I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

Just as Zhong Yingmei was at her wit's end, Daoist Changdeng stepped forward, stroking his beard, and said with a smile, "Captain Zhong, in my opinion, there's no need to stop her."

Zhong Yingmei raised an eyebrow: "What are your insights, Daoist Master?"

"First, Guiling City is indeed much more peaceful now."

Master Changdeng said with certainty, "Last night I went to the mass graves and abandoned hospitals on the outskirts of the city, places with heavy yin energy. I didn't find a single yin energy cluster, let alone any evil spirits. This must be the work of that lord."

"Secondly, forcibly stopping them will only incite public resentment, and we will suffer more losses than gains."

He paused, then changed the subject, "Third, and most importantly, have you ever considered that the old temple keeper might actually be able to invoke the gods?"

"You mean... the underworld?"

Zhong Yingmei suddenly stood up, her eyes lighting up. She had been searching frantically for the Underworld, and this was a golden opportunity delivered right to her doorstep!

"The City God is a mid-level official in the underworld, and the 'Eighth-Rank Yin-Yang Official' he wants to invite is the City God's right-hand man."

Master Changdeng recounted the story with great familiarity: "Old Tiantou has been the temple guardian for seven generations. His piety and experience are enough to qualify him to 'invite the gods'."

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke: "The citizens think it's just a spectacle, but we know the underworld is real! If the Underworld Official really does descend, we'll have a channel to communicate with it, which is more important than anything else!"

Zhong Yingmei was instantly enlightened and slammed her hand on the table: "Alright! We'll do as the Taoist priest says! Tonight, everyone will go to Dongcheng in plain clothes, firstly to protect the public, and secondly to witness the invocation ceremony!"

Her eyes turned cold as she added, "And that Fiery Gang should be dealt with too. They even bully elderly people living alone. These scumbags are only a menace. If we can't deal with evil spirits, can't we at least deal with a bunch of thugs?"

As soon as night fell, Dongcheng District was packed with people, so crowded that it was impossible to move.

A rough estimate suggests that tens of thousands of people have come!

Nearby residents, finding it too crowded, simply brought small stools to sit on their balconies and watched the spectacle through binoculars, making it even more lively than the Lunar New Year.

This City God Temple, which had been dilapidated for decades, surprisingly exuded an aura of "holy land" under the gaze of tens of thousands of people.

The last time it was this lively was two or three hundred years ago.

Inside the City God Temple, only an oil lamp flickered, and Old Tian was making final preparations.

Wu Yuanying held up a selfie stick, pointed the camera at the temple gate, but her little mouth was pouting so much that an oil bottle could hang from it.

There was a bunch of cameras and microphones all around, and a row of self-media anchors trying to ride the wave of popularity!

"Damn Zhong Jiu! He stood me up again!"

She grumbled angrily, "Ten minutes have passed since the agreed time, and there's still no sign of him."

The viewers in the live stream were laughing so hard they were doubled over.

"Hahaha, Wu Xiaoge has been caught in a chain of pigeon attacks! This is karma!"

"It's fun to stand someone up for a while, and it's even more fun to keep standing people up. Chung Kau has mastered the essence of this!"

"It is recommended that the 'Guiling City Pigeon King' trophy be awarded, as the two pigeons are tied for first place!"

Wu Yuanying grew angrier the more she looked at him, cursing Zhong Jiu in her heart a hundred times over for being a "steel straight man." She was a nine-point+ beauty, and anyone else would have been at her beck and call. But Zhong Jiu just stood her up without even a word of explanation.

Despite her anger, she felt a little uneasy because Zhong Jiu hadn't come. Could Old Tian really summon a deity?

With so many people watching, if we can't get them to come, the old man will lose all face.

The crowd's patience gradually wore thin, and the complaints grew louder.

"What's going on? Why have we waited so long? This is a small place with a big reputation!"

"I think they're just feeling guilty; the summoning of gods is just a gimmick!"

"Stop wasting time, get started! We're waiting to see you fail!"

Zhong Yingmei, mingling in the crowd, frowned and nudged the Taoist priest beside her with a long lantern: "Taoist priest, do you think the old temple keeper can really summon gods?"

"According to the rules, he is qualified."

Master Changdeng's gaze was firm. "The gods will not turn a blind eye to the incense offerings of seven generations of temple keeper. But we mortals cannot fathom the thoughts of the gods; we can only wait."

"Then tell me, what exactly are gods like?"

Zhong Yingmei pressed for details, saying that she had only ever seen evil spirits and had never seen a real god.

"Gods possess all-encompassing power, but they do not abuse it."

Master Changdeng explained, "The laws of the underworld are even stricter than those of the human world. If a deity misuses his power to cause harm, he will be demoted at best, and stripped of his divine position and cast into the cycle of reincarnation at worst. No one dares to take that risk."

He paused, then threw out a startling point: "Moreover, many gods are 'transformed from humans,' so they may not be that far removed from us."

"Transformed from a human?"

Zhong Yingmei's eyes widened. "You mean someone like Zhong Kui?"

"Exactly!"

Master Changdeng's eyes were filled with longing. "Legend has it that Zhong Kui passed the imperial examination with top honors, but was disqualified by the emperor because of his ugly appearance. In a fit of anger, he committed suicide by crashing into the Golden Palace. After his death, he had accumulated great merit and was summoned by the underworld to become a god, specializing in catching ghosts and punishing evil. This is a model of 'humans becoming gods'."

"Speaking of Zhong Kui, I think my family still has a portrait of Zhong Kui in our collection. It is said to have been passed down from our ancestors, so I can be considered a descendant of the Zhong family."

Zhong Yingmei seemed to be deep in thought.

"Zhong Kui isn't an exception, he's the norm!"

The Taoist priest stroked his beard, his voice resounding, "Positions like the Earth God and the City God, aside from deities descended from the underworld, are mostly held by local people who have accumulated good deeds after death!"

He paused, then continued his explanation: "Even gods who descend from the heavens have to consult the 'List of Virtuous Deeds' when selecting subordinates, choosing those who did good deeds in their lifetime as their officials. There's an even more powerful method: imperial bestowal! In ancient times, to reward meritorious officials, emperors would petition the underworld during sacrifices, requesting that their ministers be granted divine positions. The underworld would generally grant the emperor this favor."

"Who knows, many of the kings and generals we know so well might be serving in the underworld!"

These words were like opening the door to a new world, leaving Zhong Yingmei speechless.

Her aversion and wariness towards the underworld vanished instantly. It turned out that the human world and the underworld had long been connected, and those gods might have been the "good people" of the mortal world in the past.

While she was engrossed in listening, the crowd had already erupted in chaos:

"Are we going to start or not? If we wait any longer, my child will start crying for their mother!"

"Forget it, I think it's just a gimmick. I must be out of my mind to actually believe someone can summon gods!"

"Let's go, let's go! Watching short videos at home is better than standing here!"

Complaints rose and fell, and many people turned and left.

Wu Yuanying glanced at the live stream; the number of viewers had dropped significantly, and the chat was full of impatient comments: "Little Yingzi, turn the camera around! Watching an old man draw talismans is not as good as watching you dance!"

"I've been tricked by a ghost, I'm out of here. Tag me if anything comes up!"

Just then, with a creak, the wooden door of the City God Temple slowly opened.

Old Tian came out, wearing a faded yet spotless Taoist robe with frayed cuffs, yet exuding an indescribable solemnity.

He ignored the commotion around him and slowly moved an old incense table over.

This is his "altar".

No one knew that he had already bathed, burned incense, and chanted scriptures in the temple for half an hour before daring to come out.

He dared not deviate even slightly from the rules passed down through seven generations.

With the incense table set up, Old Tian's eyes became incredibly calm, as if the surrounding clamor had nothing to do with him.

He first bowed to the incense table, silently recited a passage of scripture, and then placed the prepared items one by one: a bronze incense burner, red candlesticks, a ceramic incense burner, an ever-burning oil lamp, a fruit plate filled with fruit, and a vase with dried flowers.

Next came the ritual implements: a whisk, a red brush, yellow paper, a petition, and even a yellowed copy of the Daoist scripture, all neatly arranged.

Every movement was slow and steady, as if they were carrying out an extremely sacred mission.

After doing all this, Old Tian took a deep breath, his eyes brimming with excitement, but even more so with a do-or-die determination.

Success or failure hinges on this!

He placed the whisk horizontally on his elbow, slowly closed his eyes, and began chanting obscure scriptures.

The voice was not loud, but each word was clear, like pearls falling on a jade plate, carrying a strange rhythm.

The originally noisy crowd was infected by this solemn atmosphere and gradually quieted down, even their coughs were subconsciously lowered.

All eyes were on Old Tian, ​​and even those who were about to leave stopped in their tracks.