Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Scarecrow
Late at night, Wang Chen was making a scarecrow.
He bent wood for bones, tied ropes for tendons, bounded straw into a human shape, and finally propped it up with a bamboo pole.
For someone who had once been a master of crafts, completing this task wasn’t difficult.
The scarecrows he made were definitely more exquisite than the original owner’s.
Making scarecrows was also a basic skill for the Spiritual Plant Farmer, who would make a few each year to insert in their Spirit Fields during the summer and winter harvest seasons to drive away birds that stole the grain.
The effects were very effective.
In folklore, the Straw-Hat Immortal, Yellow Great Immortal, and Panliang Immortal are collectively known as the three Guardians of the household.
Among them, the Straw-Hat Immortal is the scarecrow.
After finishing the making, Wang Chen took out a dagger and slit his middle finger, smearing the fresh blood on the forehead of the scarecrow.
At the same time, he muttered a magic spell, “Heaven Spirit, Earth Spirit, may my Straw-Hat Immortal show its power quickly!”
The moment he completed the incantation, he raised his hand and affixed an Evil-Repelling Talisman!
Applying blood and reciting spells was to endow the scarecrow with a spirit.
The Talisman was to prevent it from being invaded by evil wraiths.
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Speaking of which, the Evil-Repelling Talisman in Wang Chen’s possession was a trophy he had obtained from licking packets.
He carried the scarecrow out of the house and placed it in the midst of the Spirit Fields.
Wang Chen’s rented land was only ten mu in size, and setting up a single scarecrow was completely sufficient.
When Wang Chen returned to the ridge of the field, he suddenly felt as if he was being watched by something.
Turning around, he saw that under the bright moonlight, the lone scarecrow stood not far away, with the surrounding rice rustling in the night wind.
Wang Chen stared for a moment, then went home to rest.
Almost overnight, countless scarecrows appeared in the Spirit Fields within the Cloud Sun region.
They were lonely but loyal guardians, standing in their positions under the scorching sun.
Day after day.
Birds flying in from the mountains fled in panic as if they had encountered a natural predator the moment they neared, no longer daring to entertain the thought of pecking at the grains.
At sunset, a group of children ran along the village path.
They were children of neighboring farmers, chasing each other with homemade bamboo horses, with their crisp laughter sprinkled along the way.
“Ouch!”
One chubby child, about three or four years old, accidentally tripped over a lump of dirt.
He almost fell flat on his face!
As he scrambled up in a flurry, he saw a scarecrow standing next to the ridge of the field by the road.
This scarecrow was a bit special; its owner had woven a straw hat for it to wear and draped it in an old coat, making it look very much like a real person from a distance.
Curious, the chubby child didn’t go to pick up his fallen bamboo horse but took a few steps toward the scarecrow.
On tiptoes, he reached out his muddy, chubby little hand.
He wanted to snatch the Talisman Paper from the scarecrow’s face.
Slap!
At that moment, a palm suddenly shot out, striking heavily on his hand.
The pain made the chubby child burst into tears, “Waaah~”
His hand was slapped red and swollen.
However, the one who struck him showed no mercy or guilt, and instead said viciously, “This is the Straw-Hat Immortal. If you remove its Suppressing Talisman, it will come for you at night, eating your flesh and drinking your blood!”
“Sister…”
The frightened chubby child choked back his tears and whimpered, “I’m scared.”
“Now you know fear?”
His older sister snorted and said, “I saved your life. From now on, all your knocked rice candy belongs to your sister. You must pay back your sister for saving your life. Understand?”
Sniffling, the chubby child obediently nodded, “I understand.”
“Good.”
The sister took his hand and picked up the bamboo horse from the ground, “Let’s go home.”
The scarecrow by the ridge silently watched the siblings walk away.
When night fell, rain began to drizzle from the sky.
Although the rain soon stopped, the clouds didn’t disperse, obscuring the moon and plunging the land into darkness.
Then, the wind started.
The wind whistled through the rice stalks, and it also lifted the Talisman Paper on the face of the scarecrow.
Boom!
Suddenly, a streak of lightning illuminated heaven and earth, and its radiance lit up the straw man in an instant.
The shadows behind it twisted and undulated violently.
After a long while, the dark clouds in the night sky quietly dispersed, and the moon reclaimed its place in the firmament.
Treading the muddy path, Chen Si hurried toward his home.
It was already very late.
Usually, at this time, Chen Si would have been sound asleep at home.
But today he went to Cloud Sun City to shop, and as he passed by Spring Flooding Fang, his feet led him uncontrollably into the Numerous Fragrances Pavilion, and it cost his entire Storage Bag to get out.
He didn’t catch a carriage when leaving the city, so he returned quite late.
He got caught in the rain on the way.
The physically weak Chen Si almost caught a cold.
However, recalling the flavor of the Hehuan Sect’s female cultivator, Chen Si’s heart still burned hot.
Ten Low Spirit flowers were truly worth it!
Chen Si felt like he had lived his entire first half of life in vain.
He had toiled like an old ox in the fields, and even though he was a cultivator, he wasn’t much different from a common farmer.
Only the brief but passionate encounter with a Hehuan female cultivator was like truly ascending to the heavens!
Chen Si decided that once he earned some Spirit Stones from the summer harvest, he would visit the Numerous Fragrances Pavilion again.
The Hehuan Sect’s female cultivators would not stay in the Numerous Fragrances Pavilion for long, and once missed, it would be too late for regrets!
“Ah!”
Not paying attention, he stumbled sharply and fell forward to the ground.
Chen Si quickly sprang to his feet.
Fortunately, it was dark, and no one saw him; otherwise, a fourth-level Qi Cultivation cultivator getting tripped by a stone would definitely be the joke of the year.
Just as he steadied himself, he saw, a few steps away, a straw man with a hat standing there!
Chen Si was immediately stunned.
How had the straw man gotten to the middle of the road?
And this straw man’s face, it didn’t have a Suppressing Evil Talisman?
Chen Si instinctively felt something was wrong.
He took a step back and placed his hand on the Storage Bag at his waist.
Although the Spirit Stones in the bag were spent, he still had a few Talismans left.
With a thought, Chen Si took out an Evil-Repelling Talisman and held it in his hand.
However, before he could act, a chilling wind blew past, and the straw man in front vanished into thin air.
All the hairs on Chen Si’s body stood on end.
Fear began to grow in his heart!
He looked around, but Chen Si saw no trace of the straw man with the hat.
But he decided not to continue down this road.
It was too sinister!
Licking his lips, Chen Si turned sharply and planned to return to a friend’s nearby house to stay for the night.
However, the instant he turned around, he saw the straw man again.
It was right behind him!
Chen Si’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he opened his mouth to scream.
A straw rope pierced into his mouth like lightning and threaded through the back of his head without a moment’s hesitation.
More straw ropes then pierced into Chen Si’s body.
Binding him tightly!
Bright red blood crawled down the ropes.
At this moment, Chen Si was not yet dead.
But he was unable to call for help or put up any resistance.
He could only watch helplessly as his blood was sucked away by the straw man, before falling into endless darkness.
After a long while, a hand woven from straw picked up the Evil-Repelling Talisman that had fallen to the ground.
It stuck it on its forehead.
Then, this now bulkier straw man stepped into the spirit fields.
It stood motionless.
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