Prayers Answered

After checking once more and finding no oversights,

Ling Qing leaned against the large tree at the village entrance, using the Heart of Nature to restore his own primal energy.

At the same time, he began a cycle of chanting, starting with the Incantation of Mind Purification, then the Incantation of Mouth Purification, the Incantation of Body Purification, the Incantation of Heaven and Earth Purification, and finally the Golden Light Mantra.

The Incantations of Mind, Mouth, and Body Purification stacked beneficial effects on himself, while the Golden Light Mantra increased his defense.

The Incantation of Heaven and Earth Purification, meanwhile, could establish a sphere of influence favorable to him, giving him the advantage of fighting on home ground.

As the sun slanted westward, he saw many yellow-and-black shapes darting past in the grass and shrubs.

The Tiger Demon had indeed brought the pack.

The beasts prowled around nearby without a sound, but they often deliberately showed themselves before disappearing again in an instant.

Ling Qing glanced at the shrine once more. It was still just as it had been at noon, utterly still apart from the occasional flash of eerie light.

For the moment, he could only steady his mind, stretch his body, and focus on chanting.

After reciting the Incantation of Mind Purification dozens of times, he still couldn't reach a state of perfectly still water, with not a single thought arising. But these little tricks could no longer shake his composure.

After his last battle with the zombies, more than a month of immersion in nature, and his practice of the Incantation of Mind Purification, he was no longer the ordinary man who used to be frightened even by horror movies.

"Roar~~~"

When the last ray of sunlight sank behind the western mountain, a muffled growl rang out.

The thunderous roar shook a layer of dust from the ground around him. The leaves of the large tree behind Ling Qing rustled incessantly.

As the roar grew louder, Ling Qing's once-calm mind began to tremble like a lake into which a massive stone had plunged.

The faint golden light around his body also began to scatter.

Just as Ling Qing was about to lose his footing, the roar eased, then gradually stopped.

Yet in his ears, he could still feel a faint, muffled growl echoing nearby.

At the same time, a thought kept devouring his scattered thoughts, growing larger and larger.

Before Ling Qing could calm that thought, a gigantic tiger appeared before him, three meters tall at the shoulder and nearly ten meters long.

The tiger was not only enormous, but also savagely fierce.

Its yellow-and-black striped face looked like a demon's mask, terrifying to behold and chilling to the heart.

Its emerald-green eyes were crystalline and unfathomable, like a bottomless icy pool, or pearls shining in the dead of night, spilling out streaks of ghastly green light.

At the same time, the thought swelling in Ling Qing's mind abruptly changed, becoming a tiger's head that let out a soul-shaking roar within him.

"Roar~~"

He jolted, finally realizing that he had fallen for the Tiger Demon's trick.

A flicker of regret crossed his mind.

I was too careless. I never expected this Tiger Demon to have such a trick.

And this pack of tigers is much larger than the one I turned into.

Behind the Tiger Demon, more than a dozen tigers trailed along. Though they were not as ferocious or as large as the demon, they stood nearly two meters at the shoulder and stretched over five meters long—almost twice the size of the largest Siberian tigers in modern times.

No wonder the Land God had dug such a huge pit when he made the trap. Ling Qing had thought he was just trying to spare him some work.

He hadn't realized this was the normal size for a pit trap.

"Could these vicious tigers have all crossed into the supernatural too?

"How are we supposed to fight them now?"

Feeling the waves of malice emanating from the pack, enough to make his hair stand on end, Ling Qing didn't think he could soothe them with Wild Empathy.

Besides, their savage movements and the way they looked at him as though he were food—with a hint of relish—told him that these tigers had grown used to eating people.

"Sir, don't be afraid. This old man is here."

Just as Ling Qing tensed his mind and struggled against the Tiger Demon's malicious thoughts, a gentle voice sounded beside him.

"Land God!" He turned and saw that it was indeed the Land God, who had been gone all day. He couldn't help asking, "Did it work?"

"It did." The Land God smiled faintly. "Please step back for now, calm your mind, and drive the Tiger Demon's malice from your heart."

"Understood." Ling Qing didn't try to act tough. He stepped back.

After calming his mind a little, he chanted the Incantation of Mind Purification while opening his mind to feel the natural energies around him.

Of course, as he opened his mind, the ferocious auras of the Tiger Demon and its pack flooded into his heart as well.

Fortunately, the Land God blocked most of their aura in front of him, and the Incantation of Heaven and Earth Purification he had been chanting for so long had already turned the area around him into a domain of his own energy.

After being weakened twice over, the tigers' malicious thoughts could no longer affect him much.

The Incantation of Mind Purification's power steadily suppressed the Tiger Demon's malice in his heart, and his mind gradually calmed. As he weathered the constant wash of those malicious thoughts, he began to grow accustomed to them.

When Ling Qing opened his eyes, he saw the Tiger Demon pacing outside the pit, apparently wary of the Land God's power.

The pack behind it saw that their king was not acting and prowled around restlessly, not daring to misbehave.

Ling Qing drew out the three sticks of incense he had prepared. He rubbed their tips between his thumb and forefinger, and sparks flared as three wisps of blue smoke curled upward.

"Yuanshi, pacify this place; announce your decree to all spirits.

"True officials of the mountains and rivers, Land God, pray for divine aid.

"May the spirits of the left and right remain undisturbed.

"May we turn toward the righteous path, and keep all within and without pure and clear.

"May each spirit remain in its proper place, guarding this altar.

"The Most High has issued his command: search out and capture wicked spirits.

"May the Dharma-protecting Kings guard those who recite the scriptures.

"May we take refuge in the Great Way, in its beginning, flourishing, benefit, and steadfastness."

Ling Qing raised the incense to eyebrow level, gathered the power of his mind and primal energy, and chanted aloud.

When he had finished, he bowed three times and planted the three sticks of incense in front of the shrine.

At once, the curling blue smoke stirred without any wind and wound its way toward the Land God.

The Incantation of Land God Pacification was originally used when setting up an altar and performing rituals to summon the Land God and Mountain God, so they could report to Heaven on behalf of mortals and protect the righteous path.

But ordinary Land Gods hardly had the power to go to Heaven, and besides, the Heavenly Court wasn't somewhere one could simply go whenever one pleased.

The Incantation of Land God Pacification was meant to lend the Land God a helping hand and, incidentally, give him a reason to ascend to Heaven.

But this was an emergency. There was no time for the Land God to ascend and report the matter to Heaven. Besides, even if Ling Qing chanted until his throat gave out, his half-baked skills wouldn't have that kind of effect.

He used the incantation—and offered the incense he had prayed over for more than half a month—primarily to lend the Land God a measure of support.

Where there was a prayer, there was a response; where there was a request, there would be an answer; where there was an answer, there would be fulfillment.

Otherwise, if the Land God accepted the incense but failed to get the job done, he would surely suffer a backlash from the incense offerings.

Of course, the supplicant's request had to be reasonable.

Delusional nonsense naturally didn't count.

What Ling Qing prayed for was the destruction of this pack of vicious tigers that preyed on people and wrought havoc.

The Land God couldn't report the request to Heaven, but as long as he could draw upon the power of Heaven and Earth to subdue the Tiger Demon, it would count as carrying out Heaven's will: a prayer answered, and an answer fulfilled.

That way, the Land God would not only receive a temporary boost, but also enjoy the incense Ling Qing offered him afterward.