In ancient times, they secretly became gods in the deep mountains.

Chapter 58 Gu Yuexi goes into seclusion to refine the evil energy.
Within the Golden Sacred Palace, the spiritual energy is vast.

Gu Yuexi sat cross-legged in the head seat.

The malevolent energy and the ghostly energy clashed within her dantian, like two trapped beasts frantically ramming against their cage. A slight stinging sensation ran through her dantian. Gu Yuexi used her spiritual power to disperse the two energies, gradually refining the malevolent energy and the ghostly energy.

All laws share the same origin, and all energies share the same source.

What would destroy the foundation of other cultivators, ghost energy and evil energy, were as pure as spiritual energy to her. Refining ghost energy and evil energy could also replenish the spiritual energy in her body.

The prerequisite is that she needs to remove the blood energy from the ghostly and malevolent energy, a process that will likely take a considerable amount of time. Therefore, she decided to go into seclusion for over a month.

While refining the ghostly and malevolent energy, she took out her cultivation techniques, the "Netherwater Manual" and the "Wood Spirit Scripture," to practice.

Both techniques are currently at the third level.

She devoted herself to spiritual practice, detached from worldly affairs.

The people of Ping'an Town were given a new life because of her; their joy of rebirth and excitement at encountering God were beyond words.

For a long time, the townspeople talked about the mysterious Golden Saintess.

"So there really are gods in this world!" everyone exclaimed.

"The goddess even saved us! We had never heard of her before. We never expected that she would appear out of nowhere to save us when the people of the town were going through the most difficult time!"

"Golden Saintess is our lucky charm. It is because of her that our Ping'an Town has not become a ghost town."

The people swore that they would worship the goddess for generations to come.

After the crisis in Ping'an Town was resolved, Gu Yuexi returned to Jin Sheng Shen Que to cultivate, while Huowa and Shuiwa went to Xiping County and went straight to the magistrate's mansion.

"Why have you two celestial attendants come?"

He Jinzong is currently busy with the survival issues of the people in the county. Those who need to farm are farming, and those who need to do business are doing business. He doesn't expect to restore the prosperity before the drought, but at least he wants to ensure that the people don't go hungry. He is so busy that his feet barely touch the ground.

His daughter also woke up. She originally planned to lead the whole family to worship the Golden Goddess in a couple of days, but Luo Yousong said that the matter of casting a statue for the goddess was urgent and asked him to solve the people's survival problem first before discussing the statue with him.

Once the statue was completed, he led the people of the county to worship the goddess and pray for her blessing on Xiping County so that there would be good weather and abundant harvests.

He Jinzong was somewhat surprised to see the two celestial children arrive.

"Immortal Child, does Her Majesty have any instructions?"

Shuiwa said to him, "Your Excellency, a plague broke out in Ping'an Town, where Qingchan Temple is located, not long ago. Have you heard about it?"

"What!" He Jinzong was shocked and hurriedly asked, "Why didn't I receive any news? Did the court send anyone to rescue them?"

Ping'an Town is a small town, not as big as Yunwu Town, but it is still within Xiping County and is under his jurisdiction as the county magistrate. Originally, someone should have informed him of this matter! Why has no one mentioned it?
He Jinzong said anxiously, "This humble official will immediately dispatch men... No! This humble official will personally go to Ping'an Town, hoping that the people are safe and sound."

As a local official, he cared deeply about the suffering people.

"Don't worry, after the Empress finished dealing with the Qingchan Temple matter, she also rescued the people of Ping'an Town. Although the epidemic took many lives, fortunately, the rescue was timely and the remaining people's lives were saved." Huowa explained the situation in Ping'an Town.

He Jinzong was deeply moved: "Your Majesty is so compassionate and merciful, you have saved us from suffering!"

"The Empress has instructed you to take charge of resolving the resettlement of the people, and remember to bring plenty of grain," Shuiwa explained his purpose.

He Jinzong nodded solemnly: "I understand. I will send people to deliver disaster relief supplies immediately, and I will make sure that the people do not go hungry."

After three years of drought, Xiping County still has some surplus grain, which was originally intended for emergency use. Now that planting is halfway done, they will have fresh grain after the autumn harvest.

These emergency supplies were first transported to Ping'an Town.

"Two celestial children, do you know how many people are left in Ping'an Town?" If there are many people, there really isn't enough food.

We could only give them some wild vegetables to fill their stomachs.

Huowa said, "Less than five hundred!"

This is a heartbreaking number.

He Jinzong stood there blankly, then suddenly shook his head and sighed, his eyes reddening: "There is enough food." He felt no relief whatsoever.

He was just sad.

Why is life so difficult?

Suddenly, a question came to his mind.

Although Ping'an Town had fewer residents than Yunwu Town, it had over 100,000 people before the drought. During the three years of drought, he frequently sent people to record the number of survivors, and each time a large number of people would be missing, but something always seemed off.

Why...why has it decreased to such a degree?
He had a bad feeling: "Immortal Child, could you please enlighten me? Why has the population of Ping'an Town decreased so drastically?"

"Last year, I remember there were more than 50,000 people."

Why did it grow to 500 people in just one year?

He couldn't help but shudder.

Something is wrong!
Something's not right at all.

Even if many people die every day.

It's also impossible for the number to plummet from 50,000 to 500 in just one year.

This is simply impossible!

Fire Boy told him the truth: "Apart from those who died from the drought, most people in Peace Town died within a year."

“The abbot of Qingchan Temple, Mingwu, is an evil cultivator. He uses this inauspicious place to raise dozens of red-clothed ghosts. Each red-clothed ghost needs the blood of hundreds of living people to nourish it, and it is not always successful. Therefore, he needs a constant supply of flesh and blood.”

“Mingwu captured living people to feed the red-clothed ghost. He used locust wood beads to steal the living soul of a girl, allowing the red-clothed ghost to combine with the living soul to give birth to a ghost infant for him to refine longevity pills.”

"In addition, he awakened the army of the dead who had been sleeping underground for hundreds of years, causing ghostly energy to fill the sky above Ping'an Town. This ghostly energy invaded the people's bodies, which made them mistakenly believe that they had contracted a plague. In reality, they were affected by Mingwu's practice of evil magic. If it weren't for the Empress's intervention to save people, Ping'an Town would have been a lifeless town."

He Jinzong seemed to be listening to a terrifying legend.

He exclaimed in disbelief, "Master Mingwu, how could he do such a heinous thing? It's terrifying!"

"Fortunately, it's all over now." Shuiwa continued, "Magistrate, you may go about your business. We should leave now."

"By the way, Miss He should be awake by now? Is she feeling unwell anywhere?"

"Thanks to the elixir bestowed by Her Majesty, Wanwan was able to get out of bed and walk around after taking it and resting for three days. Now she is completely recovered."

"Alas!" He Jinzong said with a heavy heart, "My daughter has truly suffered so much."

"And that Master Mingwu, he even stole my daughter's soul."

He Jinzong heard that there were other innocent women like his daughter who had been victimized, but none of them had Wanwan's good fortune.

"Thanks to that child Mingke."

If it weren't for Ming Ke, her daughter might never have woken up in this lifetime. He had no chance to thank Ming Ke, and the only thing he could do was to take good care of Zhao's mother.

After Mingke was reincarnated, the lady couldn't bear to punish Zhao Mama, so Zhao Mama set up a small Buddhist shrine in the backyard. She said that she would eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures from now on, and spend the rest of her life praying for the He family.

After conveying Gu Yuexi's message, Huowa and Shuiwa left the magistrate's mansion.

He Jinzong immediately went to Ping'an Town to provide relief to the disaster victims.

The people of Ping'an Town were overjoyed to receive the grain from the county magistrate.

They knew this must have been arranged by the Golden Saintess.

The people have grown increasingly devoted to and respectful of the Golden Saint Goddess.

The gods are supposed to save people from suffering and deliver all beings from hardship. It is shameful that they had previously questioned the goddess and even called her a monster.

Fortunately, the Empress was wise and righteous, and did not hold a grudge against these ignorant people.