Chapter 1: Crossing Over

  Eternal Peace 9th year, March 1st.

  Da Qian, An Chang County, Qing Xi Township, Qing Yu Village.

  At this time, the sky was still dark, and the air was filled with a misty haze. On the edge of Qingyu Village, a half-transparent "figure" was making gestures as if performing a ritual. As one looked closer, it turned out to be a young man with a clear brow and bright eyes. However, upon further inspection, the young man's feet were an inch off the ground, and his entire body was shrouded in a layer of mist, which was eerie and frightening.

  The young man finished his incantation and said "Quickly" in a low voice. Suddenly, a white light flew out of his hand and rushed towards Qingyu Village.

  Fang Ming looked at his now more transparent body after the method, and let out a bitter laugh, muttering to himself: "This time I've consumed a thread of divine power, I can only live for five more days, hopefully this matter will succeed!"

  That white light flew into an ordinary farmhouse bedroom, where a couple was sleeping together wrapped in a straw mat. It was still early spring, and the weather was cold, so they could only fall asleep by relying on each other for warmth.

  The woman was about thirty or forty years old, with white hair on her temples. A white light circled around the woman, flashed slightly, and entered her forehead.

  The woman suddenly had a dream, in which she came to a desolate land, looking around restlessly. Suddenly, golden light flashed, and a golden-armored god flew before her eyes, with a face that resembled Fang Ming's. He said: "Is it Good Faith of the Qin family?"

  In the twinkling golden light, the surrounding scenery changed in an instant. A hundred flowers bloomed, and a strange fragrance wafted up to her nose. Qi Qin was startled and couldn't help but say: "I am indeed Qi Qin, but who is your excellency?"

  "I am the land god of Qingyu Village."

  "I've seen the master!" Qinqin knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.

  "Alright, I am in charge of the peace and prosperity of this village, including the safety of homes, the birth of new children, and the thriving of livestock. I also uphold justice for the people. Seeing that you have been kind to others and your heart is pure, I have come to inform you that the lost copper ladle can be found under a brown stone near the large willow tree half a mile east of the village. Remember this."

  Upon hearing the two words "hairpin", Qi Qin's expression changed in surprise, and she hastily asked: "Is my hairpin really there?"

  "The Golden Armor God sneered: 'There are no idle words in the mouth of a god!'"

  This inadvertently emitted majesty made Qi Qin's heart cold, and he didn't dare ask again. He only kowtowed: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."

  "The Golden Armor Deity said: 'Whether it's true or false, you'll know tomorrow. After you get the hairpin, you can burn incense and pray silently under the tree for a moment. If your heart is sincere, I will continue to bless you in the future. Go back!"

  As soon as his voice fell, Qi Qin felt that her body was falling down, and she couldn't help but let out a loud "ah" before suddenly waking up. At this time, the sky had already lightened, and it turned out to be just a dream.

  Hurry up and wake up your husband Zhi Da. As soon as Zhi Da woke up, he said: "You're such an ignorant wife, you just lost a hairpin worth 30 cents yesterday, and today you're quarreling with me again."

  "It's not you, I had a dream."

  "What's there to say about dreams? Today is busy, and I still have to pay respects to our ancestors in the morning. Let me sleep a bit more."

  "But I dreamed of a land god who told me that the hairpin was under the big willow tree half a mile east of the village!" said the woman.

  "What, what, land god, what is that? You've been restless since you lost your hairpin, going out at midnight to look for it, aren't you afraid of being eaten by ghosts? Are you possessed or something? Today's ancestor worship must be done sincerely, to drive away the evil spirit." Qi Da said and fell asleep again.

  Qin looked at her husband, wanting to speak but hesitating.

  The sky is already bright.

  In Qingyu Village, at the drying yard of Hegu, at this moment, all 57 households with a total of 312 people, from infants in their mothers' arms to elderly people leaning on canes, gathered here without exception. They lined up according to age, and everyone's expression was solemn. Even if there were children crying, they were quickly silenced by their parents.

  Muramasa wore a green robe, with a robust physique. He stood at the front of the formation, in front of him was a small earthen altar located in the center of the field. The ground below was filled with marks from fireworks, only to see Muramasa solemnly chanting: "Offering to the heavens!"

  Two young men hastily arranged the offerings one by one. The village chief sang again: "First, offer sacrifices to Qing Shan!" Qing Shan refers to the mountain range surrounding Qingyu Village.

  The whole village immediately knelt down and paid homage, after three bows, they heard the strong voice of the village chief again "Second sacrifice to Changyuan!" The Changyuan River flows through Qingyu Village, irrigating the land of both villages. Another three bows.

  "Three sacrifices to our ancestors!" The crowd bowed again.

  Then he took out a memorial article and said:

  The boundary of heaven and earth, eight directions and ten thousand miles, with a sincere heart, ordinary people sing in harmony, for thousands of autumns to worship and sacrifice, and for countless generations to admire.

  First, worship the green mountain, wind and rain are in harmony, phoenix dance dragon fly; Second, worship Changyuan, source far and flowing long, benefiting all directions.

  Offer sacrifices to ancestors, good fortune comes together, strive for prosperity and strength, come with reverence, gather with gratitude, and continue the ancestral rites.

  "It's this." Fang Ming, who was gazing out at the village entrance, clearly saw a white light rising from the altar, radiating in all directions and subtly resonating with the green mountains and the Changyuan River, firmly suppressing Fang Ming outside the village.

  At this time, Fang Ming suddenly saw a surge of waves in the sea, and a line of symbols emerged. This line of symbols had only a few words, but it faintly shone with a light, showing that it was extraordinary. And the symbol clearly conveyed a sense of urgency, making Fang Ming involuntarily smile bitterly.

  The village was surrounded by black air from time to time, and the occasional mournful cries made Fang Ming break out in a cold sweat, especially when he saw Wu Lao Fu Zi, who had imparted much knowledge to him yesterday, also disappear into thin air.

  "I'm really dead and have become a ghost, or am I a ghost from another realm?" Fang Ming's heart gradually gained some insight.

  He was originally a student of Huaxia, but when he visited the Land Temple, he was suddenly hit on the forehead by the collapsing statue of the Land God and woke up here. The only thing accompanying him is the symbol in his mind, which now looks like the divine seal of the land.

  Mr. Wu told him that after people in this world die, they will directly become ghosts, and if the ghost does not have a great opportunity, it will disperse within seven days. The living cannot approach humans, let alone villages, otherwise there will be a great disaster.

  Wu Lao's husband is already fifty-three years old, and he has become indifferent to life and death. However, he cannot let go of his young daughter at home. Today, he went against his own words and came to take a distant look, but unexpectedly, it ended like this.

  Fang Ming watched as a white light flashed, and Wu Lao's ghost was melted away, his body trembling involuntarily.

  As he stared at the white light rushing towards him, Fang Ming couldn't help but struggle. Since ancient times, it has been difficult to die only once; although he had already died once, he didn't want to be destroyed in body and spirit again.

  Suddenly, the land talisman in his mind shone brightly, firmly protecting Fang Ming and allowing him to escape a disaster.

  My body can move now, I quickly ran away.

  Also don't know how many miles ran, finally got rid of the feeling of oppression, let out a sigh.

  He took a glance and smiled bitterly again.

  The divine power in his body had diminished by another thread.

  The day before yesterday, he woke up to find seven strands of white energy in his body. Yesterday, there were only six left. According to Wu Lao's words, one strand of divine energy can sustain him for a day. After practicing the technique at dawn and losing another strand, he now has only four days left.

  However, if yesterday's efforts can come to fruition, then today will yield results.

  Fang's mind sank into the sea of consciousness, where the land talisman resided in the center. From time to time, a brilliant light flashed by, revealing the mysterious and supernatural. One of the symbols suddenly flickered with white light, which was the method used yesterday to induce a dream. Through the talisman, Fang sensed that Qi Qin had already arrived under the large willow tree.

  Qin Ziqin exerted herself to move a brown stone and upon feeling around below, discovered the bronze zither, and couldn't help but be overjoyed.

  This hairpin is rather coarse and has a faintly rusty colour, but it cost thirty cents, which was the betrothal gift on our wedding day.

  In this world, one coin can buy a coarse but filling bun, enough for a farmer's daily meal. Thirty coins, plus some wild vegetables, is the monthly expenditure of a family of three.

  It can be imagined how sad and worried the woman was when she lost this hairpin at first.

  Now that she had found it again, the lady of the Qinqin family was overjoyed and remembered the words of the land god from last night: "Whether true or false, you will know tomorrow. After you get the hairpin, you can burn incense under the tree and pray silently for a moment. If your heart is sincere, I will continue to bless you in the future."

  So on the first and fifteenth of every month, people would offer sacrifices and burn incense. As a result, incense sticks were prepared in every household. Qi Qin's fingers brushed against the copper flute in her bosom, and without further hesitation, she lit three joss sticks and inserted them into the soil in front of the willow tree, closing her eyes to pray silently.

  In the midst of obscurity, a white thread on her head passed through the void and connected with the land talisman in Fang Ming's body. As the incense spread, Fang Ming suddenly fell into a strange feeling.

  When Fang Ming came to his senses, he took a closer look and found that there was an extra thread of divine power in his body, and on the talisman, there was an additional white line. Through the void, he could faintly see the figure of Qi Qinshi, knowing that the first believer had appeared.

  March 5th

  At this time, there is already a hint of spring, and the willow trees can be seen with some greenery. The ground under the tree has accumulated some fragrant ash. Fang Ming sat on the ground, his body gradually taking shape. Qi Dafu and his wife were kneeling down to worship, and several peasant women were also burning incense beside them. They seemed to not notice Fang Ming at all. Occasionally, a conversation could be heard:

  "I heard there's a god of wealth here who grants people riches. Look at the Qi family, now they're all eating white steamed buns!"

  "Land god, what are you doing? Don't tell me a willow tree has become a spirit?"

  "Just nonsense! If I've offended the land god, all I see are fierce ghosts eating people. Where do I see ones that bring wealth? Even if they really gave me ten taels of silver, I'd still worship them!"

  "Ten ounces, one ounce is fine..."

  Since four days ago, when Fang Ming pointed out the copper ladle and Qin Shi returned it, Qin Shi's confidence in Fang Ming has greatly increased, becoming a believer, while Qi Da is still half-believing and half-doubting, but no longer says anything about being possessed by evil spirits.

  Fang Ming has the position of land god, and he is spiritual. He is especially good at finding buried objects underground, but now his ability only works within his line of sight. So he uses the method of inducing dreams, pulling Qi Dafu and his wife into a dream state together.

  As Qiqin was already a believer, this time it only took a thread of divine power to point out several places in the dream, letting the two get nearly 100 taels of silver, which led them to come and worship here frequently, getting some incense. However, Fang Ming left a thoughtful eye and didn't point out the hidden places where the silver was buried to them.

  Fang Ming found that as more and more people came to worship, the gray gas on his body had gradually turned white, and his divine power had accumulated to twenty-seven strands. However, this was because Qi Dabamouth was not tight, and the news was leaked, the peasant woman asked for wealth, so the incense fire increased day by day. It made Fang Ming cry and laugh at the same time.

  I'm not a god of wealth, and the place where I bury my copper coins is almost gone. I couldn't just give them silver. Besides, no matter how much money there is, there will always be a day when it's dug up, and that won't be good. Just then, an idea struck me.

  "Get out of the way, get out of the way, let me take a look."

  A tall and imposing man with a bare upper body pushed through the crowd, saying: "Hey, Qi Da, I heard you've recently come into some good fortune. How come you haven't come to pay your respects to your elder brother?"

  He was shocked, this man was called Wang Er, a notorious good-for-nothing in the village, specializing in stealing chickens and dogs, doing all sorts of shady dealings. In his heart he was cursing, but on his lips he said: "What windfall? That's what the Land God has pointed out to me, you're being very rude, beware of offending the Land God, just you wait!"

  Wang Er laughed loudly and said: "What land god, I'm not afraid of you, give me 50 coins by the day after tomorrow, or don't blame your brother for being ruthless!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Er pulled away from Qi Da, trampled out the incense fire, and strode away with his head held high amidst the crowd's stunned faces.