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As soon as the last wisp of smoke completely disappeared into the root core, Zhao Fengnian took a deep sniff, turned around, and ran back. He ran all the way back to Lanruo Temple, stomping through the main hall, and found Liu Jin in the backyard, who was studying the tree demon's root structure by comparing the texture of the remains with his notes.

"Brother, it's done. I made a temporary container out of the tree spirit's root core and placed them, along with the core, on the main road in front of the City God Temple. I left a letter explaining the situation. I used sorcerer's methods to conceal it the whole time, leaving no trace of human presence."

Liu Jin closed his notebook and nodded at him.

"There's something else." Zhao Fengnian took out another piece of debris from his pocket. It was a palm-sized, dark green fragment next to the root core, its surface covered with fine textures left after being burned by the Samadhi True Fire.

"Brother, you're right. Going directly to the City God Temple is indeed inappropriate. Given my situation, if I'm mistaken for a cultist or possessed by some evil spirit and detained on the spot, you'll have to bail me out of jail. So from today onwards, we're members of the Sanyi Temple. You're the abbot, and I'm your handyman."

Liu Jin glanced at him, slightly raised the corners of his mouth, and did not refute him.

The two got right to work. Although Lanruo Temple was dilapidated, its main structure was still relatively intact. The beams and pillars of the main hall were not rotten, and the meditation rooms in the backyard only needed repairs to the roofs and doors and windows.

Zhao Fengnian spent two days cutting bamboo on the mountain, whittling it into strips and weaving them into simple brooms and dustpans; Liu Jin used ribbons to clean up the accumulated dust and cobwebs in the main hall, and also used Samadhi True Fire to lightly burn the wall behind the Buddha statue, which had been blackened by demonic energy. After the wall was burned clean, the original yellowish-brown rammed earth underneath was revealed, making it much cleaner than before.

Zhao Fengnian moved the Buddha statue with half a head missing from the main hall to the backyard, covered it with a clean white cloth, and decided that from now on, Buddha would not be worshipped here, but only heaven and earth.

After clearing the center of the main hall, he picked out the most regular-shaped wooden plaque from the tree demon's remains and wrote three characters, "Sanyi Temple," on it neatly with charcoal. The plaque was hung above the hall's entrance, crooked but clearly visible from a distance.

......

"Liu Jin still can't forget Sanyi."

"Who can forget their roots?"

"Trinity will now be famous throughout the heavens."

"But according to Granny Tree's logic, the meaning of the name 'Sanyi' is too profound. Won't it cause trouble for Liu Jin and the others?"

"It's hard to say, but we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Liu Jin isn't some clueless newbie anymore. Judging from Granny Tree's performance, Liu Jin is more than capable of protecting himself in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio."

......

The meditation rooms in the backyard were also prepared. One room was for Liu Jin, one room was for Zhao Fengnian to live in, and the other room was left empty as a guest room.

Zhao Fengnian transplanted a few wildflowers from the mountain and planted them in the yard. He also opened a small vegetable garden in the corner of the yard. Although the seeds have not yet been sown, the ridges have been neatly marked.

He then built a stove with broken bricks, placed an old iron pot he had found in Jinhua City on it, and cut a bamboo pole to make a simple chimney, with the chimney opening pointing diagonally out of the courtyard wall.

Lanruo Temple is no longer like Lanruo Temple.

"Brother, where does our Taoist temple get its incense offerings from? We can't just wait for monsters to come to us, can we?"

"What do you need incense for?"

"Eat. Although I've suppressed my Gluttony Mark so I don't have to eat like crazy anymore, I still have to eat. You don't have to eat, but I do. Besides, since we've taken over this place, we should do something, like helping people with feng shui, exorcising evil spirits, or curing minor illnesses, to cover our identities."

Liu Jin thought for a moment, realizing that he had only practiced meditation and had not comprehended the arts of Qimen Dunjia, so he could only let Zhao Fengnian handle it himself: "You decide what to do."

Zhao Fengnian then made another trip to Jinhua City. He bought the finest cinnabar and talisman paper from Wang's Pen and Ink Shop, the most famous shop in the city, and ordered a small copper stove from a blacksmith shop for burning incense.

He was calm and composed when he was negotiating prices with the shop assistant. When the assistant asked him what he was buying these things for, he said that he was a servant at a newly opened Taoist temple outside the city. The abbot was a wandering Taoist master who was now temporarily residing in Jinhua and was in charge of subduing demons.

The shop assistant was skeptical, but seeing that he bought quite a lot, he still gave him a discount.

On his way back to the mountain, he passed the city gate and saw a yellowed reward notice posted on the bulletin board. A certain escort agency had lost a shipment and had been searching for it for several months without success. A reward of fifty taels of silver was offered for clues.

Zhao Fengnian glanced at it a few more times, memorized the address on the notice, and thought that he could take his older brother to see it another day, which would also be considered as opening a business for Sanyi Temple.

Near the City God Temple, the first group of vegetable vendors to pass by the official road after dawn were a group heading to the early market.

The leader saw a dark green root core the size of a human head placed in the middle of the official road. He thought it was a valuable piece of wood, but when he picked it up, he found a piece of straw paper stuck in the gap.

He was illiterate, but he recognized the gate of the City God Temple, so he placed the root along with the straw paper on the incense table at the temple gate.

When the sun was high in the sky, the temple keeper of the City God Temple came out to sweep the incense table. He saw the root and the straw paper, picked them up and examined them for a while. His brows furrowed more and more. In the end, he still took the root and quickly walked into the temple.

The temple keeper placed the root on the altar in front of the statue, lit three sticks of incense, and read aloud the contents written on the straw paper word for word.

The smoke from the incense rose into the face of the statue, and a moment later, the candlelight in front of the statue flickered simultaneously.

The female ghosts trapped in the core were drawn out one by one by a gentle force, turning into more than a hundred wisps of pale white smoke, which slowly drifted into the shadows at the feet of the statue.

The root core of the thousand-year-old tree demon was wrapped in red cloth by the temple keeper and placed on the weapon rack to the left of the statue, which was the usual place in the City God Temple to store captured demons.

The temple keeper spread out a sheet of yellow paper, dipped his brush in cinnabar, and succinctly copied down the contents of the draft paper, adding his preliminary examination of the root at the end.

The remains bore traces of flames, but unlike ordinary Dao fire, the lingering aura was extremely pure. Having done this, he put down his pen, lit the yellow paper over a candle flame, and watched the ashes drift into the void.

A moment later, a reply note appeared out of thin air on the offering table in front of the statue.

The temple keeper held up the reply slip with both hands. On it, written in small cinnabar characters, were the words: "The remains have been examined and are confirmed to be of pure fire nature, neither evil nor demonic. Two ghost messengers are dispatched to investigate further. They must be respectful and avoid any disturbances."

That night, the gates of the City God Temple opened by themselves without any wind. Two blue lanterns drifted out of the temple, followed by two blurry figures, one tall and thin as a bamboo pole, the other short and stout as a winter melon, each dressed in a black official robe, with iron chains and tokens hanging from their waists. The two floated along the official road north of Jinhua City without touching the ground, finally stopping at the foot of the mountain where the former site of Lanruo Temple was located.

The demonic aura in the forest had been completely burned away by the Samadhi True Fire, leaving not a trace, but a faint trace of smoke still lingered in the air.

The tall, thin ghost guard dipped a finger in the air, sniffed it, then pulled it back, licked it on the tip of his tongue, and then spat it out abruptly.

The short, stout ghost officer pulled a ledger-sized book from his sleeve, flipped to the latest page, scratched a few lines with his fingernail, then closed the book and stuffed it back into his sleeve, shaking his head at the tall, thin ghost officer.

The two green lamps did not ascend the mountain, but instead slowly circled the foot of the mountain before stopping under an old locust tree beside the official road. The two ghost messengers bowed in the direction of the mountain, then extinguished the lamps and disappeared into the night.