The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 155: Unparalleled Loyalty
Huang San looked up at Wang Wen with a face full of pride, so excited that his whole body trembled.

It gives off a feeling of a drowning person grabbing at a straw...

Wang Wen hesitated for two seconds, but still said truthfully, "I am not a heavenly soldier or general of the Thunder Department, and I don't have much to do with the Heavenly Court."

"Sir, don't try to fool this old man!"

Huang San paused for two seconds, then became even more excited and said loudly, "If you are not a deity of the Thunder Department descended to earth, how could you use the names of the Great Heavenly Venerable and the Thunder Ancestor to perform thunder magic? And how could you command the Yellow Turban Warriors?"

It knows quite a lot...

Wang Wen couldn't understand its thoughts, and after being confused by it for so long, he was really annoyed. So he simply said, "I have no reason to deceive you. I know you are not a wicked demon, and I know you have your reasons. I don't want to force you!"

"But since you want my help, you should act like you're asking for a favor. Don't let me beat around the bush. I've already been very patient with you. If you still don't know what's good for you, you can either come or die. In any case, none of this has anything to do with me!"

He paused, then raised his head, his gaze piercing through the dark temple, fixed on the broken statue on the altar, and said softly, "For the sake of the old man inside, I will allow you to still hold back some things from me, only telling me what you can say, but I will also decide whether or not to help you depending on the situation."

Huang San followed his gaze and glanced back at the statue in the temple. Its aged face, covered with age spots, was full of struggle.

Wang Wen waited quietly for a moment, and seeing that he still didn't speak, he turned and left without saying a word.

Just as he stepped out the door again, Huang San's faint voice, which sounded like either despair or relief, finally came from behind him: "Does my lord know where this place is?"

Wang Wen turned around, put his hands behind his back, looked straight at the City God Temple in front of him, and said calmly, "This general is not blind!"

"Hehehe..."

Huang San chuckled softly, his meaning unclear, and slowly turned around, gazing up at the dilapidated City God Temple before him. His dim gaze seemed to transcend time and space: "This is the Xuzhou City God Temple. It's quite unremarkable, isn't it? Many City God Temples in Xuzhou are much grander and more magnificent than this little temple, teeming with believers and pilgrims, all devoutly burning incense and kowtowing to the gods, begging the City God for blessings..."

It suddenly burst into laughter, a laughter filled with indescribable sorrow and resentment: "But those city god temples are all licentious shrines!"

Wang Wen lowered his gaze and looked at Huang San's back again... As a demon, its emotions were too rich and too delicate.

Despite being a demon himself, Ao Qing, who is supposed to be the lord of a water palace, can't even speak human language properly yet, and has to fork his tongue after only three sentences.

Huang San's demonic aura was less than one-tenth of Ao Qing's. Not only did he transform into human form without revealing the slightest clue, but his tone and emotions were exactly the same as those of truly weathered old people!

Wang Wen felt that this seemingly small matter was becoming increasingly complicated.

It's getting less and less interesting...

After a moment's thought, he raised his hand again and ran his fingers across his pupils to open his divine eyes. At the same time, he released his divine sense and scanned the entire City God Temple once more.

This time, he scanned with exceptional detail, scanning almost every inch of the entire City God Temple.

Soon, he discovered something unusual in a location he had previously overlooked.

"Divine sense?"

He stared in shock at the dilapidated statue above the temple, whose head was now only half intact, and exclaimed in disbelief, "Is the City God still here?"

Could it be that he is not the only heir of the Great Zhou Earth God?

how can that be!

Last year, when he used his authority as a local deity to travel through the Great Zhou Dynasty in search of the Hunkun True Man and the others, he received no response from any local deity!
There are none of them, including the City God, the Mountain God, or the Earth God!
Hearing his exclamation, Huang San, who had been kneeling outside the temple gate, finally snapped out of his long-forgotten memories and looked at Wang Wen with a mixture of surprise and delight: 'You still say you're not a heavenly soldier or general from the Heavenly Court?'

Wang Wen's expression was quite interesting; he couldn't tell whether this discovery was a good thing or a bad thing for him.

Who doesn't have their own selfish motives?
But he quickly cleared his mind of all distractions and waved his hand, saying, "Ergou, you go out first and tell the brothers outside to retreat a hundred feet! No one is allowed to approach this City God Temple without my order... Even if the Prefect of Xuzhou comes in person, you must stop him!"

Xu Wu, filled with doubt yet without hesitation, crossed his hands to accept the order, pressed his hand to his sword, hurriedly walked out of the gate, loudly called to the many demon-suppressing guards surrounding the City God Temple, and retreated a hundred feet.

The chaotic clanging of armor and weapons quickly subsided...

Wang Wen stood in the courtyard, gazing at the broken statue for a long time, before turning his gaze to Huang San: "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Huang San suddenly let out a shrill laugh, his eyes filled with venom, and shouted, "I thought you were different from the others, but I was wrong. It turns out all crows are black!"

Wang Wen wasn't angry at all after hearing this. He just nodded and said, "You said it's a crow, so it's naturally black. Otherwise, it would be called a white crow... But you old fox really didn't misjudge me today. You're really shrewd as an old man!"

Before he finished speaking, a dark golden light burst forth from the Baihui acupoint on the top of his head, transforming into a valiant deity with a rugged face, wearing a helmet, golden armor, and a red robe with sleeves depicting the Huangshan mountain range in gold thread.

As soon as this majestic deity appeared, the bright golden wheel of merit behind his head illuminated the entire courtyard of the City God Temple.

Huang San stared at him, completely stunned!
In that instant, the intensity and complexity of the emotions in its eyes were beyond description, enough to make even the most skilled actor observe and study frame by frame.

Then, it suddenly rolled over, scrambling to Wang Wen's feet, sobbing and wailing, "Please, sir, save my master! Please, sir, save my master! All the blame lies with this little demon, it has nothing to do with my master..."

The cries of anguish, the words of surprise and fear, were so moving that they brought tears to the eyes of anyone who heard or saw them.

Wang Wen, in his Yin spirit form, gently landed on the ground, pursed his lips, bent down and pulled Huang San, who was frantically kowtowing, and sighed softly, "It must have been hard for you."

As he spoke, he stomped his foot heavily, and an invisible magical force surged from the sole of his foot into the open temple.

In an instant, a dilapidated city gate, resembling the entrance to a grand formation, slowly rose from the crooked temple. Under the bright moonlight, it spewed forth fierce, eerie winds, accompanied by the mournful howls of thousands of ghosts.

Wang Wen looked up at the plaque above the city gate and could still vaguely see the two powerful and ancient seal characters "Xuzhou".

He had already deduced from the information he already knew, as well as Huang San's previous unusual reluctance to step out of the temple, that there might be some kind of formation or barrier inside the temple, and that the temple's gate was the entrance to the formation or barrier.

It was only because of the precedent set by Master Hunkun and others, and out of respect for Huang San's golden light of merit, that he neither asked any more questions nor ventured inside.

Upon learning that the owner of the City God Temple still existed, he immediately realized that what existed inside the temple was not the array or barrier he had imagined, but the City God's domain!
This is a City God who, for reasons unknown, did not leave the Great Zhou Dynasty with the Underworld, and has suffered for over three hundred years in the Dharma-ending Age, a time of depleted spiritual energy and severed lineages...

The only officially designated ghost cultivation scripture of the underworld, the *Taiyi Jiuku Hushen Miaojing*, which he cultivates, contains much knowledge about the City God's domain. The several divine palace treasures and magical artifacts he crafts are, in a sense, upgraded versions of the City God's domain. Therefore, he is well aware of the situation the City God's domain will face in the face of the tide of the Dharma-ending Age.

In short, it's either die or go insane.

Once the yin energy is completely depleted, all the ghosts inside will be scattered and their souls will be destroyed.

If the resentment cannot be dispelled, all the ghosts inside will transform into vengeful spirits.

Judging from the current situation, the state of the City God's domain before us is the latter.

This City God of Xuzhou is truly amazing... incredibly amazing!

The blessed lands and grotto heavens of Buddhism and Taoism could not survive the Dharma-ending Age, which lasted for more than three hundred years.

This City God of Xuzhou, however, survived.

Even now, though they've gone mad, they still stubbornly suppress the vengeful spirits and vengeful ghosts of this city, preventing them from emerging to wreak havoc on the world.

Wang Wen's admiration for him was as high as a seven- or eight-story building...

Once you've sorted out all these things, the details of the case become very clear.

This Huang San is the loyal servant of the master of this place. He pretends to be a god and collects incense offerings from the surrounding people in order to save his master and maintain the law of the city god. He indirectly saved the people of Xuzhou City, so he has great merit.

The wandering Taoist priest who "stumbled upon" Huang San understood the host's situation and intended to use him as a tool to kill someone and seize the position of City God of Xuzhou...

Huang San had previously been determined to die, probably because he felt that even if he retreated, there would definitely be another wave of treacherous people coming, and he and his master had no hope left.

No wonder it was so excited when it saw him use thunder magic and command the Yellow Turban warriors.

"...Sir, please have mercy and save my master!"

Huang San lay prostrate at Wang Wen's feet, refusing to get up, and repeatedly begged while weeping bitterly.

Wang Wen gazed with his Dharma Eyes at the boiling resentment within the Dharma Domain, which burned like a raging fire and tangled like the roots of an old tree, and felt somewhat numb.

The over 300-year-old weasel is praying to the 30-year-old Wang Dashan, asking for help from its master.

But Wang Dashan, who is over thirty years old, doesn't have that kind of magical power!
Given the current situation, even if all the monks and Taoists of the Great Zhou were invited to perform a water and land ritual, it would be a futile effort!
But he just happened to be in all of these situations...

In his Yin Spirit state, Wang Wen clearly didn't have a "brain," yet he was experiencing a sharp pain in his head... It really hurt!

He leaped into the air, transforming into a golden light and returning to his physical body. Then, rubbing his temples, he sighed and said, "Tell me about your master's situation first... Why didn't he leave with the Underworld when Heaven and the Underworld withdrew from this world?"

Huang San replied without hesitation, "My master is unparalleled in loyalty and righteousness..."

Wang Wen: "Speak like a human being!"

Huang San raised his head, straightened his back, and a stubborn look flashed in his old eyes: "My master is unparalleled in loyalty and righteousness!"

Wang Wen was so angry he laughed and said, "Is your master Guan Yu, the God of War?"

Huang San stepped aside and bowed towards the dilapidated city gate: "Even Lord Guan would have to respectfully address my master as 'Lord Zhongyou'!"

Hearing its arrogant tone, Wang Wen waved his hand impatiently and said, "Then tell me, why should Guan Yu respectfully address your master as 'Loyal and Righteous Duke'?"

Huang San puffed out his chest and said proudly, "We are both Han officials. My master is a founding hero of the Han Dynasty. He was personally conferred the title of 'Loyal and Right Duke' by Emperor Gaozu of Han. He is also the first City God in the world. Lord Guan is a junior in front of my master!"

"The first City God under Heaven? Really?"

Wang Wen subconsciously looked up at the small seal script characters on the broken city gate plaque: "What is your master's honorable name?"

Huang San gave him a strange look, seemingly wondering how he could not even know this, but at this moment both it and its master needed Wang Wen's help, so it could only answer truthfully: "Reporting to your Excellency, my master's surname is Ji, his given name is Xin, and he was a general under Emperor Gaozu of Han..."

'Holy crap!'

Wang Wen exclaimed in disbelief, "Ji Xin? He's the City God of Xuzhou?"

He subconsciously recalled the vivid image of Chen Daoming spitting out saliva and saying, "I'll even snatch it if I'm starving."

This man truly deserves the title of "unparalleled in loyalty and righteousness"!

Wang Wen was getting a headache, thinking to himself, "You guys are trying to force me to bleed a lot of money!"
If it were a completely unknown city god, he might really be so ruthless as to directly strike the earth with heavenly lightning.

But Ji Xin... he felt a little guilty.

He remained silent for a long time before smiling bitterly and saying, "Well, I won't lie to you. You know your master's current condition better than I do. To be honest, I don't have much confidence that I can wake him up. I can only say that I will do my best. If things don't go as planned, please don't blame me."

Huang San looked at him somewhat nervously: "Even you, sir, aren't you sure?"

Wang Wen spoke frankly: "As you can see, Heaven and the Underworld have not returned. I also became a local deity by a twist of fate, and I have only recently become a god. My foundation is far less profound than your master's... I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Huang San's eyes dimmed slightly, but he still tried to cheer himself up and respectfully kowtowed to Wang Wen: "I am already very grateful for your help, sir. If things don't go as planned, it's not your fault. My master... had long expected this day to come."

Wang Wen pursed his lips and said with a wry smile, "I'm sorry, but I can't understand it. It's one thing for him not to leave, but why doesn't he even send away the spirits within the Dharma Domain? Doesn't he know the consequences of harboring these spirits?"

Huang Sanqiang laughed and said, "Back then, my master sent away all the wandering spirits in the Dharma Domain. Now, these wandering spirits are all kind-hearted people who were neglected in Xuzhou City. My master couldn't bear to see their souls scattered, so he specially brought them all into the Dharma Domain to help them overcome the difficulties together..."

Wang Wen remained silent for a long time after hearing this, and his complex emotions finally turned into a long sigh.

(End of this chapter)