Chapter 56

Great Shaman Inoyatira stood on the wooden steps at the entrance of the large wooden house, looking very pleased when she saw He Boqiang.

She instructed the native girl Molly to bring out a green iguana to entertain He Boqiang.

Watching the three-foot-long green iguana being decapitated alive, its body skewered on a stick made from a white locust tree branch, scalded with boiling water to remove the tough outer layer, gutted, stuffed with a bundle of unknown herbs, and then coated with some strange spices before being placed on the fire for roasting, He Boqiang felt his stomach start to cramp at the thought of having to eat this large lizard later.

Inoyatira the Great Shaman leaned against a leather cushion, and her smile grew even brighter when she saw He Boqiang take out a gift.

She leaned in and spoke a string of native language to He Boqiang, leaving him completely baffled.

He had thought that after half a month of learning the native language, he could communicate simply with the natives, but it seemed he had been too optimistic.

Fortunately, the clever native girl Molly noticed He Boqiang's embarrassment and quickly came to his aid, translating for him. Molly kept gesturing and breaking down the words into simpler terms, finally making He Boqiang understand that Inoyatira the Great Shaman was saying that since He Boqiang was chosen by the Demon God, he was a friend of the Handanar County natives.

Then, Inoyatira the Great Shaman placed the green iguana on a wooden tray and led He Boqiang into a small wooden house on the side.

The native girl Molly stayed outside, staring at He Boqiang with envy.

This bedroom was connected to the large wooden house, a circular room of less than twenty square meters. The room was lined with intricate mats, the walls were clean, and a beam of light shone through a circular hole in the roof, forming an oval spot on the mat.

There was only one shrine in the room, housing an ivory sculpture.

The ivory sculpture was quite old, its surface yellowed. Although the carving was crude, it was clear that it was a statue of the Demon God.

Inoyatira the Great Shaman walked to the shrine, knelt and bowed respectfully, then gestured for He Boqiang to sit down.

With Molly the native girl not present, He Boqiang couldn't understand what the Great Shaman was saying, so he just followed her instructions and sat down.

The Great Shaman sat cross-legged in front of the shrine, reciting a spell while her body swayed like seaweed. When she finished the spell, she placed the tray on the shrine. The statue on the shrine then lit up, and a beam of light shone on the head of the green iguana on the wooden tray. Soon, the head of the green iguana disappeared before He Boqiang's eyes.

A beam of light shone through the circular window in the ceiling, enveloping the Great Shaman in a column of light. A two-faced, four-armed shadow of the Demon God appeared before her, though it was only as tall as an ordinary person, perhaps because the offering was too meager.

The shadow quickly merged with the Great Shaman, and she opened her eyes again. Her eyes showed no emotion as she stared coldly at He Boqiang.

Under the Great Shaman's cold gaze, He Boqiang's body gradually became transparent, and the shadow in his spiritual sea appeared behind him.

He had thought that in the endless void of his spiritual sea, the stars were not yet lit, and the shadow of his body had become infinitely large, enveloping the sky full of stars.

But now He Boqiang realized that the stars were not in the endless void but were countless nodes beneath the shadow of his body.

After the five nodes on his shoulders were lit, they were connected by some faint lines.

The Great Shaman's hollow eyes gathered a thread of lightning, which eventually covered both eyeballs. She pointed at He Boqiang's head with a blank expression, and a halo of light emerged from her fingertips.

The halo, like a dandelion seed, drifted toward He Boqiang.

He Boqiang found his body becoming incredibly stiff, unable to move.

He Boqiang thought to himself, "It's over."

He felt that if Inoyatira the Great Shaman were to try to possess him, he would be unable to resist.

The dandelion-like halo slowly drifted into the shadow of He Boqiang's manifestation, causing a tumult in his spiritual sea. The five lit nodes in the shadow shone brightly, and the faint lines reflected a blue glow under the light.

He Boqiang couldn't understand what was happening, but he felt a thunderous boom in his spiritual sea...

It was as if a restraint in his spiritual sea had been destroyed by the halo. The shadow, which was already somewhat ethereal, began to dissipate, and the nodes in his body seemed to be fading as well. The five lit nodes flickered like candles in the wind.

He Boqiang felt an indescribable panic, but then the light seed floating in his body slowly spread a warm and gentle glow. The shadow that was about to fade became solid again, slowly reshaping itself into a two-faced, four-armed shadow of the Demon God in front of He Boqiang.

In the next second, the light seed slowly dissolved into the reshaped shadow of the Demon God. The five lit nodes in the shadow shone brightly, and then the sixth, seventh... until the ninth node was lit, and the brilliance gradually subsided.

What He Boqiang didn't expect was that the two-faced, four-armed shadow returned to his spiritual sea.

The shadow, which had originally resembled his own body, had transformed into a two-faced, four-armed shadow of the Demon God, but the star-like nodes in the shadow remained unchanged, with more nodes being lit.

In this indescribable fear, He Boqiang found his body slowly recovering, and his hands and feet could move again.

He jumped up from the mat, grabbing Inoyatira the Great Shaman's black robe. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, but no sound came out.

The lightning in Inoyatira the Great Shaman's eyes disappeared, and her face returned to a calm expression. She seemed to be exhausted, the light column around her body fading. When He Boqiang lifted her with one hand, her body appeared weak and powerless, but her expression was somewhat strange, and she emitted a sound like a hoot from her throat.

Seeing Inoyatira the Great Shaman's face turn red from suffocation, He Boqiang could only sigh softly and release his grip on her collar.

Inoyatira the Great Shaman sat weakly on the mat, holding her throat and coughing, her breathing becoming increasingly difficult.

He Boqiang also sat on the mat, dazed, wondering what had happened to him...