Song Ciwan crouched quietly to the side, listening to Niu the Sixth’s pitiful sobs.
The Night Wanderer was surprisingly patient. Even as Niu the Sixth cried until he was a slobbering ss, the deity just listened quietly to his pleas.
But what was more interesting was that every ti Niu the Sixth cried out, one or two wisps of formless energy would inevitably rise from the top of his head.
A small portion of this energy flew into the Ruyi Copper Token the Night Wanderer held in his left hand, but a much larger portion surprisingly flew automatically toward Song Ciwan.
The Heaven and Earth Scale manifested on its own and collected this energy.
[All beings have a spirit and can believe. Wish Power: three taels and nine maces. Tradable.]
[All beings have a spirit and can believe. Wish Power: two taels and one mace. Tradable.]
[All beings have a spirit and can believe. Wish Power: one tael and two maces. Tradable.]
...
Although Niu the Sixth was asking the Night Wanderer for help, his faith was surprisingly split in two. A small part went to the Night Wanderer, while the majority was automatically allocated to Song Ciwan.
This Wish Power wasn’t manually captured by Song Ciwan; the Heaven and Earth Scale collected it automatically. This proved that while Niu the Sixth was crying for help to the Night Wanderer, the one he was truly thinking of was Song Ciwan, who had helped them before.
Song Ciwan felt that wondrous sensation of a whole new world opening up to her again. ’I’ve learned sothing new! Wish Power can actually be distributed like this?’
The Night Wanderer couldn’t see the true path of the Wish Power. He could only feel a continuous stream of it flowing into the copper token in his hand, which made him all the more patient.
Not until Niu the Sixth had cried himself hoarse, tugging at the deity’s pant leg and staring at him with pleading eyes but no longer speaking, did the Night Wanderer finally say in a booming voice, "You ask this god for salvation, but how am I to save you? If you wish for your daughter to be restored to her original human form, then this god is powerless."
"But if you only seek a place for them, this god can take the three of you back to the City God Temple and plead with our Lord City God. If there are any vacant positions in the temple, it might be possible to find a place for your two daughters."
There were two Snake Maidens, but only Niuniu was actually Niu the Sixth’s daughter. Yet here, the Night Wanderer said both were his daughters.
The Snake Maidens couldn’t speak, so it must have been Niu the Sixth, the one who could, who had also claid the other maiden as his own daughter.
They were all pitiful souls. This was the compassion of one suffering person for another, pitying others as one pities oneself.
’This is good, too...’
Song Ciwan stood silently on a nearby roof, a slight twitch at her brow. She had noticed sothing else—’Positions at the City God Temple?’
’Does it an what I think it ans?’
Niu the Sixth was dazed and confused, but hearing the word "place" was enough to make him ecstatic.
He just kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Immortal! Thank you, Immortal!"
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. His head knocked loudly against the ground.
The Snake Maidens also coiled their bodies beside him, bowing down deeply.
Several formless clouds of Wish Power rose from their heads, once again splitting into two streams. One flowed toward the Night Wanderer’s Ruyi Copper Token, and the other flew toward Song Ciwan.
The Heaven and Earth Scale collected: [All beings have a spirit and can believe. Wish Power: six taels and seven maces. Tradable.]
[Spring Dew. A faith born from the world’s greatest suffering, utmost sincerity, and desperate circumstances. Wish Power: nine taels and one mace. Tradable.]
[Spring Dew. A faith born from the world’s greatest suffering, utmost sincerity, and desperate circumstances. Wish Power: nine taels and two maces. Tradable.]
The Snake Maidens’ Wish Power wasn’t ordinary; it was the wondrous Spring Dew!
The Night Wanderer waved his Palm Leaf Fan and bellowed, "Let’s go!"
A great gust of wind kicked up. The Snake Maidens quickly coiled around Niu the Sixth, and with a flick of their snake tails, they bounded forward and swiftly caught up to the Night Wanderer.
With a tap of her toes, Song Ciwan imdiately used her Returning to the True Level Lightweight Grasshopper Skill to follow behind them.
The group moved quickly. Though the Snake Maidens had endured imnse suffering, their bodies had mutated, now granting them not only incredible strength but also agile speed.
As they sped through the night, they occasionally encountered so Little Demons that failed to get out of the way in ti.
The Night Wanderer usually ignored ordinary demons as long as they didn’t show any obvious signs of malice. Sotis, though, he would shout, "Hey, Little Demon, why are you wandering about at night? Hurry ho! If you dare bring disaster upon the Mortal World, this god will hold your master accountable!"
The Little Demons scurried away, most of them Cat Demons and Dog Demons.
If he ca across any with grotesque appearances, such as Centipede Demons, Ghost Fire Demons, or Black Vine Demons, the Night Wanderer would usually just swat them with his Palm Leaf Fan, killing them instantly.
After killing them, he would collect the Demon Corpses into the Storage Pouch at his waist and explain to Niu the Sixth and the Snake Maidens behind him, "On the day the old year turns to new, the arrogance of these Demon Fiends and monsters soars. It’s like they’ve been poisoned; they insist on running wild. Things won’t return to normal until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."
Along the way, they also encountered Soldiers from the City Patrol Departnt making their rounds, as well as Demon-slaying Captains who were in the middle of hunting demons.
The fireworks above Pinglan City gradually dwindled. The festive clamor of the new year began to quiet down as people returned to their hos, leaving only the scattered starlight in the night sky and a sense of vast, distant solitude.
Before long, they arrived at the City God Temple.
The mont she saw it from a distance, Song Ciwan almost suspected she was looking at a Divine Palace glowing with brilliant colors.
A sky full of formless energy descended, falling like a fine, gentle rain of light into the complex of temples and halls.
Previously, Song Ciwan had only seen all sorts of formless energy flying up into the sky. Back then, she had only guessed at where this "energy" went after ascending. Now, her question was finally answered. It turned out the final destination for all the formless energy in the city was the City God Temple—
No! That wasn’t right either!
After observing for a few more monts, Song Ciwan noticed sothing was off.
Pinglan City was massive. Even though most of the city’s formless energy was thin and weak, the accumulated total should have been far more than the amount seen above the City God Temple.
This amount was just a fine, gentle drizzle. And this "drizzle" would fall for a few breaths, then pause for several dozen.
It looked as though the City God Temple was using so kind of Secret Technique to draw out dissipated energy from a truly mysterious place!
’So, what could this truly mysterious place be?’
’Illusory Nether City?’
’Or the legendary Netherworld Spring?’
As Song Ciwan’s thoughts stirred, she saw the Night Wanderer lead Niu the Sixth and the Snake Maidens into the main hall of the City God Temple.
The City God Temple was a complex of overlapping buildings. The main hall was nestled deep within layer upon layer of gates and pavilions, so Song Ciwan couldn’t see the scene inside from where she stood outside the temple.
She thought for a mont and decided against entering the temple herself. Instead, she released her newly acquired Iron Wood Puppet, cast an Invisibility Technique on it, and directed it to creep inside.
The Iron Wood Puppet could share its vision with Song Ciwan, imdiately giving her a very strange sensory experience.
The plaque above the main hall bore the inscription: "Boundless Benevolent Grace."
On either side hung a couplet, which read: "If you act with evil intent, burning incense is of no use; if your heart is righteous, what harm is there in not bowing before !"
A magnificent, righteous aura washed over it. The Iron Wood Puppet controlled by Song Ciwan imdiately stopped in its tracks, able only to stand at the entrance of the main hall, completely unable to step inside!
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