Although Lu Zhi was being petted by Shen Qi like a cat and was well taken care of, he knew there was a trap as soon as he heard a change in Shen Qi's tone. He alertly raised his head, "Don't try any of your little tricks on me. Tell me first, what mistake did you make?"
Lu Zhi's dark eyes sparkled in the firelight, staring directly at Shen Qi, his eyes filled with curiosity.
Shen Qi unexpectedly lowered his head and kissed the corner of Lu Zhi's eye. While Lu Zhi was dazed, he placed the person on a stone to sit properly, "I'm going to confirm something. I'll tell you when I get back."
Then, without giving Lu Zhi time to ask, he turned and disappeared into the dark night.
Lu Zhi frowned, unsure how serious the matter Shen Qi mentioned was. Unable to sleep, his gaze drifted to the mountain god statue.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Lu Zhi felt that the mountain god statue had undergone another change, a change that made the surrounding magnetic field feel dangerous and dark.
Suddenly, Lu Zhi's gaze sharpened, fixing intently on the shadow of the mountain god statue. Logically, the firelight shining on the statue should cast its shadow behind it. But Lu Zhi now saw the shadow directly in front of the statue.
The black shadow was as dense as an ink spill, silently extending claw-like ghostly hands towards the sleeping Li Le and Shi Yu.
Lu Zhi guessed this was the method the One-legged Wutong used to threaten people in their dreams. Shen Qi had only just left, and it was already causing trouble again; truly incorrigible.
Lu Zhi stood up and stepped on the extended ghostly claw. He distinctly felt that he had stepped on something solid, and it made a sharp sound, waking everyone else.
"What was that sound?" Yan Shao, who hadn't been asleep, immediately stood up and walked to Lu Zhi's side. He looked at the black shadow Lu Zhi was stepping on, his gaze slightly condensed. He glanced at the mountain god statue: "Is this the One-legged Wutong?"
"What devilry is this?" Shi Yu rubbed his sleepy eyes. As soon as he looked at the black shadow at Lu Zhi's feet, he suddenly saw a pair of scarlet eyes staring ferociously at him from within the shadow. "Holy crap!!!"
Shi Yu's sleepiness vanished in fright. He jumped back, bumping into Li Le.
"Is this the true form of the mountain god?" Li Le's expression was solemn. He looked at Lu Zhi, "None of us discovered its existence."
In Li Le's opinion, Lu Zhi was the weakest among them, not even having reached A-class strength. His daring to enter the niche was entirely reliant on Shen Qi.
Yet now, he had not only discovered the One-legged Wutong but also captured it.
"It should be," Lu Zhi briefly recounted being invaded by the One-legged Wutong in his dream and the coercion and temptation. Of course, he also included how Shen Qi had nearly killed the One-legged Wutong.
"Your action was correct," Yan Shao mused, "We still aren't sure about the connection between this One-legged Wutong and us. If we rashly kill it, will we trigger the death condition?"
Yan Shao began to analyze one by one, "Remember the first day we came to Qingshen Village? When we were children, we were locked in the woodshed. At night, around this time, Qingshen Village wasn't safe either; giant anomalies appeared."
Lu Zhi nodded, "I've been thinking about it too. We've been outside the village for so long, yet we haven't encountered a single anomaly, nor have we seen any sign of wolves. Could it be that this mountain god statue is protecting us?"
The word "protecting" sounded rather ironic.
If the One-legged Wutong were a so-called righteous god, it would protect humans to gain faith and strengthen itself. But the One-legged Wutong was a ghost god, not a righteous god. How could it be benevolent? How could it unconditionally protect humans? It was all for sacrifices.
There were many types of sacrificial offerings. Righteous gods favored flowers, fruits, and the power of faith. Ghost gods favored live prey, and human life force and essence to strengthen themselves.
This was the difference between righteous gods and ghost gods.
"So what should we do now?" Shi Yu pointed at the black shadow at Lu Zhi's feet, "Can we also 'capture' it?"
In the eyes of the others, what Lu Zhi was stepping on was a shadow, and they couldn't capture shadows. Moreover, the One-legged Wutong was a ghost god. Any deity, even a pseudo-god, would have at least S-class abilities. None of them had reached S-class strength yet, and they couldn't be sure if they could control the One-legged Wutong.
Lu Zhi stared at his feet and suddenly asked, "Do you have a bottle?"
"Yes." Yan Shao walked over to the sleeping Jiang Yue, opened her backpack, and took out a palm-sized bottle. He asked, "Will this do?"
"Mmm, an empty one," Lu Zhi said, bending down and reaching out to tear the shadow from the ground.
In the eyes of the other few, it was a tearing action, as if the black glue stuck to the ground was being peeled away. As it was torn, several black tentacles desperately clung to the ground, but they were ultimately uprooted by Lu Zhi.
Yan Shao poured out the liquid from the bottle and handed it over.
"I'll put it in," Lu Zhi's hands were covered in white luminescence. The black shadow struggled frantically, desperately trying to break free from Lu Zhi's grip, but it was all in vain.
The few of them watched as Lu Zhi, with his hands as if kneading dough, slowly compressed the black shadow in his hands, forcing it down to a size that could fit into the bottle. Disregarding the shadow's screams, he stuffed it into the bottle.
The moment the black shadow entered the bottle, everyone saw that the black shadow had become a physical entity, the true form of the One-legged Wutong. It struggled furiously inside the transparent bottle, its ugly facial features contorted, and it continuously pounded against the glass.
Crack—
The mountain god statue also developed cracks at this moment, splitting open from the center of its head, revealing another statue within.
This statue was made of grayish-white stone, with no discernible carvings, but it faintly emanated a peaceful aura that soothed the mind.
"Could this be the real mountain god?"