Kitchen God and Buddha

Wuxin City, the garrison of Wuxin Commandery...

A few years earlier, the man stationed here had still been Military Governor Song Yuan. His daughter, Song Qian, loved literary elegance and had organized literary gatherings, bringing together many young talents from Jiannan Circuit and the surrounding lands. Qiu Yan had once attended as well, setting off a legendary tale.

Time flowed on, and things had long since changed. Not only had Song Yuan been transferred away from the city, but the once-mighty Wuxin Commandery had also steadily declined in strength as the imperial court increasingly tilted its policies toward the Northern Frontier, reducing supplies and military pay.

Still, thanks to its refined command structure and clearly tiered logistical support, Wuxin Commandery retained a military advantage when facing the Marshfolk, whose organization was primitive, weapons limited, and training far inferior. Time and again, it repelled their attacks.

Unfortunately, all that had become the past. Just a few hours ago, this vital military town of the Southern Border had fallen!

"Faster! Faster!"

"Help!"

"Hand it over! Hand over everything!"

"It's all ours now!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The once-mighty city was now in utter chaos. After breaching the walls, Marshfolk soldiers rampaged through the streets, their faces twisted by every sort of extreme emotion.

War stirred the most primitive instincts buried in the human heart—survival, slaughter, greed, beastly lust... all of it erupted without restraint at this moment! Before the city fell, its Divine Path had reacted. At that time, Qiu Yan had shut his eyes atop Stove Mountain and sent out his thoughts. But mortal slaughter differed from contests over divine worship. Even gods could not interfere too deeply. Apart from deities sustained by the thoughts entrusted to them by believers, other gods had only limited power they could wield.

Even when summoned