Enshrinement as a God

A fortnight had passed since the Slender Moon Squad and Wenzhong had visited.

During that time, Agong, who had been learning the Nine Palaces Divine Steps from Cook Li, had barely reached the level of imitating the footwork that Cook Li had taught him.

According to Cook Li, the Nine Palaces Divine Steps was a footwork that contained nine variations, and the part he was teaching Agong now was the most basic part, but even that was difficult for Agong's head to learn.

Thanks to that, Cook Li would call Agong a 'stone head' whenever he was bored, causing Agong's lips to protrude by three inches.

"Phew!"

After roughly finishing the cleaning of the tavern, Agong ran to his room and took out his fishing rod.

Agong's number one treasure.

He had never had his own belongings in his entire life, so although it had a shabby appearance, he couldn't help but feel so much affection for it.

Although he couldn't catch any fish, it was his own fishing rod.

Agong carefully maintained the fishing rod.

The line part of the fishing rod was so sharp that he couldn't touch it, but maintaining the rod part was now a daily routine for Agong.

"Hum, hum, hum~"

As he held the fishing rod, a hum naturally followed.

He wanted to go fishing alone, but he was holding back because of Tongtian's stern warning.

If he didn't want to become fish food while fishing alone in the Hermit's Valley lake, he shouldn't come to the lake alone when he wasn't there...

At first, he didn't know what he meant, but he was able to understand the reason during his second fishing trip with Tongtian.

It wasn't just fish that lived in the lake.

Therefore, although he couldn't fish in the lake, young Agong could imagine.

When he closed his eyes, the lake spread out before Agong's eyes.

Tongtian was next to him, and Tongtian was casting his fishing rod without a single movement, as usual.

In his imagination, Agong was not the Agong who couldn't catch a single fish, but Tongtian, the number one fisherman in the world.

Even though it was Agong's imagination, Tongtian's hand movements were not fully visible.

Although Tongtian had intentionally moved slowly, even that was difficult and hard for Agong to follow and understand with his eyes.

Agong fidgeted and moved the fishing rod in his hand here and there.

As he held and shook the fishing rod here and there, he naturally recalled the Heavenly Demon Hand that Tongtian had shown him.

Although it was difficult, he was able to clumsily imitate Tongtian's hand movements, which he had stolen a glance at—and later observed openly.

Plop!

A ripple formed in the calm lake, and a strangely shaped fish jumped into the air.

A creature that was neither a fish nor a beast.

A monster fish that made him feel once again that this was the Hermit's Valley, an otherworldly demonic realm.

Its mouth was full of sharp teeth, and not only its fins but also its scales were like thorns, with a sharp edge that seemed to cut the flesh.

Although Tongtian released every fish he caught, he showed no mercy to this one.

Ping!

For a moment, it felt as if something was flowing through his meridians to his fingertips.

But Agong, who had become Tongtian, was so engrossed in his imagination that he didn't even have time to feel it.

"Hah!"

When he pulled up the fishing rod, the monster fish's head was eventually severed.

Tongtian had told him that the creature's blood was acidic and its meat was poisonous, so it couldn't be eaten, but sometimes an inner core used in the concoction of elixirs could be found.

Agong, who had enjoyed his imagination to the fullest, opened his eyes with a flushed expression, his excitement not yet subsided.

"Gasp!"

Agong, who had come out of his imagination, was startled.

He found a table with its corner cut off lying wretchedly on the floor in front of him.

And right above it, there was Cook Li, looking at him with a pathetic expression.

"A fine thing you're doing."

At Cook Li's words, who was making a dumbfounded expression, Agong was engulfed in shame and bewilderment.

The shame was because he had shown his foolish act with the fishing rod to the foul-mouthed Cook Li, and the bewilderment was because the perfectly fine table was cut in half.

"What happened here?"

"You did it, and you're asking me?"

"Me?"

"Then, if not you, would I have gone down for no reason and split the table?"

The perfectly fine table was split in half, so why was it his fault?

When Agong made a face as if he couldn't even guess, Cook Li clicked his tongue.

He had come out for a moment because it was noisy outside, and he had clearly seen Agong swing his fishing rod and split the table.

"What on earth did you learn to make such a fuss?"

"Th-that can't be... Don't tell me what old man Tongtian was doing actually worked?"

Cook Li's forehead wrinkled as he heard Agong's muttering to himself.

"Who did what?"

The old men here all had ears as sharp as ghosts.

"I was just imitating old man Tongtian fishing, so does it make sense that I did this?"

Cook Li scratched his chin and frowned deeply.

His lips twitched as if he were about to say something, but in the end, he couldn't hold it in and blurted out a word.

"Quit it."

"What?"

"You, are you planning to live here for the rest of your life?"

"That's not it, but..."

Li Hachan, the cook of the Mountain Sea Tavern, knew that human affection was a scary thing, so he had tried hard not to give his affection to Agong.

But it seemed he had grown fond of Agong, who came to the kitchen every day and chattered, without realizing it.

He was meddling, which was unlike him, who had his own hands full.

"You're neither a genius of the world nor a heavenly martial bone, so that monster intentionally let you learn it, but they are people that ordinary people should not get involved with."

'That monster' clearly meant Tongtian.

"What about old man Tongtian?"

Cook Li let out a long sigh.

"There are four types of people you shouldn't associate with in the Hermit's Valley."

"Four?"

"The first are those called the Mountain Peak Sect. You've met True Man Lingbao recently, so you should have a rough idea of what kind of people they are."

"Ugh..."

At the mention of Lingbao, Agong frowned with discomfort.

He was a cranky and self-centered Taoist.

"Most of them enjoy wearing white clothes, so you can think of them as the ones who visit here dressed as Taoists, monks, or scholars. But still, many of them were once in the righteous path, so they are people you can talk to."

Recalling Lingbao, it didn't seem so, but in any case, Cook Li's words continued.

"The second are those called the Non-Duality Gate. Most of them are from the West and usually hide their faces. It seems they have some exchange with Master Gongsun, but they are also mixed with extremely dangerous people, so don't even think about getting close to them."

"People from the West?"

Come to think of it, he remembered seeing strange characters when he was learning to read in Master Gongsun's room.

Perhaps those special characters from the West had come through them.

"They are people who use sorcery, so if you let your guard down because you're captivated by their appearance, you'll be in big trouble."

It sounded like something from experience, but Agong didn't bother to point it out. It was rare for Cook Li to speak without stopping.

"The third are the Sea Isle Sect, the ones that the Tongtian you just mentioned belongs to."

"Sea Isle Sect..."

"Most of the people staying here are from the Sea Isle Sect. They are a mix of all sorts of people, including those from the evil sects and even the demonic cult, so they are extremely dangerous."

"D-demonic cult?"

Agong had also heard about the demonic cult in the village.

They were known to do all sorts of cruel things, such as capturing people for human sacrifices and drawing their blood.

'Don't tell me the 'joining the cult' that old man Tongtian mentioned... doesn't mean the demonic cult, right?'

Come to think of it, the name Heavenly Demon Hand that he used when fishing also seemed to be related to the demonic cult, but recalling old man Tongtian, Agong tried hard to deny the thought.

Such a gentle and generous old man being a wicked demonic cultist. The two images didn't match at all.

"Yes, in conclusion, the people who visit the tavern are all dangerous, so it's best not to get involved with them."

"Didn't you say there were four?"

"The last one is that old man Hongjun. It's already too late for you to escape, but..."

There was no way a young child could escape from Hongjun's evil clutches, so this was no different from meaningless advice.

Agong listened to Cook Li's words and thought deeply.

"In the end, you're telling me not to get close to anyone except you and Master Gongsun, right?"

"Don't get close to me either!"

Although he said that, in the end, it meant the same thing.

"I'll be careful."

Still, since he was saying it out of concern for him, Agong answered obediently for now.

"Quit that thing you learned from Tongtian or whatever, too. Whatever it is, if you learn something like that, you're just asking to get stabbed in your sleep."

He was still a foul-mouthed old man.

Cook Li, thinking that Agong wasn't really listening, was about to say something more, but he saw the people who had come to the tavern and hurriedly left his seat.

Jingle, jingle.

"Welcome."

With the sound of the bell, Agong hurriedly got up from his chair.

The guests who appeared in the tavern were people with their hoods pulled down deeply. Two of them were very tall, and one was a little taller than Agong but had a considerable build.

Agong, briefly intimidated by their presence, cautiously stepped forward.

"Um, the food you're looking for..."

They also seemed a little flustered by the sight of Agong, whom they had never seen before, and exchanged glances among themselves.

And the three of them simultaneously took off their hoods.

"Ah!"

At the sight of them, Agong unknowingly let out a sound and covered his mouth.

All three of them were from the West, with pointed ears and different colored eyes. One was a woman with green eyes and a bewitching beauty that made him wonder if she was a demon he had only heard about in stories, and the other was a middle-aged man with blue eyes and a smile on his face.

And finally, the smallest one was a dwarf old man with a magnificent beard.

"Who are you?"

The woman was very tall, and her face was as white as if it had been powdered, and her nose was high. Agong felt fear rather than beauty.

Her voice was as beautiful as a jade bead rolling on a silver tray, but her accent was unnatural.

As the woman, who spoke clumsy Chinese, came closer, the smell of grass around her became so strong that it was suffocating.

"I'm the waiter who works here."

As if hearing the word 'waiter' for the first time, the three exchanged glances again.

"Hmph, I thought there was a small commotion recently... It seems this brat was the rest of it."

Unlike Lingbao, whose face was young and voice was old, the voice of the man who was muttering incomprehensible words was refreshingly clear, not matching his age.

"Kid, what?"

"What?"

"Name!"

The dwarf old man among the three seemed to be the least fluent in Chinese and conveyed his intentions in short bursts.

Looking more closely, his forearms were as thick as Agong's waist, and he was carrying something huge on his back. He was short, but he was clearly a great strongman.

"Ah, Agong."

"I am Sorin, son of Jiumma."

"Xiaoren [small person]?"

"Sorin."

"Xiaoren."

"Sorin."

"..."

After repeating the name a few times, Sorin seemed to give up and firmly closed his mouth.

Agong, with an awkward expression, remembered him as Xiaoren for now, as the pronunciation was difficult.

"My name is Sirsha. If it's hard to pronounce, you can call me Miss Mu."

"Yes, Miss Mu."

Although her voice was beautiful, Agong couldn't bring himself to look at her directly due to an unknown fear.

'Are these the people Cook Li mentioned, the Non-Duality Gate?'

Judging by Cook Li's description and their appearance, it was certain.

"I am Star-Lord, call me Sheng Wang [Holy King]."

Although his face was smiling, it was a smile that made people tense for some reason.

He looked at Agong intently and then twitched his nose and lips.

"He's rotting away alive."

(End of Chapter)