53: Chapter 53 The County Magistrate Changes Gods

"Change the worshipped deity?"

Huang Zu narrowed its eyes.

The bailiff lowered his head and said,

"Yes, Zhou Ping, the village chief of Zhou Family Village, said that their village wants to get rid of the old deity and instead worship someone called..."

He thought for a moment and slapped his own head.

"Lord Qinling's deity. He said that according to the Great Qian laws, he must first report to the county yamen and wait for official approval before he can formally invite the deity."

Lord Qinling.

It was Lord Qinling again!

Huang Zu's fingers began to tap gently on its knees again.

"Why bother the County Magistrate with such a minor matter as changing an old deity? You should have just..."

Clerk Liu opened his mouth and reprimanded the bailiff.

In his view, the rather lazy Magistrate Qian wouldn't want to deal with such matters at all.

But this time, he had guessed wrong.

"No, let Village Chief Zhou in."

Huang Zu raised a hand and interrupted Clerk Liu.

The bailiff acknowledged and trotted out.

Moments later, footsteps came from outside.

Zhou Ping stepped across the threshold, wearing coarse linen clothes that had been washed white, his hair neatly combed, his face carrying the exhaustion of travel, but his eyes were very bright.

He stood firm in the hall, lifted his robe hems, and knelt down.

"This commoner, Zhou Ping, pays respects to the County Magistrate."

Huang Zu was not in a hurry to tell him to get up.

It leaned against the back of the chair, narrowing its eyes, and looked up and down at the fishing village chief kneeling in the hall.

Thin and dark, with high cheekbones and thick knuckles on his hands, which were worn down by year-round fishing.

There were patches on his collar, but they were patched very neatly.

There was mud on the uppers of his shoes, which was newly attached, seemingly having traveled quite a bit of road.

"Get up and speak."

Zhou Ping stood up, standing with his hands hanging down, his gaze neither humble nor arrogant.

"So you are the one who wants to invite a deity?"

Huang Zu's voice was drawn out long.

"Why do you want to change the deity worshipped in the village?"

Zhou Ping replied without hesitation.

"Replying to the County Magistrate, the old deity has been worshipped for so many years without ever showing its divinity. Now the village has suffered a disaster, the boats are gone, and people are fewer. This commoner wants to change the village to a deity that can protect everyone."

Huang Zu's mouth corner moved slightly, wearing a smile that was not quite a smile as it said,

"Oh? Then tell me, how can this Lord Qinling protect the villagers?"

Zhou Ping raised his head, looking at the plump County Magistrate on the grand master chair.

"Lord Qinling can bless safe voyages out to sea and ensure full cabins of fish catches. With the protection of Lord Qinling, Qin Family Village suffered no damaged boats, no lost lives, and full racks of fish catches. This commoner saw it with his own eyes."

Huang Zu looked Zhou Ping up and down.

That plump face piled up a kind smile, its eyes squinted into a slit, and the corners of its mouth curled up.

"This county has also heard some things about Qin Family Village; that village indeed has some divine strangeness."

It nodded, as if affirming something.

"Since Village Chief Zhou earnestly requests it, it would not be good for me to reject it."

Zhou Ping's eyes lit up for a moment.

He bent over, bowed deeply, and said,

"Thank you, County Magistrate—"

"However."

Huang Zu's voice suddenly changed, gaining an indescribable trace of something.

Zhou Ping's movement froze in mid-air.

Huang Zu leaned against the back of the chair, crossing its legs, its fingers tapping gently on its knees.

It looked at Zhou Ping's face, which had changed from joy to confusion, and the smile at the corners of its mouth deepened.

"This county agrees to your changing of the deity, but—"

It drew out its voice.

"What is being changed is not that Lord Qinling."

Zhou Ping was stunned.

"County Magistrate..."

"This county knows a temple whose deity is much more responsive than the one in Qin Family Village."

Huang Zu's voice was slow and leisurely, as if it were talking about the most ordinary thing.

"You go back and tell the villagers that starting from today, Zhou Family Village only needs to worship that deity. As for the one in Qin Family Village—"

It waved its hand, as if shooing away a fly.

"There is no need to mention it again."

Zhou Ping's expression changed.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Huang Zu had already retracted its hand, resting it on the back of the chair, and changed into a more comfortable posture.

"What? Does Village Chief Zhou have any objections to this county's arrangement?"

Huang Zu's squinted eyes had completely opened.

Its dark brown pupils stared at Zhou Ping, with little expression inside, yet it made a chill run down Zhou Ping's back.

Zhou Ping suppressed all those thoughts and lowered his head.

"This commoner wouldn't dare. The County Magistrate's arrangements are naturally good."

"That's good."

Huang Zu smiled again, its eyes narrowing into slits, and that plump face looked amiable again.

"Go back and prepare. Another day, someone will naturally go to your village to tell you what deity should be worshipped. Go."

Zhou Ping simply bent over, bowed deeply, then turned around and walked step by step out of the county yamen.

Inside the hall, Huang Zu leaned against the grand master chair, crossing its legs, its fingers still tapping gently on its knees.

It watched Zhou Ping's back figure disappear outside the door, the corners of its mouth slowly splitting open.

Qin Family Village had caused too many bizarre things. Whether it was the death of Hu Fu or the scales of the Little Li Dragon, these matters all happened in Qin Family Village.

All of them were related to that so-called Lord Qinling.

As a result, right at this critical juncture, the village chief of Zhou Family Village ran over himself.

Not to beg for food, but to change deities, to change to that Lord Qinling of Qin Family Village.

Peculiar.

Too peculiar!

How could this Zhou Family Village be in such a rush to change deities at this time?

Or rather...

Huang Zu's fingers began to tap again, a bit faster than before.

It suddenly thought of a possibility—

That thing called Lord Qinling also wanted incense offerings?!

The reason why Huang Zu, after advancing to the Fourth-Turn realm, swallowed the County Magistrate and replaced him.

Part of the reason was for the incense offerings of Guanhai County.

The incense offerings worshipped in those temples were useless to mortals, nor were they useful to First-Turn, Second-Turn, or even Third-Turn demons.

But to it, who had already advanced to the Fourth-Turn realm, they were of great use.

It had just stepped into the Fourth-Turn, and it was precisely the time when it needed incense offerings the most.

Could that so-called Lord Qinling of Qin Family Village also be a Fourth-Turn great demon?

It thought of the dragon scales worshipped on those offering tables, and what Constable Meng Yu said about Lord Qinling going out to sea and slaying a dragon with a single sword strike.

If the Little Li Dragon was truly killed, it meant that this Lord Qinling had at least the strength of the Fourth-Turn, or even higher!

Huang Zu's mouth corners turned down slightly, and a trace of gloom appeared on its plump face.

It didn't expect that right after replacing the County Magistrate, it would encounter such a tricky matter.

However, for it, the incense offerings of the entire Guanhai County were right in front of it, and it was absolutely impossible for it to just give up like this.

"Clerk Liu."

Huang Zu suddenly called out.

Clerk Liu stepped forward, keeping his hands down, and stood in the lower hall.

"County Magistrate."

He lowered his head and said,

Huang Zu leaned against the back of the chair, crossing its legs.

It looked at the top of Clerk Liu's head for quite a while before speaking slowly.

"Pass down the order and have all villages in Guanhai County change the deities they worship."

Clerk Liu suddenly raised his head.

He had stayed in this county yamen for twenty years, seen five County Magistrates, and heard countless absurd orders, but he had truly never heard of such an order.

"May I ask the County Magistrate, what deity should all the villages in Guanhai County change to?"

Clerk Liu's voice was somewhat dry.