I've heard of the Child-Giving Bodhisattva, but never of a Child-Giving Zombie!
Xu Qing glared fiercely, looking at the serene and dignified statue of Lady Baosheng.
As his gaze settled on the slightly protruding bodice, Xu Qing, exasperated, couldn't help but laugh.
Even a zombie would laugh out loud when utterly speechless.
Beside him, Xuan Yu had no qualms about enjoying the spectacle. The black cat jumped eagerly onto the incense table, sometimes sitting there with its head tilted up, meeting the eyes of the silent goddess, and other times circling the statue, inspecting it from all angles.
It occasionally used its little paws to touch the shoes of the 'Xu Immortal Family's' immortal lady, which were cloud-tipped shoes.
Xu Qing felt a subtle connection forming between himself and the statue, and the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger.
Closing his eyes to observe, Xu Qing's vision became hazy, and he could faintly perceive the entire scene within the Incense Hall through the incense Dharma Realm.
The red incense smoke tangled together, and the dots of white light formed by the wishes of believers floated like dust particles, while a familiar cat scent wafted from the incense table.
As his gaze lowered, it landed on the slightly protruding bodice.
"..."
Xu Qing suddenly opened his eyes, striding towards a corner of the Incense Hall.
Just now, when observing the scene within the hall through the statue, he saw a stone shelf placed under the deity's scent drum against the east wall.
On the stone shelf was a stone inscription with engraved text.
Xu Qing was not unfamiliar with temples, and with just a glance, he knew it was the 'Inscription of the Statue' for this temple.
Such inscriptions generally record the time of the statue's creation, the identity and origin of the creators, and the dedicatory inscriptions, specifying the name of the deity being worshiped, informing visitors of whom the statue was made for.
Xu Qing was very curious to know which presumptuous clever person decided to erect a goddess statue for him.
How is this any different from a deceptive photo?
When Xu Qing first entered the temple, he made many conjectures. He considered the Child-Giving Temple he had toppled in Huangping Village and the time he assisted Midwife Liu in delivering the twins for the Li Mugen family.
But neither seemed significant enough for someone to spend a fortune building a temple for him.
In the former case, he was the one who toppled the Child-Giving Temple, so it couldn't be called child-giving; it was merely the removal of an evil with thunderous means. Even if people wished to worship, it should be for a deity of wrath and house protection, not a child-giving deity.
As for the latter, Li Mugen was just a farmer. Even if he was immensely grateful, he wouldn't have the means to erect a statue or build a temple for Xu Qing.
"Let me see who the true genius behind this is."
Approaching the deity's scent drum, Xu Qing looked at the inscription and saw that the first line of the inscription read:
'County Magistrate Chen Guangrui and thirty-two benevolent citizens, with utmost sincerity, dedicatedly constructed a statue of the Life-Saving Birthing Primordial Lord for the benefit of offspring prosperity among tens of thousands of people.'
Xu Qing frowned deeply, exceedingly puzzled as he had no interactions with the County Magistrate of Linjiang. The only slight connection might be having heard Zhao Zhonghe mention that County Magistrate Chen praised his shop for having a human touch.
"What kind of madness possessed this county magistrate?"
Xu Qing had heard that Chen Guangrui's wife recently gave birth to a son, but he hadn't attended the birth.
Why was this temple suddenly built for him?
Xu Qing continued reading, finding in the inscription details about his responsibilities and the public's aspirations.
'In charge of securing pregnancies, resolving birthing difficulties, safeguarding births, nurturing and blessing lineage continuity... holding the divine office of safe and fruitful childbirth.'
Xu Qing blinked, thinking to himself, it's one thing to randomly erect a statue for me, but what's the meaning of assigning me so many duties?
Beyond the absurdly assigned duties, the County Magistrate had also penned the wishes for the populace.
'May children find safe births and blessings; may mothers be free of birthing perils, leading to prosperous households.'
'Seven generations of parents, sharing this aspiration universally.'
'Completed on the thirteenth day of the seventh month, the second year of Jingxing.'
Xu Qing finished reading the inscription, speechless for a long time.
Xuan Yu couldn't empathize but felt that he, too, gained fame because of the Xu Immortal Family's renown.
"I am Lady Qing Qing, and the Xu Immortal Family is Lady Baosheng; now our Cat Immortal Hall has two such ladies."
Xu Qing looked at the indiscreet Xuan Yu, preparing to speak, when he suddenly sensed another anomaly in the incense Dharma Realm.
His consciousness entered the Dharma Realm, where the incense of the Cat Immortal Hall and that of the Baosheng Temple were separated.
The incense from the Cat Immortal Hall appeared golden, while that from the Baosheng Temple was a deep red.
Understanding dawned in Xu Qing's heart, realizing that from the moment he entered this temple, a new incense Dharma Realm had begun to form.
His earlier act of looking at the statue inscription was akin to reciting the registry at the Cat Immortal Hall, obtaining official recognition.
Immersed in the novel incense Dharma Realm, Xu Qing saw that the Baosheng Temple's realm differed from the Cat Immortal Hall's, containing a pool of blood. A closer inspection would reveal this blood was formed from incense flames.
"A Blood Lake of Calamity, is this a blood lake?"
A sudden understanding arose in Xu Qing's heart as he looked at the small puddle within the realm, naturally perceiving it as a lake, albeit a young one.
The initially opened Dharma Realm was not large, only matching the size of the external Incense Hall. After a cursory walk, Xu Qing realized that his realm persona differed significantly from his external self.
In the Dharma Realm, Xu Qing appeared with a male body and a female appearance, wearing a Five Phoenix Crown, a round-collared large-sleeved robe, draped in jade-like cloud shoulders, the edges engraved with intertwined floral patterns and the imagery of longevity and fortune over mountains and seas, with the character 'Bao' upon the skirt.
Additionally, Xu Qing discovered two items in his hands—a small blood-colored vial and a jade-like Ruyi (a ceremonial scepter).
The two items were not tangible but manifested through the wishing power from the blood-colored pool of incense.