The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 41 is the same

But the woman did not leave; instead, she asked cautiously:

"Master, what do you think should be done with the corpse of that demon?"

Du Yuan recalled the evil aura on the demon wolf that was even more exaggerated than that of the demon python, as well as the pure aura that he had never seen. He wanted to say that it needed to be cremated immediately, and that he had to handle it personally.

But then that voice came back to my ears:

'look'

Du Yuan looked up and saw that a large patch of black mist was rising from what was probably the place where she had killed that monster, and then it quickly dissipated into the world.

It was as if something was being burned and dissipated.

Therefore, Du Yuan smiled and said:
"No need to worry."

Finally, Du Yuan didn't forget to say to the expectant guard leader:
"Of course, you can go and retrieve your lance."

"Oh, thank you so much, Daoist Master! Thank you so much, Daoist Master!"

The guard leader was overjoyed. That thing was his prized possession, and now that the Taoist priest had used it to slay the evil spirit, he naturally cherished it even more.

After the woman and her party left the temple.

Du Yuan also leaned against the altar to rest.

As dawn broke, the two men, who had slept all night, woke up almost simultaneously.

When they woke up, they were all moving their bodies in an incredible way.

Sleeping in a place like this should make you feel uncomfortable, but why do I feel refreshed?
"woke up?"

Seeing that they had woken up, Du Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged beside the altar, asked them with a smile.

The two looked over at the sound, about to reply, but their faces were full of confusion.

There were so many people last night!
"They left earlier, so it's just the three of us here."

The two nodded in understanding, but still felt that something was wrong.

With so many people moving around, how come they didn't wake up?

"No need to overthink it, we just met by chance."

The two men thought about it and nodded in agreement.

“That’s right, then, Taoist priest, we’ll be taking our leave now.”

Please make yourself at home. But don't be startled by the doorway.

"Haha, Taoist priest, you're joking. At the door... my goodness, what is this?!"

But when the two men reached the door, their eyes widened immediately.

Arrows lay scattered across the ground, crooked and broken. Several spiderweb-like cracks remained in the open space in front of the temple, and a few horse carcasses lay forlornly not far away.

"Don't be afraid, it's all taken care of!"

Du Yuan stayed behind because she was afraid that the two of them would be frightened and at a loss when they woke up.

"Master, this...this!"

Du Yuan said it was resolved, but how can such a thing be accepted in a short time?

So both men looked at Du Yuan with trembling eyes.

But in that one glance, the two men precisely captured the strange scene that even the woman and the many guards had not noticed before.

"Taoist Master, could that be the incense you offered last night?"

Inside the incense burner, there were still a few sticks of burnt incense. Logically, they shouldn't have noticed them, but they did.

This made Du Yuan turn around and glance at her incense stick, which was still burning and hadn't gone down at all.

"Exactly."

The two men looked at each other in disbelief. After a moment, the timid man exclaimed to Du Yuan in surprise, something she hadn't expected:

"Master, we slept so well and soundly last night. Did something terrible happen last night? But because you told us to offer incense to the Mountain God, the Mountain God appeared to us and we had a peaceful night?"

Du Yuan looked at the man in surprise and laughed:

"Indeed!" These two men, worthy of being the first to offer incense even before Han Tang of the Han family, truly possessed good fortune and wisdom.

Upon hearing that this was true, the two men hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly before the broken statue.

Du Yuan quickly stepped aside to avoid being implicated.

The Han family's success was due to the contributions of both themselves and this other person, while these two had little to do with themselves.

This courtesy is unacceptable.

What amused Du Yuan was that after the other party saw Du Yuan move aside, he turned around and worshipped the mountain god, and then worshipped him.

"If you don't offer us guidance, how can we possibly accept the Mountain God's favor!"

Upon hearing this, Du Yuan stopped avoiding the statue and simply stood beside it.

After a round of kneeling and bowing, Du Yuan thought it would end there, but then he heard the two men whisper and ponder for a while before saying to him:
"Master, we've discussed it and we'd like to build a temple for the Mountain God."

"Yes, yes, yes, the mountain god has shown his power and protected us both. We must repay him!"

Du Yuan looked at them with increasing surprise and said:

"You two also want to build a temple for this person?"

The two men scratched their heads sheepishly and said:

"Hehe, the two of us definitely can't make it, but we plan to go back to the village and call everyone here. First, to repay the kindness of the Mountain God, and second, to let everyone in the village pay their respects to the Mountain God so they can sleep more soundly at night!"

"Yes, yes, yes, this is a great thing, how could we forget our fellow villagers!"

After hearing this, Du Yuan first looked around at the two of them with a sigh, and then looked towards Qingzhou amidst their confusion.

After marveling at it several times, they saw Du Yuan turn around and bow to the dilapidated statue of the Mountain God, asking:
"how?"

'good'

Du Yuan stopped and pointed at the two of them with a smile, saying:
"The Mountain God has agreed. However, building a temple for the Mountain God and praying for blessings is a major event, and you must be sincere. Would you two be willing to measure this mountain with your own feet first?"

Both of them nodded rapidly, like chickens pecking at rice.

"Of course, of course!"

Du Yuan laughed loudly with his hands behind his back:
"Then go!"

The two men left in great joy.

After watching the last two people leave, Du Yuan turned back to look at the broken statue and said:
"In that case, I shall stay and keep you company. I just don't know who will arrive first."

The sound did not come again; only the gentle breeze outside the temple seemed to laugh from the mountain.

After feeling the gentle breeze on her face for a long time, Du Yuan couldn't help but ask the statue behind her a question:
"No matter how you look at it, the Han family's lineage will be more numerous and better than that of a small mountain village. Is that really possible?"

While the Han family is unlikely to give up, the difference between the two sides will be significant.

The voice finally rang in Du Yuan's ears again:

'They're all the same'

Hey, this time there's one more word.

It seems that this person's condition has improved considerably.

But are they all the same?

After bowing her head and giving a self-deprecating smile, Du Yuan bowed deeply to the broken statue and said:

"You've become attached to appearances; I've learned something."

The wind outside the temple blew even louder, sounding like someone covering their mouth and laughing.

No matter how the wind blows, the single incense stick in the incense burner remains burning brightly, with wisps of smoke rising straight up.

One god and one human are quietly waiting here to see which one will arrive first.

Is it the prestigious Han family of Yidu, or an unknown, remote mountain village?

Du Yuan felt she had done what she should have done, so in the end, it was up to their own fate and choices.

(End of this chapter)