Thin Night Continent, People of Deer Wilderness
This is Thin Night Continent, a corner of the vast world.
There are many kinds of "people" living here.
Some people have horns on their heads, and some people have tails on their backs.
Some people have four legs and two wings, and their faces have facial features.
Most of them consider themselves human, but have different tribal names.
For example, these people who worship gods and pray for rain are all branches of the "People of Deer Wilderness".
In Chu Tianshu's view, they were indeed very similar to ordinary people in the real world.
The only difference in appearance is that they have two short horns on their foreheads.
The horns on the child's head have the highest transparency.
With Chu Tianshu's keen eyesight, he could even see the fine blood vessels inside the horn, with blood flowing through them.
The older a person gets, the more cloudy their eyes become.
The horns on the old people's heads looked exactly like two sections of wooden sticks.
But there are different kinds of people, like this clan chief.
The old clan chief appeared to be at least sixty years old, with sparse silver hair on his head and many wrinkles on his sallow face, but he had a straight back and wore a blue cloth robe with the sleeves rolled up to near his elbows, revealing his strong arms.
A black belt was wrapped tightly around his waist, several times.
The two short horns on his forehead were as smooth and warm as jade.
A moment earlier, after Chu Tianshu was recognized as the Divine Child.
A chilling silence fell over the area outside the temple, and everyone's Shangdu was filled with fear.
This old clan chief respectfully stepped forward and invited the divine son to return to the manor as a guest.
A bamboo chair tied to two evergreen bamboo poles became Chu Tianshu's throne.
The strong man carried the green bamboo, doing his best to keep his steps steady.
The old clan chief and the young woman who had been waiting outside the temple followed closely behind.
A large crowd followed behind, whispering amongst themselves.
Chu Tianshu went along with the group, intending to travel with them for a while to find out what was going on.
He had originally planned to be tactful and ask in several installments, but instead he simply asked, "What's the name of this area?"
The old clan chief then recited the place name and the clan name.
That's right, we all speak the same language.
In fact, these people's accents are basically those of the Jianghuai region, only slightly higher in pitch.
Chu Tianshu also listened to the whispers in the crowd and pieced together more information.
In this vast world, Ghost God often take root in deep places, living by instinct and passing through long years, in a state between dream and wakefulness.
But for some unknown reason, there are many beings in the world who have acquired the bloodline of Ghost God, and they reproduce generation after generation. Among these beings with the bloodline of Ghost God, there are occasionally a few who possess the clearest rationality.
Such figures, regardless of how many generations removed they are from the Ghost God, are collectively referred to as divine children.
In the various stories passed down orally in the Thin Night Continent.
"Golden Lamps Shining Overhead" is a phenomenon that most divine children possess.
Only a few divine children possess other unusual signs.
Chu Tianshu didn't notice when he first landed in the temple.
Sitting in the chair the whole way, he carefully sensed his surroundings and discovered that the three flames on his body seemed to originate from the pure essence of his physical body.
Because he cultivated himself into the "Martial Stove God," his physical body and blood became pure to a certain degree.
When faced with the local environment, such unusual phenomena manifested.
Therefore, if Chu Tianshu's physical aura were released here, it would likely be mistaken for divine power.
Even without him releasing his aura, the crowd behind him, upon seeing the three flames that existed only in the story, were already filled with unease.
"He was worshipping a celestial master, so how did a divine child appear?"
"Could he be a friend of that immortal master?"
Does that immortal master even exist? I've never seen him.
"You haven't seen it, but we have, twice in total. I heard the clan chief saw it seven or eight times."
People walked in a disorderly fashion, whispering amongst themselves.
"Yes, yes, I saw it with my own eyes. Above the statue of the Lord Deer, the appearance of that immortal master appeared. He was wearing strange clothes and looked very majestic."
"His head shone with dazzling light, yet he had thick hair on both sides. With a casual wave of his hand, dragons circled around him, and wisps of mist lingered around him."
"With the soil cracking and the drought worsening, the appearance of such a divine master must signify the power to bring rain, right?"
At this point, someone forgot their fear of the divine child and sighed heavily.
"On the 28th, the Lunar New Year, we were supposed to make a big show of it and ask the gods to send rain, but not a single drop has fallen."
Upon hearing these words, Chu Tianshu pictured Yao Qianshu.
This old man Yao's hobby seems to be practicing his Mirage Technique at home.
Most likely by some coincidence, the scene he performed was projected onto the temple.
After several such visits, he was regarded as a deity by the People of Deer Wilderness, who even staged such a grand ceremony to worship and invite the god.
Is that aura that permeates reality formed in this way?
It seems that these People of Deer Wilderness possess some kind of supernatural power.
Chu Tianshu looked at the gatekeeper woman again.
He could now hear the woman's breathing and heartbeat.
This indicates that the person guarding the gate held their breath and even their heartbeat as part of some ritualistic requirement.
And then there's this old clan chief, whose heartbeat is slow and whose steps are unusually fluid. If you only look at his upper body, you'd think he's moving horizontally rather than walking.
Even on rough dirt roads, he walked smoothly, not by choice, but by the result of years of habit.
Chu Tianshu could tell just by looking at his physique.
This person's physical strength must far exceed his own body weight; when needed, a single punch could likely deliver the force of several thousand kilograms.
After walking for a while, a large number of villages came into view.
Deer Wilderness Village in the Thin Night Continent has nearly a thousand households, making it a rare large village with a thriving population.
It's not far from the temple; it's just down a small hill and across a slope.
But the hill was bare, and there was hardly any greenery to be seen along the way.
The land was all dry, hard, and yellow; there was no sun in the sky, and it was unclear where the sunlight came from.
Throughout the village, there are many grand houses, but they all have a yellowish hue.
"The drought is terrible."
Chu Tianshu suddenly spoke up, "Lu Touqiu, when you saw me at the temple, you immediately bowed and knelt, inviting me to be your guest. Why didn't you ask why I was at the temple or where I was going?"
Lu Touqiu was the name the old clan chief himself gave.
"How dare I, a lowly person, inquire about the whereabouts of the divine child?"
Lu Touqiu lowered his head, saying with trepidation, "To be able to see the Divine Child is an immense blessing. My mind is only thinking about inviting the Divine Child to my manor as a guest."
Chu Tianshu laughed and said, "You offer sacrifices to the immortal masters to pray for rain, but you're satisfied with just inviting the divine son as a guest?"
Lu Touqiu's lowered face showed a slight movement in his eyes, but his voice remained respectful.
"Satisfied, satisfied."
Chu Tianshu said softly, "How many times in your life have you seen a divine child?"
Lu Touqiu said, "This is the first time; I've only ever heard of it in stories before."
"It seems that the divine children in the story have really poor character portrayals."
Chu Tianshu laughed, "So much so that since we met, only that one sentence you just said was the truth."
This clan chief was the one who saw the real-world projection the most times, and he was also the one who planned and presided over the sacrificial ceremony.
To figure out how to return to reality, it's inevitable that I'll have to deal with this clan chief.
(End of this chapter)