3: Chapter 3 Divine Exorcism

Divine Technique!

[Exorcism: Consuming incense points can grant the divine statue the ability to drive away evil spirits.]

It had no direct attack power, cannot summon wind and rain, and cannot move mountains or fill seas.

It was simply the most fundamental repulsion toward entities like evil spirits!

Qin Ling did not know whether his Exorcism divine technique would have any effect on the massive sea evil spirit before him, but under the circumstances, he had no choice but to try.

Nor did he know if his pathetic 10 incense points could hold up!

There was no earth-shattering roar, no dazzling pillar of light.

Only a ray of light emanated from inside the mottled divine statue at the cabin entrance.

The light could barely shroud the divine statue itself and a foot of space around it.

However,

this faint light that lit up slammed against the descending giant tentacles like a searing hot branding iron.

"Swoosh——!"

A sharp, piercing, strange sound rang out!

Those giant tentacles, which had almost touched the wooden planks of the hull, suddenly shuddered as if they had encountered something that made them extremely uncomfortable!

The ghastly white suckers on the surface of the tentacles contracted violently in unison, emitting a scalp-tingling "squelch" sound.

The writhing circular teeth inside those suckers instantly retracted deep within.

One of the tentacles, whose tip had already rested on the gunwale, violently bounced upward and retreated by a certain distance.

Viscous black paste dripped from the contracting suckers onto the deck, emitting wisps of thick, fishy black smoke.

On the deck, the crew members who had originally knelt and waited for death were stunned by this sudden turn of events.

"Where did this light come from?!"

A crew member clutching a rope with half his body suspended outside the gunwale widened his eyes and cried out involuntarily.

"The divine statue! Lord Qinling's divine statue is glowing!"

Another crew member collapsed on the deck shouted hoarsely, his voice filled with astonishment.

"There really is light! Was that evil spirit afraid of this light just now?!"

More crew members looked toward the source of the sound, casting their gazes upon the glowing divine statue of Lord Qinling at the cabin entrance.

Amidst this chaos, there was only one person whose gaze did not linger too long on the glowing divine statue.

She was none other than Qin Yin.

The instant the evil spirit's tentacles shrank back and hesitated due to the divine statue glowing, an unprecedentedly sharp light burst from her eyes!

An opportunity!

This was perhaps the only chance of survival brought by the divine statue showing its divinity!

"Full right rudder!! Full speed!! Charge out!!!"

She shouted with the last ounce of strength in her chest.

At the same time, she burst forth with her final strength from unknown sources and rushed toward the side of the helm.

Before the Old Helmsman could react, her hands firmly grasped the edge of the wheel, and cooperating with the Old Helmsman, she forcefully pushed it down to the right!

Amidst the huge waves, the hull emitted a terrifying roar of impending disintegration, and the lament of the wooden frame reached its peak.

The remaining tattered sails billowed to their limit in the gale, letting out their final roar.

The entire ship, like an arrow released from a string, dashed fiercely in a resolute posture toward the direction previously judged by female captain Qin Yin.

"Boom——!!!"

Sounds of collision and shattering came from the stern; after all, the ship was still brushed by the tip of a tentacle that had reacted in time.

The entire ship trembled violently.

But the momentum of the charge was already established!

Illuminated by the glow of Lord Qinling's divine statue, under the hopeful gazes of the crew members, and steered by Qin Yin with clenched teeth,

this fishing boat broke through layers of sea waves, speeding away from the waters where the evil spirit resided as if flying.

That thick, inseparable shadow of tentacles chased for dozens of zhang before slowly sinking beneath the seawater.

Leaving only a few slowly calming whirlpools on the surface of the sea to prove that the encounter just now was not a dream.

The ship was temporarily safe.

But the price was heavy.

The hull was damaged in multiple places, the stern was almost smashed flat, and most of the rigging was lost.

The shrine at the cabin entrance was also struck by something, causing Lord Qinling's divine statue to crack as well.

Having narrowly escaped death, the crew members collapsed breathlessly and exhausted onto the slippery deck.

Recovering, they looked at Qin Yin with faces full of admiration.

Ever since Qin Yin's father, the old captain, went out to sea last year and never returned, Qin Yin had been the captain of the last fishing boat in Qin Family Village.

Had it not been for Qin Yin's outstanding performance as captain, Qin Family Village would likely have run out of food long ago.

Times were not peaceful; without ships going out to sea to catch fish and return to the village, the food in the village was simply not enough for the villagers to survive.

This was also why they still insisted on going out to sea even knowing it was dangerous.

They had no choice!

"The divine statue has been cracked from the impact!"

Just then, a crew member reached out and pointed at the cracked divine statue of Lord Qinling.

Prior to this, they wouldn't have cared at all whether this divine statue cracked or not.

But after Lord Qinling's divine statue glowed to fend off the evil spirit and allowed them to escape with their lives just now, they instantly became very attentive to it.

"Pick up Lord Qinling's divine statue, let's return to the village first."

Qin Yin raised her head and gave the order, her beautiful hair fluttering in the sea breeze.

"Full sails! We're returning to the village!"

...

Qin Family Village, Divine Temple.

Qin Ling used Teleportation to return once again to the carved wooden divine statue inside the temple.

Originally, he had wanted to stay and hide on the ship's divine statue, but he hadn't expected something to smash the ship's divine statue amidst the jolting, forcing him to use Teleportation once again and teleport back to the Divine Temple in Qin Family Village.

Because this was his only remaining anchor point.

If this divine statue was destroyed as well, then he would truly disappear!

Coiled within the shrine, Qin Ling looked outward and discovered that his divine statue was no longer inside the temple.

Instead, it had been brought into the courtyard outside the temple.

Right after the middle-aged man gave the order earlier, the villagers actually took action and carried this divine statue out.

In the courtyard at this moment, besides his divine statue, there were also many villagers.

These villagers were continuously moving firewood into the courtyard from outside, then stacking it beneath Qin Ling's divine statue.

"Hurry up! Bring over all the dry firewood piled over there! Put the damp ones at the bottom, and cover the top with the dry ones!"

The person speaking was precisely the middle-aged man who had given the order earlier.

"Alright, I know, aren't we moving them right now."

Another villager's voice replied.

"Pile it firmly so it burns thoroughly. Once it's burned clean, we won't have these lingering thoughts anymore."

"That's true..."

The sound of firewood piling up continued.

As more firewood was thrown at his feet, Qin Ling's heart grew ice-cold.

Could it be that his two instances of Teleportation were all for naught?

In the end, he still couldn't escape the fate of being burned?

His only lingering hope now was that ship that had escaped alive!

After all, the fact that he could use the Teleportation divine technique to teleport to the ship's divine statue proved that the ship was not too far from the village.

If this ship returned to the village with full sails, it might still make it in time!

Having witnessed the glowing divine statue, those crew members certainly wouldn't let these villagers burn Lord Qinling's divine statue just like that!