Chapter 67: Shehuo (Seeking Favorites, Monthly Votes, and Recommendation Votes)

When Meng Fan and Gao Dazhuang finally emerged from the cave, Gao Dazhuang let out a long breath and said, "Heavenly Artisan, you really scared the life out of me. Who would have guessed you'd be so unyielding? Those were the Five Great Immortal Families!"

Meng Fan curled his lip. "So what if they're immortals? At the end of the day, they're just animals that have lived a bit longer and are full of crafty tricks. If you start trading barbs with them, there's no telling when you might fall into their traps."

"Don't tell me you didn't leave a backup plan, Gao Dazhuang. The pups under your command know your tricks all too well—otherwise, they wouldn't call you 'Houndhead Old Gao'."

Gao Dazhuang laughed heartily, tapped the button-sized communicator at his collar, and spoke in a low voice, "Danger averted. You can have them pull back."

"Understood!"

Meng Fan gave Gao Dazhuang a thumbs-up. "You're still the slick one!"

"Spare me, I can't take praise like that from you, Heavenly Artisan. You're the one who's both slick and unyielding!"

The two of them got into the car and set off down the road.

Gao Dazhuang asked, "Heavenly Artisan, now that you've got what you wanted, are we going to send people to the Changbai Mountains next?"

Meng Fan shook his head. "Not yet. I did make a promise to them, but I didn't say *when* I'd fulfill it. Once they start getting anxious, they'll naturally come looking for us."

"Besides, why should we exhaust our own efforts trying to track down those three great demon immortals? The Changbai Mountain range runs from northeast to southwest, forming an ecological barrier stretching over thirteen hundred kilometers. With a range this vast, how are we supposed to search it? How many resources would that require?"

"Even if we dispatched all three thousand of our operatives, it would be like looking for a needle in the ocean—it wouldn't even stir up a ripple."

"The Northeast is the territory of the Five Great Immortal Families; they're the local tyrants, and those two sides are bitter enemies anyway. When it comes to tracking down the three great demon immortals, they have far better methods than we do."

Meng Fan spread his hands. "I only promised to help them solve their problem; I never promised to track down the three great demon immortals for them. Dragging things out is the only way to turn a passive situation into an active one."

"Do you really think the Five Great Immortal Families aren't sitting around waiting for us to fail so they can laugh at us? Before long, they'll be the ones begging us for help."

Gao Dazhuang nodded in agreement. "No wonder they say your brain works wonders, Heavenly Artisan—just like our Wolf Head."

"Oh, cut it out. You just want to call me crafty!"

Gao Dazhuang chuckled and focused on driving.

***

"So, Heavenly Artisan, where are we heading next?"

Meng Fan recalled the vast amount of intelligence files from the Company. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "Shaanxi Province. There's a certain figure there that I need to pay a visit to."

Gao Dazhuang gently stroked the newly acquired immortal lineage heritage in his hands. In his mind, this was merely one piece of the puzzle for his grand completion plan.

Aside from the heritage of the immortal families, there was actually another craft—or rather, technique—that interested Meng Fan the most: the Divine-Incarnation Mask.

In truth, the Company had already dabbled in the realm of incense willpower, such as their Divine-Incarnation Armament Project.

Since ancient times, humanity had never ceased praying to and worshipping deities, even though the existence of those deities had never been proven.

Yet among the outcasts, there was a specific faction whose practitioners cultivated *Qi* derived from humanity's faith in deities, using Divine-Incarnation Masks to channel and control that power.

By donning a Divine-Incarnation Mask, one could borrow the incomplete power of a deity. The Company had even experimented with the concept of the Divine-Incarnation Mask to forge a complete set of armor.

This was none other than—the Divine Incarnation Armament!

The immortal families' method of absorbing incense willpower for cultivation, the Divine-Incarnation Masks, and the Classic of Mountains and Seas series of mythical beasts that Meng Fan was planning to develop next—

When these three elements were brought together, they would spark a far more brilliant flame.

Meng Fan had never harbored illusions about using ordinary animal genes to create true mythological creatures. Even ultimate entities like the Chaos lacked genuine supernatural power.

The foundational limits of the world restricted Meng Fan's ceiling; this world lacked true divine beast bloodlines and only possessed freakish entities like the immortal families. Even so, within these boundaries, there was still plenty of potential to be explored.

If ordinary animals found it exceptionally difficult to cultivate innate *Qi*, what would happen if they were granted official investiture as deities through the use of incense willpower?

[Investiture, acquiring Qi, cultivation, divine powers……]

[Deducing the method from the technique, seeking the Tao through the method, reverse-engineering the foundation, returning to the original form…… Wielding the power of the deities!]

Meng Fan slowly wrote these words down in his notebook, a faint smile curving at the corner of his lips.

***

Shaanxi Province.

Meng Fan and Gao Dazhuang waited for many days before they finally caught a divine-worship gathering.

Processions lined up in precise order, led by two deities disguised as the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger clearing the way, with Lord Guan and Zhou Cang bringing up the rear in the back.

Thousands of people painted their faces with opera masks, dressed in historical costumes, mounted on tall horses, and holding swords, spears, and halberds. Hundreds of giant drums thundered simultaneously, shaking the earth, forming a majestic and imposing procession one to two kilometers long!

The four large drums beaten synchronously by the performers were painted with golden coiling dragons and Bagua Taiji symbols, bearing a striking resemblance to ancient sacrificial rituals.

"Heavenly Artisan, you had me bring you all the way here just to watch a Shehuo festival?"

So-called Shehuo performances were various folk variety shows performed during festivals; also known as folk drumming and music for the Shehuo, they were too numerous to record individually, mostly intended to amuse and make people laugh.

Folk Shehuo originated from the ancient worship of the land and fire. *She* referred to the God of Earth, while *Huo* referred to the Fire Ancestor, the legendary God of Fire.

In the Central Plains, renowned for its agricultural culture, the land was the foundation upon which people made their living, providing the material basis for human survival and development.

Fire was the source of cooked food and warmth, as well as an indispensable condition for human survival and progress. Driven by primitive thinking, ancient people believed fire also possessed a "spirit," viewing it as a sacred object with special significance and worshipping it, thus forming the concept of fire reverence.

From the ancient worship of land and fire arose the customs of sacrificing to She and fire.

The ancient text *Rites of Zhou: Office of Winter: The Drummer* recorded: "Use the thunder drum to beat for the divine sacrifices, and use the numinous drum to beat for the She sacrifices."

At this moment, Meng Fan smiled and said, "This Shehuo performance is no ordinary affair; it can be considered the most authentic and unadulterated version. Pay close attention to their facial makeup."

Hearing this, Gao Dazhuang looked in the direction Meng Fan was pointing. After studying them for a good while, he couldn't help but notice the resemblance—why did these facial makeups bear such a striking similarity to the Taotie, Kuilong, and Kuifeng patterns found on Shang dynasty bronze vessels?

Meng Fan explained, "Shehuo facial makeup evolved from ancient masked and painted-face traditions, making it arguably the oldest facial makeup in the Central Plains."

"Shaanxi is the cradle of the Zhou dynasty, and some Shehuo face paints still retain the vestige of the Zhou culture's painted-face rituals known as 'Grand Nuo,' while others carry undeniable traces of the Shang dynasty's legacy."

"Red stands for loyalty and righteousness, white for treachery, black for firmness and directness, green for valor, yellow for ferocity, blue for outlaws, green for chivalry, pink for the elderly, while gold and silver shine brightly, reserved exclusively for demons, ghosts, spirits, and judges."

"Without guidance and an unbroken heritage, such ancient facial makeup traditions could never have been passed down. The person I'm looking for is right here in this Shehuo procession."