5: Chapter 5 Duke Ling of Qin Manifests His Miracle

Qin Yin's kick was crisp, decisive, and showed no mercy.

It instantly silenced the noisy courtyard.

"Put out the fire completely first!"

Qin Yin's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly echoed through the courtyard.

Several crew members ran to the puddle beside the temple, scooped water with a broken clay pot, and splashed it on the spots where blue smoke was still rising.

The burning flames were completely extinguished, leaving only choking black smoke.

"Move Lord Qinling's statue back to its original place, and be careful."

Qin Yin said to the crew members, taking the lead herself to lift one corner of the statue.

The crew members present stepped forward one after another, carrying the mottled stone statue of Lord Qinling into the dilapidated temple door as if they were carrying an ancestral tablet.

Seeing this, Qin Ling in the shrine finally put his heart back into his stomach.

Qin Mo, who had been kicked, and several other villagers stood to the side with uncertain and startled expressions.

It wasn't right for them to help, nor was it right not to help, so they could only stand there like that.

Meanwhile, more villagers, startled by the ships returning to the village, successively gathered around the dilapidated temple.

Looking at the safely returned crew members and the statue of Lord Qinling being invited back into the temple, they whispered to each other.

"What on earth is going on here?"

"Didn't Qin Yin and the others go out to sea? The ships finally came back!"

"Didn't they say Qin Mo wanted to burn Lord Qinling's statue? Why are these newly returned crew members desperately protecting it instead?"

"If you ask me, Lord Qinling has never protected us anyway. If it's burned, let it be burned~"

"Judging by Qin Yin's expression, something major probably happened at sea."

Finally, Village Chief Qin Zongliang of Qin Family Village walked out from the crowd, came to Qin Yin's side, and asked in a low voice.

"Qin Yin, what play is this you're acting out?"

Before Qin Yin could answer, those crew members had already settled the statue, turned around, and faced the gathering fellow villagers.

The middle-aged crew member from before took a deep breath and said,

"The reason we didn't return on time this time when going out to sea was because we encountered evil spirits in the sea!"

When he mentioned the evil spirits, his voice still carried an uncontrollable tremor.

The word evil spirits struck like a piece of ice into the noisy discussions, instantly silencing the inside and outside of the courtyard.

The color drained from the faces of quite a few villagers, and genuine fear welled up in their eyes.

In this village that lived off the sea, the two words "evil spirits" were by no means empty threats.

That was a real nightmare passed down by word of mouth through generations that had swallowed countless fishing boats and lives!

"We ran into a thick fog, lost our bearings, and were then targeted by evil spirits."

Another crew member chimed in, continuing with fear in his voice,

"So many tentacles, black and slimy, stretched out from the sea, thicker than the mast! They wanted to drag the ship down!"

Several timid women had already covered their mouths, letting out suppressed gasps.

The men also wore grave expressions, looking at each other and seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

Encountering evil spirits was practically a death sentence; this was an unwritten consensus in the village.

"The ship was almost destroyed."

The Old Helmsman's beard was still trembling slightly as he pointed to the visible bruises on his body and said,

"We all thought we definitely wouldn't be coming back this time."

At this moment, the hearts of all the villagers of Qin Family Village in the courtyard rose to their throats.

Since they had encountered evil spirits, the destruction of the ship and the loss of lives were almost inevitable outcomes.

Yet the crew members before them, although looking disheveled, were all standing here alive...

How could this be possible?

"It's the statue!"

The middle-aged crew member suddenly raised his voice, pointing at the statue of Lord Qinling that had just been safely placed inside the temple door, his face full of piety.

"It's Lord Qinling's statue! He has manifested his divine power!"

"What? The statue?"

"Manifested? Lord Qinling?"

"The one in the dilapidated temple?"

"Are you talking nonsense?"

An incredulous uproar broke out in the courtyard.

The middle-aged crew member gestured excitedly.

"Right when those tentacles were about to grab the ship, Lord Qinling's statue suddenly emitted light!"

"As soon as those evil spirits' tentacles touched that light, they shrank back as if scalded! They are afraid of that light!"

"That's right! We all saw it!"

Other crew members also chimed in to confirm.

"It was that light that blocked them for a moment! Just for that moment, the captain was able to lead us out!"

"Without that light, we would all have died in the sea, dragged down without even our bones left!"

The villagers were completely dumbfounded.

The impact of Lord Qinling's statue emitting light to force back evil spirits was still too great for them.

The statue in that dilapidated temple?

For so many years, the incense offerings were almost cut off, and the features were blurred; who would sincerely worship it?

It could manifest its divine power?

And it saved a whole ship of people?

This was simply even more unbelievable than hearing that the sun rose from the west!

"Is it true?"

A white-haired old fisherman asked in a trembling voice. He had experienced too many shipwrecks and heard too many terrifying descriptions of evil spirits, deeply knowing their terror.

If the statue hadn't manifested its divine power, could these crew members really have returned?

"It is absolutely true!"

Qin Yin nodded affirmatively.

With Qin Yin's verification, all the villagers believed it now.

"So that's why as soon as you came back and saw someone wanting to burn Lord Qinling's statue, you acted like that."

Qin Mo muttered, the confusion on his face slowly replaced by a lingering fear.

Fortunately his older sister came back in time, otherwise things would have been terrible!

He had almost burned the statue that protected his sister!

The crew members nodded vigorously, looking at the statue of Lord Qinling inside the temple with eyes full of gratitude and reverence.

"If the statue had really been burned, how could we face Lord Qinling's grace of saving our lives?"

The shock on the villagers' faces remained, but when looking at Lord Qinling's statue, there were some additional emotions besides shock.

If Lord Qinling could truly protect the ships going out to sea, did that mean the crew members going out to sea next time would also be protected?

If that really were the case...

"No one is allowed to touch Lord Qinling's statue in the temple ever again."

Qin Yin said to all the villagers.

After speaking, she didn't forget to glance at her younger brother.

Qin Mo instinctively shrank his neck, not daring to look at her.

"What are you standing there frozen for? Come over and offer incense to apologize to Lord Qinling."

Qin Yin dragged Qin Mo by the ear into the temple.

Afterwards, the brother and sister lit incense and respectfully knelt before Lord Qinling's statue.

"Please forgive us, Lord Qinling. My foolish younger brother lost his reason out of worry for my safety and offended Lord Qinling. When we return today, I will surely punish him severely. Thank you, Lord Qinling, for protecting us back to the village. We specially offer incense to you to apologize."

Qin Yin's forehead pressed against the cold stone slab.

[incense points + 3]

Seeing the 3 incense points pop up, Qin Ling raised his eyebrows.

Last month, a total of 10 villagers came to offer incense here, and each villager only provided him with 1 incense point.

This was the first time he had ever encountered someone giving 3 incense points all at once!

However, according to the system's instructions, Qin Ling quickly realized that the incense points provided by the person offering incense were related to their level of piety.

In other words, the captain Qin Yin's piety towards him was still very high~

"Please forgive me, Lord Qinling."

Qin Mo, who was beside him, also kowtowed and said,

[incense points + 3]