Chapter 3: The City God is not here(1/2)
People in Yuyang always like to say that there are nine rivers in Yuyang, and God will never be hungry.
In fact, this is indeed the case.
The fish and shrimps on the street are extremely cheap, but occasionally Xu Tong will see some people kneeling by the river to set up an altar. The altar does not worship the Sanqing gods, but has the words "Tongtian Jiuhe Great Sage" written on it.
"Hey, another family!"
The wonton vendor on the roadside looked at the old man kneeling in front of the altar and cried, and couldn't help but sigh and murmured in a low voice.
"Have a bowl!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a noble young man appear in front of him, pointed at the wontons in the pot and said.
"Okay, please sit down!"
Seeing that the door-to-door hawkers were busy inviting people to sit down, but the visitors were also surprised. They waved their hands and did not intend to sit down. Instead, they pointed to the crying old man under the altar over there: "Why are you crying here?"
"Hi, you look like you're from out of town."
The vendor glanced at Xu Tong, then quickly took out a bowl of wontons, sprinkled a little salt on it and handed it to Xu Tong.
Xu Tong didn't feel his mouth was hot when he took it, so he held the bowl to his mouth and tasted it.
Although the taste is very ordinary, the filling is made of fish and the soup is stewed with fish soup. A little salt and sesame oil are sprinkled on it. The taste is not bad except that it is a bit pure.
While Xu Tong was eating, he listened to the vendor explain:
"This is to worship the river god. It is said that people rely on mountains and rivers to eat and drink. But my dear sir, how can I not get wet shoes when I often walk by the river? No, when fishing encounters wind and waves, the boat capsizes, and the people at home are afraid of their souls.
If he can't come back, he has to make an offering to the River God and ask the River God to let his son come back. Hey, pity this white-haired man and send him to a black-haired man, how difficult it is!"
I don’t know if it’s because the people in Yuyang are so poor in speech. A single sentence in a vendor’s mouth sounded like a storyteller.
"It was fine before, but in recent years, there have been floods every year, and accidents happen every month, which has made people panic. Some people say that the river god is asking for sacrifices from them, and the government's dog food stuff is still there.
What kind of river god department has been established? Every year, you have to pay the offering money to the river god. If you don't pay, you can't even try to fish. You just talk about it."
After finishing speaking, the hawker looked up: "Oh?? Human??"
When he looked again, he saw that the bowl was placed on the edge of the table, and two copper plates were missing from it.
"Well, I eat so fast!"
The vendor muttered, took the money, and continued to shout: "Chaos, such a big and delicious Chaos..."
"What a river god, he's just a river demon, taking this opportunity to collect incense!"
On the way, Da Ya kept complaining.
Of course, his tone was full of jealousy. Xu Tong believed that if he killed the river demon and asked her to become a river demon, even if she couldn't swim, she would never hesitate at all.
"More than that!"
Xu Tong looked at the river on the roadside and said that officials protected each other and officials and businessmen colluded.
But the official colluded with the monster. The official took the money, and the monster took the incense. This business was really profitable, but only the honest people suffered.
Just this matter, aren't you afraid that the people in Huntian Prison will know about it?
Huntianjian, the predecessor of Qintianjian, existed in all dynasties, but it was called by different names.
But after thinking about it, he found the answer from Li Zheng's memory.
Nowadays, the empress is old and her suspicions are getting worse. There are always some voices in the court asking the empress to abdicate and return her throne to the Li family.
The source of the sound was unknown, and no matter how hard the empress searched, she could not find out who was behind the scenes.
Whoever jumped out at this time would look particularly dazzling.
The more times like this, the more sensitive the status of Huntian Prison becomes.
Even though Huntianjian has kept a low profile as much as possible, behaved with his tail between his legs, and pretended to be confused as much as possible, he still lived on tenterhooks every day.
I was afraid that some heavenly book, stone, or celestial phenomenon would pop up that day, and they would have to interpret it.
If there is a slight mistake, even if there are no bones left, it is good. It may be possible for a whole family to be executed and even the nine clans involved can be killed.
At this time, Huntian Prison believed that one thing to do would be better than one thing to do less. He wished he could cover himself with a layer of invisibility cloak, so naturally he couldn't care about such trivial matters.
Don’t seek merit, but seek no faults.
I'm afraid that the officials in Yuyang took a fancy to this point and dared to collude with the river demon in such a big way to make money.
However, the matter of the river demon is not difficult for me, and I am not in a hurry.
Wandering down the street, along the street path, we came to the edge of the city wall.
When I looked up, I saw a small temple standing there.
The three words "City God's Hall" are written on the temple door.
Xu Tong used his Life Eye to take a look at the Qimen and found that the luck on the grounds of the City God's Temple was actually pretty good, but there was no one inside the temple.
There were a few fresh pancakes on the altar table, probably left by the mother and son just now. Apart from that, there were only a few moldy fruits.
Compared with the altar of the river demon that I just saw, the city god's life was a bit too miserable.
Even Da Ya found it unbelievable. How could a majestic city god, the leader of a single land, manage to get into such a land?
In fact, we can’t blame the City God for his miserable misfortune.
City God is the god of a city.
In charge of local land, mountain gods, ghosts and other things.
In Li Zheng's memory, the City God was originally only in the Jiangnan area, and his status was not high.
It wasn't until the imperial court published an article on "Sacrifice to the City God of Hongzhou" that Emperor Taizong issued an edict that the City God be conferred the title of "Huntian Supervisor of the State, the Minister of Civil Affairs was promoted to the Mingling King of Fuming, and became a first-class Duke."
The city gods of other state capitals were named "Inspection Bureau City God Wei Linggong" and were awarded the title of Second Grade.
The city god of the city is the third grade "Weilinghou, the city god of the inspector general".
The County God "Inspecting the Simin City God Xianyoubo" is the fourth grade.
After this, the status of the City God was officially confirmed and included in the ceremony.
From this we can see how important the imperial conferment is to those Shinto.
It is normal that Nanshen Kitaden will not be easily accepted for a while.
Moreover, in the hearts of Yuyang people, the City God is not as useful as the River God.
Even if they are canonized by the imperial court, after all, no matter how powerful the City God is, they can't control what happens in the river. But if they offend the River God, not only will they not be able to catch fish, but their lives will be in danger.
Xu Tong looked at the statue of the City God covered with cobwebs and took out the Beiyin Killing Order given by his master in his hand.
After the words fell, the Beiyin Killing Order in his hand began to glow with divine light, and the divine light shrouded the hall. Xu Tong discovered that there was an extra divine ring on top of his head.
This is a sign of divine power. It means that if you hold this order, you represent the Beiyin Spirit and can exercise part of the divine power.
"City God, come out and see me!"
Xu Tong shouted, and his voice was like a thunderbolt from the blue. The divine ring in his luck even emitted a golden light and hit the statue of the City God. As a result, Xu Tong waited for a long time, but did not see the City God appear.
"not at home??"
Xu Tong looked around and saw that the city god did not appear, and he suddenly began to murmur in his heart.
But then I thought about it and felt it wasn't quite right.
As the lord of a city, how could the City God not be at home?
Thinking of this, Xu Tong raised his voice and shouted: "City God, come out!"
A loud roar shook the roof of the house and caused wisps of green ash to fall down.
Finally, Xu Tong seemed to sense something. When he looked back, he saw an old beggar walking in with a cane.
The old beggar's eyes were dull and dull.
But the action was really nimble. As soon as he entered the door and saw the Beiyin Killing Order in Xu Tong's hand, he immediately knelt on the ground to pay homage to Xu Tong.
"The land of Yuyang, meet the envoy of Beiyin!"
Xu Tong looked at the beggar and saw the shadow of an old man emerging behind the beggar.
Apparently the landowner found a beggar to take advantage of, so he reluctantly came over to pay homage to him.
It's just that the land is a true god after all. Even if it is an inferior god, it is still a real god. It actually needs to borrow someone's body to appear. Xu Tong suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Are you from Yuyang Land? Let me ask you, where is the City God??"
"The little god is the land of Yuyang. As for the City God... he has not yet returned to his throne."
The land was in a dilemma. Although Emperor Taizong had consecrated the city god to a god a long time ago, the city god who took office stopped coming as soon as he heard that he was Yuyang.
As a result, even though the City God's Temple still exists, the position of the City God is in vain.
The land also sensed the aura of Beiyin's killing order and hurried over to explain the situation.
"The city god is not here!"
Xu Tong narrowed his eyelids. Sure enough, the task given by the master was not easy.
To be continued...