Dong~ Dong~ Dong Dong~
The sound of the beating drum and Li Zhi's voice never ceased within the small room.
"Come help me, touch the roof and stand firm on the rafter, hold the drum in the left and the whip in the right, Ai He Ai He Ai Yo~"
Dong Dong Dong!
Meanwhile, Li Huowang could clearly see that as Li Zhi continued chanting, the red veil on the Second Deity's head began to bulge, almost as if something were growing from inside. Peeking past the red veil, Li Huowang saw an animal's face appearing from beneath it.
However, it was very bizarre; rather than looking like a proper animal's face, it was contorted, with only certain parts resembling an animal.
The face appeared to swirl like water, appearing and disappearing from time to time as it wriggled.
Combined with the white smoke, the scene in front of him looked surreal.
Li Huowang rubbed his eyes, confirming that the Second Deity was moving in sync with the beat of the drum as it followed Li Zhi to the table, which was covered in white smoke.
"Hitting once turns it upside down thrice~ Hitting again turns it upside down nine times~ Three to the front, four to the back, five to the left, six to the right, sixty-eight Aiyai~" Li Zhi continued chanting.
Shrouded by white smoke, Li Zhi and the Second Deity circled the woman.
Meanwhile, the woman started clawing at her neck as if she were in pain.
"Go! Go away!" she screamed, her voice trembling.
"Come help me~ I summon the Overlord of the Yellow Heavens~ I summon the Azure of the Yellow Heavens~ I summon the Black and Red of the Yellow Heavens~ Announce yourselves and show your power. Follow my chant and do your deed~"
Dong! Dong! Dong!
As Li Zhi continued chanting and beating his drum, Li Huowang suddenly started feeling irritated. At the same time, he began to hear mysterious noises from their surroundings. However, when he tried to focus and listen to what they were saying, the voices had already disappeared.
With all this, he could tell that regardless of what kind of Immortal Li Zhi was summoning, it was definitely different from the ones he had encountered before.
It looks like he can summon more than one type of Immortal. I wonder... how many can he summon?
Just as he was thinking this, the sound of the drumbeat gradually quieted down.
Li Huowang furrowed his brows and swung his sleeves to clear out some of the white smoke before approaching the table.
But before he could get close, a black shadow shot out from within the smoke and lunged straight at his face.
Schwing!
Immediately, a sword that could cut through steel like mud was unsheathed, blocking two sets of teeth from biting off Li Huowang's face. The sound of teeth grinding against metal was horrific.
The naked woman was displaying an unbelievable amount of strength as she tried to claw out Li Huowang's eyes. The blood vessels in her red eyes were on the verge of bursting as she emanated an intense killing intent and animosity toward him.
"Li Zhi! What the fuck are you doing?!" Li Huowang shouted into the smoke while barely keeping the woman in check.
Dong Dong Dong!
"Immortal~ Family~ Ai~" The chanting resumed as a red veil flew out from the white smoke and covered the naked woman's face. She struggled to no avail as an animal's face crawled out from the red veil and into her mouth.
Whoosh~
As Li Zhi continued chanting, the woman was pulled back into the white smoke by an invisible force. "Immortal Family~ Leave your caves and the mountain, but cover it up with yellow sand~ Ride the clouds if it's cloudy and ride the wind if it's sunny. Come and go as you wish, and leave nothing behind, not even a single wisp of smoke~"
Meanwhile, Li Huowang still had his guard up as he walked into the white smoke. Once inside, he saw that the crazed woman was lying listlessly on the table, drenched in sweat.
On the other hand, Li Zhi was circling the woman alongside the Second Deity, the latter burping at regular intervals.
"Leave if you want to, the sovereign has given you the horse's reins. Undo the restraints and ride the saddle, the Immortal Family will spur the horse forward~ Time to go back~ Ai Hai Yi Hou Hei~"
After the final verse, Li Zhi flipped his grip on the whip and struck the drum three times heavily.
When the drumbeat stopped, the white smoke around them gradually dissipated, and the irritating voices faded away.
"Are you alright? I accidentally let my guard down. Fortunately, it couldn't escape with you on the outside," Li Zhi said nonchalantly.
"Let your guard down? In that situation?" Li Huowang could never understand his logic.
"My reward for all this is only 50 coins! Do you know how much a bowl of noodles costs in the city? The ominous thing has been chased away and the victim is still alive. That's already the best I can do. If you want to blame something, then blame that lousy rule. Tch! What a lousy rule! To think that us Shamans are so poor," complained Li Zhi.
Li Huowang suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at him and walked to the table to carefully inspect the woman.
He could see that she had suffered mentally; her eyes were filled with fear and her body was trembling uncontrollably. However, even after inspecting her for a while, Li Huowang could not see what the Immortals had taken from her.
They don't want money, nor is there anything missing from her body. Maybe the compensation the Immortals seek is something more abstract... or psychological?
Li Huowang could only guess.
Just then, the woman's family rushed in. Upon seeing that she was safe, they hugged her and cried in relief.
After a while, Li Zhi walked over and said, "Your daughter-in-law was possessed by something ominous. I've just chased it away, but her body is still quite frail after the ordeal. I see that the Feng Shui in your house isn't very good. I fear that the thing may return. I recommend you bring in a Household Immortal."
A Household Immortal?
That phrase caught Li Huowang's attention.
"Sure! We'll follow your suggestion!" The old man, who had nearly been frightened to death, didn't dare reject Li Zhi's advice.
Li Zhi rummaged through his bag and took out a small clay deity. Then he took out some red thread and wrapped it around the clay figure while chanting.
After finishing, he found a ladder and placed the clay deity on the steps.
"Offer tribute to it on the first day of every month and light incense sticks on the fifteenth. Remember that. Now, the total payment for summoning the Immortals and installing a Household Immortal comes to 100 coins. Pay up," Li Zhi demanded.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang ignored Li Zhi's demand and climbed the ladder to take a closer look at the Household Immortal.
The clay sculpture was small and simple, almost as if it had been lazily sculpted by hand. Yet somehow, its eyes looked remarkably sharp. As he stared into them, Li Huowang felt as if he were staring at something alive.
Just then, he saw the Household Immortal move—ever so slightly.
What the? Am I seeing things?
"Don't look..." came a quiet voice from behind him.
Li Huowang turned and saw the Second Deity looking at him. Thankfully, her face was once again covered by the red veil.
They were so close that the air exhaled by Li Huowang caused the veil to flutter.
His mind raced.
Is this thing alive? Why is she not letting me stare at it?
Li Huowang shifted his gaze from the Second Deity back down toward Li Zhi, who was counting the coins before whispering, "Is there something you want to say to me?"
In response, the Second Deity used her pale hands and long fingernails to slowly pinch one side of her red veil, gradually lifting it up.
Li Huowang gripped the bronze bell tightly and tried to swallow his saliva in anticipation.
"Dear, let's go. Time to find our old friend and see if he'll lend us a bed to sleep on tonight," said Li Zhi.
Hearing this, the Second Deity let the red veil fall back down and quickly followed Li Zhi.