Chapter 177: Ten Thousand Families' Incense, Magistrate's Pilgrimage

Precious treasures and playthings should not be shown to the powerful; ancient swords and famous lutes should often be hidden in cabinets.

Xu Qing knew this truth earlier than Monk Yumu, and his purpose in coming to Wanshou County was to throw away the "jade" hidden on his body.

The relief grain on Jingxia Street was useless to keep; Xu Qing didn't lack secular money, and zombies weren't afraid of grain shortages, as they didn't need to eat grain.

An innocent man is guilty of his own treasure; rather than keeping that grain, it was better to make the best use of it and exert its due value.

And the disaster victims flocking to Wanshou County were the good medicine for Xu Qing to solve his problem.

"I should give this temple a name. It can't be called Cat Immortal Hall. We are a shell company, and we have to run away with the money before long. What name should I give it?"

Xuanyu looked at the small paper temple and then at Xu Qing, who was speaking.

She didn't understand what Xu Qing meant by a shell company; she only knew that the clever Immortal Xu could handle everything properly.

It was really hard to meet a human who made a cat worry-free like this.

In front of the paper temple, Xu Qing waved his brush casually. Before long, three large characters that pierced through the paper appeared on the temple plaque.

Xu Qing's calligraphy could not be called the best in history, but it could be called vigorous and graceful.

Proficient in hundreds of folk arts, writing a good piece of calligraphy was naturally not a problem for him.

"Goddess Temple?" Xuanyu looked at the characters on the plaque, somewhat confused.

Xu Qing explained: "There are countless wishes in the human world, and goddesses and immortals are busy, so how can they have time to attend to everything? Even if there are true gods, they are mostly small mountain gods walking on behalf of the gods, otherwise, some temples would be effective and others would not."

"In any case, the incense obtained has its own destination. Whoever does the work gets the wish power and incense; otherwise, why would there be so many wild immortals in the world pretending to be gods?"

"As long as you don't act like a tyrant and cause harm to the world, even if there are true gods three feet above your head, you and I can be considered messengers of the gods."

Xu Qing had seen many things about the imperial court's canonization of gods in the memories of the Celestial Master's Mansion's spiritual boy, Ling Yangzi. Among them, there were many demons who had old ties with the Celestial Master's Mansion who were canonized by the Celestial Master and received incense.

Those canonization ceremonies had nothing special. If they had to be subdivided, there were two types: one canonized by the secular world, called Imperial Canonization; the other canonized by the Heavenly Court, called Jade Canonization or Heavenly Canonization.

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and simply took out an incense table and performed a simple Heavenly Canonization ritual.

The Heavenly Court's canonization was above the secular imperial power. Xu Qing skipped the middleman and asked for the mandate of heaven directly.

As for whether heaven responded or not, it didn't matter. Those who set up altars and offered three animals to ask for heaven's hearing didn't see the Heavenly Emperor respond, and even when past emperors performed the Fengshan sacrifice, they didn't necessarily get a response from the gods.

But going through the process was not a bad thing.

After building the temple according to the rules, Xu Qing took out paper and folded a divine altar and statue.

Except for these paper items, the rest of the incense candles and incense burners were real utensils.

The small temple was newly built, and there was no incense offering, but Xu Qing was not in a hurry.

At present, the relief grain distributed by Wanshou County hadn't bottomed out, but looking at the increasingly thin porridge, Xu Qing knew that running out of grain was only a matter of time.

Emperor Jingxing managed the killing but not the burial. After sealing Wanshou Township as a county seat, he only said with his mouth that he wanted to increase the population and make Wanshou County prosperous, but when it came to allocating money, he was stingy and couldn't squeeze out a single bit.

Even the little grain that was requisitioned was mostly lost on the way due to "grain consumption" problems.

Xu Qing stood on a high ridge and looked out, seeing the endless crowd of refugees in the distance.

The news spread by Gu Zixu along the disaster-stricken prefectures had already begun to show results.

If this news were really told, it couldn't be counted as a rumor. After all, it was true that Wanshou Township became a county seat, and it was true that the imperial court encouraged population increase, and it was true that absorbing refugees and distributing silver and grain were on the table, but whether they could eat it or not was not the imperial court's business.

Whether the people were full or not was secondary; the officials managing the people had to be fed first. As for how full they were, it depended on how big the conscience of these officials was.

But soon Xu Qing got the answer.

On this day, seeing that the bailiffs distributing porridge and grain didn't appear even until evening, Xu Qing suddenly realized.

So these officials' consciences were only as big as a sesame seed!

Under these circumstances, it was really hard for them to persist in distributing relief for half a month.

"Immortal Xuanyu, this time the job is very big, we must seize this opportunity."

Xu Qing was never the type to put all his eggs in one basket. He liked to leave a way out, the more the better.

Ever since the Black Crow went across the ocean to seek seeds from other lands, Xu Qing had been thinking about other ways to obtain incense.

Eggs cannot be put in one basket. The Black Crow might not be able to come back alive after a desperate fight. If he really waited until then, how could he survive the thunder disaster?

Hu Baosong's biological mother died in a thunder disaster, and Daoist Yizhen's master, Zichen, also failed to escape the disaster. As a zombie, if he didn't make twelve points of preparation, how could he be sure to escape the disaster?

If he didn't escape, Xuanyu might have to become a cat that wandered all day but insisted that she was traveling...

Jia Yue Qian Long (The eleventh month hides the dragon).

On this day, an old man giving away incense suddenly appeared outside Wanshou County. The old man was kind-eyed and dressed in white, giving out incense sticks to everyone he met, saying that when you have a wish in your heart, burn incense and pray, and within a day, the god who saves the suffering and overcomes the disaster will respond.

Everyone didn't take it seriously. Instead, many people who were starving chewed the incense sticks Xu Qing gave out as snacks.

This made Xu Qing speechless, but he wasn't in a hurry. Everything would be clear tomorrow.

At night, paper horses and paper donkeys full of grain shuttled through the refugees.

Xu Qing looked at the refugees through the incense dharma realm and saw little stars appearing in the night scene in the crowd.

Those light spots were the people who burned incense and prayed during the day.

By the next day, the refugees outside the city suddenly became restless.

On the newly built city wall, a bailiff ran hurriedly to the county government to report to the magistrate.

The magistrate sighed helplessly when he heard it.

Since the relief grain was cut off the day before yesterday, he knew this day would come, but he didn't expect the refugees to be so restless so quickly.

"You must guard the city defenses and don't let the refugees rush in!"

On the city wall, the soldiers guarding the city looked at the noisy refugees and didn't care.

A soldier heard the movement in the distance and asked curiously: "Why are people still crying?"

"What's this? If you were starving, you would cry too."

"No, no, listen carefully, it's like someone is crying and shouting 'shouldn't have eaten the incense', 'shouldn't have eaten the incense'..."

"Sigh! Why do you care about them? Maybe it's a dialect from Yaozhou. 'Shouldn't have eaten the incense' might just mean not being able to eat."

"Sigh, this world..."

Outside the city, in the refugee pile.

Just as someone was crying, a capable person said: "Incense is not a precious thing. Trees and grass can all be incense. We can pick grass to make incense, and if not, send a person in charge to the city to borrow incense candles from the magistrate to pray for the granary god to show his spirit."

"This is a good idea!" After the person finished speaking, another stranger said: "But that god is not the granary god, the granary god, or the five-grain mother god. If you want to worship, you need to distinguish..."

The leader looked at the old man who interrupted him and asked strangely: "If it's not the god in charge of the five grains in the world, what god could it be?"

The old man smiled slightly and pointed to a place: "There is a temple on the high ridge called the Goddess Temple. There is an immortal god who saves the suffering inside. You should worship her!"

The man laughed back: "I have been to the high ridge you mentioned. There is only rubble there, where is the temple of the god? Are you talking nonsense?"

Facing the questioning, the old man smiled slightly and didn't answer, just took a palm-sized paper crane from his sleeve and threw it out.

Before everyone could react, the palm-sized paper crane grew in the wind. When the white crane could carry one person, the old man actually rode the crane and flew straight to the high ridge in the distance!

The person who questioned him was dumbfounded, and the onlookers thought they had met a real immortal, all kneeling on the ground, saying that the immortal had shown his spirit and the true immortal had descended.

By noon, everyone recommended a scholar who knew how to read and write to enter the city to ask for incense candles and offerings.

After hearing about this, the magistrate thought the disaster victims were sick and seeking medical advice. How could there be a reason to get grain by burning incense and worshiping gods?

"If they want incense, give it to them. How much can incense be worth? As long as they don't ask for grain, it's easy to talk about."

A few days later, after the magistrate heard the news of getting grain by praying with incense again, he finally couldn't help but come outside the city.

"Captain Lin, have you found out who is pretending to be a god?"

The captain shook his head: "The subordinate doesn't know, but everyone who burns incense and prays has really received grain."

"There is such a thing?" The magistrate frowned: "Go get a stick of incense, burn it and worship, let me see if it is really effective."

The captain's face stiffened, and he said awkwardly: "The subordinate tried it two days ago, and other brothers also burned incense and worshiped, but there was no grain or money given."

"The subordinate thinks that perhaps there is really a god saving the world, and we are not people in suffering, so we will not be taken care of by the god."

Beside the magistrate, the assistant magistrate also said: "Better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't. Even if someone is playing tricks behind the scenes, it may not be a bad thing for the magistrate."

The magistrate pondered for a moment and suddenly asked: "If his source of grain is not right, what should be done?"

The assistant magistrate smiled and said: "Has the magistrate heard of any grain granary being stolen?"

"That hasn't happened. Not long ago, although the Jinmen grain granary lost a lot of grain, it was because of a fire, not man-made..."

Shaking his head, the magistrate suddenly said: "You prepare the carriage quickly and follow me to worship the god!"

There were no less than 100,000 refugees in Wanshou County. After Xu Qing started the head of burning incense and praying, he no longer worried about whether the disaster victims had burned incense for the Goddess Temple.

If he really counted and distinguished, he and Xuanyu would probably work for months and not be able to distribute the grain in their hands.

Long nights have many dreams. Once delayed for a long time, it will inevitably lead to disaster.

Monk Yumu only showed the skill of paper-cutting-to-reality and was tragically calculated. He made such a big move now, and he would inevitably be watched by many people.

For him, the only safe way now is to fight quickly.

Xu Qing didn't hesitate. In just two or three days, he distributed most of the grain.

At night, Xu Qing selected some prestigious people among the refugees and used the dream-weaving technique to weave a dream of the god's descent, saying that the Goddess only helps the poor and the disaster is over, so she is going back, and you need to rebuild, engage in weaving and farming, and be self-sufficient...

Besides Wanshou County, the refugees in Linjiang County also received a lot of grain.

Xu Qing never worried that the grain would be collected by the officials. The number of these refugees was so large that even if a black-hearted official reacted and wanted to collect the grain, he would be powerless.

The time for the Goddess to distribute grain was only ten days in total. By the time the magistrate of Wanshou County and the magistrate of Linjiang County thought of slaughtering three animals and leading the county officials to worship at the Goddess Temple, Xu Qing and Xuanyu had already rolled up the incense and returned to Linjiang County.

After more than a month, a group of uninvited guests suddenly appeared outside the Goddess Temple.

The leader was wearing the uniform of the Celestial Master's Mansion, holding a brand new mirror in his hand. Behind him followed the Lingtai Lang of the Si Tian Jian and the Captain of the Demon-Hunting Division responsible for hunting demons in Jinmen.

"Sure enough, it's an obscene temple and obscene sacrifice. Since you are a Demon-Hunting Captain, you should have come to this obscene temple to cut down the mountain and break the temple early. Now that this obscene demon has abandoned the temple and fled, it is your dereliction of duty!"

The Demon-Hunting Captain's eyelids twitched, and he said nothing.

Wanshou and Linjiang had just become county seats. As a Demon-Hunting Captain, he had walked in these two places a lot. He knew about this wild temple earlier than others, but he had never spoken about it.

The reason was nothing more than two points: one was that the other party was doing a good deed of saving the world, and if he stopped it, heaven would not tolerate it.

The second point was that the person who could do this, or who dared to do this, was definitely not an ordinary person. If he dared to cut down the mountain and break the temple, he might not be able to stand here alive today.

It was better to turn a blind eye.

Just like now, at most, he would suffer some blame, but there was no other damage.

The Lingtai Lang of the Si Tian Jian shook his head and said: "Wanshou County only has one temple ordered to be built. This small temple is not recorded, so it is indeed a wild temple."

"Wild temple? I'm afraid it's not even a wild temple, but a fake temple made of paper!"

The Heavenly Daoist of the Celestial Master's Mansion held the brand new treasure mirror and shone it toward the temple on the high ridge. Sure enough, the shadow of a small paper temple appeared on the mirror.

The Heavenly Daoist sneered, pinched the spell with one hand, and the next moment, the solemn Goddess Temple suddenly rose with white smoke, and then a fire broke out. In less than a moment, the original temple was left with only a pile of paper ash and some incense burners and offerings exposed in the rubble.

In Linjiang County, in the mortician's shop.

Xu Qing was counting the incense.

Only a month after leaving Wanshou County, the incense produced by the shell company reached an astonishing 500,000.

And this number was growing by tens of thousands every day. Xu Qing estimated that these incense sticks, which gathered the wishes of ten thousand families, were almost enough for him to resist the disaster.

But for the sake of insurance, he decided to slow down again.

Zombies are not like other demons. If they encounter yin thunder and yang thunder, it's fine, but once they encounter heavenly thunder, the consequences are still unpredictable.

But if he had a million wish powers...

On this side, Xu Qing was thinking about things, but suddenly realized that the branch in Wanshou County had a problem.

Damn! It seems that the matter of unlicensed operation was discovered.

Xuanyu also felt it.

"Immortal Xu, that temple..."

"Don't worry about it. Now the statue of the Goddess has been established in people's hearts. Even if the temple is gone, the incense and wishes still exist. They can burn the temple, but can they burn people's hearts?"

"What if they find the Cat Immortal Hall?"

"Not to mention whether they can find the hall, even if they really find it..." Xu Qing smiled and didn't speak.

With the Concealment Technique, ordinary people can't calculate the destination of these incense sticks. Even if there is a one-in-a-million chance, he, Xu, doesn't mind experiencing the taste of thunder disaster in advance.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 178 =====