The City God Temple is a very popular place of worship in the area.
It is no exaggeration to say that it far surpasses the Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in the vicinity. Only Jiuding Tiesha Mountain, which enshrines the Black Mother (Note 1), and General Temple, which enshrines the Brave General, can be compared to it.
The City God Temple was rebuilt more than 20 years ago with funds from a benevolent businessman named Chen Fu.
The City God enshrined inside is depicted as an old woman: holding a long, gold-inlaid jade pipe in one hand and the City God's seal in the other.
According to the old woman, when you go to the City God Temple to worship, you can't call him "City God"; you have to call him "Grandma."
But no one can explain why it is called that.
All I know is that the City Goddess is very compassionate and efficacious. If anyone has a big or small problem and goes to the temple to pray, it usually works.
Of course, this only applies to those simple and unpretentious wishes.
If you're hoping to become a billionaire or the President of the United States... you don't need to come to the City God Temple, just sleep at home.
You can have anything in your dreams...
So the next morning, Zhao Youliang had just finished tidying up the paper-making shop when he heard Sister Yingchun calling him from outside the door.
Zhao Youliang, who rushed out to greet her, was a little worried: "Sister, why did you get up so early today?"
"Could something strange have happened to us last night?"
Sister-in-law Yingchun shook her head with a smile: "We've never done anything wrong, so why would strange things always happen to us!"
"Today I'm here to take you to the City God Temple so you can pray to the City Goddess and ask her to have mercy and protect you."
Before Zhao Youliang could even reply, Yingchun's sister-in-law's voice rang out in his ear.
"Quantum, you must go. It will be good for you!"
"I should have suggested you go a long time ago, it's all my fault for not thinking of that for a while."
"Also, you must be respectful when you enter the City God Temple. If the City God is merciful and compassionate, all your problems will be solved!"
The City God Temple is far from the town, at least beyond the area where Zhao Youliang can move freely.
Therefore, he could only carry the prayer wheel that the red-robed lama had given him with him.
As he picked up the prayer wheel, Zhao Youliang, who was always cautious, suddenly asked Huang Yu in secret.
"Brother, is it okay if I bring a monk's belongings into the City God Temple?"
Will the City Goddess be angry?
Huang Yu greatly admired Zhao Youliang's meticulousness.
Hearing this, she smiled and replied, "Don't worry, Quantum. The City Goddess is a true deity; why would she care about a mere Buddhist artifact?"
"There is a saying you should remember: A great monk does not denigrate the Way, and a great Way does not belittle monks."
"Although the City Goddess is neither a monk nor a Taoist, her magnanimity and cultivation far surpass those of many Buddhist and Taoist masters."
"In short, you must respect it!"
Huang Yu's earnest advice made Zhao Youliang even more curious about this City Goddess.
To show sufficient respect, Zhao Youliang took a shower and changed into clean clothes from head to toe before leaving.
After bathing and changing clothes, one should calmly worship the gods.
Because the journey was quite long, Sister Yingchun specially took a taxi.
Just as they had agreed on the price and were about to get on the bus, Xiao Li, who was waiting for fares, saw them.
"Hey, big sister, Quantum, what are you two doing!"
"Why bother asking me for a ride when you need one?!"
"What, are you treating me like an outsider?"
As he spoke, Xiao Li pulled Zhao Youliang and the other man into his car without giving them a chance to say anything, while also addressing the driver of the car.
"Sorry, buddy, I know someone here."
The driver clearly knew Xiao Li, and simply smiled and nodded upon hearing this.
Although Sister-in-law Yingchun has a fiery personality, she is particularly understanding of the hardships others face.
As the saying goes: You don't know how to help others until you've been rained on yourself.
Therefore, he insisted on paying Xiao Li for the fare, otherwise he would rather not take the ride.
Xiao Li, however, made all sorts of excuses, saying that after going through so much, how could I be a human being if I still wanted your money!
Seeing that the two were deadlocked, Zhao Youliang eventually acted as a peacemaker.
"Sister, Li Mao, you two don't need to be so polite."
"I think this is how it should be: Sis, you don't need to pay. Let's just invite Li Mao over for barbecue tonight."
"Let's invite Brother Chen too, and the four of us can have a good drink."
Zhao Youliang's proposal was immediately approved by a unanimous vote, and the matter was settled.
The driver, Li Mao, was a talkative man: along the way, Zhao Youliang heard many more stories about the City Goddess from him.
For example, this City Goddess once appeared in a dream and set out the rules:
The temple must never sell incense, candles, or other items used for sacrifices.
People who come to worship and pray can bring their own offerings, or even not offer incense; the City Goddess will treat everyone equally.
In short, they don't make money from the offerings of ordinary people.
In addition, the City Goddess has three things she won't help:
I won't help the first type of lazy person who wants something for nothing.
The second type of person I won't help is the one who's obsessed with love, even to the point of contemplating suicide or not considering their parents' feelings.
Thirdly, if they don't help corrupt officials, thugs, and hooligans, they deserve to die.
Through the driver Xiao Li's narration, the image of the City Goddess gradually became more vivid in Zhao Youliang's mind.
She must be a straightforward and righteous old lady!
When Zhao Youliang arrived at the City God Temple, he found that it was indeed a very popular place of worship, with a constant stream of pilgrims coming and going!
To what extent exactly? Let's put it this way: Zhao Youliang and his two companions queued for a full two hours before finally being able to enter the temple with the flow of people.
Just as Xiao Li said, there really wasn't anyone selling incense and candles after we came in.
Fortunately, Sister-in-law Yingchun was prepared and quickly lit the incense she had brought.
Then, together with Zhao Youliang, they respectfully kowtowed three times and bowed nine times to the statue in front of them.
Although everyone made their wishes silently, it was obvious that Sister Yingchun was praying for Zhao Youliang's safety and that he wouldn't be killed by the strange paper-making shop.
Zhao Youliang prayed that his adoptive father would recover, that Yingchun's sister-in-law would be safe, that his younger sister would pass her postgraduate entrance exam smoothly, and that he would not be killed by the paper-making shop.
But right after making his wish, Zhao Youliang suddenly realized something was wrong: Was his request too much? Was he being a bit greedy?
So after a moment's thought, I "deleted" my last wish, the one about myself.
"Grandma City God, I just want my dad, my sister, and Sister Yingchun to be healthy and safe, please!"
Just after Zhao Youliang changed his wish in a very low voice, he seemed to vaguely hear a voice coming from the City God statue.
"Good boy, so rare, so rare!"
Zhao Youliang was stunned upon hearing this: Could it be that the City Goddess has really appeared?!
He wanted to look up at the statue high above, but then he thought it would be impolite and disrespectful to the City Goddess, so he could only reluctantly hold back.
But the kowtowing became even louder...
Note 1: Black Mother: The head of all spirit mediums and guardian spirits in the world, whose status is almost equivalent to that of Hu San Taiye of the Hu family.
He is also the chief protector of the entire Northern Daoist sect, and his Daoist temple is located at Jiuding Tiesha Mountain in Benxi City, Liaoning Province.
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