Special Profession

"Duan Kuan, Zhou Datou, the two of you are responsible for investigating this matter and finding the murderer!"

In front of all the villagers, Zhang Yang solemnly issued the order. Even though he knew the reason behind the matter, he had to maintain the proper attitude.

He then left, and everything in the village continued as usual.

However, given this trend, the Mountain God Temple's incense should be lit very soon. All he needed to do was watch and wait.

After crafting wooden spears for another two days, the rumors of ghosts haunting the village finally spread like wildfire. Many villagers swore that they had seen Yu Dazhuang's ghost roaring and wailing in the middle of the night.

Many other villagers claimed they had witnessed the Mountain God manifesting his divine power. One first-generation resident, an old man in his fifties, even said that he had received a dream from the Mountain God. Apparently, the Mountain God had also passed down to him the art of subduing ghosts.

However, the patrol team had never discovered any of these strange occurrences. Duan Kuan had even stayed in the room where Yu Dazhuang died for two consecutive nights, yet he had never heard or seen any ghostly cries or apparitions.

This left him deeply troubled and full of self-reproach.

Zhang Yang paid him no mind, allowing the haunting incident to continue brewing.

Finally, five more days later, Zhang Yang had crafted a full 220 Imprisonment Spears—enough to give every infantry captain five. At that point, the haunting incident finally reached its climax.

That night, the old man who claimed to have inherited the Mountain God's true teachings through a dream finally used magic to suppress and kill the evil ghost, Yu Dazhuang, before the eyes of his son, daughter-in-law, grandsons, granddaughters, and several villagers.

Thus, the news spread throughout the entire village the next day. Zhang Yang also came to ask about it, "half-believing and half-doubting." The old man repeatedly insisted that it was all thanks to the Mountain God's protection, so Zhang Yang, still "half-believing and half-doubting," issued an order in his capacity as village chief: they were to worship the Mountain God and ask him to protect this land.

The villagers were also half-convinced and half-doubtful, but after being tormented by Yu Dazhuang's ghost for so many days, they would rather believe it existed than risk believing it did not. Naturally, they were all willing to participate in the ceremony to worship the Mountain God.

"Village Chief, give me a little more time. I feel like I'm about to uncover the truth. The murderer is very likely somewhere in our village."

Duan Kuan and Zhou Datou found Zhang Yang at this time. The two of them had truly worked hard these past few days, roaming the entire village every night to capture ghosts. They had nearly done a good deed that turned into a disaster.

With the powerful killing intent they carried, they could completely crush even the Mountain God head-on, let alone a little ghost controlled by him.

"Ahem, Duan Kuan, Datou, this matter may truly involve something supernatural. If the Mountain God really manifests tomorrow, don't interfere anymore. Just be careful while patrolling the village. Those Jackalmen still haven't abandoned their desire to destroy us."

Zhang Yang quickly stopped them. After thinking it over, he was still not reassured, so he simply sent Duan Kuan and Zhou Datou to replace Wu Yuan and continue mining stone. As long as they got through these two days, once the Mountain God Temple had accumulated enough incense, there would be nothing left to worry about.

For the Mountain God worship ceremony the next day, Zhang Yang cooperated fully by giving all the villagers a day off. Naturally, the soldiers could not join in the festivities. Then the Mountain God truly manifested, and after all the commotion, eighty percent of the villagers chose to believe.

That day, the incense before the Mountain God Temple burned vigorously, and everyone rejoiced.

In short, the matter ended perfectly. Zhang Yang had lost a second-generation resident, but he had also gained the village's second special profession.

"Faith has officially been established in the village. Believers: 105. Villager Loyalty +5. Village Prosperity: +50 additional."

"The Mountain God has gained 105 points of faith power and has officially advanced into a special profession: Level 1 Mountain God (View Attributes)."

Name: Undetermined.

Profession: Mountain God.

Level: 1.

Affiliated Faction: Zhang Yang.

Talent: Incense.

Talent: Divinity.

Skill: Summon Wind and Rain Lv. 1.

Skill: Divine Soul Dream Entry Lv. 1.

Skill: Believer Possession Lv. 1.

Skill: Beast Telepathy Lv. 1.

Skill: Control Underworld Ghosts Lv. 1.

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Current Villager Loyalty: 59.

Current Village Prosperity: 115.

Current Village Livability Index: 11.5.

Zhang Yang was quite satisfied with this result because this special profession was extremely important. Of course, he was not referring to its pure combat power. After all, even ten Mountain Gods combined might not be a match for a single captain-level soldier.

The significance of the Mountain God's existence lay in faith.

It could maintain a certain degree of awe among the villagers, give them some hope for the future, and allow customary moral standards, standards of good and evil, and so on to develop from that foundation of faith. All of this would greatly benefit the village's future development.

Put simply, it gathered people's hearts. Otherwise, once the people's hearts scattered, the team would be impossible to lead.

As for the Mountain God's skills, they were actually all rather useless, including Summon Wind and Rain. Unless it could be raised to a very high level in one go, the wind and rain it summoned probably could not even blow away a leaf.

Moreover, the Mountain God could not truly subdue evil ghosts. That required the Ghost Priest.

"Now, the village's hearts can be stabilized through faith in the Mountain God, the enemy's little ghosts can be detected in advance through the Ghost Priest, the soldiers' combat power has been greatly expanded, and the Farmland has entered the right track. Once enough stone has been mined, I'll be able to build a castle. At that point, I should be able to officially begin the Hero's Trial."

Zhang Yang strolled outside the Mountain God Temple as he pondered. His village had already successfully laid its first foundation. Even if the Jackalmen recovered their strength, they probably would not dare attack again. But this was not the time for him to relax and idle away his days, because the greatest bottleneck restricting the village's development was population.

He had to find the natives of this Fantasy World, or perhaps some human deserters who had degenerated into monsters.

Either way, he would have to leave the village, and perhaps even leave the forest.

But if he did that, the village would need a hero to hold down the fort.

"Half a month. If I still can't finish enchanting the Iron Wall Battle Rune within half a month, I can't delay this any longer. I refuse to believe that, with the Imprisonment Spears, I still won't be able to complete a Hero's Trial."

Zhang Yang made his decision, his heart surging with boundless ambition and confidence. This was truly one of the benefits brought by crafting wooden spears day and night these past few days. Although the quality of the Imprisonment Spears had never improved, his Soul Force Field had expanded by ten meters as a result, allowing it to cover a diameter of sixty meters.

In addition, his perception of the Imprisonment Spears had become much sharper, and he could control them with greater ease. By his own estimation, even without any increase in soul strength, he could now activate fifteen Imprisonment Spears consecutively—three more than he had been able to twenty days ago.

"So, crafting a few wooden spears when you've got nothing to do really is good for your physical and mental health!"