Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 141 The God Who Steals Wish Power

When Lu Zheng returned to the Wenhui Tower, the Qixi Literary Meeting had already ended and many students had left.

Li Zhao and others were still waiting for Lu Zheng on the deck.

Seeing Lu Zheng returning, everyone showed curiosity and wanted to know what happened between Lu Zheng and the Princess of Fengcheng County.

But this was not the place to talk, so they didn't ask anything and surrounded Lu Zheng to get off the boat.

Li Zhao was carrying a large bundle and said with a smile, "This is the prize that Brother Lu won."

Lu Zheng took the thing and stuffed it into the storage bag around his waist.

Everyone had noticed that Lu Zheng carried a storage bag with him before, so it was not surprising.

"Have the county magistrate and others left?" Lu Zheng asked.

Zhang Bo said, "I just left a while ago, and the county magistrate said that if you are free, you can visit his home. He will definitely open the door to welcome you."

In Changchuan County, few students enjoy such treatment.

Lu Zheng heard this and said, "It's not good to disturb the county magistrate..."

The group got off the boat and came to the riverside.

At this time, the river bank was still bustling with many people visiting.

"Hey, the Fengcheng County Magistrate has left?" Li Zhao exclaimed lightly.

Everyone looked towards the river and found that the ship where the Fengcheng County Lord was sitting was slowly sailing upstream.

Fengzhou is to the west of Hongzhou. It seems that Anyang is really going back and will not stay in Changchuan County for long.

"By the way, how is the Princess of Fengcheng County?" Li Zhao asked curiously.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "He's quite easy to talk to."

Zhang Bo asked, "What reward did you give Brother Lu?"

Lu Zheng replied, "I don't need anything, so I didn't ask for a reward. I just asked the county lady to give some money so that she could build a charity hall to help the elderly, weak, sick and disabled people."

The expressions of several people changed when they heard this. Not everyone can refuse the reward from a county lord.

Lu Zheng was able to think of turning the reward into benefits for the people, which is something not everyone can think of immediately.

If they were in his place, how could they remain calm and think about these things when they met such a noble person?
"Brother Lu is so kind!"

Zhang Bo couldn't help but sigh, "I think this is what the sages meant by a gentleman's benevolent heart. No wonder Brother Lu can cultivate such a righteous spirit. We are far inferior to him."

Several people were convinced and felt that they had to learn from Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng thought it was just a trivial matter not worth mentioning.

Fortunately, he did not tell anyone that the county lady was willing to take him as her teacher and wanted to recommend him to the Imperial College.

Otherwise, these people would definitely not be able to sleep tonight after hearing this.

By the river, some people are releasing river lanterns and praying.

Colorful and various river lanterns float on the river, twinkling in the light, forming a unique landscape.

Zhang Bo noticed Lu Zheng's gaze and smiled, "Every year during festivals, many people come to the riverside to light lanterns, praying for peace and prosperity, or for other things... Ultimately, they seek peace of mind."

Li Zhao said, "Brother Zhang should be leaving for the provincial capital soon for the Autumn Examination this year. Let's all go release some river lanterns and pray for good luck!"

People don’t believe in ghosts and gods, but they believe in the power of heaven and earth.

Therefore, even though the people of Anguo do not often offer sacrifices to gods, they will offer sacrifices to the heavens, the earth, the mountains and the rivers.

Several people came to a stall selling river lanterns.

There are many kinds of river lanterns on display, of various types and with different prices.

Several people spent money and chose a river lantern each.

Even Qingwan chose a small green river lantern.

The stall owner enthusiastically took out a pen and asked everyone to write their wishes on the lanterns.

Zhang Bo held a pen and prayed for the safety of his relatives and friends and success in the imperial examination.

Li Zhao and his companions also excitedly wrote some words on the river lanterns.

Li Zhao looked at Lu Zheng and found that Lu Zheng had not started writing yet.

"Brother Lu, don't you know what to write?" Li Zhao said with a smile.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I have so many wishes, I don't know what to write."

After thinking about it, Lu Zheng gently picked up his pen and wrote only one word "An" on the river lantern, meaning everything is fine.

Lu Zheng also used a bit of righteousness in this word.

He hoped that God would really receive his prayer, but the possibility of this happening was extremely slim.

Several people carried river lanterns and came to a place by the river.

Lu Zheng helped carry Qingwan's small river lantern, and when they reached the river, he let Qingwan light the lantern by herself.

Although Qingwan didn't quite understand the meaning of doing this, she thought it was fun.

Looking at her little green river lantern floating with the waves, her eyes twinkled.

Lu Zheng took his river lantern, squatted by the river, and recited silently in his heart.

“May everything be well!”

Then, Lu Zheng gave a gentle push, and the river lantern with candlelight floated onto the river and slowly drifted away.

But in just a moment, it joined the other river lanterns and swayed down the river.

Lu Zheng and his friends played by the river for a while, looked at the night view of the river for a while, and then returned to the county town.

After playing all day, it is now late at night and everyone is washing up and going to bed.

Time passed quietly, the once bustling river bank was now deserted, and the entire county town had fallen silent.

In the lower reaches of the river, more than ten miles away from the county town, many river lanterns were pushed to the shore by the waves.

The candles in these lamps have long since burned out, and no longer flicker.

There was a faint golden light flowing in the river.

In just a blink of an eye, an almost unreal golden figure floated on the surface of the river and walked towards the river lanterns.

The golden figure was a young man, brimming with a sacred aura, a deity. He approached the lanterns and said quietly, "What a shame! All this time, I've wasted a lot of my willpower..."

The river lanterns released by the common people are more or less imbued with a bit of wish power, but if there is no god to absorb it, it will slowly dissipate between heaven and earth.

In the past, he had come to Changchuan County many times to collect power, but he had learned that the Princess of Fengcheng County in Anguo was traveling along the river, so he was afraid of being discovered and did not go too close to the county town.

As a result, this year's Qixi Festival collected fewer wishes than in previous years.

The man didn't really care about this, as these wishes were obtained for no reason.

Who could have imagined that he, a god from the Wu State, would sneak into An State to absorb the wishes of the people?

As long as he can absorb enough willpower in this place, this section of Hongjiang will be under his control.

And in such matters, he was also assisted by officials from the Wu State.

And he was originally a god secretly worshipped by the State of Wu.

It was specifically to gain control of the Anguo River.

However, this kind of thing cannot be achieved overnight, and they still need to act carefully to ensure the smooth completion of the plan.

The man had an idea and used his supernatural powers to begin absorbing the power of wishes from these river lanterns.

After absorbing the power of wishes in this area, he set his sights on another river lantern that floated down.

"Hey, this wish is quite powerful..."

The man suddenly discovered that a river lantern not far away had a lot of wish power.

He took a look and saw that the river lantern was of a very ordinary style, with only one word "An" on it.

The man didn't care too much about this.

I just thought that some common people had such strong obsessions that they were able to retain so much wish power after floating all the way here.

……

Changchuan County, Zhang Mansion.

Lu Zheng, who had just laid down and was not yet asleep, suddenly fixed his eyes.

He seemed to sense something in the dark.

A thought floated through his mind, it was the river lantern he had just released.

Lu Zheng didn't know what was going on, but his intuition told him that it was not a good thing.

Lu Zheng got up immediately, quickly put on his clothes, and prepared to go out.

In the room, Qing Wan, who was lying in a flowerpot, heard the noise and looked at Lu Zheng with a puzzled expression.

"Are you going out?"

Lu Zheng glanced at Qing Wan and said softly, "I have something to go out for. You should rest first!"

"Oh……"

Qingwan turned over and covered herself with a leaf.

Lu Zheng quietly left Zhang's house and left the county town.

Along the way, he hid his body and no one noticed him.

After leaving the county town, Lu Zheng walked quickly in the shadows and came to the river bank.

He looked up at Hongjiang River and saw that the Wu State's ship was still on the river and had not left.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng did not stop and went downstream along the river bank of Hongjiang River.

He was running very fast, rushing all the way, staring straight at Hong Jiang, observing the situation carefully.

After walking nearly ten miles along the river, he vaguely sensed a weak connection.

It was his own river lantern. The literary aura on it had not completely dissipated, which gave him a sense of it.

Lu Zheng quickly sped up and continued along the river bank.

At this moment, a flash of golden light flashed across the river.

Lu Zheng's eyes narrowed, and when he looked again, he found nothing.

However, he did not think that he was dazzled. After all, he had reached the third realm of Confucianism and Taoism. How could he be dazzled and confused?

He thought about it and continued on his way, determined to find the river lanterns first.

After walking for a while, Lu Zheng stepped into the river and saw that his river lantern was blocked by a fallen reed.

He fished out the river lantern, which was intact because it was blessed with the literary energy of a word.

The text on it was still a little worn, but it didn't look like it had been damaged.

Lu Zheng frowned, a hint of doubt arose in his heart.

Soon, Lu Zheng thought of something, and the righteous energy in his body was released.

After some sensing, Lu Zheng sensed the existence of a trace of divine power.

All of a sudden, Lu Zheng figured out the key point: there were gods stealing the power of these river lanterns.

A god absorbed the wish power he left on the river lantern, which gave him a sense of perception.

Is there a god in this Hongjiang River?
Lu Zheng's eyes flickered as he recalled the golden light he had just seen.

Lu Zheng did not hesitate and plunged into the Hongjiang River, going upstream along the river, releasing a sense of righteousness from his body.

When the righteous energy comes into contact with the divine aura remaining in the river, it can guide him in the right direction.

Soon, Lu Zheng sensed a trace of divine breath and could not help but swim upstream quickly.

He has a strong physique, and even when going against the current, he is like a fish in water and moves very fast.

Just like that, following the guidance of the breath, Lu Zheng went along Hongjiang River to Changchuan County.

As he swam, Lu Zheng stopped.

In front of him, the first thing he saw was the Wu State's tower ship.

The god dared to come to this area and outside Changchuan County. Its origin seemed self-evident.

(End of this chapter)