Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 7 The City Goddess?
The high priest was overjoyed upon hearing this.
Looking up, a tall, slender, and handsome young man was politely raising his hand among the worshippers.

This kind of obedient, childish stupidity... Ugh!

Only a polite and sincere child would stand up at this time.

"Good, good, very good! What's your name, and which city are you from, young man?"

As the high priest took notice, the surrounding worshippers unconsciously made way for Li Wushou, keeping a safe distance.

Fearing that the high priest might misunderstand and conscript him as well, he was afraid that the high priest might misunderstand and conscript him as well.

"Your Excellency, my name is Li Wushou, and I live in the South City!"

"Hi~!"

The pilgrims who had initially made way for the others retreated again like a receding tide.

The high priest's happy expression faltered slightly. South City?
If that incident hadn't happened, the City God Temple wouldn't have given up its incense offerings in the southern part of the city to the Blood Buddha Temple!

The high priest glanced intently at Li Wushou and nodded slightly.

"You don't have the flesh and features of the Blood Buddha Temple on your body?"

Li Wushou scratched his head, too embarrassed to say that the monks of Blood Buddha Temple looked down on his physical body, and said with a slightly naive tone:
"High Priest, I work for the Corpse Moving Team in the South City. Blood Buddha Temple didn't want me to become a Spirit Official!"

Lingguan is the name given by the Blood Buddha Temple. The facial features that grow from it can grow legs and run. Isn't that amazing?
The high priest nodded and said nothing more, his expression somewhat complicated. In the end, it turned out that the abandoned boy from the south was more sincere than these devout worshippers who usually offered incense!
"Okay, you're in!"

Then the high priest scanned the entire room and finally confirmed.

"Anyone else signing up?"

Seemingly ignited by Li Wushou's emotions, another middle-aged man with a bulbous nose slowly raised his hand, and spoke incoherently, his words reeking of alcohol:
"High Priest, I want to sign up too!"

"it is good!"

The high priest was in a much better mood after two fools and two sincere pilgrims signed up in a row.

Seeing that no one else had signed up, he was not disappointed. He instructed the junior priest to disperse the worshippers and then led Li Wushou and Feng Sishui, who had signed up later, into the inner hall.

Before exchanging more than a few words, he led the two to the dining hall.

Chen Gou'er was excitedly howling inside Li Wushou's belly!
They seemed poised to jump out and serve the High Priest.

Eat! Eat!
Li Wushou isn't alone now; he's pregnant with another one.

The way it looked like a starving ghost eating caught the High Priest's attention.

If the Martial Priest hadn't remained silent, the High Priest would have truly believed it was some kind of evil spirit incarnate.

After finishing the meal, Feng Sishui, who had a red nose, sobered up a bit.

It took me a while to realize that I had unwittingly signed up to sculpt a golden statue for the City God!
He slapped himself hard twice, his face contorted in a mournful expression.

"This is probably my last meal before I'm executed!"

……

The High Priest disappeared after lunch.

A junior priest led them to the inner sanctum and gave them a brief instruction:

"You two wait here for a while. The High Priest has gone to recruit people. He needs three more. Once we have five, we can cast the golden statue tonight!"

Then he walked away.

"Li Wushou, I'm enjoying this meal so much! I wish I could keep eating like this forever!"

Chen Gou'er was overjoyed, feeling that even if he didn't get the money today, it would still be worth it!

Li Wushou frowned. Of course the last meal before execution was delicious! How could this child only know how to eat?

"Can you smell any stench coming from anywhere?"

"Dog Master smelled it a long time ago, it's in this back room."

"Huh? He's not in the main hall?"

Li Wushou thought the golden statue to be sculpted was the one in the main hall that had cracked, but now it seems that it wasn't.
Was the golden statue in the main hall really cracked by its own knocking?

Moreover, when I focused my mind, I could only see the Martial God eating the living souls; the City God and the Civil God seemed to be absent.

According to the high priest, the civil priest had gone out of the city to exorcise evil spirits.

So the City God is in this inner hall?

Or perhaps they were completely wrong; the rotting flesh wasn't actually the City God's golden statue, but some other inexplicable entity.

But no matter who it is, they can't escape their shady dealings. Anyone who gets involved with these things is no longer normal, and it's not surprising that many people die.

Feng Sishui, with his red nose, kept changing seats, getting further and further away from Li Wushou. He kept cursing himself inwardly.

I thought signing up for the gold statue making ceremony was bad enough, but I ended up with a crazy person who talks to himself, which made it even worse!

As evening approached, the high priest led the two young men back to the inner hall.

Just as he had predicted, news of the extreme danger of the City God's golden statue had spread throughout Wufang City.

After searching around, I'm still missing one. There's no other way but to draw one from the remaining minor priests later.

It's not because there's only one high priest, but twelve lesser priests.

Rather, it's because the high priest has entered the realm of Yin, absorbed Qi, and his body is filled with too much Yin energy.

The process of creating a golden statue requires five men with abundant yang energy.

At this point, Feng Sishui's torment was finally over.

I watched helplessly as that kid stared at his stomach and talked all afternoon, and I felt like I was going crazy.

In the end, Lin You, one of the minor priests who was waiting in the main hall during the day, drew the lot and was utterly despondent!

After the high priest promised to take good care of his wife and children, the junior priest led Li Wushou and the others into a separate courtyard in the inner sanctum.

The courtyard is quite exquisite, with lush flowers and trees creating a tranquil atmosphere.

But the moment Li Wushou stepped in, Chen Gou'er pinched his nose and muttered in suppressed anger, "It stinks! It stinks!"

"Li Wushou is right here!"

Li Wushou's expression tightened involuntarily.

The leading junior priest stopped in his tracks, and Li Wushou keenly noticed that the other's body was trembling slightly.

"Once you go inside, no matter what you see, you are not allowed to panic or shout, or you will die!"

"The golden body's face is covered in mud. The boxes we gave you contain the facial features that the Blood Buddha Temple has refined. Only when all of them are placed in the boxes at the same time can the golden body be sculpted. Otherwise, the golden body will swallow you all up the moment it swallows the facial features!"

"have you understood?"

After everyone shouted "I understand," Li Wushou obediently raised his hand high.

The junior priest was confused.

"Li Wushou, what do you want?"

"Your Excellency, why did the person who sculpted the golden statue die?"

The junior priest caught his breath when asked the question, and everyone else looked at him, trying to get an answer.

The little priest's lips twitched for a long time, but he still couldn't give a reasonable answer.

This is how it was done when gilding statues in the past.

By selecting five men with strong yang energy and placing their facial features from the Blood Buddha Temple into the golden statue, the golden statue can be sculpted and its decay can be alleviated.

However, starting a few years ago, after the golden statue decayed, it became increasingly difficult to recast it.

Even after so many people died this time, including most of the junior priests, they still failed.

Without an answer, a shadow fell over the hearts of all five.

As night deepened, the young priest took the lead and pushed open the door.

Inside, a lamp was always on, the light was dim, and the moment the door was opened, a gust of wind was stirred up, creating shadowy figures.

Li Wushou followed behind the little priest, squinting his eyes slightly to adjust before looking into the room. Then his pupils suddenly contracted.

The room was completely empty, but the ground suddenly sank into a circular pit that was three or four people high and about three zhang in diameter.

The inner wall of the circular pit was evenly embedded with five holes, large enough for an adult to crouch down in. The holes were still stained with blood.

The area beneath the circular pit was filled with an extremely heavy yin energy, carrying a bone-chilling cold, and mixed with a strong stench of blood.

In the very center, a woman in a green robe with upturned wings on her head sat cross-legged. Her robe was half-undone, and her body was faintly visible under the ever-burning lamp.

Her head was slightly lowered, her face was covered by her black hair, so her features could not be seen, but she must have been extremely beautiful.

The group stood at the edge of the circular pit, the young priest with his head bowed, staring at his toes.

Feng Sishui, with his red nose, sobered up completely, but seemed even more drunk the next moment.

Through the gap in his belly, Chen Gou'er looked into the round pit. When he saw the figure sitting cross-legged, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"This...is this the City Goddess?"

(End of this chapter)