54: Chapter 54 Confessing My Crime to Qin Ling

The corners of Huang Zu's lips curled upward into a faint smile.

"I have my own arrangements. Just pass down the order. I will personally specify the deities to be replaced. When the time comes, if any village refuses to make the change—"

It paused, its voice suddenly turning cold.

"This Magistrate will deal with them personally."

Clerk Liu's throat bobbed.

He lowered his head, answered with a respectful "Yes," and turned to leave.

When he reached the doorway, he suddenly stopped and glanced back.

The County Magistrate was still sitting in the grand armchair, legs crossed, eyes narrowed.

Sunlight fell from the door lintel, casting light over its pale, chubby face and its narrowed, slit-like eyes.

Clerk Liu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly turned his head back and strode out of the county yamen.

Silence settled over the hall once more.

Huang Zu leaned back against the chair, eyes narrowed, his mind spinning with thoughts.

It didn't want to mess with that thing in Qin Family Village for now.

But as for the other villages, it wouldn't leave a single one to that entity.

It was going to grasp all the incense offerings in the entire Guanhai County within its own hands.

As for that so-called Lord Qinling...

Once it gorged itself on incense power, it would see just what kind of thing was hiding in that ruined temple.

...

As Zhou Ping stepped out of the county yamen's main gates, the sunlight happened to fall across his face.

He stood outside the threshold for a breath, taking a deep gulp of air as if trying to force down the stifling gloom in his chest.

Zhou Hu was squatting below the steps, clutching two steamed buns wrapped in coarse paper that had already gone cold.

Seeing Zhou Ping come out, he stood up, offered the buns, and grinned.

"How did it go? Did the Magistrate agree to let us invite the deity? Now we can go ahead with inviting the deity properly~"

Zhou Ping didn't take the buns.

He just stood there, the sunlight falling on his face, revealing the dimness in his eyes.

Zhou Hu's smile froze. He pulled the buns back and asked in concern,

"What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid we won't be able to invite Lord Qinling this time."

Zhou Ping exhaled a heavy breath, his expression dejected.

Zhou Hu was taken aback at first, then asked in confusion,

"They won't let us? On what grounds? Whenever a village changes deities, as long as it isn't an unapproved cult, the yamen has never refused to approve it!"

"The Magistrate allowed us to invite a deity."

Zhou Ping shook his head helplessly.

Zhou Hu's brows unfurled slightly.

"He allowed it? Then what did you mean when you said we couldn't?"

"The Magistrate won't let us invite Lord Qinling."

Zhou Ping gave a bitter smile and continued,

"The Magistrate said he knows a temple whose deity is far more efficacious, and wants us to invite that one instead."

Zhou Hu's face froze completely.

First confusion, then disbelief, followed by a surge of rage welling up from his chest.

His face flushed red, veins bulging at his temples, and he crushed the buns in his hand into a messy clump.

"That's fucking bullshit!"

His voice burst out loudly, causing several passersby to look over.

"If he won't let us, fine, but on what grounds does he specify who we switch to? What kind of garbage is enshrined in that temple he knows?"

"Zhou Family Village has been worshiping our Zhou ancestral spirit for generations! Becoming an unfilial descendant for Lord Qinling is one thing, but for some random deity? Bah!"

Zhou Ping grabbed his arm tightly.

"Shut up."

His voice dropped, so low that only the two of them could hear it.

"We are right in front of the yamen."

Zhou Hu breathed heavily, his chest heaving violently.

He looked at Zhou Ping's face and forcefully swallowed down his remaining words.

He slammed the squished paper full of buns onto the ground.

Zhou Ping released his arm, bent down to pick up the crushed buns, rewrapped them neatly in the paper, and stuffed them back into Zhou Hu's hands.

"Let's go, let's head back to the village first."

Zhou Hu held the ruined buns, standing rooted to the spot.

His mind was racing rapidly, turning over those words again and again.

Suddenly, he raised his head, a glimmer flashing in his eyes.

"Something's not right."

He lowered his voice.

"Our village has worshiped our Zhou ancestors for so many years, and the county government never cared."

"Why are they suddenly meddling today? And even specifying a replacement?"

He stared straight into Zhou Ping's eyes.

"Brother Ping, something is fishy here."

"It is indeed a bit strange."

Zhou Ping spoke softly.

"But now is not the time to discuss this. Let's head back to the village first and talk it over there."

He turned around and walked toward the city gate.

Zhou Hu stood where he was, watching his back for a good while.

He glanced down at the ruined, squashed buns in his hand, sticky against his palm.

He stuffed the clump into his robe and quickened his pace to catch up.

One behind the other, the two navigated through the bustling crowds and exited the city gate of Guanhai County City.

...

Qin Family Village, Shrine Temple.

Incense burned brightly inside the shrine.

Fresh offerings lay on the altar table—a few dried fish, a bag of new rice, and a bouquet of dew-kissed wildflowers picked by a young girl at the village entrance early that morning.

The incense sticks in the burner were more than half-burnt, their blue smoke curling gently upward, drifting past the tiled eaves and dissipating into the afternoon sunlight.

Qin Ling sat cross-legged inside the shrine niche, looking down at the villagers of Qin Family Village offering incense below.

In recent days, the incense offerings had remained steady.

Although life in Qin Family Village had been peaceful recently without any danger,

the number of people coming to the shrine daily to burn incense had not decreased.

Clearly, the villagers of Qin Family Village had come to treat offering incense to Lord Qinling as a daily ritual.

Yet, while absorbing the incense power, Qin Ling showed no joy; instead, he frowned.

Right now, what he wanted most was naturally to expand his territory.

The last time his avatar visited Zhou Family Village, he heard Zhou Ping say he was going to report to the yamen about replacing their village deity.

Calculating the distance, that should have been taken care of long ago.

Someone from Zhou Family Village should have come to Qin Family Village to invite the deity by now.

But up to today, neither Zhou Ping nor Zhou Hu had come to Qin Family Village to invite the deity.

Half an hour later.

Footsteps sounded from outside the temple doors.

Zhou Ping crossed the threshold, with Zhou Hu following close behind.

Both were covered in dust from their journey, mud sticking to their shoes, and un-wiped sweat glistening on their foreheads.

When Qin Ling first caught sight of them, his expression brightened.

But he quickly noticed that something was amiss.

The two hadn't brought a carved statue of Lord Qinling, nor had they brought any of the ceremonial items required for inviting a deity.

Furthermore, the expressions on their faces were off.

Both Zhou Ping and Zhou Hu carried bitter expressions on their faces, completely devoid of the festive joy that should accompany inviting a deity.

Zhou Ping and Zhou Hu walked to the altar table and knelt side by side.

Zhou Ping pulled three incense sticks from his robe, lit them against the candle flame, and inserted them into the incense burner.

As blue smoke rose, he prostrated himself, his forehead touching the cold stone tiles.

Zhou Hu followed suit, his movement heavy, his knees knocking against the floor with a dull thud.

The temple remained silent for a long time.

A section of ash fell from the incense, and the sticks burned down a bit more.

Zhou Ping finally straightened up, kneeling on the cushion as he looked up at the statue of Lord Qinling with its lowered eyes.

His eyes were red, brimming with tears.

"Lord Qinling, I have come to confess my offense."

Zhou Ping then recounted everything that happened at the county yamen from the beginning.

From meeting the County Magistrate, to reporting the desire to change their deity, to the Magistrate agreeing to the change but refusing to allow Lord Qinling to be chosen.

Down to how the Magistrate specified another temple, claiming its deity was more effective, and ordering Zhou Family Village to worship that one instead.

"Lord Qinling, I, Zhou Ping, am truly incompetent."

He lowered his head again.

"Zhou Family Village has now... replaced our deity with the one designated by the County Magistrate."