Chapter 59

Qin Shaoyou and Su Tingyu walked straight towards the land temple.

When bidding farewell to the village chief, Qin Shaoyou deliberately mentioned that he was going to say goodbye to the caravan and asked them to deliver the letters to their families, explaining the matter of their love suicide.

If possible, he also wanted to ask both families to build a cenotaph for them, burying their clothes in the same grave, so that even if they couldn't share a bed in life, they could share a grave in death, and in the netherworld, they could still be husband and wife.

This was the excuse Qin Shaoyou had prepared in advance to meet up with Zhu Xiuren and others.

Sure enough, the villagers did not find anything suspicious about their visit to the land temple. After a few sighs and discussions, they all went back home.

After the village chief returned to his house, he took out some copper coins from his sleeve, counted them, and hid half of them, keeping the other half to distribute to the villagers later.

After all, the villagers had heard about the caravan paying for lodging, and someone had just asked him how much he had received and demanded that he share it, which he had fobbed off with "The caravan hasn't left yet, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

After putting away the money, the village chief shook his head and muttered to himself, "These city people are so pretentious. If the two of them end up in the tiger's belly together, aren't they already in the same grave? And if the tiger expels them together, aren't they already in the same tomb? Building a cenotaph is just a waste of money."

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Qin Shaoyou and Su Tingyu were walking when a semi-transparent head suddenly emerged from Su Tingyu's chest.

Qin Shaoyou glanced at it; the head was very round and very white...

It was Su Jianqing.

She poked her head out and said, "After you left, a villager suggested sending someone into the mountains to report your matter to the tiger..."

After Su Jianqing finished speaking, she saw that Qin Shaoyou remained calm and couldn't help but wonder, "Why aren't you nervous at all?"

"What's there to be nervous about?" Qin Shaoyou smiled. "When Scholar Zhu led the team to the land temple, he had already secretly dispatched people to hide around the village. If anyone from the village really tries to report to the tiger, they will be spotted and won't succeed."

"So you were prepared all along. No wonder you weren't worried at all."

Unable to scare Qin Shaoyou, Su Jianqing felt a bit bored.

"The suggestion to report was rejected by the village chief. I really didn't expect that your made-up story would make the villagers believe it so much. Your eloquence is truly impressive. It's a waste that you're not a storyteller."

Qin Shaoyou laughed, "Thank you for the compliment. If I can't make it in the Demon Extermination Bureau, I'll take your advice and become a storyteller. Who knows, I might even become famous."

Then he asked seriously, "Besides the rejection of the reporting suggestion, did you hear anything else?"

"The rest was just idle chatter, nothing valuable."

Su Jianqing, of course, wouldn't tell Qin Shaoyou that she had also heard the villagers saying that he and Su Tingyu were a well-matched couple and that their love story was very touching.

Qin Shaoyou nodded and bowed to Su Jianqing, "Thank you, Great Daoist Su, for continuing to monitor the villagers. If they show any suspicious behavior or speech, please inform us immediately."

"Leave it to me."

Su Jianqing did not refuse.

From the fact that a villager had suggested reporting to the tiger, it was clear that the villagers were skeptical and opposed to the idea of someone helping them to exterminate the demon.

After all, the previous two attempts to exterminate the demon had failed, and they had paid a high price.

So it was necessary to be cautious to prevent them from ruining the demon extermination plan.

Su Jianqing's semi-transparent head disappeared from Su Tingyu's chest and continued to eavesdrop and monitor the villagers' activities.

Qin Shaoyou and Su Tingyu soon arrived at the land temple.

The temple was small, just a courtyard and a main hall.

The courtyard was very small, and the carts couldn't all fit inside, so they had to park outside the temple gate.

After unloading the carts, the horses were brought into the courtyard and fed and watered.

The night watchmen carried the iron cages, covered with burlap, into the main hall of the temple.

A few villagers gathered around the land temple, curiously guessing what the cargo was.

The iron cages were covered with burlap, so the contents were not visible. To prevent the children, who had been turned into dogs, from barking out of fear and causing trouble, the Su sisters had cast a spell on them to prevent them from barking.

So the curious villagers had no way of knowing what "cargo" the caravan was transporting.

Although they were curious, they did not have any ill intentions.

It wasn't that the villagers were particularly simple and honest, but rather that the caravan had many armed guards, which deterred them from having any ill intentions.

Qin Shaoyou and Su Tingyu entered the main hall of the temple and saw a clay statue of the land god.

The land god was a common figure—a smiling old man with a white beard and white hair, leaning on a cane.

On the altar in front of the statue, there was an incense burner filled with ash and a few burning incense sticks.

It was clear that the land temple was not abandoned and that villagers still came to offer incense regularly.

However, the temple was quite old. The paint on the land god's statue had peeled off in many places, making it look less dignified and more eerie and sinister.

Especially on its face, where several pieces of clay had fallen off, like large sores, making it look uncomfortable and less amiable, more menacing and terrifying.

On the pillars on either side of the land god's statue, there was a couplet that read, "Small temple, great power; high sky, long days."

"Small temple, great power?"

Qin Shaoyou couldn't help but snort, glancing at the land god's statue and shaking his head. "If you really had power, why haven't you shown any miracles to bless the villagers who worship you every day?"

In this world, even gods were less reliable than humans.

In the main hall, the night watchmen were busy feeding and watering the children who had been turned into dogs in the iron cages.

Scholar Zhu came forward, first reporting on the sentries he had dispatched around the village, and then asked Qin Shaoyou, "Sir, have you convinced the village chief?"

Qin Shaoyou rolled up his sleeves, revealing a grass ring on his wrist.

"I have. Tonight, I and Little Daoist Su will act as the young couple, waiting in the village shrine for the ghost officials to come and take us. This grass ring is the symbol of our sacrifice."

"Sir, you are indeed eloquent." Scholar Zhu flattered him, then got to the point. "Please prepare yourself... take off your armor now."

Qin Shaoyou was shocked, "What? Take off my armor? Why?!"

Scholar Zhu knew he would react this way and patiently explained, "Sir, think about it, who has ever seen a sacrifice in armor? When the ghost officials come tonight, if they see your armor under your robe, won't they immediately suspect something?"

Qin Shaoyou opened his mouth, wanting to find a reason to refuse, but couldn't think of one.

He couldn't say that he was a turtle and naturally had to wear armor, could he?

Sighing, Qin Shaoyou had no choice but to accept the reality and, with the help of a few strong men, took off his armor.

To everyone's surprise, after removing the heavy armor, Qin Shaoyou was still wearing a soft armor and had a thick chest guard inside.

The small flags and the night watchmen under them were all stunned.

Wearing heavy armor wasn't enough; he even wore soft armor and had such a thick chest guard? Hadn't he already reached the Bone and Muscle Realm? Did he really need so much armor?

If Qin Shaoyou knew what they were thinking, he would definitely tell them that no matter how much defense you have, it's never too much, only too little.

Scholar Zhu also noticed the soft armor and chest guard and shook his head. "You need to take these off too."

Qin Shaoyou made one last effort, "I can take off the soft armor, but please let me keep this. It's my longevity lock."

Scholar Zhu gave him a look as if he were blind and shook his head. "Sir, whose longevity lock is shaped like a mirror, and so big and thick?"

After taking off the armor, soft armor, and chest guard, Qin Shaoyou put on his robe and reached for his sword.

"Sir, you can't bring the sword," Scholar Zhu said. "Besides the weapons that fell out when you took off your armor and soft armor, you must have other weapons hidden on you. Please take them out as well."

Qin Shaoyou resigned himself to his fate and took out several hidden weapons, placing them with the long sword, darts, and other weapons that had fallen out when he took off his armor and soft armor.

They formed a long row.

Scholar Zhu and the others were used to this, but the other night watchmen in the team were stunned and marveled.

Each of them thought, "This Qin Xiaqi is like a human arsenal."

Scholar Zhu glanced at the weapons on the ground, still a bit uneasy. "Sir, have you taken out all the weapons on you?"

Qin Shaoyou replied, "There are a few more. You have to leave me some for self-defense, right?"

Scholar Zhu thought about it and agreed, "Alright, but you must hide them well so the tiger and the ghost officials don't find them."

"Rest assured, I will." Qin Shaoyou breathed a sigh of relief.

Without weapons, he would feel very uncomfortable.

The surrounding night watchmen were once again amazed: Qin Xiaqi still had weapons hidden? Where... where did he hide them?

Their curious gazes kept darting over Qin Shaoyou's body.

After a simple meal of dry rations, the sky grew dark.

Night fell.

There were no stars tonight, and a gray moon hung lonely in the sky, as if it could be swallowed by the darkness at any moment.

Qin Shaoyou and Su Tingyu walked through the night to the village shrine.