"Grandpa, you seem in good spirits today."
"Indeed, I am. For some reason, my chest feels light, my breath flows freely, and many things suddenly seem clear. It's truly strange…"
"A man's life, it's just like that!"
Grandpa Li Gui's state today was peculiar. Seeing the broken plaque, he didn't get angry. Instead, he strolled to the village outskirts, wandering a few rounds, no longer squatting by the door, puffing on his pipe in sullen silence as he used to.
Li Yan, naturally, understood why.
The damaged plaque had caused the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin to fall, breaking the malevolent curse aimed at their family. The three invisible blades hovering over their heads vanished, and their hearts felt unburdened.
This influence wasn't overt.
The old man could sense it, more or less.
Perhaps because of his good mood, after dinner, Grandpa Li Gui squatted by the door, took a few drags on his pipe, and began belting out an old Qin opera he hadn't sung in ages:
"Head adorned with a gold-ringed rope hat, body clad in a robe of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams. Waist tied with silk cords and sun-reviving grass, cloud-climbing shoes beneath my feet…"
"Mysterious, mysterious, wondrous, wondrous, I roam the Three Mountains and Five Peaks. Ask my name and surname, I am Shen Gongbao, twisting head and splitting neck!"
The Qin opera, *Yellow River Formation*.
This world, too, had the legend of *Fengshen Yanyi*, widely known and loved.
The *Yellow River Formation* was a favorite tune among the old and young in the Guanzhong region.
Inside the room, listening to his grandpa's roaring Qin opera, Li Yan crouched on a stool, holding his Guanshan knife, grinding it stroke by stroke on a whetstone.
*Clang! Clang!*
The rugged Qin opera and the sound of the grinding blade melded together.
As the sun set, Li Yan held the knife up, inspecting it closely.
The cold blade gleamed with sharp brilliance!
…
The Earth God Temple, also known as the Temple of Fortune and Virtue, stemmed from ancient beliefs in the deity of the land.
According to the *Book of Rites: Spring Offices*, beyond the Great Altar, there were the Earth Spirit and Land Spirit, from which later generations derived the name of the Earth God. The Five Earth Spirits were, in essence, the Land God.
It could be said that this belief had persisted in folk traditions from ancient times to the present.
Even the current imperial court issued decrees mandating that every *li*—a unit of one hundred households—establish an altar to worship the gods of the Five Earths and Five Grains.
Thus, Earth God Temples dotted nearly every corner of the Nine Provinces.
Of course, their scale varied, as did the intensity of their incense offerings.
In the Guanzhong region, where people scratched a living from the soil, unafraid of hardship or toil, their greatest fear was unpredictable weather.
Hence, the Earth God and Dragon King Temples enjoyed thriving incense offerings.
The Earth God Temple in Li Family Village was no exception.
The temple here was modest, built by the roadside with green bricks and yellow mud, forming a small earthen structure barely taller than a man, five paces long and wide.
It was called a temple, but it resembled a shrine, just enough to shield from wind and rain.
Inside, statues of the Earth God and his wife stood, their smiles kind and approachable. Yet, under the moonlight, with their painted colors chipped and peeling, they carried an eerie air.
Before the altar, piles of incense ash and candle stubs rose like a mountain, while red prayer ribbons adorned the surrounding trees, evidence of the temple's bustling daily worship.
Tonight, the moon shone like frost, and the surrounding night mist swirled.
A flicker of light approached from the village, growing closer.
It was Li Yan.
Dressed in coarse black cloth, leggings tied, Guanshan knife at his waist, he carried a basket in one hand and a lantern in the other.
To avoid being seen, he wore a rain-shielding straw hat.
Walking alone in the dark, he exuded an air of mystery.
At the Earth God Temple, Li Yan slightly raised his head, his gaze under the hat sharp and chilling.
Grinding his knife that afternoon wasn't just sharpening the blade—it was honing his killing intent.
After ensuring no one was around, Li Yan set down the basket, retrieving fruits, offerings, incense, candles, a piece of roasted meat, and a jar of wine.
He arranged them methodically and lit the candles.
Rubbing his face, Li Yan flashed a bright smile, broke the clay seal on the wine jar, and said softly, "Earth God Grandpa, I've come to see you."
"Speaking of which, you've watched me grow up. You're like an elder to me. I was wrong not to come burn incense before, but we can't let that evil thing run rampant, can we…"
"Tonight, I'm borrowing your sacred ground. How about you and I team up to slay this evil?"
Knowing this world wasn't so simple, Li Yan adopted a different demeanor.
He rarely burned incense, but whether it worked or not, when the time came, it was wise to say something respectful to avoid mishaps later.
And indeed, this Earth God Temple felt different.
From a hundred meters away, he could smell the rich scent of incense. After placing the offerings and lighting the candles, he inexplicably felt a trace of warmth.
It was similar to the sensation from the "Hundred Battles Mighty" plaque, yet gentler.
Meanwhile, the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel in the red cloth pouch at his waist grew colder.
Clearly, these were two distinct forces.
Yet, they didn't clash. According to Widow Wang, the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin, forged in the previous dynasty and consecrated with incense on Mount Tai, had become a ritual artifact.
Yin and yang oppose yet complement each other.
Li Yan, still a novice, didn't grasp the intricacies.
But he was observant and sensed Widow Wang's sincerity in wanting to eliminate the Cold Altar Savage Soldier.
With a chuckle, Li Yan said, "Earth God Grandpa, your silence means you agree!"
He lit three incense sticks, prayed sincerely, inserted them, and respectfully kowtowed three times. Then, following Widow Wang's instructions, he removed the red cloth pouch from his waist, took out the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel, and placed it before the temple.
Instantly, he felt a difference.
Though nothing seemed to stir, he could sense the warm incense aura enveloping the tassel.
He wasn't a practitioner of the mysterious arts and hadn't trained in them.
When imbued with the tassel, the Guanshan knife brimmed with killing aura, but within moments, he felt a bone-chilling cold he could barely withstand.
With the temple's incense blessing, he could wield it longer.
Seeing no mishaps, Li Yan relaxed, stood, and circled the temple, memorizing the terrain.
Fighting at night with poor light made familiarity with the surroundings crucial.
The temple backed a small hill, a hundred paces from the main road, with a poplar grove in the distance. The ground was flat, free of ditches.
This was an advantage—he wouldn't stumble in the dark.
After this, Li Yan sat cross-legged before the temple, Guanshan knife across his knees, glanced at the sky, and closed his eyes to rest.
Behind him, the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin tassel remained offered.
Per Widow Wang's instructions, it could only be used after the Savage Soldier possessed something, lest it scare the entity away, wasting all efforts.
Incense smoke curled, and the Earth God and his wife's statues still smiled kindly…
…
Finally, the hour of *zi* arrived.
A profoundly unique hour.
Within the temple's incense range, Li Yan felt it keenly.
At *zi*, yin energy peaked, even suppressing the temple's warmth, as cold rose from the ground.
Yet, a faint yang energy began to stir.
At this hour, rats became active, hence *zi* belonged to the rat.
Folklore held that, though small, rats brimmed with vitality, able to gnaw a crack in the world's chaos, letting yang energy rise, cycling yin and yang—thus the saying, "The rat bites open the heavens."
This was why the rat led the twelve zodiacs.
But at this hour, malevolent spirits were also at their most rampant.
With heaven and earth's yang suppressed, so too was human yang, making one vulnerable to these entities.
Suddenly, Li Yan opened his eyes, their cold light blazing.
*Whoosh~*
On the distant road, a chilling wind rose without cause, swirling dust in a vortex.
Under the moonlight, it was starkly visible.
At the same time, Li Yan caught a cold, foul stench.
The chill on his back intensified.
He knew this was the curse's mark, a tracking beacon that would pursue him to the ends of the earth.
Sensing him, the whirlwind charged toward the temple.
Yet, nearing the temple's incense range, it was blocked, darting left and right, unable to enter.
*Whoosh~*
The eerie wind howled, the cold stench growing stronger.
The wind carried a voice to Li Yan's ears, shifting instantly.
"Yan, where are you?"
"Come out, come home with me…"
Hoarse and mournful, it was his grandpa's voice.
Li Yan's lips curled into a cold smile, unmoved.
Though not of the mysterious arts, he'd pieced together some patterns.
First, this Cold Altar Savage Soldier was cunning, more beast than human, bound by primal rules, lacking the depth of human thought, with certain limitations.
Otherwise, why would it fall for traps two days in a row?
Second, it didn't know human secrets but could manipulate minds, requiring a curse to do so.
That night, his uncursed grandpa heard nothing.
This manipulation targeted the heart's weaknesses.
For Li Yan, his greatest fear was for his grandpa, so it mimicked the old man's voice.
It struck at the heart, exploiting any vulnerability.
It was also adept at concealment.
By day, he'd scoured the village and found no trace of its scent. It slipped into the village without alerting the guard dogs.
Only when injured did the dogs notice it.
Per Widow Wang, it sought to possess his body.
As long as he stayed within the temple's incense protection and resisted its manipulation, the Savage Soldier would have to possess something to intrude.
Sure enough, things shifted.
As the eerie wind battered the temple, changes arose.
The incense scent grew thicker.
Warmth flowed in Li Yan's heart, the curse's chill eased, and the manipulative voice faded.
The Earth God was formidable!
Li Yan couldn't help but praise inwardly.
*Whoosh~*
But then, the eerie wind began to retreat.
It seemed to be leaving.
This wouldn't do!
Li Yan's heart sank.
He had no time to waste on this thing. With the house's protective plaque broken, missing tonight could endanger his grandpa.
With a glint in his eyes, a plan formed.
Without hesitation, he dashed to the edge of the temple's incense barrier.
"Don't rush off, let's play some more."
"Hey, I'm out…"
"Hey, I'm back in…"
"Come on, try me if you dare!"
His blatant taunts drove the entity into a frenzy.
*Whoosh!*
Suddenly, the wind surged fiercely.
Li Yan's heart tightened, and he retreated into the temple.
But as the gust passed, the cold, foul stench vanished.
Had it really fled?
As Li Yan cursed inwardly, a chill crept up his back.
*Rustle!*
In the distant poplar grove, a flock of birds took flight in alarm.
From the thick fog, a wolf with glowing red eyes emerged slowly.
Then, over a dozen wolves, large and small, appeared from all directions, encircling the temple…
*(End of Chapter)*