CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 31: MOUNTAIN GOD

"Miss, what did you see in Abpoa’s house that scared you like this?"

Sang Que looked up and saw the man in the suit lying on the wall, curiously watching her.

Sang Que didn’t respond, and the man in the suit continued his chatter.

"I’m telling you, this old woman is definitely a master. If it weren’t for her, our boss would have died a few days ago. In Xujiawan Village, there are quite a few Apiao, but only she can keep them at bay. It’s right for you to seek her out!"

Footsteps came from behind, and Xu Shufen came out holding an ancient wooden box. The man in the suit immediately recoiled.

"What were you doing outside, why does your face look so bad?"

Sang Que shook her head to indicate she was fine. The courtyard had suddenly become ’cleaner,’ although she wasn’t sure if it was due to the wild spirits inside or the disturbance caused by her earlier Yin Child.

Xu Shufen showed her the wooden box in her arms, "This talisman carries the power of the Mountain God, drawn by my mother before she passed. Her cultivation was much deeper than mine. Unfortunately, she left only three of these talismans; I’ve used two of them. I’m currently limited in energy and have other matters to attend to, so I don’t have the time to perform complex rituals—let’s just use this talisman straightforwardly."

Xu Shufen opened the box, pulled out an old, yellow paper talisman and handed it to Sang Que.

"When you return, put this talisman in a red blessing bag and carry it with you. If the talisman turns to ashes in seven days, it means all the negativity on you has been cleansed. If not, it means the negativity is fairly weak, and you can return the talisman to me."

Xu Shufen was confident in the talisman in her hand. Years ago, a naughty child in the village got their soul snatched inside a dead person’s house, and during the soul-calling ceremony, he turned back, breaking a taboo and almost got left in the underworld as a child. It was thanks to this talisman he was saved.

Sang Que felt the talisman Xu Shufen spoke of was much like Yan Daozi’s Ghost Soldier Talisman. She reached out to take it, and just as her fingers touched the yellow talisman, a sudden green flame shot up from it.

"This!!"

Xu Shufen’s eyes widened in shock, unexpectedly, the negativity on Sang Que was so fierce. She quickly reacted, chanting a strange spell, clenching her left hand into a fist above the burning talisman paper, her fresh blood dripping from her fingers.

At that moment, Sang Que’s fingers were firmly adhered to the talisman paper, and she saw streams of black flow gushing out from the shen kan, rushing into Xu Shufen’s back.

Black tree-like patterns appeared on Xu Shufen’s exposed skin, spreading toward the talisman paper as if alive.

A strong sense of crisis compelled Sang Que to struggle, and she suddenly released her fingers.

Crack!

With a sound of shattering, the gushing black flow instantly turned to ashes, and the talisman paper in Xu Shufen’s hand burned out completely.

Xu Shufen’s face turned pale, shocked as she quickly turned and rushed into the house, discovering a crack in the Mountain God statue inside the shen kan.

The man in the suit, who had been watching from the wall, didn’t see that black flow from the Mountain God statue. The sight of everything else had already scared him out of his wits.

Sang Que hadn’t even noticed the man in the suit, she was just deeply shaken by what had just happened. She suddenly realized that the modern world might have no gods.

Just as she learned from the Mysterious World, Ghost Gods came first as ghosts and then as gods. Gods are ghosts worshiped with incense.

Using the power of Ghost Gods to ward off evil is no different from using Evil Spirits to kill Evil Spirits. The Mountain God Xu Shufen worshiped looked terrifying, but its power was probably only comparable to the Yin Child.

Xu Shufen emerged from the house with a heavy expression, looking at Sang Que for a long time with a complicated look, sighing.

"Girl, I can’t handle what’s on you. Ever since the original Mountain God Temple was gone, the power of the Mountain God has been weakening. Now, even Xujiawan Village, where the Mountain God has been worshiped, has dispersed without incense. The Mountain God is no longer the Mountain God of the past."

Sang Que wasn’t particularly surprised by this result; it was somewhat expected.

"It’s okay, thank you for today. I’ve wasted one of your talismans, if you need anything, I can compensate you."

Xu Shufen squinted at Sang Que, seeing a black aura around her face, and blood light over her head, signs of great misfortune, indicating a short life.

Such a young girl, it’s such a pity.

Xu Shufen shook her head, "It’s fine, I feel bad not being able to help you. How about you try some orthodox Taoist temples or shrines in the south? I know a few people, but I doubt their cultivation is very high."

"Young people nowadays aren’t willing to learn even the non-material cultural heritage passed down by their ancestors, let alone these ’feudal superstitions’? During that era, many of these feudal superstitions were destroyed. Now there’s not much left, and since it doesn’t make money, no one wants to delve into it. The Xu family, up to me, will also end."