"It's not a refrigerator," the Water Ghost turned around and informed the ghost inside.

The female ghost who had taken poison didn't care and said, "If it's just a guest, we'll wait for the boss to come back."

A quick look at "paw𝑟ead.com" will leave you more fulfilled.

The Water Ghost nodded.

When it came back, it seemed a bit listless and slumped back onto the sofa.

But the Soul of the Qi Family's Army shook its head unusually and said, "We can't let him leave."

"There's something strange about the book."

"What's strange about it?"

The Blade Ghost thought for a moment and said, "When I was alive, I joined General Qi in attacking an old demon in the mountains, so I'm somewhat familiar with this kind of aura."

"There's a demonic aura in the book."

………………

Wei Yuan received a message from the museum.

It seemed that they had sensed something unusual in the book, something similar to a faint demonic aura.

So they had to find a way to communicate. Several ghosts put on a light coat together, wearing masks, sunglasses, and gloves, covering themselves from head to toe. They stumbled and opened the door, letting the people outside come in and wait. Then they quickly entered and reported to him.

The ghostly objects in the museum currently didn't have physical forms, so it was obvious that they couldn't be the ones communicating.

It could only be the pair of red embroidered shoes that had quietly slipped out again. They skillfully opened the computer, logged in, and sent a message to Wei Yuan. During this time, they were tirelessly fascinated by modern products like computers, and their favorite thing was to gather and drink cola, then play some competitive games.

The Water Ghost and the Soul of the Army stared at the screen, with two paper figures manipulating the mouse.

The Red Embroidered Shoes happily danced on the keyboard.

So many times, you wouldn't even know who your teammate was. It could be a black cat kept in a mountain Taoist temple, or it might not even be a cat.

………………

Wei Yuan explained the sudden situation to the Heavenly Maiden, who nodded and said, "Then let's go back for now. We can come out again next time."

Wei Yuan nodded and, when he was putting away his phone, caught sight of a news notification out of the corner of his eye. He paused for a moment and absentmindedly clicked on it. It was news from the other side of the ocean, from the New Continent. A farm had been burned down, and over a dozen people had turned into mummies, arranged in a horrifying and eerie pattern.

It was said that thousands of insect corpses were found at the scene.

They had all been burned to death by flames, but there were also bite marks from insects on the mummies.

Based on the deduction of the original situation, it was highly likely that tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of insects had surrounded the people, and some of them had tried to kill the insects with flamethrowers, resulting in the entire house being burned down and the current situation. Although this piece of news still had the style of the UC Shock Department, the author seemed to be quite knowledgeable.

It solemnly stated that this farm used to be the territory of the ancient Indians.

Afterward, the entire tribe was slaughtered, and the sacred land of the forest was developed into a plantation.

The pattern formed by the mummies' deaths also had a strong Indian style.

It was very likely that the wandering souls in the New Continent were seeking revenge once again. Of course, this unrealistic speculation did not receive the approval of most people. At most, it was just a joke. The vast majority of people believed that the reason was a paranoid and crazy "performance art" murder case, as speculated by the New Continent police.

The second news that followed was that several famous shrines in Sakura Island suddenly closed their doors.

It was said that they were under renovation, but there were rumors that the area around the shrines was basically sealed off. People had seen an old man wearing a Yin-Yang Master's hunting robe entering the shrine from a distance, and nearby residents had reported hearing loud roars from wild beasts at night.

The Sakura Island media responded by saying that it was a zoo black bear that had escaped from its cage.

Wei Yuan's expression became somewhat solemn.

Zhou Yi had once told him that spiritual energy had been recovering since a hundred years ago, and in recent years, the rate of increase in spiritual energy concentration had accelerated significantly. This had led to a shortage of manpower in Shen Zhou, which had complete Buddhist and Taoist lineages. In this situation, it was obvious that other countries would also encounter the same problem.

Was Shan Jun's ability to break free from his seal related to the increased concentration of spiritual energy?

………………

When Zhai Yanjun was anxiously waiting, Wei Yuan and the Heavenly Maiden returned.

The girl was very interested in the remaining books with demonic aura.

Zhai Yanjun was taken aback by the beautiful girl's appearance and instinctively turned his gaze away.

After Wei Yuan asked about his purpose, Zhai Yanjun took out the books he had brought with him. They were all old books, most of them handwritten versions, meticulously written stroke by stroke. One could imagine how much effort the owner of these books had put into writing down these words.

Wei Yuan did indeed sense a faint demonic aura on the books.

The Heavenly Maiden flipped through the books and frowned.

Zhai Yanjun was worried that they would discover the missing pages and missing words in the books, and he felt a bit uncertain. He said, "These are things left behind by my grandfather. I'm working outside now, so I had to sell them.""As for the price..."

He thought for a moment and hesitantly quoted a price three times higher than what the book collector had offered.

And he thought that if the other party didn't agree, he could lower it a bit.

The girl pondered and said, "These books are very important. Are you sure you want to sell them?"

Zhao Yanjun only treated it as his grandfather's heirloom and sighed, pointing to the yellowed books. He said, "I don't work in Quan City anymore, and it's hard to find a job these days. I don't have time to read these books. Besides, as long as you have a cellphone, you can read any book."

"It's not convenient to flip through these books all the time."

"If they get worn out or accidentally destroyed, it's better to leave my grandfather's things here, at least they'll be intact."

A group of ghosts, dressed in trench coats and with nearly three thousand years of soul-nurturing wood, had greatly enhanced their powers. The Water Ghost sneered and said, "If that's the reason, we'll keep these books for you. You shouldn't ask us for money."

"If you're selling the books, don't make excuses. Why are you covering my mouth..."

He lowered his voice and glared at the soldier's soul covering his mouth.

Zhao Yanjun didn't hear the lowered voice behind him. He was just a bit embarrassed by the first two sentences, but he didn't leave. He pretended as if nothing had happened and said, "Take a look at this price. If you can't accept it, I'll go to another store."

He made a move to take the books away.

Wei Yuan reached out and held onto the book. Surprisingly, Zhao Yanjun couldn't pull it away. He looked up and saw the young man smiling and nodding.

"Good reason."

"I'll take the books."

Wei Yuan turned to the counter, and Zhao Yanjun seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He exchanged a few more pleasantries and then left with light and confident steps. After leaving, he looked at the extra digits in his account and the box of old books that sold for a higher price than the others. He found it somewhat unbelievable.

He turned back to look at the museum and set off on his way home with a sense of satisfaction from finding a hidden treasure.

Wei Yuan flipped through the books and looked at the girl. He said, "These books seem to be missing something."

The celestial maiden nodded and said, "They are all missing the words 'immortal being'."

She opened a page, and the same two words were missing from the white paper, but there was an additional circular ring, like a strand of coiled hair, emitting a faint aura. It had a diameter of about four inches. The celestial maiden used her finger to lift the ring through the aura and said:

"If the bookworm can consume the words 'immortal being' multiple times, it will transform into this object called 'Pulse Expectation'. With this object, one can obtain elixirs at night. If it is torn, it can produce clear water mixed with elixirs. When consumed together, it can completely transform and become an immortal."

Wei Yuan looked surprised.

The celestial maiden glanced at Wei Yuan and said, "Of course, this is fake."

"And after it is torn, the Pulse Expectation will be destroyed, and there will be no way to produce elixirs at night."

"But simply consuming the elixirs also benefits cultivators. You can try it tonight."

She gently flicked her finger, and the bookworm flew towards Wei Yuan and landed on the book in front of him.

Playing dead, motionless.

Wei Yuan touched the Pulse Expectation with his finger curiously and asked, "So this is the demonic aura?"

But when he looked up, the demonic aura in the book was still there. Surprised, he took the book and opened it. Inside, there was a bookmark with the words 'Geng Shen Reunion, Huayang Lake'. The bookmark was made of green leaves, and the demonic aura came from it.

Wei Yuan said, "The demonic aura comes from this leaf?"

The celestial maiden said, "Yes, and this kind of leaf is rarely seen in the mortal world."

"When fox spirits from Qingqiu leave Qingqiu, they wear leaves from their hometown as decorations to alleviate homesickness. This book's owner made a pact with a Qingqiu fox, so this should be a token."

The celestial maiden looked at Wei Yuan and said, "This year is Geng Shen. Do you want to go and see?"

After thinking for a moment, she said, "Qingqiu fox spirits are mostly beautiful. Even at over twenty, you haven't married yet. If you're interested, I can propose to the Nine-tailed Fox of this generation on your behalf and let it choose a suitable fox immortal to meet you."

Wei Yuan's expression froze.

Originally, he had wanted to approach her to see if she looked familiar. Even after going through the internal struggle and bringing the joyous water, the Water Ghost suddenly changed direction.

But in the end, Wei Yuan couldn't help but be curious. He followed the demonic aura on the green leaf with the celestial maiden.

It was a male fox spirit.

...............

A disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, a fierce tiger opened its mouth wide, revealing sharp fangs, and pounced on him.

The young man's face was filled with fear, and his physical body trembled violently.

But at this moment, a gentle and old voice softly said, "Sleep, without dreams, without harm."

The dream shattered.It seemed as if the shadow of a demon beast had escaped from dreams and illusions, only to be gently caught by a hand. Then, a black cat pounced forward, tearing the demon beast to shreds and swallowing it whole. The terrifying beast didn't even have a chance to scream before it was devoured.

The black cat licked its paw, somewhat dissatisfied.

It hadn't managed to eat anything.

The old man reached out to stroke its chin, and the black cat reluctantly made a purring sound.

The cat's cooperation seemed to make the old man a little too pleased with himself. He picked up the cat and teased it. The black cat, annoyed and embarrassed, scratched a mark on the old man's forehead. The old man didn't mind, he continued to tease the black cat and laughed, "This Boqi is very cautious. The celestial lady just arrived in the human world, her experience is still there, but her strength has not fully recovered. Cats are very vengeful, Shan Jun will not let that little Daoist friend Wei Yuan go."

"You go down the mountain and catch this Boqi."

"This kind of exotic beast branched off during the Tang Dynasty and went to Fusang, transforming into a dream bun. I didn't expect there to be an ancient lineage here."

The black cat landed on the ground, its face full of dissatisfaction. It responded impatiently, went back to finish some chores, and then finally jumped down the mountain.

This was a Lei.

"Shan Hai Jing·Nan Shan Jing"

On the mountain of Dan Yuan, there is plenty of water, no grass or trees, and it is impossible to climb. There is a beast, its shape is like a badger with a mane, its name is Lei.

It reproduces by itself, and those who eat it are not jealous.

"Yi Wu Zhi", the spirit cat is one, self-made Yin and Yang.

Zhang Ruosu watched the black cat disappear, returned to her room, and then saw a row of dead mice on her bed, she burst into laughter.

Lei ran down the mountain.

Its face full of triumph.

Cats are very vengeful.

So are demon beasts.

PS: In this fictional world, let's just say this year is the year of Geng Shen~