In ancient times, they secretly became gods in the deep mountains.

Chapter 61 This is the magistrate of Xiping County

"Gousheng, what is this? Why does it look like a person to me?" The statue was too tall, so Gouzi and the other kids stood on tiptoe, shielding their eyes from the light, trying to look up at it.

My neck was sore, but I still couldn't see the whole statue clearly.

Zhang Gousheng took a breath and solemnly said, "This is the statue of the Golden Saint Goddess!"

He had seen the Golden Saintess from afar. The goddess stood tall and upright, taller than the heavens, with ankles like white jade pillars reaching the sky. Her clothing and appearance were strikingly similar to the statue before him.

That's why he was certain it was a statue of the goddess.

Zhang Gousheng was absolutely certain.

He was so excited that he exaggerated a bit: "I've seen the Golden Saintess before. She was taller than the sky, and the clothes she wore were almost the same size as a stone statue."

"Gousheng, you're not kidding, are you? Does the Golden Saintess really look like this?" Zhang Gouzi asked in surprise.

“Why would I lie to you? Don’t forget, I’m the only person in our village who has ever seen the Goddess!” Zhang Gousheng proudly raised his head: “She was taller than the sky, and this stone statue can only show half of her magnificence.”

He stroked his chin, puzzled, and said, "It's really strange, how come a statue of the goddess suddenly appeared in our village?"

"That's obvious. The goddess values ​​the people of our Peach Blossom Village the most. The village chief said before that once the harvest is done and the gold and silver are exchanged, a statue will be cast for the goddess so that she can enjoy incense offerings for thousands of generations."

"The goddess must have been considerate of the villagers' hard work, so she bestowed the statue upon us directly," Gouzi guessed.

Zhang Gousheng felt a surge of respect: "That makes sense. Let's hurry and tell Grandpa Village Chief this good news."

The group knelt down respectfully, bowed to the statue, and then ran back to the village.

"Grandpa Village Chief! Mom! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened—" Zhang Gousheng and his friends shouted as they ran, their excitement and urgency startling the birds in the trees.

The villagers heard the children's voices and started talking all at once.

Some villagers were worried: "Could it be that the earth really shook and the land at the entrance of the village collapsed? Then... will the crops be okay?"

"What are we going to do? We've only had a few months of good times, is God going to start messing with us again?" an old woman said, wiping away tears.

The village chief's face was solemn: "Quiet down, everyone. What are you afraid of? If anything really happens, we still have Lady Jin Sheng to rely on. You all survived three years of drought, what else can defeat us?"

Zhang Youhe's words carried both reassurance and a lesson.

The reassurance was intended to prevent the villagers from panicking, as the crisis was still unknown. The lesson was meant to deter the villagers and remind them of their perseverance during the three-year drought.

Under Zhang Youhe's reassurance and intimidation, the villagers' discussions quieted down, and several children ran breathlessly into the crowd.

"Gousheng, what terrible thing has happened?" Gousheng's mother asked anxiously.

"Dogs, come here, what do you see?"

Other villagers also surrounded the children and asked them questions.

"Huff, huff, huff—" The group of people leaned over, supporting their knees and panting heavily.

The village entrance is still a bit far from the foot of Qihuang Mountain.

“We see…”

The villagers stared at them anxiously.

"Speak quickly! Speak quickly!" someone urged.

Zhang Gousheng licked his lips: "We saw a tall stone statue at the entrance of the village. It looked like a statue of the Golden Saint Goddess. It was placed in that open space at the foot of Qihuang Mountain."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; it wasn't a calamity.

Everyone was shocked again; it was actually a statue of the Golden Saintess!
"Why is there a statue of the Golden Saint Goddess at the village entrance?"

"Could that loud noise have been made by the statue?"

A group of villagers exchanged surprised glances.

Suddenly, Huowa appeared out of nowhere with He Jinzong, Luo Yousong, and several guards from the county magistrate's office, without any warning. "Oh dear!"

The villagers were startled, and screams rose and fell. Several people were so frightened that they fell to the ground.

"A fairy boy?" Gou Sheng's mother was the first to recognize the person.

"Master Luo?" Luo Yousong suddenly appeared in everyone's sight.

They looked at Ho Chun-chung with complete unfamiliarity.

Who is this distinguished gentleman? The villagers, who do not recognize He Jinzong, are all guessing about his background and identity as they observe the guards behind him who look like the gentleman.

"The fairy boy has arrived?" Village chief Zhang Youhe quickly went up to greet him and asked respectfully in a low voice, "Fairy boy, a stone statue suddenly appeared at the entrance of the village. Some children said it is the statue of the Golden Saint Goddess. What's going on?"

Huowa pointed to He Jinzong and introduced him to the villagers: "You have all met Master Luo, so you should all know him. This is the magistrate of Xiping County, and the others are his guards."

Silence reigned all around...

The villagers were dumbfounded.

What is the fairy boy saying?
County magistrate?

“Magistrate?” Village chief Zhang Youhe recalled his previous conversation with Master Luo.

Suddenly it dawned on me.

Master Luo said he knew the magistrate of Xiping County and that he wanted to spend a lot of money to buy the Stone King to cast a statue for the goddess. Then, thinking about the statue at the entrance of the village, everything became clear.

It turns out that the statue was sculpted with money from the county magistrate and Master Luo.

"I greet the County Magistrate!"

The villagers all knelt down on the ground.

The children didn't understand what a county magistrate was, and were still a little confused when they saw the villagers kneeling down. They were each given a good spanking by their mothers.

"Hurry up and kneel down! This is the official in charge of Xiping County!" Lai Shuipan's mother quickly tugged at her two sons' clothes.

He Jinzong quickly stepped forward to help them up, his tone gentle: "Get up quickly, fellow villagers, get up quickly!"

Huowa used his spiritual power to lift the villagers up: "The magistrate asked me to place the statue of the goddess there. He has some things he wants to discuss with you."

Knowing that the villagers were somewhat afraid of him, He Jinzong asked Luo Yousong, who was more approachable, to speak on his behalf: "Brother Luo, you speak."

Luo Yousong understood and nodded.

"Fellow villagers, it's like this, a few days ago I discussed with Village Chief Youhe the matter of casting a statue for the Goddess..."

After hearing Luo Yousong's explanation, everyone understood.

"The statue of the goddess has arrived at the foot of Qihuang Mountain. We still need to build an altar to house the statue. We will start building the altar after the farm work is finished. What do you all think?"

Upon hearing this, the villagers were pleasantly surprised and discussed it amongst themselves.

"It turns out the statue was carved by a fairy boy. The fairy boy also placed the statue of the goddess in our Peach Blossom Village. From now on, we can worship the goddess in Peach Blossom Village!"

"The Empress is a savior of suffering and compassion, and deserves to be worshipped for generations to come."

“Our lives were saved by the goddess. Back then, there was a three-year drought, and the villagers had no harvest and suffered from hunger and thirst. It was the goddess who awoke and sent rain to save our lives.”

“Magistrate and Master Luo, please feel free to ask if you need anything. Although there are only women left in our Peach Blossom Village, they are still very strong because they have been taking care of farm work for a long time.”

"That's right, we're no less capable than men!"

The villagers patted their chests and made a solemn promise.

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