Three splendid characters adorned the temple gate's banner: Land God Temple.

  A place dedicated to the earth god himself. Couplets flanked the main hall's entrance:

  Soil can produce all things, The earth can send a thousand blessings.

  Though the characters resembled Chinese, they were different enough that Xun Xie could make no sense of them. This world's written language remained as foreign to him as everything else.

  The main hall itself spoke of neglect. Dust layered every surface, and a rickety offering table looked ready to collapse at the slightest breeze. Three wicker futons lay before it, their weave rough and worn. The table held white porcelain bowls and plates, candlesticks stripped of their candles, and an incense burner that now served only to collect rat droppings.

  What remained of the offerings told a story of abandonment - moldy steamed buns turned black with age, peaches rotting in their bowls. Against the back wall stood a clay sculpture, its hands clasped behind its back as it gazed skyward at a forty-degree angle. Spider webs draped it like a shroud. Someone had scrawled graffiti across its chest, another couplet:

  The temple is small and there is no monk sweeping the ground with the wind, and the sky is high with Buddha lighting the lamp with the moon.

  Light the lamp with less incense and less candles.

  Such a humble temple, left to decay. Yet when Xun Xie peered inside, his blood ran cold.

  There, squatting on one of the futons before the offering table, was something impossible. A creature, barely a meter tall, with skin pale as bleached bone. Its head was grotesquely oversized, making its neck look impossibly thin where it connected - twisted and wrong, like a boat anchor drawn by an unsteady hand.

  A face-like feature dominated the massive head, all deep folds and empty eyes. No eyebrows softened its appearance, just rosacea-mottled skin and a crooked mouth. Worst of all, its scalp was covered in dense, penetrating scabies.

  The creature's horrifying appearance was made even more terrible by its translucent form. Old tales of big-headed spirits who could kill just by lifting their faces flashed through Xun Xie's mind.

  "Gh-ghost?!"

  Xun Xie's heart pounded. What the fuck is this chance?

  First a man-eating titan-like rain giant, now a fucking ghost!

  He didn't even think - he turned and ran.

  "Young man, can you see me?" An old, dejected voice called after him.

  Xun Xie's whole body tensed. He turned his head slowly, reluctantly looking back.

  The monster was watching him, its empty eyes fixed on his face. Seeing Xun Xie's focused gaze, it suddenly grew excited. "You can hear my voice too, can't you?"

  Xun Xie's adam's apple bobbed as he tried to maintain his composure. This ghost could speak - could communicate. But would it possess him? Curse him? It was broad daylight - ghosts couldn't survive in sunlight, right? That was basic ghost biology.

  He stepped back into the sunlight, which gave him courage. "Who are you, where are you?"

  The question was half gibberish, but once mounted, the horse couldn't be stopped.

  The monster's excitement grew. "I don't dare to be called holy; the little deity is just a local land master, surname Hu and Bai."

  "Lord land god, you?" Xun Xie blinked; surprise written across his face.

  This ghost was the temple's owner! In his past life, Xun Xie knew of villages with up to seven local temples, though not all were dedicated to land gods, land god temples were quite common. Furthermore, in stories and media, earth gods were deities, not evil spirits.

  "This world is really amazing."

  His mind raced - if earth gods existed here, what about dragons, other gods, Buddhas...?

  The Land God stepped forward, examining Xun Xie with those empty eyes. "Strange," it said, face trembling, "you're clearly mortal, yet you can see the 'Yin God'?"

  How could Xun Xie know what that meant? What even was a Yin God?

  After pondering, he said, "Master of the land, a monster ate the whole village yesterday." He watched the land master's reaction carefully. If he'd inherited this body's memories, he'd probably be enraged at this deity for failing to protect them. That giant was clearly no earthly being - surely a land god wouldn't ignore monsters running wild in their territory?

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  The landlord sighed. "That's a 'Bodhisattva'. Alas, when a Bodhisattva wants to eat people, this little god is powerless to stop him!"

  "What did you say? Bodhisattva?" Xun Xie was stunned, certain he'd misheard. "Bodhisattva... cannibalism?"

  "What do Bodhisattvas eat when they don't eat people?" Land God asked. "That's right, you're just a mortal - how could you possibly know what a Bodhisattva is? What else can tame the rains and clouds, shrink the earth and sky, and move such vast distances, here one moment and away in the next?"

  Xun Xie was speechless. "Then... will the Bodhisattva come back?"

  "No, He just passed by this place, he should be 300,000 miles away by now or back 'above'." The landlord shook his head and sat down slowly, holding his giant cartoon-like baby head in his hands.

  "Young man, what's your name?" asked the land master.

  Xun Xie found it strange - shouldn't a land god know the residents of his territory? But judging from the situation, this land master genuinely didn't know him.

  Alas Xun Xie was still absorbing too much information thus he didn’t double back after hearing such a ludicrous measure of distance.

  "My name is Xun Xie," he said hesitantly. The language here was similar to Chinese, so his name should be fine, right? Must be, since the god called himself Hu Bai.

  "Well, young man Xun, you appeared at the right time." The land master nodded. "This little deity was shaken by the roar of the bodhisattva, and his yin spirit was shattered. He will soon perish."

  Another long sigh.

  Xun Xie's eyes narrowed slightly. He survived that roar - how? Could the land god and bodhisattva be similar beings, making the roar more lethal to one of their kind? Or was his stone lottery wheel the culprit once again?

  Before he could ponder more, the land god spoke:

  "I, Hu Bai, was born a prodigy. I started to practice martial arts at the age of eight, formally entered the martial arts at nine, became a 'teacher' at forty-one, and became a 'walker' at eighty-six. I lived over a hundred years and died at the ripe age of 264 in the hands of a foe."

  "After my death, I received Master's kindness, which not only kept the yin spirit from dispersing but helped me become a land master, presiding over a town, accepting more than 400,000 people's prayers with incense, and enjoying boundless blessings."

  "I never thought my luck wouldn't last. Master also died at the hands of the enemy, body and spirit destroyed. I lost my protection, my temples were destroyed by the wicked. I was driven out of the city, wandered to many places, and finally came to this ruined temple to live."

  "Never expected a Bodhisattva would pass by chance, and with a great roar, I would be seriously injured by the shock."

  The Land God looked at Xun Xie. "You must have felt the Bodhisattva's terror. Just the sound of his breathing made you bleed from your seven orifices. Still, even if it is closer to the divine and spirit, it's a miracle you still breathe after his roar. You are blessed."

  'Does this child have a rare special physique? Unlikely, those aren't common in the mortal world, and activating them here is harder than reaching the skies. Could it be the bodhisattva's roar? No, I would sense it even if he had been luckily awakened, so it must be different eyes!'

  The land god quickly surmised.

  Xun Xie pricked up his ears and listened to the Lord of the Land. It seemed...that the stone wheel was likely to thank here as well. He felt a light shine in his mind before he passed out.

  Although he heard a lot of content he couldn't comprehend, he didn't ask much. God knows if this dying land master would use any evil methods to save the dog's life, such as seizing the house (stealing his body via possession).

  "Xun Xie, the little god's life is about to end." Earth God sighed deeply. "You and I are destined, the little God wants to give you a great fortune."

  Destined? Fate?

  Xun Xie immediately became vigilant.

  The development path of this dialogue seemed to be the standard plot of some bad dramas. Do not jest. You and I are not relatives, so don't give away such deceptive things as Great Creations, and don't trick me. I don't want to die so fast.

  You must think I'm as na?ve as my looks and age.

  Xun Xie was raised upon many dramas, games, movies, tales, and the like - he wasn't about to be deceived and tricked into selling himself and helping count the money.

  The landlord opened his mouth and vomited.

  Gulug!

  A cloud of mucus spat out from the land deity's mouth. The landlord stretched out his hand and scratched twice in the mucus, revealing a square seal. Xun Xie became slightly nauseous.

  "Xun Xie, can you see this thing?" Earth God asked.

  Xun Xie nodded. "A square seal."

  Earth God nodded: "This thing is the seal of Earth God, and the person who holds this seal is the God of the land."

  With that said, the land master handed over the seal. "Xun Xie, Little God wants you to take over the seal and become a land god."

  "The God of the earth, can you be one if you want? Anyone can do it?" Xun Xie said in surprise.

  "Naturally not, one must hold the exclusive seal of the land god to become a master of the land," Land God iterated.

  Xun Xie understood.

  The Earth God was a priesthood, but this position only recognized the seal and not the person - whoever held the seal was the one.

  "There are only two ways to become a land god.

  First, accept the canonization, that's how I became the land god.

  Second, inherit from the land god. To do this you must not only be able to see and touch the seal but hear the ritual words for canonization. I hereby choose you as the successor.” Then after speaking some more strange words that Xun Xie could hear then oddly couldn't, forgot then remembered as if the words had existed and then were erased before existing again.

  Afterward, a strange light surrounded Xun Xie to his dismay. Seeing this, the landlord nodded in satisfaction. It was truly as he imagined.

  Earth God explained carefully, "Now then, generally speaking, only the 'yin god' can see the seal, so only the 'yin god' is qualified to be the God of the earth, but you seem to be born with different eyes, so you are also qualified."

  "In the history of this lord's lineage, there have been those extremely rare few who opened the third eye and could see yin spirit, but that was at our peak and they would look down on such things like the position of land god. Further down there are some great talents who master the spiritual aspect of the arts, but that only allows you to damage the spirit and not necessarily touch it. Even when proficient, touching the seal isn't enough - seeing is also important, and hearing."

  Xun Xie didn't dare to accept it, so he said cautiously, "Lord of the Land, what kind of virtue have I and what abilities make me worthy? Besides, I won't be rewarded without merit."

  The Lord of the Earth uttered the famous words, "Little God has something to ask for..."