The temple building covers an area of about half an acre and is three stories high. The roof with overhanging eaves on all four corners is covered with glazed tiles. It is a famous tea-dining place in Ning'an County, and its breakfast meals are also considered to be unique in Ning'an.
Ji Yuan accompanied Song Chenghuang of Ning'an County into the temple building, which was already full and bustling with activity.
As soon as I entered the door, the waiter came up to me enthusiastically and asked me about my business.
"Please come in, gentlemen. There are seats on the second and third floors. The second floor is lively and the third floor is quiet. Which floor would you like to go to?"
The waiter has a good eye. Of the two, the old man is wearing a luxurious black robe and looks elegant, with a head of neat and tidy silver hair. The younger one next to him is wearing a simpler wide-sleeved green robe and his hair looks a little messy, but overall they seem to be in perfect harmony and the more you look at them, the more harmonious they seem.
"Please take us to the third floor. My last name is Song, and someone has already ordered refreshments for us."
"Oh, you're finally here. The shopkeeper has asked me this three times today. Please follow me. The refreshments are ready!"
The waiter quickly invited the two upstairs and led the way.
The Old City God and Ji Yuan also smiled and followed.
On the seats on the first floor, everyone was chatting and joking, having a great time, and the overall atmosphere was quite noisy.
As soon as I stepped onto the stairs, the noise from the second floor became more obvious.
"Speaking of those nine knights, each of them was young, handsome, and brave. Although they were only twenty years old, they had already mastered martial arts. There was also a female knight who was as brave as any man... After taking down the list of the Ning'an County Office, they climbed up Niukui Mountain with a little preparation. That night was full of wind and rain..."
“Ouch…” “How daring!!!” “That’s right!!”…
The sound of storytelling on the second floor and the exclamations from below echoed one after another.
When Ji Yuan and the Old City God followed the waiter from the second floor to the third floor, they just happened to hear the storyteller starting to make up the story of fighting the tiger.
"It is said that the hero Du swung his sword at the tiger, and blood flashed. The hero Lu used his fists and palms to descend from the sky, and his palm force that could split rocks hit the white tiger's head!!!"
"Oh!!!" "My blood is boiling!!"... .
Hearing this, Ji Yuan, who was already halfway up the stairs to the third floor, couldn't help but smile and shook his head.
"It seems that Mr. Ji is interested in the story of this storyteller?"
The old city god also asked with a smile. In fact, the Yincha had also seen what the white tiger skin looked like. It was indeed majestic, but there was no knife edge on it. Storytelling is a folk art, which is similar to drama. It is normal to have some story-like expansion.
"Hehe, I'm not really interested. I just happened to hear something interesting."
There's no way. The nine young heroes were so scared in front of Lu Shanjun that they didn't dare to fart. The contrast with this story was too strong.
The old city god seemed to be thinking about something, but did not ask any further questions.
The three of them came to the third floor together. It was noticeably quieter here and there were not many people around. They were either drinking tea and chatting or looking at the scenery outside the building.
"Come on, my two guests, this is it. There are bean paste cakes, millet cakes, fragrant fruit cakes, dumpling porridge, pickled vegetables, fruits and candied fruits, as well as this pre-rain tea. Please enjoy your meal. I will call you at any time if you need anything!"
The waiter pointed at the snacks one by one as he spoke.
"Okay, thank you, little brother!" "Thank you!"
Ji Yuan and the old city god thanked him almost at the same time, then they smiled at each other and sat opposite each other.
When the waiter left, he was still scratching his head and thinking, these two guests are so polite!
After watching the waiter leave, the old city god turned around and spoke.
"Mr. Ji, try the snacks at the Temple Outer Building. They taste pretty good."
After doing physical work early in the morning and walking such a long way, I was already hungry. I didn't hesitate to pick up the millet cake and took a bite.
The taste is not strong, it is crispy in the mouth, and has a fresh rice aroma with a slightly sweet taste.
"Delicious! Really delicious! Even the City God eats it!"
"Mr. Ji, it's good that you like it. I am the city god of a small county in a remote place. I am just a clay sculpture of a golden body. I don't have a flesh body. Mortals can use more of it to satisfy their cravings. It would be a waste if I only eat its breath."
No physical body? Is this an avatar
Ji Yuan didn't know what to say and could only eat by himself. Fortunately, drinking tea didn't seem to have any effect on the other party.
After drinking a bowl of porridge with dumpling and eating some cakes, Ji Yuan stopped for a while. The old city god also put down his teacup and turned his gaze back from the scenery outside the building.
"Mr. Ji has helped us in Ning'an County get rid of a major threat this time..."
The old city god recalled for a while before continuing.
"Seven years ago, the earth dragon in Desheng Prefecture turned over, giving rise to evil spirits in the ground veins. This was not a big deal. If the sun shines and the sky thunders and rains, the evil spirits will naturally dissipate. Unfortunately, there is a strong evil spirit flowing along the underground water veins..."
The old city god sighed when he said this.
"The underground water veins are already filled with yin, and this evil spirit rushed out from a mass grave in the west of this county. Under the influence of the dead air and evil spirit, it turned into this evil creature. As the city god of this county, Song was naturally aware of this matter and personally led his subordinates to suppress it. Unexpectedly, the evil creature was very strange. I don't know if it was devouring yin spirits or for some other reason, but it actually has spiritual intelligence..."
As the old city god slowly told the story, Ji Yuan gradually understood the whole story.
The evil spirit seemed to be very overbearing. The ghost that had already gained intelligence pretended to be ignorant and deceived the City God. At the critical moment, it swallowed up the chief officers of the Express Report Department and the Yin-Yang Department, and detonated the evil spirit power to seriously injure the City God's body.
Fortunately, although the old City God suffered a great loss, he was still experienced and wily after all. When attacked by the Earthly Evil, he decisively consumed the essence of his golden body and fought back fiercely, which also severely damaged the newly born intelligence of the evil creature.
Although the evil creature escaped in that battle, the City God sacrificed his crown and absorbed all the evil spirits into it. He then found the evil creature's hiding place, which was the well in Ju'an Pavilion. He did not risk fighting again, but tried his best to use Yin to lock Yin, temporarily sealing it deep in the well, waiting for the City God to recover from his injuries before eliminating it.
Ji Yuan felt like breaking out in a cold sweat after hearing this process. Although the old city god did not say it explicitly, Ji Yuan understood that if this ferocious evil creature had been allowed to escape at that time, Ning'an County would have been in big trouble, and the snowball effect might even have led to an even greater disaster.
As for the residents of Ju'an Pavilion, the accidents that happened to the first two families were actually natural fate, not the influence of the evil creature. By the time it came to the third family, the scholar, the evil creature might have recovered a little and was able to briefly go out to a place not far from the Soul-Locking Well, scaring the scholar to death.
Places like the City God also have their own constraints. Although they protect a certain area, they cannot have too direct an impact on the world of the living.
So since then, the City God has spread the rumor that Ju'an Pavilion is unsafe in the county through dreams and other means. It really prevented anyone from living there again. But unexpectedly, Ji Yuan would encounter the same thing again.
This opportunity was rare, and the old City God could not wait any longer. He sent out his capable subordinates and stayed in the temple himself, ready to mobilize the accumulated incense of the City God Temple at any time. He put all his efforts into it, and finally destroyed the evil creature. It was a great success for Ning'an County.