Chapter 69
After completing the preparation, Lin Sheng pulled out something he had prepared from his bag .
It was a black crow with its leg and beak bounded .
It was a normal crow he had purchased from the pet store for about five hundred bucks .
And the seller said it was a wild one .
Lin Sheng had planned to use this as a test subject to see whether the ritual would work or not .
As a proper ritual, the Beckoning could be done more than once .
As long as the caster’s mind and soul can withstand it, anyone could do it multiple times . So, even when the ritual itself had cost him about a hundred thousand bucks, Lin Sheng was still prepared to try it out .
As for which animal, he had no suitable one in mind .
A crow was inconspicuous, and would be hard to detect in the dark; the key point was they were easy enough to catch .
As a flying beast, he would be able to use the crow to scout his surroundings and warn him in advance of the safety of the area if the ritual works .
And that would better ensure the secrecy of the ritual here .
“But… I really need to find a way to earn money . ” Lin Sheng sighed .
One ritual itself had already cost him a hundred thousand, and his total savings were only about three hundred thousand with a third already used up in a blink of an eye .
As he placed the mixture aside, he bent down and started using a piece of chalk to draw the ritual matrix .
The matrix was simpler than the last one, and Lin Sheng simply used a ruler to draw it, and it took about ten minutes to complete it .
He then placed the mixture into the corresponding spaces .
Then it was the Blackbloom .
Lin Sheng took a Blackbloom petal and placed it into the ritual matrix .
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He then placed another into a gap in his shirt .
The other eight petals were placed around the matrix in a circle .
As he completed that, Lin Sheng took out the knife and lit up the kerosene lamp as he heated up the knife to sterilize it . After heating the knife up, he let it cool for a little before pressing the blade into his finger .
A spurt of blood appeared from the wound and dropped downwards onto the Blackbloom in the center of the matrix .
At the same time, Lin Sheng started chanting the activation chant that he had memorized .
The chant was like a tongue twister in a foreign tongue as it rumbled and twirled at a certain speed .
And it was different compared to last time . Based on the scroll, the Beckoning was a proper, standard ritual . The difference between one and a non-standard ritual was the amount of chanting needed .
The chant would naturally draw the chanter to focus, and the chant of a standard ritual would need about five chants .
Only non-standard ones would require up to nine or ten chants .
After five chants later, nothing changed with the matrix .
The blood on the Blackbloom too had slowly hardened without any changes .
Lin Sheng stopped and quickly bandaged the wound . He then went over to check on the crow . The bound crow could not move, and only its eyes moved about .
He straight up went to pick the crow up by its wings .
But just as he touched it, he felt a static-like sensation coming from his fingers .
As he shuddered, he felt like he had grown another arm as his consciousness entered the crow’s body . As if he could control the crow’s body at will .
“Did it worked?!” Lin Sheng swiftly undid the binds on the crow .
“Fly and land on my shoulder . ” He thought for a bit before transmitting a command .
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The crow flapped its wings a little before hopping about and looked up and Lin Sheng . It then took off and landed easily on his shoulder .
“Caw a little . ” Lin Sheng was gleeful, and he tried again .
*Caw!*
A piercing caw boomed from his left shoulder and almost stunned him .
“Caw twice!”
*Caw! Caw!*
The dreadful caw rang out twice .
Lin Sheng was sure that he could really control the crow now .
And he looked at the materials on the matrix . They seemed normal at a glance and could be reused .
As he pondered a little, he kept the mixture into the small cabin . After cleaning up, he walked out of the room with the crow .
It was night time now, and the croaking of frogs and the hissing of crickets rang .
Lin Sheng pointed to the night sky in the distance .
“Go, look around, and caw when someone approaches . ”
As the crow heard that, it flew away, and disappeared into the dark sky .
This time, Lin Sheng was a hundred percent sure that he had succeeded .
But what disappointed him was that once the crow left him, he could not sense it anymore .
It was not like in the novels where he would share visions with the birds . This ritual only allowed the crow to understand his commands .
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“Its usefulness is a little iffy…”
Lin Sheng frowned .
Compared to the Ritual of Sacrifice, the Beckoning Ritual was much less effective, and it cost a lot more too . ”
“No wonder people prefer evil rituals, the difference is just too big . ”
After training the crow by the field for a little while, Lin Sheng gave it a command to feed near the factory and wait until he returns .
After arranging that, he picked everything up and went over to the main street to hail a cab and headed home .
In the dream last night, he was thrown to an unknown island, and on it was a massive castle .
And that got Lin Sheng intrigued .
It seems like he can no longer go back to Blackfeather City now . And perhaps he could get something out of his unknown castle .
But sadly, due to his death the other day, he could not enter the dream, and simply slept soundly .
And the following days, Lin Sheng continued to train the crow to improve their bond while he practiced his swordplay .
It seemed like his life had returned back to normal .
But yet at that moment, the National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament was canceled, both the provincial and national levels . And his prize was simply given out .
Lin Sheng found out from Russell that they had only earned two thousand in prize money .
It was a vast difference from the original prize money .
“That’s not right? It had been held for so many times without any issues? Why did something happen now?”
Russell was scratching his head back at the club .
“I had been wondering, why was there no news about the provincial tournament . Well, now we know, it’s outright canceled . ”
“Perhaps it has something to do with the current situation,” Shayeen said flatly as she drank her coffee .
“Situation? You mean the explosion at Fort Whitehawk?” Russell said in realization .
Sarroux and Lin Sheng were playing martial chess by the side .
Xilin’s martial chess was a mix of Chinese Chess and Go, and was rather time-consuming .
What Lin Sheng did not expect was the usually impatient, ill-tempered Sarroux was temperate when it comes to chess .
“Don’t you feel it’s a pity?” Russell turned towards Lin Sheng . “It’s fifty thousand!”
“A pity, sure . ” Lin Sheng smiled . “But the tournament is hosted by them, so there’s nothing we can do anyway . Oh yeah, did you manage to get the bulletproof vest?”
Russell raised his eyebrow . “I’ve got it already . One each for our core members . Consider me sponsoring that . ”
“Don’t, we have yet to make a profit . We need to consider how we can get some cash flow going . ” Li Sheng said .
Shayeen pondered for a bit and said, “Our previous co-operation with the port security with the patrols had some rather spectacular results . We caught a few thieves and robbers . So the port police want to sign a long term partnership with us . What do all of you say?”
“Every time someone does it, it’s 500 . Three times a week, so that’s 1,500 . After tax, you can take home about 6,000 a month, it’s pretty good . ” Lin Sheng nodded .
“That much?” Sarroux was astonished .
“Yes, that much . It’s a little dangerous after all, and the remuneration being higher is normal . ” Russell explained .
Sarroux pondered .
“I have a junior, and he had been mixing with the wrong sort . He’s ability is no worse than mine, can I drag him over and join the club patrol?”
“A junior?” Lin Sheng squinted . “You can call him over . If he’s as good as you, it won’t be a problem for him to join in . ”