I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Just as the others arrived and everyone was discussing who was first, Lu Ban's voice suddenly rang out.

"Stop arguing, let's eat."

Upon hearing the familiar young man's voice, even the blind man Zhang couldn't help but turn his head slightly.

"Brother Lu, we thought you were missing. What are you doing here... Wait, something's not right."

Just as Seventh Master was about to ask a question, he realized something was wrong.

"Brother Lu, when did you arrive?"

He Chong immediately asked.

"I'm not really sure either. When I got here, I saw no one and I was hungry, so I went into the kitchen to see what food we had. Since there were ingredients, I decided to cook for myself."

Lu Ban spoke the truth.

"?"

This made Dai Yuanyang ask himself a question.

With the professor's help, I had learned about some of the strange patterns of Jiangcheng Mountain in advance through various scientific and extraordinary means, which allowed me to climb the mountain as quickly as possible. Even so, it still took me more than half an hour and I encountered some danger. But this young man actually arrived 25 minutes earlier than me and even cooked a meal.

is it possible?

Is this something humans can do?

Dai Yuanyang once suspected that Lu Ban was lying and that he might have used other means to get up the mountain ahead of time.

“Mr. Lu came with us and went up the mountain before us. He must have some unique skills to arrive so early.”

Du Ming then stepped forward to explain to Lu Ban.

"Mr. Lu, could you tell me about your experiences along the way?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ban recounted everything that had happened to him, leaving nothing out except for the somewhat vague method he used to deal with the zombies.

"...Indeed, this mountain path is a way to confront your inner demons and overcome yourself. If you cannot maintain your original intention, then the illusions you encounter on the way will become your obstacles."

Du Ming sighed.

How can one live without having some obsessions or pursuits?

This mountain trail will see into people's hearts, revealing their weaknesses and creating illusions to bewitch them. If one's will is not strong enough, one will be turned away. The struggle and entanglement will take time. Finally, after overcoming one's inner demons, there may be attacks from illusory monsters. If one does not have some skill, one may not be able to complete the journey smoothly.

Lu Ban's speed was like he was using a cheat code.

He was completely unaffected by those hallucinations, and even quickly dealt with the final illusory monster.

If Lu Ban were a few steps ahead of them, that would be considered normal, but Lu Ban had already cooked the meal, which meant it was definitely not just a matter of taking one or two steps.

"Maybe I was just lucky and didn't encounter too many dangerous things."

Lu Ban made a casual guess.

"Perhaps, returning to simplicity is the direct path to becoming a Xuanjun."

Seventh Master murmured.

"Let's not talk about that. Eating is the most important thing. These ingredients should all be fine, right? I've tasted some and they taste okay."

Lu Ban invited everyone to eat.

Looking at the table of dishes prepared in a rather strange way, everyone was even more speechless.

Is Lu Ban really treating this as a spring outing?

No one touched their chopsticks. Dai Yuanyang sat to the side, watching coldly. Only Blind Zhang was the first to reach out with his chopsticks and pick up a piece of meat.

"The taste is alright."

He chewed and swallowed before speaking.

The others also started eating.

After a hearty meal, Seventh Master cleared his throat.

"In this first round, the fastest should be Lu Ban, the second place is the Dai family, I am third, the fourth place should be Elder Zhang, and the fifth place should be Mr. Shi Buwen. Let's accumulate our scores."

To Lu Ban's surprise, besides Seventh Master, who was good at finding his way, Blind Zhang arrived even earlier than Shi Buwen, who was fast.

Considering that Lu Ban saw the blind man Zhang lying on the roadside and the paper figure he used to escape, this senior who was able to participate in the Xuanjun Competition four times might not be as old and weak as he looked.

"The second competition is to spend the night here and search for something hidden here. It is a jade pendant passed down from our ancestors. The pendant is divided into nine pieces. When everyone finds all the pieces, the score will be recorded according to the number of jade pendant fragments in their hands."

Seventh Master gave a brief explanation.

"Finding things is something I'm good at."

Lu Ban said something.

Everyone else looked at him.

Youth has its advantages, and Lu Ban, being the youngest among them, might have some special tricks up his sleeve.

The first stage of the mountain path was already daunting, and now it seems that Lu Ban is a formidable opponent on the path to becoming a Xuanjun.

"Speaking of which, Seventh Master, why do we have to wait until overnight to search? Can't we search for those jade pendant fragments now?"

Lu Ban, brimming with curiosity, asked again.

"This is tradition."

Beside him, Shi Buwen said something simple.

"Oh."

Lu Ban responded and then scanned the room with [True Sight].

In an instant, he saw thick black fog seeping from the corner of the room. This fog was like the pollution on the mountain trail, but much stronger and denser. The pollution slowly flowed out and outwards. It seemed that the pollution on the mountain trail was overflowing from this dojo.

Lu Ban guessed that the pollution had certain areas where it had accumulated, which might be where the jade pendant fragments were located.

However, it was broad daylight, so it wasn't convenient for him to do anything. Lu Ban only remembered a few locations he had seen.

In the afternoon, everyone sprang into action, searching for clues.

Only Blind Zhang remained seated.

"Old Zhang, aren't you going to take a look at this courtyard?"

Lu Ban asked.

"I'm blind, I can't see what the courtyard looks like, so I'll leave it to you young people."

Blind Zhang seemed to be about to give up, but his movements did not appear aimless, as if he had already seen through the location of something.

The old man picked up the teacup and took a sip.

"If you're interested in this place, I suggest you go and see the wedding ceremony; you might find something useful there."

Blind Zhang pointed to the somewhat out-of-place building in the courtyard.

Lu Ban thanked the other party, walked through the courtyard full of decaying leaves, glanced at the building, and then went inside.

Inside, Lu Ban saw a statue of a god.

"This is definitely not some legitimate god."

Lu Ban looked at the statue and muttered to himself.

Chapter 559 The Call of the Mountains

Traditional deity statues are kind and benevolent, giving people a sense of security at least at first glance. Those that are ugly or have fierce eyes are generally used as door gods.

Because the essence of religion is to make people believe, it is essential to create a sense of affinity. Many religions that Lu Ban knew started by helping the poor and befriending wealthy merchants, appearing harmless. Only after they had completely infiltrated the ruling class did they begin to cause trouble.

But those certainly don't include what's right in front of you.

The statue is dressed in an ancient-style long robe, but the patterns on the robe have a postmodern artistic sense of inversion. The statue is tall, about three meters, and is carved from stone. Some parts are rough, while others are overly delicate, making it lifelike.

The most surprising thing is the head of the statue.

The reason I say "head" instead of "face" is because this is not a human head at all.

The head was bald, with a nauseatingly slimy feel. Below that were four pairs of narrow eyes, reminding Lu Ban of the four-eyed guys in Twilight City. This face had a long, elephant-like trunk, but the nostrils were covered with fine, sharp teeth.

Below the nose are numerous tentacles, each one smooth and without suckers. This is the most intricate part of the entire statue, as if it weren't carved by hand, but rather formed from the petrification and freezing of a real monster.

Its ears are made of thin membranes of tentacles, and below its nose is a mouth with two sharp fangs. The contrast between its head and body creates an alien feeling that is chilling.

Lu Ban had encountered non-human idols before. For example, in places like Egypt, there was a dog-headed, human-bodied statue of Anubis. In a certain country where people grew up drinking Ganges water, there was also an elephant-headed deity.

Lu Ban had read some simple research papers, which were mostly about the alienation of humans. As we all know, in many myths, there have been gods or monsters with human bodies and animal heads, but those with human heads and animal bodies are very rare. Otherwise, there would be no urban legends like the human-faced dog.

For some reason, humans are much more accepting of monsters with human bodies and limbs, at least much more accepting of monsters with human faces and animal limbs.

Lu Ban had no idea what kind of great immortal was in the one currently located in the Taoist temple.

The body of this statue appears extremely rough compared to its head, leading one to speculate that perhaps it was originally a monster, turned into stone and left here, and that later generations sculpted its body into a human form to deceive themselves.

"The Lord of the Mountains, the call of the mountains, in some religions He also has a name called Fang Geng, the god of mountains, the ruler of the mountains, all the peaks of this world are His sacred domain."

A clear and cheerful voice came from the side.

Lu Ban turned his head and saw Tang Que, who was dressed in a form-fitting outfit and had a graceful figure.

"Miss Tang, do you know anything about this?"

Lu Ban asked.

He looked at the altar in front of him, which seemed to have been neglected for many years, with only some animal skeletons remaining. Perhaps they were chickens, or perhaps rabbits, but in any case, they had been eaten very finely and could not be identified as their original owners.

"To be precise, it was my father."

Tang Que smiled wryly.

“What you heard on the mountain trail is actually partly true. I did learn about the existence of the Nine Schools from the things my father left behind. Among those relics were also folk tales that my father had heard while traveling all over the country.”

"Does your father still travel all over the country?"

Lu Ban was curious. Tang Que's father should also be a forensic doctor. In this era, there shouldn't be any concept of business trips. Did his father not work and go to various rural areas to investigate folk customs?

"Yes, my family has some wealth. My father participated in the Xuanjun Competition in his early years and has always longed for these things. For several years, he went to places with various mysterious legends to explore, trying to find the source of the Nine Schools."

Tang Que approached the statue and looked up to examine it closely.