Chapter 20: The Land Temple (2)

  As soon as Su Qi said the land temple, Lu Ke and She Ruiwen pulled her straight to Li Jia Village, driving a cart and navigating through the winding roads, finally arriving at Li Jia Village in the quiet mountain village after dark. The weather in northern October was already chilly, even if you wore a thick coat on a deep night outing, you wouldn't feel hot. Now Su Qi only wore a thin jacket, and when the cool wind blew, she shivered with cold, "I knew this place was so remote, I wouldn't have come no matter what."

  "Since we're here, let's take a look around!" Xie Ruwen was already walking along the rural path with light steps.

  "Hey, Sheng Ruiwen, do you know the way?" Su Qiruo was quite skeptical of Sheng Ruiwen's choice, but Lu Ke had already followed him. If she didn't follow them, wouldn't she be left behind? Su Qiruo had no choice but to follow the two of them.

  As night fell, the village lights twinkled in the vast wilderness, as if guiding the travelers who had lost their way. "What's going on? Why are you getting farther and farther away from the village?" Su Qi looked around cautiously, but except for the gentle hum of the wind, there was no sound to answer her.

  "If you keep walking like this, I won't follow you!" Su Qi Ruo's heart suddenly felt a strange sense of fear. From childhood to adulthood, she had never left the city, so wherever she went, it was always a scene of bright lights and bustling activity. She had never truly experienced the taste of darkness. Being pulled by Lu Ke and Xi Rui Wen to this small place that she had never even heard of before, Su Qi Ruo's first feeling was unease. This unfamiliar place made her feel insecure. Now, in this quiet and soundless wilderness, Su Qi Ruo for the first time yearned for some noisy sounds. The silence here was so oppressive that it gave people a suffocating illusion.

  "If you're afraid, then hurry up and follow me." Lu Ke turned around and pulled Su Qi Ruo into his arms, "If you catch a cold, I'll be in trouble too."

  If Su Qi didn't reject Lu Ke's intimate movements, Lu Ke's starry eyes shone brightly in the darkness, like a lantern that made Su Qi feel at ease. His cold body also found warmth in Lu Ke's arms, and although it was only a little warmth, it made Su Qi feel content. Su Qi suddenly thought of the hot milk tea that would appear on time every day when he was in school. Now, Lu Ke was like this cup of hot milk tea, warm and lasting, seeping into his life, appearing whenever he needed him, even though he said some unpleasant words, but never really abandoned him.

  Su Qi leaned quietly in Lu Ke's arms, following his footsteps. If she had always been so obedient and well-behaved, it would have been great. A faint smile appeared on Lu Ke's face, so slight that even he himself didn't notice.

  Shi Ruiwen's mind was filled with the shadow of Mushi, although he had not seen his appearance that night when their spiritual powers clashed and Shi Ruiwen suffered damage. However, the aura of Mushi's spiritual source lingered in his mind like a parasite, making it difficult for him to eat or sleep whenever he thought of it. Today, following Su Qiruo unexpectedly allowed Shi Ruiwen to detect Mushi's aura again. It was strange that he had let Mushi escape due to his impulsive desire for revenge. Since he had left this clue behind, he might as well investigate further. However, he did not expect that Su Qiruo would still be colluding with Mushi, indicating that he needed to tighten his surveillance on her. If she were to collude with other gods, it would become difficult to deal with later on.

  "Where are we going?" Su Qi didn't understand why Lu Ke let Ye Ruiwen lead the way, as the two of them had never gotten along. Wasn't Lu Ke afraid that Ye Ruiwen would take advantage of the situation and play some trick?

  "Do you know how land came into being?" Lu Ke didn't answer Su Qi's question, but instead asked a question that Su Qi almost couldn't answer.

  Su Qi Ruo wasn't clear about the origins of the six spirits in the wooden god's mouth, so how could she possibly know about this minor spirit, but she still racked her brains and thought hard, trying not to let Lu Ke think she was ignorant. "Uh...the land spirit should be an evolution of the earth god, right?"

  Lu Ke was originally disappointed with Su Qi's answer, and now hearing her say this, he looked down on her even more. "The Earth God is the leader of the six ancient gods, with the ability to carry all things and move mountains and seas, how can it suddenly evolve into a land?"

  Su Qi Ruo was like a child who had done something wrong, quietly turning her head and not speaking up, all related to the land, who knew there would be such a big gap? Should I go back to school and find an ancient Chinese mythology book to supplement my knowledge in this area?

  "The land god is not a true deity, but a deity born from the power of thought. When people's faith and thought power degenerate, the land god will disappear."

  "Mind power......" Such a profound vocabulary, it turns out that there is also a god tribe born of mind power.

  "Nowadays, the human race's faith in gods has greatly diminished compared to before. The millions of gods that once existed are now almost gone, and with the heavens' order disrupted, only the truly divine can remain."

  "Am I really a true god?" Is Lu Ke now bragging about me? Su Qi thought, not feeling embarrassed.

  "If even the Water God is not considered a true divine, then there are no divine in this world." Lu Ke readily acknowledged Su Qi Ruo's status as a god.

  "Hey, you two, don't think you can sneak a kiss from me when I'm not paying attention!" Si Ruiwen suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking back at Su Qiruo and Lu Ke with a sour expression.

  "What's with the affection? Don't talk nonsense, okay?" Su Qi was suddenly red-faced and arguing, having been held in Lu Ke's arms all along, no wonder Yu Ruiwen had something to say.

  "Ah, you two are finally done with your affectionate display. I'm relieved after all the hard work of finding this temple for you two!" Qian Ruiwen stepped aside to reveal the Temple of Earth behind him, "And don't even know how to thank Grandpa!"

  Su Qi Ruo gave a cold glance to Shi Rui Wen, saying something about being a master or not, it was unpleasant to hear, as if he really thought of himself as the master. It's unknown who initiated this trip to the Land Temple, now pretending to be so tired. Su Qi Ruo muttered to herself for a while before carefully examining the temple, "Is this the Land Temple?" Su Qi Ruo stood beside the temple, seriously measuring it with her eyes, the entire temple was not even as tall as her knee, if Shi Rui Wen wasn't standing next to her with a confident expression, Su Qi Ruo would have thought it was just a large mound of earth.

  "Is there a god inside? What a huge god!" Su Qi took out her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it inside. Dazedly, she saw that there was indeed a miniature figure inside.

  "If the person making the offering were to see this, they would definitely say you're being disrespectful." Lu Ke reminded him coldly.

  "But..." Su Qier couldn't understand why Muxin had brought her to this place. However, it seemed that Muxin hadn't told her to come here either! It was just that he had mentioned this place, and it was all because of Shen Ruiwen interrupting her conversation with Muxin. Now she was standing in the wilderness, what was she doing here?

  When several people were staring at each other, a rustling sound came from afar and got closer. Su Qi Ruo became vigilant and looked around, suddenly discovering a black shadow rushing towards them at an extremely fast speed. Su Qi Ruo subconsciously retreated behind Lu Ke, who stood fearlessly in front of her, subtly protecting her. However, his expression remained unchanged, not showing any fear towards the approaching black shadow.

  The black shadow ran to the front of several people and stopped, under the moonlight, Su Qi saw clearly what was standing in front of him and blurted out, "This is... a mouse?"

  The expression of "Haozi" stiffened, and he looked at the three people in front of him with a suspicious gaze. Finally, he carefully walked up to Su Qi and respectfully raised his paws, saying, "Little God Earth greets Upper God."