Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 12 Incense
As the witch's dance came to an end,
The music gradually died down.

The newly renovated temple also officially opened its doors to mortals, allowing them to go in and worship ghosts and gods.

He Bo also disappeared silently in front of Ximen Bao.

After enjoying the song and dance performance of this era, He Bo got ahead of everyone else and entered the temple that was too simple for later generations. Then, he was taken away by the ugliness of the clay sculpture of "himself" -

Although the craftsman was indeed attentive when sculpting "He Bo" and the gentry was willing to pay for it, first of all, if the craftsman really had the skills to make the clay sculpture come alive, he would not have appeared in Ye County.

Secondly, there is a difference between a flesh and blood body and a clay statue.

Even though Ximen Bao would occasionally come over to give pointers on "what He Bo should look like", there was no way for him to perfectly restore the appearance of the ghost he saw at the time through clay sculpture.

So when He Bo saw the "self" enshrined on the pedestal, he felt that it was completely unrecognizable. He thought it would be better to float in the air and overlook the lively scene of this "temple fair" -

For He Bo,
So many people gathered in front of the temple playing music and young men and women took the opportunity to fall in love and chat. It was something similar to a temple fair!

There are few such pure and lively events in later generations, and even the "New Year flavor" has faded.

So He Bo urged the yellow strip again, and raised his consciousness into the air at will. He was just like a ghost or god, sitting quietly in the clouds, overlooking all living beings who were happy or sad because of him.

While everyone was bowing to the ghosts and gods, He Bo finally determined what was that thing that attracted him in the dark.

"Is this... the power of incense and vows?"

Although the custom of burning incense and worshiping gods was not popular at that time, fire had been considered sacred since ancient times.

Man grows rapidly because of fire,
When offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods, people would naturally think of burning items with sacred flames, so that the smoke rising from the burning would actually bring the gifts offered to ghosts and gods to them.

So before worshiping the God of River in the temple, a shaman would light two flames and throw some wooden boards with prayer words written on them into the flames, hoping that the gods and ghosts would know their sincerity.

among them,

The country gentlemen who were invited by He Bo to enter his dreams seemed extremely pious. The wooden boards they threw into the fire were larger, and written all over them were confessions for "stealing the name of the God He Bo."

As for how He Bo knew?
At the moment when the wooden board was ignited by the flames and the green smoke rose, the contents on it poured into He Bo's consciousness, allowing him to know the other party's prayers to the ghosts and gods.

In He Bo's field of vision, the yellow law and the green progress bar were surrounded by puffs of smoke, as if new special effects had been added.

"I never thought that I was a mutant who became a god through incense. I thought I could only rely on myself to fight..."

He Bo was surprised at this change, and then became happy.

Although this is only a small change, it is still unknown whether He Bo can use the so-called "power of incense and vows".

But he is a firm supporter of "free-range" use of the golden finger. He did not tell He Bo any instructions on how to use it. It all depends on He Bo to figure it out on his own or rely on luck to activate the new function.

It’s a good thing that we can save some energy on exploration and development now.

On the other hand, once the new feature is launched, it won’t be difficult to use it afterwards.

After all, the loss can be reduced through "proficiency", and it is also a "permanent certificate" that will not disappear.

"Okay, okay, now I really have to thank the people of Ye County for opening up the source of income for me."

He Bo couldn't help but burst into laughter, and then thought about the help that the incense could bring to him.

obviously,
When the incense arrives,
The news arrived,

He Bo could clearly sense what the other party was praying for.

However, the process of "burning incense" at this time was different from that of later generations. In later generations, it has been simplified to "sincerity is the key to success". As long as you light the incense and poke it into the incense burner and silently recite your prayers in your heart, that's it.

As for whether the gods can know what the other party is asking for...

Aren’t you a god?
I don't even know what I'm thinking.
It definitely won’t work!
Then I won’t worship you anymore!

But at the moment, ghosts and gods are still taken very seriously.

Although unlike the Shang Dynasty, when sacrifices were offered to ghosts and gods, there was always a grand ceremony and living people were used as sacrifices, and the ceremony was also simplified a lot.

But a lot of things are still preserved.

For example, in the sacrificial songs and dances of shamans, and in praying to ghosts and gods, one must clearly write down what one wishes for and offer precious non-human sacrifices.

He Bo is not sure.
If there was no wooden board covered with words, would I still be able to sense people's hearts?

but,

If he knew that ghosts and gods could respond but did not make preparations to burn incense, and the message failed to be sent, it was not He Bo's fault.

It’s not like he’s begging people to worship God.

Without mortals bowing to him, would he no longer be He Bo?
Before this, communication between He Bo and mortals could only be initiated unilaterally by He Bo himself.

If mortals want their wishes to be fulfilled, they have to rely on luck -

If He Bo happened to be secretly observing the situation in the Zhangshui River Basin at that time, and happened to find a guy praying to "He Bo" among the surging waves, swimming fish, rolling sand and stones, and the flow of people, maybe he would really be willing to lend a hand?

The possibility of winning the prize is similar to that of scratching lottery tickets in later generations.

And now,
Through the incense burning ceremony, mortals can convey their prayers to ghosts and gods in a timely and accurate manner, greatly improving their chances of winning. This is naturally a good thing for mortals.

"But if I leave Zhangshui, will I still be able to receive this news?"

Not in service area,
There won't be any delay in receiving this message, right?

He Bo suddenly thought of this, and in an instant he moved from the Zhang River to the Tongdi area, wanting to try whether the "Please call again later" situation would appear.

Fortunately, his golden finger was really powerful. Even after entering the Tongdi Water and then turning to the source of Fajiu Mountain, despite many obstacles, He Bo could still sense the prayers that were constantly being sent over as the flames burned.

But this problem is solved,

New problems arise.

If this kind of message cannot be blocked, wouldn't He Bo have to passively receive it anytime and anywhere and be constantly harassed?
just,

This thought just came to my mind.
The "voice" that kept emerging in He Bo's mind suddenly stopped.

He couldn't help but blink.

Then he had an idea and wanted to listen to the believers' prayers, and those "voices" appeared again.

"I see."

“You can still do whatever you want.”

This is probably the advantage of the cheat code not having so many restrictions?
He Bo grabbed his hand in the air, his mind turning, and the wooden board that was thrown into the fire in front of the temple and burned to ashes by the gentry appeared in the hands of the ghost.

The floating text above, even though it is simple pictographic, allows He Bo to accurately identify the content.

He Bo threw the wooden board, and it turned into smoke and disappeared in the air, leaving no trace.

Only words remain in the minds of ghosts and gods.

He Bo then stretched out his hand and lightly tapped the empty space beside him, and a pile of scrolls appeared. The contents on them were all the prayers of all living beings.

"So, if you want to have a sense of ceremony, you can use a letter or something like that."

"If I'm too lazy to move, I can just receive the messages in my mind."

He Bo clapped his hands, and the scrolls disappeared again.

“This has some benefits.”

Direct reception,

easy to understand,
But once there are too many petitioners, they will inevitably become a group of flies buzzing in your ears.

No harm done,

But it really annoys God.

Although He Bo can decide whether to receive those "incense" according to his own wishes, he has not yet explored the function of automatically filtering out harassing and unimportant messages, and he will cut off all of them once he cuts them off.

As a result, He Bo was worried that he would lose some fun.

Whether it is to do good deeds according to people's wishes,
Or watching others take advantage of prayers and go crazy,
It's all very interesting to He Bo.

If all the "incense prayers" received were manifested, He Bo could choose the important and interesting ones to read and leave the others alone...

"Or maybe I can get myself a turtle prime minister and let it handle these miscellaneous matters?"

He Bo suddenly thought of it, but the thought disappeared in an instant.

Not to mention whether it can be done.

He's still learning and growing.

How can you enlighten the shrimp soldiers and crab generals to form a "Dragon Palace configuration"?
"Let's first take control of all the tributaries of the Zhang River!"

(End of this chapter)