Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 560 The Lord of War Bestows Blessings
On this day, the county soldiers, just like the previous two days, practiced their skills on the drill ground, sweating profusely.

Although they had expelled the chaotic and foul air from their bodies, they still dared not let their guard down. Knowing that sweating during practice helps with detoxification, they had been practicing very diligently for the past two days.

Hei Yun ran many laps around the training ground, working up a good sweat. He came to a pile of wine jars on one side of the training ground, searched around, found a jar with some wine left, picked it up, and drank it all in a few gulps.

Hei Yun licked his lips, looking like he hadn't had enough, and was about to find another jar of leftover wine when he suddenly heard a voice calling from the training ground: "Where are Shang Lu, Gongshu Ling, and Lü Yang?"

The sudden sound startled the soldiers on the drill ground.

There were no outsiders in the drill ground, and these county soldiers dared not call Shang Lu and the other two by their names, so where did the voice come from?
After searching for a while, the group soon spotted a mouse.

This rat wasn't afraid of people at all. It just stood on the training ground and opened its mouth to shout, much like a screaming groundhog.

But it spoke in human language.

"monster?"

The county soldiers, curious and speculating, surrounded the enemy but did not make any rash moves.

The rat knew the names of Shang Lu and the other two, and the county soldiers were unsure whether it was friend or foe, so they surrounded it and waited for Shang Lu and the other two to arrive before making a decision.

Shang Lu was practicing the Five Organs Elixir Offering Technique in his room when he heard the commotion on the training ground. He immediately stopped practicing and flashed to the training ground.

Upon seeing the rats, Shang Lu immediately waved for the county soldiers to disperse.

"Our own people... no, our own rats. All of you, stop crowding around and go do what you were doing."

He then bowed to the rat with his hands clasped and said, "This humble servant greets the Imperial Inspector. May I ask what your orders are?"

This rat is the one that the mouse plucked from the hair of the mouse on a hunting expedition.

Shang Lu was able to recognize it at a glance, not only because the rat looked human and could talk, nor only because he could see the aura of a hunting rat on it through his spiritual insight.

There is another, even more important factor: like the hunting mouse, this mouse has sparse hair. The hair on its head is noticeably less than elsewhere, showing signs of baldness.

Bald-tailed mice are common, but bald-headed mice are quite rare.

"It's been a few days, and the inspector's hair has thinned again... It seems that investigating the Chu army's forbidden area has caused him considerable losses," Shang Lu muttered to himself.

At the same time, Gongshu Ling and Lü Yang also heard the call and came out of the temporary workshop shrouded in gray fog.

Gongshu Ling looked much the same as before, while Lü Yang looked haggard and exhausted, as if his body had been completely drained.

Seeing that the three had all arrived, the standing rat ordered, "Go to the ancestral hall quickly!"

He paused, then added, "Only the three of you go. The rest of you stay in the barracks. No one may leave without orders."

"Yes!"

"Leader!"

Shang Lu, Gongshu Ling, and Lü Yang all clasped their hands in response.

After delivering the order, the bald rat immediately burrowed away, and only then did everyone see that it had actually dug a hole in the drill ground.

Although the Rat's patrol didn't specify what they were supposed to do at the ancestral hall, Shang Lu, Gongshu Ling, and Lü Yang could all guess what it was all about.

Gongshu Ling immediately ordered his puppets to dismantle the temporary workshop and prepare to move—all the equipment in the temporary workshop was detachable, designed for convenient mobile office use.

Upon receiving the order, the mechanical puppets immediately sprang into action, moving like ants.

Seeing this, Lü Yang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't have to be a guinea pig! If he had a choice, he would rather fight to the death against a powerful enemy!

Shang Lu then called Huai Shu, Zhu Quan, and Zhuang Fan to his side and gave them some instructions, telling them to lead the county soldiers in intensified training in the barracks and not to slack off.

Uncle Huai, Zhu Quan, and Zhuang Fan all bowed and accepted the order.

Black Cloud, reeking of alcohol, approached Shang Lu, wanting him to take it along. The smell of alcohol was truly overwhelming, so Shang Lu slapped its head away, saying, "Didn't you hear what Zi Shu said about the patrol? Only the three of us are allowed to go. You'd better stay in the barracks."

He then turned to Uncle Huai and said, "Get this fellow trained, don't let it sit idle!"

Uncle Huai agreed and immediately came over to take Black Cloud away for training... no, I mean, to drill him.

Once Shang Lu had made the arrangements, the mechanical puppets under Gongshu Ling's command had also dismantled the temporary workshop, and everything was stored in a spatial artifact shaped like a jade pendant.

Even the mechanical puppets eventually climbed inside, leaving behind only a set of witch armor and Lü Yang's sword case.

Gongshu Ling pointed to the witch armor and said to Shang Lu, "The witch armor has been modified, but the witch bone staff and the Gu armor have not been properly repaired yet. I will give them to you after they are repaired."

"Where are my flying swords? Are they all modified?" Lu Yang asked anxiously.

In the past two days, he has been either assisting Gongshuling in processing materials or testing the witch armor in the temporary workshop, and he is unaware of the progress of the flying sword modification.

"Of the seven swords, two have been modified," Gongshu Ling said. "The Yin-Yang Twin Swords have been modified, but the Five Elements Sword hasn't been modified yet. We'll have to wait until we get back from this mission."

"It's good to have two repaired ones." Lü Yang patted the sword box, summoned the Yin-Yang Twin Swords, and saw the shimmering light on them. He immediately smiled with satisfaction, feeling that all the suffering and hardship he had endured these past few days had been worth it.

Gongshu Ling told him, "The Yin-Yang Twin Swords haven't been tested yet. While you're using them, make a note of any problems you encounter and tell me when you get back."

“No problem.” Lü Yang nodded repeatedly.

While they were talking, Shang Lu found the box that had previously contained the witch armor, put it inside, and carried it on his back.

"Have you always carried this kind of witch armor before?"

Gongshu Ling frowned as he looked at it: "Why not just wear it on your body? Or let it follow you on its own."

"Wouldn't that give us away?" Shang Lu chuckled. "If I carry it like this, even if the enemy guesses that there's a suit of armor inside the box, they won't expect it to move on its own. It might even be able to catch them off guard."

Lu Yang clicked his tongue and commented, "Junior Brother Shang, you really are like someone digging coal under a yellow horn tree."

Shang Lu frowned, puzzled, and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

“So dark it’s almost black!” Lü Yang said.

"Yin Dao Hei Shang Lu Zhi" means to do something bad behind someone's back. But he didn't understand what this had to do with digging coal at the foot of the yellow horn tree. What kind of proverb was this?

Gongshu Ling ignored the two bickering. The red light on her witch armor mask flickered, as if reminded by Lü Yang's words, and she had some new ideas about witch armor.

After the three of them finished packing, they left the barracks. Although they didn't know where the shrine was, it didn't stump them.

They soon found a patrolling military judge on the street, asked for the address of the shrine, and hurried there.

When we arrived at the ancestral hall, we found that it was much larger than the local shaman temples.

The deities enshrined in local shamanic temples are either Heaven and Earth, or mountain gods, river gods, and grain gods. However, in military fortresses like Xingshan Military Town, only one deity is ever enshrined—Chiyou, the God of War.

When Shang Lu and his two companions arrived at the sacrificial hall, they did not see the Grand Master, the Rat Hunting, or the others.

They were peeking around, looking for someone to ask, when they suddenly heard someone calling them:

"Shang Wuchang, you're here too... Oh, isn't this Inspector Lü? What brings you here as well?"

Shang Lu and Lü Yang looked in the direction of the sound and saw Xu Zhen, a burly man they had met once before, carrying the Judge of the Underworld with a black cloth covering his eyes as he walked over.

Behind him followed Cheng Ren, the Listener with enormous ears.

However, the other three members of their team were not seen.

"So it's Senior Brother Xu." Shang Lu greeted Xu Zhen with a cupped-hand salute, and then smiled as he greeted Pan Yintong and Cheng Ren.

Although the eyes of the Judge of the Underworld were covered with a black cloth, he could clearly perceive what was happening in the outside world. Sitting on Xu Zhen's shoulder, he earnestly returned Shang Lu's greeting.

Cheng Ren chuckled and said, "Shang Wuchang, I heard that some ignorant military officers tried to steal your credit?"

Shang Lu replied, "You all know this? It's true what they say, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast."

"This isn't a bad thing, it's a good thing, a great thing!" Cheng Ren laughed heartily, then glanced at Lü Yang and reminded him, "Shang Wuchang, we can't bring outsiders on this mission..."

"Who is the outsider?"

Lu Yang lifted his robe, revealing the Impermanence Token: "I am also a Impermanence Guard!"

Cheng Ren is the Listener, the best at distinguishing truth from lies.

His large ears twitched twice, and he immediately realized that Lü Yang was not lying. After a moment of surprise, he cupped his hands in congratulations: "So Brother Lü has also joined the Wuchang Guard. Congratulations! From now on, we are on the same side. I hope Brother Lü will not take offense at what I just said."

Xu Zhen also offered his congratulations, saying that Lü Yang had joined the Wei Wu and become their brother.

Then he called everyone to go to the backyard.

"Why are you standing here? The sacrificial ceremony to Chiyou before the expedition was held in front of the Jiuli Divine Pillar in the backyard."

"The Rat's patrol only sent a message telling us to come to the ancestral hall, but didn't tell us exactly where to meet. We were just about to ask someone," Shang Lu said with a smile, and then he, Lü Yang, and Gongshu Ling followed Xu Zhen and the other two to the backyard.

On the way, he asked, "Didn't you have three more brothers? Why didn't they come?"

“They have other duties and are not participating in this mission,” Xu Zhen replied.

Shang Lu didn't ask what the other tasks were, but he could guess that they were mostly about purging internal cancers.

The Judge of Yin Child, perched on Xu Zhen's shoulder, suddenly turned around and looked at Gongshu Ling, who had remained silent, asking warily, "Who is she? Is she also a Wuchang Guardian?"

Shang Lu nodded and introduced, "That's right, this is Gongshu Ling from our Baiyi County Witchcraft Academy. He joined the Wuchang Guard even earlier than me."

Xu Zhen and Cheng Ren were stunned for a moment, and looked at Gongshu Ling, who was dressed in witch armor, with surprise and astonishment in their eyes.

They still thought that Gongshu Ling was just an ordinary witch's armor.

Previously, when they encountered Shang Lu and Lü Yang in the valley, they had seen Shang Lu's witch armor, which was able to move and walk, so they didn't think much of it.

As a result, the blindfolded judge actually "saw" more clearly than the two sighted people.

After listening to Shang Lu's introduction, Gongshu Ling remained silent. He simply opened the shell on his stomach, took out the Impermanence Token, and showed it to Xu Zhen, Cheng Ren, and the Judge of Yin.

“It is indeed the Decree of Impermanence,” said Cheng Ren, the Listener.

Upon hearing this, the Judge of the Underworld bowed to Gongshu Ling and said no more.

Xu Zhen then remembered something.

"Baiyi County, Gongshu Ling... Could it be that evil... cough cough, that Gongshu family disciple who abandoned his physical body to transform himself into a witch treasure?"

Xu Zhenxin was outspoken and almost let slip twice, making her very embarrassed. She wished she could slap herself.

“That’s right, I am the abandoned son of the Gongshu family that you mentioned,” Gongshu Ling replied.

Her tone was very calm, and since Wu Jia had no facial features or expression, Xu Zhen couldn't tell if she was angry or not.

Xu Zhen could only awkwardly apologize: "Gongshu Wuchang, please don't be angry. I didn't mean any harm. I've just heard some stories about you and I admire you very much... um... very much. Now that I see you are exactly as the legends say, I couldn't help but ask. If I have offended you, please forgive me."

“There’s nothing offensive about it. You’re just telling the truth. Why would I be angry?” Gongshu Ling shook his head, his tone remaining calm and unchanged.

But in the end, she couldn't help but preach: "Since you admire me so much, why not abandon your physical body and ascend to heaven with me mechanically?"

"No, no."

Xu Zhen quickly waved his hand, "I'm not married yet, and I don't have any children, so it's really not appropriate for me to follow Gongshu Wuchang. Let's wait until later, when there's another opportunity..."

"Row."

Gongshu Ling nodded in agreement.

Just as Xu Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had gotten away with it, he heard her say, "I'll ask you again when you die in battle."

"Ah? This..."

Xu Zhen was speechless and extremely embarrassed.

He really wanted to ask Gongshu Ling: You've cursed me, yet you say you're not angry?
The Yin Child, riding on Xu Zhen's shoulders, was amused and burst out laughing.

However, she quickly realized her mistake, suppressed her smile, and reverted to her previous cold and aloof demeanor.

The six of them soon arrived at the backyard and met Zi Shu, Mao Tu Xun Shou, and others—they were standing around a towering stone pillar.

At the top of this stone pillar, there is a carving resembling a bull's horn.

Beneath the ox horns, each layer of the stone pillar is engraved with different gods and demons.

As a Nuo shaman, Shang Lu recognized these statues at a glance as gods and demons under Chi You's command, such as Feng Bo, Yu Shi, Shen Tu, and Yu Lei.

Shang Lu searched carefully but couldn't find any panda-like figures on the Jiuli Heavenly Pillar. He guessed that the mount wasn't carved on the pillar.

However, he discovered a faint chaotic divinity on this stone pillar, indicating that it was truly a treasure, rather than a stone pillar carved by an ordinary craftsman.

When the rat on patrol spotted the three, it immediately mouthed to them, "Come here quickly, the sacrifice is about to begin."

The Rabbit on patrol also waved to Xu Zhen and the other two.

Shang Lu and the others quickly went over and stood solemnly behind the two patrolling figures, Zi Shu and Mao Tu.

Then they saw the war god Li Xuan personally set up an altar, chanting incantations to urge the rituals to be performed before the expedition, asking the war god Chi You to descend and bestow blessings so that everyone could return safely from this journey.

After Shang Lu and his group stood there for a while, several more teams of guards arrived one after another.

Aside from a few on patrol, there were also twenty or thirty people.

Li Xuan's ceremony came to an end at this moment.

He picked up the Chi You flag from the altar, bit his tongue, spat out a mouthful of blood onto it, and waved the flag, shouting, "With the blessing of the Lord of War, we are invincible!"

"Invincible!" the crowd responded in unison.

"Om-"

A beam of red light suddenly erupted from the Nine Li Heavenly Pillar, enveloping everyone present.

In a daze, everyone heard a voice roaring in their ears.

The sound quickly transformed into rapid war drums, fierce battle cries, the clash of weapons, and the thunder of galloping horses...

The crowd became excited, feeling their energy, magical power, and other vital energies surge to their peak in that instant.

Each one of them was full of fighting spirit and their will to fight was soaring.

They couldn't wait to charge into the enemy lines and wreak havoc!
(Happy Dragon Boat Festival! I saw that many dragon boats capsized... It's a pity there are no dragon boats to see here. Are you all eating meat-filled or sweet zongzi today?)
(End of this chapter)