Chapter Twenty-Four: Shattering the Gods

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  The news of the wolf's attack on humans spread like wildfire, and soon every household was in a state of panic. People chose to stay indoors, no longer venturing out. After all, it was the cold winter months, and there was no need for farming or labor; those who had gone out to do small business had also stopped their stalls. Among them, Zheng Da Tu was a representative, and on that day, he was stared at by the black wolf, whose icy and ferocious eyes still lingered in his mind, making him feel a chill every time he thought about it.

  "I bet that beast has become a monster!"

  Whenever he met someone, Zheng would say this. However, others basically just laughed it off, thinking that he must have been scared silly.

  It was Zhang Lao San and other hunters who were very active, they brought hunting dogs, holding bows and arrows, in groups of three or four, scattered around, launching the pursuit of the black wolf.

  Wolf skin is a hot commodity in the market, and a complete and high-quality wolf skin can be worth a lot of money, even selling for as much as a silver ingot.

  There is a saying that "under the heavy reward, there must be brave men". Although there are no extra rewards now, the value of the black wolf itself is enough to make many hunters eager. They have been living by hunting, how can they be afraid of fierce beasts?

  It's strange to say, the hunters conducted a blanket search, searching every inch of the surrounding area, but they didn't find any clues, which was puzzling. They blamed the heavy snowfall that had been falling non-stop, covering up all traces of the black wolf's activity and greatly increasing the difficulty of the pursuit.

  Today's snow is still falling, just much smaller.

  The open space in Jingyang Village has accumulated nearly half a foot of snow. When I stepped on it, it made a crunching sound.

  Chen Jianchen walked through the snow and arrived at the Land Temple behind the village.

  It was just after fifteen, and in the small temple of the land god, the altar was filled with offerings, and the incense fire was very prosperous.

  "Pitiful midnight, empty in front of the seat, not asking about human life, but asking about ghosts and gods."

  Chen Jianchen suddenly remembered a line of poetry, and looked again at the temple statue, which was only about two feet tall, but resembled an old man with a white beard and a kind smile, wearing a longevity cap and holding a dragon-headed cane.

  This statue of Tudigong has been somewhat worn out and has been sitting in Jingyang Village for many years, enjoying the incense offerings for many years.

  Chen Jianchen took a glance, without hesitation, and pulled out all the paper from his bosom. He also took out a package of paste that he had prepared earlier. He applied the paste to the back of each sheet of paper with the poem "Zheng Qi Ge" written on it, and then carefully stuck them onto the three walls of the Temple of Land.

  The temple has posted poems, which looks very abrupt. Generally, people won't do this. However, the villagers only worship the land god on the first and fifteenth days of the month, so basically no one comes to the temple during normal times. Therefore, there's no need to worry about being seen in the next few days. Time-wise, it's undoubtedly sufficient.

  Ten pieces of paper and ink, all posted, just forming a ring shape, surrounding the statue of the Landlord God in the middle.

  Chen Jianchen clapped his hands and walked away, continuing to prepare for the next step of the plan.

  Pomfret!

  A strange crisp sound suddenly came from behind, like a giant egg being pinched and broken.

  Just as Chen Jian stepped out of the temple gate, he quickly turned his head and looked back, his eyes wide with shock. In his gaze, the entire head of the Tudi Gong statue suddenly exploded into thin air, shattering into four or five pieces, with fragments crashing to the ground.

  This statue of the Landlord God was actually destroyed like this.

  What happened?

  Chen Jianchen turned around and rushed in, looking around, but didn't find anything unusual. Finally, his gaze fell on the ten ink characters surrounding him——

  Could it be due to the power of positive energy again?

  The righteous energy actually took effect on a mud-plastered statue of a god?

  Thinking of this possibility, Chen Jianchen was both surprised and delighted, and he quickly pulled out the pen holder from his waist, opened it, took out the evil-warding pen inside, looked at it carefully, and the white hair on the pen tip had indeed changed from two to six.

  One by one, crystal clear and shiny, mixed on the pen tip, very eye-catching.

  A hundred evils cannot invade; ghosts and spirits are repelled... Is this what is meant by "ghosts and spirits are repelled"?

  There was another new discovery, Chen Jianchen couldn't help but feel delighted, and he quickly tore off ten more sheets of paper - because they had been stained with paste, the papers were all crumpled when torn off, rendering them useless.

  However, Chen Jianchen was not worried at all. The lost words could be rewritten, but new discoveries were hard to come by. He hurried back to the village, already thinking about changing his original plan on the way.

  At this time, the village suddenly became lively. Someone ran to inform others that Wang Da, a wealthy landlord in Shu Yang Village, had heard about the evil wolf's ravages and was offering a reward of five silver ingots to anyone who could kill the black wolf.

  This bounty can be said to be very high.

  Wang Dacai, who had always been stingy and cold-blooded, suddenly took out such a large sum of money, which really made people look at him in a new light. However, no matter what, the reward was given, and it was a large amount, this time it truly became "a heavy reward must have brave men", not only the local hunters enthusiastically set out, but also outsiders, even the strong men from Jiangzhou city heard the news and rushed over.

  Upon hearing the news, Chen Jianchen merely furrowed his brow and remained silent - a wolf demon that has attained spiritual awareness and possesses wisdom would not be so easily dealt with. Ordinary hunters, so-called brave warriors, might not even be able to touch the wolf demon's shadow, let alone launch an attack.

  Back home, Mo Sanniang finally felt at ease and couldn't help but scold Chen Jinnan a few times, saying that he really shouldn't have gone out alone during this period.

  Chen Jianchen replied that he was just walking around in the village and didn't go far.

  Entering the study, Yin Ning emerged from hiding in the dark.

  Chen Jianchen recounted the events, and Yin Ning was also shocked. After a while, he picked up his pen and wrote on paper: "It is said that all lands and city gods under heaven are under the jurisdiction of the underworld. It's possible that the land god statue has been receiving incense for a long time, so it has developed a hint of spirituality, which can stir up the righteous energy..."

  Regarding the Underworld, Chen Jianchen had also heard about it from Qingyun Daozhang's mouth, but he didn't know much about it, so he asked Yining.

  Yin Ning replied: "The existence of the Underworld is mysterious and unpredictable. Xiao Hu's understanding is shallow and he doesn't know the specific situation."

  Chen Jianchen had no choice but to give up.

  Soon, his main interest shifted to the study of the evil-warding brush, and he was particularly concerned about what use the whitening of the hairs had, as well as how the transformation of the hairs would increase in number...

  It's just a pity that at this stage, he is completely bewildered by these questions and it's hard for him to find the answers on his own. All he can be sure of is that the direction of the evolution of the demon-slaying brush should be positive, and what he needs to do is to continue to promote the righteous energy until all the mysteries are uncovered.