In late autumn, the moon is dark and the wind is high.
The outskirts of Yishui County are filled with gray-white haze.
Gu Xu walked alone in the long and quiet alley in the night.
As an official in the Exorcism Department of the Da Qi Dynasty, it was common for him to go out late at night to perform ghost-killing missions.
He reached the fork in the alley, turned the corner, and stopped.
Several groups of gray-white shadows appeared ahead.
These shadows float in mid-air, appearing translucent, with a hazy luster all over their bodies.
All of them are women with slim figure and delicate appearance.
Their skin was as pale as corpses, and they were wrapped in ragged white quilts, floating majestically in the deep night.
But their eyes were empty and lifeless, like bottomless black holes.
When Gu Xu looked at them, they opened their mouths slightly in unison, revealing their sharp white fangs.
"Spectres are born from the strange atmosphere of mountains and forests, and they harm others."
The descriptions in ancient books came to Gu Xu's mind.
So he recognized that the ghosts in front of him were "ghosts" transformed by the yin energy of the mountains and forests. Although they had no intelligence, they could absorb people's energy and kill people invisible.
"I know you are greedy for my body," Gu Xu looked at them with a bright smile on his face, "But I'm sorry, tonight, I am the hunter."
After saying that, he took out a few talismans from his pocket and gently threw them towards the ghosts in front of him.
This is the "Tai Shang Arctic Demon-Suppressing and Ghost-killing Talisman" that he drew by himself, specifically used to deal with these ghosts that take on the form of yin energy.
"Five stars suppress the color, illuminating the mysterious world. Thousands of gods and saints protect my true spirit..."
He whispered the "Exorcist Mantra" softly.
Before he finished speaking, the talismans instantly turned into dazzling golden flames, like the rising sun, illuminating the entire alley as bright as day.
Hiss, hiss.
The hot air surged upwards, and bright tongues of flames flew in all directions.
Those "monsters" were all swallowed up by the flames before they could resist.
Evaporates instantly.
After a few seconds, the fire went out.
The alley returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.
Gu Xu looked at the empty alley and sighed in his heart: "The 'ghost-killing talisman' I recently modified seems to be very effective..."
He thought he could deal with at most one or two ghosts at a time.
Unexpectedly, the "monsters" were wiped out in one wave.
Is this because my output is too high, or the ghosts are too fragile?
Thinking of this, Gu Xu put away the folding fan, took out a booklet from his pocket, and quickly recorded with charcoal:
"Experiment time: September 15th, the 23rd year of Tianxing;
"Experimental content: Damage assessment of the improved version of 'Tai Shang Arctic Demon Suppressing and Ghost Killing Talisman';
"Experimental conclusion: Due to the low strength of the demons, they were all wiped out within three seconds. It is impossible to accurately estimate the power of the new version of the 'Ghost Killing Talisman' (visual inspection is at least five times more than the original version); the specific value needs further exploration.
"Remarks: Next time you conduct experiments, be sure to find a 'white rat' that can endure beatings."
Then he put away his pen and paper, turned around and disappeared into the night.
He also rushed back to the Exorcism Department to report on the completion of the mission.
By eliminating these "monsters", you should be able to gain a lot of merit, enough to exchange for a bottle of "Quiet Heart Pill" from the Exorcist Department.
With the "Jingxin Pill", his cultivation can be further improved.
He is now just a weak and helpless first-level practitioner who can only bully the even weaker demons.
If you encounter a stronger evil spirit, you may be in trouble.
In order to survive and live a long life, he must seize the time to practice and work hard to make himself stronger.
…………
Gu Xu is a time traveler.
Three months ago, he was still a college student on Earth who was obsessed with studying.
One day, he accidentally opened a game with the theme of cultivating immortals. He wanted to play it casually and relax. Unexpectedly, just after randomly selecting talents, he felt a sharp pain in his head, then his eyes went black and he fainted.
After waking up, he came to this strange world and became a seventeen-year-old boy with the same name.
Different from the peace and tranquility of the earth.
This world called "The Wilderness" is filled with all kinds of monsters and monsters.
They always appear in the night, eating human flesh and blood, cannibalizing human souls, and have caused countless tragedies that destroyed families and killed people.
In the face of ghosts and monsters with almost immortality and extraordinary abilities, the power of ordinary people seems small and fragile.
Only the extraordinary can confront the extraordinary.
Only practitioners can fight against ghosts.
This is a bloody lesson that the human race has learned in countless battles.
All major cultivation sects have unanimously taken on the responsibility of exterminating demons and defending the Tao.
The Daqi Dynasty also established an "Exorcism Department" to deal with demons and monsters to ensure the safety of people's lives as much as possible.
Gu Xu is a low-ranking code official in the Daqi Exorcism Department.
The word "unfashionable" here is not meant to be derogatory, it simply refers to his rank.
In the Daqi Dynasty, officials were classified as Liunei, divided into nine grades, and were appointed by the court; officials were classified as Liuwai, who were not classified into grades and were appointed by officials.
Gu Xu's job is mainly to exorcise and catch ghosts, and to assist his superiors in maintaining the harmony and tranquility of the community.
Working in this dangerous profession and dealing with man-eating evil spirits every day, he would inevitably become worried. He often worried that one day he would go out on a mission and never come back.
Perhaps because he traveled too hastily, he did not obtain the legendary "system".
The only golden fingers are the talents randomly obtained in the game - [Mr. Bowen's Strong Memory], [Spirit Summoning Body] and [Unfortunate Genius].
[Bowen Qiangji] is an ordinary but very useful talent.
It can give Gu Xu an almost photographic memory for learning and an understanding far beyond that of ordinary people.
Relying on this talent, in just three months, Gu Xu had read all the books in the exorcism department of Yishui County.
He knows almost everything about the techniques and moves of various sects, the fatal weaknesses of various ghosts and monsters, and all kinds of weird and unpopular spells - he can be called an "immortal theorist" and a "keyboard expert".
Among them, he is the best at the way of talismans.
In contrast, the talent [Spirit Summoning Body] brings far more troubles to Gu Xu than benefits - it can increase the probability of Gu Xu encountering ghosts to a certain extent.
It can also be understood that Gu Xu has a very high "charm value" in the eyes of ghosts and monsters. Like a bright light in the dark night, he can unknowingly attract many ghosts and monsters who are hungry for his body to him.
But what's the use?
It was impossible for him to find a female ghost as a Taoist companion.
As for the talent of [Unfortunate Genius]... Gu Xu would rather not have it himself.
It can improve Gu Xu's understanding and increase his probability of enlightenment.
It can also increase Gu Xu's practice efficiency by about 20%, making him rarely encounter bottlenecks.
But as the old saying goes, "All the gifts of fate have already been secretly marked with a price."
Gu Xu, who possesses the talent of "Failing Genius", has been weak and sick since time travel.
I can't carry a knife or dance with a sword. I am out of breath and have chest pain even when I jog.
Ordinary medical methods could not cure his congenital disease.
Every doctor who treated him categorically declared that he would not live past thirty.
In other words, Gu Xu now has less than thirteen years left to live.
There is only one way to change his fate -
That is practice.
…………
Note:
(1) "Evils are born from the strange atmosphere of mountains and forests, and are harmful to others." - Du Yu's annotation in "Zuo Zhuan·Xuan Gong Three Years"
(2) "Five stars suppress the color, illuminating the mysterious world. Thousands of gods and saints protect my true spirit. Giant beasts in the sky subdue the five soldiers. Five devils in the sky destroy their bodies. Wherever they are, all gods welcome them. Urgent like Laws and Orders." - Taoist mantra to drive away ghosts.
