Those Years When I Appraised Treasures At The Pawnshop - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Man Lights a Candle, Ghost Extinguishes the Flame

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Substitution technique was said to be a Dharma spell, but it was actually a series of techniques.

It also contained specialized techniques used in Daoist paper art and wood carvings.

When Chen Shaojun received the Dharma spell, he also naturally understood these techniques.

In particular, although Daoist paper art seemed simple, one would need to use special paper talismans. Then, he had to use a triple folding method to fold the paper talismans into paper figures. After that, he had to use Yin Water to draw the eyes and Yang Water to draw the outline.

Although they were called Yin Water and Yang Water, they actually referred to stagnant water and running water respectively. It could also be said that the source of Yin Water could be tracked, while the source of Yang Water could not.

Of course, if one was rich, one could simply use liquid gold and silver.

Gold and silver were the sources of all evil. With money to pave the way, the user would naturally be successful and the effects of the technique would be even better.

However, Chen Shaojun was poor.

It was difficult for him to find all the materials needed in a short time, so he chose the wood carving method.

He needed a log and a carving knife.

Then, an hour later, a figure of a black dog appeared before him.

After that, he took out the dog fur and tied it to the carved wood with a black cloth. Only then did he begin to cast the spell.

Since he did not have Dao energy, he used his spirit to guide the spell.

However, the spiritual power involved in the Substitution technique was much more profound than that of the Divine Vision technique and the Substitution technique. It required one to draw talismans with one’s spirit and engrave them on the carved wood in the form of runes.

The rune structure was not complicated.

Furthermore, there were only about three runes involved in this spell.

However, the difficulty lay in drawing runes with one’s mind and carving them into the wood.

Initially, Chen Shaojun’s spiritual power was exhausted from continuously using the Divine Vision technique to appraise treasures.

Now that he had carved the three runes, he almost collapsed.

He felt mentally exhausted, and his qi and blood had been depleted. It was as if he had not slept for three days and three nights. He also felt as if his head was empty, he found it hard to form a coherent thought. In addition, his body would randomly convulse. His head felt as if someone was pounding on his skull with a heavy hammer.

“These are the signs of spiritual exhaustion. I can’t continue this anymore.”

Chen Shaojun shook his head. He felt that if he closed his eyes, he would probably fall asleep the next moment.

It had been a long time since he had experienced this feeling of overusing his spirit.

Without any hesitation, he took out a spirit pill.

This was one of the treasures that he had received from the Psychic Treasure Mirror, the Spirit Accumulation Pill.

It had the ability to restore one’s energy and nourish the soul.

Similarly, it was also one of the reasons why Chen Shaojun had the confidence to face the ghost inside the jade ruyi.

He swallowed the Spirit Accumulation Pill.

At that instant, a refreshing feeling rose rapidly in his mind.

It was as if his previously depleted spiritual power had been nourished and quickly recovered.

At the same time, Chen Shaojun felt that his entire body and mind were in a warm state. It was as if he was in a warm bed, or in his mother’s womb. It was so comfortable that he was almost addicted to this feeling.

However, the effects of the spirit pill would eventually come to an end.

In less than five minutes, Chen Shaojun recovered from that special state.

“As expected of the Spirit Accumulation Pill.”

“Just one pill completely restored my exhausted spiritual power.”

“In fact, I feel that my spiritual power is much stronger than before!”

Chen Shaojun opened his eyes. He could feel that his spirit was active and was seeping out of his body. He secretly compared his current state to his previous state. Then, he naturally understood that his spiritual power had recovered and had become stronger than before.

This improvement was a pleasant surprise for him.

After this mental recovery, the preparation for the Substitution technique was also complete.

Chen Shaojun finally started officially and shot his gaze towards the jade ruyi.

The jade ruyi was a little yellowish and dark. From afar, it appeared to be as black as ink. This was the result of the accumulation of baleful aura over a long period of time.

It had to be said that it did not look good in the eyes.

It was unknown how the scar-faced fellow was able to take a fancy to this jade ruyi that he wanted to buy it no matter what.

Chen Shaojun smiled coldly and reached out to grab the jade ruyi. However, a cold sensation made his hand tremble involuntarily.

He hurriedly placed the jade ruyi on the table and started to light a candle and burn incense.

As soon as he lit the candle, a gentle breeze blew past and the candle flame started to sway.

Chen Shaojun blocked the breeze and placed the candle in the southwest corner of the room.

Following that, he took out three bamboo incense sticks, lit them one by one, and placed them in front of the jade ruyi.

Hu! Hu!

In the sealed room, a cold wind suddenly blew past.

Then, the candle in the southwest corner was instantly extinguished.

Chen Shaojun looked at the lit bamboo incense sticks again.

Although they were still burning, there were already some changes. The two bamboo incense sticks at the side were obviously burning faster. He saw that one-third of the incense sticks had been consumed. Meanwhile, the incense stick in the middle had just started burning.

“Man lights a candle, while the ghost extinguishes the flame.”

“It has indeed occurred.”

Chen Shaojun felt a shiver in his heart.

After a moment of hesitation, he got up and lit the candle again.

However, just as he turned around, a cold wind blew past.

Then, the candle went out again.

When it went out the second time around, Chen Shaojun decided not to light the candle again.

After all, he knew that even a ghost’s patience had its limits.

If he lit the candle a third time, the ghost would think that he was teasing it. Then, it would show itself and cause trouble for him.

On the other side, the three bamboo incense sticks had already been extinguished.

It just so happened that there were two short incense sticks and one long incense stick.

“This is an unlucky sign.”

“Both phenomena have already been confirmed.”

Chen Shaojun took a deep breath.

Although he already knew this, he still braced himself and began to appraise the jade ruyi.

It was fortunate that the rewards from the previous rounds of appraisal gave him enough confidence to deal with the situation.

However, before he began his appraisal, he decided to look around.

He actually discovered that the originally lustrous white stones that were placed all around the room had actually started to turn black.

This discovery deeply surprised him.

Although Ah Yong’s quadratic array looked rudimentary and was simple to execute, he didn’t expect it to be effective.

Unfortunately, what he was about to face this time around was not an ordinary baleful aura, but a real ghost.

Thus, the effects of this quadratic array were limited.

“Let’s begin!”

Chen Shaojun took out the wood figure of the black dog and placed it in front of him. Then, he calmed himself down.

However, the first technique he used was not the Divine Vision technique.

Instead, he used the Spiritual Eye technique.

He needed to clearly see the changes in the baleful aura, as well as how the ghost hidden in the jade ruyi would strike.

He cast the Spiritual Eye technique.

The jade ruyi immediately changed.

It was covered in a sinister aura, and a ghostly shadow lingered around it.

However, this time, Chen Shaojun was even closer to the jade ruyi.

Therefore, he could clearly see the dense baleful aura and the ghostly shadow lingering in the jade ruyi.

“There are at least a hundred wisps of baleful aura.”

“The 100 wisps of baleful aura condensed together to form a lid covering the jade ruyi.”

“Furthermore, the soul of the ghost is somewhat illusory and not very stable. Occasionally, it will bare its fangs and brandish its claws, making it seem weak.”

“This ghost shouldn’t be too strong, right?”

Chen Shaojun widened his eyes, but he was unsure.

After all, the weakest ghost was still a ghost.

The unknown was the most terrifying.

The only thing that comforted him was the fact that he had recognized the figure from whom the ghost had taken its form. It was none other than Zhao Quan, the one who died to the scar-faced man.

This made him secretly heave a sigh of relief.

As the saying goes, for every grievance, there was a debtor.

Since he was not the enemy of this ghost, dealing with it should not be that difficult.

At least, that was what Chen Shaojun thought..