133: Chapter 133 Inviting the Gods of the Five Villages

After meticulous preparations by the five villages, the day for the Five Villages Enshrine the God finally arrived.

Before dawn, the commoners of the five villages had already set out, arriving early at the county town.

In fact, they were not even part of the enshrinement processions of these five villages; heading to the county town early was simply because they wanted to participate in this grand enshrinement ceremony of the five villages.

The county town gates were already packed with people.

Not only had the commoners from the villages enshrining the god today come, but even the commoners from the villages that had already enshrined Lord Qinling had come as well.

None of them wanted to miss this grand enshrinement of the five villages.

Village Chief Qin Zongliang stood at the city gate leaning on a cane, with the villagers of Qin Family Village behind him.

A little girl was riding on a man's neck, clutching a seashell in her hand, tilting her head up to look at the stream of people pouring in from outside the city.

Zhou Ping and Zhou Hu stood beside Village Chief Qin Zongliang, with the villagers of Zhou Family Village behind him.

Nowadays, Zhou Ping, Zhou Hu, and the villagers of Zhou Family Village were all a bit more filled out compared to before, no longer as emaciated as they used to be.

Of course, this was all thanks to the blessing of Lord Qinling.

With the protection of Lord Qinling, their village now returned with a full cargo almost every time they went out to sea.

Village Chief Wang Deshun, Village Chief Sun Mancang, and the commoners from their two villages stood further back.

The sun climbed higher and higher, and the county town grew livelier.

Both sides of the street were packed with people, some locals from the county town, and others who had rushed over from various villages.

Children darted back and forth through the crowd, only to be scolded and stopped by adults, resting for a short while before darting around again.

Food vendors pushed their carts out from the alleys, their cries rising and falling in succession.

Wontons, noodles, sesame flatbreads, and candied haws—things that had vanished for a long time during the Disaster of the Evil Tree—had popped up once again.

Someone bought a stick of candied haws and held it up, the sugar syrup glistening in the sunlight.

A child tilted their head up to look, swallowing saliva, while an adult smiled and handed the candied haws over.

The county town had returned to the liveliness it had before the Disaster of the Evil Tree.

The street in front of the temple was bustling with noise and excitement, as Qin Yin and Qin Mo walked forward following the crowd.

Pei Se walked ahead, her steps faster than theirs, the wine gourds at her waist clinking and clanking together.

Her nose twitched twice, her pace quickened a bit, and she turned into an alley, stopping at the entrance of a tavern.

The tavernkeeper was greeting guests, and upon looking up and seeing Pei Se, paused for a fraction of a second.

Pei Se unhooked two empty wine gourds from her waist, one large and one small.

"Fill them up."

The tavernkeeper glanced at the gourds, then at Pei Se, took the gourds, and turned to go into the back room.

In a short while, the tavernkeeper came out carrying two heavy wine gourds.

The liquor sloshed inside the gourds, and the aroma of wine seeped out from the cracks of the stoppers.

Pei Se took the gourds, hung the large gourd back on her waist, pulled out the stopper of the small gourd, tilted her head back, and took a big gulp.

The liquor trickled down the corner of her mouth. Wiping it with the back of her hand, she narrowed her eyes and let out a long breath.

"Good wine."

Qin Mo squeezed through the crowd, and just as he stood still beside Pei Se, his arm was grabbed by her.

"Come on, come on, you take a sip too."

Qin Mo was yanked a step forward by her. Steadying his footing, he shook his head and said,

"Sister Pei, I don't know how to drink."

Pei Se shoved the wine gourd into his hand.

"If you don't know how, practice. Practice more and you'll learn."

Qin Mo clutched the wine gourd as if gripping a piece of scalding charcoal, while Qin Yin watched from behind him.

Pei Se took another gulp of wine, staring at the sloshing liquor inside the gourd.

Even though she, now a Fourth-Turn Martial Artist, was being contaminated at every single moment.

However, the degree of this contamination wasn't high after all; it would only become a problem after accumulating over many years.

As for her, she was naturally disinclined to think about things so far into the future, so she continued drinking carefreely.

Pei Se snatched the wine gourd back from Qin Mo's hand, took a huge gulp, and wiped her mouth.

"Let's go, let's go watch the enshrinement."

Qin Yin followed closely, with Qin Mo trailing behind her.

The three of them wove through the crowd and walked toward the direction of the county town's city gate.

The crowd at the city gate began to stir.

Someone shouted "They're here" first, and everyone's gaze turned toward outside the city.

On the dirt road, a long procession was surging toward the city gate, led by the enshrinement procession of Zhao Family Village.

Walking at the very front was Village Chief Zhao, his hair graying.

In his hands, he held a divine statue wrapped in red cloth. The red cloth was new, with fine stitches and neat corners.

Following behind were the commoners of Zhao Family Village, dozens of people, with men carrying shoulder poles, women holding baskets, and children running behind the adults.

The offerings were loaded in baskets and wrapped in cloth.

Dried fish, brown rice, eggs, roast chicken—those items weren't expensive, but they were already the best they could possibly bring out.

The second procession followed Zhao Family Village's group into the city; it was from Hewan Village.

Hewan Village's enshrinement procession and offerings were much the same as Zhao Family Village's.

The third procession was from Lishan Village, the fourth was from Pengqiao Village, and the fifth was from Meijia Village.

Five villages, five processions, surged through the city gate one after another.

People on both sides of the street automatically stepped aside, and someone lifted a child up to let them see the divine statues.

Those divine statues were wrapped in red cloth, obscuring their features, but everyone knew who it was.

It was Lord Qinling, the deity from Qin Family Village, the deity who slashed down a sword from the heavens to cleave the Evil Tree in two.

Firecrackers exploded, smoke filled the air, and scraps of paper fluttered everywhere.

Gongs and drums began to beat, the clanging sounds making people's eardrums ache.

Suonas blared, high-pitched and resonant, as if they wanted to pierce a hole in the sky.

Those who had rushed over from various villages, the local commoners of the county town, and the people from the villages that had already enshrined Lord Qinling all swarmed to both sides of the street.

Some cheered, some clapped, and some shouted loudly, "They're here! They're here!"

Children darted back and forth through the crowd, only to be scolded and stopped by adults, resting for a short while before darting around again.

People stood on tiptoe to look into the procession, looking at the divine statues and the offerings.

The enshrinement processions of the five villages marched just like that toward the direction of the temple.

The main hall of the temple was already prepared.

That divine statue of Lord Qinling, carved from rosewood, sat upright upon the altar niche with lowered eyelids and calm lips.

Incense sticks were plugged into the censer, wisps of blue smoke drifting out from the hall, floating into the courtyard, and drifting into the alleys.

Clerk Liu stood at the entrance of the temple, his official robe stiff and straight, his hair combed meticulously.

He took a deep breath, let it out, and patted his sleeves over and over again to ensure there wasn't a speck of dust.

Clerk Liu looked at the red-cloth-wrapped divine statue held by Village Chief Zhao, and looked at the commoners carrying shoulder poles and holding baskets behind him.

He took a deep breath and went forward to greet that procession.

Today was the day for the Five Villages Enshrine the God, and he had to perform exceptionally well for Lord Qinling!

Once these five villages finished enshrining the god as well, then the entirety of Guanhai County would worship Lord Qinling!

Aside, Qin Yin, Qin Mo, and Pei Se stood behind the crowd, all three of them watching that endless enshrinement procession.

Pei Se narrowed her eyes as she watched the people holding divine statues, carrying shoulder poles, and holding baskets pass before her, lifting her wine gourd to take a big gulp.

In all her life of running east and west, she had seen quite a few enshrinement ceremonies, but she had never seen one so lively and pious.

But come to think of it, who could blame them when the deity these commoners were enshrining was Lord Qinling~