I Am Your Natural Enemy-Chapter 521 - 210 Almost Succeeded, Would Not Die Content Without A Glance (5k)

Wen Yan carefully read the hint provided this time, trying to extract the key points.

The first key point was that Temporary Ability was completely unnecessary. Nothing could compare to simply planting a major mushroom right on the spot. Of course, he noted the reminder to choose an appropriate time. That is to say, planting it carelessly wouldn’t achieve the best effect. Wen Yan had been cautious enough not to plant the major mushroom immediately. When he had come to look earlier, he hadn’t sensed anything, as if it were just an ordinary, nameless god statue. If it weren’t standing on the god platform, behind the offering table, enjoying the incense—if it were anywhere else—Wen Yan would truly have regarded it as nothing more than a common, rotten wood carving. He couldn’t even confirm if this was his target.

He waited a while before fully confirming. This must be the source of Hao Mingyang and the others’ excitement whenever they mentioned the Statue Ghost. It was also the root of their fate alteration.

The second key point was that this Statue Ghost seemed to freely choose its own path. The path it chose, by Wen Yan’s estimation, must be a shortcut: using others’ fortunes to advance itself. Regardless, it was definitely an Evil Path, one impossible to take in the outside world. And when the Netherworld emerged—a place beyond any conventional supervision—it seized the opportunity of the Netherworld’s recent appearance to tread its Evil Path, using the Netherworld itself as its conduit. Even its acts of helping people change their fate were conducted within the Netherworld. It seemed to complete all its potentially scrutinized, sinister activities within the Netherworld.

Wen Yan wasn’t very clear about the opponent’s advancement route. However, he had heard of ’internal filling’ and ’eye-opening’ before; they weren’t associated with righteous practices. He had only heard back then that some Tomb Robbers particularly favored ancient statues with significant histories. This was because, at the time such legitimate statues were crafted, their interiors would be filled with various Magic Artifacts, antiques, jewelry, Gold, Scripture Scrolls, Precious Decrees, and the like. They called this process ’internal filling.’ It was very complex, with the methods varying for statues from different regions and traditions. But one thing was certain: ordinary clay statues and those that had undergone ’internal filling’ were on completely different levels.

As for ’eye-opening,’ this was the final and most crucial step for a god statue. It required a special conjunction of auspicious timing and favorable location, calculated precisely. The requirements for the person performing the eye-opening were also extremely complex and demanding. If one saw a god statue with its eyes depicted as lowered, unless it was a specific type of deity meant to be so, it was generally a statue whose eyes had not yet been ’opened.’ The statues in the main hall of Fuyu Mountain, for example, all had ’opened’ eyes. They were full of dignity and solemnity, making people hesitant to look directly at them. Merely seeing them would involuntarily calm one’s mind and disperse all stray thoughts.

According to his Great Uncle Master, respect for the Ancestors was to be held within the heart, not merely expressed through reverence for statues. Cultivating in the main hall was partly an act of reverence towards the Ancestors and partly for bettering one’s own cultivation. These statues in Fuyu Mountain had actual positive effects; they weren’t mere formalities. Wen Yan knew that merely by completing the ’internal filling’ and ’eye-opening,’ this Statue Ghost was already no ordinary statue.

No wonder it possessed such miraculous abilities. Under the guise of altering fate, it was capable of such deception as to allow two people to swap identities and entire lives. Excluding the previous two, Wen Yan had now seen two more players seeking to change their fates here.

The people he’d seen who desired to change their fate must have been truly overwhelmed, driven to their absolute limits, to willingly brainwash themselves. They believed in this kind of fate alteration, convinced that mere devout prostrations and a few incense sticks constituted a sufficient price. The first player he saw yesterday had a sallow complexion and was a cripple. He was obviously suffering from a severe illness and didn’t have much time left. And judging from his attire, he probably didn’t come from a poor family. At such a juncture, given even a sliver of hope, such a person might genuinely not care about the price or consequences.

Wen Yan couldn’t bring himself to dissuade them. Could he really advise someone to just wait peacefully for death? What if he told them it was a huge scam? That, on some level, they might indeed succeed in altering their fate, but not for long? That they would soon die a sudden, violent death, and might not even find release in death? Perhaps after successfully altering their fate, they wouldn’t even live as long as they might have otherwise. But whether they believed him or not, Wen Yan estimated that even if they did, they would still choose to alter their fate. Someone who had endured prolonged suffering from illness, knowing death was inevitable, might still choose a little ease in their final days, even if it was a false hope.

Wen Yan recalled an old man he had once met. He had been a leader before retirement and enjoyed high post-retirement benefits, including, naturally, a substantial pension. Back when the old man was still working, the economy hadn’t yet developed. His children held ordinary jobs with modest incomes, so the entire family depended heavily on his generous monthly pension. Towards the end, he was paralyzed in bed, could barely eat, and was emaciated to skin and bones. Despite this, his family did everything possible to maintain his vital signs.

Wen Yan was an apprentice in funerary services at the time. Being young and less conspicuous, he would sometimes be sent in first to assess the situation before his master would step forward. Wen Yan had visited the old man twice. By then, the man could only consume a little liquid gruel and was immobile, merely clinging to life. Wen Yan was inexperienced back then. He once overheard someone mention that the old man was failing and that his family should prepare for his passing. Unable to bear it, and seizing a moment when the family members were outside arguing, Wen Yan slipped in and quietly asked the old man if there was anything he wished to eat.