Shi Jinzhe flipped through the table of contents, first looking for the section on culture, and saw the words "ancient temples and ancient buildings," so he turned directly to page 500.

"Banshanbao Temple in Banshan Town, Banshan County, is nestled against Yinshan Mountain to the south and near the Ming River to the east. In the early years of the Zhaoyang era, Yu Guang, the richest man in the county, spent a fortune to build the Banshan Pagoda. Later, his son..."

Shi Jinzhe was increasingly surprised as he looked around. It turned out that Banshanbao Temple was built after the pagoda, and it took three generations of the Yu family to complete the construction of the pagoda.

Sheh continued to act as a merciless messenger. Qian Chang listened to her relay and asked curiously, "What is the background of this Yu family? How can the richest man in the county want to build such a huge tower?"

Shi Jin went to the county's biography of famous people and found the name Yu Guang, then told them to look at it themselves.

"Yu Guang started his business in Banshan Town. As his business grew, he intended to have his youngest son, Yu Shuang, enter officialdom. However, his status as a merchant was inconvenient. In order to prevent his son from being affected, Yu Guang had him recognize an old farmer as his father."

"Later, Yu Shuang passed the imperial examination, married the daughter of a high-ranking official, and his career progressed smoothly. However, his father-in-law's political enemies accused him of deceiving the emperor and filed a lawsuit against the court."

Qian Chang turned the page, "Then a general named Ming Pei saved Yu Shuang. They were from the same hometown, and Ming Pei's ancestors were also from Banshan Town. He believed that Yu Shuang was talented and should not be treated like this."

"A general?" Shekh turned his hand, glanced at the book, and said, "A general who uses a gun?"

Shi Jinzhe marveled at her keen intuition and nodded in agreement.

Qian Chang read it aloud: "Ming Pei used a spear. He was a great general at the time. It is said here that his spear was made of meteorite iron from outer space. It was eight feet long and weighed about sixty catties. Some people said that he was a war god who drove out the Tartars, but some scholars said that he had a strong murderous aura. They specially wrote a line, 'The mournful ghost hates the autumn water, the wind is raging and the white bones are cold,' to satirize that he had committed too many killings."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Saying that military generals have committed too many killings is probably a bit off. Are you going to use words to talk them out of nothing?"

“He doesn’t kill his own people, but every time he wins a battle, he kills all the prisoners of war.” Lin Shu emphasized, “Leaving none alive.”

"It was a bit harsh, but there were reasons for it." Fu Guan then found another book, titled "Random Talks on the Mountainside," and said to everyone:

"The words on it are not very clear, but I have roughly figured it out. More than 600 years ago, the historical background of this instance was during the decline of the dynasty, with internal and external troubles and treacherous officials in power. If Ming Pei did not kill the prisoners of war, so many people would be a hidden danger if he released them. But if he kept them, he could not afford to support them. If tens of thousands of people rebelled during the transport, it would be a big problem. So he would kill them all every time."

Fu Guan frowned as he spoke, "I don't think the rest is very credible. Just listen to it and that's fine. The book says that he killed over a million people in all the battles, big and small, and that the smell of blood on his body could be smelled from several meters away."

“…Awesome.” Qian Chang even doubted whether they could have mustered so many soldiers for the battlefield in ancient times.

To confirm his hypothesis, Shekh asked Fu Guanzai, "Is his fate written above?"

“It’s not good to write it down,” Fu Guan said. “Ming Pei served in the army for fourteen years, and the only defeat he suffered took his life. The reason for the defeat was not written down; it was only said that he was beheaded and his body was left to rot in the wilderness.”

"Then... the headless man from last night?" Jiang Xiaowan tapped her fingers, then, as if remembering something, added, "When lighting incense, you're asked to silently pray for the protection of the divine spirit. Could this divine spirit be referring to Ming Pei?"

“It’s him,” Shekh said, taking the book from Shi Jinzhe’s hands and showing the page on religion and folklore to the group again.

Jiang Xiaowan read: "The Yu family father and son collected his body and made a tombstone. The year after Mingpei died, history changed dynasties. Because the Yu family was wealthy, Yu Guang's youngest daughter was targeted by bandits. According to rumors, a headless man killed all the bandits. Many people also saw a headless man in silver armor riding a horse to take her home. So the next day, the Yu family decided to build a tower to worship Mingpei."

"Not only the Yu family, but after the pagoda was built, the townspeople in the vicinity would all worship it. Because it was the God of War, many women would come to pray for their husbands and sons to return safely from the battlefield. After the reputation spread, everyone said it was very effective, so the wealthy people in the prefecture raised money to build other grand halls."

“How ironic.” Huang Yingzong, who had been standing apart from the crowd, suddenly spoke up. “Literati and politicians say he has committed many sins, but when a person dies, the country is gone. I wonder if the person who wrote that poem will regret saying such a thing.”

Shi Jinzhe raised his eyes and noticed from Huang Yingzong's downturned lips that he was a little unhappy.

“Perhaps the defeat is also related to these people.” Shekh propped his head up, looking rather listless. “Jiang Ziya told me that in factional struggles, people will do anything to win. They’ll poison even the emperor, let alone a general. Those who have never been on the battlefield can never imagine how brutal the fighting is; they can only see their own little patch of land.”

"Why not eat meat porridge?" Jiang Xiaowan understood the headless man's identity and was extra careful with her words. "So many rich people are willing to pay, which shows that the people have worshipped General Ming a lot. Nobody wants to experience war."

“I have a question,” Yao Shu raised her hand. “According to this logic, General Ming is a good person to his own people, so why did he kill me…?”

Jiang Xiaowan: "Didn't you make a wish?"

Yao Shu: "Then fulfilling a vow doesn't require my life, does it..."

"The pagoda is very dilapidated; no one has worshipped it for a long time." As soon as Sheh entered the pagoda, he sensed that the energy there had almost dissipated, so it was questionable whether Yao Shu was still worshipping Ming Pei.

Yao Shu realized what was going on: "So he killed me because I worshipped something unclean? Or did I worship something else in his tower that angered him?"

Shekh shook his head emotionlessly: "Unsure."

The headless man was Ming Pei, but there was an unidentified woman beside him. According to the book, he was not a bloodthirsty killer and should not have done such a thing, so the reason for killing Yao Shu is still a mystery.