When the Great Dao Dies, I Remain; When Spiritual Energy Withers, I Endure

The daughter of Mr. Zhou was born beautiful and gentle, and was the favorite of many young men in Linwu County.

Such an ending is a pity.

It was originally a case of missing mandarin ducks, but it turned into a case of a tiger eating people.

If it comes back, Mr. Zhou would rather the two of them leave and not die in the tiger's belly.

The county magistrate was also full of emotion when he told everyone about this matter. When he spoke, he asked the store owner to move a chair and sat with the five people.

Li Changxiao heard this story and drank a few glasses of wine, and his eyes flashed with a strange color.

Linwu County was rampant with tigers, so people who had the ability to kill tigers were respected very much. Even if he was a county magistrate, he was proud to be on good terms with them.

Hearing that several people were drinking here, the county magistrate hurried over. The story he just told was just to quickly get closer so that he could join the drinking party.

The county magistrate didn't notice until he sat down that there was also a swordsman in white.

The two looked at each other and nodded with a smile, which was considered a greeting.

The county magistrate laughed, raised his glass, and was about to toast a few people. He was indeed a scholar, and he spoke well, and they soon became friends.

After a glass of wine, he waved his hand and said that he had invited the wine party this time, and the tiger-hunting hero of Linwu County should not be allowed to spend money.

After this, the four people were immediately impressed by the county magistrate's demeanor and felt flattered.

Li Changxiao saw it and smiled, thinking that it was no wonder that this person could serve as a county magistrate and govern Linwu County in an orderly manner. His methods were really extraordinary.

"Brother Liu, your county is so seriously plagued by tigers, so what do you do when you go out on weekdays?" Li Changxiao suddenly asked.

Liu Biao is the oldest person in the four-man tiger-hunting team. He has an ordinary appearance, a short stature, but his whole body is full of tendons.

Liu Biao has not spoken yet.

The county magistrate answered, "Of course, we rely on the land lord."

"Our county is surrounded by mountains. There is an unwritten rule that the first, middle and last three days of each month are the activity days of the land lord."

"During this period, there will be fewer tigers on the road to other counties. Generally speaking, caravans from other counties will take this time to enter our county to do business."

"At other times, if we want to go out, it is not impossible, but the probability of encountering evil tigers on the road is not low."

"However, if you go to the land temple before going out and worship the land lord, even if you encounter an evil tiger, it is not a dead end."

The county magistrate said this and sighed. The incidents of evil tigers injuring and eating people in Linwu County often happened, and he had no way to deal with it.

The county magistrate seemed to have thought of something, and then said: "The mandarin ducks that died left in a hurry because they eloped, and they did not worship the land god in advance."

"If they had worshipped in advance and had the protection of the land god, this tragedy would not have happened."

Li Changxiao felt strange. He learned from these people that the land god should not be a simple superstition, but really played a role.

...

The restaurant dispersed.

Li Changxiao found an inn by himself. After sleeping for a night, he went to the counter to refund the money because the inn was leaking and the bed was moldy. Under such conditions, it was better to sleep on the street.

In the early morning, everything revived. He went to the morning market in Linwu County. Although it was a remote place, the local customs and habits here were quite unique.

He saw an aunt carrying a basket of black reptiles and selling them in the market.

What was outrageous was that in less than a moment, they were all snatched up. Li Changxiao thought they were going to buy them and fry them, but the next second, a little girl grabbed a black reptile and put it into her mouth to chew and swallow it.

A crunching sound was heard.

After walking a few steps, there were people buying mung bean cakes, clear soup noodles, etc.

After walking around, Li Changxiao found that the funeral industry here was particularly developed, and the rare cave burial was adopted.

The so-called cave burial is to dig a hole on the cliff and put the coffin in.

Because there was a serious tiger problem here, they had tried to bury the body, but the body was dug out by the vicious tiger and was eaten to pieces.

No one wants their relatives to be restless after death.

After walking a few steps.

They came across some incense shops. Li Changxiao walked into one of them, bought two incense sticks, and then asked the shop owner how to get to the land temple.

The shopkeeper pointed the way enthusiastically, and then, seeing that Li Changxiao was a foreigner, he told him some taboos.

First, the land god doesn't like to be disturbed, so he should leave quickly after burning incense and not stay for long.

Second, you can't stare at the land temple for more than three seconds.

According to the shopkeeper, Li Changxiao walked out of Linwu County and walked towards a mountain on the west side.

Because this road is often visited by people, the soil has been trampled tightly, so it is not difficult to walk. However, the land temple is built halfway up the mountain, and the journey up the mountain is a bit strenuous.

After walking for a long time, Li Changxiao was sure that he had arrived at the location, but he didn't see the tall temple with incense like the Hemu Temple in his imagination.

He only saw a small temple that was only half a person tall and made of yellow mud bricks.

It's just that this inconspicuous little temple has taken all the incense of the entire Linwu County.

The moment he saw this temple.

Li Changxiao's doubts were instantly solved.

It turns out...

It's a wild god.

There are gods in mountains and rivers.

Only when the court recognizes and confers the title of god, and the Qingming Festival is held, can it be considered an orthodox god.

And this temple.

It has none of the three.

In fact, there are not many requirements for an orthodox land temple. As long as it is recorded in the county annals, it can be considered as Qingming Festival.

And this kind of land temple is not built halfway up the mountain, but only at the foot of the mountain or the head of the village, so that it is convenient for worship.

It is unlikely that someone would build it halfway up the mountain, and every time they burn incense, they have to cross mountains and ridges, which is troublesome for themselves.

This shows that this small temple is not from a proper place.

In other words, this temple is not actually a land temple, but a rural wild temple that is not orthodox and comes from nowhere.

Generally speaking, no one dares to worship this kind of small temple with unknown origins and set up in such a remote place.

Because they don’t know what will happen to them.

Li Changxiao walked around the small temple. Because the temple is small, it only took three or two steps.

If there were people from Linwu County here, they would definitely scold him for disrespecting the gods. I’m afraid he will never leave this county in this life, otherwise he will be buried in the tiger’s mouth.

This temple is very small, with statues of gods placed inside, and right in front of the temple is a large conical mound of earth, which is full of incense sticks.

Incense ash fell on the pile of earth and mixed with the sand, while the floating incense floated into the small wild temple.

The mist made it difficult to see the land statue inside.

Muqin and his apprentice were not the only ones who wanted to study incense, but not everyone had her ability to build such a large-scale temple and collect incense in almost an entire continent.

Li Changxiao estimated that the owner of this wild temple was also a monk.

And if he was not wrong...

His statue was enshrined inside.

Li Changxiao reached into the land temple, grabbed the land statue inside, and pulled it out of the small temple.

It felt rough, not a golden body, but a clay body made of clay.

However, due to the influence of incense for many years, the surface of the clay body was a little black.

The head of the clay body was wrapped in a piece of white cloth. Li Changxiao lifted the white cloth and finally saw its true appearance.

It was 70% similar to the county magistrate who drank with him yesterday.