Chapter 180: Taking the Lead

Zhang Gong saw Xu Jia accept the "Insect-Repelling Pill," let out a deep breath, and finally felt a bit more at ease, with hope rekindled in his heart.

"Little Master Xu, who are you talking to?"

Xu Yougen felt something was a bit strange, and Xu Jia smiled: "No one."

But it was this very smile that made him feel a bit creeped out. He pulled the silent Xu Youtian beside him and said: "I've noticed those Immortals, they all seem to become a bit 'divine' after dying once. This Little Master Xu seems a bit like that too. Who is he talking to?"

Xu Youtian said: "Old Zhang Gong, probably. My wife says Old Zhang Gong is very responsive. Once she lost a plain silver hairpin and prayed to Old Zhang Gong after begging everyone else; the next day she found it, it had fallen by the donkey trough."

Xu Yougen was a bit skeptical upon hearing this: "Old Zhang Gong is that responsive?"

"Hard to say, we can't see him. But it's said that little brats who climb trees sometimes fall down and are perfectly fine, saying an old grandfather caught them..."

"For this temple construction, my wife even received a dream-visitation!"

"?" Xu Yougen was puzzled. Am I not from Xu Jia Cun? How come I don't know this is a path of Gods? The temple is still some distance from the village. The villagers here firmly believe in "better a grave than a temple," preferring to live next to a grave rather than a temple.

At the same time, facing a temple directly is also something they consider taboo.

However, this temple also serves functions beyond being a temple—a clan school, or perhaps a village primary school? It is always more convenient for the children to go to school.

Therefore, the location is actually not too far from the village.

It is a slope near the Xin River. It is said that there used to be a River Deity temple there. People would offer the bones they fished out of the water in the temple, giving the water ghosts a place to receive Incense Fire. But later, no one knows what happened, it fell into disrepair and eventually collapsed.

It wasn't until Xu's father mentioned building a temple that the clan elders and the clan head chose this place again.

By now, those particular taboos no longer existed.

Corresponding to this temple is the ancestral hall, separated by a road and a pond. The pond is filled with lotus flowers; now in the fourth month, buds have already grown, and a few have bloomed sporadically.

Under the lotus leaves are the ducks raised by the villagers. The ducks swim leisurely.

"A fine scene," Xu Jia smiled.

"We don't think much of it, we all want to go to the city. The ducks are noisy, quacking at the Yin hour, the chickens are noisy, the dogs are noisy. But it's alright, as long as you want to work, there is endless work to do. At night, even thunder won't wake us up."

"Compared to this chicken and duck noise, it's the wives who are noisier. They can't be quiet for even a quarter of an hour, and the children are even noisier."

Pastoral life is only leisurely on the surface.

Xu Jia felt these two men had a tendency to become "resentful fathers."

"Where are the clan elders and the clan head? Where are they?"

"They should be in the ancestral hall. During the time of building the temple, those who work eat in the ancestral hall... I'll take you to see them, Little Master. One of the clan elders is from the generation of your grandfather's grandfather..."

"I don't have to kowtow to him, do I?"

Xu Jia was afraid of kowtowing this old fogey to death. In his past life, aside from performing rituals to curse others, he had never properly kowtowed to anyone.

"That's not necessary. We don't stand on ceremony like that, except for filial sons whose family members have died. But Little Master Xu can kowtow to the ancestors in the ancestral hall..."

Xu Jia followed them into the ancestral hall. The ancestral hall was built of blue bricks, and the tiles were also blue. Moss grew in some places, and ferns grew in others, carrying a gloomy, dark, and lightless feeling.

"Taihe Hall."

The ancestral hall has two floors, but the second floor only leads to the altar where the ancestral tablets are enshrined.

At the entrance, there is a large drum, in the middle is a "Four Waters Returning to the Hall" pond, and further ahead are the large Incense Burners. There are three large Incense Burners in total, and paintings are hung up, all of minor officials. The most recent one was a Provincial Graduate, back in the previous dynasty.

Xu Jia's grandfather also had the qualifications to have a portrait; a donated official title is still an official title, and he was close by.

In the ancestral hall, only ancestors up to five generations above the most senior member are worshipped. Because there is not enough space, once they exceed five generations, the tablets of these old ancestors must be invited out.

And to tell the truth, these ancestors are just dead, not turned into God Immortals. Even if they live in the Dharma Realm for a while, when the time comes, they must be reincarnated. The ancestors in the ancestral hall who can manifest and visit in dreams do not exceed five.

At least in Xu Jia's eyes, that is how it is. The one in his prime is Xu Jia's grandfather; he is currently in the center position of the ancestral hall.

Xu Jia burned a stick of incense to pay respects to the ancestors, but did not kowtow.

As a result, the Incense Fire was a huge supplement. The incense of a cultivator is different from that of an ordinary person, and the incense of blood relatives is different from that of non-blood relatives.

The ghost body of Xu Jia's grandfather expanded directly, turning into a ball.

The other ancestors hurriedly helped him pat his back, letting him spit out a bit of Great Heaven True Dao Incense, so as not to over-supplement.

"Clan Elder! Master Xu went to Nanchang to study. This is Master Xu's son, Little Master Xu." "He really looks like him! Like Zhiyuan!" A clan elder with only three teeth left exclaimed in the local dialect: "In our family, for five or six generations, not many have turned out well, or studied!"

Xu Jia is actually quite good at talking to such old people. After all, he lived for over a hundred years in his past life; anyone older than him is just a younger brother or younger sister.

This clan elder actually looked like an old farmer, but he claimed that when he was young, he was a gang member... probably similar to a "Pao Ge."

He started talking about Xu Jia's grandfather's affairs back then. That was forty or fifty years ago. As he spoke, he rambled off to other places, bragging without even drinking alcohol. For example, when he was seventy, there were still young women willing to do needlework for him... but that won't work now, he is eighty-three now.

Xu Jia didn't even know how to respond.

Soon, a middle-aged man dressed better came over. He is the "Village Head" here, and also a small landlord of Xu Jia Cun. Beside him was a young man about the same age as Xu Jia, also wearing a scholar's outfit.

"Nephew! Nephew is here! Sigh, Nephew, do you still recognize me?"

This Village Head said: "I am your father's cousin. My father is your grandfather's own younger brother, Xu Zhu. Why haven't you greeted your cousin yet?"

Xu Jia saw these two and calculated that these were the two insidious villains who had proposed to adopt him and inherit the Xu family's property when his predecessor died.

Although in Xu Jia's view, this was a very small matter, for the sake of a clear mind, he would only be happy if they were doing poorly.

Very well, the local Earth Deity is already my person, so I'll give you a chance to "eat the extinct household" as well.

From the physiognomy of this cousin, Xu Jia could see that it did not seem to be the face of a long life, and there was even a faint trace of evil energy.

"Nephew, are you going to take the imperial examinations this year?"

"Taking the Linshan Sacred Garden exam for fun," Xu Jia smiled: "If my father passes the Provincial Graduate exam, I won't take any more exams."

Regardless of the trace of jealousy in his eyes, Old Master Xu is very busy now and has no mind for house-fighting. Besides, it's too much filler plot. To make them restless, sending a few weasels would suffice, and it wouldn't even dirty his hands.

Xu Jia only cares about the completion of the temple. To tell the truth, this is the first temple Xu Jia has owned, excluding that thatched hut of silly Da Zhu's family, even though he won't practice in it. It is dedicated to the Jinsha Creek Deity, the local Earth Deity, and tablets will be set up for the group of Immortals under his command.

But according to the regulations, it has already exceeded the "Earth Temple" by too much. It can at least count as a "Daoist Office." Not to mention governing the Yushan realm itself, but it is more than enough to govern the one town and eleven villages of Qingtian.

"Then Nephew, you must help us out a lot, especially in terms of studies. Xu Zhu is not as enlightened as you, his schoolwork is very sparse, and recently he has been very absent-minded. For this temple construction, I also donated twenty taels, hoping to clear the child's mind so he can at least pass the Xiucai exam."

Xu Jia smiled: "Is that so? I'm afraid the Earth Deity can't manage enlightenment."

"Nephew, your father isn't coming this time. Can you and Zhu'er do the inscription together? You are both cousins..."

Xu Jia waved his hand: "Whoever pays more, I listen to them. My father paid over a hundred taels of silver. If it really doesn't work, go cast lots in front of the Earth Deity statue later, don't ask me."

He ignored him no longer and went straight toward the Earth Temple.

This infuriated the clan uncle of unknown name: "The son of an upstart is still an upstart!"

Little did he know, at this moment, the old Zhang Gong at the village entrance was watching silently: "The True Person said I have a modicum of Merit, but it is still not enough. I suppose it is because I have not implemented education. This two-faced person is actually a wealthy household in the village; he is clearly rich but unkind, and his wealth is ill-gotten... I must perform well."

……

Xu Jia had already arrived at the village temple; the main body of the front temple was a "wooden structure," which is very expensive, while the positions for the classroom, woodshed, and kitchen in the back were "rammed earth houses."

It was almost finished, with only the main beam left to be raised.

The main beam was a thick, long log tied with red cloth, propped up on benches, and it even had Incense Fire offered to it, appearing very solemn.

The carpenters, masons, and tilers were all over there preparing for the ceremony, and a large rooster had already been caught nearby.

Soon it would be killed, its blood sprinkled on the beam, to sacrifice to Jiang Taigong.

An axe was also placed on the beam; it was said that it had to be struck three times before the beam could be successfully lowered.

However, according to the "Luban Arts" that Xu Jia knew, if appropriate objects were placed to weigh it down, there would be different effects.

Especially for "temple building."

The Luban Arts contain specific methods for building temples; besides the four beams and eight pillars, and the hidden offerings, the most important is the "Heavenly Beam."

If the beam is different, the temple is different; to change the temple, one must change the beam.

Of course, if some evil art is used on the main beam, it will turn the temple directly into an "evil temple"; a True God will not take up residence, and instead, countless evil ghosts and yin demons will come to the temple.

However, this is inherently a "Licentious Sacrifice" that does not conform to regulations, so the probability of attracting evil ghosts and yin demons is very high.

This is also the reason why Xu Jia is paying special attention; it does not conform to the basic "temple building methods."

(End of chapter)