Chapter 98

Chapter 98

As soon as You Nan arrived, the Little Immortal, who was surrounded by the crowd wanting to touch and hug him, suddenly transformed into a golden streak of light in everyone's eyes. It flew from above straight toward You Nan and landed inside the small golden plaque he was holding.

Everyone’s gaze followed immediately, and they also noticed the items in the hands of You Nan and the village chief.

"Chief! Where did the Little Immortal go just now?"

Their first question wasn’t about what these things were for, but an anxious inquiry about the Little Immortal’s whereabouts.

All eyes turned to You Nan.

They had all seen how the Little Immortal disappeared.

The village chief glanced at You Nan several times and, seeing that he remained silent, understood that he was expected to step forward and explain.

The chief stepped out, raising both hands to calm the excited crowd. "Everyone, please stay calm. Listen to me first."

He turned to look at You Nan and Er Ya nearby, both of whom stepped forward holding their items.

As soon as You Nan came out, the villagers immediately noticed the golden plaque in his hand.

The lifelike carving of a child on it—they had just seen him moments ago.

Everyone was stunned. Could it be that the Little Immortal was actually You Nan’s plaque?

"Wh-what’s going on? What is this?"

They hurriedly asked.

Er Ya, holding the incense burner, stepped forward and explained how she had encountered the evil spirits invading the village, how Brother You Nan had risked his life to save her and led the spirits away, and how the Little Immortal emerged from the plaque to help them.

Only then did the villagers understand.

So they hadn’t been wrong—it really was the Little Immortal who saved them!

"Now the Little Immortal is exhausted and needs to rest, absorbing the energy from incense offerings to nourish his divine power. I ask everyone, in light of his righteous deeds in vanquishing evil, to offer him a stick of incense."

You Nan felt uneasy, holding up the small plaque with both hands so everyone could see clearly.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the villagers immediately responded, "Yes, of course!"

"We’ll go home to get incense and be right back."

"I will too! The Little Immortal saved everyone in our village, after all!"

Seeing everyone leave to fetch incense, You Nan grew worried as he hadn’t seen his family along the way. He temporarily entrusted the small plaque to Er Ya and the village chief.

"Chief, I need to go find my elder brother and parents. I’ll leave this to you."

The chief hurriedly took it with both hands. "It’s the least we can do! Go quickly, good boy."

You Nan agreed and immediately ran toward the fields.

His heart raced, his legs weak, as he shouted loudly, "Brother! Dad! Mom!"

As he passed one area, he suddenly spotted three familiar figures collapsed in the field.

You Nan recognized them immediately, exclaimed, carefully avoided trampling the crops, and slowly approached.

His family, while fleeing from the evil spirits, had in panic run into someone else’s field.

You Nan helped up his elder brother, who was closest to the ridge, turned him over, and saw that familiar pale face.

Trembling, he reached out and checked his breathing under his brother’s nose, holding his own breath.

When he detected that his brother was still breathing, he breathed a sigh of relief, unaware that cold sweat had broken out on his forehead.

You Nan then went to help his parents. Fortunately, all three were unharmed.

Only then did he feel relieved.

You Nan stood up and went to get help. With assistance, he brought his parents and brother back home.

The lucky survivors in the village all went to offer a stick of incense to the Little Immortal.

They prayed devoutly, and the fusion of faith and incense energy quickly enveloped the small golden plaque, nurturing the spirit within.

The little one, exhausted, collapsed in this small world. As he lay unconscious, healing his body, his cultivation and consciousness underwent earth-shaking changes.

You Nan didn’t check on the villagers outside; with the chief handling the situation, he felt assured.

He stayed home, watching over his parents and brother. After an hour, Er Ya came running back, sweaty, her expression grim.

"Brother You Nan," the little girl whispered, afraid of waking the elders, so only he could hear, "Someone from the neighboring village just came over. He said there are also many evil spirits in their village."

"Will those evil spirits come back for us?"

The terrifying scenes of the spirits killing people were deeply etched in Er Ya’s mind. Uncontrollably nervous, she grabbed You Nan’s hand.

You Nan wasn’t sure himself.

He looked toward the door, gazing at the sky in the distance.

At the foot of Daxing Mountain, there were several scattered villages, all under the jurisdiction of Daxing Town.

It took most of the day to travel from these villages to the town. It was unclear whether these creatures had gone to the town or if they could seek help from there to deal with them.

You Nan gathered his thoughts and patted Er Ya’s head. "Don’t be afraid. We have the Little Immortal to protect us. Even if they come, they won’t be able to harm us."

Er Ya nodded, but the worry in her eyes remained undiminished.

You Nan knew she was concerned about the people in the neighboring village.

He said, "When the Little Immortal wakes up, we’ll ask if he can save others too."

Only then did Er Ya nod repeatedly.

She had great confidence in Brother You Nan’s words.

The Little Immortal lived in Brother You Nan’s plaque—he must be very close to Brother You Nan!

Otherwise, Brother You Nan wouldn’t have known to ask everyone to offer incense to the Little Immortal to strengthen his power.

You Nan saw Er Ya off and stayed home to keep watch. However, he didn’t know what these creatures that attacked during the day were or why there were so many of them.

Their village was relatively fortunate, with only three deaths. Another dozen or so were unconscious, but everyone else survived.

However, those who were unconscious, like You Nan’s family, showed no signs of waking up.

This won't do.

After the villagers finished offering incense, the village chief brought the spirit tablet to You Nan. He said he sincerely thanked You Nan, the elderly man's eyes were red-rimmed. Two of his sons and a daughter-in-law had been possessed by evil spirits while working in the fields and still hadn't regained consciousness.

The only consolation was that they were still breathing.

Though heartbroken himself, the village chief pulled himself together to comfort You Nan—as the leader, he had to shoulder the responsibility.

"Good child, we have the little immortal with us. The little immortal will surely protect us. As long as those villagers are still alive, perhaps the little immortal can wake them up."

You Nan nodded and murmured "Mm-hmm," standing at the doorway to watch the village chief leave.

As the sky grew dark, You Nan began making supper. He cooked a little more than usual, setting aside an extra portion in a separate bowl, which he carefully placed in front of the spirit tablet.

Inside the spirit tablet, the little immortal was fast asleep when a tantalizing, fragrant aroma suddenly reached his nose. Instantly, drool trickled from the corner of his mouth.

With a *slurp*, the little immortal smacked his lips and turned over in his dream.

During the day, he had absorbed the energy of an evil spirit and a great deal of incense energy, which brought significant changes to his body.

Now, with formal incense offerings, he had officially entered the ranks of "wild deities."

In the human world, a "wild deity" is defined as having followers, receiving offerings, and nourishing the soul with incense energy. They can convert incense energy and followers' faith into their own divine power, but they are not true gods.

Wild deities also possess supernatural abilities and can practice magic, though they lack physical bodies and have escaped the cycle of reincarnation.

With further cultivation, wild deities might eventually become proper gods.

But whether this is true, no one really knows.

If measured by human cultivation levels, the little immortal, now lying asleep, had only just reached the third level of Qi Refining.

Among the countless wild deities in the vast world, he was the weakest—so feeble that others could crush him with just two fingers.

Though his abilities were stuck at this level, his body functioned like a reservoir.

Any incense energy or faith from followers that reached him would be stored within, waiting for him to use or refine it to advance his cultivation later.

This made him exceptionally weak, yet his energy reserves were sufficient to sustain him in battles against demons and monsters for a very long time.

This could be considered his innate gift—superhuman staying power.

The little immortal turned over again in his sleep, this time catching an even richer aroma.

You Nan recalled that during village celebrations, deities were honored with grand offerings of meat and dishes.

Though it wasn’t a time for celebration, the little immortal had just arrived in their village and had already helped them tremendously, so You Nan took it upon himself.

Gritting his teeth, he retrieved two small fish from the water vat in the corner.

These were fish he and his brother had caught in the stream a couple weeks ago, and the family had been hoarding them, reluctant to eat them.

But today, You Nan wanted to properly thank the little immortal.

He cooked the fish into a dish and placed it before the little immortal. The continuous, rich aroma finally woke him from his slumber.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw three small bowls before him.

One contained millet, another held small fish, and the last was filled with wild vegetables.

The toddler rubbed his eyes and looked again, even sneaking a peek at his father, who was busy about the house.

It took him a long while to finally confirm that these were all prepared personally by his dear father.

With a cheer, the toddler immediately leaned forward.

He opened his small mouth, and the essence from the meals in the three bowls, like thin threads, was instantly sucked into his mouth.

Just then, You Nan, who was adjusting his parents' blankets, suddenly heard an unfamiliar sound near his ear.

It was the murmured cheer of a little child, mixed with slurping sounds as he ate and the sound of a satisfied burp after finishing.

Everything felt distinctly audible.

You Nan sensed something and turned to look, but there was no one else in the house.

He rushed to the memorial tablet and saw that the freshly cooked food had lost its vibrancy in just a short while.

It had become soggy and spoiled.

Just like food left out for three or four days in the sweltering heat, it had spoiled.

The only difference was that the food before him gave off no smell—it had simply lost its vitality.

When You Nan saw this, he didn’t feel the slightest bit afraid.

He himself didn’t know why.

Instead, he felt an even stronger sense of closeness to the little child.

You Nan cleared the bowls and chopsticks in front of the plaque, washed them clean, and stored them in the cupboard.

As night gradually fell, everyone in the village returned to their homes, closing their doors and windows tightly.

They gripped clubs in their hands, their eyes wide open, too afraid to sleep.

They were afraid that evil spirits from elsewhere might come.

You Nan was also afraid. He pulled up a small stool and sat beside the plaque, quietly standing guard over his family.

Meanwhile, the little child inside the plaque, seeing that his father was keeping him company, happily ran in circles within his confined space.

When he grew tired, he simply sat on the ground, cupping his soft cheeks as he gazed at his father.

After what felt like a long time, the little child in the plaque detected something.

He lifted his head and looked in a certain direction, the roof became transparent to his vision.

He saw the swarming evil spirits.

A golden light shot out from the plaque but hovered at the doorway just as it was about to pass through the door panel, as if waiting for something.

Seeing this, You Nan immediately stepped forward and opened the door for the golden light.

He watched as the golden light bobbed twice in his direction, as if saying thank you.

You Nan was stunned, and before he could react, the beam of golden light soared into the sky and clashed violently with the suddenly arriving dark, shadowy mist outside.