Chapter 145 Are you happy? Are you happy? ...
Even if Yun Tianjiao didn't understand the hardships of ordinary people like Gong Xin and Zhi Wei, he still had the most basic common sense: during a plague, it's best to avoid gatherings of people, especially in the main city of a prefecture, where it's even less likely to accept refugees from the plague-stricken areas.
"Do you know if they'll accept you if you go to the main city of Jiangzhou like this?" she asked the villagers.
The villagers answered without hesitation, "Of course we are willing! This is a divine decree issued by the God of Ink Sorrow!"
"That's right! As long as we bring enough incense and sincerely worship the God of Ink Sorrow, we will definitely receive his protection!"
By this time, several people had already begun to smash the temple. Zhiwei looked at them and suddenly asked, "Smashing this temple of the God of Agriculture must also be Mo Bei's divine decree, right?"
"Of course! It was the Divine Lord Mo Bei who exposed the true nature of this rat demon! Let us destroy as many of his temples as possible so that his magical power will dissipate and he will no longer allow his clan to wreak havoc on the world!"
Shen Qiongzhi couldn't stand it anymore. "Are you all crazy? So many people are going to Jiangzhou's main city, and even to Mo Bei's temple to burn incense and pray. If even one person gets infected with the plague, won't everyone be infected? And what will you all eat and drink if you all rush there like this? You can't live on incense ash, can you?"
"What do you know? We have Mo Bei, the Divine Lord. He's the future Heavenly Venerable! He'll always find a way."
The village shrine was never very large; it was just a mud house with a few pillars and a roof. It was quickly and efficiently destroyed by the villagers.
"God Venerable Gongxin, aren't you going to stop him?" Zhu Jing asked in a low voice when he saw God Venerable Gongxin just standing by and watching, as if it were none of his business.
"What's the use of stopping this one? It can't stop the pilgrims from abandoning their homes." Gong Xin sighed softly, spread his hands, and showed them to Zhu Jing, "Immortal Lord Zhu Jing, look."
Zhu Jing then noticed that spiritual energy was leaking out of Gong Xin's palm, and his cultivation level was decreasing at a visible rate.
"Lord Gongxin, what are you doing...?"
Gong Xin gave a wry smile and nodded. "I suppose at this very moment, countless temples of the God of Agriculture are being destroyed and smashed, and my incense offerings have almost all been cut off."
"Then wouldn't you..." Zhu Jing couldn't bear to say the word "annihilation".
Gong Xin was not so panicked and reassured Zhu Jing, "It's alright. Even if all the incense in the world is cut off, my cultivation and magic power are enough to last for ten days to half a month."
Hearing this, Shen Qiongzhi said speechlessly, "It's only ten days or half a month, and you're still saying it's alright? Venerable Gongxin, you really have a big heart."
Seeing that the villagers had already left and were all going home to prepare for their departure, Yun Tianjiao said to everyone, "We also need to get to Jiangzhou City as soon as possible. As long as we expose Mo Bei's true colors and change the perception of the pilgrims in the world about the new deity, everything will turn around."
Zhiwei nodded and said, "I'd like to see what the largest Mobei Temple in the world is really like."
...
Jiangzhou was an economically developed city, known since ancient times as a land of plenty. The main city of Jiangzhou was densely populated and prosperous, something Yun Tianjiao and his companions had long heard of.
Even though they were mentally prepared, they were still greatly shocked when they actually arrived in the main city of Jiangzhou.
If the villages and towns outside ravaged by the plague were hell on earth, then the main city of Jiangzhou today is simply paradise on earth. Not only are resources abundant, seemingly inexhaustible, but there is also no sign of plague.
Locals almost never locked their doors at night. Faced with the continuous influx of migrants into the city, they would offer food and clothing and greet them with smiles, as if welcoming relatives from afar. From officials and wealthy gentry to peddlers and laborers, almost everyone had a joyful and happy expression on their face. Bands could be seen playing drums, string instruments and singing everywhere on the streets, making it comparable to the New Year.
"You must be tired from your long journey. Are you hungry? Come and rest at my house! We have a statue of the God Mo Bei in our home. You can come over, burn some incense, and pray!"
Yun Tianjiao and his group also disguised themselves as refugees. They had only been in the city for a short time when a family stopped them and showed them great concern. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were taverns trying to attract customers.
"Thank you so much! We heard that the largest Mo Bei Temple in the world has been built here, and we would like to go and pay our respects. How do we get to the temple?" Perhaps because Gong Xin looked the most honest and approachable among the group, he was always the first to be spoken to.
The family wasn't annoyed by the refusal; their faces remained cheerful. "Oh, you're going to the Temple of Ink Sorrow? Do you need to ask for directions?"
"Hahaha, he actually asked how to get to the Temple of Ink Sorrow? That's hilarious!"
"Yeah, it's hilarious."
Passersby burst into laughter as if they had encountered some great joy.
Gong Xin was completely dumbfounded by the laughter. At the same time, he felt someone nudge his arm. He turned around and saw Shen Qiongzhi staring straight at something. "Goddess Gong Xin, no need to ask anymore, just look."
Besides Gong Xin, Yun Tianjiao and the others followed Shen Qiongzhi's gaze and saw a colossal object standing where the horizon met the sky in the distance. Under the bright sun, its huge shadow almost covered half of the city.
That was a magnificent temple, its grandeur far surpassing that of the Heavenly Venerable Temple in the capital of Yunchi Kingdom back then!
"Is this... something that could be built by human hands?" Zhu Jing stared in disbelief.
Yun Tianjiao stared at the temple, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. "How much manpower and resources did it take to build this, and how many days did it take?"
The locals standing nearby, however, wore expressions of pride, saying, "This was personally supervised by the Prefect of Jiangzhou and took a month to complete!"
"It's said that a lot of people died trying to shorten the construction period as quickly as possible!"
"Yes, the men in my family died building this temple."
Yun Tianjiao was startled and turned to look at the person who spoke. She saw that it was a woman who looked to be in her thirties.
The woman was not wearing mourning clothes, but only had a small white flower pinned to her hair. When she mentioned her husband's death, she showed no sadness at all, but instead had a happy smile on her face.
Her gaze shifted from the woman's face to the other people on the street, all of whom wore joyful expressions, as if immersed in happiness.
This is too bizarre, too abnormal.
Others also realized that something was wrong with the city.
"Are all these people possessed?" Shen Qiongzhi herself was a ghost, but at this moment she felt even more terrified than if she had seen a ghost, and couldn't help but rub her arms.
Just then, a pretty flower girl ran over, took a flower from her basket, and handed it to Shen Qiongzhi. Tilting her head, she asked with a grin, "Sister, here's a flower for you. Do you like it? Do you like it?"
"You're so happy!" Shen Qiongzhi pushed the flower girl away.
The flower girl then went to deliver flowers to other people.
These people followed Yun Tianjiao and his group into the city. Judging from their clothes and accents, they were all refugees from the Jiangzhou area. However, unlike Yun Tianjiao and his group, after receiving flowers from the flower girl, they also happily laughed along, their worries vanishing as if they had forgotten all their suffering.
"Are you happy? Are you happy?" the flower girl's voice rang out again.
"Joy! Joy! I am overjoyed!" the refugees responded loudly.
The flower girl laughed and went to another group of people further away to continue delivering flowers, asking loudly, "Do you like them? Do you like them?"
"I'm so happy, so very happy!"
This is a city of joy, the entire city is shrouded in the protection of the god of joy, and is immersed in happiness.
The refugees were quickly led into the homes of the locals, where they became familiar with the cleanliness and were given new clothes in bright colors and of high quality.
Yun Tianjiao couldn't help but speculate, "Once these people are dragged in, will they never be able to get out?"
However, it turned out she was overthinking it. How could anything unpleasant happen in Joy City?
After their stomachs were filled, their clothes were changed, and their spirits were lifted, the refugees soon emerged again, carrying incense and candles, chatting and laughing as they headed toward the Temple of Ink Sorrow, clearly intending to offer incense to the God of Joy.
The crowd followed these people and walked towards the Temple of Ink Sorrow, soon entering the shadows shrouded by the Temple of Ink Sorrow.
Just a hair's breadth away, from light to shadow, in the shade where the sun never shines, the perceived temperature drops sharply, becoming rather chilly.
Zhiwei glanced at it privately and said, "The yin energy here is so heavy."
The closer they got to the Mo Bei Temple, the more crowded it became. Yun Tianjiao grew impatient from being squeezed, so he transformed into a black cat, climbed onto Zhiwei's shoulder, and peered over the jostling crowd. He saw a huge archway ahead, which was the first gate of the Mo Bei Temple.
The dense crowd was moving towards the archway at an extremely slow pace.
"I feel like this scene looks familiar," Yun Tianjiao said to Zhiwei. "It's like I've seen it somewhere before."
Zhiwei was silent for a moment, then said three words: "The Road to the Underworld".
Yun Tianjiao belatedly realized, "That's right, no wonder it looks so familiar! It's like a soul walking on the road to the underworld, heading to the ghost realm!"
“This is really weird. This place looks even weirder than the Tongbei Pagoda. Should we send some people over?” Shen Qiongzhi asked.
Zhu Jing shook his head and said, "It's useless. To God Mo Bei, there is no difference between one person and ten thousand people. They are all beings that he can destroy with a flick of his finger."
Gong Xin also said, "Yes, it's all about dying anyway, there's no need to drag innocent people into it."
“Goddess Gongxin, there is something I don’t understand,” Zhiwei said.
Gong Xin: "May I ask, Zhiwei, the Heavenly God?"
Because Zhiwei has never been formally appointed as a deity by the Heavenly Realm, even though his current cultivation level is above that of a deity, Gong Xin still very strictly avoids calling him a deity and instead refers to him as a Heavenly God.
Zhiwei had gotten used to it.
"I don't understand. Why did the God of Ink Sorrow attract so many people here? Is it just for their offerings? If it's just for their offerings, they can worship him anywhere. Why must they gather in this city?"
Gong Xin pondered for a moment before saying, "I have worked with God Mo Bei for many years, but I do not know his true strength. However, judging from the barrier of Xuanxiao Sect, he seems to be extremely good at setting up formations."
"So you think the entire Jiangzhou main city has been set up as a formation?" Shen Qiongzhi asked.
Gong Xin nodded and said, "I'm just guessing."
Zhu Jing asked, puzzled, "Then what is his purpose in setting up this formation?"
Everyone was taken aback.
Shen Qiongzhi suddenly remembered something, her voice trembling, "Do you remember what General You Wei said to us at the end? He said that most of the gods in the Heavenly Realm were 'eaten' by Mo Bei..."
Zhiwei said, "Since he has the ability to devour the divine essence of other gods, once he has devoured all the divine essence, he should devour ordinary people."
Shen Qiongzhi asked, "So this formation is for devouring people?? But what's so great about devouring ordinary people? It's not like they're just eating human flesh, is it?"
“It’s the living soul,” Zhu Jing explained. “The living souls of mortals also have very strong energy. Although it can’t compare to divine energy, it has the advantage of being numerous. The combined energy of all the living souls of mortals in the world far exceeds the divine energy of all the gods.”
The more Yun Tianjiao listened, the more unbelievable it seemed. "He wouldn't be thinking of swallowing up all living things in this world, would he?"
Zhiwei scoffed, "That's why it can be called a world-destroying power, alarming the power of the Heavenly Dao."
As they talked, they followed the crowd through the archway and arrived at the plaza in front of the Temple of Ink Sorrow.
This was absolutely the largest temple square Yun Tianjiao had ever seen, large enough to hold dozens of incense-lighting platforms from the Yun Chi Imperial City.
Even in such a large square, the crowds were now packed with people, numbering in the tens of thousands.
The archway slowly closed, finally emitting a deafening roar, like a giant spider web slowly being pulled in.
However, apart from Yun Tianjiao and his five companions, the surrounding crowd remained oblivious, still beaming with joy as they gazed toward the temple. Many of them even wore purple irises.
Is the God of Ink Sorrow about to appear?
"Oh, I can't wait! I've never seen a true god appear before!"
"With the protection of the Divine Lord Mo Bei, we have nothing to fear!"
Some particularly devout pilgrims even knelt down on the spot and began kowtowing in the direction of the temple, repeatedly chanting "Mo Bei God" and "Mo Bei God".
Inspired by these people, even more people knelt down.
In the end, Zhiwei and his group stood out like cranes among chickens, becoming a very conspicuous presence.
Sensing the disapproving gazes from all directions, Zhu Jing asked in a low voice, "How about we kneel down too?"
"Hmph!" Shen Qiongzhi retorted, "Don't even think about kneeling before the murderer of my brother!" But the next moment, she decisively squatted down, hugging her knees and looking up at Zhu Jing: "I'll squat down!"
Zhu Jing: "..."
However, this was one way, and everyone followed suit and squatted down.
Just then, a dazzling beam of light descended from the sky, and two figures appeared above the temple. One of them was Mo Bei, and standing side by side with him was Yu Li.
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