I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 196 Fate? Yes, it is!

The Baosheng Niangniang Temple is located outside Linjiang County, on Ziyun Mountain.

This temple was built by the county magistrate and is a proper temple with an official seal.

What is a legitimate temple? A temple that has been approved by the Ministry of Rites or officially conferred a title is called a legitimate temple.

From ancient times to the present, the construction of temples has been jointly managed by the Ministry of Rites and local governments. The so-called official certificates are nothing more than the list of sacrificial rites, imperial edicts, and inscriptions on plaques. As long as your temple has any of these certificates, it is no longer considered a wild temple or a ghost temple, but a noble and legitimate temple.

Temples that are not approved by the government and have no credentials are what the orthodox sects often refer to as licentious and heretical shrines, belonging to the category of reckless and indiscriminate worship.

These kinds of temples are easy to distinguish. Those that claim to be some kind of king, immortal, or true man are just unlicensed temples. These deities are unknown and many of them are only established to deceive believers into donating incense.

If it's a place like a shrine or temple, where they clearly state their prices and are willing to do things, that's better. But the problem is some unlicensed temples that accept incense offerings but don't do anything, or don't follow the rules. If you make a wish in such a place and it doesn't come true, that's fine. But if it does come true, you might end up with a karmic debt.

Why is this the case? The reason is simply that the moral standards of shamanic temples are often quite flexible.

If you ask for wealth, He will steal money from other people's homes and send it to yours; if you ask for a wife, He will tie up a virgin and throw her into your bed.

This seemingly effective but actually selfish approach can't be said to be ineffective, but it is truly immoral!
Besides these supposedly 'efficacious' unlicensed temples, there are also unlicensed temples that only offer incense but do not perform any rituals, and even legitimate temples exist.

Such temples may be very popular, but the quality of the offerings varies greatly.

As far as Xu Qing knew, there were roughly two types of incense offerings: one was incense offerings based on faith and vows, and the other was incense offerings based on merit.

The incense offerings made by people are often from unlicensed temples or miscellaneous deities, or even from legitimate temples that do nothing but make empty promises. These kinds of incense offerings only reflect the people's faith and wishes, but do not bring any merit or benefit.

Merit offerings are different. Only when temples are efficacious, manifest themselves to benefit all beings, or respond to the people's prayers can merit be added.

Temples that do practical things will gain the heartfelt support and love of the people. When people make vows, they will not have any complicated thoughts. In the end, the interaction between heaven and man will produce merit and incense offerings.

Ordinary incense is white, while merit-based incense is golden.

Xu Qing had always believed this since he came into contact with temple-based cultivation, until recently when he was forced to open a new temple system, and he realized that there were different kinds of merit and incense offerings.

He distributed disaster relief grain to the victims, and the incense he earned from the Cat Fairy Hall also presented a magnificent golden spectacle.

However, the incense burning at the Baosheng Niangniang Temple was a deep crimson, like pools of blood.

Moreover, the incense at the Baosheng Niangniang Temple is clearly more special than that of ordinary merit-making incense.

The vibrant life force contained in the Blood Lake of the Dharma Realm is something that other incense offerings lack.

Xu Qing could sense a warm and compassionate spirit emanating from the believers and pilgrims. This spirit came from an infant and was pure, almost without any distracting thoughts.

When immortals cultivate, they often talk about the Golden Crimson Path, which Xu Qing couldn't understand before.

In retrospect, the so-called "golden and red path" should simply be two distinctions between merit and incense offerings.

These two types of incense offerings are: one is the power of incense that comes from living beings as they grow and develop complex emotions, and the other is the pure, untainted power of incense that comes from a newborn baby.

To put it simply, it's about the difference between acquired and innate qualities.

Xu Qing was very familiar with common golden incense. This type of incense could ward off disasters and could also be used to refine incense artifacts or to deal with evil spirits and heretics.

However, Xu Qing only had a vague understanding of the red incense he had just acquired through cultivation.

Currently, his development of this incense is only at the stage of assisting with childbirth.

The incense in the Blood Lake has the effect of restoring vitality and harmonizing the blood and qi of living people, and it can be said to be tailor-made for postpartum women and babies.

Besides, even if Xu Qing wanted to develop other functions, he was powerless to do so.

After all, even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. The incense in his Blood Lake Dharma Realm is currently only a small pool, and it can't do anything else except deliver babies.

However, matters of cultivation are never certain, so Xu Qing wasn't in a hurry.

For example, in the past, Xu Qing could never have imagined that one day he would own a proper temple, and that it would be a temple built for him by someone else from the bottom of their heart.

Although the statues inside are not quite the same as the original.
Now Xu Qing's new temple has official endorsement, and all the necessary ancestral halls and inscriptions are complete. In the long run, his Baosheng Temple may even become a geographical landmark of Linjiang County and be recorded in the local annals.

This kind of treatment is a blessing that countless immortal cultivators and rogue cultivators yearn for but cannot obtain. However, for Xu Qing, in addition to the blessing, the burden on his shoulders has become heavier.

Ultimately, he was just a young zombie, yet at an age when he should be lying dead, he shouldered burdens that shouldn't belong to someone his age.

If there is a temple, it must be maintained. Since he has received offerings from the people, he cannot be a hands-off manager, otherwise he will surely bring disaster upon himself in the future.

Xu Qing walked along the mountain path, preoccupied with his thoughts, while Xuan Yu seemed to be doing nothing, sometimes stopping to scratch and sharpen its claws at the tree roots, and sometimes leaping up to catch insects and butterflies.

The stag has long-term concerns, while the cat has no immediate worries.

At this moment, Xuan Yu's eyes were only on the scenery along the mountain path.

And Xu Qing.

"Xu Xian's house, there's a dilapidated temple here—"

There are many sweet potato plants on Ziyun Mountain, also known as purple clover.

Xuan Yu chased after the insects and butterflies, burrowing into the sweet potato grass. Before long, he emerged from the thicket, his body covered in grass leaves.

Upon hearing Xuan Yu's words, Xu Qing glanced to the side and indeed spotted a shrine quietly sitting under an old tree beside the mountain path.

The shrine had been in disrepair for many years, and the paint was peeling. Xu Qing took a closer look at the shrine tablet and realized that it was a residence built for Fairy Ziyun.

Fairy Ziyun
Looking at the purple clover covering the mountain, Xu Qing immediately understood.

“Xuanyu, this is not a temple, it is a shrine. Although it also has incense offerings, it is different from our temple.”

At this moment, Xuan Yu had already slipped into the shrine. The 'small wooden house', which was only three feet square, seemed quite spacious to the cat.

"What's the difference?" the cat asked curiously.

Looking at the black cat that had usurped the place, Xu Qing simply sat cross-legged opposite the shrine and patiently explained:
"Temple is large and public. Temples are widely known, and worshippers often bring their hopes when they enter to burn incense and make offerings. The deities enshrined in temples are also placed on higher positions. Shrines are small and private. They are often built by villagers, farmers, or people from the countryside. The deities enshrined in shrines are unknown to outsiders and are only worshipped by locals or their own family."

"Because the shrine is small, even if there are spirits living there, its divine power is very weak. Therefore, the people who build the shrine will not make any unrealizable wishes when they worship. Just like this shrine of the Purple Cloud Fairy, it is likely that someone was so captivated by the beautiful scenery of Purple Cloud Mountain covered with Purple Cloud Grass that they built such a small shrine out of love for the fairy."

Xuan Yu looked down at the incense burner that was lying askew in the shrine.

It is clear that this shrine has not been worshipped for a long time.

"Does Master Xu believe that Fairy Ziyun once lived in this shrine?"

Xu Qing shook his head and said, "How could a fairy live in such a small shrine? But perhaps it was once inhabited by a grass spirit or a wood spirit, who knows?"

Xuan Yu said with a hint of loss, "Speaking of which, the temple of the Xu family is also on this mountain. If one day the temple of the Xu family becomes like this, wouldn't it be very pitiful?"

Xu Qing burst out laughing.

“Even if no one goes to my temple to worship, I don’t think my temple would have become like this.”

"Why?" "Because as long as Xuan Yu is there, he won't let my temple be left unattended."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yu's cat ears twitched involuntarily. Then, the cat raised its long neck and walked arrogantly to the outside of the shrine.

"Of course, I will come to the temple of the Xu family often to clean it, and I will definitely not let the temple of the Xu family fall into disrepair."

Xu Qing smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Immortal Xuan Yu to take care of me."

Before the two creatures descended the mountain, they repaired the dilapidated shrine, making it at least no longer as decaying as before.

As they descended the mountain, another wisp of incense appeared in Xu Qing's Blood Lake Dharma Realm.

He sensed that the incense was coming from the direction of Linjiang County, which meant that someone was worshipping his memorial tablet.

It couldn't possibly be the county magistrate's wife bowing to him.
Xu Qing pondered that he might need to find more people to take care of Baosheng Temple in the future, otherwise, if it were to be used by someone with ulterior motives, he, as the head manager behind it, would bear some responsibility for inadequate supervision.

As for what kind of person to look for, Xu Qing already had a direction in mind.

There is a village at the foot of the mountain. A stiff cat and a cat walk on the village road in the early morning, attracting strange looks from the early-rising villagers.

When asked, Xu Qing would reply that she was a pilgrim who went to the temple of the Goddess of Fertility to worship.

The villagers all believed it to be true.

After all, no matter how they thought about it, they would never connect the young man in front of them with the goddess on the mountain.

Not far from the village, there is a river that connects with the Baisha River. Although it is not a large river, it is still about five or six zhang wide.

A woman was washing clothes by the river.

It was still early, and most of the women who could wash their clothes at this time were women washing their underwear.

They did this to avoid having their embarrassing clothes seen by outsiders, which is why they came to the river early in the morning to wash them when no one was around.

After Xu Qing entered the Corpse-Subduing Realm, his sense of smell was greatly enhanced. Even from a distance, he could smell the soapy scent emanating from the woman washing clothes, along with an unpleasant, foul smell of blood.

Xu Qing instinctively moved away, but suddenly heard the sound of a baby crying coming from the river.

Xuan Yu stopped and turned her head, staring motionlessly in the direction from which the sound came.

"Xu Xianjia".

After confirming the source of the sound, Xuan Yu looked up at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing understood immediately, and the stiff cat and the dog moved closer to the riverbank at the same time.

The woman washing clothes heard the baby crying from the river. She straightened up, shook the water off her hands, and looked out.

It would have been better if I hadn't looked. When I did, I saw a swaddled baby, about a foot and a half long, floating in the river!

The woman slapped her thigh suddenly, realizing something was wrong.

Who was so careless as to lose their child in the river?!
The river is surging right now, and who knows when a wave might come and knock the child into the water.

Even without waves, once the swaddling clothes covering the child are soaked with water, they will sink to the bottom of the river.

"oops!"

The woman cried out in surprise, wanting to call out, but realized that it was still early and there was no one else around.

Just as the woman was running anxiously along the riverbank, chasing after the swaddled baby, a jade ruyi suddenly appeared in the river, emitting a faint glow, and carried the baby to the shore.

The woman stared wide-eyed, then closed her eyes and rubbed them with her hand. When she opened her eyes again, the jade ruyi had disappeared, leaving only a swaddled baby lying quietly on the riverbank.

Not far away, Xu Qing reached out and caught the flying jade ruyi. With a little force, the ruyi in his hand transformed into specks of red incense, returning to the Dharma realm.

A stiff figure and a cat were hidden in a large banyan tree, silently watching the woman on the riverbank pick up her baby and call out to the left and right.

Finding no one to answer and with the baby crying loudly, the woman, disregarding the clothes and utensils she had left by the river, hurriedly carried the child back to the village.

On a thick branch of the banyan tree, Xuan Yu stood on an even higher branch, turned to look at Xu Qing, who was also in the tree, and asked:

"Since Xu Xian is the Goddess of Life Protection, why doesn't she personally manifest her divine power to save that child?"

Xu Qing, who was calculating Zi Wei Dou Shu (a Chinese astrological system), glanced at Xuan Yu and said quietly:
“If I were to reveal my true form, this woman might spread the holy name of the Goddess of Life Preservation, but I do not know where the child’s home is, nor do I know whether he was abandoned or accidentally fell into the water.”

"I can't exactly take this child home and raise him, can I?"

Xu Qing's words were a mix of truth and falsehood. If he really wanted to find the child's parents, it wouldn't be difficult. But people's hearts are far more complicated than a cat could imagine.

Xuan Yu's eyes lit up, and she subconsciously asked, "Why can't we keep it?"

"."

Xu Qing grinned and said, "Do you think kids are so easy to raise? Who's going to take care of them when they poop and pee?"

"Besides, I don't have any milk, how can I raise a baby?"

"."

Xuan Yu shut his mouth completely. Yes, the child needs to be breastfed. Although Xu Xian is the Goddess of Childbirth, she is a man and cannot produce milk.

Seeing the woman enter the village, Xu Qing took out a piece of white paper, folded it into a small paper crane, and followed the woman, observing her all the way.

Xu Qing was finally relieved when he saw the woman cook a thin porridge and borrow goat milk from a farmer's house to make milk porridge for the baby.

After the paper cranes burned to ashes, Xu Qing opened her eyes and jumped down from the banyan tree.

"No wonder there is a saying in the world that gods and humans communicate. It is said that humans are subject to the will of Heaven, and gods hold the will of Heaven. My temple has just been built, and it is because of this child that I have received a prophecy."

The Goddess of Childbirth is in charge of childbirth and is divinely close to infants. Xu Qing had just come down the mountain when he encountered an infant crying for help, which shows that there was some kind of predestined connection involved.

Xuan Yu couldn't understand Xu Qing's words, but its intuition told it that as long as it listened to Xu Qing, it would always be able to eat its fill.

In this respect, he is the same as Hu Baosong.

Animals are always more perceptive than humans in some ways; otherwise, Hu Baosong wouldn't have told Daoist Yizhen that he could listen to Xu Qing's words, but not trust them.

That old fox still felt he had a foolproof plan, little did he know that not long after he kicked the bucket, Xu Qing had seen right through him in his life.

This included the bad things Hu Baosong said about Master Yizhen behind his back.

As a zombie, his words are undoubtedly the truth, far more believable than the hypocritical pronouncements of a human.

In this respect, Xuan Yu is many times better than Hu Baosong.

At the very least, this cat truly believes whatever Xu Qing says.

(End of this chapter)