The Whole Story

Temple Outbuilding covered roughly half a mu of land. Three stories high, its upturned eaves at all four corners were roofed in glazed tiles. It was a famous place in Ning'an County for meals and tea, and its refreshments could be called one of Ning'an's finest.

Ji Yuan entered Temple Outbuilding alongside Lord City God Song of Ning'an County. Inside, nine out of every ten tables were occupied, and the place was bustling.

The moment they entered, a waiter warmly stepped forward to greet them.

"Welcome, honored guests. There are still private seats on both the second and third floors. The second floor is lively, while the third is quieter. Which floor would you prefer?"

The waiter's eye for people was not poor. Of these two, the elder wore a luxurious black robe and carried himself with dignified grace, his full head of silver hair neat and immaculate. The younger man beside him wore a comparatively plain wide-sleeved green robe, and his hair seemed somewhat disheveled at first glance, yet the more one looked, the more naturally harmonious he appeared.

"Trouble yourself to take us to the third floor. This old man is surnamed Song. Someone has already reserved tea and refreshments for us."

"Oh, oh, oh—you've finally arrived! The shopkeeper has asked me about you three times already today. Please, follow me. The tea and snacks are ready!"

The waiter hastily invited the two upstairs and led the way ahead.

The Old City God and Ji Yuan smiled as well and followed.

On the first floor, everyone was chatting and joking, having a grand time in their conversations. The whole place was exceedingly noisy.

The moment they stepped onto the stairs, the sounds from the second floor became even clearer.

"Now then, those Nine Heroes were each young, handsome, and extraordinary in martial prowess. Barely around twenty, they had already mastered superb martial arts. And there was even that heroine, a woman no less than any man... They tore down the Ning'an County Magistrate's Bounty, made a few preparations, and climbed Niu Kui Mountain. That night, wind and rain tossed the world about..."

"Oh my..."

"How bold!"

"Isn't that so!"

The storyteller's voice on the second floor and the exclamations below rose one after another.

As Ji Yuan and the Old City God followed the waiter from the second floor toward the stairs to the third, they happened to hear the storyteller begin embellishing the tiger-hunting process.

"Hero Du swung his blade at the fierce tiger, and blood flashed forth with a single slash. Hero Lu descended from the heavens with fists and palms both in motion, his stone-splitting palm force striking toward the white tiger's head!"

"Oh!"

"My blood is boiling!"

Hearing this, Ji Yuan, with half his body already on the stairs to the third floor, could not help smiling and shaking his head.

"It seems Mister Ji is interested in this storyteller's tale?"

The Old City God asked with a smile. In truth, some Yin Cha had seen the White Tiger Hide as well. It truly was majestic and extraordinary, but there were no blade wounds upon it. Storytelling was, after all, a folk art, sharing the same marvelous principle by different paths as theater. A little embellishment for the sake of the tale was perfectly normal.

"Heh heh heh, not particularly interested. I merely happened to hear something amusing."

There was no helping it. Those nine young heroes had been so frightened before Lord Lu that they had not dared let out even a fart. The contrast with this story was simply too stark.

The Old City God appeared thoughtful, but did not press the matter.

The three arrived on the third floor together. It was clearly much quieter here, with few people around. They were either sipping tea and conversing in low voices or admiring the scenery outside.

"Come, come, honored guests, this is the place. Bean Paste Cake, Millet Cake, Fragrant Fruit Cake, Rice Ball Porridge, Pickled Vegetable and Fruit, and preserved fruit, along with this Pre-Rain Tea. Please enjoy at your leisure. If you need anything, just call!"

As he spoke, the waiter pointed out each item of tea and refreshments one by one.

"Good, thank you, waiter!"

"Our thanks!"

Ji Yuan and the Old City God offered their thanks almost simultaneously. Then they looked at each other, smiled, and sat across from one another.

As the waiter left, he scratched his head and thought, These two guests were truly polite!

Only after watching the waiter leave did the Old City God turn his head and speak.

"Mister Ji, try the tea and refreshments at this Temple Outbuilding. The flavor is passable."

He had done physical labor early in the morning and then walked such a long way. His stomach had long since been hungry, so Ji Yuan did not stand on ceremony. He picked up a Millet Cake and took a bite.

The flavor was not strong. It was crisp and loose in the mouth, with a fresh fragrance of rice beneath its faint sweetness.

"Delicious! Truly delicious! Lord City God, please have some too!"

"It is good that Mister Ji enjoys it. I am merely the County Town God of a small, remote place, a Clay Sculpted Earth Deity Body whose golden body has only just formed. I have no fleshly body. Mortal food may satisfy a craving, but I cannot eat much of it. If I merely consume its essence, that would be rather wasteful."

No fleshly body? Was the one before him an incarnation?

Ji Yuan could not say anything more, so he could only eat by himself. Fortunately, drinking tea seemed to have no effect on the other party.

After drinking a bowl of Rice Ball Porridge and eating several cakes and pastries, Ji Yuan temporarily stopped. The Old City God also happened to set down his tea cup and turned his gaze back from the scenery outside.

"Mister Ji, this time you have removed a grave danger from the heart of Ning'an County for us..."

The Old City God recalled matters for a moment before continuing.

"Seven years ago, the Earth Dragon Turned Over in Desheng Prefecture, breeding Geomantic Vein Malignancy. That in itself was nothing much. With sunlight shining everywhere, thunder, and yin rain, the malignancy would naturally disperse. But unfortunately, a thread of dense malignancy flowed along an Underground Water Vein..."

The Old City God sighed as he spoke.

"Underground Water Veins are inherently yin in nature, and this malignancy burst forth from a Mass Grave on the western border of this county. Influenced by Death Qi and Malice, it transformed into this Ferocious Entity. As the City God of this county, This Song naturally detected it and personally led the Subordinates of Various Departments to suppress it. Yet I never expected that Ferocious Entity to be so bizarre. Whether it had devoured yin spirits or for some other reason, it had actually developed intelligence..."

As the Old City God narrated at an unhurried pace, Ji Yuan gradually came to understand the whole story.

That Earthly Sha seemed inherently tyrannical. The ghost creature that had already developed intelligence actually pretended to be muddleheaded and deceived the City God. At the crucial moment, it swallowed the Rapid Reporting Department and the Yin-Yang Department Chief Official, then ignited the Earth Malignancy Power and gravely wounded the City God's dharma body.

Fortunately, though the Old City God had suffered a great loss, old ginger was still the hotter. When struck by the Earthly Sha, he decisively expended the Incense and Golden Body Origin and launched a fierce counterattack, heavily injuring the Ferocious Entity's newly born intelligence.

Though that battle allowed the Ferocious Entity to escape, the City God brought forth the City God's Crown and gathered all the dispersed malignancy within it. Following those traces, he found where the Ferocious Entity was hiding again: the water well at Ju'an Pavilion. Rather than risk another confrontation, he used all his strength to lock yin with yin, temporarily sealing it deep beneath the well, awaiting a chance to eradicate it after the City God's injuries had recovered.

The account made Ji Yuan want to break out in a cold sweat. Though the Old City God had not said it outright, Ji Yuan understood that if that savage Evil Entity had escaped back then, Ning'an County would have been in terrible trouble. It might even have snowballed into a far greater disaster.

As for the residents of Ju'an Pavilion, the misfortunes that befell the first two households had simply been their natural fate, not the Ferocious Entity's influence. By the time of the third household's scholar, the Ferocious Entity had perhaps recovered somewhat. It had actually managed to emerge briefly to a spot not far from the Soul-Locking Well and frightened that scholar to death.

Earth deities such as City Gods had their own restrictions. Though they protected a region, they could not interfere too directly with the Mortal Realm.

Thus, from then on, the City God used methods such as dream imparting to spread rumors throughout the county that Ju'an Pavilion was unsafe. Sure enough, this prevented anyone else from moving in. He simply had not expected Ji Yuan to stumble into it.

And this opportunity was rare. The Old City God could wait no longer. He dispatched capable subordinates while personally holding the fort in the temple, ready at any moment to mobilize the incense offerings accumulated by the City God Temple. It could be said that he had thrown everything into the effort. At last, they destroyed that Ferocious Entity, settling a great matter for Ning'an County.