Entering the Temple

"What slip of paper?"

Shen Lang looked puzzled, as though he had completely forgotten what had happened in the illusion.

Seeing that the confusion in Shen Lang's eyes seemed genuine, Ye Qianfan simply said, "Nothing. But if you trust me, enter the temple alone! Whatever you do, don't go in with anyone else. Remember that?"

"Wh..." Shen Lang wanted to ask why, but the seriousness in Ye Qianfan's eyes made him nod instead. "All right, I'll remember!"

"Good. I'll go first, then."

With that, Ye Qianfan pushed the door open and stepped inside without hesitation.

But just as his trailing foot crossed the threshold...

The temple door closed on its own, as though shutting out any prying eyes. It gave no one else a chance to peek inside.

Inside the temple.

Just as Ye Qianfan had expected, the Evil Tree was gone.

Only a solitary dead tree stood in the courtyard. Several burls dotted its branches, looking like human heads—strange and eerie.

Ye Qianfan surveyed his surroundings!

The temple looked almost exactly as it had in the illusion. The only differences were that no corpses hung from the dead tree, and nothing he had done in the illusion had left any traces in reality!

The main hall's doors were open, and Ye Qianfan could see the Evil God's statue seated inside from a distance.

But strangely...

The statue was merely that of a kindly-looking child.

Unlike what he had seen in the illusion, where the Evil God had been not just a statue, but a murderous monster.

Ye Qianfan walked up to the Evil God's statue and knelt on the prayer cushion.

Then...

He closed his eyes and bowed devoutly to the statue three times!

When he opened his eyes again, a small black earthenware Cinerary Urn had appeared before him.

This Cinerary Urn corresponded perfectly to the final clue!

Escort the god back to the Yin Residence!

"He's out! He's coming out!"

When Ye Qianfan opened the temple door again and emerged...

Everyone immediately crowded around him, asking, "Well? Was there anything dangerous inside? What's that in your hands?"

"There's no danger inside." Ye Qianfan shook his head. "This is a Cinerary Urn. You get it after worshipping the god. I suppose we're meant to find somewhere to bury it."

"That's it?"

Everyone was surprised.

Some looked thoughtful, clearly suspicious of how smoothly Ye Qianfan's visit to the temple had gone.

One man recklessly grabbed Ye Qianfan by the collar. "Kid, you're not lying to me, are you? There really isn't any danger inside? And all we have to do is worship the god?"

"You don't have to believe me. I'm not forcing you." Ye Qianfan sneered. "Besides, if you're afraid there's danger inside, why not find a few people to go in with you?"

"Good point!"

After hearing this, Martial Artist shoved Ye Qianfan aside, then fixed his eyes on the Cinerary Urn in his hands.

This time, however, Ye Qianfan made no attempt to resist. Instead, he offered the Cinerary Urn with both hands. "Want it? Here!"

"No! Bad luck!"

Martial Artist refused it and turned to the companions behind him. "Rain City folks, let's go in together!"

"Sure! Safety in numbers!"

"Brother Martial is right. We'll go together so we can help each other if anything happens."

The warriors from Rain City all clamored in agreement. Only one man, wearing a bamboo hat with a sword at his waist, lowered his brim and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "We follow different paths. I won't join you, lest you blame me if something goes wrong."

"At least you know your place." Martial Artist sneered. "You corpse herders are steeped in bad luck from head to toe. It'd be trouble if you offended the god inside! Let's go!"

"Let's go!"

With three companions surrounding him, Martial Artist naturally grew bolder.

Besides, he did not want to show weakness in front of his lackeys.

So...

He swaggered up, pushed the temple door open, and walked inside!

But the instant he and the other three entered the little temple, Ye Qianfan saw yin energy surge skyward from the main hall.

He did not know whether anyone else could see it, but he could guarantee that this ink-dark yin energy...

Had not been there when he entered.

Now it was!

"That corpse herder seems to know about the clue, too."

The Daoist remarked from inside Ye Qianfan.

Ye Qianfan nodded. "Yes. Someone from each city must have received a clue slip. That corpse herder was probably the first from Rain City through the Passage Gate, which is why he wouldn't enter with them!"

"Hah! With Martial Artist's attitude, I wouldn't tell him either." The Daoist continued grumbling. "Is that any way to ask someone a question? Arrogant, overbearing, and rude. He deserves whatever bad luck he gets!"

"Something about this is strange, though."

While waiting outside the temple for them to emerge, Ye Qianfan chatted with the Daoist. "Boss Qian and Shen Lang both clearly saw the clue slip, too. But when I mentioned it to Shen Lang just now, he seemed to have no memory of it whatsoever. What's going on?"

"Illusion-induced memory loss, perhaps?" the Daoist guessed. "Illusions are much like dreams. Some people forget what they dreamed after waking, or remember only a few major events while losing nearly all the details."

"Others remember everything, down to the tiniest detail."

"That's why they might have no recollection of something you told them."

"Is that so?"

Ye Qianfan was not entirely convinced by the Daoist's explanation, but he had no better one for now, so he accepted it provisionally.

Just as the two were about to continue talking, the temple door opened again!

Creeeak!

Ye Qianfan had thought Martial Artist and his group might never return, but instead, they emerged carrying golden pedestal plates.

Their faces were full of joy. "There really wasn't any danger inside! The god even rewarded each of us with a gold plate!"

"It's pure gold." To show off, one of the warriors even bit his plate, then displayed the notch he had made. "See? It's soft. Gold all the way through!"

"We're rich! This gold plate weighs at least four or five taels. That's worth over fifty taels of silver!"

Another warrior counted on his fingers, working out how much money the plate was worth. The more he calculated, the more excited he became. "Doesn't that make this plate worth fifty thousand copper coins? Hahaha! The god in this temple really is a God of Wealth. I'll have to set up a shrine for the god and make offerings every day!"

"Congratulations. Make way."

Looking at the gold plates they had brought out, the corpse herder's eye merely twitched. He offered no explanation.

He simply pushed aside the warriors blocking the door and entered the temple alone. Once he was inside, the door closed again without a breath of wind.

"Idiot!"

Martial Artist cursed. "Go in alone, and you come out with a Cinerary Urn. Go in as a group, and you get several taels of gold. Can't he even do that much arithmetic?"

"Brother Martial, you don't understand. An unlucky man likes unlucky things. He's just a corpse herder. Bad luck is all he'll ever deal with!"

"Hahaha..."

The warriors roared with laughter.

The corpse herder soon emerged, and sure enough, he carried a Cinerary Urn!

Now...

Everyone outside the temple was astonished by the different things the two sides had brought out.

Was it a matter of entering alone or with someone else?

The sight of gold naturally made many people's eyes gleam. After all, who would want to bring out an unlucky Cinerary Urn when they could bring out gold?

So...

Before long, two more people went inside together.

Rich Merchant had wanted to take Shen Lang with him to get gold plates, but Shen Lang refused. "I'm going in alone, Boss Qian. I suggest you do the same."

"But you saw it yourself. Everyone who comes out alone is holding a Cinerary Urn. How unlucky is that?"

As he spoke, Rich Merchant worked the Golden Abacus in his hands!

But after a few moments, his hands abruptly stopped. He raised his head and stared in alarm at Martial Artist's gold plate, then said to Shen Lang, "You... you're right. We should listen to Brother Ye. His divination skills are unrivaled under heaven!"

"What did you calculate?"

Shen Lang was curious.

But Rich Merchant merely shook his head and said nothing.

Soon...

The two who had entered together received gold plates, just like Martial Artist and his companions.

Both beamed with delight. "I thought the real evil entity would be hard to deal with. Who knew it would be so friendly? It's even handing out money. Is it trying to buy worship with cash?"

"Very possible!" The other man nodded earnestly. "I've heard that lesser-known gods try every means to please their followers, then have them spread word of their miracles to gain more worship!"

"A deity without worship will be forgotten, so gods need people to make offerings, too. Perhaps this god wants to use this opportunity..."

After emerging from the temple, the two desperately concocted explanations of their own.

They seemed to be trying to convince everyone else—or perhaps themselves.

Their choice had been right!

"Brother Ye, I'll go in now!"

Taking advantage of the opening after those two emerged, Shen Lang pushed the door open and entered.

Five minutes later.

He, too, came out carrying a black Cinerary Urn.

Now...

Everyone was practically certain that entering alone brought misfortune, while entering with others earned rewards.

With those two men spreading their theory about worshippers, even more people believed it. Quite a few went inside in groups after that, usually pairs or groups of four. Groups of three were less common.

But regardless of their number, as long as they did not enter alone, they always emerged carrying gold plates.

One group of three, however, came out looking rather troubled!

This puzzled everyone.

"Did one of you not get a reward?" someone nearby asked.

All three took their gold plates out of their robes. "We all got one. But did any of you notice that these plates are exactly the same size as the marks in the dust on the Evil God's offering table?"

"What do you mean?"

Those who had received gold plates looked down at the gleaming plates in their hands, puzzled.

They could not understand what the man was trying to say.

"I compared them," the man continued. "The plates the god rewarded us with are exactly the same size as the Offering Plates on the table. If the god really wanted to reward us, why not give us gold, silver, or jewels? Why give us gold plates?"

"What are you getting at?"

One man holding a gold plate looked displeased. "The God of Wealth can give whatever it wants! Right now, it only has Offering Plates to give us. What's wrong with that?"

"The problem is..." Rich Merchant finally could not hold his tongue. "Have you considered that the god inside the temple might be asking you for offerings?"

"Asking for offerings?"

They stared at their empty plates, momentarily stunned. "What offerings?"

"Pah! Fatty, stop spreading your poisonous nonsense." Martial Artist spat at Rich Merchant. "You say this God of Wealth gave us plates to ask for offerings? Then what about those people who brought out Cinerary Urns? Are they supposed to fill them with ashes?"

"The Cinerary Urns are full. There are ashes inside."

Ye Qianfan spoke calmly.

At that, Martial Artist looked momentarily choked:

"So what? What's so special about having ashes?"

"I'm warning you lot. Stop spouting this fucking unlucky nonsense. We're definitely right, and you're wrong!"

"Even if someone has to die, you lot carrying those unlucky Cinerary Urns will die first!"

"Well..."

The few remaining people began to waver.

"Damn it, you started all this!" Humiliated and enraged, Martial Artist snapped, "If you've got the guts, go in alone. Don't drag anyone else along. Let's see whether you want to come out carrying a Cinerary Urn or carrying gold!"

"Why should I listen to you?"

As Rich Merchant retorted, he gave Ye Qianfan and the others a meaningful look.

Ye Qianfan and Shen Lang immediately understood and stepped forward to back him up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Rain City isn't the only place with people here. Fog City has people, too!"

"Boss Qian can go in with as many people as he likes. What business is it of yours?"

"So you don't dare, then?" Martial Artist sneered. "I knew you didn't have the guts! Hah! Aren't you just jealous that we got gold plates? Your two idiot companions from Fog City both went in alone, so now you have no one to accompany you, and you're sour about us!"

"That... isn't it."

Rich Merchant sounded rather sheepish. "I just... simply don't want to listen to you! If you tell me to go in alone, I'll insist on going with someone else. Otherwise, wouldn't I be giving you exactly what you want?"

"Hahaha! Coward! Just admit you don't dare. Why make excuses?"

Martial Artist burst out laughing, his eyes brimming with contempt.

He clearly looked down on a coward like Rich Merchant!

"He already said it's not that he doesn't dare!"

Ye Qianfan stepped forward and added, "Boss Qian just finds it boring! You're asking whether he dares without even putting up a stake. Why should he listen to you?"

Clang!

With that.

Ye Qianfan took out the Bagua Mirror and placed it on the Offering Plate. "I bet Boss Qian dares to go in alone. What are you betting?"

"B-Brother Ye!"

Rich Merchant's expression changed dramatically. He seemed deeply opposed to Ye Qianfan making this decision for him.

Just then...

"Please don't take offense. I'll bury your Cinerary Urn right here."

One of the people who had come out carrying a Cinerary Urn apparently felt that holding it all this time was far too unlucky.

So he simply dug a hole at the foot of the wall outside the temple and lowered the Cinerary Urn into it, saying, "I don't have any incense on hand right now, but I'll definitely burn three sticks for you later, and offer you the three sacrificial animals too! For now, please rest in peace beneath the earth. Please don't take offense, please don't take offense!"

But just as he placed the Cinerary Urn into the pit...

"What's wrong?"

"Why is there quicksand beside the temple?"

Everyone saw the ground suddenly give way beneath the middle-aged man who was about to bury the Cinerary Urn. The soil around him began flowing downward in an eerie fashion, as though there were a huge hole beneath his feet!

But the problem was that the ground beside the temple was solid red earth, not sand at all!

What was going on?

Everyone was shocked, yet not a single person dared step forward to pull him out.

After all, everyone had already guessed that the middle-aged man dressed as a farmer had suddenly begun sinking most likely because he was burying the Cinerary Urn. Could there really be something wrong with this Cinerary Urn?

"Help me! Someone, hurry over and give me a hand!"

The farmer kept reaching out, trying to crawl out of the quicksand.

But the mud and sand beneath his feet were sinking faster and faster. Any moment now, his entire body would be dragged into the earth.