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

Old Tian was completely absorbed in the moment, as if the whole world consisted only of him and the incense table in front of him.

Those scriptures that he had only recently learned from ancient books were now being recited fluently and without the slightest hesitation, as if they were already engraved in his bones and had been recited for thousands of years.

This thought lasted for a full half hour.

Those who initially remained calm gradually began to stir: "What's going on? Are they going to chant incantations forever?"

"My legs are numb from standing, if I don't do something soon I'm really leaving!"

Just as someone was about to explode, Old Tian suddenly opened his eyes!

He grabbed his whisk, dipped it in the bowl of water beside him, and with a flick of his wrist, the water exploded in the air like a shower of stars, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

"Wow! That's pretty good!"

"It's not just some kind of mystical act; it seems there's actually some skill involved!"

The complaints that were about to come out were swallowed back by everyone.

Old Tian put down his whisk, took out a piece of yellow paper and laid it on the incense table. He dipped his cinnabar brush in cinnabar and the tip of the brush moved swiftly across the paper, leaving behind twisted yet powerful lines. This was a talisman for invoking the gods.

The function of the talisman is simple: to deliver a "message" to the deity, informing them of its name and what it seeks.

If the gods wish to see you, they will naturally descend; if they do not wish to see you, then pretend you did not receive it.

Therefore, Old Tian was extremely careful when drawing, his hands were trembling slightly, for fear that he might make a mistake and displease the magistrate.

Another half hour passed, and the moon had climbed to the top of the sky.

The crowd's patience had completely worn thin, and sarcastic remarks rose and fell: "I thought there would be something big, but it's just watching an old man write calligraphy?"

"I'm so sleepy! This dilapidated temple should be torn down tomorrow!"

"Let's go, stop wasting our lives here!"

Many people left with yawns, but more chose to stay. Since they were already there, they felt they would be missing out if they didn't see it all the way through.

Finally, Old Tian put down his pen.

He put down his vermilion pen, his forehead covered in fine beads of cold sweat, and his face was somewhat pale.

Wu Yuanying, who was closest to the scene, saw it clearly and muttered to himself, "Just drawing a talisman, how come it's like running five kilometers? So much energy expenditure!"

She wanted to go over and wipe the old man's sweat, but felt she couldn't interrupt the ceremony, so she could only stand there anxiously stamping her feet.

The debate in the live stream room has reached a fever pitch:

"That's it? The talismans I drew in third grade were better than this!"

"Shut upstairs! Can't you see how serious the old man is? I think it has a chance!"

"I bet a bag of spicy strips, you definitely can't summon a god!"

Old Tian ignored the noise from the outside world. He carefully placed the talisman aside and lit three sticks of incense.

Holding the incense sticks in both hands, he bowed deeply and placed them steadily into the incense burner.

"The Way is learned through the heart, and the heart transmits it through incense. Incense burns in the jade censer, the heart is placed before the Emperor. The true spirits look down, the immortal banners descend upon the hall. The disciple's supplication reaches directly to the Nine Heavens!"

As the smoke curled upwards, Old Tian loudly uttered the "Incantation of Blessing Incense," his voice aged yet full of power.

After reciting the incantation, he suddenly grabbed the summoning talisman and threw it forcefully into the sky, shouting, "Go!"

This shout is filled with the perseverance and expectations of seven generations of his family. Success or failure depends entirely on this moment!

Old Tian has spent his whole life guarding this dilapidated temple, seeing his parents and only son pass away, and the people around him have come and gone, but he is still here.

Some people say he's stupid, that the gods are fake, and that he's wasting his life.

He also wondered in the dead of night: Do gods really exist? If they do, why have seven generations of people persevered without ever witnessing a single miracle?

But he always quelled these doubts. How could I question the City God?

But the shadow of doubt always lingered in my heart.

And today, if the gods descend, it will prove that his lifelong perseverance was not a joke!

Old Tian stared intently at the talisman in the air, his heart pounding in his chest.

boom!

Without any warning, the talisman suddenly burst into flames!

The orange flames instantly engulfed the talisman, but instead of falling like ordinary flames, they carried the talisman higher and higher, like a small sun.

"It's on fire! It's really on fire!"

Old Tian was trembling with excitement, tears welling up in his eyes. "Lord Gongcao heard me! He heard my voice!"

The crowd erupted in astonishment, staring wide-eyed at the sky:

"Holy crap! What kind of operation is this? How can the talisman fly up and burn by itself?"

"Magic? Or special effects? Can someone explain?"

"Could it be... that Old Tian really did summon a deity?"

Just then, a piercing mechanical roar rang out, drowning out the crowd's discussion.

Two enormous excavators rumbled in, their tracks grinding against the ground, making everyone's legs go numb. Nearly two hundred thugs, surrounding Mo Huolie, stormed in menacingly.

"Old man! Stop playing tricks on me!"

Mo Huolie, a cigarette dangling from his lips, pointed at Lao Tiantou and grinned maliciously, "Tonight I'll raze you and this dilapidated temple to the ground, and show you who's really the boss of Guiling City!"

He had already planned it all out: he'd been beaten up by Zhong Jiu during the day, so he had to get his face back that night!

He demolished the City God Temple in front of tens of thousands of people and crippled Old Tiantou. From now on, no one in Guiling City will dare to disrespect Mo Huolie!

"It's the Blazing Fire Gang! Mo Huolie has really come!"

"It's all over, Old Tian is in deep trouble now!"

The crowd instantly stirred, and many people retreated in fear. Mo Huolie's fearsome reputation was known to everyone in Guiling City, and even the local police were afraid of him.

How could Lao Tiantou, a lonely old man, possibly fight against this group of desperate thugs?

"Team leader, shall we begin?"

The special operations team members immediately asked for instructions over the walkie-talkie, their hands already reaching for the weapons at their waists.

"etc!"

Zhong Yingmei pressed her earpiece, her eyes fixed on the talisman in the air. Daoist Changdeng had just given her a wink, signaling her to wait a little longer.

Master Changdeng, his face flushed with excitement, pointed to the sky and exclaimed, "Look! The talisman is still burning!"

Mo Huolie was reminded by his younger brother and looked up at the sky. He was stunned. The palm-sized talisman had only burned halfway after burning for so long.

Moreover, the flames grew stronger and stronger, like a small sun, dyeing the surrounding clouds red. In the middle of the night, a spectacular sight of fiery clouds appeared!

A strange chill ran up from the soles of his feet, and Mo Huolie shivered, a bad premonition rising in his heart for the first time.

But relying on his superior numbers, he gritted his teeth and shouted, "You charlatan! Dig it up!"

But Old Tian ignored him completely, still immersed in the joy of the divine response.

With trembling hands, he took out a document from his sleeve, unfolded it, and proclaimed with all his might: "There is a man in Guiling City named Mo Huolie, who is thirty-six years old..."

"Is he talking about me?"

Mo Huolie was taken aback, and subconsciously touched his face. "Why did he say that about me?"

"This person has committed numerous crimes and offenses!"

Old Tian's voice suddenly rose, echoing through the night sky, "Ten years ago, he colluded with unscrupulous businessmen to forcibly demolish a family's house, leaving a family of three homeless; eight years ago, he extorted money from a small business owner, driving the owner to commit suicide by jumping off a building; three years ago, he assaulted a passerby while drunk, severely injuring him, and then bribed his way out of trouble..."

One by one, these were all dirty deeds committed by Mo Huolie.

These things had already spread among the common people. Old Tian could easily find out the details by asking a few old neighbors, and he wrote it all down in his report.

"Stop reading! Shut the hell up!"

Mo Huolie roared like a stray dog ​​whose tail had been stepped on. His face was red and his neck was thick, making him look fierce, but his clenched fists and trembling legs had already revealed his cowardly nature.

In the past, if anyone dared to mention his dark history, he would just pat his chest and boast, "These are all my glorious achievements." But today, Old Tian's straightforward recitation was like a dull knife, cutting through his disguise.

It was like being stripped naked and thrown into a market, with every dirty thing he did clearly visible to everyone. The unprecedented sense of guilt almost drove him crazy.