Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 289 Yu County City God
The State of Chu had city gods, and the city gods worshipped in different states and counties were different.

The status of the city gods in each county is higher than that of the county magistrate.

However, the City God rarely comes out to take charge of affairs. He mainly guards the area and only comes forward when there are things that the government office cannot handle.

As for Confucian temples, the Chu State also had some, but not many, and they were all located in important prefectures and counties.

The status of scholars in the Chu State was not that high.

In addition to the imperial examination, talents can also be selected through local recommendations.

What Yan said about asking the City God to strip away his honors and fame was not an exaggeration.

The City God of a place is indeed qualified to be elected based on the academic achievements of the scholars, but of course it also depends on the academic achievements of the scholars.

When Lu Zheng heard Yan's warning, he thought to himself that it was no wonder that the other party was so confident in facing them, and he actually had a wild god behind him.

The City God is a legitimate god appointed by the government.

Lu Zheng was a little puzzled as to how this wild god was related to a city god.

He thought for a moment and asked, "You said you have a relationship with the City God of this county. How do you prove it?"

Yan couldn't help but say after hearing this: "You are...that's all. Let me show you."

After saying that, Yan raised his claws and touched his forehead. A golden mark appeared between his eyebrows, which looked like a sheep's head and exuded another kind of Shinto aura.

Lu Zheng looked at the golden mark on Yan's forehead and could feel a trace of pure divine power, which was much purer than the divine power in Yan's body.

Yan said impatiently: "This is the divine seal that the City God left on me. Can you see it clearly now?"

Lu Zheng pointed at the mark and asked in confusion, "Why is it a sheep's head?"

Yan rolled his eyes. "Where are you from, you educated man? Don't you know that our county's city god is a goat god? If it's not a goat's head, then what about a human head?"

"I see..." Lu Zheng nodded slightly, "But I still don't understand why the City God would allow you to act like this?"

Actually, this wild god could not be canonized by the government, but since it was a wild god allowed to exist by the City God, it could be considered an extra-staff god. It actually bribed the people with money and stole their six senses for cultivation, which was no different from a demon or ghost.

Yan was very dissatisfied when he heard this. "Young man, why do you have so many questions? I don't have time to accompany you. You have so many questions. Go find the City God! Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

Yan was displeased and wanted to leave, but was still blocked by an invisible force, and even its divine power could not break it.

Lu Zheng chuckled, "If I don't allow it, what will you do?"

Yan's expression froze, and he said angrily, "Young man, are you trying to make things difficult for me?"

Lu Zheng said calmly, "In order not to waste everyone's time, how about you answer whatever I ask?"

Yan Qi laughed and said, "If this god doesn't say anything, what do you want?"

Lu Zheng raised his right hand, clenched his fist, and said, "See this fist as big as a sandbag?"

Yan glared and said, "You dare, if you dare to hit me, you're hitting the City God in the face. You're courting death!"

Seeing that the wild god was still stubborn, Lu Zheng couldn't help but frown.

The next moment, there were two muffled bangs and a scream.

Lu Zheng smiled as he looked at Yan, who was lying on the ground twitching, and asked, "Can you speak now?"

Yan's face was filled with pain. "You, you, you ask..."

I never expected that this scholar would actually dare to take action.

Yan thought he was tough enough, but he couldn't withstand Lu Zheng's punch at all, which made his body surge with pain.

Only then did Lu Zheng slowly ask about the situation.

The City God of this county was originally a sheep monster, but was later canonized as a god by the government and became the City God of Yu County.

Yan was originally a monster living in the mountains. Later, by chance, he was noticed by the City God, who gave him Shinto skills and led him on the path of Shinto practice.

Afterwards, Yan was sent to a more remote village and became a wild god, helping to collect the incense and spiritual power of the people.

Yan had to offer a portion of the Shinto incense he received to the City God every month.

In order to obtain enough incense, Yan had to come up with various ways to obtain incense from the people, and even consulted other gods.

The two sacrifices in a month were decided by Yan himself.

Frequent sacrifices consume the people's energy and various supplies.

Yan would occasionally give out some money, but overall, it did not benefit the people, but instead cost them a lot.

Lu Zheng frowned and asked, "You deceived the people into practicing the Six Senses. Did you get the permission of the City God?"

Yan retorted: "What do you mean by cheating? I took the money, and they were willing to do it..."

Lu Zheng thought that this was just like the landlords and gentry exploiting the farmers, forcing them to sell their children to survive, and then claiming that they did it voluntarily.

Lu Zheng's eyes turned cold. "What I'm asking is, does the City God allow it?"

"This one……"

Facing Lu Zheng's gaze, Yan was unable to lie and said, "How could the City God care about such matters? Even if he knew, it's nothing. They are just ordinary people. These days, there are so many people dying of poverty and starvation. I am not acting in such a way. Aren't you, a scholar, meddling too much?"

As long as it can offer enough incense every month, why would the City God care what it does here?
Not to mention taking away people's six senses for cultivation, even if it causes someone's death it's not a big deal.

In some places, gods deliberately release evil spirits and ghosts, so that people can worship and pray to gods even more!

If the people were living well, why would they come to pray to the gods?

Where do the gods get the incense and worship to practice?
Yan didn't think he had done anything wrong, and instead thought Lu Zheng was meddling in his affairs. Hearing this, Lu Zheng said, "If you don't care, you're unworthy of being a scholar. Since you think you did nothing wrong, how about we go see the City God and let him judge the matter?"

Yan was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Lu Zheng would actually take it to see the City God. Where did he get the courage from?
If the matter is reported to the City God, he may be punished, but will this scholar have an easy life?
Yan was puzzled and couldn't help asking, "It's just a small matter, why are you making such a fuss?"

Lu Zheng was so confident that Yan lost his confidence. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it and get punished.

Lu Zheng said coldly, "Being an unrighteous god and harming the people is no different from being a demon or ghost that harms people. How can this matter be considered trivial?"

"Alright, alright, you idiot scholar!" Yan glared. "Come on, let's go find the City God! I'm going to sue you for assaulting a god!"

Yan wanted to leave but couldn't, and seeing that Lu Zheng was so persistent, he became unwilling to give in and wanted to go find the City God.

Lu Zheng threw out a rope and said calmly, "Tie yourself up. I'll seal your cultivation to prevent you from escaping."

Yan angrily said: "I am a god, how dare you do this...Okay, I will do it myself..."

Noticing Lu Zheng's unfriendly look, Yan immediately became timid, fearing that he would be punched again.

It got up in a panic and tied itself up tightly with magic, feeling very aggrieved.

But Yan thought again that if he went over to complain, it would definitely be more effective, and he couldn't help but calm down a little.

"Come, come, confer the title of God upon me!" Yan raised his neck, looking like he was about to give up. "When we get to the City God, I'll see what you're going to do."

Lu Zheng pointed his finger and directly sealed several of Yan's acupoints.

Yan suddenly felt that the spiritual power and blood circulation in his body were not smooth, and he was inexplicably frightened.

You have to know that it is a god, and ordinary magic power cannot seal its acupoints.

Yan couldn't help but ask, "Are you really a scholar? Not a cultivator from some sect?"

Lu Zhengdao: "Don't I look like that?"

"Uh..." Yan was speechless for a moment.

Lu Zheng turned and said, "You lead the way!"

The corner of Yan's mouth twitched, "This place is still far from the county town. If you let me lead the way like this, we won't be able to move forward even after dark!"

"Then point me in a direction." Lu Zheng said.

Yan looked around and pointed in one direction. "Over there, go straight for about a hundred miles to get to the county town."

Lu Zheng nodded slightly, waved his hand and sent Qing Wan into the Wen Palace courtyard, then picked up Yan with one hand and flew into the air.

Yan suddenly rose into the air. Caught off guard, he couldn't help but look horrified, "You, you, you, you can actually fly!"

Lu Zheng said calmly: "Is there any problem?"

Yan thought that this was not a problem. Could ordinary scholars fly? Of course not!
Yan's expression changed inexplicably, and he asked softly, "Young man, what are your strengths?"

It felt like it had provoked an extraordinary scholar.

Lu Zheng did not answer when he heard this, but just continued on his way quietly.

Yan looked nervous and looked around, suddenly looking behind Lu Zheng, "Hey, why are there a pair of wings behind you? What's the trick?"

Behind Lu Zheng, there is a pair of almost invisible wings.

These are the flying feathers he formed after training with poetry and prose, skillfully using his own righteous energy. They can make him fly faster and reduce the consumption caused by flying.

After flying over mountains and rivers, a city appeared in front of Lu Zheng.

When approaching the city, Lu Zheng slowly landed.

Arriving at the city gate, Lu Zheng carried Yan inside.

The guards at the city gate couldn't help but look at Lu Zheng a few more times, not because they wanted to check Lu Zheng's identity, but because Yan's appearance was too eye-catching.

"Hey, brother, where did you catch this rat? It's so big. I'm afraid it has become a spirit?" A guard asked curiously.

Yan was furious when he heard this, but he held back and didn't say anything.

After all, it would be too embarrassing to let these people know that it is a god, but to be mentioned like this by someone, so it is better not to say anything.

Lu Zheng smiled when he heard this. "I caught it in the mountains. I've never seen such a big rat before, so I wanted to offer it to the City God..."

Someone couldn't help but say, "How can you offer a rat to the City God? Just kill it and feed it to the dogs."

Yan: ...

Seeing this, another person nearby laughed and said, "Don't tell me, this thing is not an ordinary mouse. Look at its appearance, it's obviously something from the mountains, not often seen..."

"What?"

"I forgot what it's called, but it's not the kind of rat we have at home."

"That's not the same as a rat."

……

While everyone was still discussing, Lu Zheng had already left.

We walked quickly all the way and soon arrived outside the City God Temple.

The City God Temple is quite large, with people coming in and out, and the rich aroma of incense fills the air.

There was no one guarding the temple gate, so Lu Zheng just carried Yan in.

(End of this chapter)