127: Chapter 127 Liu Dianshi Invokes the Gods

In Qin Family Village, inside the shrine.

Qin Ling, having opened his eyes, heard the commotion outside.

Gongs and drums were beating, suonas were playing, and the crowd was bustling with noise.

He stood up from the shrine, silently passed through the temple gate, and hovered above the village.

Concealing his figure, no one could see him.

He lowered his head and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

He saw that on the dirt road outside the village entrance, a long procession was surging majestically toward this side.

At the very front of the procession were gongs and drums clearing the way. Two strong men carried a large gong, striking it with every step they took, and the sound of "Clang" made the wild flowers on the roadside tremble.

Following behind was a team of suonas, playing a tune he had never heard before, high-pitched and resonant, as if they wanted to pierce a hole in the sky.

Further behind were banners—red, yellow, and purple—flapping loudly in the wind.

Behind the banners, eight people were carrying a gigantic divine statue, walking steadily.

That divine statue was too tall—more than twice as tall as the one in the Qin Family Village temple. Seated on an eight-bearer sedan frame, it looked like a moving small hill.

The divine statue was crafted from pear wood, glowing with radiant colors in the sunlight.

The patterns on the robes were meticulous; from the neckline to the hem, every single fold was carved lifelike.

His hands hung by his sides, fingers slender and fingertips slightly parted.

His chin was slightly tucked, the corners of his mouth calm, and his gaze lowered.

Looking at that divine statue, Qin Ling recognized that this was himself.

Behind the divine statue followed a multitude of commoners.

Almost all of them held offerings in their hands.

They were not the dried fish, coarse grain, and wild fruits of Qin Family Village, but whole roasted pigs, entire jars of rice wine, steamed buns piled up like small hills, pastries wrapped in red paper, and silk fabrics packed in brocade boxes.

Qin Ling had never seen such things in Qin Family Village; throughout the entire Guanhai County, only the county town could pull off such a display.

The merchants, gentry, and wealthy households in the county town had all donated money to carve the statue of Lord Qinling, so one by one they had joined the procession to invite the deity.

At the entrance of Qin Family Village, beneath the Old Locust Tree.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang stood there leaning on a cane, with Qin Yin and Qin Mo standing behind him, and further behind were the villagers of Qin Family Village.

That gong-beating and drum-beating procession had already surged over from the dirt road. At the very front walked a middle-aged man wearing official robes, which were slate-blue with egrets embroidered on the buzi badge.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang narrowed his eyes and watched for a moment. When the man approached, he cupped his hands, bowed, and said,

"This old man is Qin Zongliang, village chief of Qin Family Village."

"This official is the clerk of Guanhai County."

Clerk Liu cupped his hands in return, his waist bent almost as much as Village Chief Qin Zongliang's.

If it were any other village chief, he wouldn't have been this polite, but who made this village chief the chief of Qin Family Village!

After all, Lord Qinling also shared the surname Qin!

Clerk Liu straightened up with a smile on his face.

"This official has come today to invite the deity for the county town, hoping to invite Lord Qinling back to the county town's temple for worship. I ask Village Chief Qin to lead the way to the temple."

Village Chief Qin Zongliang's hand paused for a moment.

The county town had come to invite the deity?

He had seen many who came to invite the deity: Zhou Ping from Zhou Family Village, Village Chief Wang Deshun from Wangjia Village, Village Chief Sun Mancang from Sunjiagou Village, and villagers from Liuhe Village.

Those were all villages that invited the deity back from Qin Family Village to be enshrined in their village temples.

Yet this time, those coming to invite the deity were none other than Guanhai County's county town!

However, very quickly, Village Chief Qin Zongliang returned to normal.

After all, Lord Qinling was worthy of worship everywhere; what was a mere county town in comparison?

Village Chief Qin Zongliang stepped aside, extended his hand toward the direction of the temple gate, and said,

"Lord Clerk, please."

Clerk Liu straightened up, nodded at Village Chief Qin Zongliang, and strode toward the village.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang followed behind him, his cane tapping with a steady thud.

Qin Yin and Qin Mo followed behind Village Chief Qin Zongliang.

The commoners from the county town followed behind Clerk Liu. Those carrying the divine statue, holding the banners, beating the gongs and drums, and holding the offerings crowded the narrow dirt road of Qin Family Village to the brim.

Both sides of the road were packed with villagers from Qin Family Village. A little girl sat on a man's neck, clutching a tree branch in her hand, looking down at the people who had come from the county town.

They wore clothes she had never seen before and held offerings she had never witnessed on the offering table of Lord Qinling.

Women stood at their doorways, watching those people walk past their front doors.

Watching the whole roasted pigs, entire jars of rice wine, steamed buns piled up like small hills, pastries wrapped in red paper, and silk fabrics packed in brocade boxes pass before her eyes one by one.

The temple gate was right ahead, its threshold worn smooth and shiny by countless pairs of feet.

Clerk Liu stopped at the temple entrance, straightened his collar, and tidied his cuffs.

Stepping across the threshold, his boot soles treading on the chilly stone bricks, he raised his head.

The divine statue of Lord Qinling was seated behind the offering table.

It was made of elm wood, without gold lacquer or colored paint.

It wasn't ornate, unlike the twelve-foot-tall pear-wood divine statue he had spent so much silver to have carved.

But sitting there quietly, it nevertheless evoked a sense of piety in people.

Clerk Liu's eyes lit up.

So this was the original divine statue of Lord Qinling!

He had seen the divine statue of Lord Qinling hanging at the top of the canopy like a golden sun, illuminating the entire Guanhai County as bright as day.

He had witnessed Lord Qinling severing the towering Evil Tree with a sword, saving all the commoners of Guanhai County.

Now the divine statue of Lord Qinling was right in front of him.

Clerk Liu bent down, his knees touching the cold stone bricks—his right knee first, then his left knee.

He knelt on the rush mat with his head lowered, pulled three sticks of incense from beside the incense burner, lit them with the candle flame, and inserted them into the incense burner.

He kowtowed, his forehead touching the stone bricks.

At this moment, Qin Ling had already returned inside the shrine, tucking his hands into his sleeves and looking down at Clerk Liu who was kneeling and offering incense.

This was the village merger arranged by Clerk Liu, which had successfully incorporated the three villages that worshipped him into his jurisdiction.

Yet in a flash, Clerk Liu had personally led the deity-inviting procession to Qin Family Village to invite the deity for the county town.

[incense points + 3]

Looking at the incense points that popped up after Clerk Liu kowtowed and offered incense, Lord Qinling raised an eyebrow.

He hadn't expected that Clerk Liu truly and piously believed in him.

Next, the procession from the county town poured into the temple and the courtyard.

The eight people carrying the divine statue placed the twelve-foot-tall pear-wood divine statue in the center of the courtyard, facing directly toward the temple gate.

Those holding the banners planted them on both sides of the courtyard wall, the ones beating gongs and drums stopped, and the people holding the offerings placed the roasted pigs, rice wine, steamed buns, pastries, and silk fabrics one by one beside the offering table.

The deity-inviting procession from the county town knelt all over the ground, stretching from the temple hall all the way out into the courtyard.

No one spoke; there was only the sound of foreheads touching the stone bricks and the rustling sound of clothing rubbing together.

Clerk Liu straightened up and stood, took two steps back, turned around from in front of that divine statue of Lord Qinling, and faced the kneeling commoners.

That pear-wood divine statue was still placed on the sedan frame, waiting to be invited into the county town's temple.

He took a deep breath, and then shouted in a clear, resonant voice, as if trying to roar out the loudest sound of his life.

"Invite the deity——!"