Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 404: The True Appearance of the Gods
"Oh?"

Lu Dao stopped and looked back at Shang Lu: "What's the matter?"

Shang Lu did not speak in a hurry, but looked around.

Lu Dao understood what he meant instantly and waved his hand to release a ball of witchcraft energy that enveloped the two of them.

"Go ahead. What you say now will only reach my ears and will not be overheard by others."

"It's like this. I was asked by Senior Sister Gongshu to go to the Black Wind Ferry Ghost Market in Guling County to buy the Five Evil Stones. At the stall selling the Five Evil Stones, I found something strange..."

Shang Lu explained the situation to Lu Dao, emphasizing that the group not only had a considerable number of Five Evil Stones, but they were also selling a large number of Chi Gui, and even had refined Hundred Soul Banners and Thousand Soul Banners, and they even took on the business of "customizing" Chi Gui.

Lu Dao was worthy of being the chief judge in the Discipline Department and was quite experienced. After listening to Shang Lu’s story, he immediately understood what he meant.

"You suspect that the Five Evil Stones in the hands of that group of people, as well as the rampant ghosts they sell, have questionable origins, and that they were not collected from battlefields or other places, but were 'made' by them themselves?"

How can the Five Evil Stones and the rampant ghosts be controlled? Obviously there is only one way - to kill people!
Mass killing!
Only a large-scale massacre can produce enough resentful blood to give birth to the Five Evil Stones.

Similarly, only large-scale massacres can kill enough souls to create a large number of rampant ghosts.

Shang Lu nodded and said, "Disciple does have such suspicion. Especially since this group of people completely erased the memory of the demon ghost, they are obviously guilty and afraid that the origin of the demon ghost will be discovered."

After a moment's hesitation, Lu Dao said, "Your suspicion is not unreasonable, but..."

He frowned, recalled carefully for a moment, and shook his head slightly.

"I haven't heard of any large-scale casualties anywhere."

On the way back, Shang Lu thought about this matter in detail. When he heard Lu Dao's doubts, he expressed his guesses:

"Uncle Lu, do you think it's possible that the place where these people committed the crime is relatively remote, and coupled with the negligence of the local government, no news has spread?
Just like when Qiu Haishan raised a dragon, if Senior Brother Feng Boyuan had not gone to Luoshui County with him to survey the secret realm, this would not have been discovered.

Even if local officials suspected that something was wrong, as long as no one reported it to the government office, they would turn a blind eye and pretend nothing had happened.

Or maybe that group of people used some extraordinary means to block the news, so that the fact that they massacred one group of people was not exposed?
It's like the mountain ghost in Feiwu County. If the mountain ghost hadn't wanted to expand its followers and exposed itself, we probably wouldn't have known that most of Feiwu County... no, it should be said that the entire Feiwu County has become its territory."

Lu Dao listened and thought about it without interrupting.

After Shang Lu finished speaking, he thought for a moment and then slowly said, "What you said is not impossible. If that group of people really killed people, raised ghosts, refined weapons and mined minerals, they would do everything they could to prevent the news from leaking. Otherwise, once the government and the Witch Academy knew about it, they would definitely be hit hard!"

Shang Lu nodded repeatedly: "Disciple thinks so too."

Lu Dao ignored him and pondered for a while before asking, "You said you bought a demon from that group of people. Where is that demon now?"

Shang Lu took out a small clay jar with a witch talisman on it from his bag.

What was in the clay jar was a rampant ghost that he bought from the ghost market.

As for the other end, it was still in Sanniang's banner. He was prepared for both situations, to see which side could provide clues.

Lu Dao took it, looked it up and down for a few times, and said, "The style of this jar and the witch talisman is exactly the ghost-sealing jar commonly used by ghost witches in our country of Ba. Even if that group of people are not from our country of Ba, they also have the method of making ghost-sealing jars, or they purchased ghost-sealing jars from our wizards..."

Shang Lu gave a thumbs up and praised sincerely: "As expected of Uncle Lu, you are really professional. You actually found the clue from this jar."

Lu Dao laughed and scolded: "Stop flattering me. Let me ask you, when you were at Black Wind Ferry, did you conduct any investigation based on this jar?"

Shang Lu was quick-witted and immediately understood what Lu Dao meant.

Since the gang has a lot of ghosts in their hands and they sell them in ghost-sealing jars, they must have a great demand for ghost-sealing jars. It is a direction to investigate who is purchasing a large number of ghost-sealing jars or who is purchasing a large number of materials for making ghost-sealing jars.

But unfortunately, Shang Lu did not have time to check either the ghost sealing jar or the materials used to seal the ghost jar.

He smiled bitterly and said, "I came out of the ghost market, and before I could start investigating, something happened at Black Wind Ferry. It was said that many people died in the witch temple, and some people were transformed into monsters. I wanted to help, but the wizards of Guling County rushed me out of the city like an evil star..."

Lu Dao snorted coldly and shook his head sarcastically: "Those people in Guling County are still as petty as ever, afraid of being overshadowed by others."

He did not reprimand Shang Lu, but said: "I will hand over the rampant ghost in the jar to the torture officer in our Discipline Department who is good at searching souls and questioning ghosts, to see if he can find any clues. At the same time, I will inform Guling County through the Discipline Department and the Witch Academy and let them start the investigation. If they can't investigate or can't find anything, we don't mind going over to help."

Shang Lu believed that once Lu Dao sent a message to Guling County through the Discipline Department and the Witch Academy, even if that county was in the midst of turmoil, they would send people to investigate the matter.

It's not that the power of the Discipline Department of Baiyi County is so great that it can command Guling County. But there has always been competition between the five counties of Ba State.

If Baiyi County really uses this as an excuse to go to Guling County to investigate the case, no matter whether they can find any clues in the end, Guling County will not be able to hold its head up in front of Baiyi County for decades to come.

Not to mention, Wei Wu's people are in Guling County. If the people of Guling County do nothing, it is hard to believe that Wei Wu will not take advantage of the situation and take the opportunity to attack.

After Shang Lu figured out all these twists and turns, he once again gave Lu Dao a thumbs up and said with heartfelt emotion: "Uncle Lu, you are still so cunning."

Lu Dao laughed and scolded, "Boy, are you praising me or scolding me?" Then he said, "Don't worry about this. I will inform you when I find out the news. What you need to do now is to study hard and consolidate your cultivation."

"Yes, disciple understands." Shang Lu accepted the order and then made a request: "Uncle Lu, please don't mention me in your letter to Guling County."

"Why?" Lu Dao asked, but before Shang Lu could answer, he immediately responded: "Why, are you afraid that the people of Guling County will hate you? Yes, when you went to Guling County this time, you sent me a message saying that you were blocked by people from their Witch Academy and provoked."

At this point, Lu Dao snorted again: "These people in Guling County are really going backwards. No wonder a series of incidents have occurred... Don't worry, we will never mention you in the letter we send to Guling County, and we will find a way to help you avoid it so that people in Guling County will not think of you."

Shang Lu bowed his hands in gratitude: "Then I feel relieved. Thank you for your love and care, Uncle Lu."

"No need to say thank you."

Lu Dao waved his hand, put the ghost-sealing jar into his sleeve, then waved his hand to put away the witchcraft aura. After saying goodbye to Shang Lu, he turned around and entered the Jiuhe Tower.

After seeing this scene, Lu Yang, who was not far away, quickly came forward.

After walking up to Shang Lu, he smiled and congratulated him: "Congratulations, Junior Brother Shang, for joining the Discipline Department."

"Congratulations, congratulations." Shang Lu also congratulated Lu Yang.

Lu Yang also joined the Discipline Department.

Like Shang Lu, he caught the eye of the great wizard Zhongli during the operation of capturing mountain ghosts and was valued by him, which gave him the opportunity to join the Discipline Department.

"Speaking of which, I have to thank Junior Brother Shang. If you hadn't found out that Zhao Qi was offering sacrifices to the evil god, which led to the case of the mountain ghost, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to accept the task assigned by the Great Wizard Zhongli, let alone the opportunity to perform well in front of him."

Lu Yang thanked him repeatedly and was very enthusiastic towards Shang Lu.

He had heard many people say that Shang Lu had great luck before, but now he knew that Shang Lu not only had great luck himself, but he could also bring the people around him with him to have good luck. From this point of view, Shang Lu was indeed a "lucky star", the real deal!

We should naturally treat our lucky stars well, so that we can continue to benefit from them in the future.

After some greetings, Lu Yang decided to take Shang Lu to visit some nearby mountains.

Shang Lu also wanted to find the way down. As a member of the Discipline Department, he might go to some nearby mountains later. He immediately responded with a "yes" and was about to untie the warhorse tied to the tree.

"Don't untie it. I'll take you there on my sword. You can ride it again after we're done shopping."

As he spoke, Lu Yang slapped the sword case behind him with his backhand.

There were only a series of rapid "swoosh" sounds, and several swords flew out of the box. Under the control of Lu Yang's sword finger, they formed a sword boat that was five feet long and two feet wide.

The sword boat is not big and can barely carry two people.

Shang Lu didn't bother to be polite with Lu Yang. He smiled and jumped onto the sword boat.

Lu Yang also jumped up, stood in front of the sword boat, and faced Shang Lu with his butt.

The area of ​​the sword boat is effective. It would be even more awkward if they turned around and faced each other.

After Lu Yang stood up, he made a sword gesture with his hands and shouted softly: "Chi!"

This small boat, which was made up of several flying swords, immediately took off into the air and turned into a stream of light at an extremely fast speed.

In an instant, it flew to the nearest mountain on the right.

“This is the Sacrifice Peak.”

While controlling the landing of the sword boat, Lu Yang introduced:
"Brother Shang, our Discipline Department is different from other places. The gods we worship are not in charge of the weather, mountains and rivers, but the gods who supervise the three realms and have the power to punish and sanction. So when you come to the Sacrifice Peak, you must be careful in what you say and do, and you must not neglect your duties or be disrespectful."

"Thank you for the reminder, senior brother." Shang Lu responded while looking at the Jishen Peak curiously.

Several temples were built on top of this mountain. In terms of scale and grandeur, they are much larger than the main peak which only has one Jiuhe Pagoda.

When Lu Yang was flying his sword close to the Sacrifice Peak, the stone statues of mythical beasts in front of several temples all flashed with the light of witchcraft.

Shang Lu immediately felt a force sweeping over him, verifying his identity.

After a moment, the verification was completed, and the mysterious power disappeared. The stone statues of the mythical beasts in front of the temples also retracted their magic light.

This scene made Shang Lu couldn't help but wonder, what would happen if the identity verification failed?
Was he rejected from the peak?

Or will it be attacked by the stone statue of the mythical beast?

Although he is curious, Shanglu will not try it.

At the same time, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief - Sanniang was still following, and it would be dangerous if she was discovered by the witch formations and magic here.

Lu Yang had no idea what Shang Lu was thinking, nor did he notice that his heart was tense. After passing the identity verification, he steered the sword boat and landed in front of one of the temples.

"The statues we worship here are a little different. You'd better be mentally prepared and don't be too surprised."

After Lu Yang gave some instructions, he led Shang Lu into the temple.

The temple was quiet, with no one to be seen, only the scent of incense.

Through the surging smoke, Shang Lu saw several statues enshrined in the temple.

The shapes of these statues are completely different from those enshrined in the temples outside. They lack any sacredness and solemnity. Not only are they strange in appearance, but their expressions are also hideous and terrifying.

Each of them exudes a weird and chaotic aura, which makes people feel creepy and uncomfortable just by looking at them. They can only quickly look away, fearing that they will be contaminated if they look at them a few more times.

Rather than saying that these are statues of gods, it would be better to say that they are strange monsters!

Although Shang Lu was not frightened by the strange appearance of the statue, he was still very surprised.

He practiced the art of Nuo witchcraft and had a lot of contact with gods. Naturally, he knew that all the gods in this world had gone mad because of the previous strange catastrophe.

It was only in the last few hundred years that it has recovered somewhat.

Now, Shang Lu saw the statues enshrined in the Discipline Department. If the shapes of these statues were the true appearance of the gods in today's world...does that mean that the gods have not only gone crazy, but have also turned into monsters?

Shang Lu's mind was full of questions, but he did not ask at this moment. He just took out incense and lit it one by one to offer to several statues in the temple.

You never know when you will need help from these gods in the future. It will definitely be a good idea to get to know them and build good relationships with them in advance.

Therefore, Shanglu not only burned incense to the statue in this temple, but also went to several nearby temples to burn incense one by one, with the main purpose of spreading the blessing to everyone.

After Shang Lu finished offering incense, Lu Yang drove the sword boat and flew him to another mountain nearby.

Only when they were far away from the Sacrifice Peak did Shang Lu ask Lu Yang: "Why do the statues here look like that?"

Lu Yang sighed, "I saw that you didn't react just now, so I thought you weren't surprised at all. I also heard from my brothers in the Discipline Department that the statues we worship are the true appearance of the gods. As for why they look like this, it is a secret. With our level, we cannot know for the time being."

Although Lu Yang couldn't explain the reason, Shang Lu guessed that it was probably related to the previous catastrophe that almost destroyed the world!
As for why the catastrophe started and how it ended... I guess I can only get a glimpse of it from confidential documents after my cultivation and position are promoted.

The mountain next to the Jishen Peak is called Zhenshou Peak, which is a prison where all kinds of demons and evil spirits are imprisoned.

Lu Yang did not lower the sword boat, but introduced it to Shang Lu from a distance and warned him: "Unless you are escorting a serious criminal, don't go near Zhenshou Peak. Not only is there a powerful magic array here, but the guards are also masters from the Discipline Department."

Shang Lu nodded repeatedly and took note of Lu Yang's instructions.

However, just as Lu Yang was steering the sword boat to take Shang Lu to the next mountain, Shang Lu sensed a faint trace of chaotic energy on the Zhenshou Peak!

This chaotic energy made Shang Lu feel very familiar.

He suddenly recalled that he had encountered this chaotic energy when he was bathing in the Spirit Pool before!
It was after its appearance that the Blood Spirit Flower decayed prematurely!
Almost at the same moment, Shang Lu also felt a sharp gaze sweeping towards him.

He was startled for a moment, but luckily he suppressed his anger and did not feel creepy or have his hair stand on end, otherwise he would probably have been noticed by this strange gaze.

(End of this chapter)