In ancient times, they secretly became gods in the deep mountains.

Chapter 22 The Rat Demon Appears
"Our Lady Jin Sheng is the mountain spirit of the Jin Sheng Mountain Range. She is a deity with great supernatural powers and boundless magic. Her divine palace is located on Qi Huang Mountain. We are the Fire Boy and Water Boy, the five elemental spirit children under her command, and the divine messengers of the Jin Sheng Divine Palace."

"If you doubt our identities, you can go to Qihuang Mountain to verify them yourself, or ask the villagers in the eight villages at the foot of Qihuang Mountain."

"The river at the foot of Qihuang Mountain had long since dried up. If it weren't for the Empress's compassion in sending rain after she woke up, the villagers of Peach Blossom Village wouldn't have had any water to exchange for chickens, ducks, and coarse rice bran from the mansion."

Shuiwa explained it to him in a clear and logical manner.

Huowa added, "The villagers traded chickens and ducks to worship our goddess."

Master Luo suddenly realized.

It turns out that the villagers who came to exchange chickens and ducks a few days ago were there to worship this Golden Goddess.

His eyes widened as he asked, "Is the Golden Saintess really a deity?" Seriously... do deities really exist in this world?
He remembered that when he was a child, he often heard his father tell strange tales about the mountains. He heard a lot about demons and monsters, but he never heard any legends about gods and immortals.

In his mind, there might be monsters in this world, but there were definitely no gods.

These two little babies are round and fair-skinned; even before the drought, there were very few children with such good fortune.

Aside from the claim that they are monsters, could they really be disciples of immortals?

Then he thought about how the villagers of Peach Blossom Village had traded their precious clean water for chickens and ducks after three years of drought. He had initially thought they were trading water from the mountains, but then he realized something was amiss.

It hasn't rained for three years, is the water really that clear?
In drought times, water is a life-saving medicine; who would be willing to trade clear, life-saving water for chickens and ducks, which are not exactly profitable?

Are there really... immortals?
His throat tightened, and his heart burned with passion.

"Please, two celestial children, tell me the exact location of the goddess on Mount Qihuang, so that I may bring my family to pay our respects to her."

He had heard from his predecessors that the Jin Sheng Mountain Range was teeming with wild beasts and monsters. He had never been there before and was afraid that if he went astray, he would become the prey of wild beasts and monsters, which would be a great loss.

Are there gods in the world?

Mr. Luo was eager to find out if it was true or false.

If there really were gods, wouldn't the people of Cloud Mist Town be saved?

Huowa said, "When the time comes, ask the villagers to take you up the mountain. The wild animals on Qihuang Mountain have all died from the three-year drought, and the demons are all on other mountains. If you go up the mountain with the villagers, you won't get lost."

"Yes, yes, yes." Master Luo was overjoyed.

"Let's go and subdue the monsters in the back mountain first." Fire Boy and Water Boy quickened their pace.

Master Luo followed behind the two children, asking fearfully, "I wonder how powerful this monster is?"

He never imagined that he would be living with a monster.

"The others are nothing to fear; they are all minor demons that are only a few decades old and cannot even fully transform. It's just that the leader among them has seven hundred years of cultivation and is a bit troublesome."

Shuiwa explained to him.

"What should we do then?" Master Luo asked anxiously.

"What's there to be afraid of? The Empress has given us magical artifacts, enough to subdue this seven-hundred-year-old demon."

"That's fine, that's fine."

Mr. Luo wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Upon reaching the back of the mountain, a strong, rotten smell suddenly wafted over, like the stench of diseased, sour-smelling feet.

"Ugh!" With a churning in his stomach, Mr. Luo bent over and vomited without any decorum.

His face was deathly pale, and he said tremblingly, "Please excuse my poor appearance, two celestial children."

"It's a rat demon!" Fire Boy sniffed the demonic aura nearby.

“The missing children from Peach Blossom Village are all here,” Shuiwa confirmed.

Master Luo asked fearfully, "A rat demon? A rat that has turned into a monster? Have all the missing children in town been eaten by the rat demon?"

They walked into the desolate back mountain, when suddenly Master Luo tripped over something under his feet.

"Ouch, what was that? It almost made my old bones fall." Old Master Luo wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He looked down and suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream: "Ah!"

His face was filled with terror, and his voice was shrill.

He pointed to the blood-stained object on the ground, his lips trembling: "Bone, skull, a human skull!"

On that scorching, dry day, he felt a chill sweep over his entire body.

"There really is a monster! Please, two celestial children, capture it!" Master Luo pleaded.

"These skulls were all recently thrown out," Huowa said, looking around.

Finally, they came across a low cave, from which came an even more foul smell.

"call!"

Fire Boy held fireballs in both hands and spat out a mouthful of flame that burned directly into the cave.

Master Luo warned, "Fairy Child, be careful of the children inside." "Don't worry, these flames only burn demons."

Inside the cave, a bunch of rats scurried about.

"Chi chi chi chi chi!"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

"It's so hot, help!"

Even Master Luo outside could hear the rats' screams.

He carefully hid behind the two children.

Fire Boy turned his head: "I'll go in and see if I can force the rat demon out. You stay here and guard it."

Shuiwa nodded.

As soon as Huowa entered the mouse hole, he headed straight for his target.

He could smell the scent of those children.

The rat hole looks only half a person tall from the outside, but it can fit dozens of adult men inside, and it is divided into several caves.

"Zhang Gousheng!"

Fire Boy saw about twenty children lying unconscious in the cave, and he used his spiritual power to wake them up.

The children all woke up.

Zhang Gousheng slowly woke up. He looked around in shock, but suddenly saw a fiery red figure in front of him, and his heart calmed down.

"You are a celestial being!"

When they went up the mountain to worship the goddess, it was this fairy boy and another fairy boy who told them that the goddess was in seclusion.

"The Empress sent Shuiwa and me to rescue you. Now that you're awake, let's hurry up and leave."

"We still have to deal with the rat demon when we go out later."

Zhang Gousheng nodded vigorously.

"Dog! Swallow! Spring flowers and summer flowers, coming water and longing for water, the goddess has sent people to rescue us, hurry up and leave, or we will be eaten by the monster!" Zhang Gousheng hurriedly went to call his companions who had been captured by the monster.

The other children were terrified when they saw the fire child in front of them, biting their lower lips and crying silently.

The children in Peach Blossom Village had all seen Fire Boy before, so they remained calm.

The dog pointed to a group of children nearby and asked with a pang of pity, "Fairy, can we bring them along too? They're all children from town."

"Bring them all."

The rat demons who had escaped the fire blocked their way: "Stop! None of you are allowed to leave."

"That's not up to you."

Flames burst forth in Huowa's palm with a soft flick of his wrist: "Go!"

"puff!"

The flames burned directly onto a group of shallow-skilled rat demons.

"Ouch, it hurts! Your Majesty, save me!" The rat demons clutched their heads and scurried around, squealing and rubbing against the walls, desperately trying to extinguish the flames.

"Let's go quickly."

Huowa led a group of children out.

"Come out! Come out!"

Master Luo pointed to the cave entrance and said excitedly.

Huowa said to them, "There are twenty-nine children in the cave, and they are all here. We will take the children from Peach Blossom Village with us. Please ask Master Luo to send the rest of the children back."

"That's easy," Master Luo nodded.

"The rat demon isn't in the cave, let's go back first."

As soon as he finished speaking, a demonic aura surged into the sky.

"You audacious brats, where do you intend to take my blood offerings? You'd better leave your lives behind!"

A purplish-red demonic aura enveloped a flying rat that darted out, landing on the ground and transforming into a human-bodied, rat-faced monster. Its body was elongated and severely hunched, emanating a foul stench, and its blood-red eyes revealed a sinister and greedy expression.

"woo woo woo woo."

A group of children were so frightened that they cried on the spot.

(End of this chapter)