The idol possessed an aura of divinity, entirely unlike the ill omens cast by ghosts and gods upon humanity.
Yan Shao wrapped the fractured mountain god statue in red cloth and remarked, "If this is the true mountain god, how could it be invaded by such a weak ghost deity with its own divine power?"
Shi Yu watched curiously at the bottle in Lu Zhi's hand, clearly seeing the one-legged Wutong within. "How did you shrink it so small, and still manage to trap it inside the bottle so it can't get out?"
They all knew the bottle in Lu Zhi's hand was an ordinary cosmetic bottle.
Lu Zhi paused, then said, "I don't know, I just thought this was the simplest way."
Shi Yu sighed in admiration, "You're a true master."
Lu Zhi: ???
Li Le explained, "Even though I don't know what your ability is, I've never seen anyone able to trap ghost deities before."
Lu Zhi lowered his gaze, lost in thought.
He didn't know why it happened either. The moment he captured the one-legged Wutong, certain fragments surfaced in his mind.
It was as if he had sealed ghost deities in bottles countless times using this very method.
"What next? What do we do now?" Li Le asked Yan Shao.
Yan Shao placed the true mountain god into Jiang Yue's backpack. Jiang Yue was still sound asleep, completely unaware.
"Our initial suspicion for breaking the seal was discovering the birth of a deity. Wang Jiu's home should have information about this mountain god," Yan Shao reasoned based on common sense.
The mountain god was custom-made by 'them' for Wang Jiu. Wang Jiu was likely the village chief of the Deity Summoning Village. Their village chief's home should hold the clues they needed to understand.
"We're entering the village now," Yan Shao tugged lightly at Jiang Yue's hair.
Shi Yu exclaimed, "Didn't you say we should wait until after midnight?"
Jiang Yue woke up with a jolt, snatching his hair back in pain.
Yan Shao scanned their surroundings and asked, "Don't you feel it? Something is closing in on us."
"Something? What something?" Jiang Yue's sleepiness vanished instantly, and he looked around vigilantly.
Lu Zhi jiggled the bottle, "Could it be because I trapped the one-legged Wutong? It's lost its 'protection' effect?"
"Very likely," Yan Shao signaled Jiang Yue to put on his backpack and then promptly extinguished the campfire, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
However, for those with special abilities, their senses were heightened to the extreme, making night vision as clear as daylight.
Before they could ascertain the strength of the approaching entity, they needed to minimize their presence.
After taking a couple of steps, Yan Shao asked, "Do we need to wait for Professor Shen?"
Lu Zhi shook his head and handed the bottle to Yan Shao. "He'll find us himself once he's finished with his business."
Yan Shao took the bottle, placing complete trust in Lu Zhi's sealing ability, and tucked it into a pouch on the outside of Jiang Yue's backpack.
Jiang Yue, with his sharp eyes, saw the one-legged Wutong inside the bottle and his face changed drastically. His first reaction was, "Where's my beauty serum!!!"
The group fell into a collective silence.
Jiang Yue was on the verge of tears, "My beauty serum, it was so expensive! A million per bottle! And not even guaranteed to be available..."
"Hush," Lu Zhi suddenly placed an index finger to his lips, "Listen."
Everyone instinctively held their breath.
In the darkness, the wind rustled through the grass, carrying faint sounds of pursuit, like a herd of animals rushing towards them.
"It's a wolf pack!" Shi Yu's eyes glowed white in the darkness. He had released a few of his fat bees to monitor various locations and saw a pack of wolf cubs heading their way.
"Wolves are fine, we can just sneak into the village later," Jiang Yue wasn't afraid of wolves.
Suddenly, as if sensing something, Lu Zhi looked up towards a distant spot in the darkness.
"Ah—" Shi Yu suddenly clutched one eye, blood flowing.
"How did you get injured so suddenly!" Li Le's expression changed, as if this was the first time he'd seen Shi Yu injured.
Shi Yu tightly gripped Li Le's arm, his other eye filled with terror. Suppressing his pain, he stammered, "No, it's not just wolves. Behind the wolf pack, there's a girl."
Shi Yu added uneasily, "I'm not sure if it's a girl, or... a malevolent entity."
Yan Shao's gaze also turned serious.
Only entities that reached the pseudo-god level could transform into human form.
Lu Zhi's dark eyes pierced through the forest in the night, gazing into the distance, and murmured, "It looks like... a god."