In the various prefectures and counties of Henan, many commoners had nearly identical dreams that night. In their dreams, either the City God or a judge appeared and told them that the Grand City God had issued an order: the Locust God was bringing calamity upon the world, so the City God had stripped him of his Divine Position. From now on, the people no longer needed to worship the Locust God and could catch locusts to save themselves.
When they woke in the morning, many people still remembered the dream clearly. After talking with their neighbors, they discovered that many others had dreamed the same thing.
"The same dream? Then it really might have been a dream sent by the City God!" someone said in surprise.
"The judge in my dream told me that the Grand City God had issued a royal decree, stripped the Locust God of his Divine Position, and forbidden us from worshipping him any longer."
"I've long thought we shouldn't worship him. Not only does he fail to bless us, he even sends locusts to ruin our crops. We can barely survive, yet we still have to carry offerings of the three sacrifices to beg and kowtow before him. What kind of sense does that make?" someone shouted.
Just as the people were discussing it heatedly, yamen runners came down the road, beating gongs as they went.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Listen up, folks! The governor has issued an order. This year's locust disaster is severe, and the people of every prefecture and county are ordered to kill locusts to save themselves! Kill locusts to save yourselves!"
Once the commoners heard that, the discussion grew even livelier. Even the governor had given the order, so it had to be true.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Listen up, folks!