Chapter 181: Disciples Spread Far and Wide

"Where is the inscription needed?" Xu Jia asked the carpenter.

This carpenter's appearance was not exactly kind, but it revealed a sense of composure and some spiritual light, though he lacked internal cultivation; he likely belonged to the Miscellaneous School of rogue cultivators.

He glanced at Xu Jia and was startled: "Are you the Dharma Lord, True Person Xu?"

"?"

"This disciple is a disciple under the Fox Immortal Hall! The Great Immortal Golden Flower has appeared in my dreams; I have been offering incense to the Immortal!"

He said excitedly: "Dharma Lord, I have seen the living Dharma Lord!"

Xu Jia scoffed: Do you want to see a dead one instead? "The Immortal you are offering to is the Mu Xian."

A wood spirit? The father of Sha Erzhu, the carpenter, cuts wood, and offering to this is practically going against the natural order.

"Ever since I started worshipping the Mu Xian, my waist doesn't ache, my head doesn't hurt, and my walking is light. Especially since my mind has been filled with many patterns, the cabinets I make now sell very well in the city. I can make the cabinets seamless, bug-proof, and mouse-proof. When the cabinet doors are aligned, it can even improve the relationship between husband and wife. If anyone dares to withhold my Work Wages, I'll make sure mice nest in their cabinets every year and the couple fights every day!"

Xu Jia nodded: "Do fewer immoral things; it affects your fortune. What was your name again?"

"This humble one's surname is Wan. The Split Coffin Thunder at the hall was once under the same master as me. The master separated weddings and funerals; he taught me to make cabinets and beds, and taught him to split longevity coffins. We are fellow disciples."

Xu Jia didn't even know that things had already developed to the point of uprooting the entire master-disciple lineage of these Miscellaneous School cultivators.

"Work hard. Carpentry is very important, but don't just value the effects of magic; you must cultivate more. Do you have sons?"

Wan the Carpenter said: "I do, three of them!"

"Then have them all come here to study," Xu Jia said. "Since you have worshipped me as your Dharma Lord, your food, clothing, housing, and daily needs are all my concern. Did you receive your share during the last chicken distribution?"

"I hadn't joined the hall yet last time, but I have received the subsidy twice—once in spring and once in summer, totaling over a thousand coins."

The twenty boxes of copper coins Xu Jia gave to Hu Jinhua to manage were not marked by the Wealth God, perhaps because Hu Jinhua "used them for the people."

However, distributing money directly is indeed a good move. These shamans and wizards are none of them wealthy, and this Hu Jinhua distributing seasonal subsidies is truly a genius.

"It's mainly because I don't set up a hall here for consultations; I only do repairs or make small objects. Furthermore, the Immortal has taught me how to carve divine statues, how to open the face, and how to make them majestic..."

"Practice well. As the saying goes, 'Skill approaches the Dao,'" Xu Jia said. "If you have difficulties, just say so; don't be afraid of trouble. Feel free to take these subsidies."

As they were speaking, the clan elders and the clan head arrived. They all acted respectfully toward Wan the Carpenter and offered him a dry tobacco pipe: "When will the main beam be raised?"

"We must choose an auspicious time. Looking at the Almanac, it is this evening. It says here, the Almanac says, at this time the cattle and sheep return to the pen, and the Earth Deity will begin patrolling the territory. We will invite him into the temple and let him stop here."

"Then can my son write a few characters? The virtuous nephew said whoever donates the most gets to write the inscription. If I donate another twenty taels, and then have some tables, chairs, doors, and windows made..."

Wan the Carpenter shook his head and said: "This is not for me to decide. This temple was requested from the county office by Licentiate Xu, and the Earth Deity only gave face to Licentiate Xu, which is why he settled in our village. Naturally, Licentiate Xu should write the inscription."

"Licentiate Xu has already gone to another place; can't I do it?"

This clan uncle pointed at Xu Jia and said: "It's not just his family that donated; every one of our families donated! We are going to carve a Merit Stele!"

Xu Jia was somewhat bewildered. Is it necessary to fight over writing a few characters? Seeing him dare to point at the Dharma Lord, Wan the Carpenter's face turned gloomy: "Go ask the Earth Deity yourself!"

"I'll ask!"

He saw him pick up the Divination Cup and immediately cast it—Yin-Yin. His expression was resentful, and he cast it again; it was still Yin-Yin.

By this time, he was already feeling panicked.

So he cast it a third time, and the result was still Yin-Yin.

Zhang Yi stood to the side with a face as dark as water: "True Person Xu writing an inscription for me is a major event in my life. You, a piece of rat dung, still want to ruin my major event?"

"Stop casting!" Wan the Carpenter said: "If you cast again and annoy the Earth Deity, aren't you afraid of bad luck?"

Xu Jia just watched it as a joke and didn't care, but at this moment, the Qingtian Dam Earth Deity arrived as promised. He saw him bare-chested, carrying a Thorn, with a bitter expression, kneeling with every step: "True Person Xu, I have come to apologize to you!"

Xu Jia stepped aside: "What kind of sin are you asking forgiveness for?"

"I was truly blind. If not for the Yeyou reminding me, I would not have known that the mud doll beside me was evil, and I almost ruined the True Person's major event!"

Xu Jia hadn't even thought about this matter, only saying: "There's no need to put on such a show. You are an Incense Ghost Body; how could you suffer from ordinary thorns? Only karmic debts and Demonic Obstacles can manifest as thorns..."

The Qingtian Dam Earth Deity was somewhat embarrassed and said: "This humble god is still diligent; such things cannot grow on my body... but it is enough to show my sincerity."

"It doesn't count," Xu Jia said. "Continue being your Town Land Deity. This Lord Zhang Yi has guarded this territory for over three hundred and seventy years. Your fifty-fifty split of the Earth Temple's Incense Fire no longer counts."

"Ah? This... this is nothing; this humble god had already guessed it... but may the Great Immortal not be deceived by evil spirits..."

"? You think I would be deceived?"

Xu Jia said: "You may not know, but this poor Daoist now holds an Eighth Rank position in the underworld, affiliated with the Tai Shan Five Sacred Mountains Prefecture to manage demon affairs, which counts as Fifth Rank treatment. This place has been converted into a Temporary Demon Affairs Office. Do you also think I was deceived? Deceived by the divine envoys of the Tai Shan Five Sacred Mountains Prefecture?"

The Qingtian Dam Earth Deity thought, damn it, why didn't the Yeyou tell him about this? "This humble god would not dare!"

Xu Jia waved his hand: "I am not making things difficult for you. I will certainly do what I promised you, but I really don't like you backstabbing me..."

"But, that was the City God..."

"What? Has it become the City God's fault?" The Yeyou appeared from nowhere, holding a Basket in his hand, which seemed to be a congratulatory gift.

"I didn't!"

The Earth Deity hurriedly shut his mouth: "I am clumsy with words; that is not what I meant."

"Alright, stop arguing. Must you make such an ugly scene?" The Yeyou patted the Qingtian Dam Earth Deity on the shoulder: "If we calculate it, you previously wanted to buy an inscription and take the exam for Judge; how does that count?"

Xu Jia said: "Xu Jia Cun still falls under your Qingtian Zhen jurisdiction; this is a Village Land Deity temple."

The Qingtian Dam Earth Deity muttered: It's ten times bigger than mine; this is a village land deity temple, then what is mine? The bigger the temple, the better the Incense Fire.

Sigh... he regrets it now.

"This is something the City God sent for the consecration," the Yeyou said. "One portion is for the Earth Deity, and one is for the Jinsha Creek Deity. After installing them, they will be stained with the Incense Fire aura of the City God Temple, so there will be no fear of being recognized as an evil temple or a Licentious Sacrifice."

(End of chapter)