Chapter Ninety-Four: Who on Earth Are You!

"I know that you are the river deity of the Qianling River..."

Xu Boqing gazed at the idol in the main hall of the River Deity Shrine and said with pointed implication, "This idol of yours is a tangle of divinity and monstrosity, with devotion and karma twisted together..."

He paused, then clicked his tongue in a tone of amused mockery. "Your entanglement with the edict, with this idol, runs too deep and weighs too heavily. I truly do not know how you have managed to cultivate yourself to this day..."

"You..."

The bald, hunchbacked old man stared at him, his mind shaken to the core. In that moment, he looked even more like a toad propped upright on its hind legs.

To think that this man had not only seen through his true origins at a glance, but had also stirred the Water Deity Edict, which he had nurtured for hundreds of years and which had always remained cold and unresponsive toward him, into wanting to follow him away. Fear could not help but rise in his heart.

"Just who are you?!"

"Who I am is not important..."

Xu Boqing cast a casual glance outside, his expression growing even stranger. "What matters is this: do you know who you are?"

"Who am I?"

The bald, hunchbacked old man froze slightly.

He had been about to say that he was the river deity of the Qianling River, but some thought came over him, and his brow furrowed so tightly that he could not even bring the words to his lips.

Who am I...

The River Deity Shrine stood by the Qianling River and received the offerings of the countless people along its banks. By rights, divine nature should have shone forth from it, drawing on the power of devotion to bless the people. Yet at that very moment, the shrine was surging with monstrous aura that shot straight into the heavens.

It seemed that both divinity and devotion had been suppressed.

Two currents of power, utterly opposed in nature, churned within the shrine. Mist and vapor spread all around, and even in the night sky dark clouds were gathering...

Within the City God Temple of Jiangling Prefecture...

The old City God manifested his spirit body from within the temple, staring at the monstrous aura rising in the distance and the clouds massing above it, his face full of alarm.

Several wandering spirit wardens appeared by his side as well, looking toward the River Deity Shrine with furrowed brows. "My lord, that place seems to be the River Deity Shrine of the Qianling River. Why would such an omen appear there?"

"It must be someone battling a great demon!"

The old City God’s brows were likewise locked in a deep frown. After a moment, as if recalling something, he said, "I have once met the river deity of the Qianling River. Though he bears divinity in his body, he is not of our path.

"Now that demonic aura is surging from his shrine and dark clouds are gathering above it, I cannot tell whether this is fortune or misfortune, blessing or calamity."

The wandering spirits nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Should we go and take a look?"

"Go."

The old City God nodded. "After all, that shrine lies within the bounds of Jiangling Prefecture. Since we are the City God of this prefecture, we ought to go and see. If any fiend has truly emerged, we can lend a hand in subduing it."

"At your command!"

Several spirit bodies vanished swiftly, melting into the night as though they had become one with the darkness.

At the same time...

At the boundary where the Qianling River met some boundless and interminable great river, a beam of golden light burst from the water and shot into the sky, taking the form of a woman in resplendent golden robes.

Mist and cloud swirled around her. At her brow seemed to rest a scale of gold. Though she was full of noble grace, it was impossible to tell her age.

She could have been a maiden of eighteen, a woman of thirty, or perhaps even forty...

With a slight crease in her brows, she looked toward the place where the clouds were gathering, faintly sensing a thread of karma connected to herself. After making a quick calculation, she nodded in quiet contemplation.

Then golden light flashed through the clouds.

When she reached the place where the clouds had gathered, she stood upon the sky and looked down.

But the moment she saw the River Deity Shrine and the unrestrained demonic aura inside it, her brow lifted in surprise.

So that toad spirit had quite the fortune...

Just as she was preparing to descend and settle the matter, she suddenly came to a halt, staring in astonishment at the figure holding incense within the shrine.

Seeing several wisps of yin energy approaching from afar, she hesitated for a moment, then formed a hand seal and swept her sleeve. With the art of spirit summoning, she directly drew those few strands of yin energy before her.

The old City God and the wandering wardens felt only a blur before their eyes. Their spirit bodies were seized by an invisible force and violently dragged away, flying uncontrollably to the clouds.

Only then did they realize that an expert had used a spirit-summoning art.

When they came to their senses and saw the woman standing on the clouds, the old City God was startled once more. He hurriedly bowed and saluted. "City God Ji Guanglin of Jiangling Prefecture pays respects to the Dragon King..."

"No need for such ceremony."

The woman called the Dragon King seemed to have no interest in idle conversation. She merely glanced at him and said calmly, "You need not interfere in what happens below. Someone will deal with it."

"..."

Inside the River Deity Shrine...

Seeing the toad spirit's bewildered expression, Xu Boqing said sharply, "What is this? You can no longer tell who you are?"

He paused, then thundered like a voice splitting spring thunder: "Are you the great demon of the Qianling River, or are you the river deity of the Qianling River? I fear even you cannot tell the difference!"

"I..."

The bald, hunchbacked old man turned deathly pale. As though he had sensed some vast and terrible horror, he staggered backward several steps with his cane, his eyes filled with utter confusion and fear.

"Do you know why the Water Deity Edict gave you your chance, gave you your fate, and yet still refused to acknowledge you?"

Xu Boqing's Heavenly Eye seemed to have seen through him completely. He rebuked him coldly. "To undertake great things and yet cherish your own life; to see small profit and forget your very life. Do you think the Water Deity Edict refused to acknowledge you merely because your demonic nature had not been severed?

"Wrong!!

"Because you are greedy!

"Because you are foolish!

"Because you are cowardly!

"And because you are nothing but a toad, a toad whose vision is so narrow it can see only this little patch of land! A toad that does not even know how to use the chance it has been given!"

"You... you..."

The bald, hunchbacked old man went white as paper. Every word struck him squarely in body and soul, and even the Water Deity Edict within him began to tremble, as though it might break free from his body at any moment.

"You said you did not know who you were, didn't you?"

Xu Boqing smiled faintly, then said in a tone of deep and deliberate mystery, "It matters not. I shall help you..."

As he spoke, three long sticks of incense ignited in his hand. The smoke rose in wisps and threads, floating up like silk ribbons.

"I offer these three impure incense sticks in reverence to the rightful deity of the Qianling River!"

With those words, Xu Boqing held the incense before the idol in the shrine and bowed. Then he began to chant, "First offering: may the River Deity Shrine's incense flourish in abundance!"

The moment the words fell, a streak of light suddenly flashed through the dark clouds overhead.

A thunderbolt descended from the nine heavens and exploded within the shrine. The main gate of the temple, along with the plaque hanging above it that read River Deity Shrine, was reduced to ashes in the lightning.

The bald, hunchbacked toad spirit stared wide-eyed. Feeling the sudden surge of devotion within his body, he did not show the slightest trace of joy. Instead, terror flooded his face as he retreated several more steps!

For he had seen that cracks like a spiderweb were spreading across the head of the idol in the center of the shrine's main hall.

"Aaahhhhh!!!"

He seemed to feel that same boundless terror as well. His cane fell from his hand, and he clutched his head while howling in agony. In an instant, his eyes were filled with fine, blood-red veins.

He remembered why the idol in that believer's home had shattered earlier.

He also remembered why he had suddenly, inexplicably received a surge of devotion.

And he understood where the karma within that devotion had come from.

In that instant, he seemed to understand many things, including why this thief had come to the River Deity Shrine in the first place.

"You are not human! Who are you? Who are you, really?!"