Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 334 Village Guardian

At that time, the new local god had just been established and was busy collecting incense from other villages to consolidate his position, so he had no time to suppress these villagers.

The local officials' efforts to help only resulted in casualties among the soldiers, so they simply didn't want to care about it anymore. After all, it had little to do with them.

So after a few conflicts between the two sides, they lived in peace for a long time.

When the local gods finally have time, they will visit the village again.

However, the village has two more generations of people, and the young and middle-aged generation still follow their ancestors' teachings, resolutely resisting the gods and not giving them any good looks at all.

The county's City God was naturally very dissatisfied and asked his subordinate priests to resolve the matter.

There were some conflicts between the two sides again, and even some priests sent out were captured and some demons were killed.

Things got to such a point that the local city god even came out in person and used magic to try to make the villagers surrender.

However, this made the villagers resist even more fiercely.

There were thousands of people in the entire village, and the City God did not dare to destroy them all at once, for fear that the matter would become a big deal and lead to punishment from above.

So, the City God changed his strategy. As a god with a long life, he wanted to see how long these villagers could hold out.

Therefore, disasters would occur from time to time in this mountain village, either invasions by demons or natural disasters...

However, the villagers in the mountains are tenacious and have persisted from generation to generation. They even absorb some suffering people from outside to maintain the long-term prosperity of the village.

After so many years, the two sides are still competing, trying to make the other side surrender.

In fact, at this point, if the local gods take strong action, even if it means destroying the entire mountain village, they can still cover up the matter.

But now, after years of struggle, it has become a matter of dignity.

Listening to the old man telling stories about the village, Lu Zheng and Qing Wan felt their hearts surge with emotion.

I never thought that such a small mountain village could have such a magnificent history.

Lu Zhengdu couldn't help but admire the persistence of generations of villagers in the mountains.

He then said, "This monster is good at digging holes. Why not let it repair the destroyed well?"

The old man nodded and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking. I was worried that it wouldn't do it and would take the opportunity to escape."

Upon hearing this, the pangolin quickly said, "I'm willing to do it. As long as you promise to let me go afterwards, I'll dig a few more wells for you..."

The villagers were not surprised to see that the pangolin could speak human language, as they had seen monsters and ghosts before.

Lu Zheng looked at Pangolin and pointed a finger at his forehead. "Go ahead. If you do well, I can spare your life."

The pangolin couldn't help but say, "Please tell me where to dig..."

Lu Zheng looked at the old man and said, "Uncle, tell it where to dig the well."

The old man's eyes flickered, and he couldn't help but bow and said, "Thank you both for your help..."

The old man raised his hand and pointed to a piece of farmland and stated his request.

Qingwan's little hand trembled, and then she untied the pangolin.

The pangolin suddenly felt relieved and obediently ran to dig a well.

In just a moment, a two-foot-deep well was dug out, with clear water flowing out.

When the villagers saw the clear water, they were all overjoyed.

"Good good..."

The old man stroked his beard and laughed, then took his men to another place and let Pangolin continue digging the well.

At the same time, the old man also instructed a few people to go back to the village first and inform the villagers.

After digging three wells outside, the old man invited Lu Zheng and others into the village and asked Pangolin to repair the wells in the village.

The old man whispered, "I didn't want to trouble you two, but this demon is cunning and we are worried. I will reward you handsomely later..."

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "You and I are both scholars, why do we need to say this..."

The old man really didn't know how to thank him, so he didn't say anything more.

Lu Zheng and his group climbed up the steep and narrow mountain road, and after several turns, they finally reached the village entrance.

At this time, some villagers had gathered at the entrance of the village. Most of them were young and strong men, holding various weapons, which gleamed coldly under the reflection of the fire.

The old man explained, "We hardly ever receive strangers here. It's not because of you, but because we're afraid of that monster..."

"I understand." Lu Zheng nodded slightly.

Lu Zheng took a look and vaguely noticed that some villagers were emitting the aura of the second level of martial arts.

He thought to himself that it was no wonder that this village had been able to survive for so many years, there were actually masters there.

These warriors stayed in the village and did not go outside to look for water or demons. They were obviously protecting the village to prevent other accidents.

Lu Zheng, his companions, and Pangolin were almost surrounded and escorted into the village.

When Pangolin saw so many people, including some warriors with stronger aura than him, he felt a little regretful for taking on the task.

Soon, a group of people came to a large dry well.

The ancient well is ten feet square, and the bluestone built around the well is full of traces of time.

Lu Zheng's eyes flickered as he discovered that the well was about five meters deep and now it was completely dry. Even the mud at the bottom of the well had hardened into lumps.

"Then I'll go down?"

Pangolin spoke softly, feeling the urge to escape from here.

Lu Zheng nodded slightly, "Just fix it the way it was damaged before."

"I guarantee it's better than the original one." Pangolin said quickly.

It jumped down the well impatiently and burrowed into the dry soil. After a while, water gushed out from the bottom of the well.

The villagers surrounding them all cheered when they saw this.

After a while, there were noises coming from other places in the village, indicating that other wells had been restored.

The pangolin swam ashore from the ancient well, feeling anxious, and said, "Now that it's done, can I leave now? I still have some money saved up. How about I go back and get it as compensation?"

In order to save its life, the pangolin will try its best to please.

Lu Zheng said calmly: "Alright, go ahead."

Pangolin was as if granted amnesty and said quickly, "Give me an hour, I promise to be back on time."

Lu Zheng waved his hand gently.

Seeing this, the pangolin walked away. Facing the villagers' stares, it almost retracted its head into its neck.

After leaving the village, Pangolin touched his eyebrows and faintly felt the mark left by Lu Zheng.

It didn't dare to delay, so it ran wildly with all its limbs and disappeared into the night.

In the village, all the villagers expressed their gratitude to Lu Zheng and his friend with great enthusiasm.

An elderly man came over and said, "Please come with me and sit down. Yang Xiucai from the village would like to talk to you."

Scholar? Lu Zheng's eyes moved slightly, and he said, "Please lead the way, old man."

The old man led the way, leading Lu Zheng and Qing Wan to a spacious courtyard.

Lu Zheng vaguely felt some special aura coming from the yard.

He looked up and saw another plaque on the gate.

"Ancestral hall?" Lu Zheng couldn't help but look at the old man next to him, "Can we go in?"

The old man smiled and said, "You two are benefactors of our village. There is nothing you can't enter. The rules of our village may be a little different from yours."

Hearing this, Lu Zheng nodded.

When the door of the ancestral hall is opened, you can see a main hall and two side halls.

The door to the side hall on the right was wide open, and a middle-aged man with a handsome face was standing at the door.

The middle-aged man looked at Lu Zheng and the other man, and said with a cupped hand, "It's a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar!"

A three-foot-tall literary aura emanated from the middle-aged man.

Lu Zheng's expression changed slightly, and he politely returned the greeting.

The middle-aged man said again: "My name is Yang Xu, please come in, two distinguished guests!"

"Lu Zheng!"

"Qing Wan!"

Lu Zheng and the other man introduced themselves and then followed Yang Xu into the room.

The interior of the room is arranged more like a study, with a table, bookshelves, a tea table, and a bed in the corner.

Yang Xu invited the two to sit down, personally served tea and water, and said, "This place is simple, please forgive me for the poor hospitality."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "As the sage said, if a gentleman lives here, what is there to be ashamed of? This place is full of the fragrance of books and literature. It is an excellent place."

Lu Zheng paused, then asked curiously, "Have you always lived here?"

Judging from the furnishings in the house, it seems that Yang Xu has lived here for a long time, but this is clearly the village's ancestral hall.

Yang Xu nodded and said, "I have to guard this place and cannot leave, lest anything goes wrong."

There has to be someone staying in the village as the final guarantee, and Yang Xu is the village guardian of this generation.

Because he is a Confucian and Taoist scholar, although his physique is inferior to those second-level warriors in the village, his literary temperament makes him the most suitable person to guard the village.

"That's it."

Lu Zheng guessed something after hearing this.

Yang Xu said, "I heard that you two are scholars from Anguo?"

Lu Zheng raised his hand, took out the pass and handed it to Yang Xu.

Yang Xu took it and looked at it. His face straightened and he said in surprise, "Mr. Lu is actually a Juren from Anguo!"

The document Lu Zheng had applied for before was still based on the identity card issued by the Hongzhou government office, which only showed his status as a juren.

According to Lu Zheng's request, there is no mark of Mingtiandi Juren, nor is it the popularized Shengci Juren.

Seeing Yang Xu's surprised look, Lu Zheng just smiled, but did not say that he had become a scholar of heaven and earth, so as not to shock the other party even more and prevent them from having a pleasant chat.

Yang Xu politely returned the document to Lu Zheng and said quietly, "I've heard that Anguo has many scholars. Today, I'm honored to meet Mr. Lu."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "We are lucky to have come out to study and meet you, and to see the world."

"That's great." Yang Xu sighed, "Unlike me, I can't go out and see the world, I can only study here..."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask, "Your Excellency didn't take the imperial examination?"

Yang Xu smiled and said, "How could they let someone like me pass the imperial examination? My literary talent is all cultivated through my own practice. Of course, the most important thing is the various classics left by my ancestors, which allowed me to study, and the guidance of my elders..."

Yang Xu is a scholar of heaven and earth, which is extremely rare even in Pingzhou.

If he was not from this village, even if the State of Chu did not attach importance to Confucianism, he would be able to grow smoothly and become an official without any problem.

However, due to the grievances between the village and the local gods, he had no chance to display his talents. Instead, he stayed in the village, protecting it from harm, and never complained or regretted it.

(End of this chapter)