By the time I reached the City God Temple, it was nearly midnight.
The City God Temple at night used to be very quiet.
Today's was different.
Under the vermilion temple walls, shadows in shades of gray, white, and some yellowish-black floated around.
They looked like they were spying on the City God Temple, with their nostrils flaring up continuously.
Inside the City God Temple, incense and candles burned vigorously, emitting a pungent aroma that stung the nose.
Yu Xiao still maintained an expressionless gaze, while Moqi seemed cautious, clearly unaccustomed to such a scene.
Frankly, I haven't seen such a scene either.
The scattered incense smoke was all consumed by the nearby ghosts, who became even more excited, dancing around with their hands.
To us, they seem to treat it as nothing.
Moqi moved closer to me.
I directly walked into the City God Temple.
At a glance, I saw the towering statue, which became increasingly vivid and colorful, as if it had come to life.
Uncle Huang's body was rigid, wearing a square cap and looking extremely serious.
In the dim candlelight, his face seemed to have taken on a few shades of paint.
Especially the three high incense sticks in his hand, the sparks were extremely bright.
The white smoke, like droplets, entered the temple from the door and rose into the air.
My instincts told me that Uncle Huang was attracting something.
I made no sound to disturb Uncle Huang; I simply stood silently at the edge of the courtyard.
Time slowly ticked by, and when Uncle Huang's high incense burned halfway, a sudden change occurred.
In the air, thin tendrils of gray mist seemed to emerge from all directions, coalescing into a vague humanoid shape before forming an ethereal cocoon-like entity.
In a matter of seconds, the cocoon-like entity shattered into pieces.
A ghost with one arm attached appeared floating in the same spot.
He took a deep breath, lifting his chest with force!
The high incense burned fiercely, quickly disappearing in an instant!
The white smoke, like a slender snake, penetrated the newly-appearing Siye's nostrils.
He closed his eyes, his expression immersed in ecstasy.
The next second, he opened his eyes again, and only a sinister look remained in his gaze.
Taking a bird's-eye view, he slowly descended, reaching my vicinity, and with his dark eyes staring at me intently and appraisingly.
This time, the sense of intimidation he gave me was much more severe than before.
His nostrils twitched, indicating that he was smelling something.
Lao Gong continuously made a "hah" sound.
Moqi's face turned pale, her entire face as white as death.
Yu Xiao still maintained an expressionless gaze.
Suddenly, Siye took a deep breath!
His action caught me off guard!
However, I had no time to dodge, and two objects floated in front of me with a slight "puff" sound.
It was the paper dolls I had sealed with the soul-chain technique!
One of the groups was Zhang Gui, and the other was the emotional ghost I had subdued while dealing with Wei Youming.
"Ghost shrine..." The deep, raspy voice was similar to Siye's before, but the emotion inside was entirely different.
He was very vigilant towards me!
"Not a ghost niche."
Uncle Huang's face relaxed somewhat, walking towards us.
"Don't be afraid, respected deity."
"Yesterday, Siye's divine image was dim, indicating that its soul was extinguished. However, Siye does not exist as a complete entity but rather in various City God temples. I burned incense for him and inhaled his soul, which just formed a body without any memories of this place."
By the time Uncle Huang reached my presence, he had explained everything.
That explanation was something the leader had already mentioned once.
Just that he hadn't explained it as thoroughly as Uncle Huang did.
"I was the one who extinguished Siye's soul. This is what I said."
My thoughts were already in order, and I shared some of the backstory with Uncle Huang.
Of course, it was all centered around the ninth patriarch, with no further details revealed.
Uncle Huang's demeanor appeared more solemn, but there was a hint of anger in his eyes.
I inadvertently cast a glance at the deity statue.
The City God statue was also full of majesty.
"The City God, standing at the boundary between yin and yang, remains neutral to the powers of the mortal world, and will never favor one side over the other."
"Those in the ghost niche, unless they are extremely evil, meddling with souls, the City God Temple would not interfere. However, to exterminate Siye and disturb the divine abode is something that cannot go unpunished!"
"The little friend has found you and spoken the truth, which is to help you."
Uncle Huang's first two sentences were very solemn, but his last one was friendly.
I nodded.
My gaze finally fell on the two floating paper dolls.
I reached out and grasped them.
The Siye in front of me remained vigilant and cold in his gaze.
"I picked up one of the paper dolls with my thumb and index finger and said, 'Among these paper dolls, there is a soul of a ghost niche person named Zhang Gui. He led me to Qiyuan Village and wanted to use me to find Wei Youming's whereabouts. By chance, he died in my hands. Using his soul should allow us to enter the core area of the ghost niche.' "
I slightly spread my palm, exposing the other paper doll to view, and then said, "The emotional ghost that the ghost niche people kept as a pet. I subdued it after capturing it but didn't know how to deal with it. I originally planned to use it as a last resort card. If Uncle Huang and Siye want it, they can take it."
I slightly threw the paper doll towards Uncle Huang.
Uncle Huang caught it with his hand.
His brow furrowed slightly, and his face became even more relaxed.
In fact, bringing it back and handing it over again was to further strengthen our relationship with the City God Temple.
Judging from the cold expression on Siye's face, he probably doesn't want these two things related to the ghost niche to return to my possession.
By taking them back and handing them over to Uncle Huang, it's like giving a step of reconciliation between Uncle Huang and me, not something Siye is seizing from me.
Uncle Huang's lips moved slightly, and he spoke in a low voice.
I didn't understand what he said.
It was Siye who slightly raised his eyebrows, showing both faces.
Suddenly, two jade slips appeared in front of me, falling straight down!
I reacted quickly, catching the jade slips.
Looking at them, I saw that one of the jade slips still depicted the ghost with linked arms.
The other jade slip showed a single ghost.
With a wide brimmed hat and a voluminous robe, it exuded an imposing presence!
"Day patrol..." My breathing became slightly hurried.
"The little friend has given me a card as a reward, and I'll reward the little friend twice in return." Uncle Huang smiled.
He flipped the paper dolls back into his hand and said, "The emotional ghost, all are sad people. Ordinary means cannot make them reborn. Even the City God Temple has some trouble with it. Let her stay here and slowly be enlightened by incense."
Uncle Huang's words caught me off guard.
I had never really thought about Uncle Huang having this side to him before.
However, in reality, the City God Temple was created for ordinary people. Uncle Huang's actions have never deviated from this principle.
This couldn't help but remind me of the old woman in Qiyuan Village.
If possible, could I also send her to the City God Temple?
But the possibility was very low.
Now, Qiyuan Village is truly off-limits to strangers.
"The little friend, release this ghost and let Siye question her." Uncle Huang opened his mouth again, breaking my trance.
