Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 290 - 196 Heavenly Official Descent_3

Chapter 290: Chapter 196 Heavenly Official Descent_3

As for why the Bone Elder Association worships it, he hasn’t seen the relevant scenes.

In the space-time of the future, what he sees are several static images and faint sounds.

But this corpse, capable of drawing the collective reverence of the Bone Elders, naturally has profound significance, prompting a certain amount of courtesy.

"Old Li, for now, don’t wipe away the filthy blood on the corpse tattoos. Continue maintaining its aura of mystery—you’re doing quite well."

The filthy blood was one of the details Zhou Xuan had instructed Li Chengfeng to preserve.

The filthy blood was black dog blood; all three tattoos had it, and it masked the tattoos’ aura.

...

In Yizhuang Lane, Zhou Xuan tugged at his collar with one hand while speaking to it, as if a microphone were clipped to it, keeping his communication with Li Chengfeng flowing.

"To maintain mystery, there’s only one key principle: don’t say too much. Right now, less is more."

...

Li Chengfeng walked exactly according to Zhou Xuan’s script, not saying a single word. However, every two or three minutes, he would bow his head in submission before the "Puppet Taoist."

This bewildered the other Bone Elders.

They’d also heard rumors that the Bone Elder Association planned to eliminate Li Chengfeng.

"Admittedly, Mr. Li is under pressure, but surely not to this extent?"

"Professor Li’s mental state seems awfully compromised."

"It seems like all four Divine Offices are eyeing the corpse."

Not only were the four Divine Offices watching—it seemed everyone in the temple had their eyes on it.

This was the first step Zhou Xuan had orchestrated—sustain an air of mystery and stoke everyone’s curiosity.

The Puppet Taoist was today’s protagonist. If the audience failed to concentrate their attention on him, how would the subsequent act unfold?

The Bone Elders’ curiosity was reaching a fever pitch, and a few especially inquisitive ones couldn’t resist stepping forward, wanting to carefully inspect the corpse up close, to discover what made it so extraordinary as to warrant Li Chengfeng’s kneeling submission.

The Suffering Scholar couldn’t resist using Perception to probe the corpse and came up empty-handed.

When alive, the corpse had neither worshipped incense nor entered any Tangkou as a Taoist—essentially no different from an ordinary person.

What could Perception uncover?

The gathering continued.

First came Gu Ling, raising her hands towards the heavens and bowing her head, communicating with the "Heavenly Official."

"Half an hour, half an hour, the God descends."

With the time Gu Ling had obtained for the descent,

the Painter and the Music Master simultaneously seated themselves on the ground.

The Painter, holding the Divine Office of "Si Chen," used the fingernail of his left hand to sever the middle finger of his right hand,

and with the gushing finger blood, he painted a "Sundial" onto the ground. The severed middle finger stood upright, growing rapidly in the wind to become the "sundial needle." The temple’s sky glistened under the ferocious sun that cast shadows onto the sundial through the needle.

The Music Master, holding the Divine Office of "Zhong Guan," chanted a Taoist spell, causing the ribs of his chest and abdomen to explode forth, shattering through flesh to form a massive claw of white bone.

He snapped the claw off and placed it firmly onto the ground, then strummed the white bone with both hands. With the trembling of the bones, a serene and melodic tune spread to every corner of the Bone Elder Temple.

Music emanating from Zhong Guan, shadows steered by Si Chen.

This was the Bone Elder Association’s ritual to welcome the gods.

As the sundial needle’s shadow moved to mark half an hour, a red speck appeared in the sky,

falling from a height of ten thousand meters,

slowly expanding,

and at several hundred meters, the red speck transformed into a blurred humanoid figure,

a figure increasingly distinct, clothed in crimson robes and with wild, untamed hair. Suspended above the Suffering Scholar’s head, its form seemed translucent like a ruby, and its face remained indiscernible.

"The Divine Office ’Chao Feng’ welcomes the descent of the ’Heavenly Official’ with utmost fervor."

The Suffering Scholar’s hands clawed into his own skullcap, fingers digging deep as he violently tore his body in two.

The gem-like manifestation of the "Heavenly Official" descended inch by inch into the Suffering Scholar’s ruptured form.

When the manifestation had fully settled within, the Suffering Scholar recited the Bone Elder Suffering Sect’s "Protective Divine Spell," sealing the fissures in his flesh.

"Bone Elder Association, pay respects to the Heavenly Official."

In unison, the Bone Elder scholars within the temple knelt before the manifestation of the "Heavenly Official."

All except Li Chengfeng, who stood upright.

In truth, he wanted to kneel.

Though his faith had waned, the Heavenly God Aura he witnessed compelled his knees towards submission.

"Actors take their positions—wipe away the Puppet Taoist’s filthy blood."

Zhou Xuan issued the order.

As the gathered audience knelt, Li Chengfeng seized the opportunity to touch the fabric over the Puppet Taoist’s chest and back, brushing away the filthy blood.

Once the filthy blood was gone,

the first ripple of the Puppet Taoist’s "Heavenly God Aura" emerged.

The aura of the "Pain and Calamity Celestial God," formed from three tattoos, radiated faintly outward.

The aura was subtle, but the Bone Elders in the temple, whose Incense Fire Levels were extraordinary, sensed it simultaneously and turned their eyes to Li Chengfeng with singularity.

"Old Li, it’s your turn now—conviction, you must demonstrate conviction."

Zhou Xuan underscored his point.

Li Chengfeng raised his head resolutely and addressed the Bone Elders in the temple, "Fellow scholars, for years the ’Heavenly Official’ has guided us to awaken the Heavenly God through pain.

This is wrong; it runs counter to the spirit of the Heavenly God.

The Pain and Calamity Celestial God requires not pain sacrifices but for our prayers to act as anchors—hooks drawing taut his divine body, reeling him out of his slumber."

"Li Chengfeng, do you even know what you’re saying?"

The Music Master, unable to hold back, bellowed in a deep voice.

"Today, with the descent of the Heavenly Official, I, Old Li, am taking the ultimate gamble. I will question him in the presence of the divine: Why did you mislead us, driving us ever further from the Heavenly God?"