Chapter 391: Chapter 225: Master Fan’s Daughter, Blood-Stained Incense Burning_3
"The eldest son of the Otani Family must have provoked divine wrath with his arrogance...that’s why we’ve been struck with this disaster..."
"... That makes sense. Master Fan sacrificed his daughter to the shrine as a priestess to appease the furious deities..."
’Authority Representative’ wore a grim expression and loudly rebuked them.
A number of women, having realized their chances of being selected as priestess were slim, abandoned the competition and left the mountain...
Only two women were unwilling to give up and aimed to compete for the priestess position.
However, with the raise of Authority Representative’s eyebrows and a pointed finger, the two women were denounced for their slander of the deities within the Divine Domain. Their qualifications to compete for the priestess position were revoked!
Quickly, the two disgruntled women were ushered down the mountain...
The Authority Representative strode forward, flashing what he thought was a charming smile and greeted you...
"Everyone else engages in covert manipulation, but yours is blatant."
Lin Xun originally planned to lament this declining moral standard. However, as a beneficiary himself, he refrained from doing so.
The Authority Representative led you into the settlement. As he explained the procedures, he stole glances at you...
Although you’re now the only contestant for the priestess position, the basic rituals must still be repeated...
As Master Fan’s daughter, you’re of exceptional status which aligns with the first requirement of being a priestess.
As for the second requirement, he would take you to verify it. Don’t worry, the verification process will be confidential. Only you and he will be present and will ensure that no one else knows the details...
???
Lin Xun’s face was filled with confusion.
"You must be the one LSP was talking about."
The shell was a Courtesan’s shell and this was the main function of the shell.
But with Lin Xun possessing the shell, this would definitely not happen.
Besides, wouldn’t revealing the shell’s true identity expose his plan?
You tsked, drew out the Tachi at your waist, and questioned the Authority Representative’s intentions!
The Authority Representative’s eyes widened, and he slapped his forehead in realization. There had been a misunderstanding in his words just now and he hastily corrected it. It’s a misunderstanding!
The ritual for verifying the second requirement involves going to the first worship hall with your blood-stained incense and worshipping Tiansui Blooming Rice’s virgin goddess statue. If you meet the conditions, the smoke from the incense will turn red. If not, it’ll be a light grey color.
Seeing your displeasure, the Authority Representative explained again that this inspection ritual was not about distrusting you, but a necessary step for becoming the ’Priestess’. As a mere Authority Representative, he implored you not to make things difficult for him...
Seeing this, you remained silent and could only follow the Authority Representative into the first worship hall...
The inside of the Worship Hall was devoid of practicing pilgrims, the surroundings were carefully cleaned, and the teen girl statue of Tiansui Blooming Rice on the altar was shining bright.
The Authority Representative handed you a piece of incense and a small blade, suggesting that you cut your fingertip and moisten the incense with your blood.
The ritual was extremely simple. Would you go ahead with it or find an excuse to evade?
Of course, Lin Xun chose the latter.
If he were to follow the process, considering the purity of the Courtesan’s shell, he would likely end up getting evicted from the mountain...
"I should have gone to the fairyland and found a ’newly-made maiden’ shell."
You surreptitiously pulled out 5,000 spirituality points and handed them over to the Authority Representative...
His face filled with shock, he eventually accepted the spiritual points and gazed at you thoughtfully.
The Authority Representative let out a light chuckle, rose, and left the worship hall, He said, "I’m sorry, but I need to take care of something. Please wait here for a moment, it will only take as long as it takes to make a cup of tea."
As he left, he gently closed the door to the worship hall, leaving only a small crack open.
You knew this was the Authority Representative’s lenience towards you. You needed to produce red smoke from the incense within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea (ten minutes)...
Lin Xun’s first reaction was to rush out and down the hill.
He thought to use the blood of the women who hadn’t gotten far yet, to taint the incense.
However, this idea was quickly discarded, as according to the text information through the underworld game, the women coming to the Shishan Society for priestess competition were generally country bumpkins.
Given the popularity of ’Night Sleepover’ customs, apart from the aristocratic young ladies, few women could maintain their chastity before marriage.
It’d be better to give the Authority Representative more spiritual points than look for those women.
Despite contemplating for a long time, he still couldn’t think of a solution.
"Should I knock out the Authority Representative and forcefully enter the third worship hall?"
After some thought, he decided not to resort to this unless it was the last resort. Moreover, even if he took out the ’Authority Representative’, there were other high-ranking officials, like ’Treasurer’ and ’Master of God’, above him.
Fighting in someone else’s territory with the added buff of the Divine Domain power was not advantageous.
Better to outsmart them than confront them head-on...
Suddenly, an idea flashed in Lin Xun’s eyes.
There was another ’Deep Sea Mermaid’ shell within his shell. Using the blood of this shell could potentially solve the problem.
You possessed the ’Deep Sea Mermaid’ shell!
With a fierce bite on your fingertip, the bright red blood flowed out. You took up the incense and smeared the blood...
...
The purplish-red incense was soaked with fresh blood and turned dark red.
Footsteps were heard outside the worship hall. It was the Authority Representative returning!
Lin Xun promptly acted and switched shells again.
You possessed the ’Rejected Fire Worshiping Priestess’ shell!
The Authority Representative entered the hall, seeing that the incense in your hand was soaked with blood, he approved with a smile, walked over, and took the blood-soaked incense...
He recited an obscure spell and saw that the incense ignited on its own. For a moment, the whole hall was filled with clouds of smoke...
Both you and the Authority Representative widened your eyes in shock, because the smoke rising from the incense wasn’t red but dark grey, so black it was almost untraceable.
...
The Authority Representative covered his forehead, silent for a long while before sighing and saying, "Miss, please go back..."
Lin Xun felt tense with black lines streaking across his forehead.
"What had this mermaid done previously?"
"Did she covertly throw a silver party at the bottom of the sea?!"
He was on the verge of becoming enraged, reaching a realm of transcendental calm.
