I am an insect

"Come on, I'll take you for a walk around the village. The people here are very friendly."

Old Qin warmly led Ji Ye outside. Ji Ye saw that he simply closed the door behind him, without locking it.

Seeing Ji Ye looking at the door, Old Qin chuckled and said, "The countryside is not like the city, where every household has a security door. We are a simple and honest people here, and it's fine if we don't lock our doors during the day."

Ji Ye nodded and hummed in agreement. When he arrived last night, it was late at night, and all the doors of every household were tightly closed. Now all the doors were open, and as soon as Old Qin stepped out, someone greeted him with a smile.

They weren't surprised to see Ji Ye; outsiders come to this village almost every day.

Most of the villagers Ji Ye saw were elderly; there were very few young people.

Ji Ye could understand. Most of the young people were willing to stay in the countryside, so they went out to study or work. Only the older generation who were used to living here remained.

After walking a few steps, he saw a Bagua pattern painted on the wall of a brick house. A banner hanging next to it read "Fortune telling, character divination, exorcism and rituals". Ahead, a short and fat man was making paper houses. Although his hands looked chubby, they were very nimble. Ji Ye saw that he was moving quickly and focused. Even when Lao Qin and Ji Ye came in front of him, he did not look up.

Ji Ye saw through the open door behind him that the room was filled with paper money and paper horses, paper figures, paper houses, and other items needed for funerals.

Suddenly, a thought struck him as he noticed a portrait of the City God hanging on the wall above the room.

It seems that the people of Mazhuang have a custom of worshipping the City God, and Old Qin is not the only one who hangs a portrait of the City God in his home.

Ji Ye looked up and saw a house with stone tablets and various stone carvings used in tombs displayed in front of it. A tall, thin middle-aged man was sitting on a long wooden bench by the door, smoking a cigarette.

"It seems that most of the things the people of Mazhuang do are related to the dead. No wonder they have the City God hanging in their homes."

Ji Ye knew that the current City God was a deity of the underworld, and in fact, the Black and White Impermanence in folk legends could only be considered as subordinate generals of the City God.

"Ma Wu." Old Qin greeted the tall, thin middle-aged man smoking a cigarette.

The tall, thin middle-aged man sat on the stool, looked up, and nodded at Old Qin.

"We need to hurry up with Old Li's tombstone; they need it the day after tomorrow."

Ma Wu said in a low voice, "Don't worry, it's almost finished."

Old Qin nodded and said nothing more, leading Ji Ye forward. Along the way, apart from the fortune-telling and exorcism business at the beginning, the other businesses that Ji Ye saw were basically related to the dead.

Although it was broad daylight, Ji Ye felt a strange sense of gloom as he walked on the blue brick path. When he reached the end of the path, he found a small temple that looked ancient and weathered.

"That's the City God Temple," Old Qin said, noticing Ji Ye's interest in the small temple from afar.

Ji Ye asked, "Do all the people of Ma Village believe in the City God?"

Ji Ye wasn't surprised to see a portrait of the City God hanging in their home before, and now he saw a City God Temple.

"Yes, not just in Mazhuang, but in all the surrounding villages, we all believe in the City God," Old Qin said with a smile.

Ji Ye observed that the City God Temple was not large, but from a distance he could see a clay statue of the City God inside. Although the temple looked somewhat dilapidated, it was filled with incense and candles in front of it, and the ground was covered with thick piles of black ash left from burning paper money, indicating that the temple was very popular.

Ji Ye followed Lao Qin and slowly approached the City God Temple. His eyes narrowed slightly. Ordinary people couldn't see it, but he could. The village was shrouded in a thick layer of spiritual energy. Now that he had entered, he was finally certain that the place with the densest spiritual energy was the City God Temple.

He thought of his encounter at the Vajra Wisdom Temple. The clay statue of Vajra Wisdom Bodhisattva at the Vajra Wisdom Temple had a special spiritual entity that had been faintly generated due to the accumulation of the faith power of believers over the years. Could it be that something similar had happened in the City God Temple in Mazhuang?

As he approached, Ji Ye saw that the dilapidated City God Temple was filled with flowing spiritual energy, resembling swirling smoke.

Old Qin arrived at the temple, knelt respectfully on the ground, bowed three times, and muttered incantations, hoping that the City God would bless Ma Village with good weather and abundant harvests, and that everyone would be safe and sound.

Ji Ye silently observed the statue of the City God in the temple. This was a seated statue of the City God, no more than two meters tall. It looked quite old, with the paint on the surface mostly faded and some places showing faint cracks. It was completely incomparable to the tall, magnificent, and brightly colored Buddha and Bodhisattva statues in the Vajra Wisdom Temple.

The entire City God Temple is only slightly larger than this statue; you won't see this inconspicuous City God Temple until you reach the end of this street.

As Ji Ye carefully observed, he could see a large amount of dense spiritual energy passing through the statue of the City God and converging around the statue and the temple. However, there was no insect-like spiritual entity that had been born inside the statue of the "Vajrabodhi Bodhisattva" that day. Ji Ye breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing whether he was relieved or somewhat disappointed.

"The City God has blessed our Ma Village with peace and safety all these years. You should also come and pray to the City God so that your injuries may heal soon." After Old Qin finished praying, he saw Ji Ye standing to the side and said.

Ji Ye hummed in agreement. Although he didn't think much of it, since Old Qin had spoken, he couldn't go against his wishes, so he bowed in agreement as well.

Unexpectedly, upon bowing, he saw that the spiritual energy swirling around the statue of the City God was showing signs of movement, with a portion of it converging towards his body.

This scene startled Ji Ye slightly, but he couldn't show anything in front of Lao Qin. He bowed three times to the statue of the City God in the temple and felt a lot of spiritual energy gathering around him. This energy did not enter his body, but it gently gathered around him, as if it was gently stroking him, making him feel a sense of peace and tranquility.

After finishing his prayers, Ji Ye looked up at the dilapidated statue of the City God in front of him and felt a strange sensation in his heart. It seemed that although the statue of the City God did not produce a mental entity similar to an adult insect, it had other mysteries. No wonder these villagers believed in the City God so much; it was probably related to the special nature of this City God Temple.

Just then, the sound of crying came from a distance behind him. Ji Ye immediately turned around and looked into the distance, and saw that a lot of people had gathered on the other side of the street, and the crying was coming from there.