Magic Arts?

Soul Summoning?

Bai Qi raised an eyebrow but did not delve into it immediately.

He quickly walked up to Ah Di and pressed his hand against the two sheets of yellow paper, blocking his gaze from them.

"Is your headache acting up again? Should I call a physician?"

Bai Ming’s eyelids twitched, as if his spirit was wandering, appearing empty and void, but it didn’t last long before he was promptly called back by his brother.

"I’m fine, Brother. I recognize these tadpole-like characters... or rather, I understand their meaning."

Bai Qi frowned, not inquiring about the reasons right away, being more concerned about Bai Ming’s health:

"This thing is very strange and its origins are unknown. I worry it’s harmful to you. Ah Di, how are you feeling now? Are there any signs of muscular spasms or loss of control?"

Bai Ming’s face turned slightly pale. He took a deep breath, looked up seriously at Bai Qi, and said:

"No need to call a physician, Brother. I assure you, I’m truly fine. Just now, it felt like my head was hit, it hurt a bit, but soon it was okay."

Hearing his brother’s reassurance, Bai Qi finally felt at ease. He certainly didn’t want the discovery he brought back to cause trouble:

"How come you can recognize those tadpole-like characters?"

Bai Ming was also puzzled and described clumsily:

"Whenever I see them, it’s like sitting by the school wall listening to a teacher’s lecture, hearing explanations that allow me to grasp and master the precise meaning of each character."

What?

Is there truly someone who can understand things without a teacher?

Bai Qi frowned, as per his brother’s account, it seemed the tadpole characters on those two pages of yellow paper were like sentient beings.

Not believing in superstition, he had Bai Ming turn away, then spread the yellow paper open and examined it repeatedly.

After a while, he still couldn’t decipher any mystery from it.

"Why is the ink talisman not working now?"

Bai Qi rubbed his gums and, after confirming the two pages of yellow paper were harmless to Bai Ming, asked his brother to teach him hand-in-hand.

As a result, after struggling for half a stick of incense, he still couldn’t learn a single character.

"Oh no! Could it be that I have the Innate Fishing Saint Body, and am entirely devoid of talent for cultivating immortality?"

Bai Qi looked somewhat displeased, being in a total state of ignorance about cultivation, only knowing that Martial Dao is divided into four major practices.

He had no idea what system immortal masters and daoist officials in the Prefecture City followed to steadily ascend.

"What exactly is the purpose of this soul-summoning magic art?"

He reread it several times but couldn’t activate the ink talisman to reflect its techniques.

Finally choosing to give up, he straightforwardly asked his brother Bai Ming to explain:

"The general idea on that yellow paper is, if someone is suddenly frightened, they might lose their soul, cannot eat, cannot sleep, and live in constant fear.

Especially children, if encountering such situations, are likely to die young. That’s when a person who understands magic arts should be called to chant spells and draw talismans.

Brother, the magic art I just chanted is used to summon souls back.

It requires writing two talismans with black ink on yellow paper, burning one at the doorway morning and night, blending the ashes into water, and drinking it."

Summoning the soul? Talismanic water?

As someone who had previously dabbled in the gray areas and mingled with various trades, Bai Qi always felt these seemed like tricks used by fraudsters to deceive people.

However, considering this world already has spirit-possessing Demon Fish, practitioners who could tear apart tigers and leopards, and immortal master daoist officials seemingly appearing with a glimpse of a mighty presence,

talismanic water being able to heal doesn’t seem so strange either.

"Do you also recognize the tadpole characters on the other page of yellow paper?"

Bai Qi humbly sought teachings, thinking perhaps his brother indeed had the talent for cultivating immortality.

"Yes, just like the Soul Summoning Spell, they are also magic arts. This one describes the secret techniques for crafting bait, including the red bait for Treasure Fish, scented bait for attracting big fish during tides, and insect bait specifically for big catches..."

Bai Ming rubbed his warm forehead with his little hand and explained one character at a time based on the inexplicable large chunks of content he understood in his mind:

"Red bait is flesh, including chicken and duck or... live humans. Scented bait is made by crushing and soaking special herbs to emit an extremely enticing fragrance. And insect bait is various small insects, like earthworms... This magic art is called the ’Sea Banishing Curse’, though it seems incomplete."

Bai Qi realized:

"So Wang Laizi learned the sinister method of crafting ’red bait’ from this. I never thought mystical fishing could actually yield such results; in my past life, I was too short-sighted and wrongly blamed those fishing folks."

He remembered the work he did as an assistant to his master in his past life, providing consecration services.

Often, fishing enthusiasts would come asking for their fishing rods to be blessed with infinite power.

My master didn’t think much of such small tasks, so he assigned them to Bai Qi, who then blurted out a few lines:

"Heavenly Sha, Earthly Sha, Earth, Observe Humans and Wood, This rod is not an ordinary rod, it is specifically for catching large yellow crucian carp..."

While chanting, he swung water with his hands.

Strangely enough, those wealthy fishing enthusiasts would return heavily laden afterward.

It was never clear whether the blessing of the fishing rods was truly effective or if the drivers and secretaries were just good at hanging fish.

Focusing back his scattered thoughts, Bai Qi sternly instructed:

"That’s it for tonight. Keep those two sheets of yellow paper safe, and don’t secretly practice. Let me get to the bottom of these magic arts tomorrow, and then we’ll decide what to do.

If you have any headaches or problems, don’t hide them from me and let me know as soon as possible, understood?"

Bai Ming tightened his little face, turned away, not even glancing at the two yellow papers:

"I’ll do whatever Brother says."

...

...

The next morning, as soon as Bai Qi got up, his brother Bai Ming brought two bowls of tofu pudding to the table, and also fetched the still-warm meat buns and oil cakes from the stove.

"Brother, do you prefer sweet or salty?"

Looking at the soft and tender tofu pudding, Bai Qi thought:

"In my previous life, such a simple question might have sparked a war."

He randomly picked a bowl and replied:

"I like it with spicy sauce."

As he ate the tofu pudding, meat buns, and crispy oil cakes, Bai Qi couldn’t help but marvel at the noticeable improvement in their quality of life.

As a fisherman, how could he have dreamed of eating three meals a day, let alone such a lavish breakfast?

He found it too extravagant, yet now it had become the norm.

"No wonder they say it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

Ah Di, today I’ll be heading to Tongwen Hall to find Master Ning, so don’t go out. Stay home properly.

Before dark, I should be back, if you need anything, ask the shop boy at the foot of the door to deliver a message."

Bai Qi devoured the breakfast bought by his brother like a whirlwind.

Then pocketing the pearl birthed by the Demon Fish, along with the two sheets of yellow paper, he headed straight to Tongwen Hall.

The expansive courtyard was deserted, only Lao Dao sweeping the withered leaves.

"Young Master went to the mountains today; he often moves unpredictably. Tongwen Hall is just like a resting inn for him."

Bai Qi thought:

"In other places, the sect leader and hall master are always present day and night, providing guidance, but at Tongwen Hall, there are so few people that the master becomes a hand-off manager."

Lao Dao leaned on the broom, smiling amiably and asked:

"Did Young Master Qi encounter any difficulties with his practice?"

"As a disciple, I seek guidance from my master to resolve my confusion."

Bai Qi took out the smooth pearl and the two pages of yellow paper from his embrace:

"Last night, I went fishing in the river and found these. I’m not well-read, so I intend to ask the master to have a look."

Lao Dao scratched his mink hat, walked over squinting his eyes to have a look, and kindly said:

"Young Master Qi has good fortune! This is the Inner Pill of a demon creature; look, it has three flowing patterns on it, indicating it is from a three-hundred-year-old Demon Fish.

For a practitioner, it is an excellent treasure.

Boil it with tonic herbs into a broth and drink it daily for strengthening bones and enriching blood, with excellent effect."

Bai Qi raised an eyebrow, not expecting Uncle Dao’s eyesight to be so keen.

"When I was young, I roamed in the greenwoods for a while, but finding it pointless, I followed the young master instead."

Lao Dao chuckled, appearing genuinely genial with not a trace of a Jianghu air.

"All demon creatures possess an inner essence, forming an Inner Pill.

Birds have cloud and mist patterns, beasts like tree rings, and aquatic creatures have blue wave patterns.

This single pill saves Young Master Qi seven or eight hundred taels of silver!"