Please control me, my divine being!

Li Qinghe bent over and slowly made his way to the vicinity of the River God Temple.

The temple is not large, only about 20 square meters. There are some old stone carvings on the left and right sides, and a larger statue sits in the center at the far end.

It was a faceless sculpture that looked rather strange.

Its forehead was high and prominent, it had no facial features, its abdomen was swollen as if it were pregnant, and its lower body was wrapped with aquatic plants, fish and other things.

The statue was made with great care.

However, the paint has peeled off in many places, and it looks like it has been in disrepair for many years.

What's even stranger is that the statue is covered with a dense array of sores.

It's as if the evil sores that grow on a person have also grown on the statue.

After the two members of the Fa sect entered the temple, they seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.

Li Qinghe waited patiently.

Crunch!

It didn't take long.

A floorboard was lifted up, and two Faith members came out.

Compared to when they went in, they now had an indescribable stench and a faint smell of blood.

"These weasels are not only hiding here and there, but they also deliberately left behind a few corpses, wasting my Blazing Fire Talisman. I don't know what the altar master asked us to investigate. The River God in the tributary of the Turbid River has long been driven mad by the weasels. If you ask me, I would just kill them."

"Don't say that. After all, we were once the guardians of this place. Since the altar master made a deal with Him, we should do things in a more respectable manner and put away our old habits."

"Hey, I was just saying. Hurry up, there are a lot of new people joining the church recently, and I'm busy going back to organize the initiation ceremony."

The two made no attempt to conceal their conversation, so much so that Li Qinghe could hear it clearly.

The content of the conversation was already shocking enough.

But what shocked her even more was the two people's exposed skin.

Unlike when they entered the temple before, their skin was now covered with black, tadpole-like patterns.

It looks a bit like the characters drawn on talisman paper by a wandering Taoist priest.

Yet it is far more complex than those words, constantly changing like flowing water.

Staring at it for even a few seconds can make you dizzy and lightheaded.

In addition, a man's left forearm appeared to have been burned by fire, with the skin charred black, resembling a withered branch from a distance.

The two talked as they retraced their steps.

Only after they had completely left did Li Qinghe stand up and walk towards the River God Temple, her heart pounding wildly.

Only upon entering the temple can one directly perceive its dilapidated state and the unpleasant stench emanating from it.

"Is 'yellow weasel' a weasel?"

Li Qinghe felt that the smell was indeed very similar to that left by a weasel.

In some places, he is called Wong Tai Sin.

There is no such custom in Huangshui Town, but there are many folk legends about weasels and the characteristics of this animal, such as being vengeful and stingy.

Li Qinghe stood before the floorboards, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

She sensed that she had gotten involved in something incredible.

Human matchmaker, government officials, missing children, the Six Ren divination method, the River God... and now we need to add "yellow weasel".

I'm only sixteen years old this year.

My biggest dream is for my mother to get better, so that we can eat our fill and stay warm every day, and for our family to never go hungry.

But that mysterious being didn't seem to give me many choices.

of course,

It was also because of Him that he was able to raise the money to treat his mother's illness and come safely to the riverbank to pick a basket of Yin-dispelling vines.

Therefore, her feelings toward this mysterious being were extremely complex.

The gloomy atmosphere inside the temple made her afraid to look around.

Especially the River God statue covered in spots and pustules; the closer you get, the more eerie and terrifying it feels, as if gusts of cold wind are blowing from behind.

Li Qinghe walked to the floor.

The floorboards were completely sealed together and could not be lifted by hand. It was unclear how the two Falun Gong members managed to find their way down.

There's clearly a mechanism operating on the floor; you'll need to find it yourself.

...

[You are searching; search failed.]

[You are searching; search failed.]

You are currently...

Zhou Qing stared at the endlessly repeating text, and for a moment, she held her forehead.

Forget it, if we let her search on her own, she probably won't find it even after a whole day.

After all, the character he's currently raising is still a complete weakling with terrifyingly low stats.

The dice cup of fate, activate!

Splash!

As the animation of the dice cup popping up on the game interface played, a six appeared.

The game text has finally changed.

During your search, you unexpectedly touch a protruding stone brick behind the altar. Press it down hard, and with the sound of an iron chain being pulled, the entrance to the underground cave is finally opened.

A chilling wind blew out, carrying with it the smell of burning.

You hesitated slightly, then took a step.

...

"So this is where it is. I really am a little genius. This mechanism isn't that well hidden."

Li Qinghe was somewhat pleased, staring at the dark tunnel.

There was no firelight inside.

Fortunately, she had a tinderbox with her, and she quickly found some dry branches nearby, tied them together, made a simple torch, and went underground.

Her thoughts were extremely complicated at that moment.

There was fear, worry, and even more curiosity about unfamiliar things.

She had also considered that the sores on her mother's body had grown extremely severe, and if the doctor couldn't save her, there would be no other way.

Find the source of the evil sores, or those legendary people who can cure "strange diseases" and solve "strange things".

The cellar was not deep.

Li Qinghe took only a few steps before arriving underground.

The space below is also not spacious; it's an oval space of less than ten square meters, filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items, making it look cramped and confined.

The light of the torch can only illuminate the area around the person.

Compared to the poor visibility, the first thing that hits you is the stench—the smell of burnt meat mixed with a kind of rotten, sweet, and fishy odor, like rotten eggs soaking in a stinking ditch.

Li Qinghe felt a churning in her stomach and quickly covered her mouth and nose before walking forward.

The firelight flickered.

Three dark, gooey things lay in the soil.

Is this... a person?

No, it was just a corpse with a human-shaped outline.

Each corpse was strangely shaped.

It either has three or four arms, or legs growing from its shoulders, like a human body that has been broken up and then haphazardly pieced together to form some kind of bizarre creature.

Beneath its charred skin was blackish-red flesh, like charcoal, with some areas oozing dark yellow pus.

Li Qinghe suddenly took a step back, but her foot tripped over something hard, almost causing her to fall to the ground.

He turned around and looked down.

That appears to be a magic circle.

Or rather, it could be described as a ritual diagram drawn on a specially made wooden board.

She had previously seen the local officials invite experts to perform rituals in town, and they would draw such a diagram to communicate with the gods and pray for blessings.

I don't know what kind of paint was used to draw this picture; the lines gleam with a dark red light under the torch.

Each line is crooked and twisted, yet it possesses a strange sense of regularity.

Therefore,

Whom are the ritual diagrams drawn in the cellar meant to communicate with?

What does this mysterious being who brought me here want to do?

With questions in her mind, Li Qinghe walked around the cellar.

No other findings were made.

It seems that the valuable items were taken away by those two members of the Faculty.

She was about to climb up to the cellar and leave this eerie and cold place when suddenly her body trembled, and a powerful force controlled her, pulling her towards the center of the diagram.