Chapter 366: The City God

At the first light of dawn, Li Yan and his companions rode their horses forward.

As they crossed the river, he turned his head to look back once more; the dilapidated Zhaode Temple had completely vanished from sight.

"Young Hero Li, can that old demon's words be trusted?"

Wu Wu Dehai asked, unable to hide his hesitation.

"It dares not lie."

Li Yan said coldly, "The ghost monk in the temple was chanting the *Infinite Life Sutra*. If I am not mistaken, that thing's cultivation is terrifyingly deep; with its internal and external aspects in harmony, it has already formed its own Pure Land."

"However, while the monk can run, the temple cannot. Its 'Pure Land' is trapped here and cannot easily leave, which is why it would rather be suppressed for a hundred years than give up on rebuilding the temple."

"That old thing is also shrewd. Even if we set a fire, it would likely be hard to damage its foundation, so it played the part of a sycophant to gain our sympathy and use our strength to escape its calamity."

"So that's how it is..."

Wu Wu Dehai suddenly realized, then shook his head with a frown. "Young Hero Li, you said this place was sealed by Perfected Person Master Sanfeng; why not just suppress and kill it directly?"

Li Yan looked thoughtful, gazing toward the distant Xiangyang city walls. "Firstly, Heaven cherishes life. Those things were not causing trouble at the time, and Perfected Person Master Sanfeng acted with benevolence, so he did not strike a lethal blow."

"Secondly, this place has merged with heavenly treasures and earthly artifacts, making it somewhat strange. If handled improperly, it would instead breed resentment and let fierce ghosts run rampant."

"Regardless of the reason, there is definitely a problem with the City God Temple!"

"Commandant Wu, once we return, immediately gather your men and surround the City God Temple!"

"Very well, I will follow Young Hero Li's lead."

The group immediately whipped their horses and headed toward Xiangyang City.

Meanwhile, Commandant Zhou led his troops toward the villages mentioned by the Heavenly Saint Sect captives to apprehend the evildoers and extinguish the hidden threat...

…………

Halfway there, the Commandant's Office had already sent out falcons to deliver messages.

Therefore, by the time they returned to Xiangyang City, the manpower had already been assembled.

Xiangyang City's status was not comparable to the three towns of Yunyang and Near Wuchang, but as an important wharf on the Han River, the Commandant's Office battalion was still equipped with nearly a thousand men.

With an order from Wu Wu Dehai, the troops surged toward the South City.

Because they feared leaks, the men of the Commandant's Office only learned of their target once they arrived at the City God Temple, and they looked at one another in dismay.

The City God Temple was not a place to be trifled with.

The Commandant had always been slippery and cautious; why had he suddenly provoked these people?

Within Xiangyang City, although Li Yan had made contact with the Garrison and the Commandant's Office, there was more than one faction here; there were also the Prefectural Yamen, the Chamber of Commerce, the Academy, local gentry, and Some Jianghu gangs.

Such a massive commotion immediately drew many eyes.

Inside the Prefectural Yamen, the previous Judge Wu had been unlucky and infected with the plague, so a Vice Prefect hurriedly brought men to the scene.

Within the Garrison, the Regional Military Commissioner, who had originally wanted nothing to do with Some Jianghu people, also brought his men on horseback.

As for the City God Temple, it was naturally in a state of great chaos.

The originally tightly closed main gate opened, and an old Daoist with a pale face walked out. He could not hide the anger on his face and said coldly to Wu Wu Dehai, "Commandant Wu, what is the meaning of this?"

Wu Wu Dehai gave an awkward smile, then cupped his hands and said, "Daoist Master Yuchen, we are investigating a case with this Young Hero Li and have discovered some things we wish to verify with you."

The old Daoist frowned, turned his head to look at Li Yan, and said coldly, "This must be Benefactor Li. You have a good relationship with my Grand Void Gate; why do you do this?"

Li Yan pinched a spell gesture, took a deep breath, then jumped off his horse, speaking as he walked: "Daoist, do not misunderstand. It is just that we have found the source of the plague and would like to ask the City God Temple to perform a ritual to dispel it."

"Oh?"

The old Daoist was stunned for a moment. "You found it? Where?"

"Right over there..." Li Yan pointed toward the rear.

But just as the old Daoist raised his head to look, Li Yan's feet suddenly erupted with hidden force, and he arrived in front of the old Daoist in an instant.

"You little rat!"

The old Daoist gave a start, flying into a rage.

Seeing Li Yan charging at him, he did not dodge, instead meeting him with a sliding step, his body like a dragon, his claws forming to hook at Li Yan's throat.

He was using the Dragon Flower Fist.

But just as he was about to close in, he suddenly changed his palm, his left hand pinching a spell behind his back, his palm stirring up a sinister wind that grew suddenly larger in Li Yan's eyes.

Grand Void Secret Art, Soul-Sucking Palm!

Li Yan did not dodge or evade, swinging his arm like an axe, his fist crackling with electric arcs.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out.

The old Daoist's arm bone snapped, and he groaned as he retreated again and again.

Li Yan did not let him off, charging forward again, his Dust-Severing Blade unsheathing with a *clang* and pointing directly at the old Daoist's brow.

"You... what are you doing?!"

The old Daoist clutched his broken arm, both shocked and furious.

Li Yan ignored him, ordering in a deep voice, "Seal the entire City God Temple! Do not let a single person escape! Anyone who resists is to be killed without mercy!"

Behind him, Wu Wu Dehai's mouth hung open, his head covered in cold sweat.

He had thought Li Yan would come to question them—that was what had been agreed upon—so why had he suddenly changed his mind and gone straight for the kill?

*Whoosh! Whoosh! *

Before he could ask, two figures leaped up from the side courtyard, jumped off the wall, and kicked the Commandant's Office cavalrymen away, attempting to seize horses and flee.

Now, how could the men of the Commandant's Office not know something was wrong?

*Clatter! *

The experts nearby immediately threw out meteor hooks, tripping the horses' legs, and the two men on horseback were thrown to the ground.

Just as they tried to flee, sharp blades were pressed against their necks.

The Commandant's Office had brought nearly a thousand men, so most were at the Ming Jin level, with only the Squad Leaders having entered the An Jin level, but there were simply too many of them; even for a Hua Jin expert, escaping would not be simple.

The two surrounded men, though dressed in Daoist robes, had fierce eyes and disheveled hair; they were clearly imposters.

The men of the Commandant's Office looked at each other in disbelief.

By the looks of it, the City God Temple had long since fallen.

There were experts from the Law Enforcement Hall inside, and they had dealt with them before; how could they have fallen so easily? It was simply unimaginable.

Seeing that the matter was exposed, a flash of panic crossed the old Daoist's eyes, and a small black bottle appeared in his hand from within his wide Daoist sleeve.

But before he could act, he let out a miserable shriek and fell to the ground; Li Yan had flicked his wrist, swinging his blade to dislocate the old Daoist's arm.

With one arm broken and the other severed, the old Daoist had completely lost the power to resist, his face ashen.

"Search! Everyone, put on vinegar-soaked cloths!"

Without needing Li Yan to say more, Wu Wu Dehai hurriedly gave the order, and the men of the Commandant's Office tightened the vinegar-soaked cloths over their faces and charged into the City God Temple.

The City God Temple had previously released news that they were out investigating and had accidentally contracted the plague, and were now closing their doors for treatment.

With the entrance fought over like this and no one coming out, the crowd already had their suspicions.

Sure enough, as they charged into the various side halls, they immediately made discoveries.

Many Daoists and young acolytes lay on the beds, but their faces were already ashen, their chests sliced open, their internal organs removed, and the stench of blood was overpowering.

The entire City God Temple no longer had a single living soul!

At this moment, a Vice Prefect from the Yamen also arrived, and seeing the scene before him, his face turned deathly pale. "This... what is going on here?"

Li Yan's eyes were cold as he looked at the old Daoist before him. "Naturally, it is internal thieves colluding with external bandits. The City God Temple had long since been tampered with; I only realized something was wrong when I approached just now."

Wu Wu Dehai also frowned deeply. "Daoist Master Yuchen, you are a disciple of the orthodox sect and were about to become the temple keeper; why would you harm these disciples?" The old Daoist's face was ashen, and he sighed, saying nothing.

By the looks of it, he would not be confessing anytime soon.

Li Yan did not bother to ask further, walking straight toward the main hall.

The City God was the deity guarding the city, part of the nation's orthodox divine sacrifices, so its importance was self-evident, and it was also garrisoned with troops.

For the enemy to have captured this place, there must be a massive conspiracy.

After entering the hall, Li Yan gasped in shock.

He saw that in the spacious main hall, an old man dressed in Han Dynasty official robes was enshrined, holding a vermilion brush, wearing a high crown, with white hair and a white beard, and two martial generals stood on either side.

Xiangyang had been a famous city since ancient times, and the City God enshrined here was naturally no simple figure—it was the famous Han Dynasty chancellor, Xiao He.

Besides this, there were tiered wooden racks on both sides, filled with dense rows of black soul jars, surrounded by oil lamps and covered in yellow talismans.

But at this moment, the eyes of the City God and the two divine statues were wrapped in blood-stained talisman silk, and the rich scent of incense had also been tainted with a layer of bloodthirst.

And on the offering table, internal organs were piled high.

!.

"What kind of evil art is this?"

Seeing this, Wu Wu Dehai felt his scalp tingle.

Li Yan remained silent, pinching a spell gesture, and two supernatural abilities activated simultaneously; all sorts of smells flooded his nose, and many strange sounds reached his ears.

From within the City God statue, an angry voice kept coming: "Demons and monsters, must be beheaded! Must be beheaded! Must be beheaded!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The two servant deities beside it were equally crazed.

And there was another rustling sound, constantly coming from that pile of blood and organs, carrying a clicking sound, as if chanting some ancient spell.

At the same time, his official seal began to heat up.

In just an instant, Li Yan's expression changed, and he shouted sharply, "Everyone, leave the main hall immediately!"

"Quick, quick, quick, retreat!"

Although Wu Wu Dehai did not understand why, hearing the urgency in Li Yan's voice, he knew something major had happened and hurriedly led everyone out.

At the same time, inside the main hall, Li Yan took out his official seal, pinched a spell gesture, and shouted loudly, "Heaven has its discipline, Earth has its laws; the Underworld detains souls, mortals avoid!"

Outside the hall, Lu San heard this and hurriedly scolded, "Everyone turn around! If you don't want to die, don't look back!"

The men of the Commandant's Office felt it was inexplicable, but seeing Wu Wu Dehai nod and give the order, they all turned around.

Soon, a bone-chilling sensation rose from behind them.

The entire City God main hall plunged into complete darkness.

The sound of clattering chains, the sound of jars and bottles shattering, the roar of some wild beast... all merged into one.

The crowd listened in terror, not daring to look back.

After a long while, when the sounds gradually faded, they heard Li Yan speak from inside the hall, "Alright, come in."

Wu Wu Dehai secretly turned his head, and seeing that nothing had happened, he led a few subordinates back into the City God Temple.

They saw that the interior was a mess; all the soul jars on the racks were shattered, as if swept by a violent storm, and even the towering hall pillars were covered in claw marks.

"This... what happened?"

Wu Wu Dehai swallowed his saliva and asked cautiously.

Li Yan casually picked up a stick and pushed aside the blood and organs on the offering table; inside, there was a small, pitch-black divine statue.

This statue's upper body was that of a middle-aged man with a white beard and black brows, dressed in black robes, with bare feet, revealing a pair of giant chicken claws; because it had been wrapped in organs, it was covered in blood.

And on its chest and abdomen, large cracks had appeared.

"This is a Ghost Sect demon god!"

Li Yan looked up at the surroundings, his heart still racing. "This thing is good at disguising itself and can steal incense. The Ghost Sect uses the internal organs of cultivators as offerings to infect the City God and control the city's garrison troops."

"Once they succeed, Xiangyang City will surely fall!"

Just a moment ago, he had triggered an Underworld mission.

Previously in Near Wuchang City, when he beheaded "Willow Lady," he learned of the true demon god worshipped by the Ghost Sect.

Its name was Ran Tong, originally an ancient mountain god, transformed by ancient witchcraft, later becoming a demon god, and suppressed after the Investiture of the Gods.

This demon god was the most cunning, passing down the "Nether-Penetrating Longevity Art," and could disguise itself, either falsely claiming to be an orthodox deity to steal incense, or changing its identity.

The great ghosts worshipped by the Ghost Sect in various places, whether the "Lengzheng God" in Ezhou or the "Ningdeng God" in Tokyo at the time, were all its clones.

This fellow had escaped the Underworld with five strands of demonic energy; they had caught one in Near Wuchang City, but he hadn't expected another to be hidden here.

"No wonder."

Wu Wu Dehai kept wiping cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "Using the plague to cut off Xiangyang City's waterways, then having the surrounding villages riot, forcing the Baokang County garrison to return for reinforcements, and then deploying the City God's garrison troops... what a chain of schemes!"

They were all shrewd people and immediately understood the Ghost Sect's layout.

Li Yan looked at the City God statue and shook his head. "The City God's garrison troops in Xiangyang City have been tainted; if they came out, they would cause trouble, so they have been dealt with, but the City God is still clear-headed."

"Immediately send a message to Mount Mount Wudang and ask them to send reinforcements!"

"Understood!"

Wu Wu Dehai hurried off to handle it.

With such a major incident, the few high-ranking officials who had hurriedly run over to assign blame did not dare to say another word, and after giving some instructions, they helped with the cleanup.

They were all suffering in their hearts; the plague was one thing, but to have caused such a massive incident—they feared they would not escape the charge of dereliction of duty this time.

Li Yan did not bother with them, sighing slightly as he took out three sticks of incense and offered them to the City God statue.

Within his official seal, a rich strand of Underworld divine energy surged into his body.

His Grand Luo Dharma Body, which had been covered in scars and on the verge of shattering, was immediately mostly repaired, and the length of his Soul-Hooking Rope also increased significantly.

With such an incident, they naturally had to wait for the results.

Li Yan and Lu San returned to the Commandant's Office to rest.

Subsequently, various pieces of news arrived one after another.

Commandant Zhou of the Xiangyang Garrison led men to charge into those villages; the villagers, already bewitched and possessed, fought them to the death with knives, spears, and clubs under the leadership of the Heavenly Saint Sect evildoers.

These commoners had all contracted the plague and were like walking corpses; although the garrison soldiers leveled the villages, many of them also became infected...

The Spring and Autumn Stronghold in Nanzhang County, not knowing where they got the news, realized the matter had been exposed and directly took action, descending the mountain to capture the county seat.

At present, the road to Baokang County has been cut off.

The only good news was that they had found one of the sources of the plague: that piece of nanmu wood filled with towering resentment.

The Tai Da Xuan Orthodox Sect had rituals to eliminate the plague; as long as they had this object, at least the plague within Xiangyang City could be lifted.

Near dusk, the reinforcements from Mount Mount Wudang finally arrived.

The incident at the Xiangyang City God Temple had clearly infuriated the Grand Void Gate, who directly sent nearly a hundred Daoists.

And leading them was none other than Master Yulongzi of the Five Dragon Palace, who also brought the Five Dragon Sons along...

(End of chapter)