Chapter 35: Who Is Raising the Gods?

"This Bodhisattva statue?"

Li Yuan rubbed his eyes; the corners still seemed to hold a trace of blood-red.

Although his back was to the procession, the sense of his Weapon Register could not be wrong—could that Bodhisattva statue actually count as a 'weapon'?

And besides…

Li Yuan silently stepped back, then followed the flow of people and closed in a few steps. At this moment there was no lack of commoners chasing after the procession, so blending in among them, he did not stand out.

Finally, when he got within two meters, a flash of light once again surfaced before his eyes.

It was a streak of blood-light tinged with black.

【Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Stone Statue (Second Rank)】

【Crafted by a master artisan using blue essence stone as the base, with meditative Zen spirit clay for the eyes, an imitation… thus made; worshipped and sacrificed to by ten thousand people, it gradually grew spiritual anomalies…

Taking the spirit clay beneath its eyes can refine a Zeng Xue Dan…】

【Control Requirement: Bai Shen Fa, Entry Level】

【Control Effect: Befuddle the Heart Spirit, Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Diagram, Divine Art, First Layer】

Another Second Rank!

The deity procession moved off into the distance. Still amid the somewhat restless crowd, Li Yuan felt a measure of alarm and uncertainty.

"This deity statue counts as a weapon too? Lifting it up to smash someone to death would certainly be no problem… also Second Rank, so why is this statue's light so… uncanny?"

Li Yuan's heart chilled slightly.

From these mere scraps of information alone, he grew wary of the temple that was quite renowned in Gao Liu County. This, it seemed, was no proper temple…

"The control requirement is Bai Shen Fa, Entry Level? Does it mean the person who carved this Bodhisattva statue? For the sake of that spirit clay beneath the eyes?

And what kind of pill is a Zeng Xue Dan?"

Watching the procession recede, Li Yuan turned and left.

Although his eyes burned a little for a Second Rank weapon, that Bodhisattva statue was simply too uncanny; the waters behind it were surely deep, and he did not want to get involved in the slightest.

After that, Li Yuan wandered about the city.

The temple fair was on a grand scale, far more lively than before the New Year. Not only did people come from the towns under Gao Liu's jurisdiction, but one could also see goods and accents clearly not local.

"Another ranked weapon!"

Walking among the crowd, Li Yuan's peripheral vision kept sweeping over the passers-by—more precisely, the weapons they carried.

The Dayun Dynasty banned armor and crossbows but did not ban blades and swords. Anyone traveling abroad would carry some blade or sword for self-defense; the grandfather and grandson who'd sold him the sickle last time, even without a sword, had to carry a sickle.

"Ranked weapons aren't few, but I haven't spotted a Second Rank one—should be too expensive…"

With the Great Perfection forging art and the Hundred Weapons Familiarity in his possession, even outside the two-meter range, he could tell a weapon's quality, good or bad, at a single glance.

Weapon-recognition was something that had to be learned in any forging shop.

"Unranked means ordinary weapons; ranked means sharp weapons; Second Rank counts as superior sharp weapons. In a shop, one would cost over thirty taels—ordinary men of the Jianghu couldn't afford many."

As Li Yuan was thinking this, a burly, broad-shouldered man walked past him. The big fellow seemed to sense something, glared at him, and hurried off.

"Most of those carrying blades and swords have out-of-town accents—have they all come for the bounty on Nian Jiu?"

He glanced at the notice posted on the wall. Nian Jiu's bounty had already risen from the previous fifty taels to one hundred and fifty taels—clearly someone had topped it up.

Once an imperial court wanted notice was posted, private parties could also add to the price—this he had later heard mentioned by the apprentices.

These Jianghu men from out of town were surely drawn by the bounty. One hundred and fifty taels—that was silver most people could never earn in a lifetime.

Only…

"The bounty has been raised this high, yet Nian Jiu still hasn't fled…"

A shadow flashed through Li Yuan's heart; he naturally knew the reason.

In these times, any craft was closely guarded and never taught outside. Of the three Wu Gong in the weapons forge, to this day he had only fully learned Bai Yuan's Cloak Hammer; the Green Snake Spear and Tiger Roar Blade he had never even laid eyes on.

The preciousness of Cheng Wu Gong could well be imagined.

He suspected Nian Jiu had been hunted and bounty-placed precisely because he had stolen this Wu Gong.

"If that's really the case, Nian Jiu is bound to come knocking sooner or later."

Glancing at the city guards patrolling the streets, Li Yuan gave up on the idea of leaving the city. A temple fair—a temple fair; the liveliest part was naturally at the temples.

Of Gao Liu's nine temples, seven lay outside the city; only two were within the inner city.

"Crippled God Temple."

Before he knew it, Li Yuan had reached the inner city.

From afar, he spotted another deity altar being paraded through the streets—again sixteen burly men carrying it, a grand spectacle.

"This deity statue couldn't be—?"

Li Yuan followed the crowd until he was within two meters, and his eyelid twitched involuntarily.

He saw blood-light once more.

【Earth-Crippled God Statue (Second Rank)】

【Crafted by a master artisan using Crippled Rainbow Stone, supplemented with Red Secret Sand, an imitation… thus made; worshipped with incense for many years, it gradually grew spiritual anomalies…

Removing the Crippled Rainbow Stone can cast weapons; the Red Secret Sand can refine medicine…】

【Control Requirement: Missing Limb】

【Control Effect: Bewitch the Mind, Calm and Steady the Spirit, Earth-Crippled Heart Art, First Layer】

Another one!

At this, Li Yuan felt his hair stand on end:

"Could it be that all the other deity statues are like this too? Refining medicine, casting weapons… these, these deity statues are being 'raised' by someone?"

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence—there cannot be a third!

Unable to suppress his doubts any longer, Li Yuan followed the crowd toward each of the drumming and gong-beating spots, and smoothly caught sight of the remaining seven deity statues.

"One after another… all of them like this?"

After examining the last deity statue, Li Yuan confirmed his suspicion — these statues had definitely been arranged deliberately by someone.

Connecting it to this temple fair, which was even more important than the New Year, he couldn't help but think of the imperial court.

Thinking of this, he actually felt a weight lift from his heart.

"Third brother?"

Li Lin poked his head out, grinning: "I knew you'd come out. Even as a kid, you loved a good bustle."

"Second brother, what are you—?"

Li Yuan turned his head.

Li Lin was carrying large and small bundles of paper spirit-money and incense candles.

"Last year, at the end of the seventh month, didn't you catch a chill that just wouldn't break? Your second sister-in-law dragged me to the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple to burn incense — today we absolutely have to go repay that vow!

Your second sister-in-law already went. I've been tracking you down all the way from the Weapon-Forging Shop…"

"Repay a vow?"

Li Yuan's face was full of resistance; he didn't want to go.

In his past life, although he had been an unregistered Daoist Priest, he couldn't just worship any deity or Buddha he pleased — all the more so since these deity statues and temples might very well have problems.

"If you dare not go today, your second sister-in-law will dare to go to the Weapon-Forging Shop to find you tomorrow!"

Li Lin said he didn't care either way.

Back then, when his eldest brother Li Yue had gone missing, he'd nearly cried himself to death, and not a single deity had taken pity on him. If it weren't for the fierce woman at home, he absolutely wouldn't go.

"Then, let's go."

Li Yuan took the things from his second brother's hands. Now, he already stood more than half a head taller than Li Lin.

"You brat, you've grown again, and put on some muscle too!"

Li Lin laughed and let go, but in his heart he truly did feel some inclination to go repay the vow.

With the family fortune in decline, both parents dead, and the eldest brother missing, third brother really was the only thing weighing on his heart.

"I train in martial arts every day, eat a lot, so naturally I grow fast!"

The two brothers chatted and laughed, and before long they arrived outside the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva Temple. Here, it was even more bustling than the outer city, with a steady stream of people coming to burn incense.

Some had even erected wooden platforms to perform acrobatics on, drawing bursts of applause every now and then.

"Second brother, you go in first."

Arriving outside the temple, Li Yuan didn't go in. He handed the large and small bundles back to his second brother, then pulled the silver from his own bosom and stuffed it into his: "Once you've repaid the vow, go buy your wife a couple of nice outfits, some rouge and face powder and the like."

"I can't keep taking your silver… ah well, give it to me then. You're not young anymore either — save it up to take a wife!"

"I can't keep taking your silver… ah well, give it to me then. You're not young anymore either — save it up to take a wife!"

Li Lin was a little helpless, but still took the incense, candles, and spirit-money and carried them into the temple.

'The deity statues aren't quite right, but the temple itself seems perfectly normal, and the Monks are normal too. I'll wander around outside first and have a look…'

Outside the temple, Li Yuan narrowed his eyes.

A blind man with a black cloth tied over his eyes, leaning on a bamboo staff with a banner reading "Fortune-Telling" written on it, slowly blocked his path: "Little brother, have your fortune told?"

"Little brother, have your fortune told?"

(End of chapter)