64 The City God's Gift
"It is truly an honor for this humble place to have Lord He grace us with his presence. It is a blessing for the people of this county to have such a distinguished person here!"
"I wonder what brings you here, sir?"
Before Yang Chenghuang stood a general. He spoke bluntly, immediately asking the purpose of their visit.
At this moment, he was no longer in a hurry. So he asked, "Sir, your surname is Yang. When you were studying in the county, you heard your teacher say that there was a general named Yang in this place before. He later died in battle. I wonder if this is the City God Yang?"
"Yes, that is my master. Later, he was officially appointed by the Holy Dynasty and became the local City God." Bai Wuchang stepped forward to explain on behalf of his City God.
After hearing this explanation, he asked again, "People went missing here before, and demons entered the city. Why didn't you do anything about it, sir?"
The City God remained silent! Just as Bai Wuchang was about to explain, the City God shook his sleeve, which was missing a piece.
"My lord, you are unaware of the situation. Matters of the mortal realm are the responsibility of the county magistrate. We can only prevent matters of the underworld from arising."
He paused for a moment, then looked at He Chen and said, "The previous demons and disappearances were all the work of the living. If you don't tell us, we can't see it, unless there are ghosts who died unjustly, from whom we can hear some fragments of words."
Ordinary souls disappear quickly after death. But if a vengeful ghost is born, the Black and White Impermanence will patrol and capture it. If it's too powerful, I'll go too! Just in case a large ghost arises in the city and causes even greater harm.
He must have been a little thirsty from talking so much, so he took a sip of water and continued. "Or perhaps, the people of the city have come to sincerely pray for blessings."
We can hear some things from the prayers, but otherwise, we cannot see people of the human world. This is because we walk the path of the dead. Although the location is the same, what we see is indeed different.
“Your Excellency is special; otherwise, ordinary people would not be able to see our existence. Even the Martial King would not be able to see us clearly.”
Hearing this explanation, he nodded. He didn't ask any more questions, feeling no malice, but rather a sense of goodwill. Otherwise, he would have already killed him outright.
After the City God finished speaking, Bai Wuchang added, "These past few days, we've been so grateful to you, sir. You've restored order to the city. There haven't been so many wrongful deaths or tragic accidents. We no longer need to patrol so constantly."
"Your Excellency may not know this, but in recent years, people have been dying violently every few days. They all had tendencies towards evil spirits. They're busy every night, their feet never stopping. And with the City God here, no one in this city dares to easily travel the underworld to harm people. Evil cultivators who descend to the underworld also dare not easily practice their arts in the city."
He Chen nodded in agreement upon hearing this. Seeing that King He Wu was in a good mood, he did not ask any further questions.
Bai Wuchang felt relieved. "This is King Wu! If his answer wasn't satisfactory, he could unleash his fury, and even the City God would be unharmed, since he's been officially appointed! I probably wouldn't even be able to remain a ghost. To put it nicely, I'd be under the City God's command. But I have no official position, and therefore no protection from the Holy Dynasty!"
Therefore, upon closer inspection, the words "No spirits allowed!" are quite meaningful.
The City God clasped his hands in gratitude and said, "We really have to thank you, Your Excellency. After you restored order, more people came to worship. The incense has been burning brightly these past few days, and our strength has increased as well."
"You're too kind, City God. The people of the city should be grateful for your protection!"
I took a sip of the tea; it had a delicate, refreshing fragrance. Ah, the beauty of tea!
"White Impermanence, come and add tea!" he said with a smile, but his deathly pale face made him even more chilling.
"Don't laugh at me, sir, but this tea was brought by someone who came to pray for blessings yesterday. If you had come earlier, I would have had to serve you plain water."
He was basically certain that the matter of the evil spirits and the disappearances of people had nothing to do with the City God. Moreover, the City God was also very important, maintaining the affairs of the underworld that were invisible to ordinary people in a certain area.
So he said, "Many thanks to the City God! This place has been in disrepair for years. I will have my subordinates come and repair it in a few days. We will also build a golden statue for you. I wonder if you have any requests regarding this?"
Yang Chenghuang was overjoyed to hear that his statue had been recast. The clay statues of today are not as sturdy over time.
He stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, sir. If you are willing, you can make a new clay statue of the same height."
Simply coat it with silver powder. No need for such waste. Besides, this large spear is probably made of iron and is the same length.
He stood up, nodded, and clasped his hands in return, saying, "Lord Yang, you're too kind. There's no need for that. How about this, I'll have a hollow golden statue made for the City God."
Then, after thinking for a moment, I thought, "How about coating it with silver powder?"
"Thank you very much, Lord He." The City God bowed deeply and said, "I wonder if you could write a word for my statue? Just one word will do."
Although I don't understand, he must be impressed by the strength of the King of Martial Arts.
So he nodded in agreement. "Okay."
Upon seeing that the agreement had been granted, Yang Chenghuang expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Lord Wu."
The White Impermanence standing nearby was filled with envy, but hesitated to speak.
He Chen nodded to him and said, "I'll have my subordinates make a golden statue for you and Black Impermanence as well."
Bai Wuchang was so frightened that he waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No need, no need, Lord Wu Wang, we just need to exchange our weapons for iron ones."
"Okay, I understand. I'll rebuild your silver bodies and replace your weapons as well."
Upon hearing this, Bai Wuchang repeatedly bowed in gratitude, saying, "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."
After another round of pleasantries, once things were settled, he explained his purpose: "I've heard that Stone Village is a bit strange, and I was planning to go check it out. Constable Feng suggested that I come here to ask for some incense ash. It'll be useful for warding off evil spirits!"
The air suddenly fell silent. It was a little unsettling, as the City God and White Impermanence stared awkwardly at King He Wu. In their hearts, they thought, 'You're King He Wu now, and you're still asking us for incense ash? Shouldn't we be begging you for help? Besides, what ordinary little ghost would dare rely on you!'
Yang Chenghuang quickly realized what was happening. "My lord, our incense ash has some effect against ordinary ghosts and other supernatural entities. Your body is like a furnace! Your vital energy is immense. Ordinary ghosts cannot harm you."
Having said that, he took out a small box from his robes. Inside was incense ash, though it had a slightly golden hue. He looked at it with a mixture of heartache and longing.
"If you don't mind, this is just a little incense ash. You can sew it together and put it in a sachet to give to your relatives and friends! Ordinary evil spirits won't dare approach."
Then, somewhat embarrassed, he said, "The incense offerings aren't very plentiful, so there's not much accumulated. Please forgive my poor attempt to save it, sir."
He stood up and accepted the box with both hands, expressing his deepest gratitude, "Thank you, City God Yang! This item will be of great use to me."
Thinking of my family members... there are quite a few left, aren't there? I can give them some. I imagine they would be very happy.
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