The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 38 The Idol is Unknown, Yet its Divine Power Remains

The cries of the four guards rang out in the dead of night.

It didn't startle a large flock of crows, but it did wake up the rest of the people in the dilapidated temple.

"what happened?"

Before the words were even finished, several guards had already leaped up, the crisp sound of drawing their swords particularly jarring in the silence. They rushed towards the temple gate to provide support.

The remaining people retreated one after another, forming layers of guards in front of the screen that was shielding the woman. The chill of the weapons and the heavy breathing intertwined, creating an extremely eerie atmosphere.

Only the guard leader remained unmoved. He did not reach for the sword at his waist, but instead reached into the shadows and pulled out an ebony spear from deep within his bag.

Holding a sharp weapon brings peace of mind.

After letting out a long breath, the guard leader, who had meticulously reviewed the flawless arrangements made by each guard, carried his lance and walked to the front of the dilapidated temple.

Just as he was about to ask what was going on, he caught a glimpse of the horrifying horse carcass flickering in the firelight.

This made it hard for him to breathe.

"this?!"

He had fought his way out of the harsh, cold frontier regions and had seen countless terrifying sights that would make ordinary people tremble with fear.

But this was the only one he had never seen before.

"Boss, what should we do?"

"Can you see what it is now?"

"I didn't see clearly! I only sensed something moving in the shadows, and after I threw the torch, this is what happened!"

The first four guards had already drawn their swords and were looking around warily, while also hurriedly telling their leader everything they knew.

All of this demonstrates that this team consists of carefully selected experts.

Under normal circumstances, let alone bandits or strongmen, even if one encounters a chaotic army, it is likely that one can easily deal with them as long as the enemy is not heavily armored.

"Keep throwing them, and get the kerosene ready!"

The head guard gave a deep shout, his voice revealing no trace of panic. Following his command, a dozen torches coated with pine resin were thrown out of the temple in succession.

In their northwest, the moment the torch touched the ground, all the light and shadow suddenly and eerily collapsed.

Such an unusual phenomenon naturally caught their attention, and the guards immediately adjusted their positions, preparing to meet the enemy from this side.

The head of the guards raised his lance and shouted in a deep voice:

"Stop playing tricks! If you're a true hero, come out and settle things with me!"

The response he received was not a human voice, but a grating tearing sound—in the shadows, a horse carcass, even more shriveled than the previous one, was suddenly ripped in two by brute force, its body tossed out like rags.

The dull thud of the horse carcass hitting the ground resounded like a muffled thunderclap in everyone's hearts.

This single scene was enough to make the guards take a slight step back. The tips of their blades trembled slightly.

This really doesn't look like something a human could do.

"Hold your ground tight! If the formation falls apart, it's certain death!" The leader slammed his lance heavily on the ground, the copper nails scraping against the stone surface and sparks flying. He tried to boost morale with this. "Grip your weapons firmly, guard the temple gate, and do not disturb the nobles!"

Only after the guard leader shouted did the guards manage to regain their footing.

Just then, a sudden gust of wind rose outside the temple, whipping up withered leaves and smashing open the half-rotten door behind them.

Deep in the shadows, the monster finally revealed its true form in the flickering firelight:

It was a giant wolf, as big as a yellow ox! Covered in blood, it was incredibly ferocious. As it slowly approached, its forepaws pressed down on half of a horse carcass in front of it, and the withered ribs opened and closed as if they were alive under its paws.

As it emerged, the light-devouring darkness followed closely behind, with only a pair of pupils burning with a ghostly green light in the darkness.

The guard leader knew that if things continued like this, the men, whose morale had already crumbled, would only be waiting to die, so he shouted:
"Beasts die!"

With a battle roar bursting from his throat, he bent his back into the shape of a northern archery bow, raised his lance high, and then suddenly leaned back and threw it with all his might.

It can be done!

It will definitely succeed!

After his bloodlust surged forth at that moment, he felt as if he had returned to the frontier. He clearly remembered that it was also on such a dark and gloomy night that he killed the Hu chieftain who led the attacking troops with a single spear thrust.

Therefore, he gained the appreciation of his superiors and was fortunate enough to serve the Han family of Yidu. He was even given this horse lance!
There won't be any problems. That Hu centurion was wearing fine iron armor, but he was still thrown off his horse.

Today, this monster made of flesh and blood will obviously be no exception!
As the spear's shadow tore through the night, he could even foresee the scene of the spear tip piercing through the monster's back—just like the bloody path he had carved for himself amidst the flames of war on the frontier.

What was the road to heaven then will surely be the same today!

But with a sharp, metallic clang, the guard leader felt as if he had been punched in the forehead from a distance.

The lance, which even iron armor couldn't withstand, only managed to create a string of sparks on a single hair of the monster before rolling to the side! "How is this possible?!"

Panic erupted, accompanied by a barrage of questions.

The monster continued to approach slowly.

This time, many of the guards, whose morale had been severely damaged, couldn't help but raise their swords and retreat.

The guard leader did the same, taking several steps back before he had even stepped into the temple gate.

The guard leader, barely regaining his senses, shouted:

"Crossbows! Load the crossbows! Shoot it with rockets!"

The reason why crossbows were not used at first was that the imperial court prohibited private ownership of crossbows, and in terms of importance, they were almost second only to armor.

In this respect, the extremely difficult-to-make lance is also like this, except that his lance was bestowed, so it is not included in this category.

Therefore, he was unwilling to reveal his powerful crossbow at the outset, which would invite criticism.

But at this moment, there was clearly no time to worry about anything else.

Six powerful crossbows, rarely seen even in the army, emerged from the temple gate, along with several longbows.

"put!"

The bowstring snapped, and the arrow whistled through the air as it hurtled forward.

The monster finally stopped strolling leisurely and leaped high towards the crowd at the temple gate, charging towards them.

Seeing this, everyone at the temple gate felt utterly hopeless.

They were confident they wouldn't miss, but they didn't believe that the monster, which even a spear couldn't penetrate, could be stopped by their arrows.

What I just did was simply because I didn't want to wait to die.
The arrows that landed on the monster cracked and broke in the darkness, and the monster charged forward relentlessly.

At this moment, everyone could even feel the foul stench emanating from its gaping maw filled with fangs.

Just as everyone closed their eyes and awaited death, they heard a mournful wail.

The expected intense tearing pain did not come.

Confused, they opened their eyes and were surprised to see the monster tumbling to the ground with its tail between its legs, like a beaten dog.

At this moment, it was wailing and writhing on the ground, unable to stop!

Seeing this, all the guards were overjoyed, and the guard leader even shouted:

"The crossbow bolts are effective! Quick, charge out! Add oil and burn this beast to death!"

Many guards immediately grabbed oil and prepared crossbows, ready to charge out.

But at that moment, someone called out from behind them:

"Don't try to kill yourself!"

It's not about slowing down or stopping, but about not seeking death.

Not only was the power of those words formidable, but the voice that uttered them also seemed to possess some kind of incredible strength.

They managed to stop the guards from rushing out.

The leader turned around and saw Du Yuan walking towards them with her hands behind her back, strolling leisurely towards them from below the altar.

"You old Taoist priest, what nonsense are you spouting? That beast was clearly shot by an arrow and fell to the ground!"

Du Yuan chuckled and pointed to the open space in front of the temple, saying:
"Why don't you take a good look? It's not that it's afraid of your crossbow bolts!"

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw dozens of broken arrows lying haphazardly on the moonlit ground. The arrowheads were all twisted, some deeply embedded in the ground, and some half-buried in rotten wood, but none of them were stained with blood.

Those crossbow bolts that were thought to have hit the monster were all knocked off and broken on the ground!
It really wasn't hurt!

"Then why did it fall down?!"

Du Yuan shook her head and chuckled lightly, then pointed to the altar:
"Foolish child! Why would it fear you mere mortals? It fears this one—"

Du Yuan raised her hand and pointed, and there she saw the statue of the mountain god!

Although the statue is without light, its divine power remains.

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(End of this chapter)