Fanliang Land

After Chu Tianshu chatted with the Xianhe for a long time...

The Xianhe turned to ashes and lay in the incense burner, intently strengthening its connection.

Outside the temple, on Lu Touqiu, Chu Tianshu's voice rang in his ears, inviting him to come over for a chat.

The curtain was lifted and lowered repeatedly.

The old clan chief, with a black cloth tied around his forehead and holding a carefully selected tender green branch in his hands, walked in.

The tree branches were soaked in water last night, giving them a glossy, vibrant green color.

According to the ancient tradition of praying for rain, one must first make a request, then urge, and finally plead.

For the first time, the most patient and graceful woman was sent to stand guard outside the temple to offer water as a final step to cleanse the statue.

The second time, the clan chief should have offered a broken branch before the god, earnestly begging for a swift response.

In the third chapter, the so-called "begging" involves clan leaders or similar figures engaging in self-harm-like acts in front of the idol.

Lu Touqiu is skilled in grass weaving and has practiced incantations for many years, enabling him to sense the aura of magic.

But he couldn't say for sure whether this ancestral method of praying for rain was actually effective.

It's a last resort, a desperate measure.

He had sounded out Chu Tianshu beforehand and knew that this divine son did not care about the villagers worshipping other gods in front of him.

Therefore, after entering, Lu Touqiu still followed the ritual, kneeling and kowtowing three times and placing tree branches on the hoof side of the Deer King God.

Chu Tianshu watched quietly from the side, then said, "Even immortals have their own preferences. If you're tired of this old routine, perhaps doing something else will bring you better rewards."

Lu Touqiu was taken aback. "Has the divine child received guidance? What does he want us to do?"

This explanation was suggested by the Xianhe earlier.

Given the situation in Deer Wilderness Village, although some people possess special talents, there are also insightful individuals like the old clan chief.

However, most people are still quite confused and prone to becoming complacent, so ideological work is needed, which is not something that can be accomplished in a day.

We might as well use divine guidance as an excuse to encourage these people.

This will encourage them to work diligently and attentively with the professionals who provide services.

Chu Tianshu asked, "Is there a large river nearby?"

Lu Touqiu's expression changed slightly, and he hesitated before saying, "If we continue south from this Deer King Temple, even an ordinary villager would only need half a day to walk to reach a large river."

"That river is called Fanliang. It has a wide expanse of water, but it doesn't flood easily, so there are many high-quality farmlands on both sides of the river."

"There used to be more than a dozen villages along the coast, inhabited by People of Deer Wilderness, as well as people with Broad-Eared People, Black-Toothed People, and Long-Right People."

"Everyone grows different things, which makes it easy to exchange them. Every autumn after the harvest, it's really lively."

Lu Touqiu's tone unconsciously softened, revealing a hint of reminiscence.

"At that time, people from all over Thin Night Continent would go to participate in the Autumn Harvest Festival. The Night Wandering Lad, who was best at storytelling, would vividly recount the rumors from outside the Thin Night Continent."

Even the most familiar stories, told a thousand times, take on a new flavor when recounted by them.

With a hint of smugness, Lu Touqiu chuckled, "Some clans are rather unreliable; those who haven't preserved their ancestral books and records just take the story of the Night Wandering Lad back with them and treat it as history."

"Fanliang Land on the Thin Night Continent was a wonderful place that even children knew about back then."

Upon hearing this tone, Chu Tianshu knew that something must have happened.

Therefore, this scene only exists in the past.

As expected, Lu Touqiu paused for a moment and then began to recount the unexpected turn of events.

That was twenty or thirty years ago, when there were many rumors of river gods appearing in Fanliang Land.

Each village originally worshipped a god, and they also had their own river god.

In the clan elders' sometimes secretive mindset, these were merely harmless and useless idols used occasionally for performing spells.

But the rumors from thirty years ago told a different story about a river god.

It has bull horns, a human body, long limbs, and saw-like teeth. It possesses great power and lives in the water.

The people of Fanliang Land have forgotten their roots and neglected to worship the river god for too long, finally angering the river god, who is about to unleash punishment.

Corpses were found in the wells of various villages; they were all elderly people who had long been buried. People who went to the river to fetch water, wash clothes, or play were always disappearing.

The fish raised in the paddy fields have become known to bite. Once bitten, both the person and the fish will stand still, bloated like corpses that have been submerged for a long time.

When the news spread, people became angry.

It has cow horns and serrated teeth; is that some kind of unusual appearance?

It sounds like some kind of foreign race that migrated here because of their swimming skills and caused trouble.

In some villages, lamps are hung in the wells day and night to observe any activity within them, and able-bodied men are organized to patrol and keep watch at the cemeteries.

In some villages, traps were set up in various irrigation ditches, and hundreds of people would dive into the river to search during the brightest part of the day.

But they gained nothing, and more and more people died.

After the initial bloodlust subsided, fear ultimately overwhelmed everyone.

The clan chiefs had no choice, so the people sought out a shaman, and the most effective shaman actually devised a new method for worshipping the river god.

After the people of Fanliang Land confessed their sins to the gods, the shaman promulgated new rules.

First, one must be persistent and not wait until festivals to worship gods. There must be someone to act as a servant of the gods, serving them throughout the year. The original temples of each household should be demolished and replaced with statues of gods, with offerings made to the statues every day.

Secondly, the fields along the riverbank were originally a gift from the river god. To pay the price for past forgetfulness and disrespect, many fields should be returned to the god, and some of the god's servants should be assigned to manage them.

As for festivals, in order to distinguish them from the usual worship of the gods, children with clear minds and beautiful features would be selected as sacrifices in addition to the servants of the gods.

After the people of Fanliang Land followed the instructions one by one, the strange occurrences of the past indeed ceased.

"That's so cliché!"

The Xianhe's voice suddenly rang in Chu Tianshu's ears again.

Chu Tianshu glanced at it and noticed that Lu Touqiu didn't react, realizing that this was a kind of covert telepathic transmission.

Lu Touqiu is still telling his story.

"In recent years, every autumn after the harvest, the Fanliang Land has become a place of utmost solemnity, with rows of people standing, waiting, and kneeling to worship the river god."

"Nobody knows if their family will be chosen as the sacrificial offering next year, or if their farmland will become a sacred field next year."

"We don't dare go to other villages either."

Lu Touqiu looked at Chu Tianshu cautiously and said, "The rules for wizards are becoming more and more numerous, changing every year."

"Let alone digging canals, even if a village wants to dig a well, it has to go to Fanliang Land first to pay respects to the shaman and offer generous gifts."

"This new well in our village was made from the grain that the villagers pooled together to refine into Polygonatum as a gift. My family alone contributed half of our surplus grain."

Lu Touqiu was truly astute. Even before Chu Tianshu had explicitly stated it, he had already roughly guessed that the Divine Child might want them to dig a ditch.

Chu Tianshu chuckled, "Is this a river god or a well god?"

"They're interfering even though you're so far away and you're digging your own well?"

The Xianhe spoke again, "These rules are becoming increasingly complicated, mostly to reinforce the presence of power and further suppress the people's resistance."

A sigh escaped from between the teeth of the Lu Touqiu.

"After the changes in Fanliang Land, many people fled, and some even came to our village. But we dared not take them in; at most, we would give them some rice porridge and then drive them away."

"Some elderly Night Wandering Lad have chatted with me when they stopped to rest in our village."

"In fact, this is the case in many places around the world. Shamans convey Divine Intent, add all sorts of rules, and drive people of all races to their own ends."

"In places like Thin Night Continent, where no Ghost God dwell, people were able to live a more... carefree life in the past."

Now, Chu Tianshu has a more concrete understanding of the Spirit Realm.

From the perspectives of production capacity, manufacturing processes, and commodity exchange.

Because these Spirit Realm beings each have their own strengths, and through generations of accumulation, they have become somewhat like those of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

However, in those places where the influence of Ghost God extends, the social system is practically stuck in the Spring and Autumn Annals, or perhaps even more ancient.

The Xianhe's cry was long and drawn out, yet it carried a hint of cold laughter.

"Great, this is a wonderful place."

"Tianshu, they don't care about the people's hearts, but what if we do!"

Chu Tianshu touched his belt.

Senior, what you just said wasn't a question.

In the Spirit Realm, where many Ghost God reside, it is unrealistic to expect to rely solely on the will of the people to fight against these local Ghost God and demons.

However, popular support can be transformed into a foundation through various means, and this foundation can enhance the quality of combat power and increase its quantity.

The interaction between the real world and this place could very well be an opportunity to provide those pathways of transformation.

That's a long-term issue.

The focus now is on digging irrigation ditches and farming.

--Remove the rotten Shitou that are blocking our planting and harvesting of medicinal herbs.

Lu Touqiu was unaware of Chu Tianshu and the Xianhe's thoughts.

He waited a while, and seeing that Chu Tianshu had not made a statement, he couldn't help but say, "If the Divine Child is willing to step in, I think those shamans will at least give us face and allow us to dig the canal..."

Lu Touqiu believed that there was definitely no divine child in Fanliang Land.

If such a thing were true, the divine child would have directly appeared, displaying divine power, and coupled with those so-called divine punishments, the effect would certainly have been much better.

However, Chu Tianshu was not so superstitious about the status of the divine child.

Putting aside others, even the clan leader in front of us has repeatedly demonstrated his confidence to fight to the death should Chu Tianshu make a move.

The strength of those sorcerers clearly far surpasses that of Deer Wilderness Village.

Chu Tianshu himself came from the Human World, not a true descendant of Ghost God.

If one were to approach them carelessly as a divine child, they might be treated like a potent tonic and subjected to a trap and a beating.

"In this world, there are the wise and the foolish, the wicked and the unworthy. Some can be reformed through virtue and power, while others cannot be changed."

Chu Tianshu said firmly, "They should each receive the ending they deserve."

Lu Touqiu felt a chill run down his spine.

Just as I suspected.

People from the Immortal Homeland, when they encounter anything related to Ghost God, their first reaction is to take drastic measures.

Oh dear, thankfully our village's Deer King God is just a statue standing here; he's never actually performed any miracles.

After much deliberation, Lu Touqiu gritted his teeth and said, "If the Divine Child has any orders, Deer Wilderness Village will do its utmost to fulfill them."

Chu Tianshu smiled gently and said, "Then please make the straw figures."

"Make as many as you can, about the same size as me, but the quality should be similar to those dragon sparrows you've woven."

Lu Touqiu paused, then asked, "What kind of face should weave?"

"The face isn't important; just make sure the rest of the fabric is done well."

Chu Tianshu pointed to his forehead, "You can weave two little horns on the foreheads of all the straw people too."

When a ghost enters the Spirit Realm, it will gradually gain a physical form and learn to transform between the real and the illusory.

However, if a living soul is to be sent down, it will need to be placed in another vessel.

Chu Tianshu thought to himself: Give them all some horns, so they can easily integrate into the crowd.

"Also, I've been staying at this temple recently."

Chu Tianshu said, "Send my prisoner over later as well."

(End of this chapter)