Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 288: Obscene Temple and Wild God
Qingwan next to her tilted her head back to look at the sky, not noticing anything different.

She couldn't help but wonder, "What's the difference?"

Lu Zheng slowly explained, "The world is a land of mountains and rivers. The establishment of a nation carries the destiny of the land... The Chu Kingdom's Shintoism is flourishing, and the aura of this land is slightly different."

This is not just Lu Zheng's opinion, but the way the world is.

Now at his level, he can feel the difference.

As a Confucian and Taoist scholar from Anguo, there is even a slight sense of rejection towards him here.

It is said that if other great figures such as great scholars were to travel to other countries, the suppression they would bring would be even more obvious.

If one's cultivation level is not concealed, it will easily be discovered by powerful people in the court of other countries.

This is also the reason why Wu Jiangjiang God did not dare to enter Anguo in his true form before, but instead released a series of clones to secretly cause trouble along the river.

Of course, with Lu Zheng’s current realm, even if he entered Chu, no one would pay attention to him.

Lu Zheng looked at Qing Wan and said, "You are still young, so naturally you can't feel the difference."

"Oh!" Qing Wan nodded, and then asked curiously, "Then how do you feel?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "The aura of Shinto is very obvious, and there is a little bit of suppression from the power of Shinto."

"For example, at the customs post we just passed, those Chu officials actually smelled like incense. The place where they live must have a statue of a deity, or one with a divine presence."

Hearing this, Qing Wan couldn't help but turn her head and look back, "So there was a god there just now!"

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Yes, but it won't be too powerful. Besides, the other party lives in the statue and doesn't show up easily."

If the spirit emitted by the god is not strong enough, he must stay in the statue for a long time and maintain the state with incense and mental power, otherwise the divine power will gradually weaken and eventually disappear.

Normally, the divine thoughts that exist in the statue will not manifest easily.

Only when people offer sacrifices to it and obtain enough benefits from incense can it show its divine power.

Therefore, people often pray to God, but God does not always respond to their prayers.

At the end of the previous dynasty, many gods were not worthy of their positions, so the people abandoned them and stopped offering sacrifices to them, which was also a major reason for the demise of the previous dynasty.

As for the current prosperity of Shintoism in the Chu State, Lu Zheng still doesn't quite understand the specific situation.

He came to Chu just to see the difference between the two countries.

A multi-faceted understanding is very beneficial to his desire to save the world.

Now Lu Zheng has a vague idea of saving the world, but it is still difficult to implement it.

There is still a long way to go... Lu Zheng sighed in his heart.

Qing Wan's eyes flickered as she looked at the caravan ahead and whispered, "Should we follow them? They seem to be heading for the nearest city."

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Let's go somewhere else first. I looked at the map before and there's a village nearby..."

……

Chu land, Zao Village.

It was noon and the whole village was bustling with activity. Every household took out some things and went up the mountain in groups.

On the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month, the village would organize people to go to the temple on the mountain to worship the gods, rain or shine.

The gods they worship are not the authentic gods canonized by the government.

Even the statues in the temple were built privately by the villagers and are considered obscene temples.

There are many lewd temples in Chu, but the government rarely intervenes. Firstly, it is difficult to manage, and secondly, due to local reasons, the government does not intervene or even condones them.

As for these ordinary people, they don’t care whether it is a righteous god or an evil god, as long as it is a useful god.

The mountain temple is about 50 square meters and is built of bluestone and cypress wood. It is much better than the villagers' houses.

The temple is decorated with lights and a human-sized stone statue is placed in the center.

The whole statue is painted in colors, looks like a human being, has a square face and round eyes, stands in a dignified posture, and has an extraordinary aura.

The villagers entered the temple quietly, with pious expressions on their faces.

Led by the elders in the village, they killed livestock, offered grains, melons and fruits, and recited obscure words.

After the sacrificial process was completed, everyone knelt on the ground with their heads bowed, without any unusual movement.

But wisps of invisible incense power floated out from above the heads of the people and quickly disappeared into the statue.

After just a few breaths, the statue emitted a golden light, and a majestic aura filled the entire temple.

Everyone sensed the changes in the statue and bowed their heads to the ground, their expressions becoming more pious.

The statue of the deity was faintly glowing and looked vivid and lifelike.

A resounding voice rang out, "I need one eye and one ear. Offer one eye for 20,000 coins, and one ear for 3,000 coins. Those who are willing to offer it can stay in the temple. Whoever is chosen will be determined by heaven."

When the people heard this, not only did no one leave the temple, but their eyes lit up, hoping that they could also get this benefit.

As the poorest people, it is difficult for them to earn money. Not to mention saving money in a year, they may not even have surplus food at home.

This god often bestows benefits, and they don't have to pay much, so they all worship him devoutly.

Seeing that no one left the temple, the voice echoed again, "Good!"

On the table in front of the statue, a red date suddenly jumped up and rolled in front of a thin man.

When the man saw the red dates in front of him, he was stunned for a moment, and then a look of joy appeared on his face.

A resonant voice said, "Would you like me to take a look at you?"

The man kowtowed excitedly, "I am willing!"

Suddenly, the statue's eyes emitted golden light and sank into the man's left eye.

But in a moment, the man's left eye turned gray and he lost his vision.

A flash of white light flew out from its eyes and was absorbed into the statue.

A crisp sound echoed.

Golden copper coins appeared out of thin air and fell in front of the thin man, forming a pile.

The man was overjoyed and thanked God for his gift repeatedly.

Others couldn't help but feel jealous when they saw this, but they shouldn't act rashly in the temple.

Then, another red date rolled to the ground and landed in front of a woman.

"Would you like to have one of your ears?"

"I am willing!"

As before, the statue appeared and took the hearing from the woman's right ear and placed it in the statue.

The woman couldn't help but pick her ears and found that she was really deaf and could not hear any sound.

Before he could feel the changes in himself, a pile of coins fell in front of him.

The woman was so surprised that she couldn't help but kowtow and express her gratitude.

Afterwards, the statue's light faded and everything returned to normal.

When the village elders saw this, they organized people to leave the temple and kept some of the offerings they had brought.

As for the money earned by the two people in the village, part of it was handed over to the public, which has become the rule in the village.

After all the villagers left, there was a rustling noise coming from the temple.

Under the altar, a black shadow more than half a person's height emerged.

The black shadow was wearing a robe, hiding his true appearance. He quickly ran out of the temple and headed towards the back mountain.

However, after running for a while, the black shadow noticed something was wrong.

It looked to the side and saw a little girl running towards it.

"Hmm?" The shadow wondered where this kid came from.

The next moment, Qingwan waved her little hand and scattered a handful of beans.

The beans changed in mid-air, quickly growing into bean soldiers, rushing towards the black shadow with great momentum.

Seeing this, the black shadow snorted coldly and said hoarsely: "Heh, where did this demon come from? How dare you attack this god? You don't know whether you live or die!"

As he spoke, the black shadow waved his sleeves and a golden light shot out.

The golden light suddenly exploded, and several bean soldiers were caught off guard and were blown into pieces.

Qing Wan couldn't help but frown, her expression became serious, and she cast a spell with both hands to attack the black shadow.

The two sides exchanged a few moves, but there was no clear winner.

The shadow suddenly felt a little uneasy, and said quietly: "You, a demon, are quite capable. This god will not bother with you too much..."

The black shadow stepped on the ground, ready to use the escape technique to leave.

However, the next moment, it felt a resistance that directly suppressed its actions.

The shadow turned and looked sideways, and saw a young man striding towards him.

Lu Zheng's eyes were indifferent. "You are playing tricks and fooling the people. If you want to leave, just leave!"

Lu Zheng raised his hand slightly, and sword energy burst out.

The black shadow was startled and quickly used his magical powers to resist, and a dazzling golden light appeared.

However, the golden light was soon covered by the sharp sword energy.

The robe worn by the black shadow was also shattered by the sword energy, revealing the true appearance inside.

Qing Wan, who was not far away, widened her eyes and said, "Rat!"

What she saw before her was not a human, but rather looked no different from a mouse, which greatly disappointed Qing Wan. She had not expected this wild god to be so ugly, and so different from the statue in the temple.

Yan was furious when he heard this, "You are the rat, I am the god!"

Qing Wan couldn't help but shake her head and said, "How could I be a mouse? I'm pea grass. You, the Mouse God, have such bad eyesight!"

Yan was even more furious, and said dissatisfiedly: "I am not a rat, it's you who have bad eyesight!"

Lu Zheng stared at the wild god in front of him and said, "Looking at your appearance, are you a mole? Actually, it seems that you have nothing to do with rats..."

Lu Zheng didn't know how people in this world viewed this kind of creature, but he thought it was about the same.

"Look, look, you know a lot..." Yan Youyou said, "But you two attacked this god, which is very disrespectful!"

Facing Lu Zheng and Qing Wan, Yan couldn't escape, but he didn't panic either.

Lu Zheng looked at Yan, "You took people's eyes and ears, is it for cultivation? Creatures like you seem to be born with defects in the six senses..."

Yan was not annoyed when Lu Zheng exposed his intention.

Yan said calmly, "This god made a deal with the people, and we each took what we needed. It's not your turn to interfere. Who are you to dare to interfere in this god's affairs?"

Lu Zheng smiled slightly, "A passing scholar."

Yan suddenly realized, waved his claws and said: "No wonder you seem to have some skills. Well, since you are a scholar, I will not bother with you. Please get out of the way. I have to go back to practice and there is no time to waste!"

It had to go back and refine the sharp hearing and eyesight it had gained as soon as possible, so it had no time to chat with Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly, "You are a wild god, and you did something like this. It will be difficult for me to let you leave."

Yan's eyes narrowed upon hearing this. "What do you want to do? I'm telling you, this god is not to be trifled with. Although I'm a wild god, I'm worshipped by the people, and the county's City God has given permission for the establishment of a temple!"

"This God advises you not to make mistakes, lest the City God strip you of your fame and honor!"

(End of this chapter)