Chapter 73: No One Is Allowed to Make Wishes! Show Respect!

When Old Chen borrowed Fuli Master, he recalled what he had witnessed firsthand and muttered silently to himself.

But Old Chen never imagined those silent mutterings of his would appear as wishes in An Sheng’s mind, added to the wish list.

An Sheng glanced at the freshly refreshed wish list in his mind and nearly cursed out loud.

【Sigh—nowadays science has advanced, the green mountains and clear waters project is done, little Fuli has become immortal, Mother Mazu above! May Fuli Master bless the people of Zhangxizhen with steady winds and timely rains year after year, bountiful harvests—Chen Fengshui recalled the incident with the two-tailed fox and couldn’t help internally complaining about his surreal experience; in this era, Fuli Master has gone criminal, picking up guns to earn his meals.】

【Wish fulfilled: Stand firm against the typhoon.】

“What the hell, stand firm against a typhoon? I don’t even weigh fifteen pounds including my shit and piss.”

“You fucking beast! You want me to go head-to-head with a typhoon? Are you playing mahjong in front of Fuli Master?!”

An Sheng, seeing the newly refreshed wish, nearly kicked Old Chen.

Fucking criminal connections? I’ve seen typhoons blocked.

I’ll smash your pants shrine to dust!

“Ying ying ying!”

『Master, Master~ Don’t stop me, I’m going! I’m going to help Old Village Chief!』

“Huh? Little An wants to sit on the divine altar?” Yu Xueqing, holding her adorable little fox, perked up her ears at An Sheng’s cutesy plea and smiled inwardly.

“Come with me!”

Seeing Fuli Master agreed to the proposal, Old Chen quietly exhaled in relief, leading An Sheng and Yu Xueqing past the still-set tables and chairs in the square, into the ancestral hall that had stood for countless years, thick with history.

The walls bore mottled blue bricks and tiled roofs; behind the shadow wall lay a courtyard, and further inside, within the hall, stood a table five or six meters long, piled high with layers of ancestral tablets of the Chen lineage.

The door to the room housing the divine ancestral tablets was fully open.

On either side of the courtyard stood middle-aged men and women changing clothes—not quite changing, since they were already fully dressed, merely draping themselves in vintage-style vests.

“Uncle, good morning!”

Yu Xueqing, carrying the fox, walked across the waxed blue-brick floor, smiling and greeting acquaintances.

The brats were blowing up cow dung in the square, which wasn’t unusual—but the firecrackers they used were as thick as a child’s arm.

When the cow dung shot into the air, it fell from the courtyard onto the hall floor, landing right before the Chen patriarchs.

Directly in front of the divine ancestral tablets lay a mural of cow dung, scattered like blossoms from a celestial maiden—an utterly shocking scene.

Even this, Old Chen could tolerate.

But the Chen patriarchs were playing sword-flying video games, battling in battle royales, and snatching five-kill streaks in the valley.

When Old Chen learned of this, he went red-hot.

“Aqing, you wait here for a moment.”

After inviting Fuli Master, Old Chen went to collect his own vest, then ordered someone to move the giant bronze incense burner before the patriarchs.

After changing, Old Chen’s face turned solemn; he held a long rectangular tray lined with red velvet in both hands.

Old Chen signaled with his eyes; Yu Xueqing understood, stroked the fox’s head, and placed it on the tray.

Old Chen walked steadily, under the puzzled stares of several Chen elders in the courtyard, placing the tray bearing Fuli Master on the table behind the incense burner.

Fuli Master sat elevated, able to see every Chen clansman standing in the courtyard.

Behind him stood the ancestral spirits who had once contributed to the nation, the Chen clan, and the local region.

Every ancestor enshrined in the hall to receive incense offerings was no ordinary soul.

Just as the people of Xiadong didn’t worship idle gods, not just anyone could dwell in the ancestral hall and receive descendants’ incense.

“The hour has come! Today, the hall has changed—due to the filial impiety of Chen descendants. We humbly summon the patriarchs!”

After placing Fuli Master on the table, Old Chen held a lit sandalwood incense stick, stepped to the doorway, and spoke solemnly to those in the courtyard.

The ancestral ritual was simple: line up by merit and lineage rank, then approach the incense burner to offer incense to the Chen ancestors.

After announcing the reason for the ritual, Old Chen stepped forward first to insert his incense into the burner.

Yu Xueqing helped by handing out lit incense sticks to the uncles and aunts in the courtyard.

The Chen uncles and aunts stood in place, facing the divine ancestral tablets, ready to bow and offer incense.

But—

At that moment, Old Chen seemed to remember something, stepped forward, blocked the doorway, and warned aloud:

“Fuli Master behind me is the hero who saved the Shougoujian tea garden a few days ago. Show respect! Don’t go running up to Fuli Master to make random wishes!”

“And don’t make wishes to the patriarchs either—this ancestral offering is to confess our sins!”

Old Chen’s wary gaze swept over all the Chen clansmen.

Whether the patriarchs are effective is another matter, but the Fuli Master seated above is a genuine white fox immortal—don’t you dare cause trouble!

Some Chen clansmen flickered their eyes, lowered their heads in embarrassment.

They saw the village chief so solemnly placing the fox before the ancestral tablet table.

They assumed the fox on the table was a fox immortal the chief had brought back.

The kind that’s especially potent—they’d just been whispering about going to make wishes.

“Hey! I can’t hear that, Old Chen! What’s wrong with villagers making wishes to me? How dare you, as village chief, obstruct their ancestral freedom!” An Sheng complained, face full of displeasure.

But Old Chen was resolute—he would not let the villagers disturb Fuli Master or the Chen ancestors.

Old Chen stood firmly beside the incense burner, supervising the Chen clansmen as they offered incense to the patriarchs.

Whenever any clansman lingered or attempted to make a wish, Old Chen shot them a glare.

The Chen ancestral hall was built in an “ Hui ” shape; after offering incense to the ancestors and summoning the patriarchs, the descendants did not immediately exit the hall but stood along the outer ring of the “ Hui ,” faces full of eager curiosity.

Offering incense was merely a formality.

What followed was the real show.

“Huh”

After the last person offered incense, Old Chen stole a glance at Fuli Master, confirmed no one had secretly made wishes to him, and exhaled in relief.

Wishing to other divine elders—whether effective or not—was fine; most just sought psychological comfort.

But!

Fuli Master on the table!

Could pull out firearms!

Suspected of close ties to smuggling rings, possibly even connected to some Baodao gangs!

Old Chen wasn’t afraid of other things—he feared Fuli Master, upon hearing the clansmen’s wishes, would that very night pull out a heavy machine gun to help the Chen merchants annihilate their business rivals and fulfill their desires!

Seeing Fuli Master calmly seated, Old Chen exhaled in relief, then stepped to the doorway, pulled a smartphone from his pocket, and turned on the video recorder.

But the video on his phone looked slightly blurry—the focus seemed off.

“Aqing, can your phone record 4K HD video? Help Uncle Chen record it—I’ll play it back on the village loudspeaker later.”

After fiddling for a while, Old Chen gave up on his several-year-old smartphone and turned to Yu Xueqing.

“Uh, I think it can.”

Yu Xueqing ran to her backpack, pulled out two livestreaming iPhones and one personal Xiaomi.

“Village Chief, recording in 4K?”

“Can it do 8K?”

“Uh… probably not?”

“Then 4K it is!”

Once Yu Xueqing had set up her phone, Old Chen faced all the Chen clansmen and bellowed loudly:

“Bring the unworthy descendants: Chen Zhi, Chen Liang, Chen Nianshao to the ancestral hall!”

It’s the last day of December.

Please, elders, give me your monthly votes.

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(End of chapter)