46: Chapter 46 It's time to invoke the gods.

Qin Ling's avatar cast the divine art Divine Travel Across the World, sweeping past Qin Family Village.

In a short while, the avatar arrived at Zhou Family Village.

At this time, he deliberately concealed himself, so the villagers of Zhou Family Village could not see that an extra deity had appeared in the sky.

Qin Ling's avatar lowered its altitude, overlooking Zhou Family Village.

Sitting on the fishing drying ground of Zhou Family Village were a few elderly people enjoying the cool air, waving cattail leaf fans in their hands and talking desultorily.

Qin Ling's avatar walked past them, and naturally no one could perceive it.

The avatar passed through the bumpy dirt roads of the village and looked around.

Compared to the last time he came, Zhou Family Village indeed had a bit more vitality here.

A few roofs had been replaced with new thatch, a few households had clothes hanging at their doors, and there was the smell of cooking smoke in the air.

He also heard the laughter of some children.

Seeing the current situation of Zhou Family Village, Qin Ling slowly nodded.

It was better than he had expected.

It seemed that Zhou Ping, the village chief of Zhou Family Village, was still capable.

He actually called back more than half of the villagers of Zhou Family Village who had fled from famine outside.

Presently, Zhou Family Village had already recovered its vitality.

Qin Ling's avatar stopped in front of the courtyard of Zhou Ping's house.

The courtyard wall was newly made, woven from tree branches, crooked, but sturdy.

The door was open, and sounds continuously came from inside.

"Click, click, click."

It sounded like something was chipping away stroke by stroke.

Qin Ling's avatar walked in.

Zhou Ping, the village chief of Zhou Family Village, was sitting in the courtyard, with his back to the door.

In front of him lay a piece of wood, about half an arm long, which already had the rudimentary shape of a person.

His left hand supported the wood, and his right hand held a blunt carving knife, chipping away bit by bit.

Wood shavings fell on his knees and by his feet, accumulating a thin layer.

Qin Ling stood behind him, looking at the piece of wood.

The eyebrows and eyes of the wood had already taken shape, with drooping eyelids and calm corners of the mouth.

It was exactly his appearance, consistent with the statue of Lord Qinling inside the temple.

Zhou Ping carved very attentively.

Every knife stroke was made very lightly, as if afraid that being a little heavier would hurt something;

Every time he chipped once, he would stop to take a look, recall the statue of Lord Qinling in his mind, and then continue.

The carving knife was a bit too blunt, so he rubbed it twice on the whetstone, and continued carving after sharpening it.

At this moment, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.

"Brother Ping."

Zhou Hu pushed the door open and entered, carrying half a bag of dried fish in his hand and a sweat-soaked coarse cloth towel draped over his shoulder.

He wiped the mud from the soles of his shoes on the threshold, and when he raised his head and saw the statue in Zhou Ping's hand, his footsteps paused for a moment.

He gently placed the dried fish at the base of the wall, walked over, squatted down beside Zhou Ping, and looked at the statue with a respectful expression.

This statue was just like the statue of Lord Qinling on the fishing boat of Qin Family Village that he had seen on the East China Sea.

"Is there something the matter?"

Zhou Ping turned his head and glanced at Zhou Hu.

"Brother Ping, some more villagers who fled from famine have returned these past few days. Now, most of the villagers of our Zhou Family Village have returned to the village."

Zhou Hu grinned.

"It is also thanks to the protection of Lord Qinling. The catch from our return from going out to sea back then was truly too important. Without this catch, I am afraid Zhou Family Village would have completely scattered back then."

As Zhou Hu spoke, he looked at the statue of Lord Qinling, his gaze even more respectful.

"Brother Ping, the matter of inviting the deity Lord Qinling to replace what the village worships can also be put on the agenda."

"That's right, it's time to get down to business."

Zhou Ping put down the carving knife in his hand and covered it well with a coarse cloth.

He raised his head and looked at Zhou Hu, saying,

"Then gather everyone and let's meet in front of the village temple."

Zhou Hu stood up, patted the dirt on his knees, and grinned.

"Alright, I'll go call people."

He strode out of the courtyard, and his footsteps gradually faded away on the dirt road.

Zhou Ping sat in place, lowering his head to look at the statue on his knees for a long time.

Then he stood up, carefully cradled the statue into the house, and placed it in the cleanest spot on the table.

After a quarter of an hour.

On the open space in front of the Zhou Family Village temple, nearly a hundred people were already standing.

Because the open space in front of the temple was not very large, it already appeared somewhat crowded.

Zhou Ping stood on the temple steps, behind him was the tightly closed temple door.

Worshipped inside the temple was an ancestor surnamed Zhou, but he had never shown any spiritual manifestation.

He glanced at Zhou Hu standing beside him, and Zhou Hu nodded at him.

"Fellow villagers."

Zhou Ping spoke, his voice resounding.

"Calling everyone here today is to discuss a matter."

He paused and swept his gaze across those faces.

He knew all these villagers of Zhou Family Village, except that after fleeing from famine, some people's cheeks had grown much thinner.

"Our Zhou Family Village suffered a disaster before. The boats were gone, the people were gone, and everyone fled or scattered."

"I, Zhou Ping, as the village chief, am incompetent; I couldn't keep the people, nor could I protect the village."

Recalling the past days, Zhou Ping's voice was somewhat hoarse.

"But heaven has not cut off our path."

Then Zhou Ping told the villagers of Zhou Family Village everything he had seen and heard in Qin Family Village and the deeds of Lord Qinling manifesting his divinity.

"Therefore, I want to change the deity worshipped in the village and invite the deity Lord Qinling to our village."

After finishing the deeds, Zhou Ping directly put forward his own thoughts.

As soon as his voice fell, the crowd of villagers exploded into an uproar.

"Change the deity?"

A husky voice came from behind.

"We've worshipped this deity for so many years, and you want to change it just like that?"

Zhou Ping recognized that voice; it was an old man living at the end of the village who had just fled back from outside a short while ago, so thin he was reduced to just a bag of bones.

"I agree to the change."

A young voice emerged from the crowd.

The speaker was a young man, as thin as a bamboo pole, but his eyes were very bright.

"That night when we were blocked in the middle by the Cone Snail Demon with no way out, wasn't it Lord Qinling who manifested his divinity and saved us?"

"Without Lord Qinling, how could people like us be standing here?"

The young man's words also aroused a chorus of agreement from some villagers.

But there were still some villagers shaking their heads.

Zhou Ping also quickly realized that all the villagers who had returned to the village earlier days, having experienced Secretary Jingli during the previous disturbance by the Cone Snail Demon and having witnessed the manifestation of Lord Qinling with their own eyes, were all in favor of inviting the deity Lord Qinling.

As for those who returned later, like the old man living at the end of the village, these villagers who had not personally witnessed the manifestation of Lord Qinling were all shaking their heads.

"Old man."

Zhou Hu's voice cut in from the side, attracting the attention of all the villagers of Zhou Family Village.

"The day you came back, you were too hungry to walk. Who brought you that bowl of fish soup?"

"It was you, Zhou Hu."

The old man surnamed Zhou nodded in response.

"That's right, it's me, Zhou Hu."

Zhou Hu patted his own chest and said.

"This fish was caught by me, Zhou Hu, and several brothers risking our lives to go out to sea."

"However, this fish could only be safely brought back under the protection of Lord Qinling."

"In other words, that bowl of fish soup you drank has a share belonging to Lord Qinling."

He turned to face everyone, his voice raising a bit.

"The matter on the East China Sea that day—some of you know, some of you don't—I will tell it again today!"