Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 461 Yin Ghost Slaying God
The man stared at Yang Wan with suspicion, thinking to himself, "How could I not know what kind of person this guy usually is? When did he become so conscientious?"

Yang Wan's sudden change of temperament must have a reason.

The man couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened?"

Yang Wan didn't say much, urging the man to go to the village and inform the villagers.

Having previously observed Lu Zheng and his companion's modus operandi, Yang Wan was quite familiar with it and helped them ascertain the village's population and land situation.

Before long, dark clouds gathered over the village, and after a few claps of thunder, refreshing rain began to fall, nourishing the parched earth and stimulating the newly sown beans to sprout.

The man was dumbfounded when he saw Lu Zheng and his companion's methods.

Unexpectedly, Yang Wan actually found two experts who could not only control the wind and rain, but also brought so many emergency bean seeds.

Judging from the situation, even if this year's drought continues, these villagers will not be greatly affected.

After the rains came and the wells were dug, Lu Zheng shared some knowledge about drought and heatstroke prevention with the villagers before heading to the next village.

Seeing this, the man's eyes flickered and he said, "You're going to Jinyan Village? I know that place well. I have some connection with the god there. I even had drinks with him last month... I'll go with you. He'll definitely listen to me."

The man had already figured out that Yang Wan wanted to take this opportunity to make some political achievements so that he could be valued and promoted by his superiors. He had to join in the fun and get some credit and benefits.

Yang Wan said unhappily, "What business is it of yours here? Go back and rest."

The man retorted, "How can this not be my responsibility? As a righteous god, it is my duty to help the people during times of natural disaster..."

Yang Wan was speechless for a moment, not expecting the other party to return the words he had said to him.

The man added, "Besides, more gods mean more help. I'm better at finding water sources than you are. I can help the two immortal masters share the burden."

The man looked at Yang Wan with a hint of arrogance in his eyes. Although they were both gods, he had his own body, unlike Yang Wan who did not have a physical body. It was inconvenient for him to go to places that were far away, as it would consume too much of his divine power.

Moreover, as a dog, after being enshrined as a deity, his sense of smell became even more acute than before. He could easily smell where there was water, without having to go through the trouble that Yang Wan did.

Lu Zheng looked at the man. Since this deity was willing to help, whatever his purpose or intention, it was a good thing.

Lu Zhengdao said, "In that case, lead the way."

The man smiled broadly upon hearing this and said, "Come with me."

With a single step, the man transformed into a gust of wind, moving swiftly through the mountains and fields at an impressive pace.

Seeing how eager the other party was to make a name for themselves, Yang Wan had no choice but to accept it.

The group quickly headed to the next village.

In the stillness of the night, the mountain village was quiet.

When they arrived outside the village, Lu Zheng immediately sensed that this village was somewhat different.

"Huh, such heavy moisture..."

Ju Sheng sniffed, clearly smelling a damp scent.

Everyone turned their gaze to one spot and discovered a pool of water not far away.

When Ju Sheng saw the pool, his eyes showed surprise and doubt.

"Huh? How come there's a pond here? It hasn't dried up even in this weather. I didn't see this pond when I came last time. Could it be that he had the villagers dig it?"

A strange look flashed in Ju Sheng's eyes.

Lu Zheng and his group approached and took a closer look. They found it was indeed a new pool with water gushing out from deep underground.

However, judging from the shape of this pool, it doesn't seem to be man-made; rather, someone has accessed an underground water source.

It was clearly beyond the villagers' ability to accomplish this; it was probably the work of the local deities.

Lu Zheng then looked at the nearby farmland. The crops in the fields were not growing well and were in a state of near death.

But compared to the villages he had seen before, it was much better.

Even so, these crops won't last long, and even if they survive the dry season, there won't be much harvest.

Looking at the tranquil pool, Qingwan couldn't help but say, "It seems there are some capable people here."

As she spoke, Qingwan glanced at Yang Wan and Ju Sheng beside her.

Upon seeing Qing Wan's slightly complicated expression, the two Chu gods felt somewhat embarrassed.

Ju Sheng muttered to himself, feeling that this was not like the way that person acted. He was doing good deeds without even telling him, and all those years of drinking were for nothing.

"Let's go, let's go find him."

Ju Sheng led the way towards the temple.

Temples in small mountain villages like this are not large, only about the size of a room, and are mostly built outside the village to keep them away from the daily lives of the people.

Soon, the group found a mountain temple.

The temple was pitch black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

As soon as he stepped into the temple, Ju Sheng noticed something was amiss.

His eyes gleamed with golden light as he stared intently at the statue before him.

The majestic statue lacked any divine aura, and some cracks were faintly visible.

"This...is dead..."

Ju Sheng was inexplicably alarmed. Such a scene, with the statue destroyed and no divine aura remaining, meant that the gods here were dead.

"This... he couldn't have been killed by some ghost..."

As soon as Ju Sheng entered the temple, he smelled a faint aura of evil spirits. These deities would communicate with the local demons and ghosts, and occasionally demons and ghosts would visit them.

This place is also close to Ghost Prefecture, so it is not surprising that demons and ghosts attack gods and officials.

Given the current situation, it's hard not to suspect that the local deities have been attacked by ghosts.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng slightly moved his hand, and the remaining Yin ghost energy in the temple gathered into a ball.

A flash of light appeared, and the stream of light headed out of the temple.

Lu Zheng and Qing Wan moved, following the trail of light.

Yang Wan and Ju Sheng exchanged a glance and quickly followed behind, wanting to see what had happened.

The death of a deity is a dangerous sign for them.

They certainly didn't want a powerful demon to suddenly appear in their temple one day, then kill and refine them.

In the dark, dense forest, a sinister aura surged.

But in the place where the evil spirits gathered, a mummified corpse lay there.

It was a man's corpse, completely naked, with twisted limbs, a deep wound in his abdomen, his guts spilling out, and other parts of his body covered in wounds. His death was extremely gruesome.

The entire corpse exuded a dense aura of malevolence, deterring even insects and beasts from approaching, and it showed no signs of decay even in the sweltering heat.

In the woods, twinkling lights appeared.

Lu Zheng appeared beside the mummified corpse, and frowned as he looked at it.

Qingwan and the others also rushed over, examining the corpse with different expressions.

They all discovered that the lingering aura in the temple originated from this mummified corpse.

"What's going on?"

Yang Wan was somewhat bewildered when he saw the corpse in front of him.

Upon discovering the gruesome state of the deceased, and seeing the wounds and the knife clutched tightly in the deceased's hand, Lu Zheng couldn't help but form a guess.

“Suicide,” Lu Zheng said softly.

Ju Sheng, who was standing nearby, was shocked to hear this. "Suicide! This is suicide..."

A hint of unease flashed in Ju Sheng's eyes. If it were him, he would never have been able to disembowel himself, cut so many wounds on his body, and twist his limbs to commit suicide...

Lu Zheng said calmly, "To die with extreme pain and resentment is possible to become a vengeful ghost."

Lu Zheng turned to look at one spot and said, "So, can you tell me what happened?"

Following Lu Zheng's gaze, everyone noticed something unusual about a locust tree not far away.

Having been drawn to the mummified corpse, they now discovered that a ghost was hiding inside the locust tree.

The hidden ghosts, realizing they could no longer hide and were restricted by some force from escaping, had no choice but to reveal themselves.

The ghost said eerily, "You officials, you've found out quickly, arriving here so soon."

Ju Sheng couldn't help but ask, "Did you kill the priests here?"

The ghost grinned, its expression venomous, and chuckled sinisterly, "Yes, he brought it on himself. Haha, you gods all deserve to die..."

The ghost was laughing uncontrollably, and the laughter was extremely eerie.

Yang Wan and Ju Sheng frowned upon seeing this, but they couldn't bring themselves to make a move.

"I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. I thought he was dead and no one would take care of him for a while," the ghost said eerily.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng explained, "We didn't come here because of his matter. It's because this year's drought is so severe that we came to help alleviate the drought for the villagers here."

The ghost froze, disbelieving, and asked, "What did you say?"

Lu Zheng looked at Yang Wan, who was standing to the side.

Yang Wan understood immediately and helped explain, "These two are highly skilled individuals I invited. They can summon wind and rain, and they also have drought-resistant bean seeds. We came late at night to help the people..."

"As for the deity here, we came looking for him and found his statue damaged and his divinity gone, which is how we learned that something had happened to him. So what's going on with you? What grudge do you have against him?"

Upon hearing this explanation, the ghost's eyes flashed with a complex expression.

"Why didn't you come sooner? Everyone's dead, all of them are dead..."

"This year's drought has lasted so long, why..."

“He is God, he can clearly save us, we begged him so much, we gave him everything, but he still wouldn’t show himself to help us…”

The ghost's expression was ferocious. "I've begged so many times, but he hasn't responded at all. I know it. I know he's watching me from inside the temple!"

“Every year we can’t even feed ourselves, yet we still have to make offerings to him. The year before last, my wife died of illness, and this year my son died of fever, but he doesn’t care at all!”

“I know he’s in the temple, but I can’t see him. I don’t have that ability; I’m just an ordinary person.”

"So many people in the village died from the heat, and he didn't care about anything."

“I knew I was too weak, so I turned myself into a ghost, went to find him, and killed him.”

The ghost's gaze was incredibly cold, making Yang Wan and Ju Sheng feel a chill run down their spines.

The ghost grinned widely, seemingly quite pleased with itself.

"So, you gods are nothing special after all; you can beg for mercy too, and you're afraid of death too..."

(End of this chapter)