Da Zaojun

Chapter 176 Divine Curse
"Lord of the Realm!"

Song Wuji was making rice flour, which involved grinding millet, blood rice, and other grains into powder using a millstone.

Song Wuji did not rely on anyone else for this technique; he wanted to experience it himself.

Then a group of people carried someone in: "Lord! Something terrible has happened!"

Song Wuji stopped what he was doing and looked over. He saw a person lying on a simple stretcher. The person's skin was beginning to turn into wood, a tree branch was growing from his forehead, and he was unconscious. His ten fingers were also beginning to turn into wood, and roots were growing from his feet.

"what happened?"

"We were cutting down trees in the forest when, for some reason, we heard a strange cry. When we rushed over, we saw that he had become like this."

Song Wuji summoned the stove fire, transforming it into a wisp, and explored its body.

[Forest Master's Curse]
The Lord of the Forest, or the Lord of the Forest, is unclear whether he is a god or a demon.

He was cursed by the forest lord who destroyed trees. The more trees he cut down, the more spirits the trees possessed. These spirits became tree ghosts, and he cursed them, forcing them to turn into trees themselves.

From a practical standpoint, his internal organs had not yet become woody, but there was already a faint flow of wood energy in his blood, and even his hair had turned into buds.

Although Song Wuji's stove fire could scorch wood, it might also harm him. Therefore, he channeled this stove fire into his heart to protect his heart meridian and prevent the curse from spreading.

"When I went out earlier, there was a cold wind. It used a wind-catching technique, but it was a wind that passed through the forest. It was an old tree spirit. I didn't pay attention to it. Now it seems that this is the strange thing."

Song Wuji sighed, "After this flow of imperial fluids, I wonder how many evil spirits will be unleashed to cause trouble."

Song Wuji immediately took out a stick of incense and offered it to the City God of Tian. Although he said that he was busy suppressing the underworld and catching ghosts everywhere and had not had time, Song Wuji did not understand the matter of this god and evil spirit and still needed to ask him for advice.

Tian Chenghuang quickly appeared, took a deep breath of the incense, and looked satisfied.

Upon seeing this scene, one can understand the cause and effect: "Now that the power of heaven and earth has been scattered, apart from those of us who have inherited the divine positions and titles of the past, the gods of the three realms have lost their order, so heaven and earth naturally need to give birth to gods anew."

“These deities are of this kind, but they cannot be considered true gods; they are merely wild gods, hairy gods, and wandering gods.”

"These forest lords must be ghosts who obtained the essence of wood and temporarily merged with the earth's veins, thus gaining some authority. In terms of the divine path, they are not as good as ninth-grade land deities, but they still have their merits."

Song Wuji said, "Since these kinds of evil spirits are created by heaven and earth, how should we deal with them? Will killing them have any consequences? Can we recruit them into our own forces?"

The City God nodded: "Such beings can be killed without affecting the fortune, but they can indeed be subdued."

The City God immediately explained to Song Wuji the concept of "Underground Lord" within the Yin God system.

A third-class underground lord only manages a grave site, which is only a few feet in size, while a first-class underground lord can manage a house site, or even a small manor.

These "forest lords" are the underground deities nurtured in the land where trees grow, and are considered prerequisites for becoming land gods.

They were simply uneducated and ignorant of civilization, and could only act on instinct. Even after being enlightened by the Emperor's nectar, and gaining intelligence, they still relied on their own likes and dislikes.

"I can expend some of my luck to make some talismans, but I am still dealing with the ghosts and demons in the region, capturing ghosts everywhere to recruit them as ghost soldiers and underworld men. You can try to communicate with them by performing the Nuo ritual. If they are willing to accept the talisman, then make a memorial tablet for them and enshrine it in the original City God Temple."

"If they refuse, just kill them."

Tian Chenghuang immediately explained the method to deal with these evil spirits: find the foundation upon which they became gods and dig it up. For example, the tree in question, whose main body was located, would die if its roots were dug up.

As for this curse, Tian Chenghuang, as the head of the Yin gods, easily dispelled it. The man quickly returned to normal, except for a green leaf appearing between his eyebrows—it was this green leaf that caused the trouble. Tian Chenghuang used his own fortune to condense the green leaf into a talisman, which he then released.

Song Wuji immediately summoned Cat Constable to take charge of the matter. Cat Constable was skilled in Tiger Fist and also knew how to cook. After being appointed by Song Wuji as the Chief Constable of Taichang Thieves, he was now a human with a cat's head, dressed in a constable's uniform.

The common people respectfully call him "Cat Master".

Cat Detective is extremely serious and responsible in his work of catching thieves, and he doesn't give anyone any leeway. He'll arrest you even if you steal a piece of cured meat, and he'll stick a mark on your face with the word "thief" glaringly displayed, making you ashamed. You'll have to do at least half a month of corvée labor to remove it.

Therefore, although Taichang City cannot achieve the goal of leaving doors unlocked at night, it still has a relatively high level of public security, where people do not pick up lost items on the road.

Unfortunately, perhaps because he had a career, Cat Detective rarely revealed his true form again, turning into a black and white milk cat to scratch Song Wuji's belly, displaying the righteous demeanor of a black cat police chief.

"Leave this to me, Constable! Meow!"

Then, as if there was something he couldn't say, he hesitated slightly.

Song Wuji asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Could you change my monthly salary from Essence Pills to dried fish instead?!"

"I've heard that some fishermen have already started hunting for big fish, meow!"

That kid Luo Chuan does indeed go into the water every day to fight fish demons and fish monsters.

However, after the Emperor's Flowing Rain, Luohu became more eerie. In addition to fish demons, there were also water demons, aquatic plant demons, and water ghosts.

A water sprite is a ball of water that has become a spirit. Once it comes ashore, it solidifies into a ball, somewhat like a water slime. However, underwater, it is very difficult to deal with, as it can suffocate people and drag them into the undercurrent.

The seaweed demon is even more disgusting. It uses seaweed as tentacles to not only entangle people's hands and feet, but sometimes it even likes to capsize boats.

In comparison, water ghosts are much easier to deal with, but they are ugly and disgusting, just like giants looking at corpses, and are very frightening to see.

Therefore, it's not easy to catch fish anymore, but fortunately there is still this underwater palace.

Song Wuji laughed when he heard Cat Constable's words: "Okay, but you can't accept bribes, you can't accept dried fish from the people."

"They gave it to me, why can't I accept it? I didn't steal it or rob it, meow!"

He complained, "The government's salary is too low, meow! I, the head constable, also have a bunch of cats and dogs to feed!"

"Also, tell the Beggars' Gang to be careful. Those wearing badges around their necks are constables from our Anti-Theft Bureau. If I find them wearing sacks again, I'll stamp their faces with my badges!"

Song Wuji nodded: "Okay, if you have any other needs, just say them all at once."

The cat constable immediately launched into a long explanation, hoping to hire someone from the anti-theft office specifically to scoop up cat poop, another person to groom cat fur, and a veterinarian.

That's all.

Song Wuji waved his hand and said, "It's all approved. You can hire people yourself."

Cat Constable was overjoyed and took the imperial edict to carry out his mission.

(End of this chapter)