The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 196 A Slap and a Trip to Chen Family Village

Master Aqing nodded without hesitation and said, "I have no problem assisting you. It is my duty to deal with evil spirits, but my abilities are limited. I don't know if I can help you."

Li Zhen said, "There's no need to provoke the evil spirit too much. Just make it react when I need it."

“No problem, I’ll do my best.” Master Aqing turned to look at the statue. “I enshrine Lord Zhou Cang here. This general hated evil as if it were his enemy, and he was ruthless against evil spirits… uh, on you…”

Knowing his own situation perfectly well, Li Zhen naturally understood what Master Qing meant, and said, "Master Qing, you can take the things out and let me try. If I can't take them out, we'll think of another way."

Master Aqing turned around and walked back to the statue. After bowing three times before the statue, he took out a magic sword from the altar.

After muttering incantations for a while, he brought the magic sword to Li Zhen's front.

"This magic sword has been enshrined before Lord Zhou Cang for many years. You can touch it. If this magic weapon is willing to let you take it, then there is no problem."

Li Zhen extended his right hand, which had faint snake-scale patterns, and grasped the hilt of the magic sword. A sudden, electric-like pain and itching sensation shot through his fingertips, causing Li Zhen to subconsciously withdraw his hand.

The pain and itching sensation quickly spread throughout his body, causing Li Zhen's face to turn pale. The wounds that had not yet healed reopened, and thin streams of blood flowed from the wounds, hanging on his face, making him look even more sinister.

Provoked, the evil energy within him nearly went berserk.

A chilling, eerie aura emanated from Li Zhen, making the entire temple feel sinister.

A gloomy wind blew into the temple from the entrance, causing Master Aqing's body to tense up subtly.

Beads of cold sweat streamed down his forehead, but he dared not wipe them away, staring intently at Li Zhen's terrifying face.

Li Zhen was somewhat surprised that the magical artifact had aggravated the wounds on his body.

After a slight hesitation, Li Zhen looked at the statue in the temple and said, "Can you see destiny? If destiny exists, you should be able to see the life and death of your temple guild."

“He is a kind person, you know that better than I do, and you should know that I am not lying to you. Perhaps you have some difficulties that prevent you from taking direct action, but I can help you save his life and change his fate.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zhen felt the hostility from the magical artifact greatly decrease, so he gripped the hilt of the sword with his entire hand.

The itching was so intense that it became a stinging sensation.

However, the stinging sensation only lasted for a short while before disappearing completely.

Immediately, Li Zhen's trembling hand firmly grasped the magic sword.

Li Zhen's eyes widened in surprise.

Are these worshipped gods and immortals unable to interfere with the fate of the mortal world?
Moreover, so far, in all the mission worlds he has experienced, Li Zhen has never encountered a single intact immortal, god, or demon.

Every god or demon he encountered was either in an unclear state or in an extremely poor state...

Seeing that Li Zhen had grasped the magic sword, Master Aqing looked at Li Zhen's face in surprise, and her tense body quietly relaxed.

As a temple priest, he naturally dared not be careless in the slightest when facing someone like Li Zhen.

He is kind, not foolish.

It's impossible to believe everything Li Zhen says.

Seeing that Li Zhen had provoked Zhou Cangye's reaction, and seeing that Xie Qiming, who was originally perfectly fine, had also become sinister, he was actually very wary of Li Zhen.

Putting aside his own safety, if he were to disrespect Lord Zhou Cang for some reason and incur Lord Zhou Cang's wrath, then his sin would be grave.

Now, this sinister figure in front of us, after affecting the environment inside the temple, has actually seized the magical artifact. If this person isn't more terrifying than immortals or gods, then it means that what he said is true and has gained the approval of Master Zhou Cang.

Doesn't this mean that what this person said about his destiny being to die in this event is also true?
Master Aqing expressed his gratitude to Master Zhou Cang in his heart, and then reminded Li Zhen, "That evil spirit is no ordinary thing. Even with a magic weapon, you may not be able to kill it. Be careful."

Li Zhen, the observer of magical artifacts, said, "I will prepare some more suitable magical artifacts."

The purpose of this trip to Chenjia Village is to seal the Great Black Buddha Mother, and he will definitely prepare some suitable ritual implements.

Master Aqing said, "This evil spirit has committed a lot of killings. If we can get rid of it, that would be a great thing."

A taxi stopped across from the temple, and a woman with disheveled hair and a haggard expression got out of the car carrying a little girl.

As if sensing something, Li Zhen turned to look at the woman.

He naturally recognized the woman as Li Ruonan, whom he wanted to meet, and the drowsy child she was holding was Chen Letong.

After glancing at Li Ruonan, Li Zhen looked at Chen Letong.

He sensed a far greater level of malice in Chen Letong than he had felt in Xie Qiming.

The dark tunnels and bloody, evil Buddha statues that had flashed through Li Zhen's mind before... flashed through Li Zhen's mind again.

The undisguised malice even stimulated Li Zhen's body, causing him to react instinctively, with the hairs on his arms standing on end.

Without a doubt, the Great Black Mother had an even stronger obsession with this child, and probably considered him her own even before he was born.

The relatively perceptive Detective Li, A-Qing, and Xie Qiming didn't sense anything, only that Chen Letong seemed weaker than when they last met.

"How is Duoduo?"

Seeing that Chen Letong, who was being held in Li Ruonan's arms, looked pale and had her eyes closed as if she had fallen into a coma, Xie Qiming, worried, quickly went to Li Ruonan and caught Chen Letong.

"Duoduo, Duoduo... wake up!"

Chen Letong barely opened her eyes, glanced at Xie Qinan, then shifted to a more comfortable position and fell asleep again.

Li Ruonan said, "Duoduo was fine yesterday, but after returning home, she started to feel unwell. After I put Duoduo to sleep, she became like this. I took Duoduo's temperature and found that she had a fever."

She looked at Master Qing and pleaded, "Master Qing, please help Duoduo! Duoduo told me on the way that she was feeling very unwell."

Looking at Li Ruonan's pale face and white lips, Master Aqing didn't know what to say for a moment.

It is natural for a mother to love her child, and this feeling is very touching. The reason why he linked his life with this child and broke the curse for her was partly due to this feeling.

But after realizing that he would be implicated and die, he felt a mix of emotions.

Judging from the woman's doting expression, if he really died during this spell, it was probably because, as that sinister man surnamed Li said, the woman hadn't followed his instructions and fed the child. Otherwise, Zhou Cangye could at least have protected the child.

Failure to cast the spell will not only lead to his own death.

The evil spirit's malice is so strong, it will definitely attack the temple and wreak havoc here.

Master Qing remained silent, which made Li Ruonan even more anxious: "Master Qing, is something wrong with Duoduo? I listened to you and didn't give Duoduo anything to eat; I just took her out to play!"

Master Aqing sighed: "Your daughter is fine. This is a necessary process for me to exorcise the evil spirits that caused her malice during my ritual."

"She'll be fine once she gets through these next few days."

Li Ruonan breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good..."

Li Zhen suddenly said, "You yourself have quite a few troubles, so you're not suitable to take care of this child. It would be more appropriate to leave the child in Xie Qiming's care."

Li Ruonan was stunned.

She seemed to understand something, stared wide-eyed at the stranger Li Zhen, then at Xie Qiming, and finally at the silent Master Qing.

“Duoduo is my child…” She wanted to take the child back from Xie Qiming’s arms.

Xie Qiming hugged Chen Letong and pulled back a little, then said to Li Ruonan, "Don't worry, Duoduo is safe with me. I will take good care of her."

"No, no, no, I can take good care of Duoduo. You can't take Duoduo away from me!" Li Ruonan hurriedly tried to snatch the child.

After leaving Chenjia Village, she suffered a mental breakdown and was deemed unfit to care for children, so Chen Letong was sent to a foster family. Six years later, after authorities deemed her to have recovered, she was allowed to see her child again.

But after only a few days, someone else wanted to take the child away. How could she not be upset?

In her view, the current situation clearly shows that Xie Qiming, who wanted to adopt Chen Letong, wanted to take the child away from her.

As a mother, she could see Xie Qiming's love for Chen Letong, but she absolutely could not accept Chen Letong leaving her side.

Over the past six years, her daughter, Chen Letong, has been her pillar of support, the belief that has kept her alive to this day, preventing her from succumbing to madness amidst those terrible memories and the malicious torment of evil spirits.

No matter what, she couldn't let Chen Letong leave her.

Seeing Li Ruonan's frantic state, Xie Qiming felt that his actions were somewhat immoral.

He hesitated and looked at Li Zhen.

With a cold expression, Li Zhen raised his hand.

With a "smack," Li Ruonan, caught off guard, was slapped to the ground.

The area in front of the temple fell silent instantly.

Li Ruonan covered her burning cheek, panting heavily, with streaks of blood continuously flowing from the corner of her mouth.

Li Zhen said coldly, "Haven't you caused enough trouble? Without you, none of that would have happened."

"Six years ago, the two people who went to Chenjia Village with you died. Chenjia Village may have been wiped out long ago. After returning from Chenjia Village, you killed two police officers and your parents. How many people do you want to kill?"

"Can you watch your daughter go seven days without eating, getting weaker day by day? If you can't bear to see her like that, you'll kill Master Qing and Sister-in-law Qing."

"How will you save your daughter then, by killing even more people?"

Although she didn't quite understand the last sentence, Li Ruonan still subconsciously shook her head: "No... I won't hurt anyone..."

Li Zhen wasn't in the mood to listen to what she had to say.

He walked directly to Xie Qiming's car.

Xie Qiming, holding Chen Letong, quickly caught up with Li Zhen.

Back at the car, Xie Qiming put Chen Letong to sleep in the back seat, then got into the driver's seat and started the car.

Only then did Li Ruonan realize what was happening and frantically chased after the car.

Looking in the rearview mirror, Xie Qiming felt a pang of pity: "Isn't it too cruel to take a child away from its mother?"

Li Zhen said calmly, "Letting the child be in her hands will kill even more people."

Xie Qiming smiled wryly and said, "You trust me that much? I feel a heavy responsibility on my shoulders."

“You know the gravity of the situation,” Li Zhen said.

He naturally trusted Xie Qiming more than he trusted Li Ruonan, but he wouldn't say he trusted her completely.

He has cast a spell on Xie Qiming, allowing him to directly manipulate Xie Qiming's actions at crucial moments.

If even this can't save Master Aqing, then it can only be said that Master Aqing's fate is like this.

Xie Qiming's phone suddenly rang.

He didn't even look at it and just turned off his phone.

A dozen minutes later, Chen Letong, who was in the back seat, suddenly woke up.

She sat up in the back seat, rubbed her eyes, looked at the front of the car, and asked weakly, "Where's my mother?"

The car suddenly stopped.

Xie Qiming, in the driver's seat, turned to Chen Letong and smiled, "Duoduo, it's me. Mom has something to take care of, so she asked me to look after you for a few days. You're not feeling well, so please get some rest, okay?"

Seeing Xie Qiming, who had taken care of her for several years, Chen Letong felt relieved and said to Xie Qiming, "If Mom comes, you must tell me."

After saying that, she lay back down in the back seat, her small body curled up in a ball.

He started the car again, and Xie Qiming smiled like a loving father: "Look, isn't Duoduo very well-behaved?"

“I have neither a son nor a daughter. Before her mother came along, I really wanted to adopt Duoduo.”

Li Zhen didn't say anything.

After a while, Xie Qiming suddenly said, "I just moved, and even my colleagues don't know where I live now. Duoduo's mother can't find me."

Back at Xie Qiming's house, Li Zhen ignored Xie Qiming and Chen Letong, and led the vampire and banshee he had left behind into the room that Xie Qiming had prepared for him.

He didn't emerge from the room until after dark, looking tired and reeking of blood.

The Great Black Buddha Mother is no ordinary ghost; day and night make little difference to her.

But Li Zhen felt more comfortable at night.

After wrapping the magical artifact he received from Master Aqing in a black cloth, Li Zhen left Xie Qiming's house with the artifact and the vampire.

After Li Zhen got into the car, Xie Qiming, who was carrying Chen Letong who had been unconscious all day, came downstairs.

Sitting in the driver's seat, he asked with some concern, "Is Duoduo really alright in this state?"

Li Zhen said, "If you do anything to her, she will die, and Master Qing and his wife will also die tragically."

Xie Qiming assured him, "I know how serious this is, but I'm a little worried about Duoduo; he's too young."

The car arrived at the temple they had visited during the day. Xie Qiming got out of the car, and Li Zhen got in.

Li Ruonan, who had been waiting there for an unknown amount of time, suddenly ran out and checked on Chen Letong's condition with a worried expression.

Chen Letong barely opened her eyes and called out, "Mom."

Li Ruonan, whose face was so haggard she looked unrecognizable, immediately burst into tears of joy.

Li Zhen was somewhat surprised to see Li Ruonan again.

He rolled down the car window and said to Li Ruonan, "I'm going to deal with the evil spirits in Chenjia Village. Master Qing may have already told you. Get in the car and lead the way."

"Since this matter started with you, it should end with you as well."

Taking Li Ruonan away would conveniently remove an uncertain factor. Li Zhen was uneasy about leaving such an uncertain factor with A Qingshi.

Moreover, Li Zhen really needed someone to guide him, and taking Li Ruonan along would save a lot of time asking for directions and finding his way.

Li Ruonan looked hesitant.

Li Zhen continued, "As long as that evil spirit doesn't die, your daughter will never escape its malice. Even if you suppress the evil spirit's curse now, it's only temporary."

Li Ruonan glanced at Chen Letong one last time, then forced a smile and said, "Duoduo, be a good girl and wait for Mommy to come back. Mommy will be back soon."

After saying that, she opened the car door and got into the passenger seat.

Just as Li Zhen drove the car away from Master Qing's temple, he suddenly felt the coffin nails stuck in his body loosen slightly...

(End of this chapter)