Another Anomaly

Although he had learned a great deal the moment he stepped into Clear Creek Village, it had not changed Yin Yunze's destination.

This time, however, Yin Yunze had no intention of running there on Zhao Wan's short little legs.

Somewhat awkwardly connecting with Earth Vein Power, Yin Yunze extended his foot and lightly tapped the ground with his toes. The next moment, he felt as though he were standing on water, sinking into the soil.

Protected by Earth Vein Power, however, Yin Yunze did not feel suffocated, and the soil did not even block his view.

Looking up, Yin Yunze could clearly see what was happening aboveground.

The view was a little like using an underground cheat in certain games.

And whenever Yin Yunze wished, he could dive deeper or rise straight to the surface.

He had to admit, if Yin Yunze had not been mindful of his image, he would have been unable to resist shouting, "Holy shit!"

"Waaah, that's amazing!"

Unlike Yin Yunze, who still had to maintain his dignity, Zhao Wan shouted and cried out without restraint.

Yin Yunze did not find Zhao Wan's exclamations noisy, though. Instead, he smiled and said, "There's something even more amazing!"

With a thought, Yin Yunze shot through the ground beneath Clear Creek Village like an arrow loosed from a bow.

"Waaah! So fast!"

Yin Yunze's little test drew another round of cheers from Zhao Wan.

Accompanied by Zhao Wan's cheers, Yin Yunze soon arrived at Sun Qin's house. He had been there several times before, but this was his first visit in such a form.

Emerging from underground, Yin Yunze instinctively glanced down and found that not a speck of dirt had stuck to him.

Looking up, Yin Yunze saw wisps of cooking smoke rising from the chimney of Sun Qin's house.

After standing at the door and thinking for a moment, Yin Yunze decided not to knock. He pushed the door open and went inside, where he saw Sun Qin sitting in front of the stove, tending the fire.

Sun Qin was dressed in old farm clothes, giving her a rustic air that Yin Yunze had not seen in a long time.

"Wan'er, you're back. Where did you go? Why are you back so late?" Perhaps because of what Yin Yunze had said earlier, Sun Qin knew nothing of the tragedy that had nearly befallen Zhao Wan and spoke as she usually did. "Go wash your hands. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Hearing Sun Qin call to him, Yin Yunze stood where he was, somewhat hesitant.

Should he tell Sun Qin everything outright, or return the body to Zhao Wan first?

"You... you're not Wan'er!" That brief delay, however, allowed Sun Qin to notice something was wrong.

Seeing that the look in "Zhao Wan's" eyes was not as affectionate as usual, Sun Qin immediately cried, "Who are you?! Where's my Wan'er?! I'm warning you! You'd better get out of Wan'er's body! Otherwise, I won't let Lord Yi Yun spare you!"

"Mother, it's me! And this is Lord Yi Yun!"

Seeing Sun Qin like this, Zhao Wan could not help calling out in her mind.

But at that moment, only Yin Yunze could hear Zhao Wan's words.

Seeing Sun Qin like this, Yin Yunze explained, "Sun Qin, I am Green Hill Yi Yun!"

To convince Sun Qin, Yin Yunze conjured an illusion of a nine-tailed white fox behind him.

After instinctively using the power of incense offerings, Yin Yunze could not help feeling he had taken a loss. Out of habit, he had forgotten that he could now use Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to cast these spells.

"...Lord Yi Yun?" Sun Qin was stunned. Although she felt somewhat reassured, she still asked uneasily, "How did you come to possess Wan'er's body?"

"This is what happened. I just discovered that Zhao Cheng had abducted Wan'er, and with no other choice, I could only use Spirit Descent..."

After selectively recounting what had just happened, Yin Yunze said, "So, to be safe, I used Zhao Wan's body to return here!"

"That bastard Zhao Cheng!" When Sun Qin heard the story and realized she had nearly lost Zhao Wan, she flew into a rage and cursed, "I want him dead! I'll make sure he dies a miserable death! And that old hag and her son! Those two bastards! I won't let them off either!"

"Sun Qin, calm down! Wan'er can see you too."

Mindful of Zhao Wan's feelings, Yin Yunze did not say outright that he had burned the three of them to death in the end. But he did not want to explain anything either. After all, if Sun Qin really meant to act on those thoughts, she would soon find the three charred corpses.

Without dwelling on the three dead people, Yin Yunze continued, "After possessing Wan'er this time, I discovered something. It is very likely related to the drought here. Because I've been punished, my true body is temporarily trapped within the bounds of Clear Creek Village. So I need to borrow Wan'er's body to go take a look."

That explanation was naturally not airtight.

However, after becoming a Land God and discovering that he had no temple at all, Yin Yunze no longer needed to be as cautious as before.

What he had originally feared most—that his temple might be destroyed and his divinity stripped away-had now become a joke.

What a joke. Yin Yunze did not have a temple or an idol in the first place!

If someone smashed Fox Seventh Aunt's fox immortal temple, what the hell did that have to do with him, Green Hill Yi Yun, the Nine-Tail of Qingqiu Fox?!

"Lord Yi Yun, can this Spirit Descent Technique only be used on Wan'er?!"

On hearing Yin Yunze's request, Sun Qin's first instinct was naturally to refuse.

It was not that Sun Qin lacked devotion to Yin Yunze, but before being his believer, she was a mother.

As a mother, Sun Qin certainly did not want her ten-year-old daughter to take such a risk.

A being that could make a nine-tailed fox immortal act with caution and cause a drought across an entire region was no minor figure, however one looked at it.

If Zhao Wan became involved, she might well suffer like a mortal caught in a fight between immortals.

Thus, Sun Qin instinctively sought to divert the trouble elsewhere.

"The Spirit Descent Technique is naturally not limited to Wan'er, but besides her, only one other person in this village qualifies!"

Yin Yunze was naturally lying to Sun Qin.

Sun Qin and Zhao Wan were not the only people in the village who met the requirements for Spirit Descent.

After the rain that night, a dozen or so villagers had reached the level of devout believers.

If all he wanted was to perform Spirit Descent, the dozen or so others could theoretically serve as vessels too.

However, there were differences even among devout believers.

The others had only just crossed the threshold at best. Although Sun Qin and Zhao Wan were still a long way from becoming fanatics, they were far more devout than the others.

The Spirit Descent Technique was a spell in which the more devout the believer's faith, the more power a god could send down.

Although Yin Yunze was in a somewhat unusual state now, he naturally wanted to choose someone through whom he could exert more combat power, just to be safe.

When facing a formidable being capable of causing a prolonged drought across an entire region, even scouting out the situation carried a certain risk.

After possessing Zhao Wan, Yin Yunze had even lost his awareness of the real world.

Heaven only knew whether, in this state, Yin Yunze could still return to the real world if something happened to him.

So Yin Yunze naturally would not choose any of those who had only just become devout believers.

When Yin Yunze looked at her through Zhao Wan's eyes, Sun Qin understood who the other person he had mentioned was. She also understood why he had revealed the key to the Spirit Descent Technique while recounting what had happened.

Once she realized this, Sun Qin felt relieved instead.

As a mother, Sun Qin would rather take the risk herself.

As a devout believer, Sun Qin could not refuse her god's entirely justified good deed, one that benefited both the country and its people.

With both of those reasons together, Sun Qin had few other thoughts on the matter.

After all, Sun Qin had sworn from the very beginning to offer everything she had to Yin Yunze. Now she was merely fulfilling her promise.

"Lord Yi Yun, please let me take Wan'er's place! Wan'er's body is too small, and it isn't suited to what you need to do!"

As Sun Qin said this, she found that she was not all that afraid. After all, Yin Yunze had said he would only be borrowing her body temporarily.

With Yin Yunze's past trustworthiness to reassure her, Sun Qin felt completely at ease as she recited the incantation: "Fox immortal, descend into my body!"

As he heard Sun Qin call out those words, Yin Yunze was somewhat surprised to find that something unusual happened to her as well.

No spiritual light appeared around Sun Qin as it would upon the success of a normal Spirit Descent ritual. Nor did a spiritual thread appear as it had with Zhao Wan.

Simply put, no change whatsoever appeared in Sun Qin.