Chapter 303

"Welcome! Welcome, both of you!"

Looking at the badges with flowing luster on Li Ang and his companion's chests, and recognizing the golden *** claws unique to "big clients," the priests guarding outside the core area of the *** smiled even more brilliantly than blooming morning glories.

After taking the initiative to open the gate for the two and yielding the path to the core area, the female priest guarding the door bowed and asked Li Ang with a smile:

"Grain Spirit walking in the shade of rice ears, Caller hidden in the shadow of the bright moon, Sentry creeping in the night curtain... may I ask which one you wish to pay respects to?"

Grain Spirit? Caller? Sentry?

Stunned by the female priest's question, Li Ang, who had no idea what she was talking about, did not ask immediately. Instead, adhering to the principle that one won't be exposed if one doesn't take the bait, he returned a gentle smile, while Senior Tang Mu beside him took over the conversation at the right moment, answering with a smile:

"We are all creatures raised on grain, brothers and sisters nurtured by the light of heaven and the fields, so naturally there is only one choice... sorry to trouble you to show us the way."

"You are too polite. As brothers and sisters of black scales and white spots, this is what I should do."

After finishing the "code" with Tang Mu, the female priest, who had patterns like snake scales on her neck, did not ask further. Instead, she turned and entered the gate, leading Li Ang and his companion into a sticky, cold, and slippery tunnel.

'Her question just now was asking which of the three Holy Spirits we are followers of.'

After reaching out to rest on Li Ang's shoulder, the lazy young man explained without moving his lips:

"The three Holy Spirits of the Weighing Gold Sect were once messengers of the God of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry before being accepted and transformed by that True God of the Weighing Gold Sect."

"The Snake Spirit was born from a farmer's prayer, hoping that snakes could hunt harmful rats and sparrows in the fields to protect the normal growth of rice, but never to harm themselves, so it is the Grain Spirit walking in the shade of rice ears;"

"And the Caller in the shadow of the bright moon refers to the toad that croaks loudly while looking at the moon's reflection in the water, which is the one that became the Holy Spirit pendant after you killed it. It seems to embody the wish to eliminate harmful pests and larvae, allowing the rice to have a stable and bountiful harvest;"

"As for the Sentry creeping in the night curtain, it naturally refers to the cat that appears at night to guard the granary, embodying the image of protecting grain from being stolen or wasted, which perfectly matches the behavior of a cat catching rats in the granary."

So that's how it is...

After roughly understanding the "code" just now, Li Ang asked in confusion:

"Judging from this origin, these three Holy Spirits of the Weighing Gold Sect should be good spirits that embody beautiful expectations."

"But I have seen that toad before, and it didn't seem to have that feeling at all. Instead, it was like a very cruel and evil spirit. Did something happen in between?"

"Indeed, quite a few things happened."

Tang Mu nodded:

"Since the Kingdom of Kroke started selling steam farm machinery, many people who were originally bound to farms and land, laboring for food, lost their status as farmers, and the power of the God of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry weakened significantly."

"And rice, in a sense, symbolizes wealth. The snake protecting rice production is also equivalent to protecting wealth; the toad helping the harvest is also considered to be nurturing wealth; and the cat guarding the granary is also equivalent to guarding wealth."

"So the compatibility between these three messengers of the God of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and the 'wealth' authority of that True God of the Weighing Gold Sect was excellent, so he took advantage of the God of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry's weakness, found a way to get them, and transformed them into the Holy Spirits under his seat."

"As for why three 'good spirits' born from beautiful wishes turned into the evil and extreme appearance they have now... perhaps because wealth makes people crazy?"

Through the narration of Tang Mu Lai Nade, a Level 1 cleanup agent of the Cleanup Bureau's *** branch, you have obtained a large amount of intelligence regarding the "Wealth-Changing Golden Toad," "Life-Changing Black Snake," and "Luck-Changing Flower Cat." The heterochromatic badge "Materialist Soul Crimson" has been activated.

Due to understanding the activation rules of the abilities of the "Wealth-Changing Golden Toad," "Life-Changing Black Snake," and "Luck-Changing Flower Cat," your resistance to these anomalous items has increased significantly, and you are now able to block deeper levels of influence.】

"The two of you, we have arrived."

As the system's mechanical prompt ended, the gloomy tunnel also reached its end.

After pushing open the small door at the end of the tunnel and making a gesture of invitation, the female priest leading the way said with a smile:

"After you two pass through here, you will enter the secret shrine of Lord Snake Spirit. Other brothers and sisters waiting to pay respects are also waiting inside."

"It's just that you came at an unfortunate time; Lord Snake Spirit is currently not here, having been delayed by some matters. But according to the oracle left by the Lord, in at most half a day, he will be able to finish handling the matters at hand and rush back to the secret shrine to accept everyone's respects."

Half a day left?

Hearing the female priest's words, Li Ang couldn't help but tilt his head slightly and exchange a glance with the lazy young man who was also looking over.

If he understood correctly, that "some matter" should refer to the trapped Senior Auntie Ai Ma, and the half-day deadline is likely the time needed for her immortal body's count to be completely "bought out." And this is a conservative estimate; in reality, it might be even shorter!

Must speed up!

Either find Senior Auntie Ai Ma within half a day, or create a big enough commotion within half a day to force that snake to run back on its own!

After reaching a consensus through their eyes, Li Ang and his companion politely bid farewell to the female priest in charge of leading the way, then successively lowered their bodies and crawled into the narrow small door at the end of the tunnel.

"Hiss?!!!"

Looking at his own crimson, slender body, and then at the golden plants around him that were as tall as trees, Li Ang couldn't help but open his eyes in surprise... or rather, his vertical pupils filled with cold intent.

"Hiss."

A snake-like hissing sound rang out. A mottled snake with a white base and red and blue spots came over, curled its tail, and gently tapped Li Ang's small red snake body. The lazy young man's familiar voice rang in Li Ang's heart.

'Don't panic, we haven't really turned into snakes. This is just a kind of spiritual manifestation for the convenience of paying respects.'

'After all, a Holy Spirit is not yet a True God and cannot link so many chaotic souls at once, so it needs to rely on the effect of the secret shrine to temporarily align the believers' spirits with its own. It will recover after we leave.'

'Also, don't answer me out loud.'

'The spirits of everyone who enters the secret shrine will be temporarily linked together, and you don't yet know how to mask your spiritual fluctuations. Speaking directly is equivalent to shouting your thoughts to everyone here, and you will be exposed.'

Senior Tang Mu?

Looking at this mottled snake with a white base and red and blue spots, whose color scheme was almost the same as a die, Li Ang, having calmed down, nodded to indicate he roughly understood the current situation, then tried his best to control his tail to form a not-so-standard "?"

'Are you asking what we should do next?'

Nod.

'Next, we need to go to a place with many snakes and find the priest of the Snake Spirit lineage. Only God-chosen ones who have received a blessing can actively contact the Holy Spirit in the secret shrine.'

After poking his head out from the shade formed by the rice ears and looking at the situation in the rice field, the mottled snake that the lazy young man had transformed into said:

"You help me look too. The priests of the Snake Spirit lineage have all received a blessing, and there should be a fine scale with a black base and white patterns on their tails. As long as we find that black and white scale growing in reverse, we have found... uh..."

Looking at the tail that the small red snake stretched out in front of him, which had a black and white fine scale growing in reverse, the mottled snake's head couldn't help but tilt slightly, and it spat out its tongue in a daze.

No... whose side are you on, damn it?