Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 204 Fanliang Land

After Chu Tianshu talked with the crane for a long time.

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

Outside the temple, on Deer Head Hill, 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 ask, 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 clean the statue.

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

In the third chapter, the so-called "begging" refers to the actions of clan leaders or similar figures who engage in self-harm-like behaviors in front of the idol.

Lu Tou Qiu 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, like trying to revive a dead horse.

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 statue.

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

Lu Tou Qiu was taken aback: "Has the divine child received guidance? What does he want us to do?"

This explanation was suggested by the crane earlier.

In Luye Village, although some people have special talents, there are also insightful people like the old clan chief.

However, most people are still quite confused and prone to slacking off, so ideological work is needed, which is by no means an overnight task.

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

This will encourage them to work hard and diligently to follow the professional staff sent by reality.

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, it will only take an average villager 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 much. As a result, 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 from Luye, as well as people from Guang'er, Heichi, and Changyou.”

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

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

"At that time, people from all over the entire Bo Ye Continent would go to participate in the Autumn Harvest Festival. The Night Wanderer, who was best at telling stories, would vividly recount the rumors from outside Bo Ye Continent."

Even old stories that have been told a thousand times take on a different flavor when they are told in their own words.

With a hint of smugness, Lu Touqiu laughed and said, "Some clans are unreliable. Those who didn't preserve their ancestral books and records just took the story of the Night Wanderer back with them and treated it as history."

"Fanliang on Boyezhou Island 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 events.

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

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

In the secretive minds of the clan leaders, these were merely harmless and useless idols used occasionally for performing magic.

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 serrated teeth. It possesses great power and lives in the water.

The people of Fanliang have forgotten their roots and have 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 always disappeared.

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 a corpse that has been floating in the water for a long time.

When the news spread, people became angry.

It has cow horns and teeth like saw teeth. Is it some kind of strange 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 the activity within, and able-bodied men are organized to patrol and keep watch at the cemetery.

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 way to worship the river god.

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

First, one must be persistent and not wait until festivals to worship the 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 the 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 were returned to the god, and some of the god's servants were 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 are selected as sacrifices in addition to the servants of the gods.

After the people of Fanliang followed the instructions one by one, those strange things really did not happen again.

"That's so cliché!"

The crane'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 secret telepathic transmission.

Lu Touqiu continued his story. "In recent years, every autumn after the harvest, the area around Fanliang has become the most solemn place, with people standing, waiting, and kneeling in rows to worship the river god."

"No one knows if their family will be chosen as the sacrificial offering next year, or if their family's farmland will become a sacred field next year."

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

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

"Let alone digging canals, if any village wants to dig a well, they have to go to Fanliang first, pay respects to the shaman, and present him with generous gifts."

“This new well in our village was made from the grain that the villagers pooled together to refine into Solomon’s Seal 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 the River God or the Well God?"

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

The crane spoke again: "These kinds of rules are becoming more and more complicated, mostly to increase the presence of power and further suppress the people's resistance."

A sigh escaped from between the teeth of the deer's head.

“After the changes in Fanliang, many people fled, and some of them came to our village, but we dared not take them in. At most, we would give them some rice soup and then drive them away.”

“Some elderly night wanderers have chatted with me when they stopped to rest in our village.”

"In fact, this is the case in many places around the world. The shamans convey divine will, add all sorts of rules, and drive the people of all races."

“In places like Bo Ye Zhou, where there are no ghosts or gods, people used to live a more… carefree life.”

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 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 ghosts and gods extends, the social system is practically stuck in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, or perhaps even more ancient.

The crane's voice was long and drawn out, yet it carried a hint of sneer.

"Great, this is a wonderful place."

"Tian Shu, they don't care about the people's hearts, but we do!"

Chu Tianshu touched his belt.

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

In the spirit world, where many ghosts and gods reside, it is unrealistic to expect to rely on the will of the people to fight against these local demons and gods.

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 ditches and farming.

— Remove the rotten rocks that are hindering our farming and harvesting of medicinal herbs.

Lu Tou Qiu was unaware of Chu Tian Shu and the crane'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.

If so, the divine child would have directly appeared and displayed divine power, coupled with those so-called divine punishments, the effect would definitely have been 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 Village.

Chu Tianshu himself came from the human world, and was not a true descendant of ghosts or gods.

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 wise and foolish, good and bad. Some can be educated with power and virtue, 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.

it is as expected.

People from the land of immortals, when they encounter anything related to ghosts and gods, 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 careful consideration, Lu Touqiu gritted his teeth and said, "If the Divine Child has any instructions, Lu Ye Manor will do its best to comply."

Chu Tianshu smiled lightly 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 the dragons and sparrows you've woven."

Lu Touqiu paused for a moment: "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 also weave two small horns on the foreheads of all the straw people."

When a ghost enters the spirit world, it will gradually gain a physical form and learn to transform between the real and the unreal.

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)