In order to become a Heroic Spirit, I had no choice but to cause trouble in history.

"What's wrong? Have you found a way to break this deadlock?" Yang Yi looked at Zi Bo with hopeful eyes.

"The solution to this impasse doesn't lie with me, but with the Mountain Lord." Zibo rummaged in his pocket and pulled out his Tiger Lord's Manual.

"You mean the Mountain Lord's Wine Sacrifice...?" Yang Yi hesitated slightly. "But it's only May, isn't that against the rules..."

“Now, besides praying to the Mountain Lord, there’s no other way, is there?” Zibo’s rough fingertips rubbed against the Tiger Lord’s Scroll, his face full of worry. “If there really wasn’t another way, I wouldn’t even think about asking the Mountain Lord for help.”

"The mountain king only protects the life and death of the village, not the livelihood of the people. This saying has been passed down in our three villages for a hundred years. How could I not know it?"

"But... now, I'm afraid even the mountain lord himself is having some problems."

"Yi! Old man Zi, you can't just say things like that!" Yang Yi suddenly frowned, somewhat anxious.

“Look up at that Pang Mountain, young man of the Yang family.” Uncle Zi didn’t say anything, but walked hunched over to Yang Yi’s side and patted him on the shoulder. “We can’t speak ill of the gods, but what’s wrong with telling them the truth?”

"We have to go see it no matter what, don't we?"

Upon hearing Zibo's words, Yang Yi subconsciously looked up at Pangshan, but froze in place.

...Is Pangshan really this ugly?

------------

Chapter 798 Tiger Wine Festival

After discussing it for a while, Zibo and Yangyi set off for Wujia Village, the farthest village from Zijia Village, on the south side of Pangshan Mountain.

When they arrived at Wujia Village, the sun had already begun to set. After avoiding the midday sun, the farmers continued to work in the fields.

"Hey guys, where's Wu Shun from your village?" The three villages have connections with each other. Zibo has been the village head since before the Qin Dynasty, but back then he was the village head of the Chu Kingdom. Now he is the village head of the Qin Dynasty. Almost everyone in the surrounding villages knows him.

"Ah, it's Lord Zi. He's in the middle of the village right now. You'll find him if you go look." The farmer straightened up, and when he saw that it was Uncle Zi, he bowed slightly as a sign of respect.

"Alright, I'll go take a look. You go ahead with your work." Uncle Zi nodded, waved his hand, and walked towards the center of Wu Family Village with Yang Yi.

"Uncle Zibo, why does it seem like the crops on the Wu family's side are growing better than ours?" Yang Yi said as he walked along the edge of the field, looking at the green of the Wu family's fields.

Although Yang Yi was a village head like Zi Bo, the younger Yang Yi was actually a generation younger than Zi Bo and had to call him "uncle".

"We'll talk about this when we see Wu Shun." Uncle Zi frowned and pulled Yang Yi along quickly toward the center of Wu Family Village.

However, Zibo's gaze did linger on that field for a moment, his expression filled with hesitation.

Upon arriving at the residence of Wu Shun, the village head of Wujia Village, the two village heads from other villages indeed met Wu Shun.

"Old Wu, it's been a long time. How have you been?" Uncle Zi asked with a smile.

"Old Zi is here, and Yang Yi is here too." Wu Shun looked as if he had just lost his temper, his face showing the same anxiety as Yang Yi and Zi Bo.

"Uncle Wu Shun, what happened so urgently?" Yang Yi asked Wu Shun, sitting on the stool.

"Well...sigh, you don't know this." Wu Shun put down the bowl of water he had just picked up and sighed deeply. "The crops in our Wu Family Village, for some reason, have stopped growing! They haven't grown for half a month now!"

card.

The bowl of water clattered loudly on the table.

"I've been dealing with this for the past few days, and I'm almost frantic with worry. If the crops don't grow, how will the taxes be collected? Will we have to buy grain to offset the losses? How will the people survive...?" Wu Shun was very agitated and angry; he was known for his short temper.

Zibo and Yang Yi exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

"Sure enough, your village has it too... Our village's grain has stopped growing too, it's been more than half a month." Yang Yi frowned, sighed abruptly, and slammed his fist on the table.

“Our village has been shut down for a whole month…” Uncle Zi’s voice was filled with obvious pain.

"You all...?" Wu Shun looked surprised, and suddenly felt less angry.

"Old Wu, let's get straight to the point." Zibo took out the Tiger King's Scroll from his clothes and placed it on the table. Yang Yi also took out his own Tiger King's Scroll. "The fact that the crops have stopped growing is a big deal. We can't delay for the sake of the people."

"You want to perform the Tiger King Wine Sacrifice?" Wu Shun looked at Tiger King Jian, his eyes lighting up before dimming again. His index finger tapped nervously on the table, making a "tap-tap" sound. "But it's only May, it's not in accordance with the rules..."

“There’s no time to worry about rules now. We’re the village heads; we can’t just let the people starve to death,” Yang Yi said with a pained expression after careful consideration, having also managed to detach himself from the so-called “rules.”

“We all know that the mountain lord does not eat blood.” Zibo placed his hands on the table and looked at the other two village chiefs. “If you have no objections, Lao Wu, bring the few people from your village who know how to dance the Tiger Lord Dance to our village in three days.”

"Let's move the Tiger King's Wine Festival forward by a month this year. After all, we have to solve some problems."

Wu Shun lowered his head, his eyes flickered a few times, gritted his teeth, and nodded: "Okay! As for the pigs and sheep, it will be the same as last year. Your village will provide the fat pigs, our village will provide the mother sheep and lambs this year, and Xiao Yang's village will take care of the rest."

"Yes, I know. I'll wait for you at the sacrificial site in three days?"

“Okay, I’ll just bring the sheep over there.” Wu Shun slammed his hand on the table.

"Then I'll bring my chickens, ducks, and geese with me."

......

Three days passed quickly, but to the village head of Sancun, it felt like an eternity.

During these three days, in addition to preparing for the annual Tiger King Wine Sacrifice, they also had to continue to observe the growth of the crops, and their faces almost never showed a smile.

The people are anxious, but they are even more anxious.

"Young Lord Shan, you absolutely mustn't get into trouble..."

Before the ceremony began, the village head of Zijia Village, Uncle Zi, knelt down facing the direction of Pangshan Mountain, closed his eyes, frowned and muttered to himself, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Dad, what is Grandpa doing?" A little boy stood next to a man, holding his hand, and looked at Uncle Zi who was kowtowing, asking his father.

“Your grandfather… he’s praying for the mountain god’s blessing.” The man patted the boy’s head with his broad hand and said with a wry smile, his face also clouded with worry.

Another little girl was being led by the hand by a woman, clinging to the woman's leg, her eyes filled with fear.

"Don't be afraid, Ah Hua. Your father and grandfather are here, and the Mountain Lord is a benevolent god who doesn't eat children," the woman patted Ah Hua on the back, comforting her.

"Mother, you're lying! You told me that if I didn't sleep, the mountain god would come and take me away when I couldn't sleep at night." Ashu, being pulled by his father, poked half his head out and looked at the woman with pouting lips.

"Oh!" The woman raised her hand to strike, but Ashu quickly withdrew it.

Ahua looked at Ashu and pouted.

Ashu sidled up to Ahua and chuckled, "Don't worry, Ahua, even if the mountain king comes, it'll be fine! Ashu can protect you, sister!"

Before Ahua could answer, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the village.

It turned out that people from two other villages had arrived.

People from Yangjia Village carried chickens, ducks, and geese, while people from Wujia Village carried over an old sheep that looked quite old on a frame.

Most notably, the people who came from both villages wore ferocious tiger masks.

"Yi!" Ahua was even more frightened and hugged her mother's legs tightly.

Zibo sighed, stood up, picked up a mountain king mask from the side, and put it on his head.

"Prepare to begin the ceremony!" he roared with great force.

A fat pig, screaming in terror, was carried up.

......

Not far from Pangshan, there is a river.

There is a bridge here, which makes it easy to pass through.

At that moment, two groups of people were crossing the bridge from two different directions.

Four people on horseback were crossing the bridge from south to north, the one in the lead wearing simple armor.

There was only one person walking from north to south.

A middle-aged man carrying a bag and a long sword.

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Chapter 799 The Unknown Cause and Effect

The middle-aged man carrying a bag and a long sword turned his head to look at the four men who had ridden across the bridge on horseback, and then sat down on a rock by the roadside to rest.

"Riding a horse, how impressive..."

"Sigh... This journey has been exhausting, but to have performed the forced labor and still make it back to my hometown alive... I guess I'm pretty lucky." He casually wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

By May, the weather had become noticeably hot.

“Speaking of which…” the middle-aged man looked south, then at the sky, “Will we be able to reach the next village today… if we travel at night… tsk.”

It's about 10 a.m. He got up before dawn and started his journey, walking all the way from the north until now.

"Forget it, let's go check out that village on the north side of the river first. But that mountain is quite high. Do we have mountains that high around here in Pei...?"

After taking a couple of sips of water, the middle-aged man wiped his mouth, put his water bottle back in his bag, and stood up.

Anyway, I don't want to eat dry biscuits for lunch. Besides, if I become the head of the pavilion in Sishui, then these villages will be my territory. I'll go and take a look beforehand!

Having made up his mind, the man stepped onto the bridge again and headed from south to north towards Zijia Village at the foot of Pangshan Mountain.

......

Meanwhile, in Zijia Village, the Tiger King Wine Sacrifice, which has been going on for a century, has already begun.

The first part of the Tiger King Wine Sacrifice is the Tiger King Dance.

Eight people from each of the three villages, a total of twenty-four people, all wearing tiger masks, formed two circles, one inside and one outside, and danced the long-standing Tiger King Dance.

In addition to the twenty-four "mountain king attendants" dancing in the center, there were another thirty-six musicians holding instruments, forming a larger circle on the outermost perimeter.

The whole scene was incredibly lively and bustling.

In contrast to the bustling activity in the village center, the area outside the village is quiet.

"Is this village holding some kind of event?" Xiang Liang reined in his hands, looking at the noisy center of the village, his hand resting on the bronze sword and gently rubbing the hilt.

“It should be the Tiger King's Wine Festival. These villages around here rarely hold such a grand event involving the entire village.” Zi Shu could ride a horse, though a hint of hesitation crossed his face. “But according to the information I’ve gathered, the Tiger King's Wine Festival should be held in June, and it’s only mid-May…”

"Is this Tiger King Wine Offering for worshipping the Mountain Lord?" Xiang Liang turned his head and asked.

“Yes.” Zishu nodded. “This Tiger Lord Wine Sacrifice is held every year to worship the Mountain Lord and pray for the Mountain Lord’s protection of the region.”

“Uncle, let’s go in and take a look first.” Xiang An patted the neck of the horse he was riding. “It’s not good to just stand here at the entrance of the village. Didn’t we come here to settle that damn karma?”

"However... Mr. Zishu, what exactly is the cause and effect? ​​Xiang An and I have never been to Pangshan before, so how could we have any connection with Pangshan?" Xiang Yu asked with a frown.

“I don’t know either, but what I’ve seen tells me that it is indeed your karma. Lord Xiang Liang and I were just implicated.” Zi Shu shook his head and sighed.