Heretical Offerings and the City God

The child led the way ahead, one hand still tightly clutching half a white-flour bun, not having finished it—planning to bring it back home for the family. He held it firmly the whole way.

Every so often, he turned back to look at the group.

Afraid the people behind might not keep up.

Also afraid the immortal might vanish.

This was an immortal—he had lived this long and never seen such a formidable figure before. Even the City God of the county had to pay respects to this immortal.

He saw the immortal wave a hand. The things they carried—several large horses, a carriage, jars, pots, chests—all disappeared.

He had no idea where they went.

The village child's heart pounded the whole way.

After over an hour of mountain paths and a few turns, they arrived at the Fourth Young Master Temple.

The Fourth Young Master Temple was quite imposing.

Hard to imagine that in a tiny mountain gully in Ru Prefecture there could be such a grand temple. Who knew how much effort the temple keeper had put in. The pillars inside were tall and straight, the main hall solemn, painted entirely in black and red—quite different from the temples and monasteries of today. The floors were paved with stone bricks, decorated throughout with flame patterns.

Jiang She noticed that every place where flames were painted had been brushed with gold powder, the designs intricate and exquisite.

This one...

Was doing pretty well for himself.

As they stepped over the threshold, they saw the incense burner in front of the hall filled with burning incense, blue smoke curling upward.

The faint blue smoke reflected against the lush green of the mountains.

The child leading the way had even lowered his voice.

His heart full of reverence.

He spoke very, very quietly, forgetting that the immortal was right beside him, afraid of being discovered, lowering his voice to say:

"This is the Fourth Young Master Temple."

The cat sniffed too, her nose the sharpest. Her whiskers trembled, her nose wrinkled. She clawed at the fabric of Jiang She's robe and scrambled straight up.

She didn't like the smell of incense.

Jiang She picked up the cat and asked, "Since it's a grand temple, why is it deep in the mountains of Ru Prefecture?"

The child looked at the pretty little cat. He scratched his head—what would a village kid know about that? All he knew was that one day, out of nowhere, this temple appeared in this unremarkable place. Many people in the village secretly came to worship, and it was very effective.

He also knew that people from other prefectures came specially to visit their temple.

Later on, they started charging a lot of money, even gold. The village child's family could barely spare five copper coins, so he had never gone.

The child thought for a moment.

"If people want to get rich, they don't care how far it is."

"No matter how far, they're willing to walk. Even dozens of li doesn't scare them... That's how my dad is."

Jiang She smiled. "That's quite a saying."

The child tilted his head up, not quite understanding what was so clever about it. He looked at the cat—pure black, with excellent fur, curled up into a tiny ball, truly a very small cat.

He really wanted to pet it, but was afraid of dirtying the kitten.

His heart itched.

The child gathered his courage and asked, "How old is it?"

"About two months."

"Does the cat eat a lot?"

"Compared to a person, I imagine not much."

"Then I could eat a little less and share with it." The child stared at the cat curled into a ball. "If I could be half as pretty as it, that'd be enough."

Jiang She didn't answer for a moment.

The child looked around for a while, then remembered the white-flour buns these people had given him. He was a man of his word, so he led them groping their way into the main hall.

Though he had never been there himself, luckily the immortal hadn't either, so no one noticed.

Jiang She and the others circled the Fourth Young Master Temple a few times before reaching the main hall.

Neither Jiang She, nor the Old Deer Mountain God, nor Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu, pointed this out. They tacitly followed behind him, even when they could see the main hall not far away, they still wandered along with the child, bumping around like flies.

"We're here!"

The child let out a sigh of relief.

As if he had accomplished a great deed, he turned back to look at the group.

"This is the main hall."

He hesitated, looked left and right, and seeing no one was paying attention, said very quietly:

"If it's a good temple, please don't punish them, okay?"

The child vaguely understood that the immortal didn't seem to like this temple and had even complained to the City God. But the villagers all liked coming to the Fourth Young Master Temple.

The villagers didn't know what a wild shrine was; they only knew this temple was grand, cost a lot of money, and was very efficacious.

Jiang She softened his tone as much as possible.

Matching the child's earlier words, he said in that same manner: "If it's a good temple that does good deeds, no one will trouble them."

"Naturally, there will be no punishment."

With that, Jiang She stepped into the main hall.

Inside the main hall were several people dressed in silks and satins. When they saw someone enter, they paid no attention.

They clutched strings of gold and silver coins.

Muttering under their breath.

Jiang She listened closely, thinking to himself:

"Fourth Young Master, bless me. Your humble servant offers ten taels of gold, hoping my elder brother meets with disaster on the water, and the family property falls to me. I am willing to raise my own nephew..."

"Fourth Young Master, bless me. God of Wealth, bless me. Next time I go to the gambling den, let me win big, recoup all the capital I've sunk in... If I could earn a bit more, even better. If it comes to pass, your faithful devotee offers a thirty percent cut to support the immortals..."

"Fourth Young Master, bless me. Your humble servant begs for another two catties of incense ash. Last time I used it for talismans, the effect was excellent. Many have gotten rich and urged me to make more... Haha, the Fourth Young Master is truly miraculous, surpassing even the proper gods of the City God Temple."

"I seek a beauty's favor. The Prefect of Ru Prefecture has a granddaughter, lovely as a flower and fair as the moon..."

All the seven emotions and six desires, a hundred kinds of entreaties.

They were all there.

Jiang She listened for a while, then looked up at the gilded statue above.

The deity's eyes were lowered, its wide sleeves flowing, standing on a golden platform wreathed in flames. Carved upon it were patterns of immortality, health, and peace, deep black and red mingling with the fiery motifs.

He studied it for a moment.

Then Jiang She spoke.

"Having listened for so long, won't you come out and meet me?"

After the City God returned, still shaken, he immediately summoned the Civil and Martial Judges, along with the Day Wanderer and Night Spirit.

The Civil Judge was solemn and refined, dressed in a blue official robe, with a long beard and pale face, holding a writing brush and a scroll. The Martial Judge was fierce and imposing, gripping an iron pen and chains, with red hair and a blue face, as hideous as a yaksha, inspiring fear in all who saw him.

The Day Wanderer and Night Spirit followed behind the two judges, their bearing mysterious and ethereal.

They held thin registers, recording the good and evil of the mortal world.

Upon seeing the City God, they all bowed in salute, showing submission and respect.

When the City God was alive, he had been an official of Ru Prefecture. After death, because of his good deeds in life and the people's love, he received a heavenly decree and became a local deity, quite imposing.

He clasped his hands behind his back and asked:

"The Fourth Young Master Temple—have any of you heard of it?"

The Martial Judge, with his red hair and blue face, lowered his hideous head, his eyes shifting.

The Civil Judge and the Day Wanderer and Night Spirit all replied:

"Is it a wild shrine or illicit cult in our Ru Prefecture? This subordinate has never found any record of it."

"I know nothing of it either."

"In what part of Ru Prefecture is it?" the Day Wanderer asked respectfully. "This subordinate will go investigate at once."

The City God stared hard at them, then said slowly: "Today I encountered an immortal. He commanded the primordial energy of heaven and earth as easily as a man stretches his limbs. His Dao arts were profound—I have no idea what kind of celestial being he was."

"The immortal spoke to me of the Fourth Young Master Temple. I am giving you one chance. Tell me again."

The Civil Judge was greatly startled.

"There truly are immortals?"

The Day Wanderer and Night Spirit were also shaken by the news.

"Are there still gods and immortals in this world?"

The City God recalled what he had just witnessed, sighed deeply, and said to them: "Immortals truly do exist in this world. Their Dao arts are so lofty that all those poems and writings by mortals, all the tales of Guangchengzi and Chisongzi from ancient times to the present, cannot compare."

"If the immortal had not summoned me, I would have taken him for an ordinary man."

"I wouldn't even have recognized an immortal's face."

The Civil Judge's form suddenly shifted from behind his desk, leaning forward involuntarily.

"Is that so?"

The City God sighed, then returned to the immortal's instructions. He looked around carefully and asked sternly: "Do you truly not know?"

"If you hide anything further, beware the immortal's punishment!"

"Clang!"

The iron pen in the Martial Judge's hand fell to the floor.