The land near the grave cracked open, and a bizarre giant snake formed by intertwining nine white pythons rose from the wide crevices, coldly laughing, "The painful times of the past few months have been your punishment, Liuyun Village. If next time's sacrifice angers me again..."

"There will definitely be no mistake again."

"That's best." The nine snakes twisted their bodies, lifting their sharp, awl-like tails and piercing them into themselves...

If looked at closely, it's not into the body of any python but held in the middle of a human face's forehead.

This human face is normally invisible, only visible when the nine snakes draw blood.

Upon seeing the face, Zhou Xuan's heart filled with joy—it was none other than Xu Jingshan, whom Zhou Xuan had seen in the fur shop, the Great Saint of Literature from two hundred and twenty years ago.

Xu Jingshan's forehead was pierced by the snake's tail, and bright red blood gushed out. Li Jiumu hurriedly pulled out the soft plug from the bamboo tube in his arms to catch the blood.

"Blessing you with divine spirit blood is in hopes that you'll do my bidding well. If there's another mistake, you as the Great Elder can be replaced."

When the bamboo tube was half full, the nine snakes withdrew their tails, submerged into the crevice, and the earth's fissures closed once more.

"What a pity, this time we angered the Nine-snake Deity and only received half a tube of nine-snake blood..."

He shook his head, as if the blood was extremely precious.

...

"The second Yama's Trigram is just one step away."

Xu Jingshan's location has already been locked by Zhou Xuan. Once today's matter is concluded, taking people to that old mountain graveyard could reveal the true form of the Nine-snake Deity—finding the true form equals finding Xu Jingshan.

From Li Jiumu's memory, he had already obtained the clues he most desired. Even pleasantly surprised, he directly pinpointed Xu Jingshan but didn't immediately leave the Daoist temple.

The City God's eyes filtered Li Jiumu's memories, leaving only two segments: one was the earlier scene, and the other was from yesterday.

"Li Jiumu, during tomorrow's blood sacrificial union, I won't descend upon Gangfeng Cave. You dispatch the Great Priest to Luoshen Peak's Qingshui Cave on Bai Mei Mountain..."

"I will follow the divine orders faithfully."

...

Upon leaving the Secret Realm, Zhou Xuan asked Yun Ziliang, "Lao Yun, I just got word from Li Jiumu. The Nine-snake Deity instructed Li Jiumu ahead of time to dispatch the Great Priest to Qingshui Cave on Luoshen Peak. What does this imply?"

"The Nine-snake Deity not descending upon the altar but sending the Great Priest of Liuyun Village to Qingshui Cave...there must be something fishy."

"I know there's something fishy! I'm asking you what it is."

"It's hard to guess with so little information."

Yun Ziliang said.

"Then I'll help you gather more information."

Zhou Xuan contacted Ah Wang of Jiji Grass again through the Blood Well Secret Realm.

"Ah Wang, your third uncle is the Great Priest of Shi Family Village, correct?"

"Correct, High Priest."

"Did he attend the Gangfeng Cave's blood sacrificial union?"

"No," Ah Wang said, "My third uncle seemed to have gone to...Big Stone Mountain..."

"Are you inside Gangfeng Cave?"

"I am,"

Ah Wang said, "As the Spirit Officer of Shi Family Village, naturally, I must attend the blood sacrifice."

"Do you recognize the Great Priests from the other villages?"

"Every month there's a blood sacrificial union; I'm quite familiar with them."

"Recognize whether any Great Priests from other villages are present."

Zhou Xuan asked.

"Allow me to briefly leave the Blood Well Secret Realm first."

Ah Wang excused himself, and after two or three minutes, his blurry figure reappeared, speaking with twelve parts of puzzlement, "High Priest, none of the Great Priests attended this blood sacrificial union."

"Keep monitoring the blood sacrificial union and report any occurrences to me. Similarly, this task is not gratuitous. I'll compensate you afterward."

"Thank you, High Priest."

Ah Wang withdrew from the City God Taoist Temple,

and Zhou Xuan returned to reality, saying to Yun Ziliang, "For sixteen Yin Halls, not a single Great Priest attended the blood sacrificial union. Like Liuyun Village and Shi Family Village's Great Priests, they likely received prior instructions from the Evil God and went to certain caves. Why is this?"

"That I can't quite figure out. I guess it's likely related to the Evil God's traits, but I don't have in-depth research on the traits of Evil Gods."

Zhou Xuan asked Yun Ziliang, "Who is well-researched in this area?"

"Currently in Mingjiang Prefecture, no one understands Evil Gods better than the one above."

Yun Ziliang pointed towards the direction of Heavenly God's Fire.

Li Chengfeng once said that in Jing Country, among Great Buddha, God, Alien Ghost, and Evil God, only the Evil God's power source is closest to the Heavenly God.

The Heavenly God and Evil God's power sources being similar naturally provide some insight.

"Lao Yun, you've indeed enlightened me."

Zhou Xuan promptly went on a Divine Soul Day Trip to seek Heavenly God's Fire.

...

In the Heavenly Dome, the already quite bright firelight was gazing at Li Yuan Building.

"My current waking speed isn't even as good as a bell."

The Ancient Tree Golden Bell only recently regained its spirituality, rapidly ascending due to the Wish Power provided by the storyteller that Zhou Xuan enriched, provoking jealousy from the God of Suffering.

"God of Suffering."

"Zhou Xuan, do you have a way to channel the wish power meant for the golden bell to me?"

The God of Suffering asked.

"We'll discuss wish power later."

Zhou Xuan said directly, "I have an urgent matter to consult you on."

"Feel free to ask; anything I know, I will tell you everything."

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