PFC Chapter 225 Earth God
Chapter 225 Earth God
The young man was a free spirit; as soon as he entered, he kept looking around. After settling down, he curiously walked over to the statue.
"What an impressive statue!"
He walked around to the statue and examined it closely with great curiosity.
Compared to the usual statues placed in homes, this statue was exceptionally large, about half the length of an adult male.
His hair stood on end in anger, his muscular body was half exposed, and his four arms were outstretched as if tearing something apart.
The two eyes on the hideous face stared intently ahead, glaring angrily at everyone who came to worship, as if the fire of anger within him was inexhaustible and would never dissipate.
Xie Yan's eyelids twitched. For some reason, although the face of the statue was blue-faced with fangs and black markings, it gave him a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
But for the moment, he had no clue, so he could only pretend to be curious and ask, "Uncle, which deity do you worship here? I don't think I've ever seen him before?"
Along their journey, not only here, but in every shop they encountered, there was an identical statue of a deity.
"You two are from out of town, aren't you?"
Old Huang continued pouring wine without looking up, saying, "It's normal that you don't know, this is the Earth God."
"Earth God?"
Upon hearing this name, the two men who had come to ask for a drink exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of doubt in each other's eyes.
"Is it... the Earth God?"
"No, no, the gods of this place are not the gods of that place."
As he handed out the wine, Old Huang shook his head and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, this statue is the local deity of my Golden Scale Realm, not the Earth God."
"The Golden Scale Earth God?"
Xie Yan murmured to herself, then turned her gaze back to the statue. "May I ask, sir, is there any story or legend surrounding this local deity?"
"You two don't know."
Seeing how interested the two were, Old Huang simply sat down, took out his wine pot, took a few sips, smacked his lips, and said, "Jinlin has always been prone to earthquakes, and in recent years the earthquakes have been incessant. Although they are not major earthquakes, they have still caused considerable damage to Jinlin."
"The people are living in constant fear and suffering, afraid that they will suffer the same fate as the earthquake more than ten years ago, which destroyed their families and lives."
"Under these desperate circumstances, many people chose to leave their homes and Jinlin, and some even took their entire clan with them."
"Those years can be described as the most turbulent and desolate time for Jinlin. The prefect of Jinlin at the time even petitioned the court for help, but no matter how many times he submitted the petition, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, and no reinforcements came at all."
At this point, not only in Old Huang's tone but also on his face, a hint of resentment crept in.
Xie Yan paused in her drinking motion.
More than a decade ago, the court should have been under the control of the Chu family, and Chu Ling had already entered the court.
He immediately looked up and glanced at Chu Ling, only to see the other man shake his head slightly, seemingly unaware of the request for help that Old Man Huang had mentioned.
After venting his anger, Old Man Huang continued, "To no avail. The prefect was truly at a loss and had no choice but to try every possible method, seeking out experts and sorcerers to find other solutions."
Xie and Chu: ...Hmm, this sounds familiar.
"Later, through an introduction, he eventually became acquainted with a wandering Taoist priest."
Xie and Chu: "..."
"That Taoist priest came from who knows where, and it is said that his Taoist cultivation is extremely profound."
"Although many people among the common people thought this was absurd, the prefect overruled the objections and helped the Taoist priest in Jinlin to set up an altar and perform a ritual to pray to Heaven."
"The Taoist priest spent seven whole days calculating on the altar before he finally spoke..."
He stopped speaking abruptly, and an unnatural expression flashed across Old Huang's face, as if he had thought of something.
The expression on their faces was fleeting, but the two of them still managed to keenly notice the unusual detail.
Chu Ling frowned. "What did that Taoist priest say?"
For some reason, the wine stall owner's expression became somewhat strange when faced with this question.
"Cough cough..."
He coughed a few times, took a few sips of wine to moisten his throat, and then mumbled, "The Taoist said it was because... he had angered the gods, and the Earth God was furious, which is why he sent down heavenly punishment, causing the Golden Scale to shake the earth incessantly."
"To avert this calamity, every household must sincerely make offerings and perform sacrifices on time every year. Only in the long run can the wrath of the earth god be gradually appeased."
With that, Old Huang sighed deeply and got up to walk towards the offering table.
The cigarette smoke rose again.
With a devout expression, Old Huang held incense sticks and bowed in worship before the statue, saying, "It's strange, but ever since we started worshipping the Earth God, earthquakes have really decreased a lot as long as we perform the sacrifices on time."
"Although earthquakes still occur from time to time, we will no longer be worried and fearful about them all day long."
Mr. Huang's explanation not only failed to dispel their doubts, but instead made them even more suspicious.
In particular... this person seemed to be deliberately hiding something, and vaguely mentioned it at one point.
"It's so true!"
Xie Yan sighed, her gaze lingering on the statue for a few moments before she asked, seemingly casually, "So even gods get angry? I wonder what kind of serious matter could possibly anger them?"
Old Huang's bending motion suddenly stopped.
But soon he straightened up again, and without turning his head, said, "How can we mortals know the thoughts of the gods?"
His tone was noticeably more perfunctory.
Seeing that they could no longer get anything out of the liquor stall owner, the two remained silent, finished their drinks, paid for the liquor, and got up to leave.
Before they stepped out the door, a low, soft sigh drifted into their ears—
"Alas, the earthquakes have been far too frequent lately."
The two looked back and saw that in the short time they had been on their way, there were many more incense sticks and candles on the fragrant bank.
Old Huang knelt alone in front of the offering table, still muttering incantations and continuously performing prayers and prostrations.
The sandalwood scent slowly wafted into my nose, so strong it was almost nauseating.
As the incense and candles burned, the figure of the deity on the altar gradually disappeared into the smoke, revealing only a pair of bloodthirsty and ferocious eyes, silently watching everything before it.
It's like a wicked demon lying in wait, ready to devour people's hearts.
The two looked away and walked out side by side again.
After walking several miles, Xie Yan sighed softly, "It seems that this place is even more dangerous than we imagined."