Though it was on the outskirts of the city, the urban sprawl had grown so large that it was not far from the city center. By the time we reached the location of the City God's temple, dawn had broken. I looked back; the tall buildings of the city were clearly visible.
When the GPS of the Pajero and my phone's navigation showed the same location, I pulled over and got out to observe. By the roadside were only a few dilapidated factory buildings, not abandoned, but somewhat run-down and dirty. Their entrances were piled high with materials, suggesting they were small workshops processing metal and building materials. All had roller shutters; it was too early for the workers to have arrived.
"Where's the temple?" Zheng Bingbing climbed onto the car roof, shielding her eyes with her hand and scanning the surroundings. She still found nothing.
"Chenghuangmiao is probably what the Yin messengers call it. Perhaps it's something we humans can't see?" I guessed.
"Then try using your Qi-sensing technique," Zheng Bingbing said, already aware of the shamanic secret art I had mastered, which had zero offensive power but was incredibly useful.
I realized I could now activate my Qi-sensing technique freely, without the need for an external light source, simply by concentrating and holding my breath.
I activated it and looked towards the sides of the road. The first thing I noticed in the dilapidated factory buildings were a few scattered traces of "human qi," possibly from the night watchman who hadn't woken up yet.
Finding no anomalies, I extended the range of my Qi-sensing vision and soon made a new discovery.
About a hundred meters off the road to the left, there was a "ghost qi." However, it was just a common red ghost. Was it a judge or a wild grave?
I pointed in that direction, asking Zheng Bingbing, who was on the car roof, to take a closer look.
"Ah, I see it! It really is a small, broken temple! In the cornfield!"
The City God's temple was in a cornfield?
"Look again, how can we get there?" I asked. Between the road and the small temple were continuous factory buildings with no passage.
Zheng Bingbing rummaged through the car and found the binoculars we had used during our surprise attack on Jiuxian Cave. She climbed onto the car roof again and observed for a while, finally spotting a small alley about two hundred meters away.
We drove over, but the alley was too narrow for the Pajero. We had to abandon the car and proceed on foot. Passing through the factory area, we found a small path in the cornfield behind. By the field, a crooked wooden sign was stuck in the ground, with an arrow drawn on it. After the arrow, it read, "City God's temple ahead, 200 meters."
I wondered if this sign was for humans or ghosts.
Suddenly, a small dog darted out from the cornfield, startling Bingbing, who immediately hid behind me.
I thought it might be a demon and quickly activated my Qi-sensing technique. It wasn't; it was just a small dog with red qi.
The dog looked at us, trotted over to the wooden sign, lifted a hind leg, and urinated on it.
"It's a male puppy," Zheng Bingbing whispered.
"How can you tell?" I asked with a smile.
"It has... that!" Zheng Bingbing blushed, her face even redder under the rosy dawn.
After marking the sign, the puppy went off to find food along the alley. Zheng Bingbing and I followed the path through the field. The further we went, the narrower the path became, feeling like it would be difficult for even a donkey cart to pass. This year's rainfall had been good, and the corn on both sides, being overripe, had mostly drooped. I carefully examined the tire tracks on the ground and found they weren't the common donkey cart tracks of rural areas, but those of electric tricycles. Perhaps rural areas were more advanced now, using electric vehicles for the autumn harvest?
Electric tricycles were narrow enough to fit.
After a distance, we reached the entrance of the City God's temple. It was a very small temple, occupying only about five or six square meters, about the size of a toilet. Three sides were earthen walls, and one side had a door and windows, though both were long gone, leaving only the frames. Inside the temple, there were no idols or offerings. Instead, there was a small mud kang bed covered with a roll of old cotton quilt. Leaning against the wall nearby was a five-pronged fork with two teeth broken.
"Is it a melon shed?" Zheng Bingbing guessed.
"What makes you say that?" I asked.
"Runtu's fork against the boar!"
"..." I bowed towards the middle of the kang bed, "Greetings, Chief Judge. I am Wu Chengfeng, a minor officer under Xie Bian of the Eastern Depot. This is my superior, Zheng Bingbing."
"Good heavens! Who are you talking to!" Zheng Bingbing was startled again and hid behind me.
What she saw was a melon shed, but what I saw with my Qi-sensing technique was a real City God's temple.