Chapter 60: You Offered Up an Evil God

Hisst.

The small black snake struck by the Judge's Brush let out a sharp hiss. A spark of fire emerged from the tip of the brush, landed on its body, and ignited.

The hiss of the black snake was instantly drowned out in the blaze. Black baleful Qi surged out from its body, only to be extinguished almost immediately.

Outside the temple, sensing the loss of control over the black snake, Elder Ke spat out a mouthful of stale blood. His crimson eyes widened, the white hair at his temples rapidly growing and turning completely white, and his appearance aged significantly.

His expression changed drastically, and he stepped forward hurriedly.

Lang Jiuchuan recalled the Judge's Brush, glanced down at the black snake burned to non-existent ashes, and his gaze was filled with contempt.

Jiang Che said, "Stop daydreaming. If you don't move soon, these fellows will be atoning with their deaths in the illusion."

Lang Jiuchuan turned his head to look. Sure enough, Shen Qinghe and the others all wore expressions of anger and pity, tears streaming down their faces as they knelt on the ground, kowtowing straight down with a piety and fierce determination that completely disregarded their own lives.

At that time, inside the Mountain God Temple, thick bloody aura and resentment were intertwined, forming an evil baleful Qi like a giant web woven from malevolent forces. It wrapped around the men, demanding their repentance with tyrannical force. Some had even resorted to striking vicious blows against their own vital parts.

Lang Jiuchuan: "!"

So that was it.

This was why the daughter village sacrificed men, and why the Mountain God also married a male bride. It was because the stunning widow, Honglian, had died of prejudice, died of men's lustful greed and adoration.

The very beginning of everything was born from the lustful desires of the men in the village, so they were destined to perish by their own lusts, generation after generation. The men did not deserve to survive.

As if responding to Lang Jiuchuan's thoughts, the evil Qi surged even more violently, as if shouting and crying out, demanding that all men be buried with them and atone for their greed.

Lang Jiuchuan no longer hesitated. He unclasped the Emperor's Bell, gave it a shake, and fused his Dao heart with the bell. With a single chime—

Like a bell tolling from the distant heavens, carrying a powerful and majestic Dao intent, it shattered the thick and suffocating evil Qi, restored clarity, and revealed the true original appearance of the Mountain God Temple.

Shen Qinghe was the first to regain consciousness. His complexion was ashen, his hands trembling slightly as he looked at Lang Jiuchuan: "What was that just now?"

"The origin of the Daughter Village's god-sacrificing and marriage customs," Lang Jiuchuan said calmly.

Several guards also broke free from the illusion, looking at each other with pale faces. Had they really almost smashed their own vital parts just now to atone for their sins?

It clearly wasn't their fault, yet they had wanted to beat themselves to death, all for the sake of that pitiful woman.

The men immediately rushed behind Lang Jiuchuan and stood in a row. It was still safest by Lady Lang's side.

"Tsk, what a useless lot!" Jiang Che said with extreme disdain.

Shen Qinghe was someone who had seen great storms and waves after all. Having heard Lang Jiuchuan's words, he steadied his mind and said, "You mean to say that the woman named Honglian did not dissipate her resentment after death, and used the god-sacrificing ritual to take revenge on the men of Red Maple Village, turning it into the Daughter Village?"

"Just how immense must that resentment be to transform a populous village into a Daughter Village over the span of several decades? This means not a single male has been able to escape her grasp," said a guard named Qian Cheng with a dazed expression.

"She originally had no resentment," Lang Jiuchuan shook his head and said. "Having seen through the filth of the mortal world, since her beauty brought her ultimate suffering, death would only have felt like a release to her. She harbored no resentment of her own; it was someone else who birthed resentment within her and turned her into an evil entity."

Everyone was taken aback.

"What does that mean?"

Lang Jiuchuan raised his head and surveyed the Mountain God Temple. The walls were painted with red lotuses and images of a goddess, and in the very center stood a stone platform holding a statue of a female Bodhisattva stepping on a lotus. Her visage was gentle and beautiful, her gaze compassionate, and her fingers formed a lotus mudra as if enlightening all living beings.

Fresh fruits, sweets, and pastries were placed on the offering table before the stone platform, along with burning sandalwood incense sticks as thick as an infant's arm. On either side of the Bodhisattva statue were two more lotus pedestals holding many small lamps, casting lamplight that created the appearance of a beautiful red lotus flower.

Before the Mountain God, several futon cushions were laid out, embroidered with giant, lifelike, and exquisite lotus flowers using silk threads.

Lotus flowers—there was not a single place in this Mountain God Temple devoid of the shadow of the lotus.

"She looks so much like that Honglian," someone exclaimed in surprise.

When everyone looked closely at the face of the Bodhisattva statue, chills ran down their spines and cold sweat broke out. Wasn't this identical to the Honglian they had seen earlier in the illusion?

Could there be some connection between the two?

"It is her," Lang Jiuchuan's eyes darkened as he looked at the Bodhisattva statue, a cold glint in his gaze.

This was the so-called Mountain God of the Daughter Village, Honglian.

Everyone looked closely at the Mountain God statue once more. Perhaps influenced by their preconceptions after witnessing Honglian's tragic fate in the illusion, looking at the statue now, they felt that her gaze was no longer compassionate, but carried a hint of seductive, evil charm, as if trying to hook people in.

Yet in the illusion, before disaster struck Honglian, her eyes had always held light and a smile; her gaze was pure and gentle, and she held hope for her days ahead.

After the tragedy, the light in those eyes was gone, replaced by numbness and despair.

However, the eyes of this Mountain God statue carried a trace of ill-intentioned charm and malice, making one feel deeply uncomfortable.

"I never felt anything was amiss when looking at this goddess statue before. But looking at it now, it's very strange. Half of it is as compassionate as a deity, while the other half is like a demon. Right and evil intertwined, nothing more than this," Shen Qinghe frowned, rubbing his thumb and index finger together. "This Mountain God is identical to Honglian; it can't possibly be a coincidence. Since Honglian suffered such a cruel fate, and the village that ought to have been called Red Maple Village gradually evolved into a Daughter Village, even if she isn't the one haunting and wreaking revenge, those closest to her cannot escape blame."

"Her son!" Qian Cheng's mind turned quickly.

"Whether it is as you say, we need only ask the person involved," Lang Jiuchuan turned his head slightly, looking toward the darkness on the rear right, and said, "What do you think, Elder Ke?"

What? Everyone was startled, abruptly turning around to see Elder Ke walking out from the shadows. Yet none of them had known when he had arrived there.

The guards instinctively rested their hands on the weapons at their waists.

Elder Ke walked out, glaring at Lang Jiuchuan as he said, "I knew long ago that you were trouble, but I didn't expect you to be such a massive trouble. You actually managed to evade my Little Black and even killed it."

Lang Jiuchuan nudged the non-existent ashes at his feet with his toe and said, "So that venomous snake you mentioned is called Little Black. It truly lives up to its name—pitch black and utterly ugly. As for me, I was born with a fondness for playing dirty. You brought such things to harm me, rushing headfirst into your own doom; you have only yourself to blame."

The corners of everyone's mouths twitched. When it came to sharp speech, no one rivaled him. Playing dirty—he managed to claim both praise and condemnation for himself.

"Glib-tongued! Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?" Elder Ke rebuked sternly.

Lang Jiuchuan chuckled, though the smile did not reach his eyes. He pointed at the statue of Honglian and mocked, "God? Are you referring to this evil deity you all worship?"