The leader of the cultivation alliance has a crush on me.

Yun Zhi also came over, staring at the statue for a few moments: "What do we say now?"

"This one is the closest to Fengmeng City, but there are quite a few temples like this in the entire Fengmeng City area. We can't possibly check them all one by one. Besides, we've already found quite a few people who have turned into withered wood along the way. Could it be that they all came here to pray?"

Feng Jisu said, "The third day of each month is the day to worship the ancestral god Chongyuan. Today is the sixth day, which means that most people should have come to worship three days ago."

"Are you all so free?" Song Ke asked, puzzled.

Feng Jisu explained, "You may not know this, but we attach great importance to this day. On that day, almost everyone who is able to move around will go to worship. Even those who live far away will pray in the direction of the temple."

Song Tu raised a question: "Who exactly decided on this day of offering?"

Feng Jisu paused before saying, "It happened a long time ago, and I can't remember who made the rule."

"I've only heard that this day seems to be the birthday of the Primordial God, but there's no way to verify the specifics."

Song Ke raised her eyebrows in surprise upon hearing this; the birthday of a third-year junior high student seemed somewhat familiar.

She glanced at the statue a few more times, feeling that something was off about it, and there was also a strange sense of familiarity about it.

Just as he was thinking, a soft and familiar voice suddenly came to his ear: "It's Feng Xun."

Song Ke turned around in surprise and found that it was Song Chen speaking in her ear. She looked at her with disbelief, as if she had not expected that Song Chen would have her previous memories at this critical moment.

She glanced around at the others, making sure they hadn't heard her, and then relaxed after they gave her a strange look.

Song Chen winked at her, as if it were a secret signal. Song Ke was inexplicably touched, like someone suddenly encountering an old friend in an unfamiliar environment.

"elder sister."

Song Yu whispered, "We'll talk about it later."

Zhu Changchi had already suggested, "There's nothing unusual here, let's go check the other Chongyuan Palaces."

After speaking, he glanced at everyone and finally addressed Feng Jisu: "Young City Lord Feng must know the location of Chongyuan Palace best. We are pressed for time, so let's split into four teams and explore in four different directions. We'll meet up again later to discuss the matter."

“Separating is fine, but we need to be extra careful with those withered people,” Feng Jisu agreed.

Yun Zhi glanced at everyone: "How are we going to divide it?"

Just as Zhu Changchi was about to speak, Zhu Changhe jumped to Song Ke's side: "Big brother, I'll go with Song Ke."

"Their cultivation level is low, so I can still take care of them."

Zhu Changchi was somewhat worried, but in the end he agreed to choose two people from the minor immortal sects to go together.

Yun Jiao stepped forward and reminded her, "Be careful, don't get hurt by those withered people."

Zhu Changhe nodded: "Don't worry."

Watching them leave, I shouted, "You guys be careful too!"

Zhu Changhe led Song Ke and Song Shen to the south. On the way, Song Ke wanted to say something to Song Shen, but hesitated to speak because Zhu Changhe was there. The three of them arrived at the outskirts of a small village, only to find the village eerily quiet.

Zhu Changhe looked up at the sky. It was getting dark, but the light was about to fade. It shouldn't be time for him to fall asleep yet, so the complete silence was quite strange.

Song Ke also cautiously looked inside and asked, "Should we go in and take a look?"

Song Tao pointed to the stone tablet beside him and said, "Now that we've arrived, we shouldn't be far from the Chongyuan Hall."

Zhu Changhe nodded: "At our current speed, it will take less than an hour to get there."

"If it weren't for the need to conserve strength, I would have flown there much faster."

"This village is strangely quiet. Let's not cause any more trouble and go to Chongyuan Hall to check it out first."

Everyone knows that this place is not far from Chongyuan Temple, and perhaps the people in this village have gone there to make offerings and pray for blessings. As for whether it has been turned into withered wood, it's really hard to say.

Song Ke nodded: "That's fine too."

Just as the three were about to turn and leave, they suddenly heard a sound coming from the village, one after another, like the sound of fingers tapping on wood.

"Did you hear that?"

The eldest child, with the most sensitive hearing, was the first to hear and asked the two people.

Song Chen already had her sword in her hand. She turned around warily and nodded: "It came from the village."

Song Ke, gripping his sword, frowned: "We've been discovered?"

Soon, they learned that the village was now filled with withered people, and no living creature had been spared. Later, Song Ke understood the meaning of the knocking sound. Since they were withered and could not speak, they could only communicate by knocking.

They weren't the only ones who encountered the withered and lifeless people; the other groups encountered them as well.

Feng Jisu was already showing signs of fatigue among his opponents. Looking at the withered wooden figures that were still attacking relentlessly, he seemed to have thought of something. These withered wooden figures seemed to never get tired, like puppets being manipulated. Even if they were broken into pieces, they could still put themselves back together and continue to attack.

"They are impossible to kill, and we don't know if they encountered one as well."

Not only Feng Jisu's side, but also Zhu Changchi's side and Yun Jiao's side are in the same situation. Originally, the area around Chongyuan Temple was quiet, but for some reason, many people who had been turned into withered wood suddenly appeared. Their relentless attacks were even too much for the dragon body to handle.

Zhu Changchi seemed to have noticed something. It was as if these people surrounded by withered trees were waiting for instructions. He looked more closely and discovered that behind a group of people who were attacking fiercely, there was another person who was moving slowly. He stood at the edge of the fight and just looked at them with a greedy look on his face.

As Zhu Changchi thought about this, he had a guess in his heart. These indestructible wooden figures were like a plague. It slowly spread from a source, gradually turning more and more people into wooden figures, but then it would return to the source of spiritual energy, and the cycle would repeat itself.

Zhu Changchi said to the people around him, "You guys hold off this group, I'll go check over there."

Upon hearing this, those around him hurriedly changed their positions, struggling to take Zhu Changchi's place. In the meantime, Zhu Changchi simply transformed back into his original form, and the sound of a dragon's roar immediately shook the heavens and earth, echoing through the desolate night.

Zhu Changhe was the first to hear it, and she said to Song Ke, "It's my older brother."

"It seems they've encountered it too."

Song Chen was forced to retreat repeatedly by the attacks, and she called out to Song Ke, "This can't go on."

“Then I’ll use my original form; one tail and I can sweep them away.” As Zhu Changhe spoke, he transformed into the dragon with the dark blue scales. Song Chen took the opportunity to go to Song Ke’s side and whispered, “Ke Ke, don’t you think the statue in Chongyuan Hall looks like a person?”

The moment Song Ke swung his sword at the withered wooden figure charging from the left, his true face appeared, his eyes filled with terror and pleading, as if saying, "Save me, save me."

Unable to bring her sword down, Song Ke could only kick him away.

"I did have that feeling just now, but now I think it's not just similar, it's him."

"But I don't know why he turned into a statue."

Listening to the deafening fighting in the distance, Song Chen guessed, "Perhaps there's more."