I become a god in another world

Chapter 633 Something is wrong
Chapter 633

'Yo ho!'

In the desolate mountain village, someone shouted loudly.

The sound echoed through the mountains, creating a resonance, as if people were responding to each other in the valley.

For a moment, shouts of "Yo-ho!" echoed through the pouring rain. The carriage Zhao Fusheng was riding in felt even more desolate and cold because no one was talking.

"A visitor is coming."

Wu Jiabing's voice also rang out:
"Come on, a few people, help boil some hot water and settle the guests in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the village came to life.

Someone answered and soon came leaping into the rain carrying a torch. A procession of carriages also slowly entered the village and soon met with the villagers.

Zhao Fusheng and the others entered the center of the village and, by the light of the fire, roughly surveyed their surroundings.

This village is quite large, with 126 households; it's at least the size of a large town.

At the entrance of the village, there is a large gate leading to the house, and several houses built next to the gate are located right at the entrance.

Not far from the entrance is a courtyard, inside which a shed has been erected, and in the center is a coffin with white banners and other items hanging.

A broken bowl with a chipped corner was placed in front of the coffin. It was filled with ashes and incense sticks were inserted on top.

Four bamboo poles were propped up directly above, covered with a tattered straw mat, and some dry wheat straw was laid on top. Water flowed down the uneven straw, some of it dripping onto the surface of the coffin with a rhythmic 'plop' sound.

There was no brazier for burning paper money in front of the coffin. Perhaps it was still early, or perhaps the arrival of Zhao Fusheng and his group had startled the village. Surprisingly, there were quite a few people in the courtyard, making it seem very lively.

The funeral seemed somewhat absurd.

It has both a solemn ceremony that is carefully planned and made with all one's might, and an extremely simple one that seems to suggest that the villagers don't care.

The carriages entered the village one by one, and everyone got off one by one.

Zhao Fusheng's gaze involuntarily turned to the coffin, and after staring at it for a moment, he turned his head back to look at the village.

Torches were lit all over the village, their flames roaring and illuminating the surroundings.

The rain pattered against the thatched roof, making a sound.

In the firelight, many ragged villagers stared blankly at the crowd.

Some of these people were somewhat decent-looking, with clothes covering their bodies, while others didn't even have shirts, revealing their thin, sallow chests.

Many people, in a daze, grinned, revealing the few teeth they had left inside.

These talents fit Zhao Fusheng's understanding of many poor villagers in the Han Dynasty, but this also makes the existence of the Wu family soldiers seem even more strange.

"excuse me."

After getting out of the car, Zhao Fusheng said something to Wu Jiabing.

Yu Lingzhu disagreed, her face showing disdain.

As everyone got off the vehicle, the villagers all stared intently at the group. Wu Jiabing, seemingly adept at reading the crowd, quickly shooed them away.
"A bunch of lazy bums who can't get enough to eat, and now that guests have come to the village, instead of boiling water and doing chores, what are they doing watching these adults? Get out, get out—"

He was highly respected in the village, and as soon as he said this, the others were driven away in fear.

"Wu family soldiers."

Zhao Fusheng called out, and Wu Jiabing immediately stepped forward, his back hunched over:

"What are your orders, sir?"

Zhao Fusheng said:

"I heard from Miao Yougong that your village has a large population, so it must be quite a large place, right?"

"Not small, not small."

Wu Jiabing nodded repeatedly:
"This is just the entrance to the village; behind it stretches a large area of ​​houses—"

"Take me on a tour," Zhao Fusheng beckoned to him.

Upon hearing this, Wu Jiabing was taken aback:
"Sir, it's dark and raining now, why not wait until dawn—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Fusheng interrupted him:
"So what if it's dark? Are you afraid of encountering ghosts if you walk too much at night?"

"A ghost?" Upon hearing this, Wu Jiabing couldn't help but laugh.

"There are no ghosts here!"

His words were unusually certain, which drew the attention of Zhao Fusheng and everyone else.

Liu Yizhen couldn't help but raise his voice slightly:
"No ghosts?"

“No ghosts!” Wu Jiabing shook his head again.

Zhao Fusheng was stunned by what he said:

"How can you be so sure?" She looked at Yu Lingzhu and saw a half-smile on Yu Lingzhu's face, clearly finding Wu Jiabing's words utterly absurd.

“There really are no ghosts. Our village has a deity that specifically protects this place,” Wu Jiabing affirmed.

"you--"

Just as Yu Lingzhu was about to reprimand him, Zhao Fusheng gave her a wink, subtly shook his head, and continued:
"Since there are no ghosts, then you can show us around the village. We need to set off as early as possible tomorrow morning, so we don't have time to wander around the village."

Wu Jiabing thought about it and agreed.

"I'll find four people to fetch some torches to guide the way. But it's dark and the road is slippery. If you adults insist on walking at night, please be careful not to fall. If you do, just blame us for not serving you well."

This man was quite tactful, and his speech was fluent, respectful, and organized. After talking for a while, he even seemed to be able to crack a few jokes, which was really unlike a villager who was hiding in the wilderness and had little knowledge.

These thoughts flashed through Zhao Fusheng's mind, but he replied aloud:
"Of course, you can arrange it."

Wu Jiabing immediately saluted and quickly stepped back.

He was efficient and decisive; after turning around, he had selected his men in just a few breaths, and they quickly came over with torches.

"Sir, these men are all quite honest and reliable." He turned around and smiled as he bowed to Zhao Fusheng and the others in turn.

“Then you can lead the way.” Zhao Fusheng nodded.

Wu Jiabing responded and made a hand gesture:
"Please, sir."

He seemed to be able to tell that Zhao Fusheng, Yu Lingzhu, and Wang Zhiyi were the highest-ranking among them, followed by Liu Yizhen, the two Fans, Wu Shaochun, and others, whose status was not weak either.

The Demon Suppression Division has a strict hierarchical system. Below the general level are the Ghost Tamers, followed by the ordinary Commanders, and then the coachmen and servants who accompany them. The Wu family soldiers seem to be very good at reading people and know how to handle their status. They treat different people differently.

Just as the people from Wan'an County were about to follow, Zhao Fusheng, a thought suddenly occurring to him, spoke up:

“It’s not appropriate for such a large group of people to go for a stroll. Wang Zhiyi, why don’t you stay here?”

On a rainy night, the coffins were again left unburied in the desolate mountain village. Zhao Fusheng worried that something might happen to so many people from the Demon Suppression Division who were left here.

Even after designating Wang Zhiyi to stay, she was still not at ease and looked at Meng Po again:
"Meng Po, you stay here with Man Zhou and Xu Yu, and Da Fan and Xiao Fan come with you."

Everyone agreed, but Kuai Manzhou was unwilling.

She reached out and gripped Zhao Fusheng's fingers tightly.

The child spoke less and less, his face turned pale, and his life force was diminishing—proof that she had a deep understanding of ghost control.

The longer Kuai Manzhou controlled the ghosts, the more he resembled a dead man rather than a living one.

But she is also more sensitive to ghosts.

She sensed something unusual about the place and was unwilling to part with Zhao Fusheng.

Xu Yu was stunned for a moment.

She looked to be about the same age as Kuai Manzhou, but she was actually more mature. Seeing this, although she wanted to stay with Zhao Fusheng, she wisely let go of his hand: "Fusheng, let Manzhou go with you. I can go with Granny Meng and Brother Fan."

After saying that, he added:
"I will stay here and wait for you to come back."

Zhao Fusheng looked helpless, and finally nodded:
"Good boy—"

After she finished speaking, she patted Kuai Manzhou's head again:

"A full week isn't bad either."

The little girl looked up at her, and after a while, the corner of her mouth twitched a few times, as if trying to smile, but after a few tries, the corner of her mouth finally drooped helplessly, and she returned to her expressionless face.

After assigning the manpower, Zhao Fusheng summoned Miao Yougong and Wang Ling, who brought along seven or eight ordinary messengers.

Wu Jiabing, with his hands tucked into his sleeves and a smile on his face, waited until Zhao Fusheng had arranged everything before speaking as if nothing had happened:
"Sir, why don't we start from the left side?"

Zhao Fusheng readily agreed, took Kuai Manzhou's hand, and followed the direction pointed out by Wu Jiabing.

Wu Jiabing stood beside her, explaining:

"This village is quite large, and this is a street, which is relatively lively."

As they were talking, the group entered an alleyway.

The alleyway was lined with houses on both sides and was about three zhang long. After passing through it, it turned out to be a street.

The shops lining both sides of the street were closed, with sails hanging outside. Some of the sails were painted with wine jars, and others with teacups, making it look like a fairly large town.

Zhao Fusheng was genuinely surprised when he saw this.

This is just a remote mountain village, not in the city, but although the houses here are dilapidated, they feel like a small but complete little house.

It's really strange that there's wine, teahouse, and even pawnshop in the village.

"There's a pawnshop here?" Liu Yizhen couldn't help but ask first.

Wu Jiabing curled the corner of his mouth slightly:
"It's just a minor skirmish."

His gaze swept across the pawnshop:

"Villagers usually come here to exchange things," he explained.
"The pawnshops here are different from what adults imagine. It's a rural place, and you can't get anything good for pawn. If you have a tattered straw mat at home, you can use it to exchange for a chair with a missing leg, a broken bowl, or a spoon."

Zhao Fusheng nodded.

The group quickly walked through the village streets, and Wu Jiabing led them to the other side.

There are many shops here, but Zhao Fusheng found that there are no inns, which indirectly confirms Wu Jiabing's previous statement: the village is located in a canyon, and few people come here usually. The villagers do not go out and are mostly self-sufficient in farming, without trading with the outside world.

Since there was no trade with outsiders, most of the shops in the village supplied their own people, so there was naturally no demand for shops like inns.

The village is not small, but it's not as big as I imagined.

After walking for about 15 minutes, we had finished exploring the village.

Behind the village are mountains, and on the other side of the edge are terraced fields that stretch down the mountains to the valley floor—this is where the villagers cultivate the land, and each household is allocated a different plot.

Wu Jiabing pointed to the distinct layers of fields in the darkness:

“Our family’s fields are these five plots at the top. Everyone in the village has land, but they belong to different areas.”

Wu Shaochun said:

"Wouldn't it be terrible to be assigned to the lowest position? It must be tough climbing up and down hills every time, right?"

Wu Jiabing laughed:
"What in this world is easy? If you find it tiring, then accumulate more good deeds and strive to be reborn into a good family in your next life, so that you won't be born into this poor and remote place again."

As he spoke, the firelight shone on his face, casting a clear shadow over the lines that appeared on his face from his smile.

Zhao Fusheng was stunned for a moment:
"Is there such a thing as reincarnation?"

Wu Jiabing glanced at her and said, "I heard it from someone else."

His smile faded, and he refused to say anything more about the topic.

"By the way, sir, we've pretty much finished exploring the village. Perhaps Wang Gui and the others have boiled the water by now. Why don't we—"

"Not urgent."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head.

Yu Lingzhu was genuinely getting anxious: "It's not very appropriate for us to split up and act in two different places."

she reminded quietly.

Zhao Fusheng then said:
"We haven't finished turning around yet."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Wu Jiabing:
"Village Chief Wu, didn't you say there's a temple here?" she reminded him with a smile. "You said the village is safe at night because of the village temple's protection."

"Yes, yes—"

Wu Jiabing paused for a moment, then forced himself to say:
"But it wasn't exactly a proper temple; it was just two sheds built by the villagers themselves. If adults wanted to see it—"

"Two?" Zhao Fusheng caught the key information:
"Could it be that this temple is dedicated to two ghosts or gods?"

This was no secret, and after a moment's hesitation, Wu Jiabing nodded.

They look like a man and a woman.

“Let’s go take a look too,” Zhao Fusheng said.

Wu Jiabing looked helpless, but after glancing at the four men who had lit the fire and led the way, he finally sighed.
"Let's go."

His expression turned somewhat cold in an instant.

Zhao Fusheng asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously:
"Are we making too much trouble? Is Village Chief Wu getting impatient?"

Upon hearing her words, Wu Shaochun became wary.

Wu Jiabing frowned, and after a long while said:

"To be honest, sir, our village is remote, far from the city, and avoids the troubles of the city. The advantage is that nothing bad will happen, and everyone can live a peaceful life until old age. The disadvantage is that we don't accumulate merit—"

Zhao Fusheng noticed that he had already said "accumulate merit" twice.

One instance was when he mentioned 'accumulating good deeds for reincarnation,' and the other was at this time, when he mentioned the current state of the village.

She realized that Wu Jiabing was wary of her, so she didn't interrupt him but listened to him continue:
"This is all I want in my life. I just want to live it peacefully. The adults seem to have great presence, and I'm afraid you'll cause me trouble."

"It's just visiting a temple, how did it cause you any trouble?"

Yu Lingzhu said coldly:

"You look like a troublemaker, looking to cause trouble."

She spoke very rudely, and the four men who started the fire showed anger upon hearing this, but Wu Jiabing remained unperturbed. Seeing this, Zhao Fusheng thought to himself again: Wu Jiabing's good temper is rather unusual.

Most of the villagers are somewhat ignorant and bully the weak while fearing the strong.

Although Yu Lingzhu was a general of the Demon Suppression Division, holding a high position and great power, in the eyes of the ignorant villagers, she only had one identity: a woman.

Based on Zhao Fusheng's experience dealing with villagers, these people are afraid of ghosts, officials, bandits, and the Demon Suppression Bureau. Even if they encounter a stranger on the road and ask a few more questions, they will be wary and vigilant. However, apart from female ghosts, if these fearsome identities are transformed into women, they will be bolder.

Judging from the previous discussion of the fate of Dou Sansao, who died tonight, Baili Temple was poor and backward, and the villagers lived in harsh conditions, barely clothed. However, this did not prevent them from establishing a strict 'hierarchy'. Women like Dou Sansao, who married three times, became objects of contempt and were despised even in death.

Under such circumstances, many of the villagers' thoughts were too straightforward to be concealed—and they never even considered concealing them.

When Zhao Fusheng and his group entered the village, everyone stared intently at her and Yu Lingzhu, but dared not look at Liu Yizhen, Wu Shaochun, or even the ghost-controlling messenger who accompanied them.

……

Yet, despite all these reasons, Wu Jiabing remained calm and patient in the face of Yu Lingzhu's arrogant and almost impolite attitude, seemingly without prejudice—this strangeness is worth exploring.

(End of this chapter)