The Importance of the Shantytown; The Ancestral Hall Created This Incident

Gao Linzhi did not immediately enter the city, but instead looked around in the shantytown outside the city.

An inspiration told him that this place seemed important.

There are things hidden that are not visible on the surface.

In the real world, a poor place is just a poor place; there's never anything remarkable about it.

There may be some local specialties, but that's not enough to change anything.

But this is not the case in the mysterious world.

The imperial court's decision to allow players to gather refugees and establish shacks outside the capital must have some ulterior motive.

The lives of some refugees are not worth the court's efforts, nor are they worth the risk of unrest in the suburbs.

There must be a bigger scheme behind it.

And this scheme is where the opportunity lies.

This was also what Gao Linzhi's inspiration told him.

It's like a super astute businessman discovering a business opportunity in a certain place, but not being able to see it at the moment.

For example, a businessman went to a certain place and found that the people there did not wear shoes.

He will then discover business opportunities here.

So what should we do?

Of course, it involves making glass and nails on the ground, but the process won't be too obvious.

He would first sell glass and nails, gradually getting people to create their own demand for shoes.

This is what a top-tier businessman is like.

In the end, he earned money from two sources, and people didn't blame him or think he had done something wrong.

Instead, they think that because they enjoy good things, they should pay the price of easily injuring their feet.

So what business opportunities are there in this shantytown now?

Gao Linzhi walked around, activating stealth mode.

And at this time...

He overheard some people talking about it.

Those were a few laborers who had just returned from work and were drinking tea and eating peanuts by the roadside.

"These extraterrestrials are really good."

"Yes, they are truly divine beings."

"Back home, I worked myself to the bone every day and still couldn't get enough to eat. Here, I only need to work for four hours a day, which is two hours, and I can have enough to eat."

"Sigh, these people are like living gods; we must take good care of them when we get home."

"Yes, we must make offerings to them."

Worship?

Gao Linzhi immediately caught the key words.

Offerings represent incense, and incense represents Divine Anomalies and efficacy...

This must be what they call a stroke of luck.

However, Gao Linzhi also knew that the practice of incense offerings could easily lead to spiritual corruption.

This is normal.

A normal person who is constantly nagged, compared, argued and conflicted by their parents, wife and colleagues, even if no one hits them, is very likely to become depressed.

And in this path of offering incense, you must confront the ugly hearts of countless individuals.

Some people harbor thoughts of murder and arson, some want to repay kindness with enmity, some intend to betray those who helped them, and some want to kidnap...

These spiritual messages will be transmitted to the mind of each person being worshipped.

This is practically the whisper of the devil.

Gao Linzhi knew all this, which is why he did not choose this path.

Although there are many methods of purification, they are all mild.

Once you embark on this path, it's like taking a drug—you can't stop. Your entire mindset begins to change.

In short, they are no longer human, and have become aliens.

Many people pride themselves on their strong willpower and believe they can overcome anything.

It eventually rotted away.

Because corrosion occurs over N tens of thousands of years * 24 hours.

You can resist for a hundred years, a thousand years, but not ten thousand years.

You can be careful for 23 hours a day, but you can't withstand 24 hours of corrosion.

There are far too many cases of people who, by following the path of ancestor worship, end up becoming eccentric lunatics themselves.

These ordinary people, of course, were unaware of so many profound principles.

They only knew that these extraterrestrials were kind to them, and that they should support their memorial tablets and worship them as living gods.

"I think there's no one better than them."

"Yeah, these big shots are like celestial beings descended to earth."

"Last time I was injured, and I thought I would have to work while injured, but the gods let me rest for a month before I came back, and they still paid me my salary. Where can you find such a kind employer?" a young man said, moved.

He was weak from a cold and fever last time, and his leg bone was injured when he was carrying a sack.

He was in despair.

Because here, a strong, able-bodied man alone, without the support of his clan, is almost certain to starve to death if he gets injured.

If you get injured, you won't be able to find a job. If you can't find a job, you won't have money to buy food and medicine. Your injuries will get worse and worse, and the worse your injuries will make it even harder to find a job.

Once this snowball starts rolling, unless an extraordinary stroke of luck occurs, it's doomed.

Working for these incredibly wealthy employers, whenever he got injured, he was given time off and even received his wages in advance so he could rest properly.

The employer actually covered the medical expenses, including the cost of hiring a doctor.

In the old days, in a village, would the prominent local figures care whether you lived or died?

You can only blame yourself for getting injured. It just goes to show that young people have good constitutions; he was able to endure it.

Otherwise, he wouldn't know how he even made it to this place.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head:

"I cannot let this place lose its gods."

"I want to protect this place; I want to prevent others from getting hurt."

Gao Linzhi happened to hear a faint sound.

It was this young man's voice.

"I must protect this place and prevent the imperial court from interfering again!"

"I will overcome all obstacles. If any enemies try to infiltrate this place to commit crimes, I will defeat them!"

"By then, the General Manager will definitely think more highly of me, and I'll be able to repay them!"

Strangely, following the young man's idea, everyone nodded in agreement, one after another.

Those people seemed to have heard his innermost thoughts.

"That's right, we must protect this place too."

"We absolutely cannot let the imperial court harm us again!"

"We must build walls to keep everyone else out!"

These people were all eagerly talking.

At this moment, they worship and trust the player group like dogs wagging their tails to their owners.

This is the fanaticism of converts.

And at this time...

In response to the players' greetings, some people bowed in return.

It can only be said that most people's backbone has been worn down.

Some people even inexplicably have to kneel down.

Therefore, these players have truly won the hearts and minds of the people.

But in Gao Linzhi's view, what do these public sentiments actually represent?

Gao Linzhi knew that these public sentiments represented nothing.

Of course, its real usefulness probably lies in that ancestral hall.

Offerings, ancestral halls...

Gao Linzhi understood even more clearly what these players were doing.

They were trying to break the ancestral hall's resistance against strange betrayals by passing through the shack area!

With that in mind, he stealthily made his way towards the center of the shantytown.

Sure enough, they had built a temple in the center of the shantytown.

The temple houses three stone statues, but the statues have no faces...

They seem to want to use the people's faith and incense to create an artificial shrine, and then use that faith to fight against the supernatural.

That is one possible route.

Gao Linzhi immediately understood.

This is probably the court's true objective.

The imperial court wanted to see if players could artificially construct ancestral halls using these refugees.

In the past, ancestral halls were built for villages that had survived in a certain place for at least five generations.

Compared to other things and other inventions, this ancestral hall is a foundation for all ages.

As long as the ancestral hall continues to thrive, it means the village will not perish.

Even if most of the villagers die, they can quickly reproduce and return to normal.

After all, the population reproduces very quickly.

This is mainly because the survival rate of infants has greatly increased, and humans are adept at taking good care of children.

This leads to a situation where, once the population begins to grow, it grows rapidly, exponentially.

The imperial court intends to obtain related benefits through this method.

If players figure out how to build ancestral halls, the imperial court will be able to greatly expand its reach.

It's worth noting that some people even use human labor to haul goods and earn their first fortune.

This shows how difficult it is to earn your first pot of gold.

However, in Gao Linzhi's eyes, these players were undoubtedly terrifying.

Of course, it is also very valuable.

They knew perfectly well that there was something wrong with the shantytown, but they still plunged in anyway.

Novels are novels, but the various power struggles are like an old sow wearing a... one after another.

In reality, however, the two commanders were at each other's throats and ended up fighting each other directly.

And at this time...

Gao Linzhi thought for a moment, then walked into the temple.

Then he saw more and more people starting to appear inside the temple.

They all knelt down and begged.

Some prayed for children, some for wealth, some for literary talent...

I wouldn't do this unless there was a serious illness in the family, mainly because I was afraid of karmic consequences.

At this point, two more players appeared.

Gao Linzhi then chose to sneak in.

The two players were talking over there.

"It seems we need more people to perform the sacrifices." Player A suddenly screamed, then clutched his head.

"What happened?" Player B stepped forward and asked with concern.

At this moment, Player A returned and said:

"It's nothing, a statue just popped into my head."

"It seems we've discovered a statue here."

"Where there is mysterious power, there is excitement."

"In our real world, no matter how much you burn incense and pray to Buddha, even if you kowtow until your head is broken and your mouth is hoarse from talking, you still won't be able to torment your own grandson!"

"There are no gods or Buddhas here who would show you any mercy, but it's different here," Player B continued.

"They've only been here for a month, and we've noticed some Divine Anomalies occurring in this temple."

"But this is also a bit scary, because I often hear the statue talking to itself."

"Yes, I heard it too. It sounded like an old man's voice, saying, 'Wake up, wake up.'"

The two were puzzled.

Suddenly, someone let out a sneer.

Then a woman's voice came:

"Would you like to know exactly how this situation came about?"

Gao Linzhi looked up.

She was a woman in ancient costume, dressed in light gauze, and very tall, standing at a full 1.85 meters.

This wasn't the woman he was looking at before.

"You guys are really bold. You've only seen some random stuff at your temple, and you've already started messing around."

"You're practically courting death! Do you know the consequences of doing this?"

"Just go and offer sacrifices to this thing casually."

Do you know how much trouble this will cause?

Do you know why the ancestral halls of the villagers can protect people?

The two players said with some surprise, "Isn't it just relying on the power of incense offerings?"

"What's the point of relying on the power of incense? What's needed is the will to Protection!" The ancient costume gauze woman shook her head and said, "It's the desire to continue the family line, it's a matter of bringing glory to our ancestors!"

Do you know how many generations it takes for an ancestral hall to be built?

How much do you need?

"Let me tell you, every generation of parents is very good to their children, and it takes six generations!"

"Moreover, this is based on the premise that children are filial, and most people have an instinctive love for their children."

"For example, if a house catches fire, the parents, even in their dying moments, are thinking about protecting their children and putting out the fire as quickly as possible; this belief can extinguish the flames."

"Protection? Faith?" one of the players mused.

"That's right, these villagers were all thinking about protecting their children. This continued from generation to generation until one day, their belief in Protection their children stabilized, and finally, the fruits of their labor were ripe, and people finally built a real ancestral hall."

"Only in this way can your shantytowns truly be transformed into a safe haven, making them an object of the imperial court's covetousness."

"It's incredibly difficult to establish a dynasty, but it's also very easy for it to collapse."

"But work has to be done, and people have to survive, so these things have to be solved by cheating and deception."

After hearing this, everyone nodded.

What the woman in ancient costume said is correct.

That's what they thought too.

To combat the supernatural, the first step is to rely on other mystical forces.

Furthermore, one must minimize any minor potential problems.

The most crucial thing for the two of them to do now is to find a way to persevere and focus on the future.

They need to persevere so as not to waste the initial foundation.

It takes at least five generations of deceased people to solidify the concept of the ancestral hall.

The woman in ancient costume continued, "If you all act so recklessly, something terrible is bound to happen. Right now, who among you can be sure what they're thinking?"

"If I'm not sure, my mind will start racing."

"Me too," the two players said eagerly.

"No, I heard the statue talking!" one player exclaimed in horror.

Do you know what he's saying?

"I just heard the statue seem to be calling to me, 'Wake up, wake up.'"

"Am I not in the normal world of my original self?"

"Hehe, you heard 'wake up, wake up'... He actually meant 'destruction, destruction,' you misheard."

"He's just like an ordinary person."

"Among the things he thinks about all day long, he might be having a great idea one moment, and the next moment he feels that the world is so annoying that he wants to directly modify the underlying parameters."

The next moment, he was thinking about destroying the entire world and killing everyone.

This is the uncertainty of human intention.

"So what should we do?"

At this moment, the woman in ancient costume said again, "If you want it to be certain, you need a large number of people to clear their minds of distractions and recite scriptures."

"Only after a long period of adjustment can it maintain a relatively stable concept."

"And it is this concept that will make everyone feel at ease."

"That means it will prioritize opposing the imperial court."

After hearing this, everyone nodded.

Only then did the two realize what was happening.

Only then did everyone realize that they had almost brought great disaster upon themselves.

If it weren't for this beautiful woman in ancient costume reminding them...

By now, they're probably finished, reduced to pollutants of incense offerings—the most common and ordinary ending for small-time players.

This was a clandestine experiment.

Many Ordinary Player lack the skill to conduct such experiments.

They have a mindset that they can't let others get it so easily.