Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 225 Even the God of Fortune Can Earn Merit! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

A bolt of lightning struck down, and everyone around knelt down. Even the guard was so frightened that he trembled and stammered.

"Please... God... no... don't kill me!"

Xi Shi nodded gently:

"Take me to Gusu Mountain, and I will not only spare your life, but also order Fuchai to pardon all your crimes."

These words motivated the garrison commander, who quickly brought over the horses from inside the pass and replaced Bo Pi's tired horse.

Once he was ready, Xi Shi lifted the bicycle, which was full of luggage, and gently placed it on Bo Pi's chariot before jumping into the carriage and sitting down.

The garrison commander instructed his men to guard the pass well, and then drove the carriage towards Gusu Mountain.

Meanwhile, inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi downloaded some high-definition movies and TV series for Li Qingzhao. In fact, just one book, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," would be enough for her to watch for a long time.

It should be said that Li Qingzhao and her family quietly set up the first cinema in the Northern Song Dynasty, which was also a VIP invitation-only establishment, even more upscale than the video halls of the past.

Hopefully, these films and television dramas can change the mindset of those scholars and officials, at least to open their eyes to the world. After all, broadening one's horizons is a kind of growth in itself.

After finishing this matter, Zhou Yi changed into casual clothes, drove Li Qingzhao to the town, went into Li Yongkang's home appliance store, and selected an outdoor speaker system to match the projector.

The projector's built-in speakers are a bit small, and it's hard to hear clearly when there are many people. It's better to get a separate set and place it on both sides of the screen for a better effect.

After selecting the sound system, Zhou Yichong asked Li Qingzhao:
Is there anything else you need to buy?

Li Qingzhao shook her head, indicating that she wanted to take a ride in a carriage.

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Yi said:
"Come on, get in the car, I'll take you for a drive, and we can also do a follow-up visit."

As the two left Li Yongkang's appliance store and were about to get into their car, Zhou Yi suddenly slapped his forehead and went to the roadside to buy two bouquets of flowers and two bottles of baijiu produced by Pang Donglai.

Li Qingzhao was somewhat surprised:
"Didn't they say the government forbids drinking and driving?"

The Book of Changes says:

"It's not for drinking, it's to pay respects to the martyrs. I received a favor from them a while ago, and now I have to go and express my gratitude."

The two drove to the tomb of martyr Lao Zhuang, placed flowers and liquor in front of the tombstone, Li Qingzhao bowed in respect, then walked to the side, looked at the inscription, and seemed somewhat incredulous:

"The youngest of the deceased inside was only sixteen years old?"

Zhou Yi nodded:

"In the fight against the invaders, many people's lives were forever frozen in their most precious years."

The two stood silently in front of the grave for a while. It was very quiet, with only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the poplar trees, which sounded like the hearty laughter of the soldiers.

After paying respects to the martyrs, Zhou Yi drove Li Qingzhao to the county town.

He first went to check out the blessed land. In the open space next to the big locust tree, there were several elderly people playing chess, and several middle-aged women sitting under the tree holding their phones and watching short videos, looking peaceful.

The cameras that were installed earlier have been removed at some point. They look no different from before, but from a feng shui perspective, they are completely different.

Li Qingzhao asked:
"What if the entire county were designated as a blessed land?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said:
"It's probably impossible to bestow an imperial title. Your sister Meiniang only has the countenance of an emperor, but she has not yet become an emperor. If we were to bestow an imperial title upon the entire county, Zhao Xu would have to come."

Zhou Yi was unsure whether bestowing such a large area of ​​blessed land would affect the fate of the Song Dynasty, so he would not let Zhao Xu take this risk unless absolutely necessary.

If there's really a need, let's wait until Brother Zheng arrives before making any decisions.

After inspecting the auspicious site, Zhou Yi drove to the nearby industrial park to check the feng shui of the flour mill. Everything was good there now, and the flour mill's business was booming again.

Zhou Yi didn't go in to disturb them, and then drove to Sanlizhuang.

The local earth god temple, where Fude Zhengshen (福德正神) is enshrined, is quite popular. Although it's not usually the time to burn incense in the afternoon, Zhou Yi still encountered several groups of people burning incense and worshipping the god when he came.

He stroked the shoulder of the God of Fortune and recited the scriptures three times to increase the power of the God of Fortune.

After finishing her work, Li Qingzhao asked softly:

"I never expected the people here to be so devout."

Zhou Yi explained with a smile:
"It's just a habit. Chinese people believe that it's never wrong to be polite. Even staunch atheists will still follow local customs and offer incense when they go to a temple. Especially now that most temples offer free incense, it's not much to offer a prayer. Even just for the sake of the historical sites, it's worth it."

For the people of Sanlizhuang, there is a small temple in the village, which was built by the villagers themselves. Even if it's just to maintain good neighborly relations, they still come to worship there often.

Whether there are gods or not doesn't matter, as long as it brings peace of mind... Compared to psychologists, ordinary people prefer to use this method to smooth out the wrinkles and scars in their hearts.

After walking around for a while, it was getting dark. Zhou Yi was too lazy to go back, so he led Li Qingzhao to stroll through the snack street in the county town. They decided not to cook today and would make something delicious when Meiniang came tomorrow.

Li Qingzhao took a bite of the freshly cooked stinky tofu, found the taste strange, but couldn't resist wanting another bite:
"Master, what's going on with that Dragon King? Why didn't he work during the great drought at the end of the Ming Dynasty? Isn't the Dragon King in charge of rain?"

I'm not entirely sure about the Book of Changes either:
"We'll know after the consecration ceremony. My initial suspicion is that the Ming Dynasty's national fortune has declined, affecting the Dragon King, or perhaps it's the shamanistic practices of a certain ethnic group that have suppressed the nation's fortune."

When the Tartars entered the pass, China fell, all the gods were obscured, and the Dragon King also fell into a deep slumber underground. In the 1950s, when the Xingmin Reservoir was built, the Dragon King should have been born, but at that time it was an era where humans could conquer nature, and there was no place for gods, so it was delayed until now before he reappeared.

The two strolled around until eight or nine o'clock in the evening before returning home. This trip was very rewarding for Li Qingzhao. She planned to suggest to the court that a martyrs' cemetery be built and that the court bestow titles upon the local land gods, dragon gods, mountain gods, and city gods.

Since the gods can manifest their power, then the ancient world needs to make some proper arrangements.

"Master, what kind of person is qualified to serve as a mountain god, land god, or city god?"

The Book of Changes says:

"Mountain gods are usually military generals associated with a certain mountain, land gods are kind-hearted people from various places, and city gods are learned and upright men... But considering the special circumstances of the Song Dynasty, let's bestow these titles upon military generals who died in battle to add some masculine energy."

After saying that, he returned to his room, opened the black notebook, and discovered that his merit points had increased dramatically, along with a bunch of inexplicable notes:

[The God of Fortune averts a car accident; merit +0.1]

[The God of Fortune saves a child from drowning, merit +0.3]

[The God of Fortune stops a vicious dog from harming people, merit +0.2]

[The God of Fortune resolves a quarrel, merit +0.1]

【…】

The densely packed notes were so numerous that Zhouyi couldn't keep up with them.

These seemingly insignificant things, when mixed together, actually added a full two ounces of merit to his name.

At first, sending the God of Fortune to Sanlizhuang was just to promote righteousness and establish new customs. I didn't expect to have such an unexpected gain. So, we can send more statues of gods out in the future.

Chen Tang seems to have become addicted to suppressing bandits lately, and has gradually accumulated some merit, rescuing many Han women.

As Zhou Yi continued reading, he discovered another note:
[Xi Shi summons a protective divine lightning bolt that strikes and kills Bo Pi, the Grand Chancellor of Wu, granting her +18 merit points.]

The newly added merits have brought Zhou Yi's merits to over three jin, now totaling three jin and six qian, slightly lower than Chen Tang's three jin and fourteen liang, placing him second in Hunyuan Palace.

Zhou Yi found the name Bo Pi unfamiliar, and after checking the information, he discovered that he was a notorious traitor in the state of Wu who let Goujian escape and framed Wu Zixu, making him comparable to Qin Hui of Wu.

Killing him actually yielded an income of one tael and eight mace; he was truly a big fish.

Xi Shi, this stunningly beautiful woman with a contrasting personality, also surpassed the great talent of Li Qingzhao by killing Goujian and Bo Pi in succession.

As for Granny Gongsun, she's just so-so. She's been making a fuss for so long, but she still hasn't accumulated enough merit.

As everyone's merits increase, the success rate of raising the roof beam becomes greater and greater. We will find an auspicious day to raise the roof beam and seal the top of the God of Wealth Temple to prevent Fan Li from having related dreams.

On the other side, in the Spring and Autumn Period.

The carriage was still moving forward. Xi Shi turned on her camping lamp, took two individually wrapped pieces of hand-torn bread from her bag and tossed them to the guard, then tossed him a bottle of mineral water.

"If there's another pass ahead, let's stop and change horses."

"As ordered!"

The garrison commander had never seen a camping light, nor bread or bottled water, which made him even more certain that he had encountered a deity.

He was very devout and served the deity with utmost care, afraid of displeasing the gods.

At 10 p.m., the horse was too tired, so the two had to stop and rest. Xi Shi turned on the gasoline stove to cook noodles, while the guard patrolled and protected the area with a bronze sword.

Once the noodles were cooked, Xi Shi served herself a bowl, poured the rest into a stainless steel basin, and gave it all to the garrison commander.

After finishing her noodles, Xi Shi set up a tent, arranged animal traps, crawled inside, zipped it up, held the token in her hand, and went to sleep.

The garrison commander finished the bowl of noodles, then ran to the nearby stream by moonlight to scoop up some water, rinsed the bowl, and as soon as he returned to the camp, he felt a strange unease, which grew stronger the closer he got to the tent.

He quickly hid several dozen feet away, leaned against the carriage, and fell asleep with his arm around the bronze sword.

The next morning, Xi Shi cooked noodles again and then gave the stainless steel basin to the guard.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two continued their journey. According to the garrison commander's estimate, they would reach Gusu Mountain in another half day. However, he was unsure whether they would be able to meet Sun Wu.

Xi Shi wasn't worried about that. As long as she confirmed that Sun Wu was on the mountain, she could easily lure him down by simply flashing her searchlight... As a military strategist, she would definitely be interested in a communication device.

Meanwhile, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty, Chen Tang and his men traveled at a leisurely pace, occasionally venturing into the nearby desert to burn and kill, thus wiping out a significant number of bandits along the Xiaoguan Road.

But this certainly wouldn't eliminate the problem completely. Gan Yanshou planned to return to the capital to report back, and then personally lead a large army to thoroughly inspect this no-man's-land the next day. He would then build a mound of skulls at the strategic pass to deter the invading tribes.

Building a mound of skulls is a barbaric act, but for other tribes, the deterrent effect of a mound of skulls is just right; the more straightforward and simple it is, the stronger the threat.

As we were walking, a scout's voice suddenly came through the walkie-talkie:

"Reporting to the general, a Han army force of about a thousand cavalry has appeared ahead and is heading towards us along the Xiaoguan Road!"

(End of this chapter)