Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Youbiaozhui?

The winding footpath beneath Xie Qingling’s feet abruptly became a straight road.

The narrow road seemed endless, extending perfectly straight into the distance with no sign of where it led.

Xie Qingling did not know what Youbiaozhui wanted, but she did know that they were one of the Eight Zha Gods Ma Qiaoqiao’s father had mentioned.

Whatever the reason Youbiaozhui had approached her at this particular moment, Xie Qingling felt she had to investigate.

With no time to think further, she stepped onto the road they had opened.

The instant her foot touched it, the roads through the village and paths between the fields broke apart, then joined end to end like building blocks, forming a straight trail wide enough for one person.

Everywhere she passed, the ground lay level. She did not need to take a detour or climb another slope. The roads on either side opened the way for her, leaving her journey entirely unobstructed.

Before long, Xie Qingling reached the end of the road.

There stood a temple.

Only crumbling walls remained, with shattered green tiles scattered across the ground.

Broken wooden posts had rotted away, sprouting clusters of enormous mushrooms. Green moss covered stone steps no one had climbed in years.

Weeds grew thickly nearby. Tangled grass and vines wove a vast green blanket over most of the foundation.

The place looked desolate and cold.

Without careful inspection, no one would have realized a building once stood there.

Xie Qingling knew it had been a temple only because she saw the altar where divine statues had once received worship.

The statues had been destroyed and returned to dust, but the stone altar that once held them remained.

Xie Qingling walked over and used her blade to cut down the weeds on both sides, clearing away some of the overgrowth.

Had Youbiaozhui brought her here because they wanted her to rebuild the Eight Zha Temple?

Xie Qingling swept years of accumulated dust from the altar, revealing a line of words carved into the stone beneath:

Earth, return to your dwelling. Water, return to your ravines. Insects, do not arise. Plants, return to your marshes. Let the soil grant a bountiful year and yield its harvest a thousandfold.

[To pray for favorable weather and abundant grain, common people once worshiped eight gods connected to agriculture. The Eight Zha Sacrifice has endured since ancient times, sustained by an unbroken stream of incense offerings. Who could have imagined it would decline to this state, with no one left to remember them?]

[Two of the Eight Zha Gods, Shuiyong and the Fang God, open their eyes and gaze upon you.]

[One governs rivers, while the other reinforces dams and irrigation channels, bringing water and life to the fertile fields along their course.]

[The two gods have slumbered for many years, allowing the River God to seize their authority. Yet this river was never meant to have a River God. Shuiyong and the Fang God unleash furious roars, intent on slaying that hateful, vile usurper.]

[But now, their statues lie destroyed and their incense offerings have dwindled. They do not even possess the power to move freely through the mortal realm.]

[Spirit Wielder, the two gods look upon you with hope and ask whether you can find a way to take them with you.]

With divine statues and incense offerings, they could recover more fully. Was that it?

But Xie Qingling had no time to restore the temple or its statues, much less seek out incense offerings for them.

Then she would try this instead.

Xie Qingling opened her silver case and took out an empty deity shrine.

A deity shrine could invite a god inside, contain them, and carry them elsewhere.

But this particular shrine was designed to strike down gods. Its purpose was to imprison a god within.

Once a god entered, destroying the shrine would return them to dormancy and make them vanish without a trace.

To a god, this deity shrine was no different from a savage predator or raging flood.

[To survive in the narrow space between gods and ghosts, the preservers of order in the mortal realm have developed many strange weapons. Mortals have always favored action and excelled at using tools. This deity shrine is also their handiwork.]

[But curses capable of bringing down a god cover the shrine. Shuiyong and the Fang God hesitate before it, whispering between themselves.]

Xie Qingling said, “I have no way to rebuild your temple or restore your incense offerings right now. This deity shrine is the only option I have.”

“I came here to kill the River God. If you trust me, enter the shrine. I won’t harm you. I will only borrow your power, and after we kill the River God, I’ll set you free.”

If the two gods still refused, she could only wait for Ling Fang to arrive and see whether he had another solution.

The Technology R&D Department had created the deity shrine. Xie Qingling knew only how to use it, not modify it. She was no sorcerer, and altering the shrine lay far outside her professional abilities.

Just as Xie Qingling was about to give up, the weeds beside her suddenly began swaying in the still air.

After a rustling chorus of grasses bobbing their heads, two figures appeared inside the deity shrine she had brought.

The divine images were blurry and had no humanoid shape. They resembled a vast, imposing city wall entwined with flowing water, the two pressed closely together.

The shrine was too small, leaving the two gods somewhat cramped.

But they had often lived together and were frequently invoked together. Though squeezed into the same deity shrine, neither showed any dislike for the other.

[Kind Spirit Wielder, the gods can sense your sincerity. To bring the wicked to justice, they are willing to place themselves upon the chopping block and lend you their aid.]

[Go and fight. Reclaim the River God’s authority. Reclaim control of the river. Let the waters return to their natural course, and let the strong dams endure for a thousand autumns.]
[Youbiaozhui opens another road and sends you back to the village. They stand upon the hillside and watch you recede into the distance, awaiting your victorious return, when they can return to their temple and sit enthroned within its bright hall.]

The narrow, perfectly straight road appeared before her once more. The paths around it were dismantled and pieced together anew, carrying Xie Qingling all the way back to the village.

When the village entrance came into view, Xie Qingling let out a long breath and strode toward it.

The moment she appeared, a crowd surged around her, hemming her in on every side.

The village chief rushed over and shouted, “There you are, bride! We finally found you! Your wedding is upon us, and everyone’s been busy preparing the feast. You can’t very well miss it!”

Xie Qingling had only vanished for a little while, yet the entire village had already been thrown into an uproar.

“I only went out for a stroll. Of course I wouldn’t miss it.” Xie Qingling brushed the dust from her shoulder as she spoke.

The village chief gave a cold snort, neither accepting nor disputing her explanation. He merely shouted to the people behind him, “Take the bride away and look after her properly. Don’t let her run off again!”

Two burly men stepped forward and shoved Xie Qingling back into the village.

This time, they did not let her return to Ma Qiaoqiao’s home. Instead, they locked her inside the ancestral hall.

They padlocked the hall and posted a guard outside. A vicious wolfhound prowled beside him, man and dog pacing back and forth as though terrified Xie Qingling might seize a chance to escape.

Xie Qingling knew what they intended. She said nothing and made no attempt to resist.

Any move she made now would set off a chain reaction among the villagers, so she simply stayed put.

She pinned her hopes on Shen Huaizhou and Dai Xingyu, waiting for them to bring her new information. All she had to do was remain here and keep the villagers steady.

And so a day passed. Confined inside the ancestral hall, Xie Qingling did little but eat and sleep. Every so often, she contacted Dai Xingyu and the others through her earpiece to ask how their search was progressing.

“Nothing,” Dai Xingyu said. “We’ve searched every corner of the village chief’s house, but there isn’t a single clue.”

“Try Crazy Wang’s house, but be careful,” Xie Qingling cautioned. “He has an altar there where he worships something, and there’s something sinister about it. If necessary… take him into custody.”

“Understood.”

They kept at it until late that night, just as the village’s continuous banquet began. Nearly every villager sat together at the feast, leaving house after house empty.

Shen Huaizhou and Dai Xingyu split up and searched the homes one by one. At last, they found a lead.

“I found a hiking backpack,” Dai Xingyu said. “It was in a child’s room. He’d been using it as a schoolbag. The contents were gone, but the brand and design match Luo Yuancheng’s. This must have belonged to one of the other three hikers.”

That was very bad news.

Xie Qingling’s heart sank. She glanced at the time and said, “Make a note of the household. That’s enough for today. Go back and get some sleep. We have a hard fight ahead of us tomorrow.”

After exchanging everything they had learned, the three of them settled down for the night.

Xie Qingling remained in the ancestral hall, while Shen Huaizhou and Dai Xingyu returned to the woodshed and slept atop the pile of firewood.

–

The next day, the sun hung high in the sky.

Once again, the tune “A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix” swept through the village. The blare of suonas rang from one end to the other, filling the air with festive cheer.

Xie Qingling sat in a chair inside the ancestral hall – in the place of honor, which ordinarily belonged to the village chief.

She addressed the people in the hall. “Some relatives and friends of mine are coming for the wedding feast today. They’ll reach the village entrance soon, so hurry out and welcome them. Set out good food and wine and treat them well. They’ve traveled a long way and must be tired. Make sure they’re properly taken care of.”

The village chief was so furious that the wrinkles on his face seemed to come alive, quivering and twitching. “You… You really are…”

He wanted to say that she had gone too far, but after a moment’s thought, decided there was no point.

It would only demean him to argue with someone about to die. In the end, he could only send people to wait at the village entrance.

To wait for Xie Qingling’s so-called relatives and friends.

Before long, her relatives and friends really did arrive.

There were three of them: two men and one woman, two young and one old, all dressed in black and carrying silver cases.

The villagers led them to the ancestral hall and, as Xie Qingling had instructed, set a separate banquet table for them.

There was fine wine, good food, plenty of meat – everything they could have asked for.

Ye Anran stared blankly at Xie Qingling, who sat high in the place of honor dressed all in red.

The Director had already told her on the way here that Xie Qingling was to become the River God’s bride, so Ye Anran had thought herself prepared. What she had not expected was Xie Qingling’s utter composure. It almost seemed as if she had taken charge of her own wedding.

She had adapted far too quickly!

Xie Qingling sat down at their table and muttered to Ling Fang, “Director, don’t look so sour. I know I was reckless again this time. I’ll write a self-criticism when we get back and reflect on my mistakes, all right?”

Ling Fang merely smiled, looking exceedingly mild.

“There’s no need for a self-criticism,” he said.

“Huh?”

“I’ve thought it over. If you keep this up, you probably don’t have much time left in this world. I won’t waste what little life you have making you write a self-criticism.” Ling Fang smiled gently, but the words came through gritted teeth, as if he wanted to bite something to pieces. “Make the most of your time and enjoy life. One of these days, you may not live to see the sun rise.”