129: Chapter 129 Reversing the Heavenly Gang

At the temple entrance, the god-inviting procession from the county city looked at Pei Se, and no one dared to utter a sound.

Just now, when Pei Se fell from the sky, they had all seen it.

This person had crashed down from the sky.

And she had directly smashed such a thick stone slab into cracks, yet she was completely fine, dusting off her backside as she stood up.

That was not something an ordinary person could do, and even ordinary martial artists could not do it.

She was a powerful martial artist!

The people in this county city god-inviting procession were all merchants, gentry, and wealthy households who had donated money; they had seen the world and knew how to read the room.

Therefore, seeing Pei Se hugging a wine jar and gulping down the wine, they did not dare to make a sound at all, simply letting the other party drink.

When the god-inviting procession came out of the temple doors, Tie Lanshi was standing right in the middle of the crowd.

That was right, he had also donated silver to join this procession that had come to Qin Family Village to invite the gods.

He stood in the middle of the procession, waiting for the people in front to move.

His gaze inadvertently swept across the temple entrance and suddenly froze.

He saw a woman holding a wine jar in her arms, pouring wine directly into her mouth.

Sunlight fell upon her, and the vital energy and blood on her body seeped out from the gaps in her bones, pressing down so heavily that someone like him who had destroyed his own meridians found it somewhat hard to breathe.

The intensity of that vital energy and blood was not something a Third-turn Martial Artist could compare to; it was an existence on a higher level.

Although the current Tie Lanshi had destroyed his own meridians to escape the pursuit of the Evil Tree and become a First-turn Martial Artist, having once been a Third-turn Martial Artist, he did not believe he would mistake her.

Therefore, when he saw Pei Se, his pupils suddenly shrank, and he blurted out.

"She is a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist."

Hearing Tie Lanshi's words, the surrounding county city god-inviting procession all sucked in a breath of cold air.

Some widened their eyes, some opened their mouths wide, and someone's offerings almost dropped to the ground.

Fourth-Turn Martial Artist?!

Even before the Disaster of the Evil Tree, Guanhai County City did not have a single Fourth-Turn Martial Artist.

The commoners of Guanhai County City fancied themselves knowledgeable and experienced, yet they had never seen a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist.

And now, a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist was hugging a wine jar and drinking at the entrance of the Qin Family Village temple.

Moreover, this woman looked so young!

Hearing that this woman was a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, the surrounding county city god-inviting procession consciously took a step back, their faces showing a trace of dread.

After all, no one knew what this suddenly appearing Fourth-Turn Martial Artist actually was.

Right at this moment, a voice cleaved in from the side.

They saw Qin Yin, wearing an old grayish-white outfit, walking out from the temple doors with a long saber slung at her waist, standing on the steps.

"Pei Se, this is wine that has been offered to Lord Qinling, yet you drink it so heartily!"

At this time, Pei Se still had a large mouthful of wine in her mouth, not knowing whether to swallow it or not.

She just stood there with bulging cheeks, staring blankly at Qin Yin, her throat moving slightly as she swallowed that mouthful of wine.

Qin Yin's face had little expression, and her tone was calm, but every word carried an unquestionable sense of propriety.

"These are offerings pooled together by the county city, heartfelt sentiments carried over by the god-inviting procession from the county city, and placed upon the offering table to pay respects to Lord Qinling."

"You picked it up and drank it straight away; is this act not a sign of disrespect toward Lord Qinling?"

Pei Se shook her head vigorously, subconsciously glanced toward the offering table, and then lowered her head to look at the wine jar in her arms.

The red cloth was still draped over the mouth of the jar, and the mud seal had already been pried open.

Her mouth twitched downward like a child caught red-handed doing something wrong as she said,

"No, how could I possibly dare to show disrespect toward Lord Qinling? Qin Yin, you understand me; I was just parched to death!"

Hearing this dialogue and watching Qin Yin scold a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, the god-inviting procession from the county city widened their eyes one by one.

This was simply a total inversion of the heavenly order!

That was a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, an expert who couldn't be found anywhere in the entire Guanhai County!

How dared this woman with a long saber slung at her waist do such a thing?

Qin Yin was a Second-turn Martial Artist, and most people from the county city had heard a bit about her background—she was a devotee of Lord Qinling.

But this was simply too bold!

But what they expected even less was that that Fourth-Turn Martial Artist actually stopped.

The wine jar was held in her arms, and the wine in her mouth had been swallowed, but she did not take a second gulp.

Pei Se put the wine jar down from her arms, placed it beside her feet, glanced at Qin Yin again, and said in a muffled voice,

"You're right, this wine has been offered to Lord Qinling, I shouldn't have touched it."

She patted the dust off her backside, lowered her head to look at the wine jar by her feet where the red cloth was still draped over the mouth and the aroma of wine was still drifting out.

She squatted down to cover the red cloth properly again, then stood up and turned toward the temple door.

"I originally came to thank Lord Qinling. Lord Qinling has bestowed a great favor upon me, helping me break through my bottleneck and advance from the peak of the Third-turn to the Fourth-Turn."

Saying this, she glanced at Qin Yin once more.

"Since I drank wine I shouldn't have, I will combine my gratitude and apology; I am going right in to kowtow a few times to Lord Qinling."

Finished speaking, she stepped across the threshold and onto the stone bricks of the temple hall.

That divine statue of Lord Qinling sat behind the offering table, with its eyelids drooping and the golden light between its brows still shining.

She walked to the offering table, knelt down, bowed, and kowtowed three times.

Straightening her body, she kowtowed another three times, and straightening again, she kowtowed three more times.

After finishing nine resounding kowtows, Pei Se finally stood up.

The commoners in the county city god-inviting procession couldn't recover their wits for a long time.

Having lived for the better part of their lives, they had never seen a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist.

Today they saw one, but it almost shocked their eyes right out of their sockets.

They didn't expect that this Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, after being scolded a few words by a Second-turn Qin Yin, would put down the wine jar and apologize to Lord Qinling.

And she actually kowtowed nine resounding times!

And all of this was because of Lord Qinling.

It was not because Pei Se wanted to save face for a Second-turn Martial Artist, but because the one enshrined in the temple before them was Lord Qinling.

The commoners in the county city god-inviting procession simply felt it was utterly bizarre.

A Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, placed in the Prefecture City, would be a top-tier expert worth reckoning with, and even in the capital, they could secure a decent post.

Yet in front of Lord Qinling's divine temple, because of a jar of wine, she was both apologizing and kowtowing.

Having finished kowtowing, Pei Se stepped across the threshold once more and walked out of the divine temple. As the sunlight fell upon her face, she narrowed her eyes.

She saw that the god-inviting procession from the county city was still stunned in place.

She lifted her chin toward them and said,

"What are all of you still standing there dazed for? Why don't you hurry up and transport the divine statue of Lord Qinling—whose god-inviting ceremony is complete—back? Don't keep Lord Qinling waiting for long!"

Hearing this shout, the god-inviting procession from the county city finally snapped back to their senses.

Clerk Liu stood at the very front of the procession, his official robes stiff and straight, his face gleaming under the sunlight.

He cleared his throat, turned around, and waved his hand at the commoners who were still stunned, saying,

"Let's go, back to the county city."

The procession began to move; those carrying the divine statue carried it, those bearing the banners bore them, and the gong-beater struck the gong once more. With a loud "Clang", the sound echoed at the village entrance.

They walked a few steps, and someone couldn't help but look back, gazing in the direction of Lord Qinling's divine temple.

Clerk Liu walked at the very front, his steps brisk.

Seeing that even a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist was so devout toward Lord Qinling, he increasingly felt that inviting Lord Qinling for the county city was the wisest decision of his life.