In Its Sights

The townspeople had said they wanted to resume making offerings to the Earth God.

The problem was, when it came time to make the offerings, there was no incense or candles left.

There had originally been people making incense and candles in town, but as the town declined and more people left, there was no one left to produce them.

Even if they wanted to buy incense and candles, they would have to go to Pingshui City.

But they could not get to Pingshui City right now, either.

An Weiyan looked at Uncle Fu, who had come to explain the situation, and felt an even greater headache coming on.

What kind of mess was this?

"Forget it, forget it. The incense offerings these people make are no use to the Earth God anyway."

An Weiyan shook his head and put the matter out of his mind.

The incense offerings could wait.

Once the townspeople's standard of living improved, even if they could not get incense and candles here, he could bring some over from his side.

A day in the town passed very quickly.

By the time the sun set, the people reclaiming land outside had begun returning one after another.

Compared with yesterday, the area of reclaimed land had grown considerably again today.

An Weiyan stood outside the town, looking toward the distant mountain woods.

He still remembered seeing a female ghost on the mountain before, and the Earth God seemed unable to do anything about her.

An Weiyan stared into the distance for a while. A layer of mist seemed to have risen in the distant woods, shrouding the entire forest and keeping anyone from seeing through it.

Just as An Weiyan was about to look away, he suddenly caught something out of the corner of his eye, as though something white had swept past to one side.

In an instant, An Weiyan's hair stood on end, and he peered carefully into the distance.

The next moment, he saw a woman in white mourning clothes floating in the distance, staring at him and smiling.

The woman hovered in midair. Her face had clearly rotted away, yet An Weiyan could still see unmistakably that she was smiling.

"Fuck!"

At the sight, An Weiyan immediately let out a curse.

What the hell? He had already come to town, so why was this thing still following him? Was there no end to it?!

The female ghost in the distance simply stared at An Weiyan, making his skin crawl.

There was nothing he could do. He was facing something inhuman, and An Weiyan had no divine power. How could he possibly deal with such a thing?

The Earth God could not deal with this female ghost right now either, which really was troublesome.

Once the Earth God had absorbed more Power of Incense Offerings, this female ghost would have to be the first thing destroyed.

Otherwise, just thinking about having such a thing watching him was terrifying.

"My lord, what are you looking at?"

Just as An Weiyan was staring at the distant female ghost, feeling a little unnerved-

A burly fellow nearby walked over and cautiously asked him a question.

An Weiyan froze at his words. "You can't see that thing in white over there?"

Wasn't that female ghost right there in front of them? Why did the people nearby seem unable to see her?

The burly fellow paused, looked into the distance, then shook his head.

"There's nothing there?"

Hearing this, An Weiyan immediately felt cursed with bad luck. It seemed that female ghost really had set her sights on him.

He was actually the only one who could see her.

An Weiyan did not dare linger any longer and hurried away with the man.

Back at the county office, An Weiyan brought out several bags of rice and put the rice on to cook. As a delicious aroma drifted from the pot, he had no intention of joining the others for the meal.

The townspeople did not mind either, simply assuming that the county magistrate ate at home.

A day passed.

When An Weiyan returned to the main world, there had been no activity on his phone. Su Qingyun had not sent any reply.

An Weiyan guessed she had not finished making the arrangements yet. Once everything was arranged, Su Qingyun would contact him herself.

After thinking it over, An Weiyan had no intention of rushing her.

He went into the kitchen to cook and opened the front door as he went.

As An Weiyan cooked, he heard the villagers talking.

Previously, An Weiyan had taken the Earth God's spirit tablet, and everyone was discussing who exactly had taken it.

But it had later been put back, so they had not said much more after seeing that. They were still rather puzzled, though, about who had done it.

Hearing this, An Weiyan breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he had brought the Earth God's spirit tablet back out afterward. Otherwise, if the neighbors investigated carefully, they really might have begun to suspect him.

After all, people a little older were unlikely to do something like that.

Although An Weiyan was already well into his twenties, there were only a handful of young people around.

Fortunately, the spirit tablet had been returned, so everything was easy enough to explain.

An Weiyan cooked himself something simple to eat. After finishing, he hurried upstairs, rummaged through his books, and dug out a poetry collection he had bought in elementary school.

The poetry collection he had bought back then was even thread-bound, giving it the complete feel of an old edition.

Having sat among the piles of books for so long, it had already yellowed and even acquired a faint musty smell.

But when An Weiyan saw the poetry collection, delight appeared on his face.

This would be just right to take over and use.

At that thought, An Weiyan was about to go over and try it immediately, but a moment later, he went downstairs again, searched around, and found a candle.

It would soon be dark in the other world, and he would not be able to read.

After finding the candle, An Weiyan also took a box of matches.

The next moment, he arrived in the other world. There was a table nearby that had been cleared, and after lighting the candle, An Weiyan picked up the slightly yellowed book.

Then he opened it and began carefully reading the classical poems inside.

"I have often envied the jade-carved gentleman of this world; Heaven must have granted him a maiden fair as cream. All say her clear song passes between gleaming teeth; the wind rises, snow flies, and the blazing sea turns cool."

An Weiyan recited with great care, and after finishing, he did not look at the translation.

He did not know why, but when An Weiyan read classical poetry now, he felt that translations actually spoiled its beauty.

After An Weiyan finished reciting a poem, he paused and looked around, but sensed no change.

"Strange. Have I not recited enough, or do books from my world have no effect?"

An Weiyan felt no obvious change in himself, leaving him puzzled about what exactly was going on.

After some thought, An Weiyan lowered his head and continued reciting. This time, he read carefully with his head down, no longer thinking about what would happen afterward as he had before.

He wanted to see what effect there would be after he finished an entire book of classical poems.

The candle beside him flickered, casting An Weiyan's shadow onto the wall, where it danced wildly without cease.

This time, as An Weiyan kept reciting, he suddenly felt a peculiar rush that left him so intoxicated he could not pull himself free.

An Weiyan's voice also gradually grew low, as though a slightly different quality had become mingled with it.

When the distant Earth God heard this, the divine light on his spirit tablet flickered faintly. "My lord truly brims with talent..."