After Marrying the Lord of the Underworld

Following Yao Gou, they leisurely walked to the back mountain.

 

A stone path wound its way up the mountain, disappearing into the forest.

 

The stone path was well-maintained all year round, without a trace of moss. The mountain was not high, and the trees did not have the wild growth of Wanming Mountain. Many of them were fruit trees. Some fruits had been knocked down by the rain and fell on the ground, rotting with the leaves.

 

While climbing the mountain, Yao Gou, with his big belly, was panting with exhaustion, and his back was soon soaked with sweat.

 

As he wiped his sweat, he said, “Ah, this is the second time I’ve come up today. I haven’t had such a big workout in a long time. They should pay me more.”

 

Lu Yingjiu laughed, “It’s always good to exercise. Didn’t you used to climb trees all the time?”

 

The old Yao Gou was a nimble little fat man.

 

Climbing walls, climbing fruit trees, catching fish by the river… he remembered at that time, Yao Gou could ride a small bicycle back and forth on the roadside three or four times, and he could still go crazy while sweating all over his head.

 

Lu Yingjiu was not so active. When Yao Gou was riding his bicycle like crazy, he would sit on the wall, holding his head and eating wild fruits. After a while, when Yao Gou stopped, he would leisurely say, “Big dog, do you know you’ve been riding a ghost all the way?”

 

Yao Gou was startled and quickly asked Lu Yingjiu to help drive away the ghost.

 

Unexpectedly, Yao Gou’s physical strength was now worse than before, probably because he had been living too comfortably.

 

“You don’t know,” Yao Gou sighed and touched his belly, “I always fantasize that if one day I drive away ghosts and accidentally fall into a mountain ditch, I will rely on this fat as a wartime reserve. If I’m unlucky and bump into a mother tiger’s den, I can also do good deeds. This body is enough for them to eat a full meal.”

 

Lu Yingjiu laughed.

 

Yao Gou praised his fat again, then changed the subject and asked, “By the way, how is your paranormal office doing?”

 

“The situation is complicated,” Lu Yingjiu said, “Compared to an office, it’s more like a bar now.”

 

He told Yao Gou about Lu Ying Bar, and said that the waiter was rescued from the mountain by them, and the bartender was his childhood friend who gave up being an exorcist. Both of them were pieced together.

 

“Oh,” Yao Gou looked at Jing Xian again, “Then why do I remember you saying that Master Jing is an intern?”

 

Lu Yingjiu had forgotten about this, and replied, “Yes, he is an intern.”

 

Yao Gou hesitated to speak.

 

After wiping his sweat twice, he quietly moved closer and asked, “How much do you pay for internships at your office?”

 

Lu Yingjiu thought back.

 

What was the monthly salary he and Jing Xian had agreed upon? Five thousand? Six thousand?

 

It seemed that he had never really paid it, he was simply a heartless boss, making Jing Xian work for free every day.

 

Lu Yingjiu looked at Jing Xian.

 

Jing Xian immediately understood his meaning and answered Yao Gou, “Six thousand a month, twelve thousand after becoming a regular employee, and there is a commission for doing tasks.”

 

Lu Yingjiu thought to himself, he remembered it very clearly.

Yao Gou’s eyes lit up immediately and said, “I, Big Dog, have been wandering around the world for so many years, and I have seen countless people. I can tell at a glance that your office has an immeasurable future! So, is your office hiring now?”

 

“We’re considering it,” Lu Yingjiu answered truthfully.

 

Yao Gou then patted his chest and said, “Then if you decide to hire, you must find me. I may not be good at other things, but I am first-rate at finding tasks. Every customer who has seen me says good things, I simply have a silver tongue, I guarantee you will have a steady stream of wealth. If that doesn’t work, you can put me out as a mascot, it won’t be a loss, right… ah, we’re here!”

 

Lu Yingjiu looked ahead and indeed saw a few rooftops in the greenery.

 

Before they got close, he felt the power of the talisman paper.

 

The talisman paper covered a large area, its momentum was strong, making all kinds of demons and evil spirits dared not approach.

 

No matter who set it up, their level must be very high.

 

As they walked closer, four temples appeared in front of the three of them.

 

Among them, the temple in the center was the largest and most magnificent, standing two to three times taller than the other temples. The other three temples surrounded it, like stars holding the moon.

 

The roof was made of various colored tiles, laid out meticulously and exquisitely.

 

The temple in the center had glazed tiles, which reflected light under the sun, almost crystal clear. At both ends of the ridge were copper birds – they were two peacocks, one ready to fly, the other looking back at the mountain. Their long tail feathers were all hanging down, lifelike.

 

Lu Yingjiu understood at a glance, this must be the work of the Chu family.

 

This was a temple dedicated to the Peacock God.

 

And it’s not old, it probably hadn’t been repaired for many years.

 

The other three temples, with different colored tiles, the black tiles were like the scales of a giant snake, the red tiles seemed to be burning, and the clear yellow tiles were dazzling. The eaves also have peacocks ready to fly.

 

“Here it is,” Yao Gou said breathlessly, “If you go a little further, you can see the old wedding hall.”

 

Lu Yingjiu looked at the building in front of him and asked, “Why is there a temple of the Peacock God here?”

 

“Ah, it’s not the people from the Chu family who did it.” Yao Gou said, “I asked around, everyone said that it was the exorcist who came before who asked them to build it. After it was built, the Feng Shui in the village really improved. Look, their village is so rich now, every family has a BMW or Mercedes. I’m thinking about building a temple like this at my house.”

 

Lu Yingjiu remembered that Boss Tan had also told him that a surnamed Chu exorcist had been to the village before.

 

It seemed that he was the one who built the temple.

 

Yao Gou urged again, “Let’s go to the wedding hall quickly. It’s so hot, if I stand for a while, I’ll have a heatstroke, and you two may not be able to carry me.”

 

But Lu Yingjiu said, “I want to go into the temple and have a look.”

 

Yao Gou was taken aback, “Okay, okay. It’s cool in the temple, I’ll just take a break.”

 

The three of them then followed the long staircase in front of the main temple, step by step.

 

The door was tightly closed, about five or six meters high, carved with reliefs of peacocks ready to fly.

 

The door was not locked, Lu Yingjiu gently pushed, and the heavy door was opened by him as if it had no weight, and the cool, fragrant air flowed out from behind the door.

 

There were talisman papers set up on the door, and when it was pushed open, one by one, the bright lamps lit up in front of them, illuminating the many peacock bronze statues neatly arranged around them, in various poses, extremely gorgeous. Incense burners were placed in all four corners, and the faint fragrance came from them.

 

In the middle of the temple, there was a huge peacock statue.

 

What caught the eye was the dazzling diamonds and the metal reflecting the fire, which was very impactful.

 

The peacock’s eyes were inlaid with golden gems, bright and clear, and the huge tail feathers were made up of gold and emerald green, spread out in nearly ten meters of space, leaving no gaps, gorgeously hitting the visitor’s vision. Each feather was finely carved with patterns and hollowed out, extremely delicate.

 

At first glance, it seemed as if the Peacock God had really descended to the world, showing off its feathers to its heart’s content.

 

There was also an altar under the Peacock God, with some fruits and bouquets on it.

 

They must have been put there by the villagers.

 

Lu Yingjiu thought to himself, no wonder the Peacock God would dream of this place.

 

If someone has been worshiping it here for a long time, it’s perfectly normal for it to have such a dream.

 

The reason he wanted to come in was to see if this temple had been defiled, causing the dream to shatter.

 

But after looking around, he found nothing unusual and didn’t feel any Yin energy.

 

Everything was too normal.

 

Lu Yingjiu asked Jing Xian in a low voice, “Can you detect anything wrong here?”

 

Jing Xian shook his head, “No.”

 

Lu Yingjiu asked again, “Do you know the Peacock God in the ghost world?”

 

Jing Xian still answered, “I don’t know.”

 

There were eighteen layers in the ghost world, and there were so many strange ghosts that Jing Xian really couldn’t have seen or known all of them.

 

However, Lu Yingjiu was relieved.

 

Just now, he was really afraid that Jing Xian would suddenly say, “I know, I’ve fed it skull heads.”

Yao Gou had already touched the golden pillar next to him and sighed, “Look, look, I told you that Lintian Village is rich. That was more than ten years ago! Such a large temple, four were built at once. And they don’t even understand exorcism, they don’t even know who the god of this temple is, they just worship it every day, and it actually works.”

 

Lu Yingjiu looked around and said, “Let’s go and see the other three temples.”

 

The three of them went around the other temples.

 

Although these three temples were only nearly half the size, they were still gorgeously decorated and had many offerings.

 

The murals in them were painted with gold pens depicting peacocks and exorcists – the exorcists should all be ancestors of the Chu family, with peacocks either flying around them or perching on their shoulders.

 

When they got to the third temple.

 

The murals inside were different in style, as if they were depicting a small story.

 

At the very beginning, there was a gray wasteland, a peacock soaked by rain curled up on the ground, with blood spreading around it.

 

Jing Xian asked Lu Yingjiu, “Is this a legend of the exorcist family?”

 

Lu Yingjiu looked at it and said, “Yes, it’s the story of the Chu family and the Peacock God.”

 

He pointed to the first picture, “The Chu family is actually the first family to make a pact with the gods. Hundreds of years ago, there was an exorcist named Chu Qianju in the Chu family who was wandering in the wilderness and encountered a dying peacock.”

 

“The peacock was full of Yin energy, obviously a ghost. But Chu Qianju couldn’t bear to see it and saved it and brought it home to heal.”

 

The next picture showed the peacock perched on Chu Qianju’s shoulder, seemingly whispering something in his ear.

 

Lu Yingjiu continued to explain, “After the wound healed, the peacock could actually speak human language and said it wanted to repay Chu Qianju. So they made a pact – the power of the gods in the mortal world is weakened, and the priests dare not easily descend to the world. But from then on, they began to lend their power to humans, allowing them to benefit from it, and they also gained more power from the pact.”

 

“However, the talismans of the pact have a very big problem. The development of exorcism at that time was immature. When inviting gods, the body of the exorcist was under a lot of burden.”

 

“Chu Qianju suffered from the backlash of inviting gods and died early. Moreover, the curse that came with the legend made him unable to go to the afterlife forever, and he could only live the same short life in each reincarnation.”

 

“Of course, that curse is just a legend, no one can confirm it, and I tend to think it is fictional.”

 

“In short, with the blessing of the Peacock God, the Chu family became the first family to rise, slowly developed their own exorcism system, until today.”

 

Jing Xian listened attentively, then continued to look up, watching countless colorful murals spread on the walls, telling countless stories of the past.

 

The other murals were all about the Chu family and the Peacock God.

 

Lu Yingjiu probably understood all of them, so he didn’t look closely.

 

However, he rarely saw Jing Xian showing interest in something. Since they were not in a hurry, he accompanied him to look slowly.

 

Jing Xian stretched out his hand and pointed to another mural. “What is this?”

 

Lu Yingjiu replied, “This is the ancestors of the Chu family worshiping the Heavenly Way and the Peacock God.”

 

Jing Xian asked again, “So these are all their talismans?”

 

Lu Yingjiu: “Yes, many of the talismans were invented by the Chu family.”

 

“What is this painting about, an earthquake?”

 

“Yes, there was an earthquake during their worship, so they regarded the earthquake as the wrath of the Heavenly Way, a punishment for them…”

 

Jing Xian nodded, walked forward, and suddenly stopped.

 

After a few seconds, he asked. “What is this?”

 

Lu Yingjiu leaned in: “Oh, this is…”

 

He also paused.

 

This time, the mural depicted a handsome man.

 

The man had a few peacock feathers on his forehead, and his eyes were jewel-like green.

 

He sat lazily, dressed in a golden robe, with a wide collar, and dazzling pendants on his wrists and neck. He was surrounded by brilliant feathers, giving him a casual and luxurious feel. He looked like a nobleman from the old times, or a beautiful peacock.

 

Lu Yingjiu paused for a few seconds.

 

He tried to recall information about this from his memory. After a while, he said, “This… this seems to be what the Peacock God looks like. It can transform into a human form.”

 

He added, “I rarely hear people from the Chu family mention it. But since it’s painted in the temple, it should be true.”

 

Jing Xian pointed to the next one. “What about this one?”

 

Lu Yingjiu didn’t move his gaze for a moment, and took a few more glances at the Peacock God, thinking that he looked quite good, much better than other fierce and evil gods.

 

Then he reacted and looked at the next one.

 

The next mural was also rich in color and delicate in lines.

 

Two men were kissing on it.

 

Lu Yingjiu: ???

 

His first reaction was that he had been infected by Jing Xian’s relentless brainwashing, and his mind was filled with inappropriate thoughts, even misinterpreting the solemn murals.

 

But when he took a closer look, the two people were still kissing passionately and inseparably.

 

The painter clearly had a deep understanding of people in a passionate kiss, and painted their facial expressions vividly, with their hands placed in quite inappropriate places.

 

Lu Yingjiu was stunned on the spot.

 

The Chu family… The Chu family also has a hobby of painting such scenes on murals?!

 

It couldn’t be that some naughty child had scribbled it on, could it?!

 

Jing Xian was very interested in this mural, looked at it for a while, and said, “Why do I feel that these two people, one looks like Chu Qianju and the other like that Peacock God.”

 

Lu Yingjiu: “Ah?” His first reaction was to deny it, after all, this was too outrageous, “That’s impossible… I’ve never heard the Chu family mention it. Besides, how could the two of them get mixed up together?”

 

Jing Xian said, “Think about it, isn’t there often such a plot in novels, where one person offers their body to the person who saved their life. Chu Qianju saved the Peacock God, so the Peacock God offered his body, isn’t that normal?”

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “I don’t think it’s very normal…”

 

He held his forehead, looked at the mural again, which was placed in the center of the entire wall, and was quite sacred.

 

He hadn’t recovered from the shock of “the solemn mural suddenly turning into a same-sex love story”, and heard Jing Xian eagerly say, “I want to paint our love story in my temple in the future, it must be very touching.”

 

Lu Yingjiu: ???

 

Lu Yingjiu said, “Don’t, please don’t put stick figures again.”

 

He imagined that while others’ murals were full of style, Jing Xian’s four walls would be full of stick figure love stories, which was simply terrifying.

 

Anyway, Jing Xian really liked that mural, and stared at it, planning something in his mind.

 

Lu Yingjiu quickly pulled him away and said, “Stop looking, stop looking, why do you always like this kind of thing? In my opinion, this must have been drawn by some naughty child, drawing them… what’s it called, fan art? Or maybe the painter couldn’t distinguish between official history and wild history, and moved the rumors of wild history up.”

 

Jing Xian said, “It must be true.”

 

“It’s fake, it’s fake.” Lu Yingjiu said, “It’s fake.”

 

It took a lot of effort to pull Jing Xian away, and the more Lu Yingjiu thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, and the more outrageous the mural seemed.

 

He really didn’t believe it, he had to ask clearly and figure out if there was any misunderstanding.

 

The Peacock God’s dream just happened to shatter here…

 

If it was because of this painting, it might be possible.

 

After all, a straight man, a straight ghost, and a straight priest theoretically shouldn’t dream about themselves passionately kissing another man – for the Peacock God, this must be a nightmare.

 

So he took a picture of the mural and sent it to Chu Banyang, asking him: [Is this true? Is this Chu Qianju and your family’s Peacock God?]

 

[Has your temple been vandalized?]

 

Chu Banyang responded quickly.

 

His chat box showed [typing…]

 

[typing…]

 

[typing…]

 

Lu Yingjiu waited for a long time, Chu Banyang was still typing, so he sent a [?] over.

 

This time Chu Banyang finally replied.

 

Only one word.

 

[True.]

 

He added at the end: [Actually, it’s not hard to accept. One of my cousins, and a few other relatives, seem to have written some novels about them…]

 

[In short, the broken dream definitely wasn’t because of this.]

 

[For the Peacock God, this should be a sweet dream…]

 

Lu Yingjiu: “..…”

 

Lu Yingjiu: “…………”

 

The Chu family’s holy water, after drinking it, you directly become a monk.

 

The Chu family’s ancestors, all lying in a family bucket ash urn.

 

The Chu family’s god, not only got involved with their contractors, but also had murals and strange fanfictions!

 

What on earth is going on with this family?!