Chapter 142 - 125. Divine Garden and He Jianzhu

The clock ticked on steadily. Uncle Yun went back to busying himself in the kitchen, while Xia Feng glanced at the withered jasmine flowers outside the window before blinking and asking, "So, not worshipping the gods will result in punishment by all the gods, you say, should we worship them?" Mu Qingtong shook her head, "In such a dubious and perilous Calamity Realm that’s laden with uncertainty, all we need to do is follow the principle that ’apparent safety harbors greater danger,’ and that’s all there is to it. There’s nothing else worth discussing." "Ah, this..." Xia Feng massaged his forehead, having thought that Mu Qingtong would offer a multitude of deductions, only to find her approach so simple and blunt. But it made sense; although no one knew if the Sky God was a calamitous beast or just a neutral rule of this place, worshipping Him could grant His protection and immunity from the wrath of the gods... If that was really the case, then there was no need to bother with any trials. So there was no need to overthink; just barrel through. "Speaking of which, you’re here to find out about your mother’s whereabouts, where do you plan to start?" Xia Feng sent the question telepathically, and in the next instant, he heard a calm two-word reply, "Leave it to fate." "?" Xia Feng was somewhat speechless at her nonchalant attitude. Was this woman really serious about investigating the whereabouts of He Jianzhu? Just as he was about to ask something else, Mu Qingtong’s voice rang in his mind again, "That old man and Little Wen, who has been staying upstairs and not coming down, are ’orphans’. But this middle-aged man isn’t an orphan." As she got halfway through her explanation, Xia Feng understood her intention; the Witch intended to simply put Uncle Yun to death, then hypnotize his Spiritual Body with the Spiritual Artifact to interrogate him. Not a bad or inefficient method, considering the rules only forbade attacking orphans... At that moment, Uncle Yun came out of the kitchen with a steaming hot bowl of chicken soup. His demeanor was vivacious as he smiled and said, "Lords, try the chicken soup my mom made; it’s superb." He served two bowls, all smiles as he handed over spoons and chopsticks to them, "Feel at home, no need to be formal." "..." Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong both looked at the rich, golden chicken soup before them, which was appetizing to behold. "Oh, right." Uncle Yun’s wrinkled eyes brimmed with mirth, "You’ve been sitting here for so long. Aren’t you going to worship the gods?" Xia Feng smiled and, instead of answering directly, gestured toward the dark red shrine next to the restroom, "Uncle Yun, why is there an apple tree on the shrine?" In the center of the shrine, there was no statue of a god, but a half-meter tall bonsai tree with two shiny red fruits that resembled apples. "That’s no ordinary apple tree," Uncle Yun said solemnly. "That is the Tree of Blessing. After you worship, the Sky God will infuse the Gift Fruits with blessings, and then each of you may pick one. Those who eat the Gift Fruit will be under the Sky God’s protection, spared from the gods’ wrath." "Oh, is that so..." Xia Feng responded with a smile, "Sounds pretty powerful~" "So, Lords, it’s almost twelve o’clock. I’d suggest you make haste, for even the Sky God frowns upon lazy believers who worship at the last minute." What a refreshing reason to hurry us, thought Xia Feng, his mouth curving into a grin as his gaze intensively fixed on the middle-aged man, "But what if we just don’t feel like worshipping?" The middle-aged man’s face bore a simple and earnest smile, But as Xia Feng’s gaze lingered, the corners of his lips slowly tightened, "Don’t feel like worshipping, hmm?" The light above the dining table grew dim. The atmosphere fell silent for two seconds, and as the middle-aged man bowed his head, a cold and eerie smirk emerged from the shadows, "Heh heh~ But esteemed Lords, whether you wish to or not, now you have no choice but to worship!" As soon as those words faded, Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong felt as if they had been paralyzed, slumping into their armchairs. [You have been attacked by a D-class Spiritual Artifact, Hand of the Dead Chicken] [Detected a copiable Spiritual Artifact: Hand of the Dead Chicken] "You really don’t know how to appreciate favors, do you?" Uncle Yun said in a light voice as he stood up, twisting his neck with an indifferent look in his eyes, "The two outsiders before were easy to deceive, but you two, you’re really troublesome." Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong slumped in their chairs at the dining table, with calm gazes and not the slightest hint of panic. [Copying successful——] [D·Hand of the Dead Chicken: The scent of cooked chicken meat will become your weapon, which you can infuse with paralysing and even sleeping effects. The more fragrant the chicken meat, the better the effect, and if the target smells the chicken scent for over six hours, you can directly paralyse and damage the target’s brain nerves, causing death.] "..." What kind of weird Spiritual Artifact is this? Xia Feng almost choked, the abilities of Spiritual Artifacts are truly bizarre. "Old hag, hurry up and help out." Uncle Yun coldly called out to the kitchen, and the expressionless old lady slowly walked out. "Drag these two idiots before the shrine. If they don’t worship, we’ll force them to worship the gods." The middle-aged man laughed coldly and was about to approach Xia Feng when his pupils suddenly dilated in shock, and he halted in his tracks, "Wha——" His mouth opened and then, with a thud, he collapsed to the ground, face full of horror. Was this... his own Spiritual Artifact’s ability? "Tsks, not bad, your Spiritual Artifact might have a weird name, but it’s quite effective," Xia Feng said with a light laugh as he slumped in his seat. Seeing her son suddenly fall, the old woman at the kitchen door also changed color, stepping back instinctively in fear and confusion in her dull eyes. "Damn it—old hag! It looks like we can’t keep you around," the middle-aged man’s cold voice came from the ground, and the old woman slowly closed her eyes, as if preparing to face death. But after waiting for two seconds, the intense pain of paralysis didn’t come, and she opened her eyes in confusion. She saw the middle-aged man lying on the ground, motionless with a frozen fierce expression and golden crosses rotating in his eye sockets. Her legs went weak, and she trembled against the wall as she sat down, muttering hollowly and hoarsely, "Sins... such sins." Xia Feng watched the scene emotionlessly. Clearly, the old lady had been smelling the chicken scent for a long time, so the middle-aged man needed just a thought to kill her. With the old woman dead, the middle-aged man would be an orphan, unable to be attacked by outsiders anymore. The middle-aged man had planned to use this to force Xia Feng to break the rule of ’not attacking orphans.’ However, unfortunately, all plans are futile in the face of absolute power. Although paralyzed, Mu Qingtong used her Spiritual Artifact’s ability to control her body to stand up. She walked steadily to the middle-aged man and with a casual slice, his head separated from his neck. The Spiritual Body of the middle-aged man floated, his gaze empty. Mu Qingtong didn’t question his Spiritual Body but instead turned to look at the old woman sitting on the ground, her gaze calm, "Tell us everything you know." "..." Searᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The old woman stared at her son’s corpse for a long while in silence, showing little emotion, only her gaze growing dimmer as she sighed, "You must have guessed by now. Worshiping the gods and receiving protection is indeed a lie." "After worshiping the gods, not only will you fail to receive protection, your soul will be scattered, absorbed by the Blessing Tree." She looked at the small apple tree on the shrine, her dull eyes complicated and unclear, "Young lady, do you see those two red fruits? That’s what my son turned the two he deceived last year into." "The Sky God said that once the tree bears five Gift Fruits, the one who has contributed the most will be allowed to leave this place and enter the Divine Garden of the gods, where we would find all the happiness we desire..." Xia Feng looked at the Gift Fruits, inwardly startled, so this was actually transformed from people? Gift Fruit, more like human flesh fruit! "The Divine Garden of the gods?" Mu Qingtong’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, "So has anyone ever gone in?" "Certainly," the old woman said in a grave voice, "I may have come in ten years ago, but I know that this place has been the Calamity Realm for over a decade, and every month several people meet the quota, so I estimate that the number of people who have ascended to the Divine Garden is well over hundreds, nearly a thousand." "But to tell the truth, whether the Divine Garden really exists, no one knows. After all, those who meet the quota simply vanish into thin air, and nobody knows where they go." Probably dead, and if not dead, the outcome isn’t much better... Xia Feng thought cynically. "You came here ten years ago?" Mu Qingtong suddenly asked, "Then do you know He Jianzhu?" "He Jianzhu?" The old woman was startled, her eyes showing slight difference, "I don’t know He Jianzhu, but... I do know of a female doctor with the surname He."