Chapter 326: Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper

"I'd love to hear more." I laughed despite myself, giving Chen Xiaocang a strange look. I wanted to feel her out and see just how much she actually knew about cultivation and the supernatural.

"Look at that smirk. You don't believe me, do you? Don't let my words go in one ear and out the other. The waters in this world run deep." Sister Cang held her selfie stick, striking all sorts of 'irresistible' poses for her livestream.

She reached into her shoulder bag, fished out two talismans, and handed them to me. "Take these for protection. Don't say I never look out for you."

I looked at the two pieces of talisman paper she offered, but didn't take them. One was a Five Livestock Curing Talisman, used to treat plagues in farm animals. The other was a Wandering Son Talisman, capable of recording a relative's aura; when traveling far from home, keeping it on your person felt just like having that loved one by your side.

Both talismans were drawn by a Celestial Master and featured authentic Profound Truth Talisman Methods. Unfortunately, they were unranked talismans, not even qualifying as Lower Vehicle.

"Keeping these two talismans on you might bring good luck, but they're far from enough to exorcise a malicious ghost." Since she was treating me sincerely, I naturally wasn't going to hide the truth. If we ran into an actual ghost later and she tried to use a livestock talisman for protection, it would be a disaster.

"Tch, take 'em or leave 'em." Misunderstanding me and assuming I just didn't believe her, Chen Xiaocang stuffed the talisman paper back into her bag. "When midnight hits and all sorts of monsters come out, we'll see if you can still stay this calm."

Nothing about Chen Xiaocang's speech or behavior suggested she was from a Daoist sect, yet she carried authentic Celestial Master talismans for protection. Her background couldn't be simple.

"Using a talisman requires matching footwork, hand seals, and incantations. Are you sure you can bring out their true effects? Or do you think you can vanquish demons just by throwing them?" The talismans in her bag had made me curious. How did someone completely ignorant of cultivation manage to buy so many Celestial Master talismans from the Profound Truth Dao? "Could you let me see the other talismans in your bag? Don't worry, I just want to look. I won't snatch them."

Looking half-doubtful, Chen Xiaocang pulled a stack of talismans from her bag. I flipped through them quickly. "Five Livestock Curing Talisman, Cleansing Dust Talisman, Infant Night-Crying Talisman, Prosperous Gambling Luck Talisman, Marriage Harmony Talisman..."

Most of the talismans were virtually useless. Just as I was about to give up and hand the stack back to her, I spotted a piece of talisman paper made from a rather unique material.

The complexity of its divine script was a hundred times that of the others. Its head bore the Big Dipper, and sitting upon its talisman core was the Great Sage of the Heavenly Handle. A single glance made it feel like my spiritual sense was being sucked right into the paper.

"Such familiar divine script and Daoist resonance. This is..." I racked my brains and suddenly recalled a certain talisman from the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation. "The Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper!"

This talisman could ascend upon the clouds to sever the source of evil, and it could summon true qi to pierce through water and enter smoke. It was the most powerful Divine Talisman among Lesser Vehicle Talismans.

Back when I broke through to the Breath Regulation Realm at Xinhu High School, I had been fortunate enough to have the chance to study this talisman. Unfortunately, my foundation was too poor and I had lacked the time, so I had to give it up. I never expected it to appear before me tonight in such a manner.

As I held the talisman, a feeling stirred in my heart. "Where did you get this?"

"I bought it. A whole stack like this even comes with a discount if you buy the complete set." Chen Xiaocang pursed her lips. "Making a fuss over nothing. If you see one you like, just take it. I've got plenty of talisman paper."

I shook my head. Chen Xiaocang was either lying, or she had experienced some bizarre encounter. The other talismans might well have been bought, but there was absolutely no way Miaozhen Temple would casually sell the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper.

The difficulty of crafting the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper was immense. It demanded incredibly high standards for everything from the talisman paper's material to the cultivation base of the person drawing it. Successfully completing one took at least forty-nine days.

Judging by Lu Jin's behavior when he came down the mountain back then, Miaozhen Temple definitely didn't lack money. Even if they fell on hard times, they would never sink to peddling the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper. For a slightly smaller Daoist temple, a single Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper would be considered their ultimate treasure. Who could bear to sell it? Furthermore, to sell it to a female streamer who understood absolutely nothing of Daoist methods—wasn't that casting pearls before swine and letting a treasure gather dust?

"Since you don't want to say, I won't force you. Let me borrow this talisman. I'll save your life tonight as payment."

"Save my life? Bro, are you getting too deep into character? ...Fine, I'll lend it to you. No, I'll just give it to you." Chen Xiaocang's attention wasn't on me at all. Without even glancing at her surroundings, she kept chatting madly with the big spenders in her livestream.

"Thanks." I slipped out the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper, recalling how to use it, and handed the rest of the talismans back to Chen Xiaocang.

Obtaining a highly offensive Lesser Vehicle Talisman was an unexpected joy. This female streamer seemed careless, but she was actually pretty easy to be around.

Stowing away the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper, I held the Underworld Live Show Phone and forged ahead to scout the way. Although I had never streamed in a hospital before, I had been to plenty of similar places.

Henshan Psychiatric Hospital, and the hospital Haunted House at the Amusement Park... Compared to those two locations, however, Qicun Maternity and Children's Health Center seemed much more normal.

There was no cluttered debris in the corridors, nor were there bloodstains everywhere. On the surface, this was just a very normal hospital.

The phone's flashlight was the only light source in the entire building, limiting visibility to just a few meters. The walls were painted white, and a layer of dust coated the floor tiles. Yet, neither the white paint nor the dust showed any signs of outsiders entering; there were no footprints or handprints anywhere.

"If that person's child went missing and ran into the Maternity and Children's Health Center, there should be clues." The child the Underworld Live Show had tasked me to find was a living person. The hospital had been sealed off, and when I had walked around the perimeter earlier, I hadn't found any entrances; all the doors and windows were locked tight. Assuming the child didn't have the keys to the health center, it was highly likely he had been locked inside before it was sealed. Of course, I couldn't rule out the possibility of him being kidnapped and brought here by someone else.

"The most pressing matter is figuring out the missing child's identity, or finding him as quickly as possible." I thought back to the woman's tone on the phone. She had been incredibly calm, not sounding at all like a mother who had lost her child. Moreover, she claimed there was a crowd of children standing by her bed. Just thinking about such a bizarre situation felt eerie. "Take it one step at a time."

Following behind me, Chen Xiaocang still hadn't realized the potential dangers of this livestream, but I could sense the fear in her heart from her interactions with her livestream viewers.

Her thick makeup hid her slightly pale face, but the way she occasionally stopped talking without realizing it, glancing at my back from time to time... These tiny actions had already exposed her unease and nervousness.

It was precisely because of her subconscious fear that she had chosen to give me the talisman, accommodating my request just so someone would accompany her into this gloomy building.

Groping around alone in an unfamiliar environment had to be a hard thing for a girl to handle. But with someone beside her, that sense of terror would be greatly reduced.

I understood her reasoning. It was just that a lot of times, humans were far more terrifying than any ghosts or monsters. Therefore, I would rather explore alone than stick with her.

"It's almost midnight. Let's split up. For the sake of that piece of talisman paper from earlier, if you run into danger, just shout, and I'll rush over to help you immediately. Also, let me give you some advice: there's genuinely something wrong with this place. After midnight, you'd best leave." Bringing this woman along would clearly drag down my pace, so as soon as I finished speaking, I walked off in the opposite direction. Solving the puzzle was the key to escaping safely tonight.

Chen Xiaocang stood in the middle of the corridor holding her selfie stick. A cold wind blew through the darkness against her smooth, toned thighs. "Hey! You're just leaving me here like this? Don't you want to reconsider? Damn it! Stop walking so fast! You're still a virgin, aren't you?!"

Her voice from behind made my foot slip, nearly sending me tumbling to the ground.

Realizing that she was only shouting and hadn't followed me, I didn't bother getting into it.

Qicun Maternity and Children's Health Center had four floors in total. I arrived at the consultation hall—the hospital's main entrance—and quickly found a floor plan of the interior.

The first floor housed the Neonatal Intensive Care Center, the Prenatal Diagnosis and Testing Center, and the Genetic Disease Treatment Center. The second floor contained Gynecology, Obstetrics, and Neonatology. The director's office I was looking for was on the top floor.