Please control me, my divine being!

Witnessing the initiation ceremony of the Liuren Fajiao sect, your young mind suffered an unparalleled shock, and you instinctively developed a fear of the mysterious world you were about to encounter.

But at this moment.

You heard the whispers of the gods.

The sound, vast and powerful yet pale and hollow, drew you out of your fear as it approached from afar.

You know that the mysterious being you believe in is watching over this place from the shadows, and a surge of courage rises from your heart.

You calmed yourself down and gritted your teeth to continue watching the ritual of the Fa Church...

Zhou Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

Since the game lacks visuals, the impact of the initiation ceremony cannot be directly felt. However, judging from the game's text, the initiation ritual is quite sinister.

After all, once the ritual began, the sanity value next to the status bar started to slowly decrease.

Fortunately, the blessing adds a bit of mental attribute. In addition to making people more alert and sharp-witted, it also means that the sanity bar is longer in the game data, so you can last longer when facing scenarios that deduct sanity.

However, just in case, Zhou Qing still used his whispering ability.

The ability to whisper is often inaccurate when used to convey information, but in this scenario, its effect is absolutely immediate.

...

Li Qinghe gritted her teeth and moved closer to the edge of the square.

If it weren't for the sudden sound of a divine voice, her legs would have gone weak with fear.

The rituals of the Dharma teachings are still ongoing.

That was just the beginning. After Pang Ziyue scattered countless talismans and drank the blood of the crowd, these talismans curled up, one end plunging into the flesh and the other end wrapping around the wrists, lying dormant and becoming the symbol of the believers.

Then other believers brought over large ceramic jars.

The jar was filled with black medicinal soup that smelled foul.

These newly converted believers were carried one by one into a vat. Finally, talismans were pasted on the mouth of the vat, a wooden lid was placed on it, and firewood was lit under the vat to start burning.

The square, which had been filled with wails just moments before, fell silent again.

Apart from the occasional dull thud from someone tapping the sides of the jar, the only other sounds were the clergy adding firewood to the fire.

Dozens of large vats stood alone in the square.

A chill ran through Li Qinghe. She was glad she hadn't agreed to join the Fa Cult. This eeriness was completely unlike that of a normal society.

Pang Ziyue noticed the girl standing at the edge and stepped over: "Don't be frightened. This is our sect's sealing ceremony, symbolizing the balance of Yin and Yang, and the harmony of water and fire. When the sun rises tomorrow, they will be reborn and become a member of the Fa Sect. Little girl, do you also want to join the Fa Sect?"

Li Qinghe quickly shook her head and explained her purpose.

"So you came here for the evil sores. The Huang family's specialty is the art of causing sores and pus. Once you get infected, you will suffer unbearable pain, but it is also very easy to get rid of them."

As long as the disease has not penetrated to the bone marrow, the sealing ceremony can cleanse the impurities and grant a new life.

Many people were infected with the evil sores in the square before, but they will all recover by tomorrow!

Pang Ziyue's voice was impassioned.

Li Qinghe considered her mother's condition; it must be more than just a case of a carbuncle penetrating to the bone. She cautiously asked, "What if it were even slightly more serious than that?"

"It's worse than the disease penetrating to the bone marrow; wouldn't that mean death? Perhaps the Six Ren Immortal Master can save us by manifesting his divine power."

Pang Ziyue lifted the brim of her bamboo hat, revealing one eye hidden by her long hair: "Do you want to join the Dharma Sect? When you become the head altar master, or even the Fulou Zhenren, and can communicate with the immortal masters, what are these mere evil sores?"

I see you possess innate strength and courage; you can become a disciple upon joining the sect!

Li Qinghe shook her head, sighed, and asked unwillingly, "If we find the Huang family you mentioned, do they have any solutions?"

"If it weren't for the evil sores they caused, would the surrounding villages be in this state?"

If you go to them, aren't you just going to your death?

Here's what we'll do: you can stay here for now. We're currently fighting with the Huang family. Once we capture a few of their core members, we might be able to find a way to cure this evil sore.

After all, we also need to find a way to treat this ailment.

Pang Ziyue made a suggestion.

Li Qinghe hesitated, unsure of what to do, when her body once again lost control.

"What do you need me to do?"

The next moment, Li Qinghe asked calmly, her face expressionless.

Pang Ziyue glanced at the girl with slight surprise, then patted her on the shoulder: "Just do odd jobs when you're free, and lend a hand when things get busy. We're all brothers under heaven, and the people of the Fa Sect are very friendly, so don't overthink it. After you stay for a few days, you might want to join us."

After she finished speaking, she instructed two followers to lead Li Qinghe to a relatively clean mud house.

The earthen fortress covers a very large area, and there are many such earthen and stone houses, many of which are vacant.

Most members of the Faith Church would rather sleep on the floor under a tarpaulin with others than have a private room.

This is yet another strange situation.

Li Qinghe used her clever little brain, but after thinking for a long time, she still couldn't figure it out. She felt that the entire headquarters of the Fajiao sect was strange, but the gods wanted her to stay.

What exactly does He want to do?

I can't figure it out, I can't figure it out at all.

...

"That's right, you can't figure it out."

Zhou Qing stared at the mental activity that popped up next to the status bar, then turned to look at the game text.

The earthen fortress built between Huangshui Town and Dongping City served as the temporary headquarters of the Liuren Fajiao sect.

The bizarre initiation ceremony and the overly enthusiastic members of the cult made you wary.

But in order to find a solution to the sores, you choose to stay.

Thanks to your exceptional intuition, you discovered many valuable offerings within the earthen fortress. If you collect them, you should be able to gather enough offerings for a ritual, allowing the gods to bestow upon you extraordinary power once more.

But you may also encounter hidden dangers.

Waiting until we are more familiar with the teachings before taking action might be a better choice...

A series of action options appear below the text.

This time, there are more options than before, which is obviously a change brought about by the level of faith, allowing one to issue commands more flexibly.

For example, right now.

Zhou Qing can choose the option of "waiting in the room until night," which was not available before.

Although the Liu Ren divination method is strange, it actually has materials used in sacrificial rites.

If enough offerings can be collected here, Li Qinghe's ability to protect himself will be greatly enhanced when he performs the second sacrifice.

"The problem is that it's unclear how the offerings are judged during the rituals. Most of the things that can be offered to oneself cannot generate divine power and are completely useless."

Zhou Qing had been thinking about this for a while.

Now that it's been confirmed that the game and reality are the same world, the ritual logic in the game should be similar to that in reality.

The three sacrificial animals commonly used in real life, when offered as sacrifices in the game, cannot generate divine power.

"We need to find a way to understand the knowledge of sacrificial rites in reality."

Zhou Qing thought of Su Tangyu.

The other party has been practicing Nuo opera since childhood and is very likely a cultivator himself, so he should know a lot of secret information.

This treasure trove of Master Su must be thoroughly explored.

While there was still a long time before the game's ink bar expired, Zhou Qing took the opportunity to leave the warm pavilion and have lunch in the living room.

Braised lamb, pickled goose feet, steamed crab roe, and fermented rice sea bass, plus a bowl of snow cloud soup—four dishes and a soup—it's not a lavish meal, but each one is exquisite and delicious.

Regardless of other aspects, at least the chefs in the Prince's Mansion suited Zhou Qing's taste perfectly.

"Young Master has been working so hard lately. If His Highness knew about this in the capital, Sili, he would surely be very pleased," Zheng Chi said from the side.

Zhou Qing sighed, "Speaking of the old man, I wonder how he's doing in the capital. And those friends, who used to call him brother, I haven't heard from them at all. He's all alone in this Prince's Mansion in Jiang'an, and he doesn't even have the energy to go out."

"Young master, if you want to know what's happening in the capital, there are the official gazettes issued by the court each time. If you want to contact the prince, the official postal service can send a letter directly to the capital, which will take no more than ten days to half a month."

Zheng Chi, the competent old steward, immediately put forward various solutions.

Zhou Qing was slightly taken aback.

Official gazette? There's such a thing?