The City God Comes to the Door

Half a month later, Lanruo Temple was completely unrecognizable.

The broken tiles of the main hall have been replaced with new ones, the courtyard walls have been rebuilt with gravel and clay, the roof of the meditation room in the back courtyard has been covered with new straw, and the wildflowers transplanted by Zhao Fengnian at the entrance of the meditation room are in full bloom under the autumn sun.

The wooden plaque above the temple gate that read "Sanyi Temple" swayed slightly in the wind. The charcoal characters on the plaque had been redrawn by Liu Jin using a burning technique. The edges of the strokes had very faint blue lines that were not visible from a distance, but would emit a faint glow at night.

That morning, the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, located west of Jinhua City, was escorting a shipment out of the city via the official road to the north. The head of the escort agency, surnamed Zhou, was a bearded man in his forties who was chewing dry rations on his horse when he suddenly pulled on the reins.

He rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again, before turning to the porter beside him and asking, "I remember when we walked this road last month, there was a dilapidated temple on this mountain, right?"

The porter rubbed his eyes. "Yes. It's so badly damaged that only half a wall remains. Zhou Tou, is that a temple, or is a new temple being built on top of it?"

Zhou, the head镖师, swallowed the dry rations in his mouth, stared at the brand-new green tiles and white walls on the mountainside for a long time, and then looked at the wooden plaque above the palace gate that was slightly reflected in the sunlight.

The plaque read "Sanyi Temple". He scratched his beard and sat up straight in the saddle. This place used to be haunted by monsters, and the escort agency had lost several shipments. He had traveled this road for more than ten years and had never seen anyone dare to carry out large-scale construction here.

Today, not only is there a viewpoint, but it also looks like people live there.

"After this shipment is delivered, go up the mountain to take a look on the way back." He kicked the horse's belly, and the horse started moving again, but its gaze unconsciously lingered on the new Taoist temple in the rearview mirror once more.

On the seventh day after the opening of Sanyi Temple, Zhao Fengnian was squatting in the yard watering the vegetable garden.

He watered the seedlings very carefully, each ladleful landing precisely at the base of the seedlings, without splashing a single drop onto the leaves. He muttered to himself, "Grow up quickly, so you can cook them."

Smoke curled from the bamboo chimney, dispersed by the morning breeze, mingling with the mountain mist and drifting among the treetops. He finished watering the last seedling and was about to straighten up to call Liu Jin for breakfast when he suddenly froze.

A person was standing at the entrance of the courtyard.

He didn't come from the mountain path. Zhao Fengnian had been glancing at the courtyard gate out of the corner of his eye while watering the vegetables, but there was no one on that gravel path. This person just suddenly appeared at the gate, as if he had grown out of thin air.

The newcomer was in his forties, with a square face, three neatly trimmed black stubble under his chin, a black gauze hat, a scarlet official robe, a jade belt around his waist, and black boots. The fabric of the official robe gleamed with a dark red sheen in the morning light, not from the reflection of the fabric, but from a warm, subdued sheen that seemed to have settled over countless years.

He wasn't holding anything; he just stood with his hands behind his back at the courtyard gate, his gaze passing over Zhao Fengnian and landing on the tightly closed door of the meditation room in the backyard.

Two blurry figures followed at his feet, one tall and thin like a bamboo pole, the other short and stout like a winter melon, each wearing a black official uniform with an iron chain and a token hanging from their waist.

The two ghost messengers' feet barely touched the ground; their figures were so faint in the morning light that they were almost transparent, but their eyes shone like four green beans as they darted around, surveying everything in the courtyard.

Zhao Fengnian dropped the water ladle into the bucket with a dull thud. He didn't recognize who this person was, but he recognized the official robe; it was the same style worn by the statue of the City God in the City God Temple.

Without saying a word, he turned and ran towards the meditation room. After running a couple of steps, he turned back, bowed respectfully to the gate of the courtyard, and then continued running.

Liu Jin knew it before he even uttered the first word.

It wasn't because he heard footsteps, but because he felt his Samadhi True Fire flicker slightly within his body. That's a reaction that only occurs when encountering energy of the same level, like two magnets sensing each other from a distance.

He got up, straightened his collar, and pushed open the door to the meditation room, bumping right into Zhao Fengnian, who was running over breathlessly.

"Brother, a man in a red robe has arrived at the door, accompanied by two ghost messengers. I guess it's the City God himself."

"I understand." Liu Jin walked to the front yard.

The City God stood at the courtyard gate without entering, his feet resting on a wisp of light blue cloud that lifted him three inches off the ground.

His gaze fell on Liu Jin, and then the crimson official robe on his body suddenly shone with a layer of golden light, not as an attack, but as a defense.

The golden light of merit transformed into a semi-transparent golden bell, enveloping his entire body. Countless fine runes flowed across the surface of the golden light, each rune only the size of a grain of rice, interwoven layer upon layer.

The two ghost guards beside him shrank behind him almost simultaneously. The tall, thin ghost guard held the iron chain across his chest, while the short, fat ghost guard raised the token above his head. All four of their legs began to tremble at the same time.

"Such a strong fiery nature," the City God said, his voice steady and normal, without the clanging of metal or the echoing of a normal person; it was just the voice of an ordinary middle-aged man.

"I have cultivated my golden body of merit for nearly a thousand years, and the golden light of my merit has long been solidified to the point of being tangible, so that ordinary Dao fire cannot even touch it. You did nothing, you just stood there, and my protective golden light was forced out by your aura. Your fire is no ordinary fire."

His gaze lingered for a moment on the dark blue flame mark between Liu Jin's brows. "It is purer than any other Fire God I have ever seen."

Liu Jin took two steps back. It wasn't a sign of weakness; it was a deliberate attempt to create distance.

"Your Majesty, I apologize. I have encountered some difficulties in my cultivation and am currently in seclusion to recuperate. I am temporarily unable to completely control the flames within my body. Please forgive any rudeness I may have committed."

The golden light emanating from the City God diminished slightly after he finished speaking, but it still maintained the shape of a golden bell surrounding him.

He glanced at Liu Jin and walked down the steps: "It's alright. If someone who has reached your level of cultivation doesn't have some extraordinary qualities, then that would be abnormal."

Liu Jin invited the City God to sit down at the stone table in the courtyard. The stone table was carved by Zhao Fengnian from a flat root plank from the remains of a tree demon. The tabletop had a fine and smooth texture and shimmered with a faint dark green hue in the morning light.

Zhao Fengnian jogged over with a pot of tea. It was Longjing tea from Wangji Tea Shop in Jinhua City. The leaves weren't the best, but the new tea was fresh and tender.

When he poured tea for the City God, his hand trembled slightly, and the tea almost spilled on the table. But the City God simply nodded to him, and he immediately stopped trembling. The City God's smile was more approachable than anyone he had ever met, like an old neighbor who had lived next door for decades, making him feel no tension at all.

The City God picked up his teacup, first glancing down at the tender green tea liquor within. He praised Jinhua Longjing tea, saying that although it wasn't as famous as West Lake Longjing, the water was excellent, and the tea brewed with spring water had a naturally sweet flavor. He took a sip, and indeed, he showed no airs of a divine being.