Chapter 314: Lord Water God, Release Me
Farmers with dark skin and weathered faces gathered in front of the Wujiang Water God Temple.
The scorching sun shines on people, causing a burning sensation on the exposed skin.
Yellow dust danced beneath their feet as farmers knelt before the Water God Temple, shouting, "Dragon King, have mercy! Lord Water God, have mercy!"
The priest guarding the Wujiang Water God Temple rushed out, shouting, "What are you doing? You're not paying the incense tax, you're not making offerings, you're not burning incense. Are you thinking of rebelling?"
"You are blaspheming the gods! You will be punished by the gods!"
The temple keeper and several helpers pushed and scolded the farmers, not allowing them to approach the water temple.
"Get out of my way!"
An old voice came from the crowd: "I want to make an offering."
The farmers made way, revealing an old man wearing patched clothes and leaning on a cane. He held up a broken bowl with a steamed bun in it. He walked up to the temple keeper, raised the bun, and said, "This is the last bit of food I have in my family, and I'm offering it to the water god!"
Countless quiet yet faintly thunderous eyes looked at the old man, and all the farmers were silent, looking at the raised hand.
Unfortunately, the temple keeper did not have such sharp thoughts. Instead, the little disciple behind him was frightened by these gazes and took a step back.
The temple keeper looked back at his young apprentice, then at the mud-legged worker whose clothes were soaked with sweat and whose body was hunched under the scorching sun, and he felt an offense and anger in his heart.
He swept the old man's hand, knocking the chipped earthenware bowl to the ground and breaking it into two pieces. The steamed buns in the bowl rolled to the ground and were covered with dust.
"You offer a rotten steamed bun as an offering. The Water God will definitely skin you alive!"
The old man squatted down tremblingly, picked up the steamed bun carefully, and said with a stammering lip, "This is not a sour steamed bun."
The temple keeper kicked him in the chest and shouted, "Get out! You've trespassed into the Water God Temple. I'll report you to the authorities!"
"Kill this bastard!"
I don't know which young man started the roar first, but the crowd began to surge, like flowing flames, and rushed into the Water Temple.
The temple keepers were unable to stop them and were pushed to the ground. Countless feet stepped on them and their heads were buried in the dust.
The crowd that poured into the temple looked at the solemn and magnificent statues and decorations, carefully placed the dusty steamed buns on the altar, blew away the dust, and prayed devoutly: "Please have mercy, Lord Water God!"
"Please have mercy, Lord Water God!"
Sweat dripped down his cheeks to the ground, splashing up fine dust.
The scorching sun burned on my body, making my mouth dry and my head dizzy.
All that remained in the Water God Temple were the helpless cries of the temple priest and the eroded hearts of the people.
I don't know how long I waited before the old man who brought the steamed buns fell to the ground. Several people who were traveling with him hurriedly helped him up, but when they stood up, the scorching sun made it difficult for them to tell the direction.
"Lord Water God! You have accepted the offerings, how can you just ignore them?"
Whether it was crying or questioning, the widely circulated rumor once again ignited the anger.
"The thief god is causing trouble!"
"Smash his statue!"
"Thief God!"
No one knew who started it first, but in just a moment, the entire Water Temple was reduced to ruins in the anger.
The temple keeper, who was being helped aside by his young apprentice, cried out in pain, "Don't smash it!"
“Don’t smash it!”
But the cry of pain was drowned out by the sound of breaking things and seemed too insignificant.
With a loud bang, a huge torrent of water surged through the Wujiang River, sweeping through the water palace wantonly.
The water god of Wujiang River transformed into a dragon, a green dragon with two horns on its head. It rolled around in the palace, stirring up huge waves, and swept all the exhibits and decorations, and even the maids and guards of the water palace, into the waves, rolling around.
General Yinhuan, General Nian, General Gui and Gong Mengbi barely managed to resist the rapids, but none of them could get close.
Not until the water palace was almost turned upside down did the Wujiang River Water God descend from the palace, transformed into a human form, and fell to the ground.
Several trusted generals stepped forward to help him up and asked worriedly, "What happened to you, lord?"
The Wujiang River God's eyes were sinister, and he said, "Someone has destroyed my temple!"
Gong Mengbi was horrified and asked, "How could this be? My Lord controls the Wu River and regulates the wind and rain. He is a virtuous deity. How could his temple be destroyed?"
The Wujiang River God gnashed his teeth and said, "Go and investigate! I want to know who dared to destroy my temple! I will be filled with resentment!"
Unlike the City God, the Wu River Water God was not a fully deified being. He was originally a cultivated dragon seed, and the destruction of his temple only damaged his divine power, not his fundamental nature.
Even so, the resentment and the broken incense were enough to make him suffer.
He originally wanted to use the smoke and dust of incense to practice in order to achieve the fourth level, but now, it would be good enough if he could stabilize his current practice and not regress.
The water god of Wujiang River was furious, so several generals went ashore to investigate the destruction of the temple.
Gong Mengbi laughed and headed straight for the Jinhua City Government Office.
“Bang!”
With a crisp sound, the teacup was smashed to the ground by Prefect Zhang. The snow-white fragments of the fine porcelain flew everywhere, and a faint tea fragrance floated from the tea on the ground.
The broken porcelain pieces fell in front of the old housekeeper's feet. The old housekeeper paused, looked at Zhang Taishou, and said softly: "Master, calm down. Someone from the government office is here."
"not see!"
The old housekeeper advised: "Master, official business is more important!"
Prefect Zhang glanced at him, snorted coldly, and walked away.
The old butler looked at his back and sighed.
When Magistrate Zhang arrived at the front hall, he heard a report and said, "Sir, the Wujiang River Water God Temple was vandalized by unruly people. I have arrested a group of them. I wonder what to do with them?"
"Hmm?" Prefect Zhang was stunned for a moment, then he burst into laughter and said, "Good job! Good job!"
"Sir, these unruly people have ruined the sacrifice, how come..." The yamen runner was puzzled, but seeing the cold look in the eyes of Prefect Zhang, he dared not say anything more.
Zhang Taishou said, "The Wu River water god ignored the people's complaints, abused his power, and refused to send rain. This goes against the will of the gods, and he deserves to have his temple destroyed."
The yamen runner lowered his head and replied, "Yes, what about that group of unruly people?"
Zhang Taishou twirled the ring on his finger and said, "With the drought continuing, it's inevitable that people are uneasy. I've just been a little too radical. How can I call them unruly people?"
"Let them all go."
"Yes!" The bailiff took the order and left, but before he left, he was stopped by the prefect Zhang.
"Wait." Prefect Zhang paced back and forth. "Explain to them clearly that the water spirits committed evil, and therefore their crimes will not be pursued."
The bailiffs were ordered to leave. Prefect Zhang recalled the humiliation of being dragged into the water by the water demon that night, and his face twitched continuously: "Wujiang Water God, if you dare to insult me, don't blame me for peeling off your divine skin!"
Gong Mengbi, who was standing outside the door, heard the happy laughter of Zhang Taishou and smiled as well: "Laugh, laugh, you still have a few days to laugh."
He followed the yamen runners to the prison.
He watched the yamen runners release the offending civilians without charge, and watched them say, "The drought continues. The Wujiang River God has abused his power and is unworthy of his title. The prefect has shown mercy and is unwilling to pursue this matter. You should be grateful in your hearts."
Watching these people leave, Gong Mengbi lowered his eyes.
When the first Wujiang Water God Temple was destroyed, could the remaining Water God Temples be preserved?
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