After Worshipping the Gods - Chapter 12

Yucheng Clan Ancestral Hall.

Uncle Chu, who had been recuperating for a few days, was already looking much better.

Although Ah Qing, who was running errands for him, hadn’t yet invited the person back, he had already passed a temporary method to Uncle Chu through a message first.

It was just that he still needed to confirm one more thing.

“Call Ah Wu over.” He said to Ah Qi, who was guarding the room and waiting.

Ah Qi hurriedly nodded and left. It wasn’t long before he brought over a burly young man.

“Uncle Chu, the person has been brought.”

Uncle Chu raised his eyes and swept a glance at Ah Qi. After spending a long time by Ah Qing’s side, Ah Qi also understood the meaning of Uncle Chu’s every eye movement, and very knowingly retreated, closing the door for the two of them.

The last time Ah Wu followed Uncle Chu to do something, when he pressed Jian Shu onto the formation, he was hit by Jian Shu using his head against his abdomen in pain and loosened his hand. Although the subsequent miracle that made them unable to resist happened, after letting go that day, Ah Wu had never dared to face Uncle Chu directly.

“Uncle Chu, are you looking for me …… for something?” Ah Wu asked, carefully glancing at Uncle Chu’s right arm.

Uncle Chu did not cover his damaged right arm. Because he had to change the medicine from time to time, the right sleeve was cut off a section so as not to dirty the gauze at the wound.

Ah Wu was even more afraid in his heart.

“As I recall, you were the one who brought the men to patrol in front of the inner mansion.” Uncle Chu looked at Ah Wu, his face didn’t carry any emotions, as if he didn’t blame him for his last misstep.

Ah Wu hurriedly nodded, “Yes! My brothers and I are guarding the entrance twenty-four hours a day. He definitely won’t be able to run away, and he will starve to death inside in a few days!”

Uncle Chu swept a glance at him, those cloudy eyes filled with an intimidation that Ah Wu couldn’t resist.

“Tonight, you take the people in and bring him back alive.”

Ah Wu didn’t quite understand.

“That kid made such a big commotion and killed one of my brothers! Uncle Chu, don’t you want to kill him, why do you need to catch him alive and bring him back?”

Uncle Chu looked at the tall man, Ah Wu, as if he was looking at a piece of trash, and spoke without the slightest bit of mercy, “You want to let Jian Lin starve to death in the inner mansion? Then, the twelfth son loses his usefulness, and you’ll go looking for the thirteenth to come back?”

The blood and flesh offerings that were sacrificed to the gods were screened through layers and layers.

For the clansmen in Yucheng, a clan member would be chosen every year to come and serve the gods for three years. This was a rule laid out in plain sight, a rule that must be kept by every clan member who received assistance from the clan’s living.

And the selection of the twelve sons was hidden under this rule. Every five years, one of the most suitable was selected and sacrificed to the soon-to-be-awakened gods.

Ah Wu knew he had said the wrong thing.

It had taken the clan five years to find Jian Lin, the most suitable blood and flesh offering. In the current situation, it was impossible to give up the chance to gather the twelve sons and start the cycle all over again.

“But he’s still in the inner mansion, and if that situation from last time still occurs-” Although no one knew if everything that happened that day was a coincidence or not. But the fact that Jian Lin had escaped into the ancient mansion made Ah Wu a little wary.

“The gods didn’t eat the tribute.” Uncle Chu spoke word for word, his tone certain, “The god has not completely awakened, and now is the time when he is at his weakest.”

After giving Ah Wu such conviction, Uncle Chu slowly leaned back on the pillow and said in a very unconcerned tone, “I hope you can do it, otherwise, I don’t mind finding someone to replace your position.”

Knowing that too many people, when they left the position that originally belonged to them, there was only a certain death.

Ah Wu ambled down with his hatred for Jian Lin and respectfully replied, “Yes, I understand.”

——

Obviously scared to death in his heart, Jian Shu was still very indisputably compelled by beauty, so much so that he didn’t even think of getting up and running.

Scientific?

Not scientific.

Good-looking?

Really good-looking.

At this moment, the firm materialist boy’s beliefs collapsed, and the little people in his head fought with each other. One side could not help but sigh, “Why would there be such a good-looking person”, “Beautiful people will not deceive me”, and “Why is it even better than in the dream”, while the other side, “What time is it now”, “wake up a little bit”, “what are you looking at, don’t look at it, run quickly”.

The two sides fought with great fervor, and the little blanket that covered him tightly slipped off at some point.

Then again, the dumbfounded brain slightly recovered after a brainstorming session, and only then did Jian Shu notice the name that the other party said just now.

“No, Pei Ce ……” he murmured, repeating it again unconsciously, “Pei Ce …… where have I heard it before ……”

He frantically searched for the name in his mind, before sweating his hair out in that one moment of remembrance!

“You you you-” he rolled and got up from the ground, circled behind the huge shrine, and took out the tablet hidden in the huge alcove behind him.

On the black, gloomy wood, the word “Pei Ce” was clearly engraved.

“You are this this this …… this ……” Jian Shu couldn’t help but step back.

The evil ghost whose name was called slowly stood up.

He was very tall, more than half a head taller than Jian Shu, even though it was only a phantom, the sense of oppression produced still frightened Jian Shu.

Pei Ce, however, did not realize this.

He tried to get closer to the little believer who had been worshipping him but heard the other man backing further and further away, right into a corner.

And the second half of the sentence that had been stuck in his throat only came out when the youth’s back was pressed against the wall.

“You’re here for the incense, aren’t you?!”

Pei Ce froze, he hadn’t expected the other party to issue such a question.

He had originally thought that the youth would realize that he wasn’t a god and would in turn be disappointed.

In the face of such a question, the evil spirit who wasn’t very good at lying really didn’t know how to answer, and just looked at Jian Shu in silence.

Jian Shu’s face had a look of “know it all” on it, slightly regaining some sanity: “I knew it! How can something like a tablet be placed behind a shrine? Shouldn’t it be placed in the shrine? You–didn’t do anything good in your life, did you?”

Without waiting for Pei Ce to reply, Jian Shu smoothed out the logic and then went on, “It must be so! Otherwise, why couldn’t your tablet be placed outside to receive incense in a dignified manner, but instead be hidden behind the shrine?”

Pei Ce quietly listened to Jian Shu’s speculation and answered very seriously, “I don’t remember.”

“Usually people who don’t want to answer say that.” Only after Jian Shu said this did he remember again that he was talking to a ghost. Although the other person didn’t look like he wanted to borrow his body to return his soul, he still felt a bit abrupt and silently closed his mouth.

Escape was impossible.

The ancient mansion is so small that he can’t grow wings to fly out. Instead of consuming physical strength to do a fearless struggle, it is better to play the new generation of young people’s great art of talking.

Then, Pei Ce saw the young man who was cowering in the corner slowly walk out.

Perhaps for the sake of peace of mind, he always leaned on the offering table.

“You …… are not afraid.” Jian Shu asked.

Pei Ce’s good-looking eyes looked straight over, “What to be afraid of?”

“The shrine ah?” Jian Shu pointed backward at the huge dark red shrine, “You guys who are ghosts, aren’t you all afraid of gods?”

“I saw that TV dramas all act that way, so I’m a little curious ……,” Jian Shu beeped in a small voice.

Pei Ce followed the youth’s finger and looked towards the huge shrine that didn’t even have words carved into it.

This was what Jian’s clan had built for him, so what was there to fear?

“I’m telling you, Jian’s gods are very spiritual!” Seeing that he didn’t say anything, Jian Shu continued to brag to make himself more confident, “The gods are sheltering me! Don’t you try to get any wrong ideas!”

“Butterflies! White butterflies! It’s beautiful!”

“It will protect me!”

The god stood silently beside the shrine and watched his little believer prattle on.

Then, when the little believer had finished, he replied with a smile, “Okay.”

He actually didn’t know that in the mouth of the youngster, he was that unique of an existence. As long as he was mentioned, he could even have a much stronger bottom line.

Probably because Pei Ce acted too harmlessly, or maybe Jian Shu’s self-hypnosis had produced a strange effect, he looked at Pei Ce, who stood quietly by the side and couldn’t help but start asking questions.

“Why are you here ah?” Jian Shu asked.

Pei Ce, who had always been here and was only discovered today, was momentarily at a loss as to how to answer this question. Ever since he had a long and fragmented memory, he had always been here. It was just that the time of awakening was not long, and in the past, he was still too crazy from bloodlust to remember much.

So he shook his head, “I don’t know.”

Jian Shu frowned, “You wouldn’t even know how you died, right?”

This was another difficult question to answer.

Pei Ce knew how he died. Heart, he died because he lost his heart and bled out. But who ripped out his heart, and what the rest of the empty holes in his body that had lost their flesh and blood were because of, he couldn’t recall.

Every time he tried to follow those tattered memories and retrace his steps to retrieve the full answer, that crazy, desperate negative emotion would turn into a sharp stabbing pain that would forcefully interrupt his thoughts.

Thus, he shook his head again and said in a warm voice, “I don’t know.”

Jian Shu pursed his lips and then felt that the ghost in front of him was not scary anymore. In the middle of the day, he said with some pity, “It’s hard for you to remember the name.”

The TV series really acted wrongly. Those ghosts who died for an unknown number of years remembered the grudges of the dead. Even if the enemy reincarnated, they still found each other to take revenge. Just look at this ghost in front of me, really nothing but good looks.

“I’m just curious, your surname Pei. This is Jian’s ancestral hall, why would your tablet be placed here …… ” Jian Shu muttered to himself, saw Pei Ce looking at himself, panicked, and waved his hand, “I’m not asking you ah, I know you don’t remember.”

Pei Ce indeed didn’t remember.

The only thing he confirmed was his name. The reason why he was worshipped as a god by the Jian Clan and why he was trapped here was also what he wanted to know.

“I also don’t know who hid you in here ……”

“He should be someone who knows you, right? Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done so much for you.”

Jian Shu, who was caught up in his analysis, began to chatter.

Pei Ce quietly looked at him.

Such a young man was something Pei Ce hadn’t seen before.

He seemed to be a little more vivid and lively than the little believer who had been devoutly offered in front of the shrine before, and he talked a lot more.

The questions that the young man poured out one after another connected into a string, and the chattering filled the chamber.

Pei Ce was not annoyed, and when there were a few that he could answer occasionally, he answered him patiently.

“Why is your hair so long?” Gradually, the youth was no longer afraid of him and slowly leaned over.

“Have you been dead long?”

“I see here that …… was born in November of the fourth year of Tianjia and died in May of the third year of Zhenming, so how many years have you lived?”

“Let me state in advance that I’m not a bad student! Just learning history, this era is really a little bit unfamiliar. Anything big should not have happened …… surely not a test point, otherwise I would have absolutely memorized it!”

The evil spirit, who had missed too many years of change, didn’t really know what words like not bad at school and test points meant in Jian Shu’s mouth. And the number of years he had once lived became too insignificant for the long, drawn-out death.

“Don’t remember.” He replied.

Jian Shu propped his head up with both hands and let out a tsk sigh, “Sure enough, you just can’t be counted on.”

“Then, do you remember who the emperor was at the time?” The youth who said he couldn’t be counted on started asking again with perseverance after a pause of less than a minute.

“What country did you live in?”

“I saw flags and battlefields in my dreams …… Were you a soldier? Or a general?”

A series of three questions were thrown out, and what Jian Shu got was still a “don’t remember.”

Jian Shu sighed.

He felt that he had to be more lenient in treating a ghost with amnesia. After all, being a ghost to this extent was also strange and pitiful.

So he patted the shoulder of the ghostly figure in front of him in vain and comforted, “It’s fine, none of the previous things matter. Anyway, if I make an offering for one, it’s an offering, and if I make an offering for two, it’s still an offering. Mmm, I’ll put you here so that you can rub a little incense brightly as well.”

The young man made a space on the offering table and placed the gloomy wood tablet in front of the incense burner and the teacup with the rosebud offering.

Pei Ce wordlessly stood to the side, watching him go about his business.

“Ah yes.” After setting up the tablet, Jian Shu turned back and said with a smile, “Introduce myself, my name is Jian Shu.”

The evil spirit that was being worshiped finally knew the name of the believer.

He looked at the bright smile and recited it in his mind.

Jian Shu, what a very nice name.

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