Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 29: Young man offering sacrifice, inserting incense sticks

The Daliang calendar lasted for 298 years.

This is Lin Chen’s first year since he traveled to this world.

It is also another bumper year for Poyang County.

Poyang County has enjoyed good weather for eight consecutive years, and people have surplus food at home.

The New Year festival is very lively.

Linhu Village has a tradition of worshiping the lake god every New Year. The whole village, young and old, gathers at the ancestral hall early in the morning, and every household places the prepared three animals and offerings on the ground.

Inside the ancestral hall, the air was filled with smoke.

In previous years, young men like Lin Chen always stood at the end, but today Lin Chen was pulled to the front by the village chief and stood only behind the village chief and several village elders.

"Lin Chen, burn incense to the lake god and our Linhu Village ancestors, and pray that you will go further in martial arts."

The village chief took the lit incense and handed it to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen did not refuse. The village chief had come to his house last night and told him that today he would represent the younger generation of the village to worship the lake god.

"Today, there is a descendant of the Lin family in the village, Lin Chen, who enters Jingshui Martial Arts School to learn martial arts. I hope that the lake god and the ancestors of Linhu Village will bless Lin Chen to have smooth sailing in martial arts."

An elder in the village recited a sacrificial text. The whole village looked solemn, including Lin Chen.

Sacrifice!

It is an extremely solemn matter.

Lin Chen, who has lived two lives, discovered a common point between his previous life and this world, which is that they both attach great importance to sacrifices.

Sacrifice is not just a ritual, but also a means to unite people's hearts.

Tribal sacrifices unite the tribe members.

The village sacrifices unite the villagers.

……

National sacrifices unite the people.

The outstanding young men in the village take the lead in the sacrifice, which can inspire the fighting spirit of other young people in the village.

Listening to the eulogy recited by the village elder and the solemn expressions of many villagers, Lin Chen felt emotional. No wonder so many wealthy people in his previous life were willing to spend any amount of money just to get a stick of incense in the ancestral hall.

It is not just for face, but also a manifestation of bringing honor to the family after returning home in glory.

"Lin Chen, burn incense!"

After the village elder finished reading the sacrificial text, he looked at Lin Chen with an encouraging smile on his face. Lin Chen nodded, took the incense and bowed three times, and then inserted it into the incense burner.

Feeling the gazes of the villagers behind him, even though he was a time traveler, he became a little excited under the influence of the atmosphere at the moment, and secretly agreed that if he could achieve something in martial arts in the future, he would give back to the village within the scope of his ability.

Among the crowd, the happiest people were Lin’s father and mother, while the most complicated one was grandfather Lin Chaoyang.

Since the last visitor from the money house, Grandfather Lin Chaoyang rarely left the old house, but he would naturally not miss such an important event as the New Year ancestor worship.

At this moment, looking at Lin Chen standing in front of him, there was a moment of excitement on the old face, but then there was regret and remorse.

If he had supported Lin Chen in learning martial arts, as a grandfather, he would now be qualified to stand at the forefront and enjoy the flattery of others.

But now, looking at the looks of the other villagers around him, he just felt ashamed of his old face.

"Aren't you coming back tomorrow?"

After the ancestor worship was over, Lin Chaoyang asked his eldest son.

"Dad, after Ming'er has developed his energy, he will find a job in the city. He wants to save more money so that he can pay for the tuition for the martial arts school next year. He will not come back this year."

Da Bo Lin Hai explained: "I'll ask someone to bring back one or two taels of silver tomorrow."

"If you don't want to come back, then don't come back."

Lin Chaoyang waved his hand: "Don't use the money. I'm not going to starve to death. Let him spend frugally in the city, and don't be resentful of his uncle. Your family has indeed owed the third brother and his family these years."

Lin Hai quickly said, "Dad, it won't happen tomorrow. No matter what, the third brother is his uncle."

"Daughter-in-law, did you hear what I said?"

Lin Chaoyang had no doubt about his eldest son's words, but his eldest daughter-in-law might not think so.

"Dad, how could I have any resentment towards my uncle?"

The aunt looked a little embarrassed. Lin Chaoyang stared at his eldest daughter-in-law for a while and said, "From the beginning to now, only your family owes the second and third sons. The second and third sons have never let your family down. No matter what, two trees cannot write two Lin characters. Ming'er and Chen'er are cousins after all. You have to understand this."

Seeing that his eldest daughter-in-law was silent, Lin Chaoyang didn't care whether his eldest daughter-in-law listened or not, and said to his eldest son: "I'm tired, help me go home."

Lin Chaoyang left, but the villagers didn't notice much. Even if they noticed, they would only mock him and say that it was all his own fault.

Lin Chen naturally didn't notice that his grandfather had passed away. As the person who lit the incense, he still had to perform many rituals. He also had to cover the eyes of the lake god statue with red cloth.

The eyes of the lake god statue are covered so that the lake god, who has blessed the villagers for a year, can rest for a while. During this time, he can eat offerings from every household in the village.

Then, after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the following year, he would lift up the red cloth again and invite the lake god to enter the lake to bless the villagers with smooth fishing in the new year.

After completing the entire ceremony, it was already noon when I returned home.

After a quick lunch, Lin Chen called Gu Fei again, and the two began to practice martial arts on the hill behind the village.

Gu Fei practiced the Nuan Yang Fist, while he practiced the Qing Feng Palm.

He asked Gu Fei to come along because he wanted to supervise this guy to prevent him from being lazy at home during the New Year. The road of martial arts does not allow for slacking off. If Gu Fei wants to develop his energy within two years, he must practice diligently and hard.

[Qingfeng Palm: Not yet mastered (60/100)]

[Qingfeng Palm: Not yet mastered (61/100)]

……

……

After the New Year, the third day of the first lunar month.

Lin Chen did not follow his parents to visit relatives, but stayed at home to concentrate on practicing martial arts.

For other students who have joined martial arts schools, they will inevitably be praised by relatives when visiting them during the Spring Festival, which can satisfy the vanity of the young people.

Lin Chen knew clearly that he would receive the same treatment if he visited relatives, but in comparison, he had to seize the time of the Spring Festival and strive to make a breakthrough in Qingfeng Palm.

The instructor was right. I could not compete with others in terms of realm and could only rely on the Qingfeng Palm to make up for my weakness.

Looking at the progress of Qingfeng Palm on the panel, Lin Chen smiled.

After eight days of hard training, he finally mastered the Qingfeng Palm today.

[Qingfeng Palm: Entry (1/200)]

After mastering the Qingfeng Palm, Lin Chen could clearly feel that the power and accuracy of his palms were much stronger than before.

Now he could slap Gu Fei away with just one slap.

Without the Qi and Blood panel, the progress in his martial arts skills is now his daily motivation.

As for the realm of martial arts, he is still in the first stage of awakening.

Just when Lin Chen was about to continue practicing as usual, a voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Xiao Chen, your classmates from the Wu Hall are here to see you."

Lin Chen pushed open the door and saw the village chief leading a few figures walking towards his house not far away.

"Junior Brother Lu, Junior Brother Zhao, Junior Brother Cheng... why are you here?"

Looking at Lu Yongfeng and the other two, Lin Chen was very surprised. It really surprised him that these three people would come to Linhu Village.

"Brother Lin, we are going to the martial arts hall soon. When we get to the county martial arts hall, we will be busy practicing martial arts and may not have much time to get together. We all came from the martial arts hall in Kaohe Town, so we thought we could get together before going to the martial arts hall."

Zhao Jingchuan smiled and said that this was his suggestion, and Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying also readily agreed.

The three of them could contact each other in the town, and Lin Chen lived in the village, so after a final discussion, they decided to go to Linhu Village.

Lin Chen understood. Those who came from the same martial arts hall could keep in touch with each other and deepen their friendship. In the future, they could also gather together for warmth in the county town. This kind of group gathering based on the village was normal.

But why are there only Zhao Jingchuan, Xu Botao and Yan Dexing?
As if seeing Lin Chen's confusion, Zhao Jingchuan smiled bitterly and said, "Junior Brother Xu and Junior Brother Yan failed to get the quota for the martial arts hall's awakening pills. I'm afraid they are in a bad mood. After thinking about it, I decided not to invite them."

"Junior Brother Xu and Junior Brother Yan didn't get the quota for the Enlightenment Pill?"

Lin Chen was surprised that there were so many students who had cultivated their vital energy this year, and the competition was so fierce.

"Junior Brother Xu was found to have borrowed money from a bank when he was in the martial arts hall. Junior Brother Yan was a little late, and the quotas for all the martial arts halls were full."

The village chief who was leading the way asked curiously, "Does the martial arts school not allow students to borrow money?"

"Village Chief Wang, the martial arts school naturally didn't care in the past, after all, there were plenty of places. But this time there are not enough places. From the martial arts school's point of view, we need to borrow money even for the martial arts hall stage, and we are afraid that it cannot support the subsequent martial arts expenses." Zhao Jingchuan explained patiently.

"It's fortunate that Senior Brother Lin cultivated his energy earlier, otherwise I'm afraid..."

Cheng Ying added a sentence later, but he didn't say the last word. However, the meaning was very clear. If Lin Chen had practiced his energy a few days later, he might not have been able to get the quota.

Lin Chen smiled and did not argue.

My experience of obtaining the Enlightenment Pill was full of twists and turns, so there is no need to publicize it.

After hearing this, the old village chief looked thoughtful.

PS: Thank you for the 10,000-dollar reward from my friend Yideng. It has been ten years, and I have followed every book over the years. Thank you! Please continue to read!
(End of this chapter)