69 Trying Out: Part 3

After he was done preparing, Lin Sheng pulled out something he had put together from his bag.

It was a black crow with its leg and beak bounded.

It was a normal crow, which he had purchased from the pet store for about ¥500.

The seller said it was a wild one.

Lin Sheng planned to use it as a test subject to see if the ritual worked or not.

Being a proper ritual, the Beckoning could be done more than once.

As long as the caster's mind and soul could bear it, anyone could do it multiple times. So, even when the ritual cost him about ¥100,000, Lin Sheng was still prepared to try it out.

In terms of which animal to choose, he had no suitable one in mind.

However, a crow was inconspicuous and hard to detect in the dark. Most importantly, it was easy enough to catch.

Since it was a flying beast, he would be able to use the crow to scout his surroundings and alert him of an area's safety in advance if the ritual worked.

That would better ensure the secrecy of the ritual.

"But… I really need to find a way to earn money." Lin Sheng sighed.

One ritual itself had already cost him ¥100,000, and his total savings were only about ¥300,000. A third had already been used up in a blink of an eye.

As he placed the mixture aside, he bent down and started to use 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.

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 work?!" Lin Sheng swiftly undid the binds on the crow.

"Fly and land on my shoulder." He thought for a bit before transmitting a command.

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.

He then looked at the materials on the matrix. They seemed normal at first glance and could be reused.

As he pondered a little, he kept the mixture in the small cabin. After cleaning up, he walked out of the room with the crow.

It was night time, and the croaking of frogs and the hissing of crickets were audible.

Lin Sheng pointed at the night sky in the distance.

"Go, look around and caw when someone approaches."

Once 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.

However, 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 could share visions with the bird. The ritual only allowed the crow to understand his commands.

"Its usefulness is a little iffy…"

Lin Sheng frowned.

Compared with the ritual 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 he trained the crow by the field for a short while, Lin Sheng commanded it to feed near the factory and wait until he returned.

Following that arrangement, he picked everything up and went over to the main street to hail a cab and headed home.

In his dream last night, he was thrown on an unknown island, and there was a massive castle on it.

That really intrigued Lin Sheng.

It seemed like he could no longer return to Blackfeather City now. Perhaps he could gain something out of the unknown castle.

Sadly, due to his death the other day, he did not manage to enter the dream again and simply slept soundly.

In the days that followed, Lin Sheng continued to train the crow to improve their bond while he practiced his swordplay.

It appeared that his life had returned to normal.

However, around that time, the National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament was canceled at both the provincial and national levels, and his prize was simply given out.

Lin Sheng found out from Russell that they had only earned ¥2,000 in prize money.

It was a vast difference from the original prize money.

"That's not right. It's been held so many times without any issues? Why did something happen now?"

Russell was scratching his head back at the club.

"I was wondering why there hasn't been any news about the provincial tournament. Well, now we know, it's been outright canceled."

"Maybe 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 asked in realization.

Sarroux and Lin Sheng were playing martial chess by the side right then.

Xilin's martial chess was a mix of Chinese Chess and Go, plus it was rather time-consuming.

The usually impatient and ill-tempered Sarroux was temperate when it came to chess, and that caught Lin Sheng by surprise.

"Don't you find it a pity?" Russell turned to Lin Sheng. "It's ¥50,000!"

"A pity for sure." Lin Sheng smiled. "But the tournament's hosted by them, so there's nothing we can do, anyway. Oh yeah, did you manage to get the bulletproof vests?"

Russell raised his eyebrow. "I've gotten it already. One for each of our core members. Consider them sponsored by me."

"Haven't we yet to make a profit? We need to consider how we can get some cash flow going," Li Sheng said.

Shayeen pondered a bit and said, "Our previous cooperation with the port security's 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 taxes, you can take home about ¥6,000 a month, that'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 thought about it.

"I have a junior, and he's been mixing with the wrong kind. His ability's no worse than mine. Can I drag him over to 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."