But this matched the state of the woman who appeared last night, rolling and burning with flesh blurred.
The most important part was that all other features on the face of the deity statue had disappeared, only the corners of the mouth still had a trace of white enamel paint, possibly due to the special durability of the paint; and the inward position of the lower jaw left a gap at the mouth, which probably prevented it from being completely filled in the mud.
Li Zhiyuan also prayed, then the rhymes Grandmaster used to recite when he took him to deliver Little Huang Ying came to mind. He had a good memory and recited it word for word:
"Today I offer to you, next year I’ll perform your rites, human affairs end here, are you satisfied?
Whether it’s yin or yang, reason must prevail.
If there are grievances, seek revenge, if there are enemies, seek retribution, all people suffer, you must not wreak havoc."
Beside him, Xue Liangliang’s eyes widened as he saw... professionalism in this child.
After Li Zhiyuan finished, he added, "I’ll bring the incense soon. When I get home, I’ll set up a small altar for you and offer all my snacks to replenish you."
Xue Liangliang asked doubtfully, "Will this work?"
Li Zhiyuan shook his head and honestly said, "I don’t know."
He was just following Grandmaster’s template and copying the answers.
Then, Li Zhiyuan raised his arm again:
The gray patch, originally the size of a coin, had now shrunk to the size of a soybean, and its color had also faded.
Li Zhiyuan blinked, surprised by the effectiveness of Grandmaster’s answer!
"Let’s check yours," Li Zhiyuan said to Xue Liangliang, now needing a comparison.
Xue Liangliang immediately stretched out his arms, but his gray patch not only didn’t shrink, it had grown larger.
He quickly said, "Little brother, teach me how to recite it."
Following that, Xue Liangliang imitated Li Zhiyuan and recited the same words, except that he changed Li Zhiyuan’s last phrase "offer up snacks" to "getting meals from the school cafeteria and setting up an altar in the dorm."
After reciting, they waited a bit.
Xue Liangliang, like scratching a lottery ticket, pulled up his sleeve and also voiced his surprise.
The patch had shrunk, but not back to the size of a soybean, just back to its original size.
"This..." Xue Liangliang frowned, "Could it be that the Bodhisattva also knows our school cafeteria food is terrible?"
Li Zhiyuan thought it might be because he really did damage the deity statue yesterday.
"Why is there another child?" Luo Tingrui came with incense.
"This child, encountered the same issue."
Luo Tingrui looked puzzled but did not ask further. Instead, he handed an incense stick to Li Zhiyuan, one for himself, and one for Xue Liangliang.
As for Zhao Hequan, who was delirious, they stuffed him with a bunch.
Next, Luo Tingrui stood at the forefront, solemnly offered his incense, then unbuttoned his collar and, disregarding the dirt, sat down in front of the deity, continuously patting the ground with one hand and clutching his chest with the other, starting to pour out his hardships.
He reminisced about the hard days before liberation, talked about the purpose and significance of building roads, bridges, and water projects, and finally his vision for the future.
He spoke passionately and attentively, losing the stern demeanor of an engineer; anyone unaware might think he was hosting a small seminar.
Moreover, probably fearing the local temple might not fully understand Mandarin, he deliberately used a lot of Nantong dialect, albeit poorly and inaccurately.
After speaking, he stood up, pressed his hands on Li Zhiyuan and Xue Liangliang’s heads, urging them to pray again with the incense.
Finally, he dragged the unconscious Zhao Hequan over, grabbing his head to make him bow.
After these rituals, Luo Tingrui buttoned up his collar, and his demeanor stabilized.
Seeing the curious gaze from Xue Liangliang, he said irritably, "Learn something; this technique was learned from my seniors. This kind of thing is not common within Nantong boundaries, but encountering it while constructing roads and bridges inland is quite frequent; everyone has figured out this procedure, and it’s quite effective."
Li Zhiyuan nodded in admiration because after this round of ritual, the soybean-sized gray patch on his forearm had disappeared, leaving only a barely detectable mark; it could almost be said to be healed.
This really was miraculous; if he went back to seek treatment from Liu Jinxia, Aunt Xiang Hou might have to suffer tremendously on the ground again.
Li Zhiyuan began to ponder: Could this be considered another development in Xuanmen?
Mainly moving with emotion, guiding with reason; however, the key seems to be a higher level of righteousness, even those filthy things could only retreat.
The patch on Xue Liangliang’s arm had shrunk to the size of a soybean, and it had also faded a lot, which should mean no big issue remained. Even if a permanent trace was left, for a male water conservancy student, it wasn’t a big deal.
As for Zhao Hequan, he seemed much more relaxed, beginning to murmur as consciousness recovered bit by bit, but he was initially the most severely affected, and even if half recovered now... it still felt like the difference between a condition that could kill you ten times and one that could kill you once.
After all, Li Zhiyuan had seen with his own eyes, "Zhao Hequan" being taken away by that woman.
Li Zhiyuan scrutinized the area around the deity statue’s feet, although there didn’t seem to be a suitable place to hide anything, yet between the statue’s feet, he spotted an inscription:
Is it a title for a woman?
It did match the local naming conventions, like how Liu Jinxia was called "Nanny Liu" by guests.