Chapter 1 The Beginning

A car stopped in front of a building.

A slightly thin but clearly cheerful man walked home, carrying large and small bags of food.

A crowd of people surrounded him from all sides, taking pictures with their phones.

This was Zhang Yue's home, the most popular and well-known mukbang streamer online recently.

Wei Yuan was in the crowd. He used his fingers to apply the talisman water to his eyes. After gaining the divine power of infusion, he also possessed some meager Daoist skills. The eye-opening method had also become simpler, not as cumbersome as before.

Zhang Yue's address was obtained through Zhou Yi.

He suspected that this man had a problem.

Having a good appetite was not a major issue, but being able to make even ghosts feel hungry just by appearing on screen was clearly beyond the explanation of a good appetite. After opening his eyes, Wei Yuan saw the souls of some cats and dogs on the road, but when he looked at Zhang Yue, he felt a little strange.

Not a ghost, nor a demon.

There was no evil aura on him.

The man chatted with his fans for a while, then turned around and went upstairs.

Wei Yuan retracted his gaze.

…………………

The impromptu investigation yielded no meaningful conclusions.

Wei Yuan wasn't discouraged. For him, it was best if the man wasn't a demon or ghost.

Returning to the museum, there were no customers during the midday. Wei Yuan casually placed a bag on the table, making a thudding sound. Inside was the "Comprehensive Basic Talismans" compiled by the Tianshi Mansion (Celestial Master Mansion), which recorded the effectiveness, schools, and drawing methods of most basic talismans. Leaving aside the fact that exchanging for talismans from the Wolong (Crouching Dragon) Token required merit points, the records in the Great Han Treasury only went up to the Tang Dynasty.

From the Tang Dynasty to modern times, nearly a thousand years had passed.

The newly emerged talismans during this period were not included in the Wolong Token.

"Let me see…"

"Evil warding talisman, mind-calming talisman, evil-slaying talisman, house-protecting talisman, house-protecting talisman against the Seven Fiends, as well as food talismans, protective talismans…"

Wei Yuan flipped through these basic talismans, examining their effectiveness, preparing to select some to prepare in advance, drawing more to save up, and adding to the inventory he applied for from the Special Operations Team, so that he would have more ways to handle sudden situations.

Yellow paper, talisman brush, cinnabar.

These were still from the Tianshi Mansion's inventory.

He was not currently part of the Special Operations Team, and his name was not on the Tianshi Mansion's disciple register.

However, they would prepare these basic talismans and pills for him.

Wei Yuan figured that it was probably because the incidents he had handled before had earned some credit for the local Special Operations Team, and they were returning the favor, so he didn't stand on ceremony and accepted it generously.

With the Comprehensive Talisman Manual in hand, drawing talismans was quite a headache.

These talismans were different from those exchanged for merit points from the Wolong Token.

Exchanging with merit could make a ready-made talisman fall into the spiritual altar, lasting for about three months. During these three months, carving talismans would be a natural process, only requiring diligent practice to master the experience contained in the spiritual altar talisman. Then, after this spiritual altar talisman dissipated, carving talismans again would be just as easy.

Under normal circumstances, drawing talismans required many preparations: ritual altar, footwork, incantations, none could be missing. Some even required opening a ritual altar, unless Wei Yuan was willing to shed blood for infusion, it was quite tedious and difficult. For an entire afternoon, until dusk, he barely managed to draw five simpler talismans. Closing his eyes to meditate and slightly ease his mind, Wei Yuan suddenly heard a clanging sound.

He subconsciously opened his eyes.

Two young girls, around twenty years old, walked in curiously.

Customers had arrived.

Wei Yuan perked up and got up to greet them.

This was, after all, an open museum.

But when he looked at the two young girls, he was slightly stunned. He felt a faint disharmony on the girl on the right. Generally speaking, the energy of young men and women was very strong, like a burning flame, but these two felt somewhat weak and listless.

It was as if a few pieces of ice had been thrown into a burning bonfire.

Wei Yuan used the movement of raising his hand to brush talisman water across his eyes.

The surrounding environment, the lines of the real world, instantly dimmed somewhat, and correspondingly, the invisible world became vivid in front of him. He turned his head slightly and looked at the two girls.

He saw that on their shoulders and heads, there were flames condensed from essence and yang energy. People had three lamps on their shoulders, which were proof of being alive. As long as these three lamps were still there, ordinary ghosts would find it difficult to harm them. But now, on the flames of the three lamps on the girl on the right, there were faint black lines entwined.

One of the lamps was about to go out.

Wei Yuan was thoughtful.

Had she been targeted by a newly born demon or evil creature?

"Boss, boss, do you sell the things here?"

A crisp female voice brought Wei Yuan back to his senses. He saw that the two guests had already taken a tour of the museum. Wei Yuan shook his head and replied, "Sorry, this is a private museum. It's only open to the public for exhibitions. The things inside are not for sale."

The slightly taller girl on the left looked a little disappointed. Seeing the talisman book that Wei Yuan had casually placed on the table, as well as the yellow talismans and cinnabar stacked next to it, she became interested and said:

"Then what about these talismans? Did the boss draw them yourself?"

Wei Yuan thought for a while and said:

"I drew them myself. If you want one, I can give you one."

He took out a protective talisman from the pile. This was originally a talisman used when ascending the altar, to protect the Daoist himself, but it also had some defensive ability against ordinary evil spirits. Wei Yuan handed this talisman to the girl who looked somewhat listless and couldn't muster any energy, and said:

"This protective talisman is for you."

He paused, seeing the lamp on the girl's head flickering precariously, and proactively reminded, "Guest, your yintang (glabella) looks a little dark. Please don't be alone recently, and stay in crowded places as much as possible. If you have to walk at night, remember, don't look back."

Tao Siwen took the yellow talisman, slightly stunned.

She had been having nightmares lately.

In her dreams, it always seemed like someone was following her. No matter how fast she ran, the footsteps kept getting closer and closer. Yesterday, she was directly scared awake, crying and afraid to sleep, sitting on the bed all night. Today, her best friend dragged her out to go shopping and relax, and they ended up in this kind of place, which already made her feel a little suppressed.

Hearing this, she subconsciously looked up and saw the man opposite her with a look of admonition.

On the wall behind him was a sheathed sword, and a gust of wind happened to blow, causing the bell on the door to ring. This place seemed to be quite old. The tables and display cabinets were all old-fashioned green-painted wooden frames, and the paint was peeling off, revealing a yellowish feeling from the 1980s.

On the walls, on the door, and below the sword were yellow talismans.

On the two wooden boxes on the cabinet, there were also yellow talismans, and for some reason, the cinnabar color on them was even darker red.

Clang, clang.

The bell rang softly.

She seemed to see two paper dolls.

This place, how did it feel a bit eerie…

Tao Siwen's face turned pale. Grabbing the talisman, she pulled her best friend and walked out.

……………………

Wei Yuan watched the two leave, looked at the sky, and saw that dusk had begun to turn into night.

It was getting dark.

He casually picked up the sword and carried it on his back, putting the talisman into his waist pocket.

Then he turned his hand and took the broken sword, tucking it behind his waist.

"I'm going out for a bit, you guys watch the house."

A voice echoed from the empty museum.

Wei Yuan pushed the door and left.

The door of the museum closed, and the bell on the door made a soft sound.

Clang…