Chapter 168: The Faceless Malevolent Deity!

Lu Yuan suddenly turned his head.

Under the moonlight, another Hu Tutu stood three steps behind him, identical to the one in front.

When someone is so focused, having someone suddenly appear behind them would give anyone a huge fright.

Especially under these circumstances.

However, Lu Yuan's reaction was actually quite calm; he settled down in just an instant.

He made no sudden movements, nor did he let out any exclamation, so the other Hu Tutu down in the valley did not notice them here.

"Why won't you listen?"

The Hu Tutu in front sighed, her tone carrying a maturity that didn't match her age.

Although Lu Yuan couldn't tell the two Hu Tutus apart with his naked eye, if this Hu Tutu spoke, he could still discern something.

Lu Yuan looked at the Hu Tutu before him, not feeling overly afraid in his heart.

Never mind that Lu Yuan had Qingwan's jade token in his pocket; just considering the current situation, Lu Yuan might not even need Qingwan's help.

Hu Tutu, a child.

Of course, perhaps this Hu Tutu wasn't actually seven or eight years old as she appeared, but at most, she was only in her teens.

At that age, no matter how capable, she couldn't be stronger than Lu Yuan.

Of course, it wasn't just Hu Tutu here; there was also the Faceless Malevolent Deity below that he hadn't seen yet.

Only...

That Faceless Malevolent Deity probably couldn't handle Lu Yuan either.

After all, what kind of "deity" did this Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp sustain?

They sustained deities that were on their last legs, about to fail, about to dissipate.

Presumably, the current state of that Faceless Malevolent Deity wasn't great either; it probably struggled to even coalesce.

Otherwise, Lu Yuan wouldn't have gone this long without seeing that Faceless Malevolent Deity.

Nor would this Faceless Malevolent Deity need the Hu Family, one of the Ten Families beyond the Great Wall, to sustain it.

And furthermore...

Lu Yuan looked at the Hu Tutu before him. Moonlight shone on her face, on those eyes that held a mature look.

Even now, Hu Tutu still hadn't shown any malicious intent.

Even if her words...

seemed to be starting to sound a bit off.

Of course, it was also possible that her genuinely adorable appearance made people overlook any malice hidden beneath that cute face.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath and spoke.

His voice wasn't loud, but each word was heavy, as if forcibly squeezed from his chest:

"Do you know who I am?"

Hu Tutu blinked.

"Of course, you are the Daoist Priest from Zhenlong Temple."

Lu Yuan, however, didn't pick up on Hu Tutu's line. Instead, he raised his chin slightly, wearing a proud expression as he declared:

"I am a Celestial Master who has received proper ordination, inheriting the orthodox lineage of the Three Pure Ones, upholding the rules of the Daoist tradition."

Lu Yuan stared into Hu Tutu's eyes:

"And the Daoist tradition has only one rule: guarding the common people!"

"The Ten Families beyond the Great Wall, each have their own skills."

"Your Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp sustains deities. Something like sustaining the Flower Maiden at Zhenlong Temple is a great deed."

Then, Lu Yuan abruptly shifted the topic:

"But who are you sustaining now?"

"The Faceless Malevolent Deity."

"Is that a deity?"

Hu Tutu pursed her lips, not answering.

Lu Yuan stared into her eyes:

"The Faceless Malevolent Deity, formed from incense offerings gaining essence, pretending to be divine and playing ghostly tricks—this is a malevolent deity, an evil spirit!"

Although Lu Yuan kept his voice low, his tone had taken on a sharp edge.

"Your Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp, sustaining proper deities—that's a good thing."

"But sustaining a malevolent deity, what is that?"

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, his voice sinking lower:

"I, Lu Yuan, carry the legitimate Daoist lineage; I am a genuine Celestial Master!"

"Although I haven't fully recovered yet, as long as I still wear these Daoist robes, as long as I still receive the incense offerings of Zhenlong Temple!"

"I cannot stand by and watch such a thing happen!"

Lu Yuan stared fixedly into Hu Tutu's eyes:

"I cannot watch someone sustain a malevolent deity, letting it live."

Under the moonlight, after hearing Lu Yuan's words, Hu Tutu didn't rush to explain herself, nor did she show any grievance.

She just stood there, waiting for him to finish.

Then she spoke.

Her voice was still that crisp, clear sound, but her tone now contained something else.

It was a very strange feeling, as if she were stating something utterly obvious.

"Daoist Priest, have you finished speaking?"

"Then let me say a few words."

She paused, looking up at the moon in the sky.

"Do you know what the Ten Families beyond the Great Wall do?"

Well...

This question actually stumped Lu Yuan.

Who knew that?

This was something Lu Yuan had truly never thought about.

At a rough glance, it didn't seem worth pondering.

Whatever they do, they do!

Just don't harm people!

But on second thought, this matter was actually worth considering.

To put it the other way around: what does the Daoist tradition do?

The Daoist tradition, of course, guards the common people!

Then these Ten Families...

And before Lu Yuan could ponder further, Hu Tutu continued on her own:

"The Ten Families beyond the Great Wall are ten different professions, each doing their own thing."

"Our Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp is one of them, along with the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family you know, and others."

"Each family has its own tasks to do."

She turned her head, looking at Lu Yuan:

"I won't speak of others."

"Just take your Daoist tradition, which cultivates for clarity of thought and guards the common people."

"Our Hu Family isn't that capable; what we cultivate is a livelihood."

A livelihood?!

Hearing Hu Tutu's words, Lu Yuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

"How do you cultivate it?"

Hu Tutu pointed at the dilapidated temple in the valley:

"Sustaining the lamp."

"That Faceless Venerable, you say it's a malevolent deity. Correct."

"But for our Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp, it is simply a lamp."

"Whether it's a malevolent deity or not doesn't matter; we just need to sustain it!"

Lu Yuan frowned.

Hu Tutu looked into his eyes, moonlight shining on her face, on those calm eyes of hers:

"Daoist Priest, do you know why we're called the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp?"

"It's not because we can prolong the life of a lamp."

"It's because by sustaining the lamp, we can obtain a little something from that lamp."

"A little of that deity's power."

"Proper deities give proper divine power; malevolent deities give malevolent power."

"The power we obtain is the capital for our cultivation."

Hu Tutu paused, her tone as calm as if discussing what she ate today:

"That Faceless Venerable, how many people it has consumed, how many years it has accumulated, how much it possesses—I don't know."

"I only know that each time I sustain its lamp, it gives me a sliver of what it has."

"A sliver is enough."

Hu Tutu looked at Lu Yuan:

"You ask me why I sustain a malevolent deity's lamp?"

"Because it can give me power."

"It's that simple."

Hu Tutu finished speaking, then looked at Lu Yuan with utmost seriousness.

She seemed to want to see some reaction on Lu Yuan's face.

But...

What was very strange to Hu Tutu was...

Lu Yuan showed almost no reaction at all.

From the moment Hu Tutu started speaking until she finished, there truly wasn't the slightest reaction on Lu Yuan's face.

This matter...

To be honest, it really was...

Lu Yuan already had an idea.

Although Lu Yuan had sneaked here this time wanting to see what exactly the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp was planning to do, why they wanted to sustain a malevolent deity's lamp.

But in reality, before coming, Lu Yuan already had a vague answer in his heart.

It wasn't that Lu Yuan was incredibly clever and guessed it directly; it was just that...

It was just that this matter truly had a precedent for Lu Yuan!

When Lu Yuan first wondered why the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp would sustain both genuine rural wild deities and malevolent deities, his initial thought was...

That the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp must be able to gain something from it.

Was he not surprised by the Hu Family doing this?

He really wasn't...

Because Lu Yuan had encountered a similar situation before.

Or rather...

After Lu Yuan learned that Hu Tutu wanted to sustain a malevolent deity's lamp...

His view of the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp shifted from seeing them as fellow travelers to thinking all Ten Families beyond the Great Wall were cut from the same cloth.

The first person that popped into Lu Yuan's mind at that time was Tan Jiji.

Previously, Lu Yuan thought Hu Tutu was special, thought the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp was good, precisely because he disliked the behavioral style of the Ten Families beyond the Great Wall.

They believed that anything outside the Ten Families had nothing to do with them.

They only concerned themselves with matters within the Ten Families.

Take Tan Jiji back then, for example. He clearly knew the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family was cultivating a malevolent deity.

Especially since his own Punishing the Netherworld Tan Family also needed to confront the Commanding Ghosts Liu Family over this matter.

Yet he still refused help from Lu Yuan, an outsider.

To use Tan Jiji's words at the time: that was a matter within their Ten Families beyond the Great Wall.

Behind closed doors, they were one family.

No matter how big the mess, no matter what other families did, they were still one family.

And this Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp...

After Lu Yuan learned that Hu Tutu was sustaining a malevolent deity's lamp, he had already thought of this.

Now, it turned out exactly as expected...

The Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp wasn't doing this for guarding the common people.

They were not fellow travelers with Lu Yuan or the Daoist tradition beyond the Great Wall.

They did these things solely for their own family's techniques.

As for whether sustaining the malevolent deity's lamp would allow it to later bring disaster to the common people beyond the Great Wall...

They simply didn't care.

Indeed...

Birds of a feather flock together.

The Ten Families beyond the Great Wall...

They're all of this nature...

He really shouldn't have held too many good expectations for these people...

After understanding all this, Lu Yuan raised his right hand holding the Yansheng Dagger and looked expressionlessly at the living Hu Tutu, saying:

"Finished speaking?"

The night wind blew.

Leaves rustled.

In the distance, that lamp in the valley still glowed faintly.

The next second, before the living Hu Tutu could react.

Lu Yuan turned and charged down the mountain.

"Daoist Priest!!"

Hu Tutu's exclamation came from behind, but Lu Yuan didn't look back.

The hillside was steep, gravel and fallen leaves slippery underfoot.

But for a Celestial Master like Lu Yuan, this was nothing.

One hand protected the Yansheng Dagger in his embrace, the other grabbed tree trunks along the way for leverage.

Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the leaves, dappling Lu Yuan's body.

Almost there.

Three hundred meters left.

That lamp in the valley, its pale blue-white light, glowed faintly.

Beside the lamp, the small figure still crouched, throwing the last few pieces of yellow paper into the incense burner.

It was the paper Hu Tutu.

Just as Lu Yuan charged with all his might to the edge of the valley.

The wind stopped.

It didn't stop gradually; it stopped with a "snap," just like that.

The leaves stopped rustling.

The grass stopped swaying.

That silence wasn't ordinary silence.

It was as if all sound had been sucked away.

Then Lu Yuan saw it.

The lamp in the valley went out.

The moment the pale blue-white light vanished, the entire valley plunged into pitch darkness.

Only moonlight remained.

Pallid moonlight.

Shining on the dilapidated temple, on the empty ground, on the crouching, motionless Hu Tutu.

Then—

The temple door opened.

Not blown open by the wind.

It opened by itself.

Creak—

The sound was soft, but in this deathly silence, it was heard clearly.

Inside the door was pitch black.

Nothing could be seen.

But Lu Yuan knew something had come out.

Not walking out.

It "spread" out.

Like an invisible fog, squeezing out bit by bit from the door crack.

That fog had no shape, no color, but looking in that direction, you knew there was something there.

It was moving.

Spreading outward.

Regarding this, Lu Yuan had no other thoughts.

The danger indicator of the [Vanquish Demons and Exorcise Evil] system had not been triggered.

Which meant this Faceless Malevolent Deity was, as Lu Yuan had previously thought.

Exactly the kind of half-dead, about-to-disperse-at-any-moment entity that posed no threat to Lu Yuan!

He just needed to stop that paper Hu Tutu from sustaining this Faceless Malevolent Deity's lamp.

Thinking this, Lu Yuan's grip on the Yansheng Dagger tightened.

Admittedly, Lu Yuan was still quite fond of that paper Hu Tutu.

The little girl was very polite, and her looks were unbearably cute.

Lu Yuan had even thought before that if he ever had a daughter in the future, he'd wish for one just like her.

But...

That didn't mean Lu Yuan would go easy on this paper Hu Tutu!

Nor should he go easy on this paper Hu Tutu.

Speaking of the bond between them, it only amounted to that one day.

To be honest, it wasn't even as deep as his bond with Tan Jiji.

If, just because of that one day, Lu Yuan went easy, allowing the paper Hu Tutu to sustain a malevolent deity's lamp...

Then Lu Yuan would be rather laughable!

Regarding this, Lu Yuan had no second thoughts. Sustaining a malevolent deity's lamp was equivalent to aiding evil!

Lu Yuan would absolutely not go easy!

Of course, Lu Yuan also understood he might not be able to subdue that paper Hu Tutu quickly.

After all...

This Hu Tutu had some "deities" backing her.

While charging madly toward Hu Tutu, Lu Yuan remained highly alert, scanning his surroundings.

Watching to see if any danger indicators would suddenly pop up.

When Lu Yuan was still seventy or eighty meters away from the paper Hu Tutu, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Looking down—

His shadow.

Moonlight shone on him, which should have cast a long shadow behind him.

But now, that shadow was crawling forward.

Not crawling forward following him.

It was crawling faster than he was running.

Lu Yuan's shadow was crawling toward the direction of that dilapidated temple.

Lu Yuan's scalp went numb.

"Halt!"

The shadow stopped.

But only for an instant.

Immediately after, he heard a rustling sound coming from behind him.

He whipped his head around.

Under the moonlight, the shadows of the trees on the hillside were all moving.

Not moved by the wind.

They were moving on their own.

The shadows of the trees seemed to come alive, crawling down the hillside.

The shadows of grass, the shadows of stones, the shadows of everything were crawling in the same direction!

Crawling toward the direction of that dilapidated temple.

And that paper Hu Tutu, moonlight shone on her.

Her shadow was also moving.

Her shadow was crawling toward the dilapidated temple.

Halfway there, it suddenly stopped.

Then—

Hu Tutu's shadow stood up by itself.

Then it turned around, facing the Hu Tutu crouched on the ground.

It had no face.

But it was "looking" at her.

Lu Yuan couldn't bother with that.

He continued charging forward.

After running a few steps, he noticed his surroundings were getting darker and darker.

Not the darkness of a lamp going out.

The moonlight was fading.

Looking up, the moon was still in the sky.

But the moonlight couldn't shine down anymore.

Something was blocking the moonlight.

Not clouds.

Shadows.

Countless shadows converging together, like a giant black cloth, slowly covering the entire valley.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, pulled out the Thunder Ancestor Command from his pocket, and raised it toward the sky.

The command token suddenly lit up.

A golden light shot out from the token, straight toward the black cloth overhead.

The black cloth was torn open by a rift.

Moonlight leaked through that rift, shining precisely on the spot three meters ahead of Lu Yuan.

Using this bit of light, Lu Yuan continued charging forward!

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to reach the paper Hu Tutu, his entire body suddenly froze.

Not out of fear.

Because—

Lu Yuan saw himself.

Three meters ahead stood a person.

Wearing clothes identical to his, with a face identical to his, holding an identical Yansheng Dagger.

That was Lu Yuan himself.

It was Lu Yuan's shadow, standing before Lu Yuan, blocking the path between Lu Yuan and the paper Hu Tutu.