Zhongshan Shenzhu Chi

"Mother, I think we need to talk."

As soon as he finished speaking, the gentle wind in the valley suddenly turned fierce, the howling sound carrying away the echoes and even sweeping away and scattering the small pebbles on the ground.

The giant serpent stood silently in the valley, its head and body raised like a sharp sword, with the wind splitting off from its sides.

The moon sets and the sun rises.

Receiving no response, the red serpent turned and left, returning to its lair at the entrance of the valley.

The snake's head rested on its body, its golden and silver eyes flickering uncertainly, its gaze shifting and revealing a thoughtful expression.

Although the mother did not reply, the matter itself contained a lot of information.

Just because someone says something doesn't mean that other beings were involved in the changes that happened to them. And such beings are rare enough to make even a god of unknown realm avoid talking about it.

But in Zhongshan, only He Himself has this qualification.

The red snake raised its tail and held it in front of its eyes, recalling what had happened to it over the past two weeks.

Having stopped the four ferocious demons from their deadly battle, he received a reward—he had been struggling to condense enough moonlight to form a vortex, and now its prototype was complete.

The medium of distribution, the body... and the breath thus change.

In essence, these two things were his way of fulfilling the responsibilities of a mountain king... or you could say he was exercising the authority of a mountain god.

In addition, the mother appeared in a dream to a merchant in Xia'an City...

The giant snake lowered its eyes, and after connecting all the events in its mind, it finally pointed to a very clear conclusion.

"Mother is training the next mountain god."

"But why the rush now? There hadn't been any action for the past thirty years..."

"Is it because of humans?"

Thinking of this, the coiled snake slowly writhed, its smooth red scales rubbing against each other with a faint, cold sound, like a sword blade slicing through iron, hissing incessantly.

"Whether the humans go up the mountain to worship is not a big deal, and perhaps that is true; Mother wasn't lying. But from a broader perspective... she still needs the faith of the humans."

Beneath its crimson scales, the muscles that concealed terrifying power contracted and relaxed, causing the coiled snake body to slowly unfurl.

The giant snake, like a crimson tide sweeping across the mountains and forests, silently slipped into the woods.

"If it's related to humans, then I'll just ask humans directly."

*

*

*

Mountain God Temple.

After the worship ceremony was completed, the sun set, and it was too dark and the forest too deep to descend the mountain.

Zhong Yan and Wen Shuyan then spent the night in the mountain god temple.

Until the early morning of the next day, when the sun rose.

Zhong Yan felt a sense of urgency and opened his eyes along with the rising sun, hearing Wen Shuyan's loud snoring in his ears.

The city's merchants are delicate and tossed and turned until late last night, finally managing to fall asleep only when they were really tired.

"Boss Wen, get up." Zhong Yan stepped forward and patted Wen Shuyan's shoulder with his thin, withered hand. "It's time to go down the mountain."

"Hmm—! Hmm…" Wen Shuyan turned over, still snoring.

"Sigh..." Zhong Yan sighed, got up and pushed open the door of the mountain god temple.

In the early morning, the chirping of birds, insects, and fish in the mountains, accompanied by the cold wind, suddenly rushed into the house. The old man was hit by it head-on and couldn't help but shiver.

The mountain god temple is still the same mountain god temple, but it feels like there are two seasons inside and outside the house.

The snot bubble in Wen Shuyan's nose was immediately punctured by the cold wind, and he looked like a lazy bug whose blanket had been pulled off in winter. His anger suddenly rose to his lips, and he was about to yell and curse.

"Boss Wen, it's time to go down the mountain. I need to hurry back to the village to finish the statues of the gods in the villagers' homes." Zhong Yan held the wood-chopping knife upside down, his tone indifferent.

"Mmm, down the mountain, down the mountain." The fat merchant saw the gleaming blade of the woodcutter's knife, swallowed his saliva, and swallowed back the swear words.

I got up, stretched, and felt aches and pains all over my body.

"Ouch!" Wen Shuyan cried out in pain, quickly sitting down. "Let me catch my breath, let me catch my breath!"

"..."

Zhong Yan really didn't know why the Snake God would choose this person to recite the sacrificial text with him.

Perhaps it's the Wen family's long-standing reputation, passed down through generations, that has never been broken by Wenshu Shanhaige.

After all, once they finished reading that eulogy, the two of them could be considered to have conspired to rebel. If discovered, the worst outcome would be the execution of their entire family.

"Responding to the Imperial Decree on the Candle Dragon Fasting Ritual"

Written by scholars, and used by emperors in sacrificial rites.

The national customs began here... I wonder what kind of national customs an old man like him can leave for future generations.

Zhong Yan pondered for a moment, then closed the temple door. He took out the wild fruits he had picked the day before from his bag and handed them along with some dry rations to Wen Shuyan: "Boss Wen, eat something and then walk around a bit. Let's hurry down the mountain."

"We don't have any red dye in the village, so we'll have to trouble you to get some for us."

"Dyes are easy to get, but I need a good reason to send them over." Wen Shuyan muttered as he took the food and ate.

"That's a problem." Zhong Yan took a bite of wild fruit and fell into thought.

But he quickly came up with a solution.

"Yang Er took your 'Pregnancy Pill,' and now his wife is pregnant. Naturally, he wants to make the house more festive... Let's use this as an excuse to send over the dyes," Zhong Yan said.

"No problem." Wen Shuyan nodded, swallowing his dry rations. "This Yang Er isn't very discreet, so you'd better keep an eye on him. If all else fails..."

"Um?"

Under Zhong Yan's deathly gaze, Wen Shuyan broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly waved his hand: "Send him to my house to work as a long-term laborer. I'll arrange a branch team for him to travel outside the city and have less contact with people."

"Sure." Zhong Yan nodded. "There are still quite a few people in the new village who want to go to the city. Boss Wen, take them all with you, depending on the situation."

"Since they don't want to stay in the mountains, I won't stop them. Mr. Wen, you can take them all out."

"No problem, no problem." Wen Shuyan got up, patted his bottom, and after finishing his meal, his whole body was no longer as sore as when he got up.

"Let's go, let's go down the mountain, I still need to go home and tell Grandpa the good news."

"Um."

Zhong Yan picked up the wood-chopping knife and gong, slung them over his back, and was about to open the door when he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Wen Shuyan asked.

"Something's coming..." Zhong Yan's thick eyebrows furrowed almost into a knot as he pressed his ear against the door.

The birdsong outside the temple gate suddenly stopped for a moment.

Although the birdsong has returned to its noisy state, it has a strange rhythm, like a melodious song from the mountains.

As the tide rolls in, birds land on both sides, their melodious songs seeming to welcome them.

"Village Chief Zhong..." Shuwenyan stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

"Creak—" Zhong Yan pushed open the door.

Crimson mist surged in like a tide.

Their minds went blank for a moment as they watched in disbelief as a pair of stars, as bright as the sun and moon, rose from the mist.

They rose higher and higher until their necks were stretched to their limit.

"I ask, you answer," the serpent's voice boomed like surging waves, pressing down in layers.

"Mountain...Mountain God!" Zhong Yan threw down his wood-chopping knife, knelt down with a thud, and pressed his head into the mud.

"I...I...Mountain God!"

The soul returned to its body, and the blood mist dissipated.

Wenshu Yan knelt down with a thud, his knees aching, but he had no time to care.

"Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you everything I know!"