Please control me, my divine being!

Generally speaking, when the game's plot progresses to points like "sleep," "travel," or "wait," Zhou Qing will temporarily put down his book, stretch his muscles, and maintain his physical health.

Wait until the ink timer for this action is almost depleted before returning to continue the game.

After all, Zhou Qing doesn't perform many actions while the loading bar is active; he only needs to pay more attention when encountering special emergencies.

However, today, while the character was loading a progress bar, a small bubble would occasionally pop up next to the status bar, containing nonsensical messages.

"What exactly do deities look like? I've heard that people in the North believe in household spirits. Could the deity watching me be an animal? If so, what kind...?"

"I haven't been to work at the Zhang family's place for several days. Manager Zhang will definitely fire me. I'll never find a job that pays twenty dollars again."

"These human traffickers deserve to die! Xiaoling is only fifteen; we must take her home!"

"I'm hungry again, I want to eat osmanthus cake."

"The offerings for the last ceremony were stones. Pick up a few pretty pebbles along the way; maybe the gods will like them."

Um...

Zhou Qing didn't know what to say for a moment.

This is clearly a new feature brought about by the faith upgrade, allowing you to hear the inner thoughts of more characters.

The constantly emerging bubbles reveal the character's real-time psychological state.

It's a bit like the desktop pet from my past life; it'll just pop out a line for you all the time.

Furthermore, Zhou Qing discovered a new fixed feature on the status bar: Whispering!

His mind was focused on the new features.

[Whispers: Whispers from the divine can offer believers subtle guidance or convey simple messages, but believers' faith and spiritual awareness must reach a certain level for them to fully receive the whispers.]

This is also an additional function that appears after the faith level is increased.

Does this mean you can have a direct conversation with the character?

Zhou Qing looked on with curiosity, wanting to find an opportunity to try it out.

With this new feature, how can we not use it?

But just as he was thinking about what to say in his first whisper, Li Qinghe's chant appeared on the game interface first.

[Great and mysterious being, divine being who casts their gaze from the shadows, I offer you my beloved possessions in this ritual.]

Followed by.

On his otherwise empty prop stand, several pebbles had suddenly appeared.

This guy is actually using the ritual diagrams drawn with blood from the shed to make offerings to himself.

Zhou Qing was almost amused by his anger. He immediately chose to bestow a blessing, sending these useless stones away, and clicked on the [Whisper] button: Don't use random things as offerings!

...

"Sister Qinghe, what god would like stones! Sacrifices are very serious matters. If you offend the gods, you will surely bring disaster upon yourself."

Jiang Chuling is going crazy.

Although she had been shocked by Li Qinghe's actions several times, she still felt that her thinking could not keep up with the other party's wild ideas.

But after a few breaths, she actually discovered that the pebbles in the worn instrument diagram had disappeared one by one.

Forget it, let her be. I'm tired.

This isn't a believer at all. If you had just said you were the illegitimate daughter of a god, what would you have to worry about?

Jiang Chuling moved closer, intending to see what this illegitimate daughter of a deity had obtained, when the pebble reappeared in the center of the ritual diagram.

Accompanying this was a buzzing sound like cicadas chirping.

The voice descended from the netherworld, as light as a breeze.

The moment she heard the sound, it was as if a thunderbolt had exploded in Jiang Chuling's mind. She took several steps back until she was far away from Li Qinghe's vicinity before the sound disappeared, leaving only intense tinnitus and nausea.

The irregular, chaotic noise almost shattered her eardrums; she felt she would faint if she stayed any longer.

Sure enough, the gods were angered!

She looked up and saw that Li Qinghe didn't seem to be affected much. She clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and mumbled something like "I'm sorry" and "I won't do it again."

Can she really communicate with the gods?

Despite her discomfort, Jiang Chuling's heart was filled with curiosity and doubt.

However, matters such as worshipping gods vary from person to person, and she still doesn't know what Li Qinghe is worshipping, let alone dare to inquire about it casually.

The lessons learned from her family's past experiences made her extremely cautious and sensitive about such matters.

"Let's go, let's clean up these traces."

Li Qinghe looked at her little home with some lingering affection.

This place holds almost all of her memories from childhood to adulthood. Although the house is very poor, it holds all the happiness she has experienced growing up.

But now I'm all alone in this house, and there's nowhere left for me to stay.

She took a deep breath, tidied up the clutter in the house, and began to prepare for her mother's funeral.

The shantytown has been very deserted lately.

More and more people are contracting the evil sores, and constables often walk by on the road, dragging people whose fate is unknown to the riverbank on carts.

Only the porridge stalls of the Fajiao sect were bustling with activity, with almost all the able-bodied people gathered nearby, waiting to be the first to receive the porridge.

Li Qinghe successfully disposed of the traces of the sacrificial ceremony and held a simple funeral for her mother to avoid arousing suspicion.

Many people here know that their mothers have contracted the evil sores, and if the constables come knocking, at least they'll have an explanation.

...

The simple funeral came to a hasty end.

Funeral paper money fluttered in the air.

A cold wind blew past the two girls, ruffling their hair.

Li Qinghe stared at the desolate hill and the lonely graveyard, standing silently for a long time. She then asked the girl, whose face also showed sadness, "Xiaoling, let me try to get you home. Where is your home?"

Jiang Chuling was taken aback, then gritted her teeth and replied, "A large city in the south, but I can't go back now. I have no home."

Li Qinghe did not ask any further questions.

She calculated the amount of money she had. Doctor Liu had used ten taels of silver to buy half of the medicine in the basket. Daily expenses, plus the money spent on her mother's funeral, had already used up most of it.

We can't stay in the shantytown any longer. Those constables are like mad dogs; nobody knows if they'll be dragged away while we're sleeping at night.

We need to find a place to stay in town.

I need to find a job.

If we just sit around and eat our savings, the remaining money won't last long.

"Then I'll take you back to the clinic. Doctor Liu's clinic is short-staffed, so you can stay there temporarily. What I'm about to do is very dangerous, and it's not suitable for you to come with me."

Li Qinghe touched the bronze wine vessel in her arms. To save her mother, she had to come into contact with Feifan.

The only way he could understand that mysterious world was through the Fa Cult.

To find out the source of the evil sores, we must start from the Legalist sect, whose members are spread all over the surrounding area and are well-informed.

There's no need for Jiang Chuling to get involved in all of this.

...

The town was also sparsely populated. The two women walked along the cold, desolate streets after returning from the shantytown.

Many shops were either closed or the owners were sitting in front of their doors, half asleep.

In just a few days, it seems that more than half of the people in the town have disappeared, as if it were a different world.

Li Qinghe arrived at Zhang Family Manor, intending to resign from her job and ask for the ten coins that had been withheld from her earlier, but found the entire manor eerily quiet.

Take a closer look.

The Zhang family had left, leaving only an old servant to guard the house.

Li Qinghe learned from the other party that the Zhang family had moved to the county town two days ago.

Thinking about the current situation in the town, her unease grew stronger, and she stopped wandering around and quickly returned to the clinic.

Inside the clinic, everything remained as usual.

Doctor Liu was brewing medicine in the backyard, and the aroma of herbs and medicinal plants wafted out.

Zhang Tan, lying on the hospital bed, finally regained consciousness, but his hands were fixed with bamboo strips, and he lay motionless, looking extremely miserable.

Two believers stood guard on either side.

Upon seeing Li Qinghe approaching, the two quickly averted their gazes, not daring to meet the eyes of this brute girl with an air of malevolence.

Just as Li Qinghe was about to ask where the headquarters of the Fa Sect was, Zhang Tan, who was lying on the hospital bed, suddenly spoke up: "Little girl, are you interested in joining the Fa Sect? With such good strength, you might be able to become an ordained disciple in the sect. Don't waste it."