Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 289 - 196 Heavenly Official Descent_2

Chapter 289: Chapter 196 Heavenly Official Descent_2

In front of the Bone Elder Association, pulling off a scam in public is akin to tightrope walking atop the Mingjiang Building—one misstep, and you’d be smashed to pieces.

"Elder Yuan, you can doubt my incense fire level, but you absolutely cannot doubt my scams. The Ancient Tattoo Clan has been watching me this long and is still clueless!"

Yuan Buyu: "Among the storytellers, Xuanzi truly is an oddity."

...

Beneath the Bone Elder Temple, there is another stone temple.

Inside the stone temple, there is a shrine with nine burning incense sticks, worshiping four bronze masks.

The gathering at the Bone Elder Temple officially begins only when the masks tremble.

For now, time has not come, and the bronze masks lie still and silent.

The four holders of the Divine Office chatted amongst themselves.

The Suffering Scholar and Gu Ling discussed how they would deal with Li Chengfeng later.

"Once he enters this stone temple, you strike to kill him. If he dares to resist, I’ll step in with you."

"Mm." Gu Ling responded numbly.

Deep down, she didn’t truly want to kill Li Chengfeng. It was he who had brought her into the Bone Elder Association; in a certain sense, Old Li was her mentor who opened her eyes to this world.

The Painter and the Music Master weren’t concerned with Li Chengfeng at all. The two of them were chatting about painting—well, primarily the Painter was talking.

The Painter took out a small notebook, flipped open a page, handed it to the Music Master, and said, "You wouldn’t believe it, but that Zhou Xuan knows about art. He gave me some pointers yesterday. Take a look at my new drawing."

The drawing was simple, made up of sketched lines.

The Music Master glanced at the drawing and said, "The ears of this person you’ve drawn—why are they growing horizontally like two fans? And the nose, so crooked. Oh, and the mouth is a triangle!"

"Is it beautiful or not?" the Painter asked.

The Music Master replied, "Beautiful. Absolutely stunning."

"Lao Le, your aesthetic sense has improved lately." The Painter was surprised.

"Old Hua, you know, I have a great-grandniece who looks exactly as beautiful as this drawing. How about I set you up? She could marry your grandson—perfect harmony of talents and looks!"

The Painter hadn’t expected the Music Master to go wildly off script. Frowning, he forced out a single line: "Bullshit!"

As the Painter and the Music Master bantered and joked, the Suffering Scholar and Gu Ling continued discussing their plan to assassinate Li Chengfeng. Time trickled onward.

At 8:50,

The four bronze masks began to hum and tremble—time for the gathering had arrived.

The four Divine Office holders ceased their conversations, marched in unison toward the shrine, knelt, and bowed three times. Then each took a bronze mask and donned it.

At the same time,

The Suffering Scholar, Gu Ling, and the Music Master all stepped back by one pace.

Following the custom of the gathering,

The Painter stepped forward to request divination—to foresee any dangers of the meeting. After all, these gatherings brought together the elite of the Bone Elder Association. Any shadowy organization that chose this occasion to strike could utterly obliterate the association, leaving its very roots exposed and destroyed.

Though the chances of such an attack were slim, vigilance was necessary.

The Painter stood before the nine burning incense sticks, gazed at the shrine, and began chanting a Divine Spell aloud.

As he chanted, he saw countless white threads hanging vertically in the air.

The threads wove themselves into a curtain.

The Painter reached out and lifted the curtain, revealing a series of images. In those images, he seemed to hear the beating of a "heart" and saw the Bone Elder Association members bowing down to a corpse...

After taking in these images, he saw no signs of danger—but why would that corpse evoke such reverence from the Bone Elders?

The Painter fell silent, deep in thought.

The other three Divine Office holders, unfamiliar with seeing the Painter so hesitant, exchanged glances.

They knew full well that this so-called "request for divination" was not true divination but rather the manipulation of the Time Law.

The Painter had mastered a portion of the Time Law, allowing him to step into the domain of future timelines and catch glimpses of potential events yet to come.

The shrine, the nine incense sticks, and the temple itself served to anchor him in both time and location.

However, the Painter’s grasp of the Time Law was not particularly advanced; he could only see several hours into the future.

"Proceed with the gathering. There is no danger."

The Painter, tasked with ensuring the safety of the Bone Elders, saw no reason to disrupt the meeting over the corpse’s reverence.

The other three Divine Office holders, having received the Painter’s confirmation, raised their copper plates symbolizing their roles in unison.

The Earth Temple, drawn by the influence of the copper plates, began to rise slowly, ascending to the surface of the Bone Elder Temple.

The Suffering Scholar placed his hands behind his back and announced loudly, "Revere the gods!"

Bone Elder scholars, who had already gathered outside the temple, formed orderly lines and began entering the temple.

While the other scholars wore black robes and carried nothing, Li Chengfeng entered the Bone Elder Temple with a corpse strapped to his back.

"Li Chengfeng, who is that on your back?"

The Suffering Scholar immediately sensed something was amiss and questioned Li Chengfeng.

"Old Li, don’t respond to him. Uphold your mystique and connection to the Heavenly God," Zhou Xuan’s voice echoed in Li Chengfeng’s mind.

"Hmph."

Li Chengfeng let out a cold snort, ignoring the Suffering Scholar, and proceeded to his designated place. He set the Puppet Taoist in a chair and knelt on one knee before it.

This was a "detail" Zhou Xuan had discussed with him yesterday. Upon entering the gathering, the identity of the "Heavenly God" couldn’t be immediately revealed; maintaining an air of mystery was essential. The kneeling gesture was to preserve the gravitas befitting the Heavenly God.

As for how others might interpret it, that was their concern.

"Li Chengfeng, I asked you a question! Who is he?"

"Chao Feng, just continue presiding over the meeting."

The Suffering Scholar’s Divine Office title was "Chao Feng," and the Painter, having noticed certain details about the "corpse," interjected to stop him.

This corpse was precisely the one the Painter had glimpsed through the Time Law, the one that would draw the reverence of the Bone Elder Association members.