Chapter 26: Also Enshrining Lord Xuanqing?

Evening had already fallen, and the sky was growing dark.

Neither the Village Chief of Liu Family Village and his son nor Old Doctor Song wanted to travel at night, so they quickly gathered their things and prepared to head back to Liu Family Village.

Old Doctor Song was inside packing his belongings while the Village Chief and his son waited in the courtyard, both of them somewhat distracted.

Song Tiancheng's words from a moment ago still echoed in their ears, stirring their hearts.

The Village Chief's son kept turning to glance back toward the head of the village.

There stood a small temple, and even on days when no incense was being offered, wisps of thin smoke still curled gently around it.

Pressing his lips together, the son said quietly, "Father, do you think what Uncle Song told us is really true?"

Rural villagers believed in the gods, yet at the same time they understood deep down that lofty deities rarely turned their gaze toward the mortal world — let alone manifested to bless and protect anyone.

Otherwise, why would ordinary people so often fall victim to demons and those of the Demonic Path?

They simply needed a faith to cling to, something to bring peace to their hearts.

Both the Village Chief and his son had long since accepted that people like them — villagers whose lives were as insignificant as blades of grass — would likely never receive the favor of the gods.

Yet today, from Song Tiancheng's own mouth, they had heard of so many unbelievable divine miracles.

The Lord Xuanqing enshrined in Song Family Village truly did bestow blessings upon that land and the people living on it.

How could one not feel envious? In a world like this, Song Family Village had actually managed to draw the gaze of a god, who watched over them.

The Village Chief replied with a somewhat distracted air, "It should be true. Uncle Song has no reason to feed us empty words, and everything he described was so vivid and detailed — not the least bit like hearsay or rumor."

He let out a long sigh, his expression complicated. "Song Family Village truly is a blessed land, and its villagers are deeply fortunate. What a pity that our Liu Family Village… Sigh. I dare not dream of receiving the Three-Eyed Lady's favor. I can only hope she doesn't blame us for failing to protect her idol."

"Their Song Family Village really is deeply blessed." The son could not hide the envy on his face, and he glanced once more toward the temple at the head of the village.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he carefully ventured, "Father, since Lord Xuanqing is so efficacious and shows compassion for the people of this world, do you think our village could also enshrine Lord Xuanqing, just like Song Family Village does?"

The more he spoke, the more moved he became. Before the Village Chief could even respond, his own heart was already stirring with longing.

The Village Chief, however, was startled by his son's bold suggestion and instinctively pushed back.

"Absolutely not. Liu Family Village has enshrined the Three-Eyed Lady for hundreds of years. Even now that her idol has been smashed, we need only invite her divine will and have a new idol made — how could we enshrine a different deity? That would be a grave act of disrespect toward the Three-Eyed Lady!"

The Village Chief's mouth rejected his son's suggestion without hesitation, but his quickened heartbeat clearly betrayed that he was not at peace inside either.

His son, whose heart was already set on the idea, was not about to give up so easily, and continued to persuade him.

"Father, if the village is going to continue enshrining the Three-Eyed Lady, we'd have to invite a new divine presence anyway. Why not take this opportunity to change deities and enshrine Lord Xuanqing alongside Song Family Village? The idol hasn't been sculpted yet, so there's still time. Once we've invited the divine presence and the idol is made, it will be too late."

The Village Chief's expression grew complicated, and he said nothing.

His son added more fuel to the fire. "Father, today's man-eating demon beast was certainly not the first time something like that has happened in our village, was it? When I was little, I heard the clan elders say that a great demon ate people many years ago too. And surely today's snake-demon entering the village to eat people won't be the last time either, will it? If Lord Xuanqing is truly as efficacious as Uncle Song says — if he truly manifests to protect the villagers — then we won't have to live in fear anymore, and we'll never again have to watch someone be devoured by a demon like we did today!"

The Village Chief was finally moved by his son's words.

But his reverence for the gods ran deeper still, and he did not dare make such a decision outright. He only said:

"Whether the village stops enshrining the Three-Eyed Lady and begins enshrining Lord Xuanqing instead is not something the two of us can decide alone. We'll go back and discuss it with the others in the village."

"And even if the village agrees, it won't be that simple. We'd first have to beg the Three-Eyed Lady's forgiveness, and then we'd have to invite the divine presence — and see whether Lord Xuanqing agrees to accept our village's worship."

The Village Chief had not committed fully, but his son knew that at the very least, he was in agreement in his heart.

With the Village Chief's approval, and given the miracles Lord Xuanqing had performed in Song Family Village, he was confident there would not be much opposition from the rest of the village.

The Village Chief's son could not hide the anticipation in his eyes. "I hope that when the time comes, Lord Xuanqing will also look kindly upon our village. I wouldn't dare dream of receiving the same blessings as Song Family Village — even half as much would be a tremendous blessing."

From Song Tiancheng's words, he had learned that Lord Xuanqing was a compassionate deity who showed mercy to the people of this world. If they could invite Lord Xuanqing back to Liu Family Village —

Even without the same blessings as Song Family Village, even half as much would be an extraordinary stroke of fortune.

The father and son exchanged a few more quiet words, and then Old Doctor Song finished packing and came out.

A cloth bag was slung over his shoulder, and he held a bundle of incense in his hand.

Old Doctor Song pulled out more than half the incense and handed it to the Village Chief and his son.

"Let's go. I'll come with you to offer incense. Since I'm leaving the village, it's only right to burn a few sticks for Lord Xuanqing before departing — it puts the mind at ease."

Beneath the lush, spreading banyan tree stood the small, slightly weathered temple.

Golden evening light spilled down, draping everything in a touch of the divine.

Through the drifting wisps of smoke, three kneeling silhouettes were faintly visible inside the temple.

The murmur of prayers echoed softly, drifting into the idol.

After Old Doctor Song and the Village Chief's family finished offering their incense, they hurried back to Liu Family Village under the last light of the setting sun.

The temple fell quiet once more.

And in a voice no mortal could hear, a low murmur rose within the temple.

"A snake-demon…"

Song Xuanqing sat within the shrine, stroking his chin in thought.

Everything that had transpired at Old Doctor Song's home a short while ago had been fully observed by Song Xuanqing.

A few days earlier, he had already sensed that the unusual abundance of snakes and insects was not normal, but at the time he could not pinpoint the exact cause and could only speculate that it might be related to the demons of the Falling Glow Mountain Range.

And now, seeing today's events, his suspicion had proven correct.

On the surface it was merely an increase in snakes and insects, but lurking behind it was a snake-demon.

And a wicked demon that ate people at that.

As for Liu Family Village suffering at its hands — two people devoured by the snake-demon — Song Xuanqing felt a mild sense of displeasure, but did not dwell on it.

Dwelling on it would do no good; he could not travel to Liu Family Village to slay the snake-demon anyway.

Besides, Liu Family Village was not his Domain, and they had never offered incense to him.

Whatever misfortune befell Liu Family Village had nothing to do with him.

Song Family Village was a different matter entirely. If that snake-demon came to Song Family Village to eat people, Song Xuanqing could not afford to ignore it.

After all, the villagers of Song Family Village provided him with Incense Value, and it was only right that he protect them in return.

He just wasn't sure how powerful that snake-demon was…

But a demon that would venture to a remote mountain village like this to eat people, and had not eaten all that many, was probably not an especially formidable one.

With his current Cultivation at 40% of the Unranked tier, in God-Merge state he could project roughly the combat power of a late-stage Spirit Gathering realm on the third tier of the martial path, and without activating God-Merge he was still around early Spirit Gathering realm in strength.

If that snake-demon truly came onto his turf, it would simply be there to be slaughtered.

The snake-demon was not much of a concern, and Song Xuanqing quickly set the matter aside.

What genuinely interested him was what the Village Chief and his son had said — the idea of Liu Family Village also enshrining him.

If Liu Family Village wanted to enshrine him, he naturally had no objection.

He just wasn't sure: if Liu Family Village also enshrined him, would Liu Family Village then fall within his Domain as well?

And with Liu Family Village's offerings, would the amount of Incense Value he could collect also increase?

He just didn't know what rules the System had regarding the boundaries of his Domain and the Incense Value he was permitted to collect.

Would it be enough for Liu Family Village to simply enshrine him for him to expand his Domain and collect incense from Liu Family Village?