Striving for Science C36

"True gods don't possess bodies, and those who possess bodies are not true gods." Uncle Zhang finished setting up the altar and said to Shen Chang'an, "Mortals are impure, and true gods cannot possess mortal bodies. If you accidentally invite a demonic or heretical entity, don't be afraid. With my and Yan Yin's combined strength, we can ensure your safety."

"Nowadays, there are many charlatans who claim to be great immortals, half-immortals, or immortal ladies. After inviting a god, they shake their heads and sway their bodies, jumping and dancing. Most of them are just scammers. Even if they really manage to invite something by chance, it's definitely not a god." Uncle Zhang lit the incense and candles. 

"The higher the status of a righteous god, the less they receive incense offerings from people, and they have no partiality. In their hearts, there are only rules and the Dao. When we invite gods, we prepare these things, often just for our own peace of mind."

"What happens if we invite a god?" Shen Chang'an asked, "Will they be very serious, or very friendly?"

Uncle Zhang looked at Shen Chang'an as if he were a rebellious and uncontrollable fool. "You think inviting a god means having the god appear in physical form before you?"

Hearing Uncle Zhang's tone, Shen Chang'an knew he had asked a silly question. "If not in physical form, then how?"

"Divine oracle. As long as you successfully invite a god, you can feel their presence." Initially, he had asked Shen Chang'an to invite a god just to spite him. Now, having calmed down, Uncle Zhang didn't retract the altar. Instead, he slowly and deliberately organized it. "But you don't know, our metaphysics world hasn't been able to invite gods for a long time."

If he had heard this half a year ago, Shen Chang'an would have thought it was a made-up story. But today was different. Uncle Zhang's ordinary words carried a hint of sadness and melancholy that Shen Chang'an could sense.

"Even the underworld soldiers, who are known to be more approachable in ancient records, no longer respond to our requests. All we can do in the metaphysics world is to send some ghosts who should go to the underworld to the stations where the underworld carriages pass." 

Uncle Zhang finished organizing the altar and glanced at the sky, which was gradually darkening. "Although it's already dark, the *zi* hour (11pm-1am) is the most suitable time to invite underworld soldiers. Let's eat first. In case you invite something else when you're trying to invite them, you'll have the strength to hold on for a while if you're full."

Shen Chang'an: "..."

He didn't feel comforted at all.

"You guys..." The otaku ghost came out with the stir-fried dishes, his eyes lit up when he saw the altar set up. "Are you going to invite a god?" He had never witnessed such a scene and couldn't help but be curious.

Uncle Zhang turned his head and glanced at him. "Shen Chang'an wants to try inviting a god, so let him try."

"The boss wants to invite a god?" The otaku ghost placed the dishes on the table. "As long as you make a move, it's definitely no problem."

Zhang Gu, who was sitting next to him, glanced at the otaku ghost. This posture of clinging to someone's leg was textbook-level standard. Was he shameless?

"Thank you for the good words." Shen Chang'an washed his hands and sat down at the table. Seeing the otaku ghost standing beside him but unable to eat, he turned to ask Uncle Zhang, "Can't ghosts like him eat food from living people?"

"Food from living people carries yang energy, which ghosts can't eat." Uncle Zhang said, "If you feel sorry for him, you can burn some paper money for him so he can buy food in the underworld. If he has descendants, he can also enjoy the offerings from their worship."

The otaku ghost, who had been single since birth and never had a girlfriend, felt a little melancholy.

"Can't we worship him?" Shen Chang'an felt increasingly sorry for the otaku ghost.

"He can't give birth to a son as big as you." Uncle Zhang picked up a piece of the otaku ghost's stir-fried dish. It tasted pretty good, so he said, "But people like you with deep merit are different from ordinary people. Maybe you can offer him something, and he can taste it."

People with special qualities like Shen Chang'an are even favored by Heavenly Dao. Some yao cultivators, when undergoing tribulations, would transform into their original forms and hide near people with deep merit to avoid the wrath of Heavenly Tribulation.

Since this kind of constitution can protect yaos, maybe it can also protect ghosts? Based on the closeness of the relationship, ghosts are at least people who have died and become ghosts, so they're half-related. How much of a relationship can yaos have with humans?

"Here, you try." Uncle Zhang gave Shen Chang'an three incense sticks and put some of each dish on a plate. "Place the plate in front of him and light the incense."

"Okay." Shen Chang'an took the incense and was about to bow to the otaku ghost when he saw the ghost's body sway and kneel down before him.

"I just wanted to give you some food, you don't need to perform such a grand ceremony." Shen Chang'an bent down to pull the otaku ghost up from the ground. "We're all progressive youth of the new era, there's no need for these feudal rituals."

"Big shot, it's not that I want to kneel, but when you were preparing to worship me, my legs went weak and I felt powerless all over." The otaku ghost said with a bitter face, "Please don't worship me, I'm scared."

"Then try this. I'll hand it to you directly, can you eat it?" Shen Chang'an placed the bowl in the otaku ghost's hand. The ghost was prepared for a mouthful of sand, but when the fragrant rice entered his mouth, his eyes lit up. It was as if he wasn't holding rice, but a bowl of rare food. His hands trembled with excitement as he held the bowl. "This is the taste of rice, it's rice!"

After saying that, he lowered his head and devoured it, looking extremely pitiful.

Shen Chang'an saw how miserable he looked, so he added more dishes and meat for him, looking at him with a fatherly gaze: "Eat slowly, if you don't have enough, we'll cook another pot later."

"Big boss, you are my reborn parents." The otaku ghost ate with tears in his eyes. After becoming a ghost, he could still operate computers and phones, but the most unacceptable thing was that he couldn't enjoy food. Now, thanks to big boss's patronage, he could even eat delicious food. There wasn't much difference between being a human and a ghost.

Anyway, when he used his phone and computer to play games, his teammates didn't know if he was a human or a ghost.

After figuring this out, the otaku ghost said: "Big boss, I'll be your little brother from now on. You tell me to go east, I'll never go west. As long as you provide me with food, accommodation, and a computer, I'm very easy to take care of."

"You're not going to reincarnate?" Shen Chang'an was amused by him.

"Being a human means worrying about interpersonal relationships, but being a ghost is different. It's fun and relaxing, and you don't have to worry about losing your hair from staying up late." The otaku ghost said, "At night, I can help you post department flyers outside, and during the day, I can help you with the department's online publicity work. I can also cook three meals a day. Consider it."

Shen Chang'an: "..."

He really didn't understand the otaku's way of thinking.

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, we need to figure out the reason for your death." Shen Chang'an didn't know if there would be bad consequences for not reincarnating after death, so he didn't want to agree to the otaku ghost easily. "Let's eat first."

"Oh." The otaku ghost cooperated and lowered his head, continuing to devour his second bowl of rice.

After finishing their meal, the otaku ghost, wanting to impress Shen Chang'an, volunteered to wash the dishes. Then he sat cross-legged on the floor, looking very obedient.

Shen Chang'an went upstairs to take a shower, changed into clean clothes, and then, under Uncle Zhang's guidance, memorized the steps for summoning a spirit.

As soon as the zi hour arrived, he lit the incense and bowed to heaven: "Thunder God, Dragon and Tiger clash... Earth soldiers and underworld generals, when the talisman arrives, act swiftly. As fast as the law dictates."

He placed the talisman on the incense and lit it. Because he wasn't skilled enough, he almost burned his finger, and the pain made him instinctively shake his hand a few times.

Seeing him like this, Uncle Zhang sighed: "You don't even know the most basic technique of burning talismans. Forget about summoning a spirit, you can't even summon a little ghost..."

"I wonder which great being has summoned this humble official?" Suddenly, thick fog filled the window, and a mysterious iron gate faintly opened in the fog. A man in official robes, wearing a crimson gauze hat, with a beautiful beard, and an imposing presence, walked out from behind the gate. "I am the City God of this realm. Since there is a divine being establishing a celestial mansion here, underworld soldiers cannot enter the realm at will. I am here to explain the reason."

As soon as this man appeared, the entire house instantly gained an inexplicable sense of awe. Uncle Zhang, Yan Yin, and Zhang Gu, looking at the suddenly appearing City God, were so shocked that they lost their normal reactions.

Shen Chang'an had summoned underworld soldiers, how could he have summoned the City God?

It was like wanting to ask a police officer to help with a case, but the provincial public security director came to handle it personally. Who wouldn't be terrified, who wouldn't be surprised?

They, the rightful heirs of the metaphysics sects, couldn't even summon an underworld soldier, but this person had even summoned the City God's physical body. How could they still call themselves members of the metaphysics sects,?

In Shen Chang'an's eyes, ghosts were not much different from living people. He couldn't even tell who was human and who was a ghost. In the previous twenty-three years, he never believed in the existence of gods, but today he had personally invited one out.

While he was stunned, the City God, dressed in a red official robe, had already arrived in front of him. This City God had a peaceful expression, without any trace of official authority. Before speaking, he bowed to Shen Chang'an: "Is it this young master who summoned this official?"

"I dare not." Hearing the humble words "summon" and "this official," Shen Chang'an quickly said, "Thank you, my lord, for coming in person. Junior has something unclear, and I would like to ask you to help me inquire."

"Please speak, young master." Hearing that Shen Chang'an had something to ask him, the City God's smile remained unchanged, "If this official can do it, I will do my best to fulfill your request."

The other party was so polite that Shen Chang'an couldn't help but doubt whether Uncle Zhang's claim that he couldn't invite a god was true. He recounted the story of the otaku ghost, "Junior has no other intentions, I just want to understand what his fate is all about."

"Chen Yuan, male, born in Wuming City." The City God tapped his left index finger lightly on the tablet held in his right hand. The tablet emitted a dazzling golden light, and many small golden characters appeared in the air.

‘He will live to be ninety-nine, with both fortune and blessings, a harmonious family, a superior fate.’ The City God looked at the otaku ghost huddled in the corner, his eyes filled with astonishment. ‘How could his fate have changed so much?’

People with such a superior fate, if their life paths change, it will affect the fates of countless others. Why is there no warning at all in the Underworld's Book of Life and Death?

Once a person's fate is set, even minor adjustments won't turn poverty into wealth or longevity into a short life. If anyone dared to make such drastic changes, the Underworld would have noticed long ago.

Could it be that someone in the underworld was derelict in their duty and committed such a deceitful act?

In recent years, their underworld life hasn't been easy. A while ago, the Heavenly Dao Lord went on a tour, and everyone in the underworld went out to greet him. But the Heavenly Dao Lord didn't even see them, only saying that the cycle of life and death was predetermined, and he didn't want to interfere.

For the past few hundred years, the Heavenly Dao Lord has not shown himself, and everyone in the underworld has been living in fear. They even dared not appear at human sacrifices. Now that the divine path is declining, they are all afraid that the underworld will suddenly collapse like the Heavenly Court, with living beings disappearing and hiding, leaving no trace of their past glory.

Today, they finally received a summons from a human with deep merit, and he came immediately. Even thousands of years ago, the King of Hell would have been polite to someone with such abundant merit, let alone in today's weakened divine race.

They can't afford to offend, they can't afford to offend.

Even the lives of immortals are not easy.