An Unexpected Turn of Events

Of the four skills he had obtained this time, Expel Evil and Dispel Filth was, like Heal Wounds and Cure Illness, a support skill, though it had a different focus.

As its name suggested, Expel Evil and Dispel Filth was a skill for purging evil influences from people. If someone was possessed or had attracted something unclean, Yin Yunze could use the divine technique to drive all that evil and unclean Qi out of their body.

If he followed it up with Heal Wounds and Cure Illness to mend the body ravaged by the unclean Qi, he could even bring someone straight back to life.

He had to admit, the timing of these two skills couldn't have been better.

Half a month earlier, when Yin Yunze could still gain believers by delivering water and selling grain, the two skills would have been no more than flowers added to brocade.

But now Yin Yunze could no longer operate as he had before. These two support skills, useful in everyday life, had arrived at a time when they were even more effective than some offensive skills.

Though Yin Yunze had complained more than once that the people of Clear Creek Village feared power but felt no gratitude for kindness, if he relied on intimidation alone, he would reap only fear, not faith.

Most of the time, he still had to do good deeds for people to remember his kindness.

And in a whole village, someone was bound to come down with minor ailments like headaches or fevers every few days.

From ancient times to the present, seeing a doctor had always been expensive.

Now, Yin Yunze could take over a doctor's duties entirely.

Once word got out that the fox immortal could cure illnesses, Yin Yunze wouldn't have to worry about anyone forgetting him.

As for evil beings, he had heard that none had appeared in the village for more than half a year.

The only one in the village now was Yin Yunze himself, the great evil being of a fox immortal.

In any case, Yin Yunze could finally draw in faith through his own existing abilities rather than deception.

Compared with bringing supplies over from the real world, simply taking Incense of Faith from the people and using it on divine techniques for their benefit was easier and less troublesome, and it better suited Yin Yunze's status as a fox immortal. Most importantly, it was a sustainable way to move forward.

The years of disaster would eventually pass, and the river would one day flow again.

When that time came, even if Yin Yunze stopped being a merchant, he would still have the option of curing illness and expelling evil, a role better suited to a fox immortal.

As he quietly adjusted his plans for the future, Yin Yunze noticed that Sun Qin still hadn't woken up after all this time, so he promptly tossed another Heal Wounds and Cure Illness onto her.

Although Heal Wounds and Cure Illness consumed a fair amount of incense-one use cost a full day's Incense of Faith from five shallow believers-

Yin Yunze had just upgraded for the second time and had more than half the village as believers. He was well off enough that he naturally didn't mind spending that much once or twice.

After the second Heal Wounds and Cure Illness landed, Sun Qin reacted. She blinked and finally woke up.

After waking, Sun Qin licked her parched lips and said instinctively, "I'm so thirsty..."

Yin Yunze wasn't so eager to wait on Sun Qin that he would grant her wish. Seeing her awake, he asked, "Sun Qin, how do you feel?"

"Ah!" Sun Qin was clearly startled by Yin Yunze's voice, and the fright snapped her fully awake.

After crying out, Sun Qin realized it was Yin Yunze and hurriedly said, "Lord Yi Yun? Why are you here? Have you come to collect the gold?"

"You were ill, so I came to treat you." Gold was important, of course, but after that brief explanation, it wasn't what concerned Yin Yunze most right now.

Looking at Sun Qin, Yin Yunze asked again, "How do you feel now? Is there anywhere you're still uncomfortable? Tell me how you feel!"

Though Sun Qin seemed fine on the surface, many things still depended on how the person herself felt.

They wouldn't know whether she was better until they heard it from the patient herself.

"Was I ill?" Sun Qin looked puzzled for a moment, then moved her arms and legs. "Ah, right! I think I was ill. The night before last, I was helping... cough, cough... it should have been yesterday morning, I felt a little dizzy... But Lord Yi Yun, you can actually treat illnesses too?"

"I can even summon clouds and rain. How could a mere little illness stump me?" Hearing Sun Qin's question, Yin Yunze hurriedly explained, "Besides, you never came to me for treatment before. Was I supposed to go around telling everyone?"

As someone who had helped him, Sun Qin knew from what she had learned that there was probably some trick to Yin Yunze's summoning of clouds and rain.

But as a devout believer, Sun Qin didn't look too deeply into the truth of it. After all, the rain really had fallen, hadn't it?

And at least in front of Sun Qin, Yin Yunze had always done what he said he would, so she didn't doubt the truth of his words.

Even so, a trace of gloom came into Sun Qin's eyes.

It suddenly occurred to her that if Yin Yunze could treat illnesses, why hadn't he offered to treat her after she was struck with that cane?

After thinking it over, Sun Qin could only conclude that Yin Yunze had deliberately made her suffer for a few days because of her disrespect at the time.

What a petty fox immortal!

After grumbling to herself, Sun Qin climbed out of bed and found a cup of water to wet her throat. Then she returned to the bed, bent down, and crawled underneath it, dragging out a small box.

After opening the box, Sun Qin pointed to the gleaming gold inside. "Lord Yi Yun, there are sixty-three households in Clear Creek Village, and a total of one hundred and twenty-six taels of gold. It's all here. Please count it!"

"I can trust you to handle things!"

Although Yin Yunze already had a considerable stockpile of gold, these hundred-odd taels still dazzled him.

Dropping any pretense of dignity, Yin Yunze eagerly took the gold into the real world.

Seeing Yin Yunze take the gold away, Sun Qin felt relieved.

If she hadn't happened to be too ill to care, she would never have slept well with such a huge sum beneath her.

Once she relaxed, Sun Qin felt a fierce hunger rising in her belly.

And, at a most inopportune moment, it made a noise.

Back when she couldn't even get enough to eat, it would have been nothing. But now, Sun Qin was at least a person of some standing in the village.

Making a spectacle of herself in front of her own god left Sun Qin red-faced with embarrassment, and she couldn't help trying to cover for herself. "Oh, I've slept for a whole day. I wonder how Wan'er has spent the day... Wait, where's Wan'er?! Where did she go?!"

Mentioning Zhao Wan in passing, Sun Qin immediately realized something was wrong.

On an ordinary day, it would have been nothing. She was a child, after all, and it was normal for her to run off and play.

But her mother was ill. Given how well-behaved Zhao Wan was, how could she still have run off to play?

"Don't worry. Wan'er went to find me for you. She's the reason I learned you were ill. She should be on her way home now..."

Though Yin Yunze spoke to reassure Sun Qin, he too noticed something amiss.

It was a bit of a walk from the fox immortal temple to Sun Qin's house, and it was only natural for Zhao Wan, as a child, to walk more slowly.

But even at her slowest, she should have arrived in ten minutes at most. Half an hour had passed now.

After so long, Zhao Wan should have been home by now, unless she'd wandered off.

But clearly, Zhao Wan couldn't have been so heedless as to wander off at a time like this.

At that thought, Yin Yunze turned his attention to the radar map.

One look left Yin Yunze stunned: the largest believer's light dot, the one belonging to Zhao Wan, had moved to the very edge of the radar map.

Why did Wan'er go outside the village?

The thought arose instinctively, but Yin Yunze immediately realized something was wrong.

Given Zhao Wan's character, how could she fail to go home and run outside the village instead when her mother was ill?

Something was clearly very wrong.

But during that brief delay, Yin Yunze watched helplessly as Zhao Wan's believer dot left Clear Creek Village.

That also meant Zhao Wan had gone beyond the range of Yin Yunze's radar map, and he could no longer find her.

Fuck! Something's happened!

A bad feeling rose in his heart, but Yin Yunze was at a loss as to what to do.

Just as Yin Yunze hesitated over whether to tell Sun Qin the terrible news, he happened to see a purple-and-white thread of spiritual essence passing before his eyes.

Though Zhao Wan had left the radar map's range, the thread of spiritual essence produced by the Spirit Descent ritual that had been abandoned halfway earlier seemed unaffected by distance.

Without stopping to inform Sun Qin, Yin Yunze made a snap decision to continue the Spirit Descent ritual he had interrupted earlier.