Chapter 175: Divine Protection

This time Ye Qin did not use spiritual power; instead, he used his body as a brush, winding back and forth on the ground, his hard snake body carving ditches into the earth.

It appeared sloppy and formless, like ghost-drawn talismans, but the horizontal, vertical, left-falling, and right-falling strokes were filled with rhythm.

If someone were to look down from above right now, they would see that this is clearly a huge talisman pattern, but it cannot be seen from the flat ground because its area is enormous; at first glance one would not know what it is.

Ye Qin placed the cauldron at the very center; everything was ready. He chanted, and golden light poured into the cauldron, stirring up ancient ripples.

Clang—

The ancient cauldron again burst with a humming sound; the golden light instantly scattered, flowing onto the ground, golden threads winding, and the entire talisman was activated.

At the same time, countless golden specks sprang up from various corners of the mountain, rising into midair and converging toward the center.

These talismans were the yellow talismans that Ye Qin had earlier placed via animals.

Longyuan Mountain gained a faint layer of light that gathered these forces together, preventing them from dissipating between heaven and earth.

The surging power kept washing over, even stirring up mists of spiritual energy; within them a faint pressure emanated, causing the animals to show fearful expressions.

Unable to withstand the power, they all retreated from the formation's center, merely watching Ye Qin from afar.

He, at the center, was enveloped in golden light, like a deity descended from the nine heavens; each emerald scale on his body was plated with a faint gold.

The energy within him, which had been somewhat depleted from drawing talismans and setting up the formation, now became full.

A vast amount of Spiritual Power surged in, even reaching its peak, giving Ye Qin the illusion of a breakthrough, but he quickly settled, cleared his mind, released his mental power, and let it seep underground.

Ye Qin released his mental power to probe, sensing a lively, stirring breath underground.

He chanted, and soon a huge talisman silhouette appeared in the void, exactly like the one he had etched on the ground, alongside a small cauldron's shadow.

Golden light burst from the talisman, instantly enveloping the ground as mighty power surged forth.

It seemed as if countless golden threads were interwoven within, repairing the unstable spots of the ground, making it as solid as gold and bronze.

Hum—

Again from the void came a faint metallic clang; the cauldron trembled slightly, and an invisible wave surged in the air, spreading outward continuously.

The small cauldron at the formation's eye, like an ancient giant, with just a slight movement, transmitted its mighty power through the formation down to the earth below.

Under the joint suppression of the formation, talismans, small cauldron, and the entire Longyuan Mountain Range, the mighty force emanating from the earth was finally defeated, retreating underground and producing no further movement.

At the same time, golden light shone forth from Longyuan Mountain, the entire peak bathed in its glow.

The villagers at the Mountain Foot naturally noticed; this phenomenon was more spectacular and grand than before, making people want to worship, and its aura carried a tremendous pressure.

The village chief, seeing the golden light in the sky like sunrise shining down, could not help but kneel on the ground, saying, 'The Mountain God has shown his power, blessing us!'

In this earthquake, not a single person or livestock in the village suffered harm, and even their houses remained intact, forming a stark contrast with the outside situation.

Meanwhile, as the time approached for the aftershocks detected by the Earthquake Bureau, many personnel still had not been settled.

The setting sun was like blood, filling the air with an ominous meaning; the sky was shrouded in blood-red, and all scenery was covered with a faint red glow.

As evening fell, the people of the Wu Du Guard District looked hurried, the air filled with a solemn, grave atmosphere.

The setting sun stretched Yu Zheng's shadow to extreme length, his weariness almost spilling over.

"How many people are still not settled?"

His companion nearby gave a number; Yu Zheng's face turned ashen, the time left for them was truly too little, and at this moment he wished time could freeze here until everyone could be moved to safety.

But Yu Zheng knew this was impossible; he looked at the distant sunset, his eye sockets also turning a little red.

The person beside him comforted, 'Major Yu, you've done your best; don't blame yourself too much.'

There are not a few like Yu Zheng who stay behind to fight until the last moment; they only wish to exert their modest strength to help more people.

As the predicted time drew nearer, the atmosphere among the crowd grew more silent, a deathly stillness spreading.

Even some, unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere, began to sob softly.

At this moment, in the Earthquake Bureau.

Everyone's faces were clouded over, they had no heart to start work, and the predicted time was drawing ever closer.

Ding—

As the hourly time signal came from the wall, everyone shuddered, as if hearing the death knell, revealing pained expressions, as though they had already seen the disaster zone suffer another heavy blow.

"Wait! How could—"

Upon hearing a cry, everyone turned toward the sound; the previously fluctuating red line on the instrument had vanished without a trace.

"They can't even detect any aftershock signal!"

Staff immediately stepped forward to check, thinking the instrument had malfunctioned; after entering a few commands, the machine showed no error, and the signal band had indeed disappeared without a trace, with no indication.

Everyone stared dumbfounded; despite years of work at the Earthquake Bureau and having detected many big and small aftershocks, they had never seen such a phenomenon.

Machines and detection can go wrong, but when fully detected, they basically do not have major discrepancies.

Before this, the signal of a level-five aftershock was very strong and quickly picked up by the instruments, allowing them to accurately determine the time and magnitude.

But just now, it suddenly vanished without a trace, not even leaving a ripple, as if erased from existence by thin air—it can be said to be unprecedented.

"What on earth is going on?"

"I don't know; maybe the instruments went crazy, or we began making detection errors?"

They swapped in another detector, but the result was the same; they were completely at a loss, yet could be fairly sure the aftershocks had disappeared! The crisis in Wu Du could also be lifted!

The Earthquake Bureau still worried, fearing that the suddenly vanished aftershocks might launch a counterattack; they watched the instrument screens sleepless for 24 hours, but fortunately nothing odd appeared afterward.

The news reached the superiors; the government of the disaster-stricken city could hardly contain its joy, for whatever reason the aftershocks had disappeared, it was a tremendous boon, and they hurried to speed up supply shipments.

Soon many supplies were transported to the disaster area; the lacking supplies became abundant, manpower kept increasing, and everything progressed toward the better.

As the surrounding crowds grew, the wounded received effective treatment, their numbers continually decreasing; the animals' elixirs had mostly been distributed, and they gradually returned to Longyuan Mountain.

With no aftershocks occurring, relief supplies arrived smoothly at the disaster zone, followed by medical personnel and others, and the situation there was quickly brought under control.

It is also strange that, given such a strong quake, there should certainly be many aftershocks afterward, yet the National Earthquake Bureau's close monitoring produced not a single aftershock fluctuation.

Although the cause is unknown, this undoubtedly let the government breathe easier; post-disaster reconstruction work has been gradually underway, already showing some scale and effect, and people's normal life basically has been secured.

A ray of sunlight on the horizon broke through the layers of darkness, the haze over the city finally dispelled; watching the sun rise slowly on the horizon, everyone's faces bore the joy and relief of having survived the ordeal.

Sun Zhenbang stared at the sun, somewhat dazed, but what came to mind was the scene of that day; everyone thought there would be aftershocks, but in the end none came.

Everyone thought it was a coincidence, perhaps heaven couldn't bear it and felt pity, but he always felt this matter was inseparable from Longyuan Mountain; could it be that the Mountain God really heard his prayer?

"Team Leader, what are you thinking about, so dazed?"

Xie Yixuan walked over and pulled Sun Zhenbang back from his thoughts.

"Help watch things here; I have to go out for a bit!"

Looking at Sun Zhenbang's hurried back, Xie Yixuan was somewhat at a loss, "What's the matter, so urgent?"

Whether manpower or supplies, everything was more than sufficient; Sun Zhenbang stepping away for a moment didn't matter, and right now he was heading straight for Longyuan Mountain!

But because of the disaster, the road wasn't easy, quite a long trek; gradually, the green hills in the distance came into view, unchanged, unlike the devastation Sun Zhenbang had seen elsewhere—this place was like a utopia.

The mountain peaks were green like transparent crystal, reflected under the blue sky and white clouds; at the mountain foot, the small village had wisps of cooking smoke rising, sunlight scattering like broken gold, dotting a scene of tranquil peace.

Sun Zhenbang, in a daze, had the illusion that the earthquake had never happened.

Under such a strong earthquake, everything in Longyuan Village was still fine, forming a stark contrast with the rubble and debris on the city streets.

This could be called a miracle!

Even though Sun Zhenbang had a vague suspicion in his heart, ripples inevitably rose within him.

The usually bustling village was now quiet, as if few people were at home and few in the fields; seeing Sun Zhenbang arrive, the village head's eyes lit up with delight: "Officer Sun, it's great that you're unharmed!"

Sun Zhenbang looked around and asked, "How's the situation here, and what about the other villagers?"

"We're doing well under the Mountain God's protection; when the earthquake started, the ground only trembled slightly, and most villagers ran to the town to help."

After hearing the village head recount the beginning of the earthquake, learning that Longyuan Village had only shaken—no stones, not even a tile fell—Sun Zhenbang stared, dumbfounded.

Neither livestock nor personnel suffered any casualties.

The earthquake here passed over Longyuan Village like a dragonfly skimming water, as if playing, utterly different from the phenomena he had seen elsewhere.

The village head's face filled with sorrow: "Earlier I also went to check the town's situation; if it weren't for the Mountain God, our village would probably no longer exist."

Having said that, he looked at Sun Zhenbang with a strange expression: "Officer Sun, how do you have time to come here?"

"I came to confirm something with you: after the earthquake, have there been any strange phenomena on the mountain?"

Upon hearing this, the village head grew excited: "How could there be none! At the time, many animals ran down the mountain, holding things in their paws—surely they were obeying the Mountain God's will."

"And just yesterday, a burst of golden light shot up from the mountain, like a heavenly pillar; Officer Sun, you didn't see that scene—it was truly shocking."

Looking at the phenomena in the mountain, the villagers were curious but dared not disturb the Mountain God rashly, merely watching from afar.

Hearing this, Sun Zhenbang's breathing grew a bit hurried, somewhat anxious: "When yesterday?"

The village head thought: "Around 5 p. m., I suppose."

It coincided exactly with the time predicted by the Earthquake Bureau; when the supernatural phenomenon appeared on Longyuan Mountain, it was precisely when the aftershocks were supposed to occur.

Originally just a guess, now Sun Zhenbang was more certain: it was the Mountain God who stepped in to quell this calamity.

Sun Zhenbang never believed in coincidences in this world, especially those occurring on Longyuan Mountain.

His eyes reddened slightly, his heart filled with respect: "I knew the Mountain God wouldn't stand idly by."

Seeing Sun Zhenbang suddenly become agitated, the village head found it strange, not knowing why he reacted so strongly: "Officer Sun, what's wrong with you?"

Due to the earthquake disrupting transport, plus the tight timing and delayed information transmission, some remote towns did not receive the news.

The village head and others were unaware of the disappearance of the magnitude‑five aftershocks; only after Sun Zhenbang explained did they learn, and they couldn't help but click their tongues.

"Ah, that explains it—I said something must be stirring in the mountain; surely the Mountain God manifested and performed a ritual, making the aftershocks vanish!"

The Mountain God not only protected the whole village but also invisibly aided many people.

Sun Zhenbang took a deep breath, slowly calming himself: "Yeah, if it weren't for the Mountain God this time, who knows how many more would have been hurt."

"The Mountain God has done us great favors."

Whether the village head or Sun Zhenbang, their reverence for the Mountain God has reached an unprecedented height.

At the same time, the news of the two anomalies on Longyuan Mountain finally reached the outside world; upon learning that the village at the mountain's foot had remained completely unharmed in the earthquake, an uproar erupted.

"Come on, the roads on the surface are cracked open huge gaps—under a collapsed nest there's no intact egg—how could such a thing happen?"

"Even the steel and concrete in the city can't withstand such a strong quake, and rural areas at most have brick‑tile houses—how could they be undamaged? This must be hype just to attract attention."

"Marketing accounts dare to say this for the heat, unafraid of being invited for tea, unafraid of reaping backlash for riding the disaster's traffic—truly black‑hearted."

"Many locals saw golden light enveloping Longyuan Mountain before the quake, which is why the surroundings remained unharmed."

"Do you still remember the magnitude‑five aftershock predicted by the Earthquake Bureau? Apparently, it vanished because Longyuan Mountain showed an anomaly."

"You upstairs, just keep bragging for the traffic, spouting nonsense—how could the disappearance of aftershocks possibly be linked to a mountain!"

Many people said they didn't believe it, because they hadn't witnessed it themselves.

But since it involves a current hot topic, plus the aftershock disappearance and such, the heat only keeps rising.

Then a microblog post from an insider pushed the matter into even greater obscurity.

"You're still thinking too simply; I suggest you look up information on Longyuan Mountain before commenting, and besides, Longyuan Mountain was later sealed off—what do you think that's for?"

(End of chapter)