From a Zhengyi Taoist Child to a Master of All Laws

Chapter 100 Five Gods
The origin of Wutongshen also roughly dates back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Some say it refers to the ghost of Liuzhou in the Tang Dynasty, while others say it is the souls of the dead in the war sacrificed by Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. There are many different opinions.

There is some basis for the salt merchants to offer sacrifices to him, because this guy is not only the god of plague, but also the god of wealth and lust.

It is recorded in Volume 3 of the ancient book "Yijian Zhigui" that the Five-Power God can make a person extremely rich or become penniless, and he is the most capricious and narrow-minded.

There are relatively few sacrifices in the Sichuan region, and it is popular among the people in the south of the Yangtze River. There has been a custom of offering sacrifices to the "Wutong God" since ancient times, which is also one of the obscene sacrifices that the government is not happy with. After being suppressed, it has become more restrained, otherwise the Wutong God is usually fed with human blood.

This is also the reason why Li Yang said that Wutongshen is an evil god. Decades ago, someone made a movie called "Wutongshen and the Three Foxes", in which many plots have the shadow of this evil god in traditional folk tales.

Li Yang looked at the Jinhua crispy cakes on his uncle's altar, and then at the statue covered with red cloth, and realized that the god worshipped by his uncle and the village chief was most likely the Wutong God.

Wutong God has a very bad reputation in history, so some people later whitewashed it by making up a legend about Wutong God being a kind-hearted person who saved people. Related to the legend is this Jinhua crispy cake.

After Li Yang left his uncle's house, there was no valuable record of other things about Nanshan in the village annals except the deeds of Wutong God, nor any legend left by the so-called masters of the Fa school.

When the village chief saw that Li Yang had been reading the part about Wutong Shen in the village annals, he knew that this Taoist who didn't look like a Taoist must have guessed what he was offering sacrifices to at home, so he smiled awkwardly.

"Little Taoist priest, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but we can't throw away the inheritance left by our ancestors. We had to cover the statue with red cloth. Now there are only a few old guys like me in the village who are still worshipping it."

Li Yang smiled and didn't care. It was not for him to judge whether some old things were excellent traditional culture or dregs.

"Can the village chief tell me some details about the Wutong Temple and Wutong Bridge in Nanshan?"

"What are you looking for these for?"

"I am a Taoist priest, and I am very interested in these traditional customs."

The village chief looked at Li Yang and said in a complicated tone, "There is no such thing as a Wutong Temple. The previous temple collapsed a long time ago. Decades ago, the elders in the village funded the construction of a shrine on the original site of the Wutong Temple. But worshiping that kind of thing is always a bit shameful. I guess no one has been worshipping there for a long time."

"Are there any old items left in the Wutong Temple?" Li Yang thought for a moment and asked.

It now seems that the only place with history in Nanshan is Wutong Temple, so this mountain fog formation is most likely to have some connection with Wutong Temple.

"The objects were mostly thrown away. I remember that there was only a statue left, which was also placed in the shrine that was built later."

"Idol?"

With the clues, Li Yang's steps became much lighter. Although he has not yet found the inner connection, if he continues to search, the inheritance of the formation should be of some help.

After finding out the clues, Li Yang and the village chief parted ways. Before leaving, the village chief asked suspiciously, "Little Taoist priest, you don't want to go to Nanshan, do you?"

"No." Li Yang shook his head. At least not now. After the mountain fog faded, some staff members went up the mountain to explore. Once the mountain fog was gone, the entire Nanshan Mountain lost all its supernatural powers. After the formation was hidden, it became similar to an ordinary scenic mountain area.

"It would be better, little Taoist priest, don't blame your uncle for not reminding you. There are many monsters in Nanshan now. Don't think that there will be no danger once the mountain fog dissipates."

After a few more warnings, the village chief put his hands behind his back and went home.

After saying goodbye to the village chief, Li Yang began to pace in the village and think. When he passed by the department store, the police near the gold shop were still coming in and out.

Li Yang was close enough to hear a few older policemen discussing the case.

"It's really strange. The door was not broken and the lock was not pried open. How could so much gold suddenly disappear? Even if it was packed in a bag, it should be a big bag, right?"

"This world is outrageous. Your case is nothing. You know, the county high school has suspended classes. In just one week, several young girls disappeared. It's such a big case. The police have been searching for several days, but there is no clue at all..."

A slightly experienced policeman saw Li Yang approaching, and hurriedly stopped talking, took the notebook and camera and went into the gold shop. Li Yang chuckled: "In the spiritual world, there are all kinds of people. Even if the official defense is strict, how can all those who get the opportunity be registered?"

Li Yang shook his head and released the strange aura he had just collected in the gold shop.

Li Yang does not believe in gods. Gods are different from immortals. Traditional Chinese gods are mostly fabricated by people, and they are mostly based on historical prototypes and infinitely magnify certain aspects of human desires.

The same is true for the God of Wealth, the God of Fortune, and the God of Reward. Their prototypes are basically ordinary people.

The Five-Power God definitely does not exist, but with the incense and prayers of the world surrounding him, who knows what will be born from the golden stone embryo that enjoys the incense?
Li Yang judged that it now seemed that someone must have obtained those things.

Next, Li Yang called Yang Feng and asked him to help find all the information about Nanshan Wutong Temple.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yang rushed to Chen Hao's home.

"You are the only one who survived the mountain fog formation. I hope you are really like what the newspapers say, a selfless, excellent young man with good character and academic performance..."

Li Yang was very fast and arrived at Chen Hao's house in no time.

Chen Hao was still not at home, and he was received by his grandmother.

When Li Yang heard that Chen Hao went to the library to do his homework early in the morning, he smiled and repeatedly praised Chen Hao for his self-motivated study and ability to endure hard work.

Upon hearing the journalist friend praising his grandson, the old man smiled until his eyes became slits, and then he began to talk incessantly about his grandson's glorious resume, referring to the award certificates that covered the entire wall.

Li Yang nodded frequently, he knew how difficult it was for this kind of family.

"Old man, since Chen Hao is not here, why don't you take me to his room? The newspapers in this town should vigorously promote students like Chen Hao who come from a poor family but are both morally and intellectually gifted. I'll take a look at his daily living and learning environment first."

Li Yang raised the mobile phone in his hand.

If someone had insight, they would definitely find Li Yang's loophole. Li Yang didn't even prepare a reliable camera, but the old lady still happily took Li Yang to the room where Chen Hao lived.

"This is Haozi's room. This kid likes to be clean, so I can't normally get in."

Li Yang thanked him repeatedly and went into the house.

The room was as shabby and simple as ever, with average lighting. Apart from the bed, there was a desk made from a folding dining table, the kind that ordinary people use. The desk was filled with review materials for various subjects, some of which were very familiar to Li Yang.

Although there was no gain, Li Yang felt relieved suddenly. He did not expect that in the eyes of the old man, his grandson, who was both good in character and academic performance, filial and sensible, would be the kind of person he expected.

I took a few simple photos and was enthusiastically escorted out of the house by the old lady.

Faced with the old lady's enthusiasm, Li Yang felt a little guilty because the report he promised would probably not be published.

After bidding farewell to the old lady, we went to the deep green pond outside the house.

"Gudong~"

Two tiny bubbles surged up from the turquoise and sticky pond water, and Li Yang suddenly froze in place.

There will be two more chapters later tonight~
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(End of this chapter)