The Daoist Master tilted his head with difficulty, glancing at the young man whose bones were utterly crushed under the pressure.
...Dead?
The Daoist Master squeezed out two words from his throat: "...Useless!"
Hearing this, the others didn't want to be useless, but they didn't want to be heroes either. Unable to withstand the heavy pressure, they simply prostrated themselves on the ground and began kowtowing in Bai Yuhuai's direction.
"We're all from the metaphysics circle, we were just misled for a moment... Why does the Cloud Return Sect need to go to such extremes?"
"We'll do our utmost to make amends for our mistakes in the future!"
"Yes, yes..."
The reason they weren't kowtowing towards Jing Jiujiu... well, they wanted to, but they needed to be able to move first.
The Daoist Master couldn't help but say sternly: "If you go back... you'll die too!"
Those few people trembled, seeming to remember something. Their mouths, previously full of pleas for mercy, suddenly fell silent.
Bai Yuhuai said unhurriedly: "Hmm, the Daoist Master's words remind me... you still have accomplices waiting for you to return. What are you going to take back? These evil deity statues?"
The Daoist Master immediately shut his mouth.
Bai Yuhuai, however, was in a good mood. He actually felt a bit of pleasure in bullying others with his "power."
This feeling was extraordinarily strange.
"You fly the flag of Daoism, use the big names of the metaphysics circle, but engage in nefarious deeds." Bai Yuhuai walked closer to the Daoist Master, bent down slightly, and grabbed that thing that was neither human nor ghost in his hand.
This Daoist Master was quite spirited, as could be seen from his angry scolding of others.
After listening, he laughed coldly and said: "What do you understand? How mystically the outside world speaks of the Cloud Return Sect, but seeing it today, it's nothing special. A bunch of decrepit old men, yet they revere a young man as their ancestral master. How many years have you lived? How many books have you read? Do you know how the heavens and earth came to be? What do you know about the Dao? What do you know about the mysterious? Do you know what it was like when gods and buddhas filled the sky? Do you know how this world will ultimately head towards destruction after the fall of the divine beings?"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became, as if he was the only clear-headed person left in this world.
He said fiercely: "You know nothing! How could you possibly understand the grandeur of our aspirations?"
"Nefarious?" He sneered and said: "I am willing to sacrifice myself for the day when the divine beings return... Does your Cloud Return Sect dare to do the same?"
Bai Yuhuai paused slightly, then paid a bit more attention, carefully examining this Daoist Master.
His appearance was somewhat similar to Daoist Master Qu Yi, but he seemed older.
Daoist Master Qu Yi, when he said he would tear off the facade, he really did, in the end not caring about any pretense. This person, however, seemed very persistent...
Before Bai Yuhuai and the glaring members of the Cloud Return Sect could speak, Jing Jiujiu couldn't hold back anymore.
"How old is he? How old are you? He can subdue you to this state, yet you turn around and mock his youth? Shouldn't you be ashamed that your years have been wasted?" Jing Jiujiu was extremely puzzled.
The Daoist Master: "..."
The Cloud Return Sect: "..." That makes sense.
The Cloud Return Sect continued to glare angrily: "That's right, with just one encounter, you dare to slander our ancestral master's reputation. What do you know? Do you understand how formidable our Cloud Return Sect's ancestral master is?"
Bai Yuhuai felt like laughing, but his heart felt both warm and soft.
How did the two sides end up in a war of words?
Had Jiujiu forgotten that he currently appeared as a deity? Gods were supposed to be lofty and sparing with words.
But another thought quickly flashed through Bai Yuhuai's mind, unbidden.
If Jing Jiujiu were truly a deity.
Even a god would stoop to be with a lover.
He was his god, and also his Jiujiu.
As this thought flashed by, Bai Yuhuai's blood began to stir, and excitement rapidly spread along his spine.
"I don't need to know how formidable he is. A mortal body can never compare to a deity." At this point, the Daoist Master couldn't help but grit his teeth, "This god you've invited today isn't even a true deity! You mock our methods as nefarious, but who knows how you created this god? And he even claims to be your boyfriend?... It's truly shameless! How can humans be compatible with deities?"
Jing Jiujiu pressed his lips together, suddenly not daring to look at Bai Yuhuai's expression.
Would he be hurt and upset after hearing this?
When I hear netizens say I'm not good enough for him, I get so angry.
Jing Jiujiu said softly: "But I want to be compatible with him."
The people of the Cloud Return Sect heard this and were first slightly startled, then nearly burst into tears. When the previous ancestral master was still alive, according to records, no matter who in the sect did a divination for him, the final result was always - a lonely fate, which translated plainly meant destined to be single for life.
Who would have thought that after reincarnation, he'd gain a partner, no, two partners.
Touched as they were, their hearts sank even deeper.
Such deep affection and loyalty!
What if they found out the ancestral master was unfaithful?
They exchanged glances, barely suppressing their concerns.
The old lady from the Cloud Return Sect, who was also the "junior sister" who had nearly fainted earlier, looked at the Daoist Master and said coldly: "You don't know, but our Cloud Return Sect once had an ancestral master named Bai Huai. People called him Immortal Lord Zhuo Wu. For you to say he doesn't understand deities, doesn't comprehend heaven and earth, doesn't know metaphysics... it's like a child playing with a cleaver in front of Lu Ban. It's laughable!"
Jing Jiujiu listened attentively; it was the first time he had heard such detailed information about Bai Yuhuai's background.
It sounded like he was quite formidable...
The Daoist Master's expression changed at this point, and he hissed: "...You mean the legendary first mortal to become a god, the founding ancestor of the Cloud Return Sect? Impossible, how could he still be alive today after the fall of the deities? No, no... is he reincarnated? But deities don't reincarnate, do they? Once dead, they're dead..."
The Daoist Master fell into a soliloquy, seemingly confused in his thoughts for a moment.
Jing Jiujiu didn't quite understand.
Anyway, being formidable was all that mattered.
"And what's the background of the deity he invited?" the Daoist Master asked hoarsely.
How would the people of the Cloud Return Sect know? They all turned to look at Bai Yuhuai in unison.
Bai Yuhuai's expression remained unchanged, as if they had been discussing another person entirely.
Bai Yuhuai: "Guess."
The Daoist Master didn't feel this was mocking him; he actually started guessing, and after a while, said: "He has a Buddhist aura, is he from the Bodhisattva Division? A Buddha from the Divine Beings Division or the Celestial Division?"
"No, no, why does he also have a trace of ghostly energy? Is he Ksitigarbha who entered hell?"
The Daoist Master seemed to be driven mad, his face turning from pale to flushed as he muttered: "That's not right. He also has a chaotic energy, I can sense it, I can sense it! When Pangu opened the heavens, chaos scattered... What kind of god is he exactly? Tell me! Tell me..."
The people of the Cloud Return Sect were all dumbfounded listening to this.
How come the more they listened, the more uneasy they felt?
"You know the deities... the deities have revived? When did it start? What about hell? What about King Yama?" The Daoist Master seemed to have a belly full of questions, asking them one after another.
"What kind of god is he?" Bai Yuhuai's eyes flickered, "He's my god."
Jing Jiujiu pressed his lips together again, feeling his ears getting a bit hot. He tilted his head slightly, suddenly remembering, oh, that inexplicable light had enveloped his entire body.
The way they looked at him, they probably couldn't see him clearly.
"Are you worshipping him?" the Daoist Master asked in a daze.
"Yes."
"Tell me, tell me his name. If I light incense for him, I'll know... if it's real... if everything has truly revived? Is the ideal realm just ahead?"
Bai Yuhuai gave him a cold, indifferent look before saying flatly: "Two characters, Jiujiu."
"The number nine-nine?"
"The wine fermented from grains."
The Daoist Master said as if possessed: "Grains are spiritual objects that receive the energy of heaven and earth. This name has great significance."
Jing Jiujiu was startled.
He remembered the people who had given him this name.
It was Yu Ran and Jing Tinghua who had pored over numerous dictionaries before settling on these two easy-to-pronounce characters.
"I understand now, I understand. One sees immortals when drunk on wine... Can I see deities too?" The Daoist Master struggled to raise his head, a few traces of fanaticism appearing on his face.
No one told him whether he could or couldn't.
He raised his head for a glimpse, finally catching a vague glimpse of the deity's appearance.
Amidst the revolving light, it was an extremely young, inhumanly beautiful youth...
The Daoist Master suddenly breathed his last.
His form collapsed, revealing an even more torn large hole behind him.
A more dazzling light flashed on Jing Jiujiu's body.
Bai Yuhuai raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised.
"The power of faith," he said softly.
Jing Jiujiu had gained another believer.
Even though this believer had just died, he was a practitioner of the mystic arts with strong, unwavering convictions. His devotion was worth a hundred times that of others.
Moreover, with his death, his faith would never waver again.
To think that among Daoist Master Qu Yi's disciples, there really was someone willing to sacrifice himself for the cause, as he had said...
But his cause...
It didn't sound like anything good.
Bai Yuhuai's eyes flashed as he bound the monster he had captured with a golden rope and handed it over to his followers behind him.
Seeing that the leading Daoist Master and the talented young man were both dead, what more could the others say? They began to beg for mercy once again.
The old men and women didn't stand on ceremony. They stepped forward, swept their wide sleeves, and tied them up one by one.
"To the police station," Bai Yuhuai said without looking back.
He bent down to close the Daoist Master's eyes.
"Huh?" The people of the Cloud Return Sect were stunned.
Bai Yuhuai: "I don't have time to listen to their excuses and evasions... Once they're in the police station, they won't be able to use any of their tricks and will naturally tell the truth."
"Oh!"
Upon hearing this, those people of course began to struggle: "No, we can't go to the police station, let's talk this over..."
They were pushed out.
An old woman who remained behind looked up and asked tremblingly, "Shouldn't we respectfully send off the deity?"
The corner of Bai Yuhuai's mouth twitched upward: "No."
He stepped onto the windowsill and leaped up, firmly pulling Jing Jiujiu, who was floating in mid-air, into his arms, then brought him down.
The old woman: =O=
Good heavens, this is a deity!
Bai Yuhuai carried Jing Jiujiu and walked straight out.
Jing Jiujiu obediently leaned against his chest and couldn't help but say softly, "What on earth did the Qu Yi Daoist family create? A new-age pyramid scheme? He thought he was martyring himself for the cause, but in reality, he was nurturing evil."
Jing Jiujiu sighed lightly: "Have pyramid schemes become so rampant? Even scamming the middle-aged and elderly... Others scam for money, but they scam for lives."
The old woman found the term "pyramid scheme" novel and wondered what it meant.
Meanwhile, Bai Yuhuai paused and said, "Jiujiu has a point. Reporting it to the police and rounding them all up at once might be faster than us confronting them directly..."
Jing Jiujiu was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Am I a deity now?"
Bai Yuhuai: "Half of one. But as long as beings like Yama don't appear, you're the strongest deity in this world."
The strongest?
Jing Jiujiu was still a bit uncomfortable with this.
"How strong?" Jing Jiujiu murmured.
He didn't mean anything else by it, he was just genuinely curious about what being half a deity would entail.
"By the way, apart from Master Tingyi sculpting my statue, me gaining believers, consuming offering incense, and devouring the divine consciousness of chaos and evil gods... is there anything else that had an effect?" Jing Jiujiu felt like he was overlooking something.
Bai Yuhuai remained silent for a while, but in the end didn't hide it from him: "...My essence."
"Did I really absorb your vital essence?"
"Not vital essence. To be precise... it's the power of a god. It's hidden within me, in my bodily fluids..."
Jing Jiujiu had originally been very afraid of Bai Yuhuai's blood.
But now he couldn't help but become curious again.
Jing Jiujiu smacked his lips: "Then can I have a lick to taste it again?"
Bai Yuhuai's eyelid twitched: "...You may."
As soon as Jing Jiujiu finished speaking, he ran off: "Great, wait for me, I'm going to pick up my dad first!"
Bai Yuhuai's passion cooled in an instant: "..."
But as he gazed at Jing Jiujiu's retreating figure, he couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself. Jiujiu was too adorable.
The old woman behind them watched with a face full of horror.
It's better to be single, truly single. They had been single all their lives, and at least they didn't have to change their personalities so drastically like the Grand Master, even breaking moral boundaries!