The Eerified Piglet

Chen Zhou stood up, dusted off the hem of his robe, and prepared to leave.

At the stairs, he paused and asked one last question, "When will the Golden Buddha descend?"

Wu Gou leaned back lazily against the window. "Soon."

"When it’s about to arrive, I’ll let you know."

"Though, I suspect you’ll be able to sense it yourself by then."

"After all, it is flesh and blood with a soul. I even suspect its purpose for coming into this world is to find someone to eat it. Therefore, almost anyone at the sixth-stage or above will have some kind of premonition before the Golden Buddha descends."

"Fine." Chen Zhou waved his hand. "Go on and rest. Hatch your egg well."

"You can stay in the Gathering Fortune Pavilion as long as you like. There's plenty of wine."

"If you want to contemplate reincarnation, wait until Su Xue returns, then go find her at the Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm."

As soon as he heard there was plenty of wine, Wu Gou immediately beamed, his previously serious and profound demeanor vanishing without a trace.

"Easy to say, easy to say! You are most generous, Lord. Go tend to your business and don't worry about me. This poor monk shall go and contemplate the Buddhist dharma with this wine jar!"

When Chen Zhou stepped out of the Gathering Fortune Pavilion, the sky outside was nearing dusk.

Chen Zhou looked up at the unaging pine beside the pavilion.

The Nine-Age Crane was perched upon a pine branch.

It seemed to have reconciled with the unaging pine. Seeing him, it didn't fly away in a hurry; instead, it stood quietly with its wings slightly folded and its posture upright.

It was looking into the distance.

Chen Zhou followed its gaze and couldn't help but smile slightly.

It was the canteen run by Widow Li. Whenever it was mealtime, that place was always the liveliest spot in the City of the Wrongfully Dead.

It was sunset now, and the citizens who had spent the day working were finishing up, gathered in front of the canteen in high spirits.

Several large pots had been set up at the entrance of Widow Li's canteen, billowing steam.

Simmering in the pots was a meat broth made from the meat of spirit beasts they had raised themselves. Although it wasn't of high quality and couldn't be considered a spiritual meal, it was a rare delicacy and tonic for the masses.

"Auntie Li, today’s soup smells even better than yesterday’s!"

"Stop your flattery. You said the same thing yesterday."

"That’s different! Yesterday was fragrant, but today is even more fragrant!"

Widow Li grumbled as she nimbly ladled soup and distributed meat.

Droplets of oil shimmered on the surface of the soup as it was poured into bowls, the steam rising into their faces.

The crowd was bustling. There were farmers carrying hoes, blacksmiths just out of their workshops, and even a few paper people floating in mid-air, crowding around the pots to catch a sniff.

"It smells so good... too bad we don't have guts and can't drink it," a paper person lamented with regret.

"Just smelling it is enough! Don't let your drool fall into the pot!" a mortal nearby joked.

The paper person was slightly annoyed. "I'm made of paper. Where would I get drool from?"

Some people squatted at the entrance, slurping loudly, while others leaned against the walls with their bowls, chatting.

"The plot on the south side of the city was turned today. We can plant tomorrow."

"I went to see it too. The new city wall is almost finished."

"Sigh, to be able to live until now and even sit down for a bowl of hot soup... I really never expected it."

The voices were mixed but not noisy.

It was a very real, living sound.

The Nine-Age Crane watched this, its gaze focused and almost motionless.

It didn't look like an auspicious creature admiring human prosperity; it looked more as if it were confirming something.

The wind blew, and the branches of the unaging pine swayed gently.

A corner of the Nine-Age Crane's feathers was lifted by the wind and quickly settled back down.

In its eyes, the lights of the canteen were reflected.

But as the lights flickered slightly in its pupils, there was no warmth—only a trace of sorrow.

The emotion was buried deep, almost deliberately suppressed. If Chen Zhou hadn't happened to look up at that moment, he would have barely noticed it.

Chen Zhou frowned slightly.

This was the first time he had seen such an expression on an auspicious being.

Did it remember someone or some place?

Chen Zhou was about to take a closer look, but the Nine-Age Crane suddenly moved.

As if realizing its slip of composure, it beat its wings and flew off as if fleeing, gliding far away and landing directly on the corner of the Gathering Fortune Pavilion's top roof.

Then, it poked its head around on the roof, returning to its elegant and composed self.

Chen Zhou didn't pry further. Perhaps it was remembering where it had lived before?

Since the Nine-Age Crane had already moved away, he acted as if he hadn't seen anything.

Withdrawing his gaze, Chen Zhou put his hands behind his back and leisurely returned to the Bone Altar at the center of the city.

Upon the altar, there was a different scene.

A pink piglet was lying on the edge of the altar, fast asleep with the Dream-Weaving Shuttle, the treasure of Sukhavati, clutched in its mouth.

The last time he saw it, brilliant dreamlight was radiating from its body. After not seeing it for so long, the dreamlight had almost entirely retracted, transforming into a deeper shade of fiendish qi.

'It seems it has successfully eerified. Has it become a Dream Demon?'

Sensing Chen Zhou's return, the piglet woke up with a grunt.

Seeing Chen Zhou, it affectionately rubbed against his pant leg.

Chen Zhou leaned down, pinched its face, and pulled it to both sides.

"Puji—"

Its skin was pulled long and was extremely elastic; when he let go, it snapped back with a pop.

The piglet didn't get angry, happily letting Chen Zhou squish and squeeze it while making snuffling noises.

"You've eerified and still haven't gained sapience? Why are you still so silly?" Chen Zhou patted its head with a hint of disdain.

The piglet was oblivious, continuing its silly joy as a snot bubble grew on its snout.

"Fine, go sleep and cultivate on your own. I have serious business."

Chen Zhou waved the piglet away.

The piglet was very obedient. It floated down from the altar, found a comfortable corner at Chen Zhou's feet, curled into a ball, and continued its nap.

Chen Zhou sat cross-legged and began to take stock of the gains from his trip to the Northern Region.

First was faith.

Although the Northern Region was desolate, there were truly many living people.

Under Ku Chan's day-and-night guidance and preaching, almost all of them had been converted into General Believers and Shallow Believers.

They believed firmly in the legend of the Harvest Goddess under the Bone God, and this faith ultimately transferred to him.

Adding the citizens from Lantao City and the new city in the Southern Region, his total number of believers had now surpassed the one-million mark.

Among them, some villagers in the Northern Region who had been personally saved from desperation by the Plague Rat, Poison-Wing, and the others possessed extremely deep faith, skipping past Shallow Believer to reach the level of True Believer.

'A daily income of Evil God Points at the million-level...'

Chen Zhou looked at the rapidly ticking numbers on the system panel, feeling greatly reassured.

With this massive sum, many previously shelved plans could be put into motion.

With a wave of his hand, he first exchanged several building blueprints for 【Intermediate Flesh-and-Blood Pasture】 in the mall.

'The pasture needs a supply of Evil God Points to grow flesh and blood, up to the fifth-stage.'

'When the time comes, I'll harvest more flesh and blood and exchange them for Flesh-Reconstitution Pills.'

'The new city in the Southern Region, Jinji Mountain, and the planned Evil Dog Ridge in the Northern Region all need a vast amount of resources to be filled.'

'Although Seven Kills and the others are progressing quickly, it won't work without manpower.'

'The thousands of wolf-transformed disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect in the Northern Region and the major families in Lantao City that have surrendered all need to be maintained.'

'If I expect them to guard a million people for me, it wouldn't make sense if they didn't have some strength.'