Wen Shu was indeed drunk, his tongue was spinning around, and he couldn't speak clearly. He insisted on showing us that ancient poem "One Plum Blossom" which had been lost for a long time.

  I and Old Yi helplessly listened to the "Snowflakes fluttering, north wind whistling, the world is a mess, all are hooligans" drifting out of Uncle Wen's mouth. We were both speechless. I thought to myself that the saying goes, if one's drinking manners are not good, then their character is naturally not good either. This saying really holds true for this old hooligan.

  Unconsciously, it's almost 10 o'clock at night now. We've been drinking for nearly five hours. A case of beer plus two bottles of white wine have almost been eliminated. I counted in my heart that I drank four bottles, which is really my capacity, and I can still stay sober. Lao Yi is a bit out of it, this old boy is stupid and honest, doesn't understand the rules of the wine table, and just drinks whatever is offered to him.

  Fortunately, he also had a number in his heart and knew that he was not doing well. He took advantage of going to the bathroom to press his throat and spit out all the wine that had not been digested.

  The result was that only Wen Shu drank enough, and seeing him sit unsteadily, I felt a sense of satisfaction in my heart, which was exactly the effect I wanted.

  So I said to him: "Uncle Wen, today we're about done, let me help you back and take a nap."

  Wen Shu listened to my words and then waved his hand vigorously, slurring: "What's the big deal? We haven't had enough to drink yet, let's keep drinking! I'm telling you two, today we have to get drunk, whoever doesn't drink to their heart's content will have to deal with me!"

  After finishing, he picked up the beer again and poured it into the cup with a gurgling sound, but ended up spilling it all over the table. It seems that he was really drunk now, even starting to grab the wine to drink by himself.

  So I got up and helped him to his feet, then said to him: "Alright, alright, Uncle Wen, the wine is gone, we'll go buy some more. First, let me help you lie down on the bed for a while."

  He shouted loudly: "Hurry up! I'm waiting for you two!"

  I helped him into the house and laid him on the bed, took off his shoes, he grabbed the quilt and covered himself as soon as he touched the bed, muttering some drunken words that I couldn't hear clearly, I didn't understand what he was saying anyway, just heard his usual phrase. 'Day has many dreams, gods predict good or bad luck, Zhuangzi's butterfly is illusory, Lü Wang's flying bear... eight hundred...'

  Then I couldn't hear clearly, and I thought to myself, what's eight hundred? Eighty-eight yuan for a fake coupon? This old scoundrel is drunk like this and still wants to cheat people.

  I saw that he had fallen asleep, so I quietly took the warehouse key from his drawer and walked out. Old Yi looked at me and asked, "Has he fallen asleep?"

  I nodded and drew out the copper coin sword from behind my waist, saying to Old Yi: "Let's go, there's plenty of time for us to prepare."

  Lao Yi picked up his backpack, and I took the bottle of male urine from behind the door. The two of us quietly walked out of the store, and I opened the warehouse, feeling for the light switch. The 40-watt dim yellow light illuminated the warehouse, which was about the same size as my high school art studio. It was filled with all sorts of goods, from paper oxen and horses to fake talismans. In the middle of the night, looking at the expression on the face of the paper person wearing blue clothes in the house, it was indeed a bit eerie, with a stiff smile that didn't quite reach their eyes.

  We entered the warehouse, I pulled down the iron door with my hand, then moved out the dusty altar inside, and turned out a few large wrists and an incense burner on it. Old Yi took out a plastic bottle of chicken blood from his bag, which he bought at the market, very convenient, and a plastic bag of glutinous rice. He poured the glutinous rice and chicken blood into two large bowls, then asked me for cinnabar.

  I then used a bowl to scoop out a bowl of bright red powder from a bag in the corner of the wall. Old Yi told me that cinnabar and chicken blood should be mixed together, and they must be stirred evenly, so I did as he said.

  Here is the translation:

  Speaking of cinnabar, it's a great thing. The "Baopuzi·Huangbai" records: "Cinnabar is gold, taking it can make one ascend to immortality, this is what superior scholars do." Since ancient times, cinnabar has been considered a material for making elixirs, so the emperors of old would idle away their days, fantasizing about living forever, and hire a group of Daoist priests who would indulge in feasting and drinking, specially refining elixirs for them. However, they didn't know that although cinnabar has medicinal value, its toxicity is also extremely great. Many emperors were harmed to death by this thing, just like Emperor Yongzheng, according to unofficial histories, he was poisoned to death by a dan medicine made from cinnabar.

  However, this thing is indeed useful in Taoist practice. Cinnabar belongs to yang, like fierce fire, taking the meaning of raging flames. If used properly, it can also help people increase their fire energy. Moreover, it is the most common pigment for drawing talismans, and it is an essential item for Mr. Yin and Yang.

  I used a small stick to mix the cinnabar and chicken blood into a thick paste, carefully handed it over to Old Yi. Old Yi inserted five longevity incense sticks on the incense burner, then placed a bowl of glutinous rice, a bowl of cinnabar, and a bowl of mixed liquid of cinnabar and chicken blood behind the incense burner.

  Then he took out two small bundles of grass from his bag, it seemed that he had been busy all day, and he even made a special trip to the Chinese medicine shop to buy dried mugwort, and the bundled grass was very lifelike.

  I pulled out the small paper package from my pocket, carefully opened it and handed him the two strands of hair. He buried the two strands of hair in the body of the straw man, then placed the straw man on the table.

  After doing all this, he said to me: "Let's open our eyes first."

  As soon as I opened my eyes, I was stunned. How could I have forgotten such an important thing? It's really the busier you are, the more mistakes you make. Yesterday, I was only thinking about how to deal with that dead substitute scarecrow, and I only drew six of my usual patterns, but I forgot my "Ding You Wen Gong Lu Fu" that can open the underworld.

  Lao Yi saw me like this and asked: "Forgot to draw talismans?"

  I nodded anxiously, fortunately our folk scientist had a solution, he said to me: "Don't worry, I have a way."

  Then he took out his 'Twenty-Four Hours Bright Lamp', lit it, and first opened his own eyes. Then he walked in front of me and told me to clear my mind and not think about anything else.

  He dipped his finger in the lamp oil and dabbed it on my forehead, then muttered something under his breath. After a while, he shouted: "Open!"

  He said to me with a big accomplishment, this can help me temporarily open the underworld, and its effectiveness will last for about three hours. I roughly calculated that it should be enough until around 4 am.

  He put the small blue lamp on the table, ready to start, and told me to stand behind him quietly and not to speak.

  I nodded, and he walked behind the altar, first lighting those five longevity incense sticks. Then I saw him clench his left fist and hold it flat against his chest, while his right hand formed a sword finger and placed it behind his left hand. This pose was not my first time seeing it, seemingly this is the special gesture of Qimen technique.

  Only to see his solemn vow: "Three Qi obtained, sincere and capable of being used, six Jia encountered is not a small supplement. Yi meets dog and horse, Bing meets rat and monkey, Liu Ding meets jade girl riding dragon and tiger. All evil spirits on the Taoist path are bitter, fighting for years without rest. Occasionally dreaming of heavenly gods granting symbols and incantations, ascending to the altar to offer sacrifices and make repairs with reverence. The Three Pure Ones above, disciples Yu Qingmen, Yi Xin Xing, and Shang Qingmen, Cui Zuofei, except for the exhaustion of evil spirits, specially request the ancestral master to grant divine power to open the Three Pure Altar, those who are about to engage in battle, all arrayed and advancing!"

  Then he said to me: "Quickly, sincerely recite your mantra."

  I didn't dare to tarry, so I stepped forward and came to the front of the table, with my right hand forming a sword finger, reciting: "Hurry up like a law decree!"

  Yi Xinxing listened to me recite the incantation, then used her fingers to grab a few grains of glutinous rice. She rinsed them in the large bowl mixed with cinnabar and chicken blood, then grabbed those grains of rice stained with cinnabar and blood and circled them around the Longevity Incense three times. After that, she quickly flicked them onto the two small straw men.

  He made a gesture with his hands and then solemnly shouted: "Open!"

  Only two small grass people on the table suddenly stood up with a brush.

  It's actually made me stare blankly, it's quite outrageous.

  Lao Yi saw that the two small straw men had stood up, then said to me: "It's done. According to what your master said, now all we have to do is wait for midnight to arrive, and the substitute for 'seven deaths and eight lives' will be led here by these two small straw men. Right, shouldn't we think of some plan?"

  I was thinking, thinking of a plan, when the time comes, that thing comes, directly a plastic bottle of urine will be poured on its head. But I have to know that this is related to the lives of those two people, so I don't dare to be careless, so I asked him: "Old Yi, do you have any good ideas?"

  Lao Yi said to me: "Why don't you hide beside the door and ambush it when it comes?"

  Good heavens! Is this folk scientist a blockhead?

  I said to him with a mix of anger and amusement, "How do you know it will definitely come in through the door? Not to mention that our local methods are useless against it, and we don't even know which direction it'll attack from. By the way, does this thing have any weaknesses?"

  Lao Yi said to me, "What you said is also... if we must mention taboos... the substitute for the San Qing altar, if it falls from the offering table, or those five incense sticks are extinguished, this method will be broken, and the 'Seven Deaths Soul Retrieval' will turn its head and leave that building again. So later on, you must guard this table tightly, and keep an eye on the incense. If it's about to burn out, you need to replace it in time."

  I understand, it's just that even if I fall down, I won't let these two scarecrows fall down. Although I've already made contact with Zhang Yaxin and they wouldn't appear so late at the Yuan Corporation headquarters, but if we don't take care of that thing tonight, there will be endless troubles later on. You have to know that behind that thing, it's highly likely that there is someone who understands the law and is several times stronger than us two.

  I nodded, my right hand grasping the heavy copper sword, my left hand holding the equally heavy Urine of the Child. Looking at the slowly rising green smoke on the table, I thought to myself: Tonight, even if it means breaking my arms and legs, I will protect you to the death. Come on, damn it!

  For a while, neither Lao Yi nor I spoke, each sitting on our own side thinking about the people we wanted to protect, and quietly preparing for the impending fierce battle.

  A few hours later, at 2:55, Old Yi and I stood up, back to back beside the altar table, ready to face any danger that might come at any time. Old Yi had also taken out a small bottle of urine from his bag, which was smaller than my Coca-Cola bottle by about one circle. I looked at his bottle, then at mine, thinking to myself, it seems this guy has been having urinary frequency for the past two days.

  When my phone struck three, the alarm clock rang on time. I immediately turned off the alarm clock and raised my vigilance to twelve points. Time passed minute by minute, and the surroundings were still eerily quiet. Only the old warehouse's light bulb occasionally made a hissing sound.

  It's already 3:05 and nothing has happened. Old Yi asked me, "What's going on? I remember that thing was supposed to be very punctual."

  I was just about to respond to him when I suddenly felt a chill on the back of my neck, as if some liquid had dripped onto it. It felt like the ceiling was leaking, but this was a first-floor warehouse - how could that be possible?

  I immediately got goosebumps all over my body! I reflexively lifted my head and took a look.

  He's coming!!!! Oh my god!!!!!