The old man's body was not good, and after finishing all this, he was already very exhausted. He sat on the ground, coughing repeatedly for several times. I wanted to go over and support him, but he waved his hand and said: "No need, remember what you promised me, be sure to send my ashes back."

  I've been listening to him emphasizing this, and I secretly wonder if this old man knows he's not going to make it? It's said that people with a certain level of cultivation can predict life and death. Looking at his appearance, I suspect this old immortal won't be able to withstand such turmoil. According to what Cha Wenbin said, doing rituals like this may seem like child's play to ordinary people, but in reality, they're very draining on one's energy. After a session, you need to rest for a while to recover your vitality.

  This principle of yin and yang is originally the people in the sun who shuttle between the two realms of yin and yang, peeping at the heavenly machine, calling the five elements, and inevitably hurting their own essence; interacting with gods and ghosts, killing and slaying evil demons, and also inevitably getting stained with evil energy and yin energy, which will inevitably backlash against ordinary people's primordial energy. This is also one of the reasons why good Taoist priests usually do not end well, often walking by the river, how can they not get their shoes wet, no matter how high the Taoist law is, it is still a mortal body, and in the end, it will be punished by heaven and die.

  Under such circumstances, I couldn't help but admire the old man. So, with a serious expression and clasped fists, I said to him: "Benefactor above, accept my late junior's bow. Regardless of whether my brother can return to his original state or not, I will definitely not dare to disappoint your wish, sir."

  "Alright, you help me grind it. No matter what, I must ensure that this ink doesn't dry up and the writing is continuous." After saying that, he handed over a strange-looking inkstone. This inkstone wasn't the usual black one we see, but rather an all-white, semi-transparent one. The inkstone was octagonal in shape, slightly larger than a palm, with a red-colored ink pool in the middle, which had some worn-out and damaged spots, probably due to its age.

  The whetstone was a bluish columnar stone, with a carving of a ferocious evil spirit on top. The appearance was quite frightening. As I held it in my hand, I vaguely felt a chill that seemed to penetrate into my spleen and lungs. Just as I was about to add water to the ink pool, the old man said: "Youngster, be careful not to stop, the blood water in this pool must not be drained."

  After that, the old man actually took out a black dagger from his pocket, he grinned and showed me a mouthful of blackened teeth, then held the dagger in one hand and slowly pulled it out of his palm.

  Those big drops of blood were left in the inkstone pool in my hand, and the old man said: "What are you dazing about, grind!"

  "Oh, oh" I thought to myself as I did what he said, this old man can really take it, his lips have even started to turn white.

  "Old man, you?" I wanted to speak but hesitated. He randomly tore a piece of cloth from his body and wrapped it around his palm, then took out a brush and dipped it in the inkstone. He motioned for me to stand beside him, and this old fellow began to draw circles around Cha Wenbin's body.

  The pattern was really beautiful, like the swirling thunder patterns on bronze artifacts, one piece connected to another, with big red flowers. Only half of the inkstone had been painted when most of the blood in it was gone. The old man untied his cloth strip and added more blood inside, while I stirred continuously to prevent the blood from coagulating. At his age, the gash on his palm was torn open, with the flesh split apart on both sides, but he seemed completely unbothered, only caring about the pattern under his feet.

  A human-like figure had already been drawn, with limbs attached to a non-existent torso that seemed to have borrowed from Cha Wenbin's body. On this humanoid figure were flowers, resembling lotus yet not quite, each connected by a thread of blood, as if vines entwined around the body. Although painted in blood, it looked somewhat sacred, without any hint of eeriness.

  I was so absorbed in watching that I didn't notice the change in the atmosphere of the room, and by the time I felt a chill run down my spine, the old man had already finished painting, which took about half an hour.

  The old man coughed twice and panted heavily, saying to me: "Youngster, come over and support me."

  I hastily dropped the inkstone in my hand, and when the old man was pulled up, he sank down twice before standing firm. He smiled and said: "I'm old and useless, you help me sit in the west corner, then close the door and go out."

  "Will this... work?" I looked at him, his body seemed to be at the end of its strength, coughing non-stop, and his face was even paler than before.

  "You're an old bone now, go guard the door. I reckon in half a time unit, your friend should wake up too. By then, take him back and nurse him for a few days, he'll be fine. Just tell him that the thing that hurt him is something he can't overcome, but he can send that evil object to my small Taoist temple, offer it under the Three Pure Ones' statue, recite the 'Tao Te Ching' three times a day at dawn, noon and dusk, and after seven days, burn the temple along with the object, then it'll be settled."

  "Did you get burned? Where did you stay?"

  He smiled and seemed quite happy, then said to me: "Don't forget what you promised me, be sure to send me back home."

  "It's only natural, a gentleman's word is as swift as a galloping horse and cannot be caught up with. Besides, the old master has shown me kindness." I wanted to continue saying something, but the old man waved his hand at me and said: "Go, don't let others disturb the old man."

  Soon, I smelled a strange fragrance outside the door, accompanied by a language that I couldn't understand at all. The old man was softly humming some kind of tune. I'm a worldly person and also a rough one, not particularly fond of music in daily life, but this hummed tune suddenly pulled my thoughts far away.

  As I breathed in the faint fragrance wafting from inside the house, I felt as if I had suddenly been transported to a mountain valley shrouded in mist and clouds, with a hundred flowers blooming in unison and mythical creatures flying about. It was as if in that hazy valley, an old man clad in green robes was gently playing a stringed instrument by his side, while several maidens nearby lit incense, which rose swirling into the air.

  I followed the most wonderful music in the valley, walking slowly towards that person. As I walked, I was stunned and my heart was filled with an indescribable calmness. Unfortunately, that person remained hidden behind the clouds and mist, making it impossible to see his face clearly. The more I wanted to see him, the more he seemed to keep a distance from me, no matter how fast or far I walked.

  "Mr. Xia?" I vaguely heard someone calling me and quickly woke up with a start, only to find that I had fallen asleep leaning against the door.

  I struggled to climb up, it was He Zhonghua, he had been waiting outside for a long time and didn't see any movement from this side, so he came over to take a look.

  "What time is it?" I asked.

  He raised his hand to look at his watch and said, "It's 5:10."

  "Oh no!" I thought, that old man told me that Cha Wenbin should wake up in a little while, but I slept for four hours and got away with it. I hurriedly struggled to get up and stuck to the window to take a look inside.

  Inside the house, the old man was still sitting in the west position, which was where I originally went out. He was looking at me and I was also looking at him. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, as if he was smiling at me. My heart felt a little happy, thinking that everything must be alright, so I shouted from outside the door: "Old sir, is it okay now?"

  No one answered, so I knocked again and said, "If it's okay with you, we'll come in."

  Still no one responded.

  He Zhonghua looked at me, as a policeman with innate sensitivity, "Something might have happened!"

  I had the same feeling in my heart, and with a glance at each other, we kicked the door open with a "bang" twice. Just as I pushed the door open and entered, I saw the old man's body slowly falling to one side. I wanted to go over and support him, but it was already too late. He Yizhong stretched out his hand and shook his head at me: "He's gone, the time of death should be about three hours ago. How is Mr. Cha?"

  "It's okay, the fever has gone down, but he hasn't woken up yet."

  "Take him to the hospital, hurry!"

  That night, if I didn't remember wrong, it should be one minute past twelve o'clock. Cha Wenbin woke up. The first sentence he said after waking up was: "Is he okay?"

  Similarly, if I'm not mistaken, Cha Wenbin had never seen the old man before. From start to finish, he was in a state of high fever and delirium. Did he ever wake up?

  "Are you asking about the person who saved you?"

  Zha Wenbin stood up and pulled out the intravenous needle, then roared at me: "Where is he?"

  On the mountain waist, a white building, in the large hall on the first floor, a coffin that had just been transported was placed, with yellow satin laid inside the coffin. Someone had already dressed up for the old man, and at this moment he was quietly lying in the coffin, with a smile still hanging from the corner of his mouth, as if he had fallen asleep.

  "Thud!" Zhang Wenbin had already knelt down before entering the door, and he crawled in step by step, kowtowing three times, each time heavily pounding his head on the marble floor, making a sound similar to striking a bell.

  "Don't be like this." He Zhonghua went to pull him, advising: "Your own body doesn't know how it's going, and you're still making yourself suffer like this. Isn't that wasting Mr. Li's efforts?"

  "Life-saving grace, there is no way to repay!" He went in with his head knocked all the way, until Li Yunfeng's funeral, Cha Wenbin didn't drink a drop of water, and knelt beside the coffin for days on end, kneeling for three whole days!

  I also only knew his name was Li Yunfeng a few days ago, and it was then that I gradually heard about his past from the guests who came to mourn. Among the people who came, there were many big shots, and these people had more or less asked for help from Li Yunfeng before. He left very peacefully, as if he wanted to tell the world that he could finally return home with peace of mind.

  Many people noticed the young man who had been kneeling all along. Li Yunfeng had no children or grandchildren, so Cha Wenbin became the younger generation to hold his ashes for him. I told Cha Wenbin everything he said before his death, but he gritted his teeth and only said one sentence: "This matter is not over!"

  It was also later that Cha Wenbin followed me back to the house where he was rescued, looked at the pattern on the ground that still existed, and after a while, Cha Wenbin knelt down again, kowtowed and said: "Great kindness, forever unforgettable!"

  He later told me that this picture is also called "Zhou Wu's Return of the Soul". According to legend, it was created by Zhou Wu Wang. The practitioner needs to lead his own essence into the blood water, using his three souls as a guide and seven souls as a bridge, in order to save someone and turn the world upside down. This technique, Cha Wenbin had never seen before, but only heard his master Ma Suifeng mention it. In the end, the practitioner will die due to exhaustion of essence and blood, equivalent to exchanging one life for another.

  What exactly happened to Wen Bin that led to this outcome? Please listen to the next episode for analysis.