City God

Wei Zhun questioned him closely again, and He Song reported everything truthfully, explaining it all clearly.

The more Wei Zhun listened, the more alarmed he became. After a long silence, he finally let out a deep breath and waved his hand. He Song understood, bowed, and withdrew.

"Zhao Kongming, what do you make of this?" Wei Zhun felt the pressure bearing down on him and instinctively looked toward Zhao Kongming. The advisor had offered him strategies and made plans many times, resolving no shortage of difficult problems.

Zhao Kongming gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and bowed. "My lord raised me up and took me on as his right-hand man. It was through your repeated promotions that I gained an official post. I swear to serve you to the death and make plans on your behalf!"

"This matter involves ghosts and spirits. The Four Great Families of Anchang have all changed sides, and even... even He Song seems a little suspicious. Though the county magistrate is lord of a hundred li, he too is caught up in this and cannot extricate himself!"

"Look into their roots, and they all have some connection to the Land God. But this deity requires no blood sacrifice and does the people no harm; in fact, he even brings them some benefit. That makes it no serious obstacle."

"I can only offer you one piece of advice, my lord: even if you won't consider yourself, you must consider your descendants and clan!"

In a world where ghosts, Ancestral Spirits, and Daoists existed, the common people were naturally wary of mysterious supernatural powers. Ghosts and spirits could survive for a very long time, so one had to consider whether it was worth inviting trouble out of a moment's indignation, letting it linger for a hundred years, and ultimately bringing calamity upon one's clan and descendants.

Wei Zhun's face flushed red. He seemed to want to say something, yet said nothing at all. At last, he waved his hand and said, "I'll consider this matter carefully. You may go."

Zhao Kongming bowed and withdrew, but just before leaving, he glanced at Wei Zhun once more.

The county magistrate, usually so spirited and full of confidence, now seemed hunched over, as if he had aged a great deal in an instant...

The Four Great Families had heard nothing since the banquet.

But they had their own way of handling things: they sent their stewards to the county office with three thousand taels of silver.

Before long, the stewards reported back that the county magistrate had accepted the silver, but said nothing and simply sent them away.

The heads of the Four Great Families felt reassured. Officials of this era still cared about their reputations and kept their word. If they weren't confident they could get something done, they generally wouldn't accept a gift. Wei Zhun's meaning was clear enough.

As county magistrate, he naturally couldn't openly say, "I agree to build such-and-such shrine."

Maintaining a tacitly approving attitude was already quite good; it could save them a great deal of trouble and bring them considerable benefit. That was all the Four Great Families wanted.

Since the county magistrate had agreed, construction of the temple could begin.

The Four Great Families of Anchang had people in the county office, and the county magistrate had given his tacit approval. The other clerks were no fools; they had caught wind of things long ago and were handling the matter with great care. The documents and contracts were approved with remarkable speed, and before long, all the official formalities had been taken care of.

By then, a grand temple had already been built in the south of the city.

Passersby were curious at first, but later heard it was a temple to the Land God. That was familiar enough. Quite a few were believers, and they were overjoyed that a Land God Temple was being built within the city. Some even gave money and lent a hand, supporting the temple's construction.

The fifth day of the ninth month was an auspicious day. The Land God Temple in the city would be consecrated that day.

The area before the temple was already packed with people. The officials had their reservations, and not one of them had come. Quite a few clerks were there, though they all hid among the crowd. The heads of the Four Great Families were present as well.

At the master of ceremonies' long-drawn call, "The hour has come!"

The heads of the Four Great Families led the way into the temple. It occupied a vast area. Just inside was a small plaza, with a large incense burner in the middle. It seemed to be made of stone, and carried an ancient, primeval air.

Farther in stood the main hall of the Land God, with its gold-painted beams and vermilion columns, magnificent and imposing. Glazed tiles of many colors covered the roof, dazzling in the sunlight and creating a truly spectacular sight.

At the center stood a high dais, upon which sat a statue of a young official dressed in official robes. His bearing was imposing, his features lifelike and vivid. He sat upright in a tiger-skin armchair. The tiger skin was genuine, exuding the aura of the king of beasts. Suppressed by the statue, its savagery had been washed away, leaving only an air that heightened the Land God's majesty.

Three animal offerings had already been placed on the offering table before the statue, each sending up white wisps of heat. They seemed to have been slaughtered not long ago and were exceptionally fresh.

The temple attendant handed a bundle of lit incense to the heads of the Four Great Families. They composed themselves, bowed reverently, and offered the incense.

Those who followed did the same.

In an instant, incense smoke curled through the main hall. It was so thin that the breeze scattered it at once, leaving behind only a faint, lingering fragrance. It was the finest incense, specially purchased outside the county by the Four Great Families.

The Four Great Families had paid dearly to build the temple, and had spared no effort in seeing it done.

"It seems the Four Great Families have truly made up their minds to follow me!"

Fang Ming was in the main hall. Since he had gained believers among more than half the people in the county seat, the city's protective Fortune and restrictions no longer affected him at all. Even his subordinates could come and go freely, bringing him a good deal of news. Their magic power was shallow, though, and there were still two places they couldn't enter: the county office and Whitewater Abbey.

Fang Ming had made a great show of himself in the county seat, winning over believers and building temples.

Whitewater Abbey, however, remained still as dead water, without the slightest ripple. It had made no move to stop him, yet Fang Ming felt that a storm was brewing. He couldn't help but speed up his efforts.

Fang Ming sat at the head of the hall. Before his eyes, the masses bowed in worship.

Wave upon wave of white qi, flecked with dots of red, surged toward him and poured into the Fortune above his head. The Golden Seal quickly filled. His red Life-Bound Qi stirred, and strands of white qi turned to crimson, steadily purifying the Fortune within the seal until the final traces of white became red.

The Incense and Fire Prayer Power that followed was wholly absorbed and transformed by his divine-office talisman, then descended as wisps of white light, nourishing Fang Ming's divine body.

Once all the white qi within the Golden Seal had turned red, the pure-red Life-Bound Qi above his head suddenly shook. The Golden Seal burst apart, then swiftly condensed again, a little larger and clearer than before.

The white qi rapidly turned to crimson and poured into the Golden Seal. Once all the white qi outside had been transformed, the seal was one-third full, entirely red and in perfect harmony with his Life-Bound Qi.

Crimson qi swirled around the Golden Seal. Faint images appeared within it: peddlers and laborers, men tilling the fields and women weaving, every facet of human life, its joys and sorrows—all like a miniature Anchang County.

Under the influence of Fortune, all the Divine Power within Fang Ming turned red as well. The moment the last wisps of white vanished, a great transformation took place in his divine body.

The yin qi had completely vanished from Fang Ming's divine soul. Now it was utterly translucent inside and out, like crystal. Crimson qi encircled his entire body, expanding into a sphere a full room in size. From a distance, he looked like a gigantic ball of fire standing on the ground, radiating red light and seeming to give off heat.

"This is... my divine soul turning yang!" Fang Ming murmured, unable to quite believe it.

Normally, even a Land God belonged to yin. His subordinates needed no explanation—weren't they all called Yin Soldiers and Yin Generals?

But after this promotion, after rising an entire major rank, Fang Ming's divine soul had begun to turn yang. It meant that in the end, a deity could descend into the human world just like an ordinary person—or even far surpass one...

Fang Ming could already descend into the mortal world and take form by day, of course. But people would see only a figure as if forged from red crystal, wrapped in crimson clouds of fire. Anyone could tell he wasn't mortal. Evil Ghosts were the same.

Fang Ming wanted to investigate what had changed in his newly promoted divine body. Just then, the divine-office talisman inside him suddenly let out a long cry. Red qi flooded it, and several cracks even appeared across its surface. Fang Ming's heart clenched at the sight.

As the crimson qi continued to pour in, the cracks grew wider and wider. Fang Ming was deeply alarmed, but there was nothing he could do.

At last, under Fang Ming's horrified gaze, the divine-office talisman exploded completely. He couldn't help but close his eyes. When he opened them again, he found no damage and realized something was amiss, so he examined it carefully.

Specks of starlight, imbued with profound mysteries, rapidly reassembled according to rules Fang Ming could not understand, consuming vast amounts of crimson qi. Fortunately, the Divine Power within him was abundant enough to hold out.

In the end, the crimson qi dispersed completely, revealing an entirely new divine-office talisman: "Principal Seventh Rank, City God of Anchang County."

Fang Ming stared at it, momentarily dumbfounded.

At first, a City God had been the protective deity of a city or region. Later, people also revered the City God as the deity in charge of the registers of the underworld.

Volume Sixteen of Chaxiangshi Congchao stated: "The Taiping Guangji, citing the Records of Retribution, says: 'Wang Jianyi, a military adjutant in Hongzhou during the Tang, suddenly fell ill. In a dream, he saw a ghostly messenger who called himself Ding Ying. Holding a document, he said, "By order of the City God, I have come to summon you." Wang Jianyi followed the messenger and met the City God.

"'The deity ordered his attendants to bring the records and inspect them. When they were done, he said to Jianyi, "You still have five years of life left. I'll let you go for now."' Thus, in the Tang, the City God already ruled over the registers of the underworld, just as people say today."

The Fengshan County Gazetteer: Records of Sacrificial Rites also stated: "The City God has no dedicated offerings, but in times of flood or drought and during epidemics, people must pray to him and show reverence; before staying overnight in a fast, they must report to him. Thus a temple is built for him, so the deity has somewhere to reside."

So the City God in Fang Ming's previous world was a deity who protected a region and governed its floods, droughts, epidemics, and the registers of the underworld.

He just hadn't expected the original Land God talisman to turn into a City God talisman.

Just then, the talisman flashed with light, and a vast flood of information poured into Fang Ming's mind, making him dizzy. This information was greater than any he had received before, and his head began to throb. Fortunately, he was a deity, so he didn't pass out completely.

After digesting it a little, Fang Ming realized it was the memories of a deity from his previous life.

The deity was named Mu Qing. He had originally been the City God of a county, but later, after getting drunk and neglecting his duties, he was demoted to Land God.

After a long passage of time, the world reached the modern age, when the laws of the end times of magic had taken hold. Faith dwindled day by day, and at last Mu Qing could no longer hold on. His divine soul dispersed, his statue toppled, and it happened to crush Fang Ming. By a twist of fate, the divine office passed to Fang Ming.

As for transmigrating, that could only be called a coincidence among coincidences.

These memories contained Mu Qing's entire life, along with all his insights into deities and the laws of heaven and earth, and how to use them. They were of great value to Fang Ming—but there was bad news, too.

"So the essence of this divine-office talisman is the Principal Seventh Rank. That's why I was able to advance all the way without the slightest obstruction."

Fang Ming frowned and muttered to himself.

"Now I've reached the end of my potential. From here on, I won't get the easy fortune of advancing the moment enough incense arrives. I won't even gain a great Divine Art when I rank up!"

Before, Fang Ming had only needed to meet one condition to advance: reaching a certain number of believers.

From now on, there would be two conditions: first, he needed enough believers; second, he had to comprehend the laws of the Divine Way and heaven and earth for himself, and chart out the talisman. Neither could be missing. And he would no longer develop Divine Arts automatically.

Fang Ming pondered for a while, then suddenly smiled and recited:

"Though the mighty pass is iron, its path is hard to tread; today I stride across it anew!"

"The stores of merit from my previous life have all become my first pot of gold, helping me rise at breakneck speed. From now on, I'll have to surpass myself from the beginning!"

"So what if I have to comprehend it myself? I was just worried that the laws of the two worlds might not fit together perfectly. Now I can comprehend the laws of this world, better suited to its deities!"

"Divine Arts are created by deities. If I don't have a great Divine Art, I can study and create one myself!"

"The path I forge this way will truly be mine. The Divine Way I create will belong to me, Fang Ming!"

At that thought, his heart lifted. He couldn't help but throw back his head and let out a long howl.