On the Avenue.

Chapter 8: Rural God's Authority is Not as Good as the King's Law

Everyone's eyes were on the ancient elm tree in the center of the village.

Liu Zexi sacrificed himself, and he certainly didn't want to be hanged under a tree. Before he died, he certainly didn't think about a happy family and a peaceful country.

But revenge!

Take revenge on those who have put you in this situation!

Since he is unable to take revenge, he will offer himself as a sacrifice to his powerful godmother and let her take revenge for him!
And these Xinxiang County government officials in front of him are his targets of revenge!

Chen Shi looked towards the small temple in front of the tree. The little girl in the temple was still sitting there, eating various offerings with relish, and ignoring this scene.

The head of the yamen runners could not see the little girl, but his eyes fell on the ancient elm tree, sneering: "If godmother intends to avenge Liu Zexi, then she is against the Xinxiang County government and the Ming Dynasty! The divine power in the countryside is not as good as the royal law. Once the royal law of the Ming Dynasty comes out, it will be easy to wipe out godmother! By then, Fangdian Village will have no godmother to protect it, and everyone will be exposed to the evil gaze, and there is no escape!"

Chen Shi's heart was slightly shocked. This chief of the yamen runners actually dared to threaten his godmother in Fangdian Village!

He looked at the little girl. The little girl in the temple was still eating the offerings, as if she didn't care about the situation at all.

"That's right. To avenge Liu Zexi or to protect other villagers in Fangdian Village, the godmother of Fangdian Village will naturally know which is more important." Chen Shixin thought.

The chief of the yamen runners saw that the old elm tree had not moved for a long time, so he smiled and asked, "Although Liu Zexi is dead, he still has to pay taxes. That's the law. What about the rest of his family?"

A villager said, "There is no one else. He originally had a son and a daughter, but the daughter was sold and the son went to the river to bathe and drowned. There was also a woman who became crazy and stupid after the incident. One day she left the village singing and dancing and disappeared. She must have died too."

The head of the yamen runners pondered for a moment, waved his hand, and said, "When a person dies, all matters are over. Past mistakes will not be pursued, but the tax still needs to be paid. Come, move out all the valuables in Liu Zexi's house so that we can report back when we go back."

A group of yamen runners rushed into Liu Zexi's home, but Liu Zexi's family was so poor that they had nothing but four walls. They had no choice but to move out some pots and pans, hoping to exchange them for some money.

The head of the yamen runners saw this and shook his head, saying, "It's pitiful. This little money may not be enough to fill the hole, and my master has to use the yamen's money to fill it up. People think that we are corrupt officials, but they don't know that it is a huge misunderstanding!"

He was full of emotion, and slowly stood up and said, "This tax is what the Ming Dynasty wants to collect. What does it have to do with our government? If even one copper coin of the taxes we collect falls into our pockets, we will be struck by lightning! On the contrary, for these taxes that cannot be collected, we and the master will have to pay them out of our own pockets, otherwise we will be guilty of deceiving the emperor! Fellow villagers, don't panic!"

He looked around and said with a smile, "You should just pay your taxes honestly and don't be so quick to resort to violence. Liu Sanyin, take out the knife from your crotch. Be careful that the knife slips and cuts off your bird!"

He ignored the villagers and walked through them, saying loudly: "My brothers are all scholars who have participated in the county examination and have been blessed by the true God to become divine fetuses! You can't beat us, so why do you commit the crime of usurping an official position? Put down your swords, all of you. Let's talk it out nicely!"

The yamen runners behind him activated the Tianxin Zhengqi Jue one by one, and divine light lingered behind their heads, forming shrines about a foot high. In the shrines, there were divine fetuses sitting, looking solemn and dignified.

The villagers of Fangdian Village looked dejected and silently put down their kitchen knives and axes.

The chief of the yamen runners waved his hand and ordered the runners to collect taxes from every household, while he walked to the talisman stall of Chen Shi and his grandson.

Grandpa had already prepared the tax money and sent it over, saying, "Lord Lu is so impressive."

The chief of the yamen runners was named Lu Tiannan, who was obviously familiar with Grandpa. He took the tax and said with a smile, "I dare not, I am just doing things for the court. Old Chen is in good health, I am afraid I will have to collect tax money from you for a few more years."

Suddenly, he smelled a faint stench, and couldn't help but sniff his nose, thinking: "It's the stench of a corpse!"

His eyes fell on Chen Shi, his face suddenly changed, and he said, "Mr. Chen, is this the child? The most talented scholar in the fifty provinces back then?"

Grandpa didn't say anything.

Lu Tiannan hurriedly stepped back a few steps, distanced himself from Chen Shi, looked Chen Shi up and down, and laughed, "Great, Mr. Chen, you are really great! You have accomplished something impossible, such as stealing the secrets of heaven and earth! But don't break the law, or you'll fall into my hands!"

He turned and left.

Chen Shi was puzzled and said, "This Six Gates seems to be very afraid of me. Grandpa, I used to be the top scholar in fifty provinces?"

"Why bring up the past again?"

Grandpa spread out the yellow paper, took out the cinnabar and the inkstone, and Chen Shi took the mahogany plaque and the jade embryo from the cart. Grandpa took out the knife, waved his hand, and motioned Hei Guo to come forward. Hei Guo whined in grievance and came forward with his tail between his legs.

"Pfft."

Grandpa stabbed Hei Guo, and Chen Shi immediately took out a small basin to collect the black dog's blood. After a while, Grandpa threw a piece of exotic beast meat to Hei Guo. Hei Guo held the meat in his mouth and hid under the car, eating the meat and licking his wound from time to time, feeling pain and happiness.

The grandfather and grandson were at the market, drawing various talismans and selling them.

The yamen runners of Xinxiang County collected taxes from every household, causing chaos in Fangdian Village. People were in panic and cries could be heard from time to time, which was quite miserable.

Even if there are thousands of sufferings, there will always be times of happiness.

There are still many people coming to the talisman stall to buy talismans.

Chen Shi and Grandpa were busy for a long time. Suddenly, Hei Guo called out twice. Grandpa looked up at the sky, put down his pen and said, "It's getting dark. It's time to go."

Chen Shi looked up at the sky. The sun was high in the sky with no sign of setting.

The grandfather and grandson packed up and got on a wooden cart to drive out of the village. Chen Shi sat in the cart and looked at the small temple in front of the ancient elm tree. The girl in the temple was still sitting on the shrine, very quiet.

In Fangdian Village, the Xinxiang County yamen runners collected the taxes paid by each household and loaded them onto four horse-drawn carts. Several yamen runners were tying armor and horse amulets on the horses' legs to make them run faster.

"Pack up quickly! Return to the county town before dark!" Lu Tiannan urged loudly, "We have to go to other villages tomorrow!"

"Sir, it's still early and you can go back in time. Why are you in such a hurry?" a bailiff said with a smile.

Lu Tiannan shook his head and said, "This countryside is different from the county town. There are no evil spirits in the county town at night, but there are many of them in the countryside. Although there are only a few kinds of evil spirits that can threaten us, it is better to be safe than sorry, as we might encounter them."

The wooden cart drove out of Fangdian Village. Grandpa sat on the cart and sorted the medicinal herbs bought at the market. They were all poisonous creatures like snakes, insects, ants, centipedes, and some herbs that looked unsafe.

Chen Shi felt scared as he looked at these things, because these things were his dinner.

The wooden cart traveled six or seven miles when Grandpa suddenly looked up at the sky and said with a change of expression, "No! It's getting dark a quarter of an hour earlier than before!"

Chen Shi looked up quickly, and saw the two suns in the sky slowly closing like eyelids. They were no longer round, but had become elongated!

This is the sign that the True God from outer space is closing his eyes and night is about to fall!
"Could it be that Black Pot was late reporting the incident a quarter of an hour?" Chen Shi looked at the black dog leading the way in front of the car and asked suspiciously. Grandpa also looked at the black dog and said, "It's possible. The sun can't set a quarter of an hour earlier, so Black Pot has to take the blame."

The black dog barked in grievance to express his dissatisfaction.

Chen Shi suggested: "Grandpa, this dog is useless, but the meat is still fresh."

Grandpa nodded and said, "Next time if you give the wrong time, you will have to eat the stew."

The black pot has its tail between its legs, lamenting the difficulty of life as a dog.

In just a moment, the sky was already filled with flames, and the flames formed a sunset glow that stretched for thousands of miles. Although the grandfather and grandson hurried as fast as they could, they still couldn't get back to Huangpo Village in time.

Chen Shi looked around and suddenly pointed to the left side of the road and said happily: "There is a temple over there!"

Grandpa looked and saw that there was indeed a small hill not far from the post road. On the hillside there was an ancient temple, which was very dilapidated.

"Do you remember whether there was this hillside and this ancient temple when we came here?" Grandpa suddenly asked.

Chen Shi recalled carefully and exclaimed, when they came here, it was clearly a flat land, and there was no ancient temple on the hillside!

This mountain seems to have emerged from the ground!
It looks like the ancient temple was buried underground together with the mountain, and the mountain grew, pushing the ancient temple and the top of the mountain out!
He had never seen or heard of such a strange thing!

"Let's go spend the night at the ancient temple."

Grandpa fiddled with the compass as the wooden cart wobbled up the hill.

The temple had fallen into disrepair over the years, with broken tiles and bricks scattered all over the ground, as well as collapsed gatehouses and broken stone pillars. The temple's roof was also riddled with holes and leaked air everywhere.

Grandpa took out writing brush, ink, paper, and a knife. Hei Guo stepped forward obediently and was stabbed. Then, with tears in his eyes, he held a piece of exotic beast meat in his mouth and found a corner. He ate the meat slowly and licked his wound.

Chen Shi did not go to help. He took out some wooden nails from the car, picked up the wooden boards on the ground, and quickly blocked the broken doors and windows one by one.

The bolt had rotted, but there was a huge rock outside the temple. Chen Shi came to a huge rock weighing hundreds of pounds and was about to call his grandfather for help. Unexpectedly, he lifted the rock with his own strength and it was not as heavy as he had imagined. Chen Shi immediately lifted the rock into the temple bit by bit and blocked the temple door.

He looked up at the ruined roof of the temple, bent his legs, and jumped up. The next moment he was almost as high as the temple roof!

Chen Shi was startled, but then calmed down: "If I can jump so high, I can land safely. There is no need to worry about falling to death."

He placed his palms on the pillar next to him and slid down smoothly using the pillar.

He collected wood and finally patched the hole in the temple roof before dark.

Grandpa also drew peach charms and hung them on the doors, windows and the roof of the temple, and then started to make a fire to "cook". The so-called meal was a pot of soup made with the medicinal herbs bought during the day.

At this time, there was a noise of carriages and horses outside. Chen Shi looked through the window and saw that the fiery sunset in the sky had disappeared, and the moonlight was shining coldly. Lu Tiannan and other yamen runners were escorting four carriages towards this side.

"Boss, something's wrong!"

A yamen runner looked up and said, "The sun shouldn't set so early! We can't make it back to the county government in time. Should we retreat back to Fangdian Village?"

Although everyone was a cultivator who had cultivated to the Divine Embryo Realm, they had also heard that the nights in the countryside were extremely dangerous, with several types of evil spirits that could easily kill a cultivator in the Divine Embryo Realm.

Lu Tiannan was also a little worried, and suddenly saw the dilapidated temple, and said with a smile: "There is a temple over there, let's go in and rest first, and leave tomorrow morning."

The yamen runners agreed and drove the carriage towards the ruined temple.

Chen Shi stood by the window and saw clearly in the moonlight. He saw a thin figure appear behind the carriage team at some point. He was holding a red apple in his hand and was eating it while approaching the team.

"The godmother of Fangdian Village, the little girl in the temple!"

Just as Chen Shi was thinking this, he saw a yamen runner in front of the little girl eating the apple suddenly stiffen his body, as if he had a cramp, and his body bent backwards and trembled.

Then with two "pu pu" sounds, sharp branches pierced through his chest, leaving behind flowers of blood.

"Enemy attack——"

Lu Tiannan was the first to react. A divine light swirled behind his head, forming a shrine. The divine fetus sat in the shrine, and his true energy was circulating. But the next moment, he saw countless branches swaying, and under the moonlight, they were like black poisonous snakes, spreading and shuttling in the air!
One of the branches has reached his forehead!
Lu Tiannan stepped back hastily, feeling a sudden sharp pain in his back and the sound of broken bones. He looked down and saw blood-stained branches bursting out of his chest!

"too fast!"

Lu Tiannan's heart was pierced by the branch, and blood quickly rushed into his lungs, throat, and into his mouth.

He twisted his neck with difficulty, and saw that some of the yamen runners who followed him had just come out of the shrine, and before they could mobilize the power of the divine fetus, they were pierced through the body by branches, while others only had time to run a few feet before being pierced by a dozen roots that had grown out of the ground!

Even the fine horses were pierced through the bodies by the suddenly appearing branches and roots, and died instantly.

Lu Tiannan's throat gurgled and blood gushed out of his mouth.

Under the moonlight, the corpses of dozens of Divine Embryo Realm runners and eight horses floated in front of a ruined temple on a desolate mountain. If it weren't for the moonlight, the black branches and roots would be almost invisible.

The little girl walked on the moonlight, moving quietly between the branches without making any sound.

She came to Lu Tiannan, took a bite of the apple, and looked at Lu Tiannan's face carefully.

"Godmother will not give up the wishes of any of her subjects, especially those who sacrifice themselves."

The little girl nodded gently, "It was indeed you, I didn't kill the wrong person."

Countless branches contracted, and corpses of yamen runners and horses fell from the sky, hitting the ground with a thud.

——Thanks to the support of 36 points from the leader of Fengqi Luwei. Happy Dragon Boat Festival~

(End of this chapter)