Chapter 7 Village Deities, No Match for the King's Law

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

Liu Zexi didn't sacrifice himself just to hang from the tree. His last thoughts weren't about family happiness or national peace.

He wanted revenge!

Revenge against those who put him in this situation!

Unable to avenge himself, he offered himself as a sacrifice to his powerful godmother, hoping she would take revenge for him!

And the county officers from New Township in front of him were his targets for revenge!

Chen Shi looked at the small temple in front of the tree. Inside, a little girl was sitting, happily eating the offerings, seemingly unaware of the scene outside.

The officer in charge couldn't see the little girl and instead focused on the ancient elm tree, sneering, "If the godmother plans to avenge Liu Zexi, then she stands against the New Township County Office and the Great Ming! Village deities are no match for the king's law. When the law of the Great Ming is enforced, flattening the godmother will be easy! Without her protection, everyone in Fangdian Village will be exposed to evil and doomed!"

Chen Shi was slightly shocked. This officer dared to threaten the godmother of Fangdian Village!

He glanced at the little girl again, who continued eating, seemingly unconcerned.

"Of course. The godmother of Fangdian Village knows what's more important: avenging Liu Zexi or protecting the other villagers," Chen Shi thought.

Seeing no movement from the ancient elm tree, the officer smiled slightly and asked, "Liu Zexi is dead, but even in death, taxes must be paid. That's the law. What about his family?"

A villager replied, "There's no one left. He had a son and a daughter, but the daughter was sold, and the son drowned while bathing in the river. His wife went mad after all this and wandered out of the village one day, never to be seen again. She's probably dead too."

The officer pondered for a moment, waved his hand, and said, "Once someone dies, their past mistakes are forgiven, but the taxes still need to be paid. Go, take anything valuable from Liu Zexi's house so we can report back."

The officers rushed into Liu Zexi's home, but it was so poor that they could only take some pots and pans, hoping to exchange them for some money.

Seeing this, the officer shook his head and said, "It's pitiful. This little money won't cover the deficit, and our master will have to use the office's money to make up for it. People think we officers are corrupt, but it's a huge misunderstanding!"

He sighed, stood up slowly, and said, "These taxes are collected by the Great Ming, not by us. If even a single copper coin ends up in our pockets, may I be struck by lightning! On the contrary, for these unpaid taxes, we and our master have to pay out of our own pockets, or we'll be guilty of deceiving the emperor! Don't panic, folks!"

He looked around and said with a smile, "You should just pay your taxes honestly and not think about using knives. Liu Sanyin, take the knife out of your pants before you accidentally cut something off!"

He walked through the villagers as if they were invisible and said loudly, "My brothers here have all passed the county exams and received blessings from the True God, cultivating Divine Fetus! You can't beat us, so why commit the crime of attacking officials? Put down your knives, let's talk!"

The officers behind him activated their Heavenly Heart True Qi Technique, creating divine altars behind their heads, each with a Divine Fetus sitting solemnly.

The villagers of Fangdian Village, looking defeated, silently put down their knives and axes.

The officer waved his hand, signaling the officers to collect taxes from each household, while he strolled over to Chen Shi and his grandfather's talisman stall.

Grandfather had already prepared the tax money and handed it over, saying, "Lord Lu, you're quite impressive."

The officer, named Lu Tiannan, clearly knew Grandfather well. He accepted the talisman tax and smiled, "Not at all, just doing my job for the court. Old Chen, you're still strong. I might have to collect talisman taxes from you for a few more years."

Suddenly, he caught a faint smell, wrinkled his nose, and thought, "That's the smell of a corpse!"

His eyes fell on Chen Shi, and his expression changed. "Old Chen, is this the child? The one who was the top child scholar in fifty provinces?"

Grandfather said nothing.

Lu Tiannan quickly stepped back a few steps, keeping a distance from Chen Shi, looking him up and down, and chuckled, "Amazing, Old Chen, truly amazing! You've stolen the secrets of heaven and done the impossible! But don't break the law, or you'll end up in my hands!"

He turned and left.

Chen Shi felt confused and asked, "This Six Doors seems to be afraid of me. Grandfather, was I really the top child scholar in fifty provinces?"

"There's no need to talk about the past."

Grandfather spread out yellow paper, took some cinnabar and a brush, while Chen Shi took a peachwood plaque and a jade embryo from the cart. Grandfather took out a knife and beckoned to Heiguo, who reluctantly came forward with a low whine, tail tucked.

"Slash."

Grandfather stabbed Heiguo, and Chen Shi quickly collected the black dog's blood in a small basin. After a while, Grandfather tossed Heiguo a piece of exotic beast meat, and Heiguo hid under the cart, eating the meat and licking its wound, both in pain and happiness.

The grandfather and grandson duo continued to draw and sell various talismans at the market.

The officers from New Township went door to door collecting taxes, causing chaos and panic in Fangdian Village, with cries occasionally heard, quite miserable.

Despite the hardships, there were still moments of happiness.

Many people still came to the talisman stall to buy talismans.

Chen Shi and Grandfather were busy for a long time, and suddenly Heiguo barked twice. Grandfather looked up at the sky, put down his brush, and said, "It's getting late, time to go."

Chen Shi looked up at the sky, seeing two suns in the sky, with no sign of the sun setting.

The grandfather and grandson packed up and rode their wooden cart out of the village. Chen Shi sat on the cart, looking at the small temple in front of the ancient elm tree. The girl inside remained quietly seated on the divine altar.

In Fangdian Village, the officers from New Township collected the taxes from each household and loaded them onto horse-drawn carts, filling four carts. Several officers were tying Armored Horse Talismans to the horses' legs to make them run faster.

"Hurry up! We need to get back to the county before dark!" Lu Tiannan urged loudly, "We have to visit other villages tomorrow!"

"Sir, it's still early, we can make it back. What's the rush?" an officer joked.

Lu Tiannan shook his head and said, "The countryside is different from the county. At night, there are no evils in the county, but there are many in the countryside. Although there aren't many evils that can threaten us, it's better to be safe than sorry. We might encounter one."

The wooden cart left Fangdian Village, and Grandfather sat on the cart, sorting the herbs bought at the market, which included poisonous snakes, insects, centipedes, and some suspicious-looking herbs.

Chen Shi felt uneasy, knowing these things were his dinner.

The cart traveled six or seven miles when Grandfather suddenly looked up at the sky, his expression changing, "Something's wrong! It's getting dark fifteen minutes earlier than usual!"

Chen Shi quickly looked up and saw the two suns in the sky slowly closing like eyelids, no longer perfectly round, becoming elongated!

This was the sign that the Heavenly True God was closing its eyes, and night was about to fall!

"Could it be that Heiguo reported the time fifteen minutes late?" Chen Shi looked at the black dog leading the way, suspicious.

Grandfather also looked at the black dog, "It's possible. The sun can't set fifteen minutes early, so Heiguo has to take the blame."

The black dog barked in protest, feeling wronged.

Chen Shi suggested, "Grandfather, this dog is useless, but its meat is still fresh."

Grandfather nodded, "If it reports the time wrong again, we'll have stew."

Heiguo tucked its tail, lamenting the hardships of being a dog.

In a short while, the sky was ablaze with fiery clouds. Despite their haste, the grandfather and grandson couldn't make it back to Yellow Slope Village.

Chen Shi looked around and suddenly pointed to the left side of the road, delighted, "There's a temple over there!"

Grandfather looked and indeed saw a small hill not far from the post road, with an ancient temple on it, quite dilapidated.

"Do you remember if there was a hill or a temple here when we came?" Grandfather suddenly asked.

Chen Shi thought back carefully and exclaimed, realizing that when they came, this was a flat area with no hill or temple!

It was as if the hill and temple had emerged from the ground!

Such a strange sight, he had never seen or heard of!

"We'll spend the night in the temple."

Grandfather fiddled with a compass, and the wooden cart wobbled up the hill.

The temple was in disrepair, with broken tiles, shattered blue bricks, collapsed gates, and broken stone pillars everywhere. The roof was full of holes, letting the wind through.

Grandfather took out brush, ink, paper, and a small knife. Heiguo obediently came forward, got stabbed again, and then took a piece of exotic beast meat to a corner, eating and licking its wound.

Chen Shi didn't help. He took some wooden nails from the cart, picked up wooden planks from the ground, and quickly blocked the broken doors and windows.

The door latch was rotten, but there was a huge stone outside the temple. Chen Shi went to the stone, planning to call Grandfather for help, but unexpectedly, he lifted the stone himself, finding it not as heavy as he thought. He moved the stone bit by bit into the temple, blocking the door.

He looked up at the broken temple roof, bent his knees, and jumped, almost reaching the roof's height!

Chen Shi was surprised but then calmed down, "If I can jump this high, I can land safely without worrying about falling to my death."

He placed his hand on a nearby pillar and slid down smoothly.

He gathered wood and finally patched the roof before dark.

Grandfather also finished drawing the Peachwood Talismans, hanging them on the doors, windows, and roof, then began to make "dinner." The so-called dinner was a pot of soup made by boiling the herbs bought during the day.

At this time, the sound of carts and horses came from outside. Chen Shi looked through the window and saw that the fiery sunset had disappeared, replaced by cold moonlight. Lu Tiannan and the officers were escorting four carts toward the temple.

"Boss, something's not right!"

An officer looked up and said, "The sun shouldn't have set this early! We can't make it back to the county office. Should we return to Fangdian Village?"

Although they were all Divine Fetus Stage cultivators, they had heard that the countryside nights were very dangerous, with some evils being extremely tricky, capable of easily killing Divine Fetus Stage cultivators.

Lu Tiannan was also worried but then saw the temple and smiled, "There's a temple over there. Let's rest there for the night and leave in the morning."

The officers agreed and drove the carts toward the temple.

Chen Shi stood by the window, watching clearly in the moonlight. He noticed a small figure had appeared behind the cart convoy, holding a bright red apple, eating while approaching the convoy.

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

Just as Chen Shi thought of this, he saw a guard in front of the apple-eating girl suddenly stiffen, as if his body was cramping, bending backward and trembling.

Then, with two popping sounds, sharp branches pierced through his chest, bringing with them sprays of blood.

"Enemy attack—"

Lu Tiannan reacted first, divine light swirling behind his head, forming a divine altar with a Divine Fetus sitting inside, True Qi circulating. But in the next moment, countless branches swayed, like black snakes in the moonlight, weaving through the air!

One branch was already at his forehead!

Lu Tiannan quickly retreated, feeling a sharp pain in his back, hearing the sound of bones breaking. He looked down to see bloody branches piercing through his chest!

"Too fast!"

Lu Tiannan's heart was pierced by the branches, blood rushing into his lungs and throat, pouring into his mouth.

He struggled to turn his head and saw the officers who came with him, some just summoning their divine altars, unable to use their Divine Fetus powers before being pierced by branches, and some only managing to run a few yards before being skewered by roots bursting from the ground!

Even the horses were pierced by the sudden branches and roots, dying instantly.

Lu Tiannan's throat gurgled, blood flowing from his mouth.

In the moonlight, dozens of Divine Fetus Stage officers and eight horses' bodies floated in front of the desolate temple, almost invisible without the moonlight, hidden by the black branches and roots.

The little girl walked on moonlight, weaving through the branches silently, without making a sound.

She came to Lu Tiannan, took a bite of the apple, and carefully examined his face.

"The godmother never abandons the wishes of her people, especially those who sacrifice themselves."

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

Countless branches retracted, and the officers' and horses' bodies fell to the ground with thuds.

—Thanks to the support of 360,000 coins from the Wind-Rising Reed Alliance Leader, Happy Dragon Boat Festival to the big boss!