Flourishing Incense Offerings

Chapter 9

With awe in his heart, Yang Jian'an, along with the hired laborers he had recruited, managed to fulfill all of Li Changmeng's requests in just three days.

The Temple of the Dao Lord.A three-character plaque, written by Li Changmeng using his spiritual power, hung high above the door. Upon entering, one could see a bright red wooden statue of the deity placed in the shrine. On the left side of the statue was inscribed: "The deity resides beyond the universe. With a single thought and intention, all worlds are opened." On the right side was inscribed: "The saint manifests within the universe, relieving suffering and saving lives, guiding all living beings across." At the top, the inscription read: "Eternal Existence!"

Wang Hu and Sun Er somehow acquired two sets of clothes similar to those worn by monks and spontaneously assumed the role of novices in the Temple of the Dao Lord. They claimed to be true believers and led the villagers of Mingguan Post to burn incense and offer sacrifices.

As for Li Changmeng, after the temple was completed, the villagers of Mingguan Post rarely saw him. Even Chen Lie, the village chief, could not find an opportunity to see Li Changmeng.

At that moment, several elders of Mingguan Post were gathered around a square table in the village chief's house. Naturally, the village chief held the highest position in the village, but those venerable people who had lived past seventy also wielded considerable influence.

"Village Chief Chen, what's your opinion on this Dao Lord Mimen Wangqing and the temple that has been built?" one of the elders asked.

The establishment of the temple had led more than half the villagers in Mingguan Post to occasionally visit it, burn an incense stick, and offer a prayer. They did not necessarily believe deeply; they had merely witnessed Li Changmeng's display of abilities and made the offerings to ease their minds. Moreover, Wang Hu and Sun Er had spent their own money to buy large quantities of incense, so the villagers did not need to spend their own money. Why not seize the opportunity?

However, this situation left the village elders somewhat unhappy. Such a major undertaking had been carried out without prior consultation, and the temple had been built just like that. Chen Lie looked troubled; he had never expected that the little kid could actually build a temple. And the kid truly had some skills—didn't they all see how completely Wang Hu and Sun Er had been subdued?

When asked for his opinion, Chen Lie thought it best to let things take their course. After all, he had sold the land deed, and the Xuanfeng Kingdom did not impose strict regulations regarding land deeds, so why should he meddle? Yet he could not ignore the elders' feelings, as his position as village chief depended on it. Thus, Chen Lie offered a compromise:

"Elders, originally we intended to report to you about the temple after its completion. But who would have thought that the villagers would become so enthusiastic? They are afraid of being punished by the Dao Lord for unfaithfulness, which has caused the situation to spiral out of control."

In other words, it wasn't that they hadn't consulted the elders; rather, events had progressed too quickly. One elder admonished, "Xiao Chen, this kind of thing cannot happen again in the future. But we also need to go and inspect the Temple of the Dao Lord to see if it is truly miraculous or merely deceiving the villagers."

The village elders wore expressions of scrutiny, as if they were ready to tear the temple down if they found any impropriety. Three old men supported each other, and upon seeing this, Chen Lie immediately went over to assist them. If they were to fall or get injured, he would be in serious trouble. Moreover, these old men liked to leverage their age to act as if they were indispensable figures in the village, meddling in every matter.

It seemed they still did not know the power of Lord Li, the Spiritual Child, in the Temple of the Dao Lord. This was a perfect opportunity to instill a true sense of awe. Chen Lie supported one elder with each hand and followed a slightly sturdier elder as they made their way to the far end of the village.

The journey of the elders and the village chief attracted the attention of the villagers. Were they going to burn incense and offer sacrifices in the temple, or was something else at play? Soon, more than a dozen curious onlookers gathered behind the village chief and the elders. The old men, struggling to walk, took a long time to reach the edge of the village. From a distance, wisps of blue smoke from burning incense could be seen seeping out from the eaves of the Temple of the Dao Lord, indicating the large number of people inside.

When they arrived in front of the temple, Wang Hu and Sun Er immediately came out to greet them.

"Village Chief Chen and esteemed elders, are you also here to pay homage to the great Dao Lord?" they greeted enthusiastically.

"We're only here to take a look—to see if there's really a miraculous deity or if it's all just trickery!" one of them declared.

Zhang Pingzhi, an elder of the village, snorted coldly. In his view, there was no such thing as a god. His son, a local magistrate appointed by the imperial court after passing the examinations, was well-versed in poetry and the classics, and he knew that the court despised superstitious and deceitful practices. Regarding the so-called miraculous punishment of Wang Hu and Sun Er, Zhang Pingzhi believed it was nothing more than a well-acted play staged by them. They had always been a nuisance in the village, and such antics were typical of their attempts to deceive the people.

From the start, Zhang Pingzhi had harbored a dislike for both the Temple of the Dao Lord and the great Dao Lord himself. If it were an established and well-known orthodox immortal deity, that would be one thing—but which deity was this Dao Lord Mimen Wangqing? He had never heard of it, and he could not stand by and watch the villagers be deceived. He was determined to expose the misdeed.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Wang Hu and Sun Er immediately fell. Although they had often engaged in mischief, they had always shown great respect to the elders. Yet now, how dare they show disrespect to the great Dao Lord? Filled with anger, Wang Hu and Sun Er were about to take action—seeing this as an opportunity to prove their loyalty and perhaps even earn rewards from the great Dao Lord. Like fierce wolves and tigers, they charged toward Zhang Pingzhi, raising fists as big as sandbags.

"You... you're going to hit an old man!" Zhang Pingzhi was stunned. He had never expected that they would actually attack an elder. Chen Lie felt even more regret; had he known that the elders would react in such a way, he would never have brought them here. At that moment, he could only fiercely protect the two elders by his side.

"Wang Hu, Sun Er, you should still show respect to the elders."

From behind the temple came a child's voice—Li Changmeng. Dressed in a Taoist robe, he stepped forward and looked up at the three elders.

"But you must show even greater respect to the gods! Kneel down!" Li Changmeng's tone suddenly shifted to one of stern authority. His spiritual power surged out and wrapped around Zhang Pingzhi's feet, forcing him to kneel. It was better not to use the soul-repelling spell on the old man since his soul was unstable. In these few days, the incense offerings had been abundant, and Li Changmeng's spiritual power was sufficient. He could afford to be somewhat extravagant in directly using his power to control the situation.

Under Li Changmeng's command, Zhang Pingzhi's face turned pale with fear, and he involuntarily knelt. He then kowtowed several times in the direction of the statue. If Li Changmeng weren't cautious about accidentally causing the old man's death, he might have forced him to kowtow a hundred times. The gods must not be insulted. Only in this way could the incense offerings flourish, and only then would ordinary people develop a true sense of awe.

"Rise. Considering your advanced age and muddled mind, I'll spare you this time. But any further disrespect—hmph..." Zhang Pingzhi felt an invisible force pressing him down, compelling him to continue kowtowing. Could it be that the great Dao Lord had truly displayed his divine power? Even though he did not believe in gods, the undeniable display before his eyes left no room for doubt about the existence of the great Dao Lord in his heart.

"Great Dao Lord Mimen Wangqing, we meant no offense. From now on, we will offer sincere prayers and burn incense in your honor!"

All the elders, along with Chen Lie, knelt down, and even those who had not entered the temple but were watching from outside joined in. The Dao Lord Mimen Wangqing had now truly become an existent god in the eyes and hearts of everyone.