74: Chapter 74 Carving the Statue of God

The morning light spread from the east, coating the village's outline in a thin layer of gold.

Zhou Ping carried an axe and walked along the dirt road, stepping firmly with every pace.

He crossed two alleys and passed five or six households.

Early risers were feeding chickens and boiling water in their yards; seeing him pass by their doors, they all stopped what they were doing in their hands.

"Village Chief, where are you going with an axe?"

A young man squatted on the threshold, still clutching half a dried fish in his hand, and the chewing in his mouth stopped halfway.

Zhou Ping did not reply, simply walking past him without stopping his steps or shifting his gaze.

Zhou Hu was washing his face in the yard; hearing footsteps, he raised his head.

Water trickled down his face, blurring his eyes. He reached out with a wipe and saw Zhou Ping carrying an axe.

Feeling strange, Zhou Hu stepped forward, crossed the courtyard gate in two strides, and reached out to grab Zhou Ping's arm.

"Brother Ping!"

Zhou Hu examined the axe in Zhou Ping's hand.

"What are you doing with this?"

Zhou Ping stopped, turned his head, and looked at Zhou Hu.

His eyes were very bright, so bright that they did not look like those of someone who had not slept well in days.

"Last night, Lord Qinling appeared to me in a dream."

The tone when Zhou Ping mentioned Lord Qinling was full of piety.

"There is dark magic inside the Yellow Immortal divine statue, and Lord Qinling told me to go and chisel it apart."

Zhou Hu's hand slowly let go.

He stood there, looking at Zhou Ping's painfully thin face and those hands clutching the axe with bulging veins.

He recalled the golden light he saw when waiting to die on the East Sea fishing boat, and the golden light that appeared when surrounded by the Cone Snail Demon in Zhou Family Village.

He clenched his teeth, his cheeks tightly tensed as if contending with something.

The official document from the government was still posted in the village, in black and white, stamped with a bright red official seal.

He knew what that meant.

But he was more willing to believe Lord Qinling.

"Wait for me."

Zhou Hu turned and walked into the yard, rummaging through the woodshed for an axe. Its blade was a bit dull, but he had no time to sharpen it and carried it out directly.

The axe handle was still stained with wood chips. He gripped it tightly and said,

"Let's go!"

The two of them walked side by side on the dirt road, each holding an axe in their hands.

The remaining villagers of Zhou Family Village saw this scene, their eyes widening in shock.

What act was being put on early this morning?

But the villagers also knew that something was definitely going to happen.

They all followed along behind, keeping a distance of a few paces.

More and more villagers walked out from the doorways of various households, merging into the procession, following behind Zhou Ping and Zhou Hu, and heading towards the direction of the temple.

The doors of the Yellow Immortal temple were wide open, and the morning light poured in through the doorway, falling upon that divine statue.

It illuminated the statue, which looked human yet not human, and those bulging eyeballs.

Zhou Ping stood before the offering table, holding the axe, with veins rippling on his arms.

Zhou Hu stood beside him, also holding an axe, his jaws clenched tightly and veins bulging from his temples.

The two of them exchanged a glance.

Zhou Ping nodded, and Zhou Hu also nodded.

Zhou Hu made the first move.

He bypassed the offering table, walked to the side of the statue, swung his axe, and the blade traced an arc in the air, smashing into the statue's waist.

With a "crack", the sound of wood splitting exploded inside the temple.

The statue tilted, wobbled, tumbled down from the offering table, smashed onto the ground, and kicked up a cloud of dust.

The offering table was knocked crooked, the incense burner fell over, and incense ash scattered all over the floor.

The villagers who rushed over from outside the door saw this scene and all gasped in a breath of cold air.

"Brother Hu, this was ordered by the County Magistrate to be worshipped after all!"

"If this is smashed to pieces, how can we account for it to the County Magistrate?"

"That's right, Brother Hu, don't let your head get hot!"

Zhou Hu ignored them, and neither did Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping walked up to the statue lying on the ground and looked down at it.

Its face was still facing upwards, its eerie appearance making one's whole body turn cold.

He gripped the axe handle tightly with both hands and then swung the axe.

The axe blade came down, smashing into the statue's chest.

With a "bang", the wood shattered, and splinters flew everywhere.

Another hit, "bang", the entire chest exploded, and broken wood flew all over the ground.

The dust dispersed, revealing the thing inside.

That thing was not big, slightly smaller than a head, curling up inside the statue's chest cavity and writhing.

It was a lump of flesh, kneaded into the shape of a weasel and stuffed inside the statue, glowing with a blood-red color.

Zhou Ping knelt on the ground, looking at that still-writhing lump of flesh. The axe slipped from his hand, smashing onto the ground with a muffled sound.

His eyes were wide open, his pupils reflecting that lump of flesh and those still-writhing blood-red chunks of meat.

"So everything Lord Qinling said was true."

Zhou Ping murmured.

Inside this divine statue, there truly was dark magic!

Inside the statue, a lump of blood-red flesh was actually hidden!

And its appearance was identical to a weasel!

Seeing this demonic scene, even the usually bold Zhou Hu showed horror on his face.

The rest of the Zhou Family Village villagers who followed over and saw this scene completely boiled over in uproar.

Someone squeezed to the doorway to look inside, but took one glance and shrank back, their face as white as paper.

Some covered their mouths, while others retched.

The unluckiest was a villager who followed along holding a bowl of porridge; his bowl slipped from his hand, smashed onto the ground, shattering into pieces, and the porridge spilled all over the floor.

He didn't go to pick it up, just standing there watching that still-writhing lump of flesh, his cloudy eyes full of terror.

"What on earth is this thing?"

"It's sorcery."

Zhou Ping's voice came from inside the temple.

"Lord Qinling appeared to me in a dream, saying that sorcery was hidden within the Yellow Immortal divine statue. Now that I have chiseled it open with an axe, it is indeed so!"

He stood up, turned around, and faced the villagers outside the door.

"The Yellow Immortal we worshipped has never been any deity. What deity would hide such a demonic thing inside a divine statue?"

The rest of the Zhou Family Village villagers fell into dead silence.

They had not expected that inside the divine statue ordered to be worshipped by the County Magistrate recently, there would actually be such a thing.

Zhou Hu stood inside the ancestral hall, holding the axe, looking at that still-writhing lump of flesh.

There was no expression on his face, but his hands were shaking, and the axe handle was covered in sweat.

Clenching his teeth, Zhou Hu swung the axe and brought it down.

That lump of flesh was split in half, and black blood gushed out from within, fishy, foul, and pungent, like something that had rotted for a long time and was dug up again.

Those still-writhing skin and flesh finally stopped moving.

Zhou Ping stood before the offering table, looking down at the lump of flesh that had been split in half and was still oozing black blood.

He recalled what Lord Qinling had said to him in a dream last night.

"Right now, all the commoners of Guanhai County are worshipping this Yellow Immortal which harbors dark magic."

"What you need to do is not just a matter for Zhou Family Village."

"The commoners of Guanhai County need you, Zhou Ping, to reverse this matter."

Now he had seen the thing inside the Yellow Immortal divine statue.

He was going to tell everyone about this matter, tell every single village in Guanhai County, and tell those people who were still burning incense to this Yellow Immortal divine statue!

He, Zhou Ping, would follow the guidance of Lord Qinling to reverse this matter!

Zhou Ping bent down, picked up the lump of flesh that was still oozing blood, and walked out of the ancestral hall.

Sunlight fell upon him, upon his hands, and upon that lump of flesh dripping with black blood.

He stood on the steps, facing those still-shivering villagers, and raised the thing in his hand.

"Fellow villagers, look closely, this is the Yellow Immortal we have been worshipping."

"Now, it is time for the county yamen and the magistrate to give us, and all the commoners of Guanhai County, an explanation!"