Chapter 177: Technique

"Ying ying ying!"

Amidst the lifting hands of the Zhangxizhen villagers, the sedan chair carrying An Sheng was hoisted high. The little fox stood on its hind legs, raised its arms, and bounced on the sedan in a human-like manner.

Amidst the simultaneous sound of firecrackers and the deafening beat of gongs and drums, one of the ritual activities before the opening of the Tea Competition—the welcoming of the gods ceremony—reached the segment of inviting the Master to take his seat and offering sacrifices.

As the first-place winner, Master Fuli of Zhangxizhen was ranked in the second position on the shrine list.

Above the shrine, several traditional statues of orthodox gods were placed at the very top.

"You guys... you really haven't lost your touch!" Old Chen walked up with a beaming face and patted the shoulders of Seeing Yu Zhenghong and several other middle-aged sedan bearers:

"You didn't lose face for our village. Quick, quick, tea has been prepared for you over there. Go rest, and then you can be the ones to offer the first pillar of incense!"

Under normal circumstances, the ranking of the wandering gods wouldn't be a big deal to Old Chen, but since it was Zhangxizhen's turn to host the Tea Competition this year, it felt quite strange to be offering incense to gods from other villages in his own village.

Fortunately, the first place didn't fall to another village, and there was no subsequent plot of begging for forgiveness.

However, the wandering god motorcades from other villages would likely have to kneel in their ancestral halls when they returned to their villages.

Vigorous young men had lost a race on a three-to-four-kilometer flat road to a group of old fogies.

And!

Those who almost tipped the Master off the sedan would also have to go kneel!

"Village... Village Chief, there's a snake! A king cobra!"

Seeing Yu Zhenghong was so tired he was almost lying on the ground, but he still gasped for breath as he explained to Old Chen about the king cobra in the grass outside the agricultural market.

As Seeing Yu Zhenghong clarified the ins and outs, Old Chen's expression turned slightly strange. He looked toward Master Fuli and muttered to himself in his heart:

"Our village's Master Fuli..."

"... is truly worthy of someone used to big scenes, the boss managing a wildlife crime network under his command."

"With just one word, he can summon a professional killer."

Old Chen complained with a face full of black lines.

…………

With the end of the wandering gods, the human gods of each village returned to their positions on the shrine according to their competition rankings. A giant rectangular bronze incense burner was moved into the temporarily constructed shrine with the cooperation of the young people.

The shrine was built at the entrance of the venue, facing the Tea Competition grounds from afar. The Masters sitting on top could just happen to enjoy the incense offerings while taking in the scenery of the tea competition.

As the runner-up, An Sheng's position was excellent; he sat squarely in the center, with the incense burner right in front of him.

Seeing Yu Zhenghong's motorcade walked in the front, holding nearly half-a-meter-long tribute incense, and was the first to walk to the incense burner to respectfully offer incense and bow to the gods in the shrine.

Other members of the wandering god motorcade followed Seeing Yu Zhenghong to offer incense, and only then did the venerable elders from other villages and ordinary villagers follow.

"... Is this incense really something that must be offered?" Mo Yiqing looked wooden, gazing at the incense burner that had already turned into something like a hedgehog's armor, and looked at Aqing.

After incense candles are lit, they are generally not moved unless they have burned out or it is time for cleaning.

By the time it was the juniors' turn to offer incense, the incense burner in front of them had long since become an armed hedgehog burning with fire and emitting incense smoke; reaching out would result in being burned.

"... Based on my experience, we have two choices when we see a flaming hedgehog. The first is to bite the bullet and scrape our arms against the burned-out incense ash to stick our tribute incense into the burner. Although this is a bit hot, we won't get burned by the incense."

"The second is to clear the incense ash. Although it's not as easy to scrape, if you get burned, you get burned."

"To prevent being burned while offering incense, every household has a special incense-offering technique."

Seeing Yu Xueqing wore a mysterious smile, her eyes filled with helpless complaints.

In the Xia Dong region, offering incense is a technical job.

There are even specialized incense-offering techniques. But the incense-offering technique here doesn't refer to how respectful one needs to be or any special posture, but rather how to prevent one's hands from being burned by the tribute incense in the burner.

Mo Yiqing: "..."

So, is this incense really something that must be offered?

Acting on the thought that since they were already here, Seeing Yu Xueqing invited her father, Seeing Yu Zhenghong, over to teach them the incense-offering technique.

Seeing Yu Zhenghong sized up the incense burner, performed geometric equation calculations in his mind, and instructed Seeing Yu Xueqing and Mo Yiqing to use the parabolic incense-offering method, treating the incense candles directly like darts and "thwack, thwack, thwack" sticking them into the incense burner.

After all the villagers finished their worship.

Seeing Yu Xueqing took a piece of red paper, came to Master Fuli's runner-up position, and carried the little fox down.

And in An Sheng's original position, there was a piece of red paper that had quite a bit of An Sheng's style, on which was written:

【The Master has asked for leave to go out and have fun; if there is anything, please contact him at the Tea Competition venue.】

After An Sheng left.

Villagers from other villages, as well as tea merchants and tourists who came later, looked at the runner-up position of the shrine with question marks all over their faces.

The shrine was set up at the entrance of the venue, naturally to facilitate tourists offering incense.

But!

That Master who was the runner-up had asked for leave...

The Master had asked for leave to go out and have fun.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, can the Master ask for leave? Can we also carry the Great Wet Nurse out to play?"

A child from another village looked happily at his grandfather, who was leaning on a cane.

The old man leaning on the cane looked at the statue of the River God above the shrine, which his grandson called the Great Wet Nurse. After swallowing a mouthful of saliva, he said: "... Grandson, I'm afraid this can't be held up."

"Eh? Why not, Grandpa?"

"Because... the Great Wet Nurse statue weighs over two hundred jin; it can't be held up in any sense." The old man complained.

Not to mention whether metaphysical people can carry gods, just the statue weighing over two hundred jin alone was something ordinary people couldn't lift, let alone carry into the Tea Competition venue.

An Sheng weighed fourteen jin, fur and all.

Aqing could lift him up and fly with one hand.

But other tourists didn't know this; they only saw that the runner-up Master had asked for leave and had been carried away to play.

The tourists all offered incense while muttering in their hearts that the Xia Dong people were getting more and more creative with their worship.

First there was Mazu getting an ID card, flying globally, riding a Ferrari "King" to terrorize the streets, and later someone photographed Mazu sitting in a reserved movie theater, holding a family-sized popcorn in her left hand, wearing 3D glasses to watch foreign movies.

Now, a certain Master asking for leave to go have fun seemed like a very reasonable thing.

…………

"It's red! The wish list is red-hot again..."

"Life is truly getting more and more prosperous."

The little fox, carried back by Aqing, was sitting at their own tea stall, full of joy, checking the wish list flashing in its mind.

When villagers offer sacrifices and incense, praying and making wishes to the statues is a very normal thing.

An Sheng's wish list copied all the wishes onto his own panel.

An Sheng clicked on one at random, wondering what was going on on the other side.

【Damn it! First they want me to pay federal tax, then they want me to pay state tax, and then they set up a local tax for me. Not to mention why there is still a farmland planting tax, and they even want me to pay a fine for raising five chickens. Just say that damn farm isn't even mine! I'm just helping people water it, why do I still have to pay back taxes for the past three years? — Chen Nian, imprisoned in a cell, had question marks all over his head, but he seemed to have realized something, and a fierce light gradually appeared in his eyes.】

【Wish fulfilled: Venmo me 500,000 dollars.】

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