Chapter 238 - 237: Kowtowing

Chapter 238: Chapter 237: Kowtowing

"A 0.3x strength boost," Li Qing said.

Hearing this, Feng Ling’s and Ye Zheng’s eyes lit up.

They said in unison, "I’ll pray too."

Feng Ling swiftly knelt and kowtowed three times. It wasn’t convenient for Ye Zheng to kneel, so he simply stood and bowed.

After praying, they asked Li Qing, "Well? Did it work?"

Li Qing nodded and said seriously, "Your strength has been boosted by 0.3x. The effect will last for thirty minutes."

Feng Ling was delighted. "Now that I’ve got this buff, it feels like a waste not to go out and kill a few monsters."

Li Qing smiled at her words.

The discovery that praying to gods granted buffs was a great comfort to him.

Feng Ling said cheerfully, "Come on, let’s go pray to some other Immortals!"

The novelty of it all sparked everyone’s excitement, and they began praying at every shrine they passed as they walked down the street.

At first, they mostly encountered the Civil and Military God of Wealth and the Lucky Cat. Later, after leaving the pedestrian street and entering a residential area, the Divine Statues were mainly of The Bodhisattva Guanyin and the Three Stars of Fortune, Luck, and Longevity.

Besides the Divine Statues enshrined indoors, there were outdoor ones as well. Inconspicuous, dusty shrines were placed at some intersections, each housing a different Immortal: the Jade Emperor, The Buddha, the Golden Flower Lady, the Heavenly Empress, the Emperor of Destiny, the Three Mountain Kings, Lord Lao Zi of the Great Monad, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven... The list was endless.

Feng Ling prayed to the Five Grains God and immediately felt full (she hadn’t experienced the sensation of a full stomach in a very long time).

Ye Zheng prayed to the Huaguang Emperor, gaining a 6x boost to his fire resistance.

Xu Yiming prayed to He Xian Gu, and his recovery ability was boosted by 1.5x.

Huangfu Miaomiao prayed to Ge Hong, and the wounds on her body healed rapidly.

After praying so many times, their initial excitement and elation gradually faded, and they started to feel numb to the process. Besides, they discovered that most of the buffs were useless.

The fire resistance buff, for instance, was only useful against an opponent with a fire-based ability, but this Maze was only filled with a bunch of rats.

Still, Feng Ling’s original plan was just to head back to the truck for the explosives. The praying was just something to do along the way and didn’t cost them much time.

Only the rats were wasting their time.

Almost every street was swarming with rats, sometimes dozens, sometimes hundreds. The moment the rats spotted them, they would give chase relentlessly, like zombies spotting the living.

Even when Feng Ling and Ye Zheng managed to kill all the Mouse Monsters, a new swarm would appear just a few minutes later, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted.

"Why haven’t we seen a single City God? Or a Land God? What’s going on, Daoist?" Xu Yiming sighed.

Li Qing said, looking troubled, "This district is mostly commercial. If we want to find a City God or a Land God, we’ll probably have to search in a different direction."

The Maze was too large. Without any transportation, they could only wander around the central area, unable to travel too far.

Up ahead, Feng Ling stepped into a small supermarket. The first floor sold fruit and snacks, while the second floor sold household goods.

Of course, all the food had been completely ransacked by the Mouse Monsters. The floor was littered with torn scraps of food packaging.

The small supermarket also had an altar, with a goddess enshrined upon it.

Feng Ling beckoned Li Qing over. "What god is this?"

’If it’s an unimportant god, I don’t want to bother praying. All this kowtowing is making me dizzy.’

Li Qing walked over and examined the Divine Statue closely.

The Divine Statue depicted a female General in battle armor. Her bearing was majestic and graceful, but for some unknown reason, her eyes were closed.

"Dressed in battle armor and holding a weapon... this should be Lady Xian," Li Qing said. "Legend has it that Lady Xian was wise and decisive, well-versed in scripture and poetry, and a master of all manner of weapons. She led armies to quell rebellions and protect her people. She was granted titles by the emperors of seven successive dynasties and is also revered by the locals as the Lingnan Holy Mother."

Feng Ling thought for a moment, then knelt on the prayer cushion. "This one sounds impressive. Worth a prayer."

Deftly, she kowtowed three more times.

"Bless us, please bless us. Help us conquer this Maze safely and smoothly. Thank you, Lady Xian."

Huangfu Miaomiao waited in line behind Feng Ling, ready to take her turn praying.

Just as Feng Ling stood up, Huangfu Miaomiao’s eyes suddenly lit up. A system message popped up:

[You have received the blessing of the gods in this city of peril. Eight Divine Statues have awoken to protect you from the threat of evil.]

"Ah, a safe house!" Huangfu Miaomiao exclaimed in delight. "We’ve unlocked a safe house!"

Li Qing added, "Quick, look! The Divine Statue’s eyes are open."

Feng Ling noticed it too. With its eyes open, the Divine Statue’s aura was suddenly extraordinary. Those eyes seemed capable of piercing through all the world’s evils, commanding an authority that needed no anger.

Feng Ling asked Huangfu Miaomiao, "What’s the range of the safe house?"

Following the glowing area indicated by the system, Huangfu Miaomiao gestured around them. "This entire building. Once you step outside this area, you’re no longer in it."

Hearing this, Xu Yiming relaxed even more. He slumped to the floor, not caring how he looked, leaned against a shelf, and let out a long sigh. "Finally... we can rest."

Huangfu Miaomiao then added happily to Feng Ling, "We didn’t just unlock one safe house, we unlocked eight of them all at once!"

"Eight?" Feng Ling asked, curious. "Where are they?"

Huangfu Miaomiao shook her head. "I don’t know. But since they’re unlocked, I’m sure I’ll get a notification when we find them."

Li Qing couldn’t help but remark, "Now all that’s left is to find the game’s Divine Statue and the Maze Master."

Xu Yiming smiled from his spot against the shelf. "With a safe house, we can plan our next moves. We can advance or retreat, so we don’t have to be as reactive as before."

He turned to Feng Ling. "Should we discuss our next move?"

"Next, I want to blow up a mountain," Feng Ling said, looking at Huangfu Miaomiao. "Little Skeleton, first clear out your grid backpack. We’ll leave the luggage here in the supermarket for now. Then we’re going to the truck for the explosives. Pack as much as you can carry, fill every slot."

The truck wasn’t far, just down the street and around the corner.

Huangfu Miaomiao volunteered, "I can go by myself! You all rest here. It’ll be harder for the Mouse Monsters to spot me if I’m alone, anyway!"

The safe house had given her a backbone. Huangfu Miaomiao felt terrifyingly brave.

Xu Yiming laughed. "Look at Little Skeleton, already able to handle things on her own."

Huangfu Miaomiao puffed out her chest proudly, forgetting she’d been the one sobbing her heart out just a little while ago.

Feng Ling considered it for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. Go by yourself. Be quick."

’This gives me the perfect chance to track the rat I tagged last night,’ she thought. ’I should have checked on it earlier, but after entering the Maze, we were constantly harassed by Mouse Monsters. I couldn’t spare the focus for anything else.’

Just as Feng Ling was thinking this over, she heard Ye Zheng speak up. "I’ll go with her."

Huh?

Feng Ling turned to Ye Zheng, stunned. She didn’t understand why he felt the need to get involved.

Huangfu Miaomiao was taken aback as well.

Ye Zheng stared at Huangfu Miaomiao, his expression dark and serious. "We went to all this trouble to rescue her. I’m not about to let something happen to her now."

Feng Ling had a flash of understanding. "Oh..."

’The sunk cost fallacy, right? Yep, yep, I get it!’