Chapter 187: Green Seedling God

There are three types of famine-relief pills and famine-relief pellets that Lin Jue has heard of.

One type is famine-relief pellets made by grinding elm bark, white cogon grass roots, and white mud, which are said to keep you from feeling hungry for seven days after eating them.

This might indeed be possible, because white mud is almost indigestible and cannot be excreted, so you might not feel hungry within seven days, but you might die directly after seven days.

One type also uses elm bark and white cogon grass roots, plus food like red dates and glutinous rice, which are cooked, dried, ground, and then rolled into pellets the size of pigeon eggs, which can be stored for several years. Eating one during a famine can count as a meal, but you have to prepare and store it in advance when supplies are abundant, and not every place has this recipe.

The other type is the pill refined by the Second Shixiong.

The materials for this kind of famine-relief pill are very flexible, and they also use filling things as the main material, but you have to add a portion of spiritual rhyme, relying on the pill to satisfy hunger and relying on the spiritual rhyme to hang on to life. Eating one ordinary pill keeps you from feeling hungry for a day, and if the spiritual rhyme is sufficient, it is called a Bigu pill, and eating one can really last for seven days.

Although the Second Shixiong's famine-relief pill tastes like a stone and is hard to swallow, it is genuinely filled with spiritual rhyme.

After half a famine-relief pill and water went down, the woman's breathing gradually became heavier, and her vitality recovered.

After a while, the Little Xiao Shimei helped her up and sat her on a stool.

"You..."

The woman seemed to be able to speak and looked at them.

"We are Daoist priests passing by from Huizhou, and we wanted to come in to ask for some water to drink and happened to meet the kind-hearted one." The Second Shixiong opened his mouth, but he frowned, and he also saw the old man who had starved to death inside. "We heard before we came that there was a small famine here, and many people couldn't eat, but when we came here, we saw that this place was not drought-stricken, nor was there a pest disaster. Could it be that there was a drought or flood this summer?"

The woman looked at them, still weak, and just shook her head.

"Not a drought or a flood?" The Second Shixiong was puzzled. "Could it be that the taxes here are so harsh?"

The woman paused, but still shook her head.

"Then what is it?"

"God... Immortal..."

"Immortal? How could it be like this?"

"..."

"Do you know which immortal it is?"

"Green... Seedling... God..."

The woman had a heavy accent and spat out a few words with difficulty.

"Green Seedling God?"

Everyone was shocked and exchanged glances.

In the letter the Junior Uncle wrote to the Master, it was said that the Green Seedling God in Mingxia County had a very prosperous incense, and it was not removed by him but ran away. On the outside, it was said to be expelled by him. Could it be the same one as here?

Did it run here?

Lin Jue felt that it was very likely—

Before, when they were in Mingxia County, they also asked about this evil god.

It is said that this is a monster that looks like a cloth bag, walking like a somersault, often appearing in fields and farmland at night. When it first appeared in Mingxia County, the farmers were also afraid, but after a long time, they found that it didn't hurt people, but instead helped people drive away ghosts and monsters in the fields, and even cared for and urged the green seedlings to grow, so they sculpted its image and built a temple, worshiping it as a god.

Unfortunately, according to Lin Jue's speculation, this Green Seedling God probably had no intention of helping people at first, but just had this ability and instinct, which happened to be discovered by people, so they sculpted its image and built a temple.

However, things like incense are really hard for monsters that lack reason and virtue to hold on to.

Those with insufficient virtue have many desires...

The Green Seedling God slowly degenerated.

Lin Jue had never heard of this kind of monster evil god in other places, so there shouldn't be many of them.

Everyone wanted to ask this woman again, but seeing that she was really weak, they gave up.

Anyway, if this place is really where that Green Seedling God is making trouble, it must be the "lesson" given after asking for offerings and sacrifices and not getting them. There should be its temple here, so just ask someone else or go see it and you will know.

The Second Shixiong took out a dozen famine-relief pills.

"I have some famine-relief pills here. Eating one usually keeps you from feeling hungry for a day and can also satisfy a person's daily living needs. If you only eat half a pill a day, although you will be hungry, you won't starve to death, and although you will be weak, you won't be unable to walk, so I will give them to the kind-hearted one." The Second Shixiong said, "Eat sparingly, I hope you can get through the difficulties."

"The one inside has already left. After the kind-hearted one recovers, find a place in the back to dig a hole and bury it."

Several people walked out one after another.

They changed to another family, and this time someone finally responded.

It was still a man who was starving to skin and bones, but his condition was better than that woman's, at least he could talk normally.

He first pointed out the location of the village well for the few people, and seeing that they gave him a few famine-relief pills, after eating them, he felt that they could really satisfy hunger, so he answered their doubts:

"Originally, the people here didn't worship gods. That Green Seedling God came to us a few years ago.

"At first, the old man was very good to us. Not only could he help us drive away the ghosts and monsters in the fields, but he could also ensure that the crops were not eaten by other livestock, birds, and sparrows, which was much more useful than any other god or Buddha, so we sculpted his image and built a temple, and often worshiped him.

"But only in the second year, he asked us for double the sacrificial offerings. We didn't give them, so he threatened us that the green seedlings would break their roots. At first, we could grit our teeth and agree, but after a long time, how could we afford it?

"By this year, after spring began, everyone planted grain, and it had just grown to knee height when it all withered in one night.

"It was too late to replant.

"Those with money were fine and could buy food, but if you didn't have money, you could only starve to death."

The man sighed deeply, very helpless.

"So that's how it is."

The Second Shixiong frowned and pondered, then asked: "Did the government not set up porridge and distribute grain?"

"They did, they distributed a bowl every day in the city, clearer than water. If you lived in the city, you could survive on this bowl of porridge, but we live far from the city, and if we went to receive porridge, we would starve to death on the road."

Several Daoist priests pondered for a while and probably knew.

The famine here was not caused by natural disasters, but by monsters and evil gods, and the scope of the impact was not wide, so it couldn't be called a great famine. At least other places were fine, and there were merchants and travelers coming and going on the official road. If there were households with savings originally, they could naturally buy food, and if it were a wealthy family, it wouldn't affect their eating, drinking, and playing.

After all, that Green Seedling God only made trouble once and ruined one season of grain, and other vegetables and livestock were not harmed, just making the people here take a step toward starving to death.

Only the rural people suffered.

The taxes were harsh, the exploitation was heavy, and the distance between many people and starving to death was not even a step.

Carefully calculated, the time this Green Seedling God came here and the time the Green Seedling God in Mingxia County was expelled almost coincided.

It seems it really is the same one.

Originally, the Seventh Shixiong stayed in Mingxia County, and the Little Xiao Shimei was worried about whether the Green Seedling God would come back to find him and settle the grudge between the Master and it on the Seventh Shixiong, but she didn't expect to meet it here.

Several Daoist priests looked at each other.

Not to mention that in troubled times, wielding a sword to eliminate demons is what a Daoist practitioner should do, just clearing this hidden danger in advance for the Seventh Shixiong who is not good at fighting is also quite good.

"Is there a temple of the Green Seedling God nearby?" Even the Second Shixiong, who usually didn't like to fight, asked.

"Ten li ahead, there is one by the road."

"Many thanks, kind-hearted one..."

"Let me ask one more thing, is the Green Seedling God only in Langfeng County, or are there temples in the neighboring counties?" The Third Shixiong was more experienced and asked one more question.

"Not just Langfeng County, there are also neighboring counties, but I haven't walked that far, so I don't know exactly how many counties there are."

"Many thanks, many thanks."

"Many thanks, immortals..."

The man ate a whole famine-relief pill, and he didn't know what the pill was made of, but he felt warm in his stomach while talking, and by this time, he felt that his strength was gradually recovering.

The man couldn't help but feel magical—

Are these people immortals descending to earth?

Several people walked out.

Nearby households almost all had famine.

Several people went to check, asked about the situation, and left famine-relief pills according to their situation and number of people, ranging from a few to a dozen.

The Second Shixiong brought quite a few famine-relief pills when he went down the mountain, mainly because this thing is not valuable to him, at least it is not troublesome to refine, one furnace can produce many, and it doesn't need rare spiritual plant materials, he refined quite a few when he was on the mountain before, because it was really useful at that time.

Later, when he had a junior brother, it was useless.

This thing can be stored for several years, but it has also been stored for several years. This time he went down the mountain, he didn't want to waste it, so he brought more than half of it, about one or two hundred, and left the remaining small half to the First Shixiong.

A few days ago, hearing that there was a famine ahead, thinking that food supplies might be inconvenient, he thought it might come in handy, but he didn't expect that he hadn't eaten it yet, and first distributed a small half.

Fortunately, this thing can be refined again.

Several people walked out of here and continued to walk forward, discussing while walking.

"This is already the boundary between Zhongzhou and Qinzhou, right? The incense dojo of Lord Tianweng can actually tolerate monsters causing such disaster to people's livelihood." The Second Shixiong sighed.

"Most of their minds are no longer on this." The Third Shixiong said, "Besides, the people here didn't believe in gods originally, and now that a Green Seedling God who makes trouble has come, isn't it just right to find back incense for them?"

"Let's talk about how to eliminate this Green Seedling God." Lin Jue said.

"This kind of evil god..." The Third Shixiong was in a dilemma, "If it's not a righteous god who is good at eliminating demons, it's hard for us Daoist priests to drive it away."

"Why?"

The Little Xiao Shimei asked puzzledly.

"Don't look at how you eliminated the Cuiwei City God in Cuiwei County. Although this Green Seedling God doesn't have as prosperous incense as the Cuiwei City God and doesn't have as powerful divine power as the Cuiwei City God, it is likely restrained by the City God, but it is not restricted by the rules and regulations of the incense divine path like a righteous god, nor is it restricted in the city like the Cuiwei City God."

The Third Shixiong explained to them:

"But it has absorbed incense, and it is very likely to have the supernatural powers of the incense divine path, and can quickly come and go between divine images. The reason why we were able to easily eliminate the Cuiwei City God that day was because he was a City God, only had one City God temple and divine image in the city, and his official residence was also in the City God temple, and he was a god made by human death, and he had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and was panicked, and the time, place, and people were all helpful, so he was naturally eliminated at once."

After listening, the Little Xiao Shimei understood almost everything.

Lin Jue had dealt with another evil god "Liu Taihou," so he naturally understood it long ago.

Compared to the Cuiwei City God, this Green Seedling God is freer and has more places to go and hide. At the same time, because it was originally a monster, even if the divine image is destroyed, it can still retain its magic power and go to other places to make trouble.

"It's not that there is no way at all."

The Third Shixiong led the horse and thought, then opened his mouth.

"What way?"

"Take off the Daoist robe, destroy one of its divine images, and guard it in the temple. If it is guilty and cautious, it will definitely entrust a dream to people and ask people to come and check and repair it. At this time, pretend to be an ordinary person and try your best to hinder it. Maybe the Green Seedling God will not be able to hold back and come to check with its true body."

The Third Shixiong narrowed his eyes and said while walking:

"Because the divine image is destroyed, it cannot leave, and because it comes with its true body, if you seize the opportunity, you can kill it in one fell swoop."

"Shixiong is smart!"

"Haha! Master has used this to eliminate demons!"

"I said so..."

"But I'm not suitable! I have evil spirit on me, and I look too handsome and powerful, like a martial artist, and I don't look unusual at first glance, even if I don't have magic power, a mere evil god will be scared by me!" The Third Shixiong glanced at them, "You two are suitable, just right to pretend to be a brother and sister whose parents starved to death, and find the Green Seedling God to ask for justice."

Lin Jue and the Little Xiao Shimei couldn't help but look at each other.

They wanted to refute him, but he really came up with a feasible idea, thinking that this was rare, so they let him be thick-skinned for once.

As for them...

It doesn't look like their parents starved to death.

Both of them look fair and clean, and at first glance, they are well-fed and well-dressed, not like people who have starved?

It was also thinking that it was rare for the Third Shixiong to come up with an idea, so Lin Jue didn't refute him at this time.

... ===== CHAPTER 188 =====