Within the time it takes for less than a stick of incense to burn, over ten constables who had just returned to the county office, led by Head Constable Liu Hongsheng, reassembled.
The group rushed through the streets with hurried expressions. It wasn't until they had run for one or two blocks that they understood the purpose of their mission: to smash an idolatrous shrine and lure out the demon that had escaped to be slain.
Ji Yuan and his companions were naturally among the constables.
At this moment, he and Hui Xin were each holding a magical artifact in one hand and spirit stones in the other, racing against time to replenish their spiritual energy as much as possible.
In terms of efficiency and value, the Hui Ling Water, costing only thirty taels of silver, was naturally the best choice, but it was too slow to restore spiritual energy, often taking several hours.
A spirit stone, on the other hand, was twenty taels of silver more expensive than Hui Ling Water. While it could directly replenish the spiritual energy lost by magical artifacts at an extremely fast speed, several stones were required.
This increased the cost severalfold.
However, the current situation did not allow them to slowly restore the spiritual energy lost by the bronze oil lamp and prayer beads during the previous battle at Xi Yu River with Hui Ling Water.
Fortunately, the spirit stones they were using both came from the county office's inventory, so they did not have to expend their own silver.
The group, in a grand procession, passed through the bustling marketplace and soon arrived at the banks of Xi Yu River. Following the clues they had already obtained, they finally reached the outside of the idolatrous shrine around noon.
To call it an idolatrous shrine was actually a misnomer, as its exterior looked no different from a proper mountain and river deity temple. Inside the fairly large temple, there were many common people offering incense.
The scent of incense rose in waves. While the scene did not compare to Baiyun Temple, it was still more than ten times stronger than Xuantian Temple.
Furthermore, there were temple keepers inside the temple, patiently guiding the common people on how to offer incense, and assisting with fortune-telling and offering guidance.
Seeing this scene, Ji Yuan's expression immediately sank. This spectacle was by no means an idolatrous shrine spontaneously erected by the common people out of fear of the river demon.
"This matter, I'm afraid there's an expert guiding it from behind the scenes," Zhao Yuansong whispered softly.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan nodded. It was even possible that someone was scheming behind this, otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why an idolatrous shrine, in terms of both incense and scale, could rival the proper land deity temples in the county town.
Moreover, such an idolatrous shrine had many temple keepers who were well-versed in the ways of managing the temple, with people responsible for selling incense, guiding pilgrims, and answering questions and resolving doubts.
"Hmph, there are even some merchants from the city!" Head Constable Liu Hongsheng snorted coldly. He saw that among the crowd of pilgrims, there were many wealthy merchants from the city.
What truly angered him was not the act of these wealthy merchants offering incense, but the fact that an idolatrous shrine had developed to such an extent in the city, and the county office was completely unaware of it.
Even the constables under his command, during their usual patrols of the county town, had never heard of such a prosperous temple here, as if someone had deliberately kept the news away from them, the officials.
"Attack! Rush in directly!"
When the conscripted soldiers reassembled with the constables at the scene, Liu Hongsheng immediately issued the order.
Thirty soldiers and more than ten constables, upon receiving the order, charged towards the nearby idolatrous shrine without hesitation. About ten people remained outside the temple, blocking the surrounding commoners, while the rest rushed into the temple.
Shortly thereafter, sounds of angry curses erupted from within the temple, primarily from the commoners and wealthy merchants who were pilgrims. They loudly berated and cursed the soldiers and constables, some even appearing ready to fight.
"A bunch of ignorant fools!" Liu Hongsheng's face turned ashen with anger. It was one thing for these people to not evade or cooperate when the soldiers and constables were handling a case, but they were even brazenly obstructing them!
Beside him, Ji Yuan's expression also became somewhat complex. Looking at the scene inside the temple, most of these commoner pilgrims had been brainwashed into truly believing that an idolatrous shrine was a proper deity, akin to the City God.
It seemed that the person behind all this had ambitions far beyond the ordinary. They intended to use the incense offerings of the common people to forcefully create an entity comparable to a proper deity!
If successful, a demon possessing a physical form and authority over the mountains and rivers, empowered by the endless benefits of incense offerings and a divine golden body, would undoubtedly experience rapid cultivation. Even if it truly faced a City God of a city, it would likely not be at a disadvantage.
Moreover, with its physical body and divine golden body, it could overwhelm a deity that lacked a physical form!
"They dare to make a move!"
Suddenly, Liu Hongsheng's eyes seemed about to spit fire. It turned out that the temple keepers of the idolatrous shrine, taking advantage of the chaos, had launched sneak attacks on the soldiers and constables.
These individuals, who appeared to be temple keepers, were actually skilled martial artists, their combat prowess not necessarily weaker than that of ordinary constables. Caught off guard, they had managed to injure many of them.
Among them were two constables who, due to their lack of preparedness, had their hearts and lower abdomens pierced by sharp blades, leaving no hope for even the best physician.
Upon seeing blood, lives lost, and even the deaths of constables, the temple descended into complete chaos.
Even the most superstitious commoners knew that officials were not to be trifled with. While they might curse them when they had the upper hand, or even pester them without reason, harming or killing an official was a capital offense!
Thus, the pilgrims who had been blocking the constables before immediately fled in a panic towards the temple gates, causing the soldiers inside to be unable to exit and the soldiers outside to be unable to enter.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan and his companions exchanged glances. After taking a deep breath, they lightly tapped the ground with their toes. Their bodies, as if devoid of weight, lightly leaped onto the temple's courtyard wall.
The group easily scaled the high wall and then observed the scene within the temple. Most of the pilgrims were crowded at the temple gate, while inside, seven temple keepers, leading over a dozen disguised as pilgrims, were fighting fiercely with the officials.
Upon seeing this, Ji Yuan almost burst into laughter. These were hardly ordinary commoners; they were agile and ruthless in their attacks, clearly skilled martial artists disguised as pilgrims.
In a short period, these individuals had pushed back six or seven soldiers and more than ten constables.
It wasn't that the officials were incapable, but rather that in the preceding chaos, many had been ambushed and sustained injuries. Combined with the suddenness of the events, they were unable to form an effective counterattack.
After observing for a moment, Ji Yuan called out and was the first to leap off the wall. With a few swift movements, he appeared behind a constable.
He grabbed the constable by the belt and pulled him backward forcefully. A moment later, a person wielding a short dagger appeared before him, lunging forward to stab.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan immediately released his grip on the constable's belt. He then drew his hand across his waist, and with a flash of cold light, a crisp sound followed.
The martial artist disguised as a pilgrim was stunned, looking at the broken dagger in his hand, momentarily unable to react.
But Ji Yuan paid him no mind. He lightly flicked his soft sword into a graceful flourish, and then the tip of the sword lightly touched the man's wrist. In pain, the man immediately released the remaining half of his dagger.
As the dagger hit the ground with a clear clinking sound, Ji Yuan leaped up and kicked the man in the chest.
His seemingly light kick sent the burly man flying back several yards, where he landed and cried out in pain, unable to get up for a long time.
At the same time, Zhao Yuansong and the others also jumped off the wall, appearing before the constables and soldiers.
Among them, Hui Xin was the most striking. The young monk clasped his hands together, his monastic robe billowing as if windblown, and a layer of faint golden light flowed around him.
Two martial artists disguised as pilgrims stepped forward, their sharp blades cutting through the yellow monastic robe, but they could not pierce Hui Xin's flesh, as if striking solid rock.
"Amitabha," he chanted a Buddhist mantra. He thrust his palms forward, and with a flash of Buddhist light, the two martial artists immediately spat blood and were sent flying several yards away, crashing into several old trees.
Buddhist monks practice vegetarianism and chant scriptures, urging people towards goodness. However, when faced with demons and villains, they also possess the power of a wrathful Vajra, capable of subduing demons and eradicating evil.
"If you had this much vigor when fighting normally, you would have already reached the late stage of the Enlightenment Realm." Ji Yuan severed the tendons in their wrists with his sword and delivered a kick to each of them before turning to shout at Hui Xin.
The young monk let out a bitter smile, unsure how to reply.
On the other side, Zhao Yuansong's two junior disciples, along with Xu Qiqi and Jiang He, simultaneously attacked. Each wielded a sword and subdued the remaining martial artists disguised as pilgrims.
At this point, only seven temple keepers remained in the idolatrous shrine, engaged in combat with Zhao Yuansong.
Upon closer inspection, these seven temple keepers were all martial cultivators who had entered the realm. Although they were all only in the early stages of the skin and flesh realm, their coordination was tight, and the martial arts they employed were certainly not that of ordinary江湖 (jianghu - martial world) ruffians.
"I bet Daoist Zhao will need at least ten moves to defeat these fellows," Ji Yuan sheathed his soft sword and calmly observed.
Seeing his companions being besieged, he showed no inclination to help. He even had the mood to make a bet with those around him.
In fact, with Zhao Yuansong's late-stage Enlightenment Realm strength, he truly did not need their help. Even without using his magical artifacts, dealing with a mere seven early-stage skin and flesh realm martial cultivators was not difficult.
The only difference was how many moves it would take to defeat the enemy before him.
"I bet Senior Brother will only need seven moves, one move per person!" Young Jiang He huffed, not to be outdone.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan, who had made the remark casually, immediately became interested.
His eyes flickered, and he moved closer to Jiang He, then playfully said, "Since it's a bet, there must be stakes. How about whoever loses treats the other to a candied haw?"
Jiang He blinked, seemingly surprised that this precocious young Daoist would propose such a bet, which was no different from a bet between children on the street.
However, he forgot that both he and Ji Yuan were only fourteen years old at the moment.
"Me, me, me! Count me in!" Xu Qiqi's eyes lit up, and she quickly chimed in, "I bet two candied haws. Senior Brother will definitely defeat all of them in just one move!"
The young girl's eyes crinkled into a smile as she imagined the wonderful scene of holding a candied haw in each hand.