Chapter 23: The Gua That Became a God

Li Lin stepped out of the Huang residence, feeling something was off.

The Huang family seemed to be up to something, yet their conversations were perfectly ordinary—even when chatting with Huang Qi, they spoke only of trivial household matters.

But this wasn’t Huang Qi’s style; that proud scholar normally opened his mouth with grand ideals of saving the world.

It just felt strange.

Still, he could tell the Huang family meant no harm, so he let it go and set it aside for now.

He wandered the marketplace, hoping to buy a spirit furnace, but found none; then he remembered—the market was only for common folk; to buy such items, he needed to go to a specialized place.

But as a newcomer to the Spirit Hunter path, he knew little; he considered asking Senior Su Huafang, then recalled Su Huafang had gone to Jincheng for a gathering.

He pondered a moment, then went to the largest clinic in town.

Anhe Hall.

They didn’t sell spirit furnaces either!

So he decided to buy a medical text instead.

But… they refused to sell.

They’d rather sell the cheap “Regenerating Health Art” than any medical text.

With no choice, Li Lin left, wondering if he might find a medical text through other channels later.

He wandered the streets awhile, then found an inn to stay in by evening.

After dinner, night had fully fallen.

But unlike the countryside, the town’s nights were lively.

Along the main commercial streets, lanterns blazed and voices roared.

For every night, a vast “Gua” enveloped the entire town.

The whole county lay under its divine protection.

Not even wild Gua, let alone other major Gua, dared cause trouble here.

With safety came vibrant nightlife.

That night, Li Lin did not cultivate; he simply slept and rested.

After all, the divine image hovering above the town was terrifying—if he took a Shengxi Pill and the “Gua” noticed, he had no idea what might happen.

He understood the principle: never flaunt wealth.

The next morning, after rising and eating breakfast, paying his lodging fee, he was about to return to the village when he met an acquaintance on the road.

Bai Liwei, another Spirit Hunter, a thirty-five-year-old man.

Behind him trailed a youth, his eyes filled with proud, innocent clarity.

“Senior Bai, you’re in town too?” Li Lin greeted him.

“Ah, it’s Senior Li,” Bai Liwei walked over, bowing with a smile: “Didn’t expect to run into you here.”

“You look delighted—something good happened?”

Bai Liwei laughed heartily, gesturing for the young man beside him to come forward: “This is my nephew, Bai Bu Fan. He recently perfected his Spirit Manipulation Art—he’s now qualified as a Spirit Hunter.”

“Congratulations,” Li Lin smiled.

He felt a pang of envy—having connections was truly advantageous.

While he struggled to refine his blood with blood rice, slowly building his strength, others were handed a Spirit Manipulation Art outright.

Still, he was deeply grateful to Su Huafang.

Without Su Huafang’s insight, Li Lin would likely still be just another slightly unusual villager.

“Thank you,” Bai Liwei continued smiling. “Xiao Fan has been registered at the county office. Now we must seek an opportunity from the Four Marvels True Lord. Would you care to join us for the ceremony?”

“Of course,” Li Lin smiled.

Never miss a chance to build ties with colleagues.

In this world, wherever humans gathered, there stood an altar.

The altar’s size and the fervor of its incense determined the upper limit of the Gua it enshrined.

Yulin County’s inner city held just over 100,000, the outer city 50,000; including surrounding villages and towns, the total population was roughly 220,000.

The three arrived before a temple, its plaque reading “Four Marvels True Lord” in large characters.

Worshippers burned incense at the incense burners outside the temple—they never entered.

The three Spirit Hunters stepped inside and saw a massive black altar, stained with dried black blood.

Around the great altar stood fourteen smaller seated altars.

All altars emitted cold, resentful energy—that was why commoners couldn’t enter.

They couldn’t endure it; even a trace of it caused illness.

An old man guarded the altar, gaunt and pale as plaster, with little trace of living breath.

Hearing them enter, he opened his eyes: “Come to invoke the deity?”

His voice was shrill, like a woman’s.

“Master Qi!” Bai Liwei bowed first, then pointed to the youth: “This is my nephew. He possesses the aptitude of a Spirit Hunter, registered at the county office—here to seek your blessing.”

“Master Qi, here is my credential,” Bai Bu Fan stepped forward, unfastening the white jade tablet from his waist and offering it.

“Good lad,” Master Qi studied Bai Bu Fan, then gave a slight nod.

He took the jade tablet, placed it on the altar, then retrieved incense, candles, and gold-silver paper money from a nearby cabinet.

He lit the incense and candles, then burned the paper money.

The incense smoke rose, thick and slow, as if sticky with weight.

Simultaneously, the altar’s resentful energy swelled, and the temple grew colder.

Cold enough to pierce the bones.

In this chilling atmosphere, Master Qi, Bai Liwei, and Li Lin all remained composed.

Only Bai Bu Fan trembled.

He was newly become a Spirit Hunter, his strength still weak—he couldn’t yet withstand such intense resentful energy.

Bai Liwei glanced oddly at Li Lin, for… even he felt the chill, yet Li Lin showed no sign of discomfort.

But then he understood—Li Lin was the only Spirit Hunter who remained a virgin, brimming with yang energy, and had cultivated for over half a year; it was natural he could endure such resentment.

His nephew Bai Bu Fan, nearly the same age, had lost his virginity three years ago.

His weaker constitution made him susceptible to cold—understandable.

As the resentful energy intensified, the smoke from the incense and paper money began to “drift down.”

It circled slowly around the large and small altars.

A faint, strange shadow emerged on the great altar—indistinct in form, as if waving a hand.

Then, one by one, shadows appeared atop each small altar.

One of them, Li Lin recognized—Tree Immortal Lady.

She appeared and fixed her gaze on Li Lin, her eyes seeming reproachful.

Bai Bu Fan stared at the dozen shadows, involuntarily swallowing; he hugged himself, trembling, yet forced himself to examine each one carefully.

Every shadow on the altar looked bizarre.

Dog-headed men, fanged mouths, spider eyes on their bellies.

After scanning them all, Bai Bu Fan pointed at Tree Immortal Lady: “I want—”

She was the most beautiful—slender figure, masked face, yet radiating an instinctive aura of stunning beauty.

Then he fell silent—Tree Immortal Lady glared at him, her eyes filled with icy disdain.

Startled, Bai Bu Fan couldn’t finish his sentence, retracted his hand, and forced a nervous smile.

He turned to his uncle, seeking guidance on which to choose.

But suddenly he noticed—his uncle’s expression was wrong, the temple’s atmosphere had changed.

No one was paying attention to him anymore.

Master Qi, Bai Liwei, and Li Lin all stared at the empty small altar to the east.

Long minutes passed—no shadow appeared there.

“Send for the County Magistrate,” Master Qi said urgently. “Something major has gone wrong.”

(End of Chapter)