17: Let the immortals also come and burn incense

“Is that really an Immortal? Why did he go to Big Brother Qian’s outhouse? Do Immortals need to use the toilet too?”

Among the crowd, a villager’s eyes widened, his voice extremely low, but his surprise was hard to conceal.

An elder next to him rolled his eyes and said, “Of course Immortals need to use the toilet. Otherwise, why would they have an anus?”

“Shh! Keep your voice down.”

“What are you afraid of? Even if he’s an Immortal, to be so badly injured, he’s probably just a menial Immortal.”

“A menial Immortal is still an Immortal!”

...The three of them continued to whisper and stealthily follow Lu Ming, looking as if they had a guilty conscience.

Lu Ming walked on the dirt road of Chang Sheng Village, his steps light, looking around at this seemingly ordinary but subtly strange village.

Most of the houses in the village were low and dilapidated. Occasionally, a few chickens and ducks would dart across the road, flapping their wings and clucking a few times.

“Normal, too normal.”

“There isn’t a trace of Demonic Qi in this village; in fact, it feels very peaceful.”

Lu Ming frowned slightly. He had traveled far and wide, seen many things, and encountered all sorts of evil spirits, but he had never seen a village so harmonious that it felt almost unreal.

In the air, besides the faint smell of cooking smoke mixed with the rich scent of earth, there were no unusual fluctuations.

Only peace, and more peace.

“It seems I was overthinking.”

Lu Ming sighed softly, then prepared to go back and find Lin Yao.

It wasn’t just Lin Yao who felt the heavy turbid Qi down the mountain; he had the same feeling, as if an invisible hand was gently covering his mouth and nose, making it difficult to breathe freely.

The villagers quietly following Lu Ming… “Immortals are just different, their thoughts unfathomable. Even looking at Village Chief Li’s chicken coop, he can look so melancholic.”

A scrawny man, with his neck tucked in, muttered softly.

“Perhaps the Immortal wants to eat chicken.”

“Don’t Immortals only eat vegetarian food?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Shh! The Immortal is going back. We can go back to sleep too. What a hassle.”

Seeing Lu Ming give up his exploration, the group also returned to their respective homes. It was almost dawn, and they still had to offer incense to Lord Chuping tomorrow morning!

The next morning, after Lu Ming and Lin Yao had a simple meal of dry rations and were about to bid farewell to the Village Chief to head to Da Li Village, they saw all the villagers of Chang Sheng Village walking towards the back mountain.

“It’s my family’s turn to offer the first incense today, isn’t it? None of you better try to take it from me!”

“I wonder if Lord Chuping handles matters of fertility. Our village has too few people, not many children, and that will cause problems sooner or later.”

Chunsheng gave the speaker a cool look.

Lord Chuping, by his name, was clearly a male Immortal. He must have been a man in life. Do male Immortals also handle requests for children?

Fortunately, someone directly voiced his doubt.

“If your wife isn’t giving birth, it’s because you’re not trying hard enough. What does that have to do with Lord Chuping?”

“If Lord Chuping knew you had such rebellious thoughts, he might send a heavenly thunderbolt your way!”

“Don’t drag us down with you!”

“My fault, my fault! I was thinking wrongly. I deserve a beating.”

Lu Ming and Lin Yao couldn’t help but exchange glances, both seeing confusion in the other’s eyes.

“What is this procedure?”

“I don’t know.”

“You go ask.”

Lin Yao pointed to Li Fu, who was walking at the very front, signaling Lu Ming to go and inquire.

Lu Ming understood, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed.

“Village Chief Li, thank you for saving our lives yesterday.”

Village Chief Li Fu, speaking with a heavy regional accent, said.

“There’s no talk of saving lives. Since you two are Immortals, you surely have the ability to protect yourselves. Immortals, there’s no need to be polite.”

Lu Ming nodded and didn’t insist on being overly polite. He knew in his heart that while it wasn’t exactly life-saving, if they had fainted in the wilderness, unconscious, and unfortunately encountered wild beasts or something, their lives would have truly been unpredictable.

“Still, many thanks, Village Chief Li. Village Chief Li, where are you all going?”

“We are going to offer incense to Lord Chuping. Since you’ve caught up, why don’t you join us and offer a stick of incense?”

Village Chief Li Fu slightly turned, pointing towards the back mountain, his expression serious.

There was no hint of a joke, and even the surrounding villagers looked over.

“Lord Chuping is very effective!”

“Lord Chuping is the best deity in the world.”

“Every day after offering incense, I feel warm all over.”

“Lord Chuping? Offering incense?”

These two words together easily made him associate them with something bad.

A few years ago, Lu Ming had heard that some remote areas had cults worshipping evil gods, sacrificing living people, causing widespread suffering. Now, Chang Sheng Village’s strange actions… could it be that too? Thinking of this, Lu Ming subconsciously gripped the sword at his waist, his fingers tightening slightly.

Lin Yao also sensed the abnormality, and her hand quietly rested on her Magical Artifact.

Lu Ming nodded slightly, turned to look at the Village Chief, and asked calmly, “Village Chief Li, may I ask who this Lord Chuping is? We are both shallow in knowledge and have never heard of this name.”

Upon hearing this, Village Chief Li Fu showed a hint of pride and said, “Our Lord Chuping, he is the deity who protects our village! A few years ago, the Mountain God was rampant, coming to Chang Sheng Village every month to collect offerings.”

“Saying ‘collecting offerings’ was actually just eating people.”

“It was Lord Chuping who repelled the Mountain God, and only then did we have peaceful days.”

Lu Ming and Lin Yao exchanged glances, their doubts undiminished.

“Then, where is the statue of this Lord Chuping?”

The Village Chief raised his hand and pointed to the back mountain: “There! It’s in the mountain temple behind. Since you’ve come, it’s fate, so come and pay your respects with us.”

“But you must not think of harming Lord Chuping, otherwise, Lord Chuping’s Divine Thunder is not to be trifled with.”

“What? Lord Chuping can control heavenly thunder?”

Could it be a demon that Cultivates lightning Spells?

Hearing this, Lu Ming and Lin Yao became even more uneasy, huddling together from time to time to whisper.

“Senior Brother, should we just run away? This Lord Chuping might be another demon disguised as a deity. With our strength, going up there would be suicide.”

“If we leave now, can we still escape? Once we entered this village, we were probably already under its surveillance.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Let’s go, let’s go. Seeing these villagers so calm, maybe the demon will be reasonable. If we bring up the Qingyun Immortal Sect then, we should be able to survive.”

A moment later, Lu Ming and Lin Yao still followed the villagers towards the back mountain.

Along the way, the villagers chanted words of gratitude to Lord Chuping, making the atmosphere feel even more strangely eerie.

Stepping into the temple, a sacred Qi assailed them.

Unlike the imposing, eight-foot-tall divine statue they had imagined, Lord Chuping’s statue was just a palm-sized clay figurine.

Lu Ming and Lin Yao watched with wide eyes as the villagers, one after another, devoutly knelt before the clay figurine, as if it truly possessed supreme Divine Power.

The two of them, with hooked fingers, were about to quietly inch towards the exit when Village Chief Li Fu suddenly stepped forward and, without explanation, handed each of them a stick of incense.

“Immortals, since you’re here, why not offer a stick of incense and pray for Lord Chuping’s blessing?”

“Lord Chuping is very effective. There’s no harm in bowing.”

Lu Ming… Didn’t he see his entire body resisting!

He hated such overly familiar people.

Lu Ming grumbled to himself. Being under Lord Chuping’s watchful eye, he didn’t dare to directly refuse Li Fu’s intention. He took the incense, forced a calm demeanor, stepped forward, inserted the incense into the censer, and bowed slightly, considering it a salute.

Seeing this, Lin Yao followed suit and offered a stick of incense.

After the incense offering was complete, Village Chief Li Fu finally looked satisfied.