Chapter 124 The Tiger Dream

Xuan Yi and Zhao Yi were speechless.

They watched as Wei Yuan placed the yang soul wood in a spot where its effects could encompass the entire museum. He had long since discovered that the museum itself was a small yin gathering point, which was why it had attracted a bunch of harmless ghosts before he arrived.

If they were in the wild, these guys would either become wandering souls or vanish into thin air.

Where else could they happily gather to drink cola?

Now, the yang soul wood enveloped the entire museum, not only helping Zhang Xiaoyu recover but also benefiting those few ghosts.

Zhao Yi was about to speak when he saw Wei Yuan pull out the broken sword from his back.

Then a flash of sword light.

About an inch of the white jade-like yang soul wood was sliced off.

Zhao Yi felt a pang in his heart. Even though it wasn't his, he felt a sense of loss and almost cried out. He held back with all his might. Wei Yuan's sword continued, carving out the core of that inch of jade-white yang soul wood, just enough to make a wooden plaque. He carefully wrote Zhang Xiaoyu's name on the front.

He then obtained Zhang Xiaoyu's age and birth date from Xuan Yi and engraved it on the back.

A 'Wei' character was carved in the lower left corner.

The entire waist tag was covered in dense patterns, forming a special talisman. This was the yang soul method Wei Yuan had exchanged for, maximizing the properties of the yang soul wood. After adding a drop of Xiaoyu's blood and infusing it with his own, the wooden tag would be complete.

By using the core of the yang soul wood, when worn, it could replace the deceased physical body to nourish the soul. It could also gather Zhang Xiaoyu's scattered soul, making her look no different from a normal person, making it difficult to see her true nature. And if anyone with enough cultivation were to see it, they would recognize the pattern on the yang soul tag as a Daoist orthodox origin, not something evil.

Wei Yuan looked up and saw Xuan Yi and Zhao Yi silently staring at him, wanting to say something but hesitating, especially their gaze on the yang soul wood tag in his hand.

Talismans weren't just made of yellow paper.

Spiritually rich wood and top-grade jade could also be used as materials for talismans.

This kind of talisman was generally a bit more difficult to make than a basic yellow talisman.

Wei Yuan was able to complete it in one go because he had exchanged for the experience of carving talismans from the waist tag.

After putting away the yang soul wood tag, he had only used the core of the wood to make the tag, leaving some remaining. He pushed the two parts of the yang soul wood towards Zhao Yi and Xuan Yi, saying, "If you don't mind, take these two pieces of yang soul wood."

"Of course, it's not for free. I need you to help me find out who Zhang Yue had contact with, especially who he transferred large sums of money to recently."

Wei Yuan paused and said:

"Life-extending methods are not something ordinary people can come into contact with."

"Someone may be leaking these unorthodox methods to ordinary people."

………………

Xuan Yi and Zhao Yi solemnly agreed to Wei Yuan's request.

With the concentration of spiritual energy recovering faster and faster, leaking these evil methods was a huge hidden danger. Zhang Yue used his own life to extend his daughter's, but some people would choose to use other people's lives.

Life-extending methods were still somewhat acceptable.

If it involved some cruel and barbaric ancient witchcraft, the harm would befall more than just one or two people.

Xuan Yi and Zhao Yi drove away from the museum.

The two were silent on the road. After a long time, Zhao Yi couldn't hold back and asked while driving, "Did you see it..."

"The tag that Curator Wei carved."

Xuan Yi nodded, his expression complex. "It's exactly the same as the one my ancestor had."

Zhao Yi grinned. "It's more than just the same. My ancestor's tag even had some damaged parts, which were later restored by someone. Some parts don't flow smoothly. After all, that's something from the Qin and Han Dynasty magic era. But when I saw Curator Wei carving the tag just now, he was so skilled, it didn't look like the first time he had done it."

The two fell silent again.

Xuan Yi said silently, "Under the yang soul wood..."

Zhao Yi nodded, lit a cigarette, and said:

"It's very similar to my great-grandfather's things. It should be genuine."

"Well… are you going to tell anyone?"

"Tell anyone?!"

Zhao Yi shook his head violently. "No way."

"Curator Wei already gave us a hush fee. What are you talking about?"

He glanced at his yang soul wood, which was at least two thousand years old, and said:

"There are only ordinary people who look at the folk museum here."

…………………

Wei Yuan had Zhang Xiaoyu wear the wooden tag.

Because Zhang Yue's relatives and friends all believed that Zhang Xiaoyu was terminally ill, and because Zhang Xiaoyu herself was a living corpse with a special constitution, Wei Yuan temporarily kept her in the museum.

After Zhang Yue's funeral was handled, Zhang Xiaoyu slowly emerged from the shadow of losing her father, at least on the surface.

However, she encountered trouble with schooling.

A child this old couldn't be kept out of school.

But Zhang Xiaoyu's situation was special, and the Special Operations Group couldn't let such a child go to a normal kindergarten.

So Wei Yuan was left with only one option.

Let Xiaoyu go to school with the children of the Daoist sect. In this era, even those little Daoists had to honestly attend classes. Apart from the Daoist morning and evening classes, they had to learn math, physics, chemistry, and biology, as well as talismans, footwork, and swordsmanship. They had to cultivate their bodies with fist techniques. If they wanted to learn some ancient zither and calligraphy from the Daoist masters there, it was something they could do in their spare time if they had the energy and time.

Xiaoyu's situation was more suitable there.

During this time, under the influence of the yang soul wood, her body and soul had recovered. She no longer looked pale, and with the protection of the yang soul wood tag, it was no problem for her to go to the Daoist sect, a place with pure spiritual energy.

Because Wei Yuan had helped a lot before, Zhou Yi was busy helping to handle this matter. Xuan Yi and Zhao Yi also put in a lot of effort, and seemed to have argued with their elders more than once, angering their elders to the point of blowing their beards and glaring, scolding them for not knowing how to respect their elders.

But this time, not only the usually mischievous Zhao Yi, but even Xuan Yi silently apologized and persisted.

Zhao Yi glanced at his elders, thinking silently in his heart.

Elders, huh...

In order to cultivate the younger generation, the Daoist children also went to school in the mountains.

Originally, the best choice would have been the White Cloud Temple in Shuntian Prefecture, which was nearby.

There were true cultivators there, and it had a long history and deep foundation. However, firstly, Wei Yuan didn't have a good impression of the White Cloud Temple because of Liu Chao's jade talisman, and secondly, he at least had acquaintances in the Wei Ming Sect, so he chose the Wei Ming Sect.

Once her name was entered on the mountain's list, she should have immediately entered the mountain.

But Wei Yuan felt that at this time, the child needed someone to be with her, not to be abandoned again immediately, so he didn't send her to the Daoist sect immediately, but stayed with Xiaoyu for more than a month before asking her if she wanted to go back to school.

"Can I still go to school?"

Zhang Xiaoyu's eyes widened in disbelief.

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "Yes, but the place is a bit far."

"You have to stay on the mountain and can only come back during the holidays."

He reached out and rubbed Zhang Xiaoyu's hair, saying, "I'll pick you up then."

"Okay!"

………………

Wei Yuan sent Zhang Xiaoyu to the Daoist sect.

Life returned to normal after coming back, but he felt a little quiet and not used to it.

He practiced swordsmanship and the Crouching Tiger Stance every day, and drew talismans every day.

His cultivation was also slowly improving.

And when his cultivation broke through a bottleneck, he had a dream.

……………………

Blue sky and white clouds, vast expanse.

A green mountain, with a prosperous city at its foot.

Wei Yuan walked along the mountain road with a lamp, and found a Daoist temple ahead.

It was hard to imagine that there was still such a Daoist temple in this era.

Wei Yuan illuminated the Daoist temple and heard movement inside, so he shouted loudly:

"Is there a Daoist master in the temple?"

Silence.

He raised his hand, pressed his sword, and walked in step by step.

He saw that the interior of the Daoist temple was extremely cold and towering. The altar didn't enshrine the Three Pure Ones, but a dignified man. Wei Yuan was about to look further when he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. The flashlight in his hand had turned into a white lantern at some point, and the lantern emitted a faint blue light.

Blood flowed from the walls of the Daoist temple.

The steps under his feet turned into white bones.

The towering beams became rows of sharp teeth.

Wei Yuan heard a roaring tiger, and the Daoist temple turned out to be just the open mouth of the tiger. Wei Yuan's expression changed, and the sword in his hand slashed forward, but the tiger was too huge. It lifted its neck, and Wei Yuan fell directly down. Two rows of sharp teeth bit over with a stench, and a bloody smell rushed at his face.

………………

"Ah!!"

Wei Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, his face slightly pale.

He sat up, chugged a bottle of water, calmed his mind, and splashed his face with water to calm down.

It was the Tiger Lord, no, the Mountain Lord…

Did he know that his hometown had been breached, so he used some kind of magic to target himself? Or was this a warning from the Crouching Tiger waist tag? Ancient famous swords hung on the wall would鳴嘯(míngxiào-whistle) endlessly if enemies approached. It was normal for artifacts like the Crouching Tiger waist tag to have similar abilities.

But it was clear that the Mountain Lord was an unavoidable enemy.

"Mountain Lord…"

Wei Yuan raised his head, preparing to lie down for a while.

But as soon as he closed his eyes, the water ghost knocked on the door again. Wei Yuan had no choice but to get up.

He opened the door and saw a bunch of dead ghosts looking at him with pitiful faces, pointing to the once again empty refrigerator. It was clear that the stock had been drunk dry again. Wei Yuan couldn't help but want to burst out and ask if they had drowned in cola before.

But a bunch of ghosts with different appearances, but all somewhat hideous, were looking at him pitifully, which was a bit creepy. Wei Yuan looked at the money in his card.

Cola wasn't that expensive.

But the speed at which ghosts, who didn't have to worry about gaining weight and wouldn't get tired of drinking, consumed cola was beyond your imagination.

He had no choice. He saw that although the sky had darkened, it wasn't too late, so he took the initiative to call his employer, Fang Hongbo.

He wanted to pre-emptively withdraw his salary for this month, as well as the promised food money.

"Hello, is this Mr. Fang?"

"You… who is this?!"

Fang Hongbo's voice came from the phone, but it sounded a little flustered.

Wei Yuan explained, "Wei Yuan, Folk Museum…"

A terrified scream came from the other end of the phone.

Wei Yuan frowned and said, "Mr. Fang?! Are you okay?"

There was heavy and rapid breathing on the phone, which didn't subside for a long time. Fang Hongbo suddenly asked a question, "Museum? Mu, museum… Wei, Wei Yuan, recently, has anyone, I mean, has my son been to your place? That museum is his…"

Wei Yuan was surprised and said, "Your son?"

"No, why, is your son coming over?"

"Can you leave me a contact number so I can get in touch..."

The voice on the other end fell silent, and then the voice said dryly and fearfully:

"My son, he's already dead..."

Dong, dong, dong—

There was a knock on the door from the other end of the phone, very rhythmic, but with a gloomy aura, giving the feeling that it was close at hand.

As if pressing on the heart.

Dong, dong,

Dong—

Creak—

Wei Yuan turned his head slightly and looked at the door next to him.

The door, rang.

Have you heard the story of the dead coming to the door?