"The humble deity is a local village deity, surnamed Wang in mortal life. May I inquire about your honorable name?"

"I am Song You, with the courtesy name Menglai."

"Is Your Grace a member of the Daoist community?"

"I was raised in a Taoist temple since childhood."

"Do you have a Daoist title?"

"I currently do not have one." Song You calmly met the gaze of this local deity. "What brings you to me?"

"I apologize for disturbing Your Grace's rest in the dead of night. It is presumptuous of me. However, this matter concerns the livelihoods of the local people. I have heard of Your Grace's profound cultivation and have come to seek your assistance."

"Please, speak."

"This matter dates back to ten years ago."

Wang Shangong paused for a moment, speaking with the slow and dragging style of the former dynasty's people. "Ten years ago, a great demon came to this area, bewitching the hearts of the people and causing them to build a temple for it, twenty li away from here."

Song You almost understood upon hearing this.

Their eyes met, one human and one divine. Song You waited for him to continue, while he seemed to be waiting for Song You to speak.

"Why was it not reported?"

"Please listen to me."

"..."

Song You couldn't help but show a helpless expression.

However, most of these local deities were transformed from individuals with outstanding moral character after death and had lived for many years. As a junior, he should show more respect to them. As a young disciple, it was not easy to directly criticize their faults.

"So I'll make a long story short."

"Please."

"Although that demon had formidable powers, it was destroyed several years ago by the masters of Tianhai Temple and Zhouleigong. However, at that time, considering that the lewd temple was not far from the main road, it was a pity to destroy it completely. By smashing the stone statues, it could still provide shelter for passing travelers. Therefore, it was left standing. Recently, during my patrols, I reached Majiawan and discovered that the temple there inexplicably had incense burning again."

"Have you investigated?"

"Unfortunately, my powers are weak, and I am not adept in combat. When I saw the incense burning from afar, I did not dare to approach." Wang Shangong showed a ashamed expression.

"Your caution is wise."

"I would like to ask Your Grace to investigate. If it turns out to be true, I will report to the higher authorities after a few days of full moon."

"Do you suspect that the demon is using the incense to revive itself?"

"I believe that may be the case."

"I will go and investigate tomorrow."

"Your Grace's noble character deserves the gratitude of the local people." Wang Shangong bowed deeply once again, then said, "Your cultivation is extraordinary, even if the demon has revived, it should not pose a great threat during the day. It is just a little trouble for Your Grace to go there. As for the address, I have written it down on paper and placed it in front of the deity altar."

"Wang Shangong, farewell."

"..."

Wang Shangong was stunned for a moment before finally returning the courtesy.

As soon as he finished the courtesy, everything around him turned into smoke and dispersed in an instant, and Song You's vision also darkened.

When he opened his eyes again, he was still in the corner of the village temple.

The temple had no light, and the wooden door was not tightly closed. The moonlight shone through the cracks, leaving a long, slanting frost on the floor tiles, and a row of blurry statues could be seen.

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The snoring of people in the rivers and lakes continued intermittently.

Song You got up and searched on the deity altar, but he did not find the paper in front of the statue of Wang Shangong. Instead, he found it in front of the statue of Chijin Dadi, indicating Wang Shangong's allegiance.

It was yellow hemp paper commonly used for drawing talismans, with decent calligraphy.

He picked up the paper and examined the statues once again.

This kind of village temple usually didn't distinguish between Buddhism and Taoism. Ordinary people couldn't afford to build separate temples for each, so they had to squeeze them together. It was a compromise.

In the center was the current principal deity of Taoism, Chijin Dadi, and the principal deity of Buddhism. There were also other deities on both sides, mostly well-known local deities for various reasons in the current society. For example, there was a widely circulated storybook or novel that depicted the thunder deity Zhouleigong in great detail, so Zhouleigong's popularity soared, and his position became prominent in many newly built temples, especially those built by the people themselves.

But it was unclear whether he personally benefited from this.

The development and evolution of deities mostly followed this pattern.

Next were the local deities, including mountain gods, river gods, road gods, and village gods, most of whom were transformed from people.

After these people died, they were never forgotten by the people, and their willingness to bless naturally turned into deities. The court would probably confer them with the position of a proper deity.

In fact, in this world, whether it was the heavenly court of Taoism or the western heaven of Buddhism, the so-called multitude of gods and Buddhas, although held in high esteem by the people, were fundamentally no different from these local deities formed by the power of wishes.

So, it often happened that one dynasty's emperor worshiped one deity, and another dynasty's emperor worshiped another.

Just like Chijin Dadi, it was rumored that he was born at the beginning of heaven and earth, endured hardship for 1,350 kalpas, each kalpa being 129,600 years, before finally attaining the position of Heavenly Emperor. Many people deeply believed in this. Even if they didn't believe it, most people thought that since ancient times, there had always been people who believed in him. But in fact, his name was born less than two hundred years ago. Two hundred years ago, no one in this world worshiped him, and there wasn't even a name for him.

Maintaining a lofty image of the deity in the hearts of the people was necessary, but Master had always warned Song You since childhood that as a practitioner, he was different from ordinary people and needed to have a correct and clear understanding of them.

But what this understanding should be exactly, Master had never told him. He only let him figure it out for himself.

Song You was still building his understanding.

Under the moonlight, he examined the statues for a long time, unable to fall asleep. He finally turned around and walked out.

The midnight air rushed over him, but it didn't feel cold, only refreshing. Looking up, he saw a clear night without dust, with the moonlight shining like silver. A few clouds seemed to be plated with a layer of silver under the moonlight, as if they were glowing. The mountains were outlined with undulating contours, presenting a beautiful scene under the moonlight.

He sat there under the moon, until dawn broke.

...

Song You left Jinyang Road and entered a side road.

This was also a major road, but its name was unknown, lower in rank than Jinyang Road, which connected the capital, but still spacious.

Song You was in no hurry, stopping and walking along the way. He even stopped to ask for directions a few times before finally finding this temple.

Although it was said to be not far from the main road, it was actually on the mountainside next to the main road, visible from afar, but it would probably take about two li to walk there. Song You began to think that Wang Shangong said it was not far from the main road, so he kept walking along the main road unconsciously, and only turned back after asking for directions.

By the time he arrived, it was already afternoon.

Song You hung his backpack on a tree branch about a hundred meters away, then walked along the path towards the dilapidated temple, seemingly fearless.

As soon as he approached, he smelled the scent of incense.

Indeed, there was incense burning.

Upon closer inspection, he could even discern that it was homemade incense from the local area, leaning towards a herbal scent that repelled mosquitoes, refreshing and invigorating.

This dilapidated temple was similar in size to the one he stayed in last night, mimicking the palace structure of a regular temple, just slightly smaller. And there was only one temple. Most self-built temples in rural areas followed this layout, and there were usually no monks or Taoists in charge.

But it was much more dilapidated than the one last night.

Song You stopped at the door, carefully observing.

There was still no door or window, but this temple didn't even have a door. Instead, there was a bamboo fence blocking the entrance. The walls were originally painted red, but now there were many places where the paint had peeled off, with numerous cracks and scars, some even showing signs of being chopped, struck by lightning, or burnt. Some even had holes pierced through the walls.

Song You's gaze followed these traces, as if outlining the scene of the battle in his mind.

Withdrawing his gaze, he walked towards the entrance.

The fence was barely closed, so he opened it easily.

Entering the temple, Song You took a deep breath and didn't smell any unpleasant odor, only the scent of homemade incense.

Looking up at the altar—

The original statues were long gone, leaving only traces where they once stood. Now, there was a clay sculpture of a cat, much smaller than the original statues that were at least human height.

In front of it was a piece of clay, pierced with holes from incense sticks, most of which had burned out, leaving only three sticks still burning, but they were almost halfway gone.

Sure enough, it was homemade earth incense.

It was the kind wrapped in red paper, filled with herbal powder and a bamboo stick inside. It burned slowly and had a pleasant aroma.

There were also offerings placed on the altar.

There were cooked meat and a fish as thick as a finger.

Standing in the middle of the temple, Song You turned his head left and right, taking in the whole temple. Then, he walked up to the altar, picked up a strand of hair, examined it carefully for a long time, then threw it away and found a place to sit down.

It seemed that the owner wasn't in the temple.

Gone on official business?

And he still couldn't determine what was going on here.

Perhaps it was a local animal that had become a spirit, coveting the incense offerings of the human world. Seeing a temple here, it recklessly claimed it as its own.

Incense had a fatal attraction to mountain spirits and ghosts.

Or perhaps it was spontaneously done by the locals, and a wild cat from the mountain mistook this place for its nest.

In this era, some places indeed worshipped cats as deities, hoping that they would catch all the mice and leave more food for the family.

Or maybe that demon really had revived.

After waiting for about an hour, as the sun was setting and the golden light was shining through the doorway, casting light on Song You who was sitting cross-legged, there was finally movement outside.

Song You got up calmly and looked outside.

A cat was walking leisurely along the path in the sunlight. The weeds on the path were not shorter than it, and were often pushed aside by it. When it encountered a ditch, its body seemed weightless, leaping gracefully across it.

It had long known that there was someone in the temple, but it was still not alert. It continued to walk over with an air of indifference until it reached the entrance. One paw climbed up the threshold, and when it looked up and saw a person in a Taoist robe inside, its eyes suddenly paused for a moment, gradually showing a sense of vigilance.

It looked left and right, pondering.

After some contemplation, it finally decided to come in.

Seeing it gracefully cross the threshold, Song You stood up and met its gaze. Its eyes were like amber, capable of enchanting people without any means:

"Taoist?"

The vocal structure of monsters and spirits was different from humans. Without transforming into a human form, even if they spoke human language, it was impossible to distinguish between male and female. At most, one could discern their original race from their voice, and at most, one could tell their age.

The cat's voice was clear and thin, not hoarse.

"What do I call you?"

"I am the Three Flower Goddess."

"I am surnamed Song. Three Flower Goddess, please accept my respects."

"Why have you come to my temple?"

"I stayed overnight in the village temple last night, and I was entrusted by the local deity to come and see the incense burning in this temple." Song You stood straight, but lowered his head. "May I ask if the gathering of incense offerings here has been sanctioned by the human court?"

"What is that?"

"It's just..."

Song You hesitated as he met its gaze.

This little cat demon had low cultivation and was probably not yet fully transformed. Its eyes showed a clear stupidity, so Song You needed to organize his words carefully.