Better Than Nothing

Hearing this, Xu Feng's hand paused. He turned and asked, "Do other people worship the gods the way I do?"

But a moment later, he realized he was being too sensitive.

Worshipping the gods was a folk custom. It was only natural for some of the steps to be similar.

People said customs changed every ten miles, but travel was so easy these days that some things in common were hardly surprising.

He was wound too tight and seeing mysteries everywhere.

The old man hadn't given it nearly as much thought. Squatting beside him, he said, "The villagers observe the proper customs too, but not to this extent.

"Look at the way you hold the incense. It's exactly how the master of yin and yang held it when he came to move the temple."

Xu Feng said, "Move the temple? This Land God Temple used to be somewhere else?"

The old man squatted beside Xu Feng. "Aye, it was moved. The temple used to be over on the other side of the road."

He pointed toward the roadside. Xu Feng glanced back, and the old man went on, "But then a vehicle hit the temple, so the village hired someone to move it here.

"They said the impact even knocked Lord Land God's innards out. The master of yin and yang said the lay of the land had changed, and so had its feng shui.

"So they had to move it."

As the old man spoke, Xu Feng turned back and reverently lit the incense in his hand.

The old man from the shop kept talking behind him. After lighting the three sticks, Xu Feng stared straight ahead.

As Xu Feng had expected, the wisps of smoke drifted slowly into the Land God's shrine. He was watching to see whether they entered the Land God's nostrils when, to his surprise, the smoke reached the shrine but did not enter them!

Within the smoke, the "Land God" smiled!

It was a hideous, hair-raising smile. In that instant, a chill swept over Xu Feng from head to toe. It was even worse than when he had seen the Mask Incense Manual at the Ancient People's Tomb. He nearly sprang off the ground like a released spring.

The old man behind him noticed nothing and kept talking.

But Xu Feng had no heart to speak with him. He hurriedly bundled up what remained on the ground and left, leaving the old man baffled.

This is bad!

Those were the only words in Xu Feng's mind. The reason was simple: no matter the circumstances, an Orthodox God would never give someone such a horrifying feeling.

Majesty was one thing, intimidation another, and something uncanny another still.

The feelings might resemble one another, but they were entirely different!

An Orthodox God—even one of the thunder gods who struck with lightning, or a spirit officer who subdued demons—could inspire fear. It would not seem uncanny!

There was something wrong with this Land God Temple.

Or rather, something was wrong with its statue of the Land God.

Xu Feng did not test it further. He headed straight up the mountain. Strange phenomena in the world were not frightening in themselves, but there could not be ghosts without gods. For a fundamental, local deity like the Land God to have become what he had seen today worried Xu Feng even more than the uncanny things he had encountered.

Back in the small courtyard, Xu Feng took out his tablet and began downloading things he would need later.

After his trip outside, Xu Feng had changed his mind.

He was going back into the game for another look.

Judging by the time it had taken him to enter and leave the game last time, only a few minutes would pass here. If he went in now, he could finish a session well before nightfall—in less time than it took a cup of water to cool.

That gave him a tremendous advantage in timing and information.

He urgently needed knowledge he could use to determine what was happening in his own reality.

He set an alarm for six twenty-five. He did not know whether the precaution would help, but he unlocked the storeroom and saw that the game console was still there.

Back in his room, he connected it to the television and glanced at the books downloading on his tablet. This time, he had chosen books on medicine and anatomy.

In the Corpse Sewer's era, such information had been secret knowledge that was never passed down lightly.

Now it formed an entire body of "secret manuals" that even a layman could read.

Some of their finer details were things even the Corpse Sewer of that time had never known.

When Xu Feng had first started taking on jobs, his master had told him something.

The corpses he encountered in the future would not all be as "tidy" as that one. He would face rotting bodies, bodies in pieces that could scarcely be put back together, and all manner of strange, scattered remains. When that happened, sewing a couple of stitches into the skin would be nowhere near enough.

There was a great deal more for him to learn!

As the saying went, "Outsiders watch the spectacle; insiders see the craft." To truly get started, he would have to master a vast, systematic body of knowledge.

Xu Feng took several deep breaths, steeled himself again and again, and made sure he was ready.

He gritted his teeth, turned on the television, and connected the console.

This time, no one appeared to recite poetry. There was only an incense burner before a full moon.

A stick of incense slipped into the burner and slowly caught fire.

No great wind swept the smoke away, either. Left to rise on its own, it formed cloud-script talismans before Xu Feng's eyes.

[Game cartridge detected]

[Loading game content]

[Game title: Corpse Sewer]

[Difficulty: Inauspicious]

[Available content: Relatively limited]

[Skills transferable: Yes]

[Items transferable: Yes]

[Save file detected]

[Save file one: Location: Luoyin County, Earth God Shrine; time: second quarter of the Mao hour]

[Load game?]

Xu Feng did not touch the controller. This time, the game did not move either.

It seemed to have no intention of dragging him in by force.

Despite his heavy heart, Xu Feng could not help saying, "You're sure I won't run, aren't you? So this time, you're waiting for me to go in willingly?"

The television did not answer. Xu Feng selected yes.

There was no violent tug this time, either.

Xu Feng simply felt warmth spread through his body. His vision went black; then he rose, before descending again.

Warm white light surrounded him.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside the Earth God Shrine, at the entrance to the main hall!

To exit safely, it turned out, he had to finish a section of the game, find an Orthodox God's shrine, and save and quit before it.

Unlike other games, he could not simply force-quit this one.

The only way Xu Feng could think of to "force-quit" while inside the game was to cut his own throat and depart this world.

But the game had never explained what happened if he died in it.

Xu Feng had no wish to find out firsthand.

He stood in the courtyard, looking at the pale glow on the horizon.

Dawn was close.

Now that he had changed his mindset, he would face what came next head-on.

Xu Feng took the initiative and checked his rating.

He believed the rating system existed for a reason.

He opened it and saw the ratings listed from top to bottom: Beyond Expectations, Highly Satisfactory, Barely Satisfactory, Disappointing, and Complete Failure.

Last time, he had received "Barely Satisfactory."

Xu Feng called up the "map" again.

The first time he opened it, a vast fog of war appeared before him.

Within it, though, he had already revealed Luoyin County.

The county seat, enclosed by rammed-earth walls, was not large. Its layout was orderly on the map: the poor districts, wealthy households, county offices, and streets were all clearly visible.

Beside the city ran a river familiar to everyone.

The Yellow River.

Xu Feng searched for Third Grandpa Temple next.

He soon found it nearby. Strictly speaking, "Third Grandpa Temple" was Third Grandpa Temple Village.

It lay southwest of the Earth God Shrine.

The map had no scale, so Xu Feng would have to travel there and measure the distance himself.

Just as Xu Feng finished studying the map, several lines of text appeared before his eyes.

Xu Feng was not surprised.

The first act was complete. The game's second act should be next.

He was ready!