Chapter Five: Warning Signs

  Thanks to Hongchen Yu and Yulü Yao for their rewards... also thanks to other book friends for their support...

  Wang Xiong said, just wearing his shoes and walking out of the door, he saw his father also sneaking out in the dark.

  "Have you had that dream too?" Wang Da asked.

  "Yes, it must be a divine warning!" Wang Xiong said. Through the crystal cup incident, the father and son had already become Liu Yi's loyal followers.

  "I think so too!" Wang Da said, making a decision: "Bring out the copper gong!"

  One strike of the bronze gong would alarm the entire village. But at this moment, Wang Xiong did not hesitate for a second, took out the bronze gong and struck it with all his might.

  In the dead of night, the loud drums and gongs awakened all the villagers. For a time, every household was in an uproar, lighting lanterns. The whole village seemed to have come alive.

  He hastily led the way to the village altar, and was shocked when he arrived.

  In such an era, being able to become a village head or elder must have some extraordinary abilities that are different from ordinary people.

  Here, he somewhat understood some spiritual techniques, opened his eyes, and saw that the divine light on the altar had dimmed to an extreme point, as if it could go out at any time.

  He was taken aback and loudly commanded: "Beat the drum!"

  The villagers all gathered at the edge of the village platform, set up a large cowhide drum, and someone was beating it with their hands. The rumbling sound was like thunder, carrying a fierce and murderous tone.

  Every household villager took out their own small drum and followed the rhythm. For a time, dozens of drumbeats sounded in unison, shaking the mountains and forests.

  Liu Yi's departure was not far away, still in the forest. He was shocked by the drumbeat, his heart was startled, and his soul was about to scatter, his entire soul body was about to collapse.

  "Not good!" Liu Yi thought, quickly hiding deep in the woods. However, another drumbeat shook him, and his soul body almost collapsed, with the surrounding fog showing signs of dispersing.

  Liu Yi pinched his fingers together, secretly reciting the Ghost Emperor's Heart Sutra, burning up the last bit of his strength to imagine the Ghost Emperor's Dharma form appearing. This little bit of spiritual power was far from enough to shape a Dharma form, Liu Yi simply imagined the kind of heavy and majestic aura that the Ghost Emperor had.

  It felt like his soul had stabilized, amidst the drumbeats, although he still felt waves of palpitations, it was no longer the feeling that his soul was about to leave his body.

  At the same time, Liu Yi took advantage of the dense forest to weaken the drumbeat and quickly fled into the temple.

  The other ghosts in the besieged village did not expect such a sudden change. They were shocked by the thunderous drumbeat and the weak ones immediately dispersed and disappeared. A cloud of gray gas merged directly into the wind.

  It's strong, but also rolling and crawling, hastily avoiding. Only the tree spirit was less affected. It wasn't a soul body, and the wild ghosts that drove it away scattered, then hurriedly fled towards the forest.

  A great calamity that destroyed the village was thus resolved.

  Liu Yi escaped back to the temple and possessed the statue. He gradually felt at ease, and the panic that had made his heart almost jump out of his throat slowly subsided.

  "These common people, who can thrive in a world filled with ghosts and monsters, are indeed not lucky. They naturally have ways to ward off evil spirits and avoid ghosts."

  Liu Yi thought to himself. He had originally thought that even if he informed Wang's family, they might not be able to escape the disaster after all.

  What was it that emitted a faint light and blocked the wild ghosts from entering the village?

  It is indeed the Sheji ritual. The so-called "She" refers to the sacrifice to the earth and the master of yin energy. The one who presides over it is the She god, which is also the prototype of the later generations' belief in and worship of the land.

  The ancients revered Heaven and loved the earth, but the land was vast and could not be revered everywhere, so they enfeoffed the land as She and worshipped it to repay its merits. To repay the kindness of the great earth and offer sacrifices to the soil and She is the spirit of the great earth.

  Liu Yi originally had three gods in the world. One of them was Hou Tu, also known as Hou Tu Huang Di Qi in Taoism, and also called Hou Tu Niang Niang. She is in charge of yin and yang, nurtures all things, and is called the Mother of the Earth. She is the earliest king on earth.

  Another is Julong, as it says: "When Gonggong ruled the nine states, his son was Houtu, who could control the nine states, so he was worshipped as She".

  There is also Da Yu, who is said to have worked hard for the world and was enshrined as the god of Hou Tu after his death. The earth grows grass, wood, and grains, nourishing humanity, so he is regarded as a god with infinite power.

  Later, with the evolution and division of the gods' duties, various land gods took over their duties.

  In this world, there was originally no unified Shinto deity. Each village worshipped its own Shinto deities, and some villages were so small that several villages shared a single Shinto deity.

  In the three villages at the foot of this mountain, there is a temple dedicated to a local deity.

  This information seemed to appear out of thin air in Liu Yi's consciousness, and he naturally knew it!

  Anyway, having saved so many people, Liu Yi felt peaceful and joyful, filled with delight.

  At this time, Li Zhengzheng said to Wang Da: "Thanks to your vigilance, you rang the bell and woke up the villagers. Otherwise, all of us, old and young, would have been killed by those evil spirits in our sleep!"

  The villagers all around looked over with a clean gaze, today was truly a narrow escape from disaster. Even the village shrine collapsed, it's clear that the village gods couldn't hold on either. If a large group of wild ghosts really invaded the village, not to mention everyone dying, at least one-third of the people wouldn't survive.

  Wang Da said with a proud smile: "Fortunately, it was the mountain god on the mountain who warned us in our dreams, otherwise we father and son would not have known the danger!"

  The villagers listened and praised one after another. Originally, Wang's father and son had said that they would stay overnight in the temple and wake up to eat exceptionally fragrant noodles, but no one believed it. Now, listening again, they were no longer half-believing and half-doubting.

  There was a flash of eyes, and Qi said: "Is it the temple on the mountain? I've also been to see it, but there's no divine light left. Could it be that the divine spirit has revived..."

  After a moment of contemplation, he said: "In life, if one does not repay kindness, what is the point of being human? If it was indeed that mountain god who saved us, we will go to offer incense and express our gratitude tomorrow!"

  The people of this world are simple and honest, and in the end, they will settle their grudges. Even the government cannot forgive a son who kills his father.

  Block. Similarly, if you have received kindness from others, you should also repay it wholeheartedly.

  Wang Xiong proudly said: "This god is most benevolent and righteous, whenever we father and son encounter difficulties, he sends..."

  Just as they were halfway through their conversation, Wang Daifu suddenly choked on something and started coughing violently. Wang Xiong was taken aback, remembering his father's warning not to reveal anything, so he stopped talking and said no more.

  Just then, doubts arose in his mind. The temple on the mountain was not a legitimate deity to begin with. It was originally a place where a barbarian monk had transmitted his teachings and established a shrine, claiming it was protected by Vajra. Later, when the government heard about it, they sent someone to drive away the barbarian monk and burn down the shrine. However, just as they were about to do so, a heavy rainstorm came, and they were unable to burn it down.

  But without the incense and offerings, the deity gradually lost its spiritual power. Gradually it became a deserted temple.

  It's been over a decade since this incident, and it had long been forgotten by people. But now, memories of it have been stirred up in my heart, and I'm wondering if that temple has been occupied by some evil spirit again, or if the evil god didn't die and is tempting people once more?