Tang Ning's heart also shattered bit by bit along with the statue. Like the statue, he was unable to make a sound, not even able to cry.
He looked at the pieces of the statue being thrown into the cold river. Tang Ning wanted to reach out to catch the fragments. The river bottom was so cold and dark, without a single ray of light. It was the place where the young master died. Tang Ning knew that He did not like darkness. He liked places with lights on, smoke-filled areas, and incense and candles surrounding the statue.
But he had no body, so he could only see the fragments of the statue falling into the bottomless river, ripples spreading on the water, and a heavy rain fell from the sky.
Tang Ning looked at the townspeople who had been protected by the river god for generations. He said to an old man, "When you were a child, you had ichthyosis. It was your mother who made a wish to the river god, hoping that the river god would cure you. It was He who cured you. Have you forgotten?!"
He said to a middle-aged man, "Your father always beats your mother when he is drunk. You cried and ran to the river god temple to make a wish, asking your father to stop beating your mother. It was the river god who transferred all the pain your mother endured to your father. Have you forgotten?!"
He said to a young man, "When you were just in college, your classmates lost something and they suspected you of being a thief. You went to pray to the river god and asked him to prove your innocence and help you find the lost things. Have you forgotten?!"
He said to a child: "You! You just came out and had a high fever. It was a blessing from the river god! I know, I know you don't remember anything."
But yeah, he remembers it all.
He remembered that when those people came to pray, the river god would come out from the statue.
Perhaps because he has become a demigod, ordinary people can no longer see "Him", but Tang Ning can. When he sees the golden figure, he will bend down and gently stroke the top of the believer's head.
The old man who once advocated sewing the young master's body into a "new god" said that this kind of people are kind-hearted and have the heart of a bodhisattva.
It was raining heavily, and no one could hear Tang Ning's voice, but Tang Ning could hear everything clearly. He heard the townspeople say in fear: "We actually regard the evil god as our patron saint." "We have worshipped him for so long, how could he hurt us?" "He is gone, and he can't come out..."
The fragments of the statue sank into the mud, heavy rain poured down on the river surface, long bolts of lightning streaked across the sky, and along with the rumbling thunder, they illuminated everyone's face for an instant.
Some people covered their children's eyes to prevent them from seeing, some people lowered their heads as if they wanted to bury their heads in their chests, and some people stared at the river with resentment. Most of those people had crippled hands. If they were not crippled, they would probably want to applaud.
— "That thing is finally suppressed!"
Tangning stared at all this in a daze.
He had never felt that these people were so strange, so strange that it made him feel completely chilled. He seemed to hear the sound of his world falling apart bit by bit.
All the memories are like the broken statues, shattered into pieces. They knelt and worshiped in those years. They prayed again and again. The old and young, men and women cried or laughed.
"Lord River God, please bless me"
"Thank you, Lord River God, for your blessing!"
"Lord River God, my life is miserable."
"Wow, wow, wow, Lord River God! Daddy is beating Mommy!"
“God, why do you do evil?”
"This is not a river god, it's an evil god! How could such a thing sneak into the temple?!"
"He will kill everyone!"
"He will never be able to turn over again!"
The world returned to silence. Tang Ning's soul seemed to be trembling. He was in a trance and could not distinguish between illusion and reality for a moment.
After a while, Tang Ning was able to confirm that he was still sitting on the shrine. He was still the cold statue. In front of him was a magnificent temple with carved beams and painted buildings, and bright lights. It was not the ruins that were smashed to pieces and burned down by fire in his memories.
This should be the temple that appeared overnight.
He was probably back again, back to reality.
Did he just witness the passing of the river god for some incomprehensible reason
Countless sad emotions surged through Tang Ning. Just by briefly thinking back to the experience of the river god, Tang Ning felt extremely depressed and sad.
He was never treated well before his death, and even after becoming a demigod, he never received true kindness.
He knew that the river god had indeed undergone a transformation from a god into an evil god, but perhaps because Tang Ning first saw the kind-hearted young master in his memory, he could not hate the evil god's behavior.
A big part of the reason why the townspeople hate the River God so much is that they have only seen the former side of the River God, when people who made wishes to the River God died mysteriously one after another, and the dead "resurrected" strangely. For ordinary people, their judgment would indeed be affected by fear. They don't want to understand, and they don't have the opportunity to understand the River God's past.
Tang Ning suddenly remembered that he once went to ask Shao Yu for information about the river god. Shao Yu asked him why he suddenly asked this, and he repeated what Lin Yun had told him like a tape recorder.
In fact, his behavior at that time was no different from those of the townspeople.
He only asked these questions in order to explore the killing patterns of the river god.
From the perspective of a card player, he should not be disturbed by these emotions. Every NPC in the card world has their own story. Just like when you play cards, you only need to consider how to win this time, instead of thinking about the story of the character printed on the card.
But he is still sad now.
No one really wants to know the river god's past, and no one cares how many years he has stayed at the bottom of the icy river.
Tang Ning tried hard to get rid of these useless emotions, and began to think about the purpose of those things he saw. It seemed that the river god wanted to curse the priests for generations, so what exactly was this curse
Why is there a legend in the town that people with ichthyosis are the reincarnation of the river god? Does the ritual really work
Why did the people in the town want to blow up the bridge? Have they forgotten that the bridge was built to suppress the river god
While Tangning was trying to think about these questions, there was a little silence outside. Tangning saw someone sneaking in from the darkness, revealing a bloodstained blue Taoist robe in front of Tangning.
It’s Taoist Priest Zhu.
Taoist Master Zhu seemed to have simply treated his wounds and washed his bloody white beard. Taoist Master Zhu, who had always behaved like a master in front of players like Tang Ning, now walked in with his head lowered and his eyes pleasing to the eye.
Under Tang Ning's gaze, Taoist Zhu knelt down firmly, prostrating himself on the ground. This posture exposed his watch to the air.
Although he knew that Zhu Daochang was kneeling down as a deity, Tang Ning still felt filled with wonder.
"Lord River God," Taoist Zhu's trembling voice rang out in the temple. He lowered himself into the dust, "I have already offered the sacrifice. I wonder if you are satisfied?"
Sacrifice
Tang Ning looked around, only to see that Taoist Zhu had nothing in his hands.
Tang Ning came up with an incredible idea.
The former Taoist Zhu did not enter the temple empty-handed. He not only brought a coffin, but also sent him to the temple. Could he be Taoist Zhu's offering to the river god? !
Taoist Priest Zhu took out the cup and divination blocks from his arms. He held the cup and divination blocks and said devoutly: "If you, Lord River God, are satisfied with this sacrifice, please tell me—"
The cup of divination was thrown away by him.
The statue where Tang Ning was standing had a slight sense of the cup divination block. This feeling was hard to describe, like a thread extending from the statue, with the end connected to the cup divination block. It seemed that as long as he had a thought, he could control the cup divination block to flip over.
Hey, how do you express dissatisfaction
Like all the branches are the opposite side
The cups and divination blocks fell to the ground. Tang Ning took a look at Taoist Zhu's grief-stricken expression, and his mood suddenly changed.
It turns out that happiness is built on the suffering of others.
Who let that stinky Taoist priest send him away as a sacrifice!
"Lord River God, besides Tang Ning..." Taoist Master Zhu quickly calmed himself down and said to Tang Ning flatteringly, "I have prepared another sacrifice that will surely please you."
Another sacrifice
What is that
"The sacrifice is already being refined. If you want to observe the sacrifice up close, I have also prepared a temporary golden body for you." Taoist Master Zhu took out a wooden box from his arms. The box was open and the inside was golden. It seemed that the statue was made of pure gold.
The flash of the mini statue blinded Tang Ning. Even more amazingly, Tang Ning felt that he could enter the inside of the statue, as if he had changed his mode of transportation.
Taoist Master Zhu carefully put the statue aside and continued humbly, "If you, Lord River God, want to see another sacrifice, please tell me—"
The cup and divination blocks were thrown out by him.
Tang Ning hesitated for a moment and took out a sacred divination block, which meant that the gods had agreed.
Rather than being stuck in the temple, he wanted to know more information. Besides, Taoist Zhu was such an old fox that he was so good at Tai Chi. Under normal circumstances, he would never reveal so much information. But this situation was rare.
Seeing the sacred divination sticks, Taoist Master Zhu's face was full of smiles, like an old chrysanthemum. He made a few strange gestures to the mini sculpture and said respectfully: "Please come up, Lord River God."
Tang Ning stared at the gold statue. It was so finely crafted that even every hair of the river god was carved out. He tried it and it seemed as if his entire soul suddenly flew into the small statue.
Now Tang Ning's perspective changed to that of the little statue.
Originally he was looking down at Taoist Master Zhu, but now he was looking up at him. From this angle, Taoist Master Zhu looked much uglier.
In fact, apart from his white beard, white eyebrows and white hair, and without his blue Taoist robe, Taoist Zhu looked like an ordinary old man. It was just that Taoist Zhu was able to take good care of his appearance and create an aura of immortality, instantly becoming the most handsome Taoist among the Taoist priests Tang Ning had ever seen.
While Tang Ning was daydreaming, Taoist Master Zhu carefully placed him in a box. Taoist Master Zhu was indeed a person who paid attention to details. He filled the box with gold silk handkerchiefs to prevent the statue from being bumped.
But with the lid closed, Tang Ning couldn't see anything.
Tangning heard Lin Yun's voice in the darkness: "Master Zhu, have you solved this?"
"I've already told the river god. Don't worry, your friend is not in serious condition. He's just been temporarily possessed by an evil spirit." Although Tang Ning couldn't see Taoist Zhu's appearance, he could imagine the threatening expression on Taoist Zhu's face when he said this.
Did Lin Yun finally discover something unusual
Tangning was shocked. He thought that Lin Yun couldn't tell which one was the real him and which one was the fake one. As Tangning was thinking this, he heard Taoist Master Zhu finish his words, "As long as he rests, our friend Chang Hanliang will be fine."
Tang Ning: “”
Damn, why did he think Lin Yun was trustworthy? !
But what did Chang Han reveal
Tang Ning heard Lin Yun say a few more words to Taoist Zhu, and the two said goodbye. This time, Tang Ning could only hear Taoist Zhu's footsteps.
Taoist Master Zhu walked for about three or four minutes, and he finally took Tang Ning out of the box. While taking the statue, Taoist Master Zhu carefully touched Tang Ning with a gold silk handkerchief, fearing that he would accidentally leave fingerprints on the statue and blaspheme the gods. Tang Ning was deeply touched by his cautious and focused attitude, which made him want to wear reading glasses.
He is indeed an old man who earns money through his own hard work to buy all kinds of luxury goods.
He is skilled at pretending to be powerful in front of outsiders, and can be humble and submissive in front of gods.
I'm afraid no one working in the service industry has the same spirit as Master Zhu.
Taoist Master Zhu held the statue of Tang Ning in his palms, and under the cover of night, he walked to a place that Tang Ning was particularly familiar with.
Tang Ning was stunned for a moment. Isn't this Zhang Yun's door
Could it be that the other sacrifice was Zhang Yun? !
The doors and windows of Zhang Yun's room were tightly closed, and the boatman and his men had put a new lock on the door from the outside, obviously to prevent Zhang Yun from going out.
Tang Ning saw Taoist Master Zhu skillfully take out the lock/tool and quickly open the copper lock on the outside.
However, Taoist Master Zhu did not continue to open the door. He smiled humbly at Tang Ning and raised his old hand. A red rope shot out from his sleeve. Accompanied by a rustling sound of footsteps, the door was opened from the inside.
A hand covered with fish-scale-like patterns stretched out from the crack in the door.
Tangning saw Zhang Yun standing upright at the door!
Taoist Master Zhu pulled the red rope, and Zhang Yun walked out of the room stiffly like a zombie.
"Lord River God, I have refined him for the most part, and only one step is left. He can be transformed into a fierce ghost for ten generations, and he will not be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation and will be tortured by hatred forever." Taoist Zhu explained softly.
What
Refined most of it
Could it be that the original plan of luring someone into a trap was actually for the purpose of refining Zhang Yun? !
Taoist Master Zhu said the cruelest words, but the smile on his face became more humble and flattering. He said in a low voice: "It's just that there was a small accident during the refining process, which caused a hole in his left chest, but Lord River God, don't worry, I will definitely find a way to repair this hole."
What loophole? What is the tenth generation of evil spirits? What is the last step? !
Tang Ning had too many questions, but he couldn't speak or play the piano, and Taoist Zhu didn't use cups and divination blocks to communicate.
Tang Ning could only watch as Taoist Zhu controlled Zhang Yun to walk towards the kitchen. After a while, Zhang Yun found a bucket of fish.
As Tang Ning stared in astonishment, Zhang Yun grabbed the struggling fish, opened his mouth, and bit into the fish's belly without hesitation!
A scalp-numbing chewing sound was heard. Zhang Yun didn't seem to care about the fish scales and bones. He bit the fish meat in big mouthfuls, and his mouth opened wide with each bite, so wide that Tang Ning could see the fish bones inserted into his gums and tongue!
On the contrary, Zhang Yun ate like crazy as if he didn't feel any pain at all. He swallowed a live fish whole. Before he even closed his mouth, he grabbed another lively fish from the bucket with his hands!
Tang Ning was worried that if Zhang Yun ate the fish the way he did, a fish bone would get stuck in his throat. The next second, he saw Zhang Yun suddenly loosen his grip on the half-dead fish and instead cover his own neck.
Damn! A fish bone is stuck in my throat!
Tang Ning could only watch anxiously. At this time, Taoist Zhu raised his hand, and the red line trembled slightly. Zhang Yun immediately opened his mouth so wide that his jaw seemed to be dislocated. He put his hand into his mouth. His pale face was twisted together, and his expression was extremely painful. After a while, he pulled out a fishbone.
What on earth is going on?!
Although he didn't have a body now, Tang Ning felt his throat starting to hurt.
Zhang Yun threw the bloody fish bones on the ground. He continued to grab a live fish and eat it with relish. However, the pain in his throat seemed to awaken some of Zhang Yun's rationality. He suddenly frowned in pain and stopped eating.
However, Taoist Zhu immediately used a red line to control Zhang Yun to eat when he saw this. The struggle flashing in his bloodshot eyes was drowned out by the huge numbness. Zhang Yun ate all the fish in the bucket voraciously. His abdomen was bloated and his mouth was full of blood.
The pair of wooden eyes looked at Tangning. He, or rather, "" revealed a strange yet satisfied smile -
"Thank you for your hospitality."