Chapter 477: Is My Mother a Clever One?

"My great‑aunt really has a belly full of twisted reasoning!"

Wang Ping'an couldn't help but sigh inwardly, realizing that what his great‑aunt said was actually quite reasonable.

Treat everyone equally?

He didn't know whether other deities treated everyone equally, nor did he want to find out, after all his previous life was in an atheistic world.

Even though he was reborn this life, especially after seeing his great‑uncle become a god, which made it clear that deities exist in this world, getting him to worship any deity was almost impossible.

He would not pay much attention to the deities until they came into conflict with him.

However.

He actually thought his great‑aunt was right; his great‑uncle had just become the Lion Ridge Mountain God, and under no circumstances could he treat everyone equally.

Don't be fooled by his great‑uncle becoming the Lion Ridge Mountain God; today's ceremony for the Lion Ridge Mountain God's ascension—also his inauguration—was especially lively, with villagers from the surrounding villages of Shizi Ling coming to attend.

Yet many still didn't come!

Let alone whether those villagers attending the grand ceremony sincerely believed in his great‑uncle.

He wasn't sure, but he was certain that perhaps only a few villagers of Zhang Family Village truly believed in his great‑uncle.

More than that, their own village took pride in having a mountain god and wanted to reap benefits from his great‑uncle.

Seeking benefits is acceptable; regardless of the deity, to obtain incense offerings, if one cannot provide benefits to the believers, few people will worship them.

Of course.

It is precisely this situation that gives rise to many evil gods.

If his great‑uncle wants to remain a stable Lion Ridge Mountain God, he must let the nearby villagers know the benefits of worshipping him.

He also needs to differentiate benefits according to the degree of belief.

So that the followers who already believe in his great‑uncle become even more devoted, while the non‑believing villagers, envious of the followers' benefits, gradually come to worship his great‑uncle.

In his mind, myriad distracting thoughts surfaced; the more Wang Ping'an thought, the more he admired his great‑aunt. His peripheral vision caught the smug expression at the corner of his mother's mouth, and a flash of insight flickered in his mind, and he said oddly:

"Wait a moment—could it be that my mother is involved in this matter?"

These past days, he had occasionally noticed that his great‑aunt would, when no one was around, go to his mother. His mother didn't keep him, but handed him to his grandmother and slipped away with his great‑aunt.

This incident might very well involve his mother.

"Mother, I understand!"

Zhang Chengze looked at his mother in surprise; he hadn't expected her to launch into a long‑winded argument, and although the reasoning seemed twisted, it at least convinced him. Yet it was completely unlike his mother's usual manner. His peripheral vision caught Liu Dongzhu's smug look, and a flash of insight sparked in his mind, prompting him to ask:

"Mother, these words weren't taught to you by Dongzhu, were they?"

"Look at the nonsense you're spouting—can't it just be something I thought myself?" Li Ping snorted in displeasure, glancing at Zhang Chengze, Zhang Chengyong, and Zhu Lancui, all of whom wore strange expressions, clearly unconvinced. She said plainly, without hiding anything:

"These were all discussed between me and Dongzhu; of course, most of them were Dongzhu's ideas. At most I merely relay Dongzhu's words!"

Liu Dongzhu suppressed the smug look deep in her eyes and humbly said, "Not at all, I just offered a casual suggestion; many of them were actually thought up by you, great‑aunt!"

"Many were thought up by my mother; Dongzhu, can you tell me which ones were my mother's ideas?"

Zhang Chengze chuckled, ignoring Li Ping's hostile gaze, watching Liu Dongzhu regain her former cheerfulness, and inwardly could not help but mutter that Wang Ruhai was a scoundrel.

Even though Wang Ruhai was his own cousin, he also treated Liu Dongzhu as his own cousin; seeing Wang Ruhai commit such despicable acts made him especially pained for his own cousin.

However, he also knew that mentioning Wang Ruhai in front of Liu Dongzhu—whether insulting or otherwise—would reopen Liu Dongzhu's wounds, so no matter how much he pities his cousin, he couldn't comfort Liu Dongzhu.

He could only hope that Liu Dongzhu would recover on her own!

"Sister Dongzhu, you're the brainiac of our big family!"

Zhang Chengyong flattered her with a line, his eyes clearly seeing Zhang Guilian inside the Mountain God Temple, surrounded by a crowd, followed by villagers from nearby villages who had come for his father's ascension ceremony, her face full of concealed disgust, and she said:

"Sister Dongzhu, can you drive her away?"

Liu Dongzhu was momentarily stunned, then recovered, and followed Zhang Chengyong's pointing finger, instantly spotting Zhang Guilian, realizing that Zhang Chengyong wanted to drive away Zhang Guilian, and she frowned, saying:

This novel you...

"Chengyong, what nonsense are you spouting? She's our second aunt; how could we drive her away?"

She doesn't like Zhang Guilian; even though in recent days Zhang Guilian has tried hard to please her, she can never forget how, when they first met not long ago, Zhang Guilian coldly mocked her. Moreover, she's not stupid; she can see that Zhang Guilian's deliberate flattery is just to get her to plead on her uncle's behalf.

To make her uncle spare the Du family father and son!

Regarding the monstrous deeds of the Du father and son, not only her uncle's family but even she, if she weren't wary of Zhang Guilian, the second aunt, would have suggested cutting off the Du father and son's heads.

So that no one later offends the Du father and son or steals her uncle's Mountain God Token.

Only that.

Dislike is dislike, but she knows her uncle is sentimental; even though Zhang Guilian has done many wrongs, she cannot drive her away, not even propose the idea.

"Chengyong, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Li Ping's face darkened; regarding this brother's sister she also held many grievances. Ever since the Du family rose to power, Zhang Guilian has often given her the cold shoulder, completely forgetting who helped their family rise, but Zhang Guilian is unkind, she cannot be unjust, she said in a harsh tone:

"She's your second aunt, and today is your father's ascension ceremony; if you drive her away like that, do you think your father will even prepare the ceremony, or will he come over to deal with you?"

It's not that she's magnanimous and can't compare with someone like Zhang Guilian; she's mainly afraid that De Ben would suffer, otherwise she would make Zhang Guilian know that Li Ping is not to be trifled with.

"Mother, even if it means facing my father's wrath today, I must drive her away!"

Zhang Chengyong glared at Zhang Guilian in the distance; even though she was far away, he could fully infer what she was saying and, angry, said:

"Do you know that these past days she's often cursed my father and our family in front of others, speaking ill of us? The people of Zhang Family Village won't believe her nonsense.

But this time, many outsiders came to attend my father's ascension ceremony, and she, taking advantage of being my father's sister, uses that status to speak these slanders; who knows if those people believe her nonsense!"

(End of Chapter)