My Years in the Folklore World

Chapter 820 Lingnan City

"You have gained a permanent status, Ironfoot."

"Iron Feet (permanent state), you can travel through mountains and rivers as if walking on flat ground, the strength of your lower limbs is permanently increased, and it is very beneficial for the practice of Qinggong and leg techniques."

As the text prompt flashed in the game, Jiang Xinghuo felt a surge of heat in his lower abdomen, which then divided into two streams and conducted to his thighs. It then spread down along the knees and finally gathered on his feet. He could clearly feel that the strength of his legs had been improved, and his muscle fibers had become stronger, containing powerful explosive power.

Become!

Jiang Xinghuo was delighted, knowing that the Iron Foot state had been bestowed upon him. Although this state would not bring much improvement to him, a mosquito leg, no matter how thin it was, was still meat, and it was better to have it than not.

"What are your plans next?"

"Would you choose to go directly into the city to explore? Or would you choose to wander around outside the city first?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it and decided to stroll outside the city first instead of rushing into the city.

But in order to trigger more plots, Jiang Xinghuo deliberately took out the Hongyunxiang from his backpack, and then clicked to use it.

"You have used the Fortune Incense."

"Good fortune is lingering around you. Your luck has been temporarily improved, and you can trigger more unexpected plots and clues."

"Do you want to start exploring the area right away?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose yes and controlled the character to start exploring around the city. Although he was limited by the perspective of the text game and could not see the real-time images, with the help of Hongyun Incense, it was not difficult to trigger some new mission plots.

Jiang Xinghuo waited for a while, and sure enough, new information came from the game, reminding him that a new interactive plot had been triggered.

"You found a dilapidated temple not far outside the city. This dilapidated temple is very different from the temples you have seen before. It does not look like a Taoist temple or a Buddhist temple. Instead, it looks more like a palace or a temple in the palace. Do you want to go in and take a look?"

"You have entered this seemingly temple."

"The furnishings in the temple are old and rotten, and it's obvious that no one has taken care of them for many years. There are also a lot of dirty things in the corners, which should be left by some sick dogs and cats. But to your surprise, apart from these dirty things, the temple is surprisingly clean. There is no dirty things in it, and there is no trace of those dirty things lingering around."

"The clay statue on the altar was also in tatters. Not only had the paint peeled off, but only half of its head remained, and the other half was smashed to pieces by something."

Ok?
Seeing this, Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyebrows and felt a little strange in his heart. This was a rare thing.

The dirty things mentioned in the game text are not garbage or filth, but monsters and evil spirits.

You know, in the secular world where morality and music are in decline and evil spirits are everywhere, demons and monsters are common, especially around major prosperous towns, where these monsters are most common.

The favorite thing for these demons and monsters that are not worshipped is to occupy abandoned temples and rely on the statues of gods, thus plundering incense and offerings in the name of gods. This is the origin of various obscene sacrifices.

Just like this abandoned temple outside Lingnan City, it is the most popular among those demons. Even if it is not occupied by demons now, there must be some traces left there in the past. How could it be so clean?

"Do you want to continue exploring here?"

"You chose to continue exploring."

"You used your Fiery Eyes to conduct a detailed survey of the temple, but unfortunately, you found nothing after a round. In the end, you set your sights on the statue. You had a hunch that if you could restore the damaged clay statue to its original state, you might be able to glimpse the truth about the temple from its original appearance, or at least find out who the temple enshrines."

"Will you attempt to restore this clay statue?"

Jiang Xinghuo saw that there was no other way, so he could only choose to give it a try.

"You took out Guanyin soil and rootless water from your backpack and tried to restore the statue to its original appearance based on the damaged traces. However, you don't understand the craft of clay sculpture at all. The statue you restored is crooked and twisted, and it is impossible to completely repair it."

"You sighed, knowing that your skills were too poor and you simply couldn't restore the statue to its original state. Then you remembered that when you were drinking sugar water, you heard people at the next table talking about a clay figurine craftsman in the city who was so skilled at clay sculpture that he could restore a clay sculpture to almost the same state with just one look, no matter how badly it was damaged."

"The most legendary story of the clay figurine craftsman is that he used a clay arm and some descriptions from others to restore all the damaged parts of the body. It is difficult to find a clay figurine craftsman who can match his skill."

"Perhaps you can go and ask the clay figurine craftsman for advice. Perhaps you can learn something from him and find a way to repair this clay statue."

"What are you going to choose now?"

"Will you continue to study here and see if you can find a way to repair the clay sculpture with your perseverance? Or will you go into the city to ask the clay figurine craftsman where he lives and get the method to repair the clay sculpture from him?"

Jiang Xinghuo thought to himself that with the limited skills he had, it would be a waste of time to continue researching. He might as well find someone who knows the answer.

"You choose to go to the city to find a clay figurine craftsman to learn the craft of clay sculpture."

"When you walk into the city, you will see a dazzling array of stalls and shops. The various local characteristics will open your eyes, but you will not be dazzled by the dazzling array of things in front of you. You will always remember the purpose of your visit to the city."

"You found a few rabble on the street. After all, their black clothes were too conspicuous to be ignored. You walked up to them, gave them 20 incense sticks, and asked where the clay figurine craftsman lived."

"You have lost, incense -20."

"The mob smiled and put away the incense, and told you the answer you wanted truthfully."

"You have obtained the clue of where the clay figurine maker lives."

"Do you want to go to the clay figurine maker's residence immediately?" "You chose to go to the clay figurine maker's residence immediately. You learned from the mob that the clay figurine maker lived on Xingshi Street in the east of the city. The first house you saw when you entered the street was the clay figurine maker's house."

"But the clay figurine craftsman has a strange personality and a bad temper. He rarely interacts with outsiders. Any problems are handled by his apprentices. If you go there like this, it will probably be difficult for you to see the clay figurine craftsman. Even if you do see him, he may not be able to satisfy you."

"On the way..."

"You have arrived at Awakening Lion Street."

"Lion Dance Street, lion dance is a traditional folk culture in the Lingnan region. It has the ability to pray for blessings, ward off disasters, seek good luck and ward off evil spirits, so it is also called the auspicious lion dance."

"At the same time, the lion dance is also a folk culture that combines martial arts with dance. Because the martial artists in Lingnan incorporated the body movements of national martial arts into lion dance, it promoted the tradition of combining lion and martial arts. Therefore, the Lion Dance Street is also called the Martial Arts Hall Street. Various schools of southern national martial arts have branches here. Therefore, the Lion Dance Street is unique in Lingnan City. It is not only the place with the most martial arts in the city, but also the safest place."

"Those vicious monsters outside dare not pierce their spines in the Lion Dance Street, otherwise they will be skinned and dismembered, becoming the best material for making the Lion Dance."

"But it is precisely because of this that lion fighting competitions occur every few days on Lion Dance Street. It is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. Just as you walked into Lion Dance Street, you ran into two martial arts schools competing in lion fighting. The majestic black and white iron lions jumped up and down. Although it seemed like an ordinary trick, it was actually filled with murderous intent. If you are not careful, you will be killed immediately."

"But you also noticed that although these martial artists fighting lions were fierce, they all subconsciously avoided the first house at the corner of the street and did not cause any trouble to the owner of that house."

"And at the door of that house, there are two clay statues of gods, one holding a bamboo steel whip made of water-ground bamboo joints, and the other holding an iron mace covered with corrugated gold. They are the two door gods in folklore legends. They were brave warriors who fought on the battlefield when they were alive. After their death, they were worshipped by incense and became secular gods of the incense and fire way, with the ability to protect the house and ward off evil spirits."

"What are you going to choose now?"

"Would you choose to join the crowd and watch the lion fight, or go to the door of the clay figurine craftsman's house and inquire?"

Jiang Xinghuo chose to go to the clay figurine craftsman first to find out more about his background.

"You came to the door of the clay figurine maker's house and knocked on the copper ring on the door. After a while, the door opened and a clay figurine apprentice walked out."

"When this clay figurine apprentice saw you, he immediately showed a look of surprise on his face. You were also surprised when you saw him. This clay figurine apprentice turned out to be the son of the inspector of Xishen City."

Ok?
When Jiang Xinghuo saw this text, he was stunned. How could it be such a coincidence?
Also, Jiang Xinghuo remembered that he sent the child to the coroner and the child became the coroner's apprentice. How could he be an apprentice here with the clay figurine craftsman?

Jiang Xinghuo tapped the screen to continue pushing the text down.

"When old friends meet, it's natural to exchange pleasantries. You also learned from the conversation why the other party is here."

"It turns out that the coroner and the clay figurine craftsman are cousins. This time, it followed the coroner's wishes and came to the clay figurine craftsman to learn the craft of clay sculpture. This will be of great help to its future study of autopsies. It can also learn some self-defense methods to avoid being persecuted by villains in the future."

"You also explained your purpose during the conversation, saying that you wanted to obtain methods and techniques to repair clay sculptures."

"The clay figurine apprentice said that this was nothing, and it was even a piece of cake for the clay figurine craftsman. But after getting along with him for these days, he has some understanding of the clay figurine craftsman's temper. He is notoriously difficult to deal with. If you go in like this, you will definitely get a bad response, so you have to think of some good ideas."

"The clay figurine apprentice has given you an idea. Although the clay figurine craftsman is proficient in clay sculpture, he has a very interesting weakness, which is that he is afraid of the invasion of ghosts. In order to avoid the harassment of ghosts, he made a large number of statues of gods in the place where he lives. There is a statue of the door god at the door, a statue of the toilet lady in the toilet, a statue of the stove god in the kitchen, a statue of the well god in the well, and a statue of the fire god at night..."

"So you can start from this aspect, and perhaps you can achieve your wish and gain the trust and gratitude of the clay figurine craftsman."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the text thoughtfully and felt a little funny in his heart. Since the clay figurine craftsman could be so famous, it meant that he must know magic. A person with magic skills would actually be afraid of being harassed by ghosts.

"You decided to come over tonight and give it a try. What are you going to do next?"

"Are you planning to leave here and come back at night? Or are you planning to go watch the lion fight?"

"You chose to watch the lion fight between two martial arts schools."

"The lion fight has now reached a white-hot stage. Both sides have used all their killer moves and almost abandoned all their retreat routes, just to kill the other side in the shortest possible time."

"But in the end, the White Iron Lion was more skilled. It dodged the Black Lion's ultimate move and took the opportunity to use its own unique skills to kill the warrior controlling the Black Iron Lion. Blood splattered in the air, and the mixed iron lion head was also smashed into pieces, leaving only two broken bodies lying in a pool of blood."

"The winner has been decided, and the people who were watching the excitement have left one after another, and they kept letting out sighs. But this is how fighting between warriors works. The winner lives, and the loser dies. Although it is cruel, it is an incomparable reality. The dead will only become a topic of conversation after dinner, and only the winner will enjoy the respect and awe of everyone."

"Are you going to go forward and collect the body lying in a pool of blood?"

"You chose to go forward and collect the bodies, but in the process, you sensed a strong aura of resentment. The two bodies died unwillingly, and their spirits lingered around and were even showing signs of turning into evil spirits."

"You now have two choices. Either you choose to disperse their souls, or you choose to use the Pool Collection Method to collect their souls for your own use. These two resentful and unwilling souls are enough to become two extremely ferocious ghosts."

"How are you going to choose?"

Jiang Xinghuo didn't care much about it at first, but after reading the text, he realized that if he could turn these two ghosts into evil spirits, it might cause greater psychological panic to the clay figurine maker.

Two people who had just died during the day turned into evil ghosts at night, and they died outside their own home. Anyone would have been worried.

"You used the Collecting Pond Method to collect the souls of these two people who died violently into the talisman. As long as you use a unique secret method to sacrifice and refine them, you can completely transform the souls into evil spirits."

After collecting the two ghosts, Jiang Xinghuo collected the bodies again, hung them on a niche and sold them to a corpse driver, making some money. Then he found a safe place and began to control the characters to use the pool collection method to sacrifice the souls.

However, this refining took a whole day, and it was not until around nine o'clock in the evening that a text notification indicating that the refining was successful appeared in the game.

"You have successfully refined the dead soul and turned it into a fierce ghost. What do you plan to do next?"

(End of this chapter)