Qin Ye didn't raise his head, busy arranging the deity-worshipping items in his hands, only raised his hand and waved it slightly in response to Black Mist. "Go quickly."
Black Mist retreated.
Qin Ye continued to busy himself for a while, and only after finishing everything did he stand up.
He held the deity-worshipping items and walked into the temple, leaving behind a faint sentence at the spot.
"Whether to protect or not, will be revealed the day after tomorrow."
Time passed swiftly.
In the following days, Qin Ye, relying on his eloquence, was liked very much by the elders of the temple fair, so much so that he was invited to eat during mealtimes. And with his good looks, he became familiar with the spirit mediums.
Just like this, time came to the day after tomorrow.
"Brother Qin, here are the clothes, quickly put them on. We're about to begin the Spirit Parade."
Xiao Wen handed a temple fair outfit to Qin Ye. Though called clothes, it was actually just a simple sleeveless top, printed with the temple's name and the place's name.
With a series of rituals, the deity statues in the temple were invited onto the sedan chairs.
Strings of large firecrackers were lit. The crackling of firecrackers was deafening. A Spirit Parade procession of more than a thousand people, setting off firecrackers, beating gongs and drums, grand and mighty, surged out of the temple fair.
Even though the deity statues weighed several hundred pounds, the sedan carriers were full of energy, shouting as they carried.
There was a team of sedan carriers who were having an absolute blast, carrying while shaking the sedan and dancing.
The scene was extremely grand.
When the Spirit Parade procession entered the neighborhood streets, the momentum grew even bigger.
Wherever the Spirit Parade passed by someone's doorstep, the residents would definitely come out to greet it, light firecrackers, pick up the gold paper offerings placed earlier on the altar at the door, bow to the deities, and then burn the offerings for the deities to enjoy.
Whether it was the atmosphere, or the momentum, everything was so lively.
Even Qin Ye was excited and infected by the liveliness. But before he could join the parade and enjoy it,
"It's your turn."
Along with the words of a middle-aged elder, the three girls beside Qin Ye, including Xiao Wen, all nodded.
Xiao Wen laughed loudly. "It's our turn, huh?"
She laughed very happily, as if trying to laugh it all out at once to avoid laughing later during the ritual.
Next, under Qin Ye's gaze, Xiao Wen closed her eyes. Just a second ago, she still looked gentle and quiet, but the next second she jumped into the spirit dance, the dance looking quite mad and ridiculous.
She and the two Spirit mediums companions, rushed one after another up onto the deity sedan platform.
Seeing this, Qin Ye collected his thoughts and focused on the deity sedan platform in front.
In the eyes of the surrounding crowd, the three girls including Xiao Wen were just dancing the spirit dance, and besides looking crazy, there was no other visible change.
However, in Qin Ye's eyes, it was different.
The three girls, including Xiao Wen, as they jumped and danced repeatedly, there rose from their bodies a kind of energy, invisible to the naked eye, but filled with holiness, like the scent of burning incense in worship.
"The invitation of gods has begun." Qin Ye murmured.
At the beginning, the condition of the three girls was still fine, communicating with the gods, inviting the gods to descend, but there was no response, just like when Qin Ye called for the Earth God and the City God before.
The immortals did not respond.
But as time passed, after seven to eight minutes, as the Spirit Parade passed by household after household, with more people watching, while the three girls were fervently dancing the spirit dance...
'Hmm?' Qin Ye sensed something, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
In front, the aura rising from the three girls changed, originally like Buddhist incense, but now became strange and discomforting. The originally golden glow was now tainted with a layer of black.
At the same time, Xiao Wen's spirit dance became more and more frenzied, her whole body twitching and trembling.
At first glance, it really looked like a god had descended.
But in Qin Ye's eyes, Xiao Wen didn't look like she was possessed by a god, more like she was possessed by a ghost, emitting a decaying, black and foul aura.
Her abnormal actions, were noticed by the middle-aged elder. Although he had told Xiao Wen earlier to just relax and dance, he was still worried she might make mistakes, so he watched from the side.
At this moment, seeing Xiao Wen's state, the middle-aged elder's eyes lit up.
"Not bad, Xiao Wen. This dance is pretty good. It has the feeling, though a bit too crazy... Huh?"
However, just as he was praising halfway, the middle-aged elder noticed that when Xiao Wen bowed her head and shook it, the corners of her mouth were curving upward.
"Hehehe..."
Chuckling sounds came intermittently from Xiao Wen's mouth, as if she was about to burst out laughing at any moment.
The middle-aged elder quickly half-covered his mouth and used the firecracker sounds to discreetly remind her.
"Xiao Wen, don't break character by laughing."
But despite several reminders, Xiao Wen seemed not to hear. Eyes still closed, she kept dancing, still chuckling.
If she weren't bowing her head and shaking it, the surrounding people might have discovered she was laughing.
While the middle-aged elder was reminding Xiao Wen,
"Hehehe..."
Another stifled chuckle rang out. The elder heard it and looked over, his heart a little shaken.
On the deity sedan platform, another Spirit mediums also started laughing.
"Tanya, what are you doing? Why are you also laughing? Don't break character!"
The middle-aged elder saw it and became anxious.
He didn't expect Xiao Wen to laugh, but now even the most experienced of the three Spirit mediums was laughing?
The middle-aged elder's mind was fully on the laughing, completely unaware, that the corners of Xiao Wen and Tanya's mouths were curving more and more, and their laughter was becoming more and more strange.
Especially Xiao Wen's laughter, as seconds passed, her laughter grew more and more childish... Unlike a teenager's voice, more like a child under ten laughing.
At the same time, Qin Ye watched all this, holding the Sky Law Cage in his hand, and Hu San Old Master seemed to sense something, for the first time stopped attacking the cage.
Even, the Liu family old master with the snake scales and fox tail also stopped his painful groaning.
"Kill me, kill—" The groaning stopped suddenly. Hu San Old Master and the Liu family old master both turned their gazes toward the deity sedan platform.
On the other side, Qin Ye, feeling the changes in the Sky Law Cage, looked up at Xiao Wen and muttered, "Xiao Hei, I really need to be careful this time."
Now hearing Xiao Wen emit that childish laughter, "Just what kind of deity was invited?"
Qin Ye's eyes flickered, guessing, "Nezha?"
(T/N: Nezha is a popular figure in Chinese mythology, often depicted as a young, powerful deity with a rebellious spirit. Nezha is seen as a protector and is especially well-known for defying traditional gods and even fate itself.)
He thought of the Heavenly Court deity, Nezha the Third Prince, whose form as a deity was that of a childish boy, matching the childish laughter. However, although the laughter matched Nezha's youthful tone, that eerie laughter and discomforting aura, Qin Ye knew in his heart, the one Xiao Wen invited was definitely not the Nezha of folk legends.
At least, not the Nezha he once was.
At this moment, Qin Ye walked to the deity sedan platform, looking up at Xiao Wen. Besides her strange smile and closed eyes, there was a moment where her eyes briefly opened, and Qin Ye caught it.
He saw Xiao Wen's eyes had changed, the left eye was normal, watery and bright, but the right eye had turned completely black, thick and dark, just like the eyes of Hu San Old Master, completely without whites.
Clearly, Xiao Wen really did summon a deity, but what she summoned was an infected immortal.
Qin Ye looked around. At this moment, the Spirit Parade was still moving grandly through the streets, heading toward the next block.
"I remember there's an open space ahead."
Qin Ye pulled three yellow soybeans from his pocket, and looked at Xiao Wen and Tanya, who were increasingly transforming.
Even the third Spirit mediums's aura was turning thick black.
"I really want to see what an infected Heavenly Court god looks like."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/ZenonTL
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.