After leaving the City God Temple, one could wander around a bit more, and the day would be nearly over.
Just as Wu Ming was looking for an inn to rest, planning to head to the southern district the next day for another try, a woman came walking toward him and, in a pleasant surprise, grabbed his arm: “Little Brother Wuming, your big sister has been searching for you so hard!”
“It’s you, Sister Shanlan…”
Wu Ming smiled bitterly as he tried to free himself. After all, they were in the middle of a public street, and such behavior was rather shocking and startling.
As if sensing Wu Ming’s alertness, Shanlan merely smiled cheerfully without concern: “Little brother, you’ve done quite a feat! You removed the notice so early, making us work much harder before finally completing the mission…”
“You said ‘us’?”
Wu Ming asked, feigning confusion.
“It’s your big sister Shanlan, swordsman Ling Huhong, and that scholar… damn it, I hope I never see that Tu Yanghao again in the main temple!”
Mentioning Tu Yanghao, Shanlan gritted her teeth, clearly having suffered some setback: “Now we’ve formed an independent team. Little brother, why don’t you join us?”
“I’m used to traveling alone!”
Wu Ming’s heart stirred, knowing that such temporary groups lacked any real rapport or trust, and it was entirely normal for them to part ways midway.
“Still… it might be good to meet up and exchange some mission intelligence.”
Delighted at Wu Ming’s response, Shanlan led him to an inn.
In a courtyard rented out behind the inn, Wu Ming saw Ling Huhong practicing swordplay and the scholar reading a scroll while deep in thought.
“Hehe… look who I’ve brought!”
Shanlan cast a gleeful glance at the two, her tone full of pride.
“The one and only!” The scholar stood up, his face showing surprise, clearly impressed by Wu Ming. He quickly bowed: “Greetings, sir! My name is Lin Qizhi!”
“Ling Huhong!” The cold-faced swordsman was laconic.
“I am Wuming. Greetings to both of you!”
After Wu Ming returned the bow, the four of them sat around a stone table.
“May I ask why you separated from Tu Yanghao?”
Wu Ming got straight to the point.
“Don’t mention that damned villain again…” Shanlan’s anger still hadn’t subsided: “We were trying to escape as a group, but our high profile attracted a ghost general. Tu Yanghao, coward that he is, left us as bait and ran off!”
“That hypocrite speaks sweetly but harbors a dagger in his heart. He’s caused many deaths. I’m ashamed to be associated with him!”
Added the scholar Lin Qizhi, his face filled with anger.
“…Fortunately, Ling and I both have some special skills, and with Lin’s abilities, we finally managed to break through… but we lost touch with the others. We were delayed a bit in Heishui Town before finally reaching the county seat…”
Shanlan combed her hair casually, speaking naturally, but Wu Ming clearly knew that the “bit of delay” she mentioned was definitely not as simple as she made it sound.
But now, they weren’t on the same team, so naturally, things would be like this.
“Right now… we all have issues with Tu Yanghao. He’s narrow-minded and will surely strike first. We should make plans ahead of time! Little Brother Wuming…”
Shanlan hesitated.
Wu Ming simply smiled: “I’m used to being free, but regarding dealing with Tu Yanghao, we can certainly join forces. Besides, regarding the main temple and this mission, we have much intelligence to exchange…”
He himself was a temple envoy, so many of the temple’s rules had changed.
He didn’t say much at the moment, instead listening as Shanlan summarized the temple’s exchange rules and some precautions.
This woman’s experience was clearly quite good. Not only Lin Qizhi, but even Ling Huhong remained silent, clearly paying attention.
“Finally… there’s the main temple!”
As Shanlan reached the end, a bitter smile appeared on her face: “Whoever can build such an incredible paradise and cast us into it must be an unfathomable great power. According to the information released by the Blood Oath Alliance, this great power is very likely the ancient ruler of the underworld who controls the Six Paths of Reincarnation! After all… our current situation is very similar to being cast into reincarnation…”
“Is there any way to escape?”
Lin Qizhi suddenly asked beside her.
“No!”
Ling Huhong’s voice was as cold as ice: “Unless we die… we can never leave the main temple!”
Wu Ming rolled his eyes.
He did know another way, that is, to become the master of the main temple, thus transcending reincarnation. However, this was his big secret, naturally not something he could reveal.
So he said: “I’ve only experienced one instance mission, so I don’t know much about the main temple. But regarding this mission, I do have some intelligence…”
He then reciprocated by sharing his guesses about the local god and the City God.
“Impossible!”
Upon hearing this, Shanlan’s face turned pale, and she exclaimed in shock: “A county City God is at least a seventh-rank deity, a legitimate divine position with imperial favor! Divine power vast as the sea. If such an existence cannot intervene, how can we get involved? No… it shouldn’t have been involved in the first place, after all, it’s just a ‘Hong’-level mission!”
After she finished speaking, she anxiously looked around.
Although this was a quiet courtyard provided by the inn, the City God was in charge of the county, and this was still within his jurisdiction. They dared not say much.
“I’m not saying this deity is powerless,” Wu Ming said, “just that it has its own concerns!”
“Since we still have seven days, why don’t we split up tomorrow to gather more information and meet here in the evening?”
“Exactly!”
The faces of the other three were not too pleasant. Obviously, the involvement of a deity of this rank had brought them great pressure.
…
“Sir! The target had lunch at Li’s Restaurant at noon, went to the City God Temple in the afternoon, and spent the night at Ji’s Old Shop…”
At this time, within the county office, a small room was still illuminated by lamplight.
Wu Hong sat behind an oil lamp, his shadow flickering with the flame, making him seem somewhat sinister.
“Hmm… I understand. Go inform Old Ji, he’s an experienced man, he’ll know what to do… Tomorrow, you two continue to monitor them, don’t let them out of your sight for a moment, understood?”
Wu Hong’s voice was steady and carried an air of authority.
“Understood!”
Two servants nodded respectfully, then quietly left the room, closing the door behind them without a sound.
“The City God Temple?!”
Wu Hong stared at the dim lamp, his eyes deepening: “Didn’t expect… this young man to find a clue as soon as he arrived!”
Although today he had seen several strange and capable people, it was still Wu Ming who left the deepest impression on him.
“But… even if you find a clue, what can you do?”
A faint sneer appeared on Wu Hong’s face: “Even a seventh-rank deity dares not personally intervene. You’re just a humble scholar, no matter how talented you are, in the end, you’ll just be working for someone else? Or even get dragged into it and perish?”
“Still… all these people today came from Black Mountain… that’s rather strange!”
Wu Hong blew out the lamp, slowly walked out, and in the darkness, only a faint sigh could be heard: “Lord of Black Mountain…”
…
The next day.
Wu Ming deliberately came to the southern part of the city, aimlessly wandering around, wasting the whole day without gaining anything.
“This is strange… yesterday, the temple keeper was clearly possessed to lure me here, so why has nothing happened all day?”
Frowning, he unconsciously walked to a canal.
Along the riverside stood several shabby thatched huts, dilapidated and crude, so poor that even in the southern district it was rare.
On the river, there were a few black-painted boats, clearly where these people lived and worked.
“Ah Yun? Ah Yun, what’s wrong with you? Wake up quickly!”
Suddenly, a woman’s mournful cry rang out.
Moved by instinct, Wu Ming pushed through the crowd.
By now, a crowd had already gathered. In the center was a poor fisherwoman, hugging a girl who looked about seven or eight years old, crying nonstop.
“What happened?”
“It’s the wife of the Xu family… sigh… this family has had bad luck… before, when Sixth Brother Xu was alive, their life was quite decent. Now that he’s gone, even their daughter has fallen ill…”
“Actually… Sixth Brother Xu wasn’t an ordinary man. I heard he could communicate with the water god. Every night, he caught several more fish than ordinary fishermen!”
“Isn’t it said he had dealings with the local god?”
“Sigh… unfortunately, a few months ago, he went to Heishui Town and was never seen again, dying a tragic death and leaving this mother and daughter alone and destitute. Now their daughter is like this too. Sigh, this is just their fate…”
…
Other words could be ignored, but when the words “Heishui Town” and “local god” entered Wu Ming’s ears, it was like thunder in his mind.
“So that’s it…”
Pushing through the crowd, Wu Ming stepped forward: “I have some knowledge of medicine! Madam, why don’t you let me take a look…”
“Waa… doctor? Doctor? Please save Ah Yun…”
At this moment, the fisherwoman clung to Wu Ming’s sleeve like grasping the last straw of life.
“Hmm?”
Wu Ming bent down, checked the girl’s eyelids, and took her pulse. Seeing her weak breath and darkened forehead, he felt a stir in his heart: “This isn’t illness, it’s possession!”
At the same time, he became even more certain that the City God had directed him here specifically for this family.
He inwardly grumbled: “Why all these twists and turns? Making riddles?”
But he also understood in his heart that although the ways of Dao are evident and ghosts and gods can be seen, for certain deities, necessary rules still have to be followed.
Things like these cryptic hints and ambiguous answers are meant to reduce karmic entanglements.
Otherwise, if too many connections are involved and one ends up being dragged down, saying that supernatural power cannot overcome karma would be the greatest misfortune.
Compared to yin spirits, Wu Ming, as a person of the yang world, had fewer concerns.
He immediately said: “I can save this girl. Sister, where is your home?”
“Over there!”
The fisherwoman was almost overjoyed to tears as she led Wu Ming to a dilapidated thatched hut. The walls were dotted with straw raincoats and other items, and a strong fishy smell hit Wu Ming’s nose, making him involuntarily frown.
Placing the girl on the bed, he saw a layer of bluish-black aura covering her face. Her brows were furrowed as if enduring great pain, her body cold, clearly on the brink of death.
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