Every situation had to be judged on its own merits. As a duly recognized god of official worship, the Longflow River God should naturally have been on the rightful side.
In other words...
If his arrival had disturbed the local ghosts and gods, then they were likely not on the rightful side.
And because the Longflow River God posed a threat to them, they had reacted this way.
Yet another force had suppressed the stirring of those ghosts and gods.
Good news for Xu Feng!
A quick thought told Xu Feng this was a good thing, but now was no time to dwell on it. The ritual had resumed, so he stepped forward. Whatever happened today, he had to see the whole ritual through.
Without that rain cloud, the rest of Xu Feng and Master's rammed-earth ritual went smoothly.
First they recited the prayer, then offered incense and food. As the host, Xu Feng knelt on the ground. He, the Old Shopkeeper, and Master knelt before the rammed earth in a triangular formation.
The rammed earth stood slightly above ground level. No spirit tablet had been placed on it yet, but a small hole the size of a box had already been dug into it.
In that formation...
Xu Feng knelt at the foremost point. He was the chief officiant here.
There were three written prayers.
The first addressed Heaven and Earth in broad terms.
It declared that Xu Feng was a virtuous, sincere, and fortunate man.
Thus, his establishment of a temple here and his welcome of this god accorded with both heavenly principles and earthly law.
It established Xu Feng's legitimacy.
The second prayer was the most important of the three.
It was to be buried for the local Earth God, informing him that this place was now