After a long embrace, Chongming finally remembered the pressing matter. "What should we do next?" he asked.
Yaohua buried her head in his chest and rubbed against him affectionately. Without hesitation, she replied, "Now all the power of faith you had in the land of Shenzhou has vanished, and the temples built for you across the land have all been shattered. Without the power of faith, your divine form cannot be fully restored by your godhood. Your current state is no different from that of an ordinary mortal. So our top priority now is to gather the power of faith and restore your previous state."
Chongming was both relieved and filled with tenderness as he listened to her well - reasoned words. "Fine, we'll do as you say," he said.
Time was of the essence, so they immediately set off for Henan Prefecture.
Inside the largest temple in Henan Prefecture, the statue of Chongming that once stood there was now broken on the ground. The monks and the pilgrims were all stunned.
"What on earth is going on?" an old man with white hair and a long beard trembled as he spoke, his voice tinged with anger. "Lord Chongming is a kind and merciful god who saves people from suffering. Who dared to smash his statue?"
The monk was startled and quickly waved his hands. "It wasn't me. A thunderbolt struck just now, and Lord Chongming's statue suddenly shattered," he said.
To prove his innocence, he squatted down and picked up the fragments one by one. The other pilgrims also pitched in, and soon they had pieced together a cracked statue of Chongming.
Chongming had not even entered the temple when he felt a faint power of faith. He was a bit surprised. As he walked into the temple, he saw the monks and pilgrims bustling around, trying to mend the statue better.
"What are you doing?" he asked in confusion.
The pilgrims were indignant. "Damn it! What's wrong with this cruel sky? How dare it damage Lord Chongming's statue!" one of them said.
"I don't think it was the sky. Could it be those damned demons deliberately destroying Lord Chongming's statue?" another one suggested.
They were chattering away, making all sorts of demands on the monk who was mending the statue. "I don't think we should use yellow mud. We should use glue!" one said.
"Or we could just make a new statue," another proposed.
In the crowd, a portly middle - aged man raised his hand and shouted, "I'll pay to have a new statue made for Lord Chongming!"
The pilgrims all turned to look at him. "Merchant Hu?" they said in surprise.
Merchant Hu was well - known in the area for being as stingy as a miser. No one expected him to offer to pay.
Merchant Hu said proudly, "My wife and I had been childless for many years. We prayed to the Goddess of Children for so long, but it was all in vain. One day, on a whim, we prayed to Lord Chongming. Not long after, my wife was pregnant. Now our child is over a year old, full of energy, just like I was when I was a kid. This is all thanks to Lord Chongming!"
Hearing this, Yaohua couldn't help but burst out laughing. Teasingly, she said, "Lord Chongming, you even take care of this kind of thing?"
Chongming blushed a little and whispered in explanation, "I would infuse a wisp of divine power into each statue. This merchant has been doing good deeds for many years, building bridges and roads without seeking fame or fortune. The merits on his body resonated with my divine power, which made his wish come true."
Yaohua suddenly understood. "So that's how it is! I'll do the same," she said.
Just as they were whispering to each other, the temple suddenly fell silent.
Everyone stared at them in disbelief and held their breaths subconsciously, afraid of disturbing the gods.
The merchant pointed at them with a trembling finger. "You, you, who are you?!"
Seeing his shocked expression, Chongming couldn't help but smile. "I am Chongming, and this is Lady Yaofeng beside me," he said.
The merchant's eyes widened with excitement. He bent his knees, about to kneel, but an invisible force held him up.
Chongming used his spiritual power to support those who wanted to kneel and said gently, "Everyone, there's no need for such formalities. It was your power of faith that helped me through difficult times. I am deeply grateful and should be the one bowing to you."
With that, he bowed to the pilgrims with folded hands.
The pilgrims were so frightened that they quickly stepped back. "No, no, no, Lord God, we are just ordinary mortals. How could we accept your bow?" they said.
What no one noticed was that as Chongming bowed, a wisp of the thick light of merit on his body split into countless dots of light and fell into the pilgrims' bodies.
From then on, their fortune and blessings would be stronger than ordinary people's, and they would be more likely to turn danger into safety when facing a crisis.
Similar things were happening all over the land of Shenzhou.
Although the thunderbolts from the Heavenly Dao had broken Chongming's statues, they had also exposed the ancient statues hidden inside them.
Looking at the ancient statues, the pilgrims were either shocked or angry. "Where did this obscure god come from? How dare it steal Lord Chongming's offerings?" one of them said.
"What god? I've never seen such a deity. It must be some demon pretending to be a god to steal offerings," another one said.
All over Shenzhou, many pilgrims and monks removed the ancient statues from the temples and placed Chongming's statue on the high altar instead.
Even if Chongming's statue was full of cracks, or even if the altar was left empty, they would not allow the ancient gods to take Chongming's place!
This was the will of the people.
Chongming was usually calm and composed, but when he felt the power of faith pouring in from all directions, he was slightly moved.
Over the years, he had always kept the people in mind. Especially after natural disasters, most gods were too busy taking care of themselves, but he had been working diligently, bestowing blessings on the people.
Although he never sought praise, the people had a clear mind and knew which god was truly doing practical things.
In the following days, he and Yaohua visited various places to thank the people. The people were all extremely excited when they saw him.
After visiting the last city, they returned to the Danyaoshan. But when they entered the cave, they found it empty. There was no sign of Yaoyao!
"What's going on?" Yaohua suddenly became nervous. "Where's Yaoyao? Could she have been kidnapped?"
Chongming walked into the cave and found a paper crane where Yaoyao usually slept. "Dad, Mom, I sense unrest in the Tomb of the Gods. I need to go there to suppress it, so I'm leaving. Remember to miss me," it said.
Chongming pinched the note and pondered. "There is a lot of evil energy in the Tomb of the Gods, and there are ancient seals. If Yaoyao is not there, unrest might indeed break out," he said.
Yaohua stared at the note for a while. "The handwriting is indeed Yaoyao's, but we can't rule out the possibility that someone forced her to write this note. So we'd better go to the Tomb of the Gods ourselves," she said.
They went to the Tomb of the Gods together. They saw the vermilion gate slightly ajar. Yaoyao slipped out nimbly and jumped into Yaohua's arms. "Mom, I missed you so much!" she said.
"I missed you too," Yaohua said, stroking her head. Seeing that she was okay, Yaohua felt much relieved.