Who Says Orthodox Gods Can't Possess People?

Chapter 45: Who Says an Orthodox God Can't Possess Someone?

The reincarnators only spent a few seconds exchanging information.

However, the scene of Si Ming proposing a strategy, asking for the little girl's surname, and deducing her name was witnessed by all the survivors.

They might not understand who these reincarnators were, what they wanted to do, or what their ultimate goal was. But they could easily see that the reincarnators were about to leave.

The people who had the ability to save them, and who had already saved their lives once, were on the verge of departing.

Confused voices rose up once again as a result.

And in order to settle this group of innocent civilians caught in the disaster and successfully make their escape, the reincarnators ended up spending a not-so-brief amount of time.

Si Ming confirmed one thing—that the current five members of his Celestial Team, himself included, were all surprisingly inclined toward the Lawful Good alignment. Even including that Miss Yu Zhiwei, who seemed mentally unstable no matter how you looked at her, everyone still had a shred or two of conscience left in their chests that they hadn't managed to discard.

Valentina could be written off; she was clearly the type of good kid who volunteered on the streets after work. Jacob was the kind of good neighbor in the community who everyone knew was capable, but whom no one would bother unless it was a major crisis. As for Song Tian, he was likely the type who was usually silent and reserved, but would always step up to turn the tide in a moment of danger, only to leave silently with nothing but a retreating silhouette.

He actually had a bit of common ground with them.

However, Yu Zhiwei... when the crowd swarmed them, babbling requests for blessings, protection, or asking them to take care of their children, or simply wailing hysterically, Si Ming had even expected her to lose her patience and unleash a telekinetic blast right then and there.

Yet she didn't—not only did she refrain, but she also joined Valentina in soothing these terrified people with gentle words. She worked alongside Si Ming to help them re-establish a basic sense of social order. She maintained a calm and approachable smile throughout the entire ordeal, to the point where Si Ming began to doubt the stability of her mental state.

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine. This thing can't contaminate me, ah... correction, it doesn't actually seem to exhibit any forced contamination capabilities."

That was what Yu Zhiwei had said at the time. As she spoke, she used a high-potency medical spray she carried, mixing it with some useless handmade talismans to treat a few people who had been injured in the earlier chaos. With her gentle smile, serene temperament, and the pale-toned dress she had worn upon arrival, she looked just like a clean, innocent little white flower.

Women really know how to act.

The prettier the woman, the better she acts.

When the sun finally crossed the zenith and began to slant westward toward the horizon, the reincarnators finally brought Ms. Chen and Little Miss Guan to the Guanyin Temple near the outskirts of the city. The people here had returned to normal after the Great Black Buddha Mother retreated, only to flee in terror shortly after. This provided the reincarnators with a secluded piece of land.

"Good spot." Si Ming jumped to a high vantage point to survey the surrounding area. He quickly identified several suitable firing positions, and the convenient transportation routes around the temple were more than enough to handle attacks coming from all directions.

He glanced at Jacob.

"I'm guessing tonight is going to be very lively here—and I also suspect the summoning ritual will take longer than just tonight."

Jacob shrugged.

"The longer the preparation, the better the effect. Rituals generally follow this rule. And according to my calculations, if we finish the summoning ritual before dawn tomorrow, even if we do manage to call upon the divine power of this 'God of Salvation,' its efficacy probably won't be much better than if we just went all-out and tore that cave apart right now."

Si Ming curled the corner of his mouth slightly.

"Looks like we have a tower defense game to play... hm, is it possible to cast another Hallowed Ground Technique on this land? Or does this place already possess such properties?"

"The latter, but not entirely." Jacob walked into the main temple with the two locals, checking the various key nodes for the ritual. "I cannot cast another deity's Hallowed Ground within the temple of an Orthodox God; that would directly destroy the operational premise of the summoning ritual. This temple does possess some protective power, but it isn't very strong. Even if I were to activate it, it would at most be effective inside the temple, and it wouldn't be very effective against true evil cultists."

True evil cultists—those whose bodies were covered in sacrificial scriptures. And at night, they might be somewhat different from their daytime state.

"I understand." Si Ming nodded. "Then, if we set up outside the temple, will it affect the interior?"

"I can't conjure a ring-shaped Hallowed Ground." Jacob smiled and beckoned to the little girl surnamed Guan. Little Shiyin obediently left Ms. Chen's side and came to Jacob, who then used a drop of specially prepared ritual cinnabar to mark the center of the girl's forehead.

A certain spiritual connection was immediately established within the main hall of the temple. The Guanyin Statue seated in the hall quietly dimmed, while a faint halo began to radiate from the little girl's body.

"Just don't bring anything inside the temple." He cut the communication.

Looking down, the little girl was watching him obediently. Her eyes, which hadn't been very lively before, seemed to be tinged with a strange light at this moment.

"Uncle, what does Dandan need to do?"

"You don't need to do anything." Jacob replied, and a soft prayer cushion suddenly slid in front of the little girl.

He pressed the little girl down, signaling her to sit.

"Just sit here, and try not to move or think about anything as much as possible. It doesn't matter if you fall asleep, but unless you are in unbearable pain, don't speak... can you do that?"

"You should have asked if she's had breakfast or needs to use the bathroom first." Yu Zhiwei's voice suddenly rang out; she appeared outside the door of the main hall, clutching her scepter. "Those things are more important."

"I am a professional." Jacob glanced at her and extended his hand, pulling out a large quantity of red candles, incense, talismans, and various other implements. They hovered in the air, suspended by telekinesis, before slowly and calmly landing in the order required by the ritual.

"You know how to do this too?" This was sent via private communication.

"A little." Yu Zhiwei revealed a faint smile. "But not much, and I can't be your deputy."

Jacob was slightly taken aback.

Then he chuckled.

"Then you can go help the Professor."

"It's not time yet." Yu Zhiwei, who called herself a traveler, shook her head. "When he needs a deputy, I'll consider it. But for now, it's better if I stay here as the final line of defense to ensure the ritual functions properly."

Jacob did not object, nor was there any need to.

He nodded slightly toward Ms. Chen, who had been standing cautiously in the corner, and said, "Can you bring me the Lotus Sutra enshrined in this temple? I need the earliest original copy. If there isn't an original, please bring me the one that is used the most."

"Yes, yes!" Ms. Chen nodded hurriedly and turned toward the inner hall. "I'll go get it right now!"

She walked away quickly.

Yu Zhiwei tilted her head slightly and followed her without any attempt to hide it—horror movies always went wrong when retrieving key items; it was best to take some precautions.

The ground began to tremble gently.

After surveying the surrounding terrain, Si Ming ultimately decided to make some minor adjustments to the area, creating an artificial defensive position. Considering that the vicinity of the temple was ill-suited for necromancy, he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands and prepare something else.

Rock Giants were summoned.

Using nearby buildings, earth, cement flooring, and reinforced concrete as materials, four Rock Giants, each over ten meters tall, rose up from the four cardinal directions of the temple. Their emergence caused the ground nearby to shake, and they immediately began to move, following Si Ming's will to dig massive trenches and pile the excavated stone and soil into bunkers behind them.

There is indeed one advantage to being a Summoning-type Necromancer: starting from the intermediate stage, one can awaken non-undead constructs. This way, they are neither countered by holy-type powers nor do they interfere with sacred rituals, and it also saves Si Ming the extra workload of having to apply a concealing shell to his undead summons under normal circumstances.

And...

He stood on the shoulder of the fifth Rock Giant as it paced around the outer trench, pouring high-concentration holy water he had prepared in advance onto the ground below. The earth was quickly soaked; this was the first step of the process.

If spells could not create a Sanctuary, then he would have to use physical materials to build one. The efficacy of holy water and talismans had already been proven, and if he were unable to summon anything other than the undead, this upcoming task would certainly have been far more exhausting than it was now.

"...I'm sorry." A voice suddenly rang out beside Si Ming.

It was Valentina's voice.

She emerged from her holographic camouflage, a hint of worry etched between her brows.

"I have never heard of anyone needing to apologize for their own merits." Si Ming continued pouring his holy water. "You did the right thing, saving an innocent little girl. Or do you think that if we hadn't acted, that name alone would have been enough to deal an irreversible, definitive blow to our target?"

She did not answer.

She remained silent, contemplating for a few seconds—a stark contrast to the recklessness she displayed when she took action.

"I..." she said softly.

"I imagined what would have happened if we hadn't intervened there..."