"Okay, I'll take them." It was not a small number, but right now all Wu Xiaoming could think of was what a steal it was. He had a gut feeling that all of them must be able to manifest or take effect in the ethereal realm, thus giving him more of a chance in succeeding in his plan. "What else do you have? If I - if I want to go more - on the offense."
"You mean things like black donkey hoof, sticky rice, male virgin urine, black dog blood, and rooster blood?" Zhuge Lishi rolled his eyes.
"Well - yeah! Why not!" Wu Xiaoming almost laughed. He actually had the skill to use these items.
"Well, here's the thing. We don't actually carry a lot of that stuff here. You can buy sticky rice anywhere, but unless you're dealing with Jiangshi, without proper training you won't be able to use it." Zhuge Lishi sighed: "And - black donkey hoof and black dog blood are kind of taboo now because of the animal cruelty thing. And that leaves you with rooster blood and male virgin urine - I have some rooster in the back, you want some?"
"Uh - " Wu Xiaoming scratched his head: "Does it need to be fresh rooster blood?"
"Yes." Zhuge Lishi nodded, looking straight at Wu Xiaoming: "So there's the final option: are you a virgin? Because I'm not."
"Unfortunately, no." Unease and embarrassment struck Wu Xiaoming at the same time.
"Me neither. Ah, so you're shit outta luck." Zhuge Lishi scratched his jaw: "As you can guess there's no place to actually buy it either - not legal ones anyway."
"Alright, then I guess I'll probably go back…"
"There's one lesser option though. It's a bit weird, and not as powerful. But if you'd like, I actually have some." Zhuge Lishi stopped Wu Xiaoming.
"Oh? What is it?"
Black dog urine. Three whole glass canisters of it. If Wu Xiaoming did not receive so much boost to his physical abilities, he would definitely have trouble actually bringing them with him. He had asked for the more "normal" stuff like talisman paper, cinnabar ink, and blessed beads but had been informed he would need to order beforehand for those.
As an additional safety measure, he bought some eggs from the nearest grocery store, so that he could use them to detect potential "unclean energy" near his father's place.
By the time he got home, it was already late in the afternoon. His father was still not back - maybe he had some other business to attend to? But it was better for him anyway, because he had no idea how to explain away the black dog urine canisters. For now, he just put them in the garage - even though they seemed to be sealed, there was still some smell coming out.
Then, he tapped into the knowledge granted by the Folk Ritual Tree "No Evil" skill in preparation to utilize everything he had bought today. As it turned out, he only needed to prepare the raw eggs, as for the black dog urine, he only needed to spray it onto the evil entities, or use it to write evil repelling talismans. But - to write talismans using urine, he just did not have the heart.
For the raw eggs, he needed to prepare clear water, clean the eggs, drip a little bit of his blood onto them, then simply hide them in corners of the house or pathways of energy flow. If he remembered correctly, deeper into the folk ritual tree there were skills with which he could do more to utilize raw eggs.
He folded some paper towels to hold the eggs so they wouldn't roll away in his father's house. He put two eggs on both sides of the front door, then one below each of the outward facing windows. Then four corners around the lot of the house, each corner was facing a cardinal direction. Along with these eggs, he also placed the holy beast carvings in their respective corners.
Then lastly, he buried two eggs on the side of the road where he saw the shadow of Nicolas Sproutlinger.
"I may not make it back tonight. Just order something for yourself." His father texted him.
"I've been in contact with people from some projects, hopefully I can get you some auditions soon. " Douglass Kirkland texted him just before his takeout arrived: "If you're free, let's meet tomorrow? "
The evening went by pretty quickly - he spent most of the time reading some more history of the Sproutlinger Hotel, watching some ghost hunting and paranormal investigations videos, then before he would go to sleep, he did a little quick reading about MAGLAA - apparently it was quite an influential organization in Haoliwood and the general Los Angeles area: they were the only local organization who could issue certifications to exorcists, they pretty much dominated the exorcism business in the area, they had deep connections to the LAPD and even the local branches of federal agencies, and they were heavily involved with Haoliwood as well - from casting, to consulting of ritual fidelity, and to "blessing" of projects when their themes were considered "spiritually risky".
It could be something to worry about when his show would go public, but it did not mean too much to him right now.
"Fucking hell, man!" Wu Xiaoming scratched his face as he rolled on his bed. Right now, his father was not home, it would be a perfect time to head out and pay the Sproutlinger Hotel a visit physically. But also, he was still hesitant, for he was not sure he was fully equipped to do so. But if he was to go to sleep, there was no guarantee that he would make any progress in the hotel in the ethereal realm.
He still needed more strength, more power. Right now, there was only one way to do it.
Inside the ethereal realm, neither the canisters of the black dog urine, nor the carvings of the four holy beasts showed up in the house. Though the aura protecting the house did indeed feel different - slightly more intense, if he had to find the right description for it. The fire talismans he had made before sleep had not come with him to the ethereal realm either - maybe they were simply not strong enough, or maybe they were not made with the correct material.
As for the short staff - as expected, it showed up in his inventory.
"Sturdy Soapberry Staff: short staff made from carefully chosen and pressure treated soapberry wood. Meticulously polished, sanded and stained, thus the full potential of the material and the power of the ritual that enchanted it was fully realized." No further description of its power, but more importantly it proved one thing - Zhuge Lishi was a real deal.
This time, the first place he would visit was not the office building, but the Woodside Hotel. Because, sure, his usual "farming" route was familiar and quite safe with his current level and skills, but it was simply not enough for him. If he wanted to level up faster, he needed to try some place more dangerous.
There were still two skeletons guarding the jump point on top of the building. They still held the same weapons, which Wu Xiaoming did not really care to take right now. He took a look around before heading down the stairs - the general area was still the same. But one thing was different - streams, bridges and pillars of dark particles spanning from different buildings and structures were all over the place. Even the Woodside Hotel building alone, he could count at least four streams/bridges of dark particles connected to it, whose other ends all fell into the studio buildings.
He proceeded down the staircase. The Sturdy Soapberry Staff had proven effective against the enemies here - though it was not yet obvious what its advantage over the morningstars or the Tempered Steel Baton of Heft and Resolve would be.
The first target would be the pale humanoid creature with slender arms and legs. After some thought, he pulled the baton out while keeping the soapberry staff in his left hand.
The same heavy "debuff" was active again on his body. Though probably due to his higher level, or his enhanced stats, or improved bodily and mental status, the debuff was lighter than before.
The door to the hallway creaked open as Wu Xiaoming pushed with his body. He snuck into the hallway and headed for the position of the room he had stayed in last time - after all that was where he encountered the creature.
The first thing that pinpointed the creature's location to Wu Xiaoming was not any visual signal, but gurgly low snarls coming from the hallway in front of him. Apparently, this creature was in one of the hotel rooms - to his left.
With both weapons in hands, he lightened his steps and crouched forward.
He passed by the first room to his left, with its door busted open and on the ground - it was empty, nothing inside. Though through the window he could still see the environment outside - including the bridge of dark particles, one of which seemed to be connected right at this level.
He moved forward, as the source of the snarls inched closer.
Onto the second door to his left, he poked his head out to take a look inside. The first thing he saw was a pale white claw with sharp nails swinging right at his face.