102: Chapter 102 Asking Duke Ling of Qin to expel evil spirits

Village Chief Wang Deshun placed the divine statue on the altar table, untied the red cloth, and revealed the elm divine statue with lowered brows and downcast eyes.

He stepped back two steps, took out three incense sticks from his bosom, lit them with the candlelight, inserted them into the censer, stepped back two more steps, knelt on the futon, and kowtowed.

Village Chief Sun Mancang followed Village Chief Wang Deshun and did the same thing.

Behind them, all the refugees from Wangjia Village and Sun Family Village knelt down and kowtowed along with him.

Their foreheads touched the cold stone bricks, making a dull, continuous sound.

Village Chief Wang Deshun and Village Chief Sun Mancang knelt at the very front, their backs held straight.

"Lord Qinling, this humble commoner is Village Chief Wang Deshun."

"Lord Qinling, this humble commoner is Village Chief Sun Mancang."

"Leading all the young and old of Wangjia Village and Sun Family Village, we respectfully invite Lord Qinling to move his carriage, expel the evil spirits, and reclaim our homeland."

"From now on, the incense of both villages will only be offered to the Divine Monarch alone."

The two of them kowtowed once more, their foreheads touching the stone bricks and producing a dull sound.

Behind them, everyone followed suit in kowtowing, their voices merging into one and echoing in the temple hall.

Inside the shrine, Qin Ling looked at the array of the two villages inviting the deity before him, and naturally prepared to agree.

After all, expanding his jurisdiction was an indispensable matter for him.

However, the center of the divine statue's brows had been glowing with light, so after pondering for a moment, Qin Ling reached out and pointed at the center of the divine statue's brows.

Immediately after, the golden light at the center of the divine statue's brows began to flicker.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang stood to the side, being the first to see that speck of golden light.

His eyes widened abruptly, the corners of his mouth twitched, and then he burst into a smile, his face wrinkling up together.

He braced himself and turned around, facing the refugees kneeling all over the ground, and said in a resonant voice:

"Lord Qinling has consented! Lord Qinling has agreed to you all!"

Village Chief Wang Deshun knelt at the very front, and upon hearing these words, his entire body trembled.

He raised his head, looking at the speck of golden light at the center of the divine statue's brows with an excited expression.

Behind him, Village Chief Sun Mancang also saw it; looking at that speck of golden light, he let out a breath of stale air.

The refugees kneeling in the back also saw it.

They each looked at their own family members with smiles at the corners of their mouths.

From now on, they would also be people under the protection of a deity.

After the deity-inviting ceremony ended, Village Chief Wang Deshun and Village Chief Sun Mancang respectively picked up an elm divine statue from the altar table.

Behind them, the refugees stood up, patted the dirt off their knees, wiped away the tears on their faces, and straightened their clothes.

Of the two divine statues, one was going to Wangjia Village, and one was going to Sun Family Village.

Watching this scene, Qin Ling moved his mind, and two divine avatars respectively entered each of the divine statues.

These two divine avatars were naturally going to return to the villages with the refugees.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang stood at the temple entrance, watching them without saying much.

Qin Yin and Qin Mo stood behind the village chief, watching these refugees walk out of the temple.

Village Chief Wang Deshun walked up to Village Chief Qin Zongliang, stopped, and bowed deeply.

Village Chief Sun Mancang also bowed along.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang waved his hand and said:

"Go ahead. Be careful on the road."

Village Chief Wang Deshun and Village Chief Sun Mancang straightened up together, turned around, and walked toward the village entrance.

Behind them, the refugees followed closely, a dense, orderly crowd walking along the winding dirt road toward the outside of the village.

After walking out of the village, Village Chief Wang Deshun and Village Chief Sun Mancang respectively led the refugees of their respective villages toward the directions of Wangjia Village and Sun Family Village.

Because Wangjia Village was closer, Village Chief Wang Deshun led the refugees of Wangjia Village to arrive at Wangjia Village first.

Village Chief Wang Deshun stopped his steps, and the refugees behind him also stopped.

Village Chief Wang Deshun raised his head and looked at the village before him, his eye sockets instantly turning red.

The village was still there, but it was no longer a village.

More than half of the roofs had collapsed, pitch-black roots crawled all over the walls, door panels were smashed into pieces, and the windows that used to shine with lights were now pitch black.

Those roots burrowed out from underground, wrapping around the pillars, wrapping around the roof beams, and wrapping around the courtyard walls, enveloping the entire village like a giant insect cocoon.

Seeing his homeland ravaged like this by evil spirits, Village Chief Wang Deshun finally couldn't hold back his tears, which welled up and poured out.

He wiped them with the back of his hand, gritting his teeth, his cheeks tightly tensed.

He lifted the divine statue on his shoulder upwards, turned around, and walked to a small earthen slope beside the village entrance.

He lowered the divine statue from his back, cushioned it with the red cloth, and placed it squarely on top of the earthen slope, facing directly toward the direction of the village.

The divine statue was newly carved, and the light yellow color of the elm wood appeared exceptionally clean in the dark red light of the sky.

Village Chief Wang Deshun stepped back two steps, bent his knees, and knelt down.

His knees struck the gravelly ground, yet he didn't utter a sound, supporting his hands on the ground and touching his forehead to the mud.

"Lord Qinling, Wangjia Village has arrived. Take a look, this is our village; it's gone, everything is gone."

"I beg Lord Qinling to manifest your spirit and expel these roots from Wangjia Village."

"Leave none behind!"

He heavily kowtowed, his forehead knocking into the mud.

Behind him, the refugees also knelt down, kneeling continuously from the top of the earthen slope all the way down to its base.

"I beg Lord Qinling to manifest your spirit!"

"Please, Lord Qinling, expel the evil spirits!"

"Leave none behind!"

The refugees shouted along.

On the earthen slope, the golden light at the center of the divine statue's brows grew brighter and brighter, turning from a speck into a ball, and from a ball into a sheet, illuminating the entire earthen slope brightly.

The refugees kneeling on the ground were blinded by the golden light and could not open their eyes, but not a single person lowered their heads; they raised their faces, looking at the increasingly bright ball of light.

A golden figure soared into the sky from within the divine statue.

This ball of golden light exploded into a pillar of light, shooting straight into the clouds.

The refugees kneeling on the ground had their mouths wide open, unable to close them, their eyes filled with reflections of the golden light.

That golden figure hovered mid-air, which was precisely the divine avatar Qin Ling arranged inside the divine statue.

This divine avatar raised his right hand, his five fingers forming a hollow grip.

A sword condensed in his palm, made of golden light condensed to the absolute limit.

Seven killing patterns lit up one after another, each one brighter than the last, each one heavier than the last.

When the seventh pattern lit up, the entire sword was trembling.

With his current cultivation at the Xiansheng Realm for his true body, even his divine avatar could easily wield the complete Seven-Kill Demon-Slaying Sword.

The divine avatar's left hand rose, and a ball of golden light lit up in his palm.

Divine Technique: Exorcism.

The divine avatar pressed this ball of light into the sword in his right hand.

He was still using combined divine techniques, merging Divine Technique: Exorcism with Seven-Kill Demon-Slaying Sword.

He gripped the sword tightly, raised it over his head, and then swung it down toward the village below.

The sword body transformed into a beam of sword light, a giant golden blade of light descending from the sky, chopping straight toward the largest root at the center of the village.

Wherever the blade of light passed, those roots burrowing out from underground were torn apart like paper scraps and melted like wax.

The blade of light landed at the center of the village, striking the thickest root.

"Boom——!"

The ground trembled violently for a moment.

Those roots still writhing in the village writhed crazily, frantically burrowing back underground.

But it was too late for them; the sword stroke slashed down by the blade of light, carrying the divine power of Exorcism, had already burrowed underground.

It burrowed into their roots, into the body of that evil spirit.

A dull hiss surged out from the fissure, and the ground trembled along with it.

The refugees kneeling on the earthen slope were shaken until they swayed and stumbled, but not a single person ran.

They lay flat on the ground, covering their ears, their eyes fixed on that golden figure hovering mid-air and on those roots turning to ashes in the golden light.

With faces full of excitement, they shouted, "Long live Lord Qinling!" and "Lord Qinling, expel the evil spirits!"