But this gust of wind was truly uncanny, startling the young girl. She looked around, took off her outer robe, hesitated for a moment, and placed it on the altar, still completely unaware. After offering incense, she was about to leave. If she were to go out and wander around again, the little girl would probably be too embarrassed to face anyone. Seeing that the people nearby were either stiff or completely useless, William Carter sighed. George and Emma suddenly felt a void beside them—William Carter had already revealed himself and jumped down.

Inside the temple, the lights were neither bright nor dim. As he leapt, a gust of wind followed, making the flames flicker. The young girl, Xiao Ying, saw a blur before her eyes, and then a man suddenly emerged from the darkness, bare-chested, reaching out to her. She was scared out of her wits on the spot.

As expected, a shrill scream rang out. William Carter had just opened his mouth to speak when the girl, quick as lightning, slapped him hard and shouted, "Pervert!"

With a crisp "smack," William Carter took a slap right across the face.

The slap was so sharp that the two crouching on the altar both involuntarily twitched half their faces.

After taking the slap, William Carter wasn't angry. He simply shoved the outer robe into her hands and quickly whispered something. The girl was startled, reached behind her, and suddenly her face turned bright red, her eyes instantly filling with tears—whether from anger or shame, it was hard to tell. Clutching the robe William Carter had given her, she covered her face and fled, leaving William Carter standing there alone in his thin clothes. With everyone gone, the temple was empty, a cool breeze swept through the hall, and all of a sudden, it felt a bit cold.

He rubbed his face, turned around, and with half a bright red handprint on his cheek, said to the two youngsters, "Alright. It's over."

As soon as he finished speaking, George pointed at him and said, "Did your wound reopen?"

William Carter looked down and let out an "oh."

He took off his clothes, revealing skin as smooth as mutton-fat jade, but his chest was tightly bound with layer upon layer of white cloth, wrapped so firmly that even his neck and wrists were covered in bandages. Countless small wounds crept out from the edges of the bandages, making for a rather shocking sight.

Thinking that his twisted neck should be almost healed, William Carter began to unwind the bandages, layer by layer. Emma glanced at him and asked, "Who?"

William Carter replied, "What?"

Emma said, "Who did you fight with?"

William Carter: "Fight? No one."

George: "Then how did you get all these injuries..."

William Carter said blankly, "I fell by myself."

"......"

These were the injuries he got three days ago when he rolled down to the mortal realm. If it had been a fight, he might not have ended up this badly.

Emma muttered a few words under his breath, which William Carter didn't catch, but he was sure it wasn't praise for his resilience, so he didn't ask. He finished unwrapping the thick bandages around his neck. In the next moment, both George and Emma's gazes sharpened, landing on his neck.

A black collar encircled his snow-white neck.

Chapter 5: The Three Oddballs' Night Chat in the Great Yang Hall

Sensing their gazes, William Carter smiled slightly, turned around, and said, "First time seeing a real curse shackle?"

A curse shackle, as the name suggests, is a shackle formed by a curse.

A god who has been banished from the heavens will have a mark of sin, a heavenly punishment, imposed upon them, forming a binding that seals their divine power, ensuring they can never break free. It's like having words tattooed on one's face or being chained by the hands and feet—a punishment and a warning, both terrifying and shameful.

As the laughingstock of the three realms who had been cast down twice, William Carter naturally bore such a curse shackle. These two junior martial officials must have heard of it, but hearing about it and seeing it with their own eyes are two very different things. So, seeing their expressions, William Carter could understand.

He guessed that this thing probably made the two junior martial officials feel uneasy and wary. After all, it was nothing good.

He had wanted to use the excuse of finding some clothes to slip outside for a bit, but Emma blocked him with a roll of his eyes and a "If you go out on the street looking like that, it's downright indecent." In the end, it was George who casually grabbed a temple attendant's robe from the back hall and tossed it to him, saving him from further indecency. But after sitting down again, the atmosphere felt a bit awkward after what had just happened, so William Carter took out the scroll given by the Hall of Divine Literature and said, "Do you want to take another look?"

George lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, saying, "I've already seen it. I think he needs to take a good look."

Emma said, "What do you mean I need to take a good look? That scroll is so vague and worthless—what's the point of reading it again and again?"

Hearing him call the scroll worthless, William Carter couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the junior officials in the Hall of Divine Literature who wrote themselves pale over those scrolls. Then Emma said, "Ah, where were we just now? Nanyang Temple—why does Nanyang have so many female devotees, right?"

Alright then. William Carter put the scroll away, rubbed his throbbing brow, and knew in his heart: tonight, no one is getting any work done!

If they couldn't get anything done, then they might as well see what was going on. As it turned out, aside from the crown prince who had spent hundreds of years collecting junk in the mortal realm, all the gods and immortals in the heavens knew that the True Lord of Nanyang, Thomas, had once been called "True Lord of Great Yang." He himself absolutely loathed this title. And as for his story, everyone had only one word to say: "Unlucky!"

Because, the original correct name was "Juyang" (Gathering Sun). The reason it was misheard and spread incorrectly was because of this incident.