Night Worship of the Gods

Night Worship of the Gods

"Grandpa, you seem to be in a pretty good mood today."

"That's right. Don't know why, but my chest ain't feeling tight today, and I ain't short of breath either. A lot of things suddenly make sense. Strange as hell..."

"That's all there is to a person's life!"

Grandpa Li Gui's state today was very strange. He did not get angry when he saw the damaged plaque, and even took a few turns around the village entrance and fields, no longer squatting at the doorway smoking glumly as he usually did.

Li Yan naturally understood why.

The plaque had been damaged, and the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin inside had fallen out. The Evil Curse directed at their family had been broken, the three blades hanging over their heads had vanished, and naturally one's heart would feel at ease.

This influence was not something visible on the surface.

The old man could more or less sense it as well.

Perhaps because he was in such high spirits, after dinner Grandpa Li Gui squatted at the door and took a few puffs of his pipe, then bellowed out an Old Qin Opera tune he had not sung in a long while:

"A golden circlet-and-rope cap upon my head, a Nine Palaces Bagua Robe upon my back. Silk cords around my waist, Returning Yang Grass tied there, cloud-climbing boots upon my feet..."

"Mysterious, mysterious, wondrous, wondrous! Through Three Mountains and Five Peaks I roam. Ask me my name and surname—turn my head, snap my neck, Shen Gongbao!"

Qin Opera, Yellow River Formation.

This world also had the Investiture of the Gods, and it was widely circulated.

"Yellow River Formation" was an especially beloved piece among young and old in Guanzhong.

Inside the room, listening to his grandfather roar out Qin Opera, Li Yan squatted on a stool, holding the Guanshan Knife as he sharpened it against a whetstone stroke by stroke.

Clang! Clang!

The rugged Qin Opera merged with the sound of sharpening steel.

As the sun sank in the west, Li Yan held up the blade for a close look.

The cold edge gleamed with razor-sharp brilliance!

Land God Temples, also known as Virtue and Earth Temples, originated from the ancient belief in the God of the Soil.

The "Spring Officials" chapter of the Book of Rites stated: Beyond the Great Deities were the Earth Deities and Ground Deities; these were what later generations called Land Gods. The deities of the Five Earths were the gods of the soil.

It could be said that this belief had run through folk worship from ancient times to the present.

Even the current imperial court had issued laws requiring every hundred households in each village to establish an altar and worship the gods of the Five Earths and Five Grains.

Thus, Land God Temples were scattered across nearly all the Nine Provinces.

Of course, their scale varied, as did the prosperity of their incense offerings.

Most people in Guanzhong eked out a living from the soil. They did not fear hardship or exhaustion; what they feared most was the heavens' unpredictable storms.

Thus, Land God Temples and Dragon King Temples enjoyed especially thriving incense offerings.

The Land God Temple of Li Family Fortress was no exception.

The temple here was not large. It was merely a mud hut a little over a man's height, its walls built of gray bricks and yellow clay beside the road, no more than five paces in length or width.

Calling it a temple was generous—it was more like a shrine, barely able to shelter one from wind and rain.

Inside stood Lord of the Land and the Earth Goddess. Though their smiles were kindly and benevolent, their painted colors had peeled and mottled, making them inexplicably eerie beneath the moonlight.

Before the altar, incense ash and burnt candle stubs were piled like mountains. The surrounding trees were tied all over with red ribbons bearing prayers for blessings, showing that incense offerings here were usually abundant.

Tonight, the moon shone like frost, and night mist swirled through the surroundings.

A speck of firelight came from the village, drawing nearer from afar.

The arrival was Li Yan.

He wore coarse black clothes and leg wraps, with the Guan Shan Saber at his waist. He carried a basket in one hand and a lantern in the other.

To avoid being seen, he also wore a bamboo hat to shield against rain.

Walking alone through the black night gave him an inexplicably mysterious air.

Arriving before the Land God Temple, Li Yan slightly raised his head. Beneath the bamboo hat, his gaze burned like torches, chilling enough to cow anyone.

How was sharpening his blade that afternoon not also a tempering of killing intent?

Only after confirming that no one was around did Li Yan set down his basket. He took out fruit offerings, incense, and candles, as well as a slab of roasted meat and a jar of wine.

He arranged them one by one and lit the candles.

Li Yan rubbed his face, broke into a brilliant smile, slapped open the clay seal on the wine jar, and said quietly, "Lord of the Land, I've come to see you."

"Come to think of it, you watched me grow up. No matter how you put it, you count as an elder. I was wrong not to come burn incense before, but we can't just let that evil thing run wild, can we..."

"Tonight, let's borrow your precious ground. The two of us will join hands and wipe out evil. What do you say?"

Knowing this world was far from simple, Li Yan naturally put on a different face.

Usually, he could not be bothered to burn incense. Whether it was useful or not, when trouble came knocking, he still had to say some pleasant words, lest something go wrong again later.

And indeed, this Land God Temple was different.

Earlier, he could smell the rich scent of incense offerings from a hundred meters away. Once he set out the offerings and lit the incense and candles, he unexpectedly felt a trace of warmth.

It was somewhat similar to the feeling the "Victorious in a Hundred Battles" plaque gave him, but far gentler.

Meanwhile, the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel inside the red cloth pouch at his waist grew ever colder.

It seemed these were two entirely different powers.

Yet the two powers did not clash. According to Widow Wang, the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin had been forged by the previous dynasty and refined through incense offerings atop Mount Tai, becoming a magical artifact.

Yin and yang opposed each other, yet they could also merge and complement one another.

Li Yan was still a layman. He did not understand the principles behind it.

But he knew how to read people. He could tell Widow Wang harbored no ill intent and sincerely wanted to eliminate that Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier.

At this thought, Li Yan chuckled.

"Lord of the Land, if you don't say anything, I'll take that as agreement!"

With that, he lit Three Incense Sticks and prayed sincerely.

After planting the incense, he respectfully kowtowed three times. Only then did he follow Widow Wang's instructions, remove the red cloth pouch from his waist, take out the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel, and offer it before the Land God Temple.

At once, he noticed something different.

Though there appeared to be no movement, he could smell the warm scent of incense offerings around him spreading over the sword tassel.

One had to know that he was not Xuan Gate People, nor had he cultivated.

After the sword tassel's empowerment, the Guanshan Knife brimmed with Sha Qi. If he used it for less than half a pouch of tobacco's time, he would feel chilled to the bone, unable to withstand it.

With the Land God Temple's incense offerings empowering it, he could use it for longer.

Seeing that nothing unexpected happened, Li Yan finally relaxed. He got up and circled the Land God Temple several times, committing every detail of the nearby terrain to memory.

At night, when light was scarce, familiarity with the surroundings was especially important.

The Land God Temple backed onto a small earthen hill and stood less than a hundred paces from the Official Road. Farther away was a poplar forest. The terrain was flat, without any gullies.

That was an advantage for him. He would not have to fear stepping into a pit in the dark.

After finishing all this, Li Yan came before the Land God Temple, sat cross-legged, laid the Guanshan Knife across his knees, glanced at the sky, then closed his eyes to rest.

Behind him, the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Sword Tassel was still being offered.

According to Widow Wang's instructions, this item could only be used after the Rampaging Soldier possessed someone, lest it frighten the enemy away and make all their earlier efforts come to nothing.

Incense smoke coiled through the air, while the statues of Lord of the Land and the Earth Goddess still wore their kindly smiles...

At last, Zi Hour arrived.

It was an exceptionally special time.

Within the reach of the Land God Temple's incense offerings, Li Yan felt it even more deeply.

Zi Hour held the heaviest yin energy. Even the warmth surrounding the Land God Temple seemed suppressed, while coldness rose from the ground.

Yet at the same time, a single thread of yang was born—extremely faint.

At this time, rats came out to forage, which was why Zi Hour belonged to the rat.

Folklore said that though rats were small, they brimmed with life. They could gnaw a crack into the chaos between heaven and earth, allowing yang energy to gradually rise and yin and yang to turn in their cycle. Thus came the saying, "Rats gnaw open the sky."

That was why the Zi Rat led the Twelve Zodiacs.

Of course, this was also when yin evils and ghostly apparitions were at their most rampant.

The yang of heaven and earth was suppressed, and so was the yang within the human body. It was easiest for such things to take advantage then.

Suddenly, Li Yan opened his eyes, cold light blazing within them.

Whoosh—

On the distant Official Road, a yin wind inexplicably rose, sweeping dust into a spinning vortex.

It stood out sharply beneath the bright moon.

At the same time, Li Yan caught that icy, fishy stench.

The cold sensation on his back also grew more intense.

He knew this was the curse the other party had placed on him, something akin to a mark. Even if he fled to the ends of the earth, it would pursue him relentlessly.

Sensing his presence, the whirlwind came toward the Land God Temple.

Yet when it approached the range of the temple's incense offerings, it was blocked outside, crashing left and right but unable to enter.

Whoosh—

The yin wind howled, and the icy, fishy stench grew ever thicker.

When the sound of wind entered Li Yan's ears, it immediately changed.

"Yan'er, where are you?"

"Come out quickly. Come home with me..."

Ancient and sorrowful, it was precisely his grandfather's voice.

A cold smile appeared on Li Yan's lips, but he remained unmoved.

Though he was not one of the Xuan Gate People, he had still figured out certain patterns.

First, this so-called Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier possessed intelligence and was extremely cunning. Yet it was more like a beast, following some primal rule. It lacked the deep calculations of human thought and had its limitations.

Otherwise, how could it have fallen for the same trick two days in a row?

Second, it did not know human secrets. Rather, it could beguile hearts, and it needed to do so through curses.

His grandfather, who had not been cursed that night, had heard nothing at all.

This art of beguiling was aimed directly at the weaknesses in one's heart.

For example, because he worried most about his grandfather, the old man's voice would appear.

Using the heart as a mirror, it slipped in through every crack.

The other thing was that the creature excelled at concealment.

He had searched around the village several times during the day and had not smelled even a trace of it. And when it snuck into the village, it had not alerted the watchdogs.

Only when it was injured would the village dogs notice it.

According to Widow Wang, this thing sought to seize his physical body.

So long as he stayed within the reach of the Land God Temple's incense-offering power and was not beguiled by it, the Cold Altar Rampaging Soldier could only possess someone and force its way in.

Sure enough, things changed.

As the yin wind continued to collide against the boundary, the Land God Temple also began to stir.

The scent of incense offerings nearby grew increasingly rich.

Li Yan felt warmth flowing through his heart. The chill of the curse on his back visibly weakened, and even those mind-bewitching cries vanished with it.

Lord of the Land was really pulling his weight!

Li Yan secretly praised him in his heart.

Whoosh—

Who would have thought that the yin wind would begin slowly retreating?

Judging by its movements, it was actually preparing to leave.

That would not do!

Li Yan inwardly cried out in alarm.

He did not have time to waste indefinitely with this thing. Besides, the plaque protecting his home had already been damaged. If he missed tonight, even his grandfather might be in danger.

At this thought, Li Yan's eyes shifted, and a plan came to him.

Without the slightest hesitation, he ran directly to the boundary of the Land God Temple's incense-offering power.

"Don't rush off. Let's play a little longer."

"Hey, I'm coming out..."

"Hey, I'm going back in..."

"Come on, if you've got the guts, mess with me!"

The naked provocation drove the thing completely mad.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the yin wind surged violently.

Li Yan's heart tightened, and he hastily retreated into the Land God Temple.

But once the gale passed, that distinctive icy, fishy stench had vanished.

Did it really run away?

Just as Li Yan inwardly cursed in frustration, he suddenly felt coldness rise behind him.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

In the distant poplar forest, a flock of birds took startled flight through the night.

Out of the thick fog, an evil wolf with glowing red eyes slowly crawled forth.

Then more than a dozen wolves, large and small, darted out from different directions and surrounded the Land God Temple...