at the Taoist.
The Taoist's mouth twitched as he asked, "Sir, can I... can I leave now?"
"Leave?" Wu Tian chuckled. "What's the rush? Stay and chat with me for a while longer."
"Tell me, why did you become a Taoist? Do you usually do things like this to harm people?"
The Taoist quickly shook his head, "No, no, how could I? I'm just a corpse driver by profession. This is the first time I've used incantations to harm someone!"
"I know what I did was wrong, but as I said, my sister forced me to do it, and I had no choice!"
Wu Tian said, "This is your first time harming someone, huh? You've got pretty bad luck, running into me on your first try."
His gaze turned a bit more serious. "But have you ever considered something? What if you had actually killed the person?"
The Taoist trembled slightly. "N-no, that wouldn't happen, how could someone die? I wouldn't dare do something like that!"
Wu Tian sneered, "You wouldn't dare?"
"Heh, you only say you wouldn't dare. Who knows what you're truly thinking?"
The Taoist was so scared his courage was about to shatter.
He quickly said, "Sir, please don't wrongly accuse me. I truly wouldn't dare! I only did it this once. Please give me another chance, I beg you!"
Wu Tian said, "Let you go? You've done something bad, and with a mere word, you ask to be let off? Is there such a good thing in this world!"
The Taoist continued to plead, "But I truly know I was wrong."
"Believe me, I will never do this again. I can swear to it!"
Wu Tian still didn't reply.
This silence made the Taoist increasingly fearful, almost to the point of scaring himself to death.
Just then, he seemed to recall something. He cautiously looked at Wu Tian again and quietly asked, "Sir, if I'm not mistaken, you're a spiritual cultivator, aren't you?"
"Hmm?" Wu Tian raised an eyebrow. "You know about spiritual cultivators?"
The Taoist nodded. "I know, and yet I don't. I've only heard whispers."
"Because I heard that Taoist magic was invented by spiritual cultivators a long time ago."
Wu Tian knew that if the Taoist was saying this now, there must be a reason.
So he directly asked, "Why are you bringing this up? If you have something on your mind, just say it. Can you stop beating around the bush?"
The Taoist quickly said, "Please don't be angry. What I mean is... since you're a spiritual cultivator, how about we make a deal!"
"Oh?" This piqued Wu Tian's interest. "A deal? What do you have to trade with me?"
"Let me tell you, I'm not interested in money. If you bring out money, I'll get angry."
The Taoist shook his head. "No, no, how could it be money? I'm just a poor Taoist, I don't have much money to offer. What I want to give you is this..."
As he spoke, the Taoist fumbled on his person and produced a wooden box.
Wu Tian looked at the box. "Don't mess around. What is that? You're not trying to trick me, are you?"
The Taoist said, "How could I? I wouldn't dare do such a thing."
"I obtained this treasure by chance many years ago. I heard that this treasure is very beneficial to spiritual cultivators, so I've always kept it with me."
Hearing this, Wu Tian couldn't help but become interested. He said, "Is that so? Then open it and let me see."
The Taoist opened the box, and immediately, an herb emitting a faint white glow appeared before Wu Tian.
The Taoist tremblingly asked, "Sir, this... what do you think of it?"
Wu Tian stared at the herb, then exclaimed in shock, "This... this is Spirit Energy Grass? How do you have something like this?"
"Spirit Energy Grass?" The Taoist was completely bewildered. "What is that? I don't recognize it!"
Wu Tian felt his heart beating faster and faster.
The so-called Spirit Energy Grass was an extremely precious treasure!
To ordinary people, Spirit Energy Grass was no different from poison, but to spiritual cultivators, it was an absolute treasure.
Spirit Energy Grass contained immense spiritual energy, which spiritual cultivators could absorb by consuming it.
With the help of Spirit Energy Grass, didn't that mean he had a chance to break through to the fifth level?
This was something that couldn't be bought with any amount of money!
Thinking of this, even with Wu Tian's composure, he couldn't help but feel excited.
After all, he had been stuck between the fourth and fifth levels for too long. If he could break through with this opportunity, wouldn't that be a tremendous stroke of luck?
He was so excited that he couldn't control his expression, allowing the Taoist to see through his thoughts.
The Taoist then cautiously asked again, "Sir, what do you think of this?"
"If you let me go, this is yours. But if not..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Wu Tian reached out and took the Spirit Energy Grass.
"Alright, the deal is struck. I forgive you!"