The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

The five people stood neatly in front of the house, and could see the temple clearly.

The enshrined deity had huge fangs, wide-open eyes, a face full of patterns, and a ferocious and fierce appearance. Holding an axe, it inspired fear in people.

Even though the paint on other parts of the statue has faded and cracked, this statue still retains its original fierce appearance.

Lin Du looked at it for a while and said, "It is probably a fierce god that slays evil spirits, so it was made like this to intimidate evil spirits."

Yan Qing nodded, "That's true. If it's a border area, where evil spirits are rampant, this custom does exist."

The tall statue of the deity stood atop the stone platform, and on the incense burner in front of the offering table were countless tiny sticks of incense residue, so densely packed that they were almost about to fall off.

Looking at the statue, Lin Du said, "With such fervent incense offerings, even a clay figure would develop some divinity."

Nowadays, whether it is the unorthodox sect or the internal alchemy sect, the main focus of Taoism is self-cultivation, believing that one's power comes from oneself. The Supreme Sect reveres heaven and earth and all things, not expecting to be blessed, but simply showing respect.

The ancient incense and deity practices were also recorded in the historical books of the Wushang Sect.

In the primordial era, when the world was unstable, many laws broke away from the Heavenly Dao and became ancient gods.

Ancient gods are the embodiment of the power of rules. Therefore, mortals worship and believe in ancient gods, forming a power of will. Ancient gods give back to believers, allowing them to learn and comprehend the power of rules. This is the original way of worshipping gods.

Human beings, in essence, believe in the rules of Heaven, but they choose one aspect to deeply believe in.

Later, when the workings of heaven and earth stabilized, the ancient gods were reintegrated into the Heavenly Dao, becoming part of the rules. They lost their self-awareness and were thus considered to have perished.

After that, the incense and deity worship lost its original divinity and gradually declined, even ceasing to be considered a path of cultivation.

After all, the ancient gods no longer exist, and what is worshipped later are merely clay statues. What exactly are these wishes giving rise to—gods or demons? And what have these believers received?

Although the history of ancient times was general, all five of them had read it and understood the meaning behind Lin Du's words.

"Junior Uncle, do you suspect... that the power of such abundant incense offerings has given these gods, created by people, a sense of self?"

Lin Du nodded. "A suspicion may not be correct."

This phrase sounded very familiar, and the four of them were basically certain that whenever their junior uncle said "doubt" or "not necessarily correct," it was usually the right answer.

"Well... this self-awareness depends on what the people of Liyang Town are looking for." Yan Qing was good at grasping the key points.

"They want this deity to protect them from evil spirits and to ensure their merchants can pass through smoothly." Ni Jinxuan racked her brains, trying to keep up with Lin Du's train of thought.

"Those are all good things." Jinxuan blinked her bright, clear eyes.

"Yes, they are all good wishes, but this is just the mainstream. Incense can be poisonous. When people worship gods, how can they know that they are not worshipping their own desires? If one or two people have bad intentions when they pray, then the power of their wishes becomes poison."

Ordinary people are not immune to this.

Lin Du's eyes were dark. "Where there is desire, there is evil."

The five fell silent, but Ni Jinxuan broke the heavy atmosphere, "Anyway, let's look for clues. Points are important! Junior Uncle always says I'm lucky, I'll go search first!"

Lin Du snapped out of his daze, looked at his junior apprentice in the apricot-colored clothes, and nodded with a smile.

Although Ni Jinxuan was incredibly lucky, she couldn't overcome Lin Du's strange and unlucky constitution.

In conclusion, barring any unforeseen circumstances, something unexpected is bound to happen.

Yuan Ye had already skillfully lifted the cloth covering the offering table. The cloth had faded, and only the original pattern could be vaguely seen.

The young man in red lifted the tablecloth with one hand, tilting his head so that it was almost parallel to the ground, trying to explore whether there were any secrets underneath.

Yan Qing saw him sticking his butt out, looking like he was working extra hard, and her right foot was itching to kick him.

"I'm not saying this to be mean, but your face is practically pressed against the ground, what can you see? You were a prince before, how come you're always doing such... "

Yuan Ye suddenly fell backward and sat directly on Yan Qing's shoes, which cushioned his bottom, preventing him from making intimate contact with the dusty ground.

Yan Qing: ...Okay.

"Junior Uncle! There's something under the stone platform!" Yuan Ye announced loudly before even standing up.

"What is it? Why don't you take it out first?" Yan Qing felt that her feet were really heavy, so she couldn't help but move.

It couldn't be twitched.

"My arms are too short to reach it," Yuan Ye said matter-of-factly.

Yan Qing sighed helplessly, "If you can't reach it, you can't reach it. And then you sit on my lap and lean back! What's wrong with you, brother?"

Yuan Ye suddenly realized, "I was wondering why it felt like I was sitting on a reclining chair."

He stood up, patted Yan Qing on the shoulder, and said, "It's up to you, little brother."

Yan Qing: ...I really hate my mouth.

He bent down, reached out, and tried to reach it with his hands for a long time before finally using his spiritual power. However, he found that it wasn't metal and he couldn't get it out.

Lin Du, who witnessed the whole thing: ...My two useless, resentful nephews.

"Jinxuan, come here."

Ni Jinxuan arrived, whip in hand. "I'm here! You two, get out of the way!"

She bent down, flicked and retracted her long whip, and after only two tries, she swept out several items.

The most complete and eye-catching items were a short, dusty wooden sword and a jade hairpin carved in the shape of a magnolia. There were also some pellets and rotten, shapeless objects, which could be vaguely identified as toys and jewelry.

There was even half a broken Nuo mask, which resembled the face of the deity statue.

Lin Du looked at the familiar little wooden sword, which was stained with dark dirt. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was probably blood that had seeped in and dried over many years, resulting in its current appearance.

People who come to offer incense, no matter how much they throw things away, will probably not get blood on their hands. You can almost guess what happened here.

Only heretical practitioners would consume human essence and blood.

That child, it seems, did indeed fight until the very last moment.

She looked up at the statue, clicked her tongue softly, and opened the peach wood box. "Senior Shen Yan, I have a few questions I would like to ask you."

There was no reply from the dead jade.

But Lin Du didn't care. "You believe your wife and children were killed by the idol, right?"

After a long pause, Shen Yan finally answered, "Yes."

"So you want to destroy the idol?"

"Yes."

"Were you killed by the idol, or by... the Loyalty Formation?"

Shen Yan's tone contained a hint of surprise, "How do you know about the Loyalty Formation at such a young age? I was only told about it when I was about to die."

Lin Du immediately replied, "I love reading."

Shen Yan: ...That works too.

"Yes, I never expected that there would be a Loyalty Formation in this temple, or rather, I never expected that there would be anyone in this world who would be willing to set up a Loyalty Formation for a statue."

The so-called Loyalty Formation is set up for whatever and who it belongs to. It only recognizes that thing as its master and sets up the formation at the cost of the formation master's life. The formation master's soul is used to defend what needs to be protected in the formation. Loyalty and service are nothing more than this.

"One last question: Is part of what you practice related to incense and deities? Or is part of your power derived from your vows?"

Lin Du's words caused the other four to turn to look at her, even Yuan Ye's phoenix eyes widened in surprise.

The dead jade remained silent for a long time, but Lin Du had already received the answer she expected.

"I've always thought that the souls sealed by the Soul Sealing Array must be filled with resentment that cannot be dispelled and sent underground. You were in the illusion, and you had just died, and your blood was still flowing out, yet they were in a hurry to seal your Yin Meridians."

"You said that the earthquake caused the pulse nail to be shaken out, but in the illusion, before the coffin was closed when you died, I clearly saw that the pulse nail moved up a little."

"One cannot use spiritual power after death. Yin energy only slowly gathers after forty-nine days. What power can a newly deceased corpse use to expel some of the pulse nails?"

Lin Du lowered his eyes to look at the Death Jade, and a talisman was placed on it, suppressing his movement to break free from the Death Jade.

"It's the power of will, isn't it?"

"The power of will is not affected by the life or death of the user; whether one is a ghost or a human, one can use it."

A strange, indifferent smile appeared on Lin Du's pale face; it was more of a look of pity than laughter.

"In your illusions, your children are lively and your wife is gentle, until one disappears and the other dies. Every place holds your best and worst memories, except for the backyard, which has never been shown. The Qian Palace is empty."

"That means that's the place we should be looking for."

"Where can the bone-eating worms, which feed on malevolent energy, reside? May I ask, Senior Shen Yan, were the symptoms of malevolent energy backlash from your vow power present before your wife and children died?"

The group was speechless with astonishment at Lin Du's deduction, staring incredulously at the dead jade.

After a long time, so long that the talisman's power was exhausted and it burned to ashes, Lin Du put on another one. Only then did the ghost in the dead jade manage to speak, almost like the last word uttered on the eve of death when someone was being choked.

"Yes, I cultivated the path of incense and deities to kill evil spirits; it was I who harmed them."

Lin Du lowered his eyes, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, but there was no trace of the satisfaction of having solved half the mystery.