Chapter 130: Illusion

"Little brother, there's no need to be afraid. Perhaps your eyes played tricks on you, or you had a hallucination! Old Han used to have hallucinations when he was young, claiming he saw fairies in the forest and such, but he was cured after the village shaman gave him a few doses of medicine! He never spoke of it again."

"Come to think of it, he was the one who went to the small temple to burn incense the most diligently. Of course, there was also Old Sun, Grandpa Erhei, and many others; after all, they were all blacksmiths back then. But now that they've all changed professions, no one goes to the Craft Spirit Lady Temple to burn incense anymore."

"However... there is one more thing that's quite strange!"

Su Yuanshan's heart stirred upon hearing this.

"Oh? What is it?"

The woodcutter scratched his head and grinned.

"I feel like that forest... I mean Shanwei Lin, I always feel like it's alive!"

"It's been like this since I was a child. It feels like walking inside something's belly. I don't know if you have that feeling!"

"Hehe, perhaps this is just an illusion of mine!"

Su Yuanshan smiled and said.

"I don't have that feeling; perhaps you're overthinking it."

"By the way, the Craft Spirit Lady Temple? Where is that temple? Can you take me to see it?"

However, the woodcutter seemed somewhat troubled.

"This, I haven't finished chopping my firewood yet..."

Su Yuanshan didn't say another word; he took out a copper coin and placed it in his hand.

"Take me there!"

Rubbing the copper coin, the woodcutter hesitated for a moment, tucked it into his money pouch, and said.

"Alright! Follow me!"

After walking for about an hour, the woodcutter finally led Su Yuanshan to a small temple. Calling it a temple, it was actually just a crude little Shennikan piled up from a few stones, inside which was enshrined a spirit tablet carved from stone, with the four characters 'Craft Spirit Lady' engraved on the stele.

The entire small temple was less than a meter high, appearing extremely shabby and crude.

This small temple had clearly not received any incense offerings for a long time; even the only incense burner had been washed away by rainwater to the roots of a nearby tree.

This was a small temple with no one to offer incense!

Shabby, crude!

After bringing Su Yuanshan to the small temple, the woodcutter left.

Leaving him alone to silently gaze at that spirit tablet.

Not until the woodcutter had walked far away did he softly say to that stone spirit tablet.

"Craft Spirit, are you there?"

Sure enough, following a sigh, the young girl who hadn't been seen for a long time gradually manifested on the tree.

Her appearance remained the same: a pale cyan, almost white top, a light cyan long skirt, and a beautiful wreath woven from wild grass on her head. But compared to before, there was a faint trace of sorrow on her face.

She glanced at Su Yuanshan, then turned her head to look into the distance, and said gloomily.

"Why is it you again? Didn't I tell you? This is not a place where you humans should come! It does you no good; if you stay too long, you will never be able to return, never be able to return!"

She clearly had not seen through Su Yuanshan's true form, instead mistaking him for an ordinary mortal.

An ordinary mortal who could see spirits!

Su Yuanshan could even see that the spiritual energy on her body seemed somewhat scattered and unstable, as if it would disappear at any moment; clearly, her nether-lifespan was running out.

Once her nether-lifespan was exhausted, her soul would scatter, and even a Great Luo Golden Immortal reborn would be powerless to help.

So he asked.

"Have you lost your believers? Not even one? Is it because the incense has been cut off that you are so weak and so sorrowful? How about... I shall believe in you!"

What he said was, of course, merely words of comfort. As a dignified True God, a Lord of Chenghuangfu, let alone believing in and offering to this mere Craft Spirit, even if he were to casually light a stick of incense for her, she would be unable to bear it and would likely perish on the spot.

Therefore, he was only comforting her.

But the Craft Spirit believed him, even feeling somewhat surprised and moved. She suddenly turned her head and stared blankly at Su Yuanshan, and only after a long while did she shake her head.

"I am very grateful for your kindness, but that is only sympathy, not faith!"

"I am merely a lowly nether-spirit, different from those gods. You are not a blacksmith, so even if you offer incense and worship me, it is useless!"

"But..." Her eyes turned slightly red, yet she still tried hard to smile.

"I am still very grateful, grateful for this heart of yours!"

Su Yuanshan thought to himself.

What a kind-hearted girl!

He smiled slightly and said calmly.

"Does the young lady mean that only a blacksmith's offering is efficacious? That is easy to handle. I will find a blacksmith for you to worship you, won't that do?"

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope appeared in the young girl's eyes, yet she hesitated for a moment before finally shaking her head.

"Better not trouble you. Things are not as simple as you think. Doing that would not only fail to help me, but would also harm you."

Su Yuanshan had not expected this girl to be so stubborn and unwilling to owe him a favor.

This made him somewhat curious, and he asked.

"Since the blacksmiths have all changed professions and you have been cut off from incense, how have you managed to hold on until now?"

Upon hearing this, the young girl seemed to freeze for a moment; she did not answer directly, but instead cast her gaze into the distance.

After a long while, she said slowly.

"Actually, the vast majority of blacksmiths stopped worshipping me a long time ago."

"But there was only one person, only one family, that kept insisting."

"Every time the holidays came around, they would come to offer incense and worship me. Every time he came, I would stand on the tree and watch from afar, watching him come and watching him go."

"Watching him change from a young, lively boy into a white-haired old man with a stumbling gait."

"But I couldn't do anything for him! Day after day, year after year, he came up the mountain to worship me, rain or shine. It was precisely because of his incense offerings that I have managed to hold on until now, but recently, he has not come again."

The young girl's tone was somewhat lonely and somewhat desolate as she spoke.

One only heard her continue to say.

"However, I do not blame him; after all, he persisted for so many years, persisted for so long, and persisted until the very end, still offering sacrifices to me.

I am a Craft Spirit, and I can feel that he had originally changed professions and originally had no need to do this, yet he still persisted in offering sacrifices to me!

Therefore, I am very grateful to him.

Now I am about to leave very soon; I originally had nothing to be attached to in this world, and perhaps I should have left a long time ago,

but it was precisely because of him—perhaps having some lingering attachment—that I held on until now.

So my greatest wish is to be able to see him one more time and say to him, 'You have persisted until now—you have truly worked hard!'"

She looked at her own hands, which were becoming increasingly transparent, and smiled desolately.

"But I know that I may be unable to realize this wish, because my time is growing shorter and shorter!"

The little white fox could not help but feel sorrowful upon hearing this, and Su Yuanshan also fell silent.

"Prefect..." The little white fox looked at Su Yuanshan and spoke suddenly, but quickly realized it had made a slip of the tongue.

Prefect? At that moment, the young girl suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Su Yuanshan in disbelief.

"You are...?"

This fellow! Su Yuanshan cast a glance at the little white fox, yet it startled the creature into a shiver, and like a child who had made a mistake, it lowered its head and dared not speak.

Seeing that it could truly no longer be hidden, Su Yuanshan had no choice but to smile bitterly.

"That is correct, I am indeed the City God of this Huangliang Xian; sigh, since I have been recognized, there is nothing for me to hide—I shall help you realize your wish."

Upon hearing this, the young girl seemed both surprised and delighted, and she bowed gracefully.

"Xiao Ling pays respects to the City God Prefect!"

Su Yuanshan nodded slightly and said.

"Rise!"

As he spoke, he no longer concealed his divine aura and shouted toward the great mountain.

"Where is the Mountain God?"