176: Chapter 174 Little Five Thunder Skill 176: Chapter 174 Little Five Thunder Skill “Another Taoist Book?”
Limp Zhang’s few words made Chen Hai’s eyes light up.
If it was anything else, he might not have been as interested, but the temptation of the Taoist Book that Limp Zhang spoke of was something he simply couldn’t resist.
If he guessed correctly, that guy Limp Zhang must be a descendant of a true transmission from Dragon and Tiger Mountain that had been lost among the people.
As for spells, he might have only learned the very basics.
However, it wasn’t surprising for him to have a second Taoist Book hidden away considering he already had one Nameless Ancient Book in his possession.
Chen Hai had no doubts about this.
“Limp Uncle, you’re not unaware of what Chen Erleng did to get his start!”
“Knowing full well how ruthless and merciless he is when he gets going, you still dared to get involved with Wang Xiuhua.
Plainly speaking, what you’re facing today is all self-inflicted!”
“Since you want to use that Taoist Book as payment for my help, tell me, what exactly are you planning to have me do?”
“Besides, before you say anything, I have to make it clear: if you’re asking me to go against Chen Erleng just because of your issue, I definitely won’t agree!”
After hesitating briefly, Chen Hai pondered for a while before speaking.
After all, when it came to the realm of Tao Cultivation, although he was much stronger than Limp Zhang, his Physical Body was still one of mortal flesh.
If he were to face an enemy head-on and get trapped in a sack, followed by a beating with clubs, his fate likely wouldn’t be much better than Limp Zhang’s.
With Chen Erleng’s character, if he found out that Chen Hai knew about his killing of Limp Zhang, making people disappear wasn’t something Chen Erleng would shy away from.
“Chen Hai, for people like us, it’s fine to do a little scheming behind the scenes, but going head-to-head with someone?
That’s simply asking too much of you, and I never thought about it that way.”
“I’m asking for your help merely because I don’t want to die in vain!”
“My corpse has been discarded in a Gold Pit to the southwest of the mountain beside my house!”
“The people who did it, besides Chen Erleng, were also Ma Laosan and Zhang Laoliu.”
“The murder weapons they used were thrown into the pigsty pit by Ma Laosan.”
“Although my Remnant Soul is too weak, making it difficult to even get close to Chen Erleng and the others, I saw all their subsequent actions clearly.”
“With this information, both personal and material evidence are available.
If you report it to the police for me, as long as they are willing to investigate, they will surely be able to uncover the truth quickly.”
“It’s just that others can’t perceive my Remnant Soul.
Otherwise, I could have simply asked someone else to help, and they would have been able to handle this for me!”
…
Limp Zhang spoke, and according to him, the favor he was asking of Chen Hai seemed to hardly be of any difficulty at all.
After just a slight hesitation, Chen Hai nodded, promptly agreeing to it.
However, he immediately added, “Limp Uncle, now that I’ve promised you, I will certainly help with this matter.”
“But as for the Taoist Book you mentioned, I think you should hand it over to me first.”
“After all, your Remnant Soul is already quite weak.
Who knows how much longer you can hold on?”
“In the event something unexpected happens, if I’ve helped you but you’re no longer here, to whom can I turn to get that Taoist Book?”
When suggesting handing over the Taoist Book he had hidden to Chen Hai, Limp Zhang had never considered deceiving him with this matter.
After all, with only a faint Remnant Soul left and his existence about to dissipate, no matter how precious that Taoist Book was, what use would it be to him?
Considering Chen Hai’s concerns, which were indeed valid, Limp Zhang merely hesitated briefly before immediately saying, “Chen Hai, if you want that Taoist Book first, fine, I’ll give it to you!”
“The place where I’ve hidden the Taoist Book is in the kitchen.
Once you go inside, you’ll see a large water jar.”
“If you move that jar aside, grab a small shovel, and dig down about four to five inches, you should be able to unearth a box.”
“The Taoist Book you previously borrowed for a look, as well as the one I’ve just mentioned, are both inside that box.”
“According to what my late father said, there used to be at least a dozen similar Taoist Books in our family.”
“It’s just that, during those chaotic times, our Taoist Books were deemed feudal dregs.”
“After being reported to the brigade, a group of people barged into my house, searched and discovered the books, and just burned them all!”
“Only these two Taoist Books were hidden well enough not to be found and were preserved…”
After a long sigh, Limp Zhang reminded Chen Hai, “I’ve told you honestly where the things are hidden, so I entrust my matter to you!”
“Rest assured, Limp Uncle, I’m someone whose word is as good as a nail in wood.
Once the items are in my hands, I will take care of what I’ve promised you properly, and I won’t go back on my word!” Chen Hai responded with a nod.
Right now, he just wanted to quickly return to his Physical Body and then go to Limp Zhang’s house to retrieve the items.
After giving Limp Zhang his word, Chen Hai bade him farewell and dashed off like lightning toward his own home.
Now it was already nearing midnight, and both Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian had long fallen asleep.
The old-style wooden house where Chen Hai lived had a room that directly led outside.
After his Divine Soul had returned to his body, Chen Hai quietly opened the side door.
To prevent the night breeze from causing the door to rattle incessantly, he even specifically found a piece of straw paper, folded it several times, and stuffed it into the door crack, then closed the door tightly again.
After all this was done, he finally set off, rushing in the direction of Limp Zhang’s house.
Limp Zhang’s place was neither too far nor too close, and it took Chen Hai more than half an hour to reach the front of his house.
There was a ginkgo tree at the entrance, which seemed quite old.
Not acting recklessly, instead of charging straight in, Chen Hai stood behind this ginkgo tree and let his Divine Soul depart for an observation of the interior.
Only after confirming that the inside was pitch-dark with no other strangers, did he approach the front door of Limp Zhang’s house.
The front door was ajar, and with a light push from Chen Hai, there was a ‘creak’, and the door was pushed open.
Inside the house, it looked as if it had been plundered, completely in disarray.
It seemed that after Limp Zhang’s death, someone had already been here, and had cleaned out anything of value.
Such a deed should not be possible for Chen Erleng; after all, he was not lacking this bit of money.
As for his two henchmen, Ma Laosan and Zhang Laoliu, that was another story!
While chatting with his parents at home, Chen Hai did not hear them mention the death of Limp Zhang.
Perhaps, the man had been dead for over ten days, yet to this day, outsiders remained utterly unaware of it.
After all, Limp Zhang had always been a loner; ordinary people kept their distance and would not form close relationships with someone like him.
And for him, it was common to frequently go out to perform exorcisms for others, and not return for several days or even weeks.
The only one who had a relatively close relationship with him, Wang Xiuhua…
At dinner, Chen Hai heard his parents mention that Wang Xiuhua seemed to have some mental issues and was forcefully admitted to the Three-way Mental Hospital by Chen Erleng.
When he heard of this, Chen Hai felt very surprised, but now, he could not help but feel that Wang Xiuhua’s predicament must have a significant connection with Limp Zhang’s death.
Chen Hai did not idly look through Limp Zhang’s belongings or touch them indiscriminately, but instead headed straight for the kitchen area.
In truth, when he had previously sent his Divine Soul to scout the area, he had already ascertained the exact location of the small box buried under the water vat.
Now, to come in and take the box, he was already familiar with the task.
In just six or seven minutes, he had come out of the house again.
Under the dim moonlight, Chen Hai opened the box to check the two Taoist Books inside.
One book was exceedingly familiar to him, as it was the very Nameless Ancient Book he had borrowed before.
The other book, also unnamed.
Chen Hai flipped through the pages and, upon seeing the words “Little Five Thunder Skill” on the first page, he joyfully closed the book and put it back into the box.
In the dead of night, outside Limp Zhang’s house, it was naturally inconvenient for Chen Hai to scrutinize the contents of the book.
After another half hour or so, he made it back to his own home.
He slid the box under his bed and promptly lay back down.
The round trip took over an hour, and he had mostly been jogging; his physical body was merely mortal flesh, and after such a run, he still felt quite exhausted.
Lying in bed, it only took a moment before he fell sound asleep.
The next day, early in the morning, after completing his daily morning exercises, he picked up the book on the Little Five Thunder Skill and began to peruse it.
The Thunder Skill originated from ancient people’s worship of the thunder deity, and the Five Thunder Skill is also known as the Five Thunder Righteous Skill, or the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Righteous Skill, and so on.
Compared to the true Thunder Skill, the Little Five Thunder Skill was much less potent, mainly serving the purposes of exorcism and healing.
As for summoning Heavenly Thunders to strike down enemies, the true Thunder Skill might achieve that, but the Little Five Thunder Skill was far too weak in combat.
However, for Chen Hai, who was self-taught with no formal training in any spells and only relying on his own guesswork, even the Little Five Thunder Skill was enough to occupy him for a long time.
“To cultivate the Little Five Thunder Skill, the first cultivation attempt must be made on the first Spring Thunder Day of the year, facing the direction of the thunder?”
“Just to cultivate a spell, there’s such a restriction?”
This Taoist Book of the Little Five Thunder Skill, although also written in seal script, no longer posed much difficulty for Chen Hai to comprehend.
After roughly browsing the contents, he became somewhat frustrated.
After all, it was still only the twenty-something of September, and the next Spring Thunder Day was still several months away.
It seemed that this book on the Little Five Thunder Skill would have to be set aside for now.
He would have to wait until next spring to try cultivating it.