Outside the capital of Yan.
Inside a shrine.
Although it was the middle of the night, the shrine's gate was wide open.
Nothing could be seen within the deep darkness of the gate, only the faint glow of five incense sticks burning.
The incense smoke transformed into five writhing snake-like wisps of smoke, refusing to dissipate.
The direction of the smoke's drift defied the laws of physics, not rising upwards but crawling horizontally as if on the air, drifting towards the outside of the gate.
As the incense flickered, a statue could be dimly seen enshrined in the center of the shrine.
The statue had a somewhat ferocious expression, with a green face, fangs, and a beard.
It resembled the legendary demon king Zhong Kui, or perhaps an ugly Duke of the City God, or even the Dragon King who commands rain.
In short, this statue was a mishmash of features, impossible to identify.
If this were ancient times, it would have been immediately declared an unholy shrine by the imperial court and destroyed.
It could only be said that modern society had saved this shrine.
Whoosh…
A cold wind suddenly blew through the night sky.
The incense within the shrine flared up intensely, and simultaneously, the smoke-like snakes above the incense moved with increased speed, as if they had seen their master.
They instantly lunged out of the shrine, towards the cold wind in the night sky.
"Hiss," accompanied by a sound of inhalation.
A phantom appeared within the cold wind.
The phantom inhaled all five smoke-like snakes into its nostrils. Its originally indistinct body instantly became considerably more solid.
Its facial features also became apparent.
It was Ashiya Dōman, who had been killed by Ying Chen!
"Welcome back, Great King!"
At the shrine's entrance, an old man with a hunched back had appeared at some point.
He knelt on the ground, respectfully shouting towards Ashiya Dōman in the air.
Ashiya Dōman glanced at him indifferently, "You have performed your duties as the shrine keeper quite well. You did not let the shrine fall into disrepair just because I haven't visited for the past half a year."
"Thank you for your praise, Great King. This is merely my duty. As the keeper of this shrine, I was born to serve you."
"Very good. Have you prepared the things I asked you to prepare?" Ashiya Dōman asked, nodding.
"Rest assured, Great King. From the moment I received your instruction in a dream, I began my preparations. Over the years, I have collected ten sets of infant remains born in yin years, yin months, yin days, and yin hours. All have been ground into powder and applied to your golden effigy."
"The golden effigy, receiving daily offerings of incense, has subtly gained some spirituality. All that is needed is for the Great King to descend and manifest, to awe the pilgrims and believers of this shrine!"
A flicker of excitement crossed the shrine keeper's face as he replied.
He seemed to have long anticipated this moment.
As for the infants who had died for this purpose, the shrine keeper seemed indifferent.
"Excellent, excellent… You have worked diligently and made great contributions. In a few days, I will impart some of my techniques to you. Immortality may not be achievable, but at least you can live for more than a decade!"
Facing Ashiya Dōman's promise, the shrine keeper became even more excited, "Then I thank the Great King in advance for this benevolent gift!"
"Enough, stop your rambling. Quickly light the guiding incense and lead me into the golden effigy?"
"Yes, Great King!"
The shrine keeper said, then turned and walked into the shrine.
A moment later, he held a blood-red incense stick.
The shrine keeper approached the entrance and lit the incense stick in front of Ashiya Dōman.
Instantly, the incense stick emitted thick smoke, within which distorted human faces could be faintly seen struggling.
The smoke rose slowly, and soon a bridge of smoke was laid out beneath Ashiya Dōman's feet.
Ashiya Dōman stepped onto the smoke bridge and walked forward step by step.
The shrine keeper, holding the incense stick, quickly moved into the shrine.
He guided Ashiya Dōman towards the ferocious statue enshrined within.
As they passed the entrance, the smoke from the incense stick faintly revealed the plaque above the entrance, which read "Ling Gan Guan Shi Da Wang"!
Those with some knowledge of Buddhism would know that these six characters were originally a prefix title for Guanyin Bodhisattva!
This meant that this shrine was originally dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva!
Now, Ashiya Dōman had stolen the shrine and its title, transforming it from a shrine of a righteous deity into a shrine of an evil deity!
As for the shrine keeper, whether he was truly ignorant or feigning ignorance was hard to say.
At least for now, the shrine keeper, with a devout expression, held the incense stick, bowed respectfully a few times, and then placed it in the censer.
The smoke bridge formed by the incense extended all the way to the statue directly above the censer.
Ashiya Dōman, his feet still on the smoke bridge, did not hesitate and plunged directly into the statue.
The next second, the entire altar shook violently.
The clay statue opened its eyes!
And spoke!
"I need a few days to recuperate. The incense offering must not be interrupted during these days. I also need a batch of bone powder to reapply to my golden effigy."
"This old one understands! Great King, please rest assured, I will handle this matter flawlessly!"
The shrine keeper knelt on the ground, solemnly promising.
"Mmm," the statue responded, then closed its eyes.
As if returning to its original clay nature.
Seeing that the statue was no longer moving, the shrine keeper slowly stood up.
"Fortunately, I still have the list of infants born in yin years, yin months, yin days, and yin hours from last time. Otherwise, where would I find so much bone powder for the Great King so quickly?"
After saying this, the shrine keeper walked out of the shrine, intending to take the list and prepare the bone powder for Ashiya Dōman!
However, as the shrine keeper stepped over the threshold, a person appeared before him.
This person appeared silently, like a ghost materializing out of thin air, startling the shrine keeper.
"The shrine is not open at midnight. Come back tomorrow!"
The shrine keeper looked closely at the person. He was young, with handsome features, dressed in ancient-style clothing that made him appear even more dashing.
However, the slight smirk on his face made him unlikable.
Most importantly, even though he had told the young man that the shrine was not open at night, he remained motionless, blocking the entrance, showing no sign of leaving.
The shrine keeper couldn't help but frown, "Can't you hear? I said the shrine is not open at midnight! If you don't leave, you might anger the Ling Gan Guan Shi Da Wang, and you will regret it immensely!"
To his surprise, this warning did not scare the young man. Instead, the smirk on the young man's face deepened, "Ling Gan Guan Shi Da Wang? You really know how to flatter yourselves!"
"If he were Ling Gan Guan Shi Da Wang, then I'd be the sweeping-across-the-six-directions, dragon-like, majestic, Great Heavenly Venerate!"
"..." The shrine keeper looked at this young man in the advanced stages of chuunibyou and was momentarily speechless.
If he didn't have important matters to attend to, he would have truly wanted to trick this young man into the shrine and give his brain a good rinse!
Sweeping across the six directions, majestic Heavenly Venerate, who did he think he was?
The First Emperor?
Pah!
"You can be whoever you want to be, but in short – don't court death!"
The shrine keeper roughly pushed the young man, trying to move him aside.
However, what the shrine keeper did not expect was that this young man, in the advanced stages of chuunibyou, possessed considerable strength. Under his forceful push, the young man remained as unmoving as a boulder!
Instead, the shrine keeper was forced to stumble back two steps!