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墨書 Inktalez
In the following years, small disasters continued to plague Pengzhou, but under the guidance of the divine, life in Shanxia Village became increasingly better. Was this good or bad? It was all relative; several surrounding villages were faring much worse. Eventually, they also came to our village to worship the deity, and their fortunes improved as well.
Was it truly the deity's doing? Did it not require anything in return from you?
Zhao Qing hesitated for a moment. I wasn't sure if this counted as giving something back. It was only in the third year after the statue appeared that the deity made a request, stating that their power in heaven was growing, but they had few trusted followers. Therefore, they needed to recruit some divine attendants from our Shanxia Village to assist with their tasks.
Was this what they called divine will? Gaining the villagers' trust only to ask for people later?
Did anyone from your village actually go?
Of course! Why wouldn't they? Not only did people from our village go, but folks from nearby villages were also bowing and pleading to be chosen. The deity had treated us so well; when they finally spoke up, we naturally wanted to help.
What are those divine attendants doing up there?
I don't know. Once they went up, they never returned.
Indeed, this was a serious issue!
Chi Chen'an continued to probe. Aren't you worried about them?
What is there to worry about? Every month, the deity brings news of their safety and even sends down a portion of their heavenly salary to support their families. My second son was chosen by the deity two years ago and now sends home five taels of silver each month!
Five taels of silver is a considerable sum for the villagers; an ordinary family of five wouldn't earn that much in a year.
Yet even with such generous treatment, Chi Chen'an still felt it was a scam—a grand deception.
In over sixty years, has no one in Shanxia Village ever questioned this?
Surely there are educated people in the village. Those who read more can discern right from wrong; don't educated individuals have any doubts?
Chi Chen'an thought for a moment and then asked, Uncle Zhao, since the village is so prosperous and there must be many children studying, with a Second Place Scholar among them, how are the children's grades? Are there still any who place in the top three of the imperial examinations?
Zhao Qing replied cheerfully, All the children in our village study diligently; not only do they study, but they also strengthen their bodies every day. However, working as an official on earth can't compare to serving in heaven, so none of the children participate in the Imperial Examination. Once they achieve success in their studies, they're directly chosen by the deity.
Uncle Zhao, with all the young and strong gone, leaving behind only old folks and women and children—if something were to happen, who would help?
How could there be no one to help? Even the County Magistrate takes great care of us. If someone falls ill, a doctor comes personally; if we need to buy something in town, we just register a day in advance and someone delivers it right to our door; when children want to study, the County Magistrate builds schools and finds masters for them.
We divine attendants are spoiled; we live even more comfortably than the County Magistrate. Speaking of which, this is my first time leaving Shanxia Village. I had to navigate through forests along the way and even had to hide in a dung barrel when entering town. Oh dear, my old bones nearly fell apart from all that trouble!
So that's how it is! No wonder there were no travel permits.
As they chatted all the way to the Confucian Temple, Zhao Qing looked around and upon seeing an appropriate scene, he immediately began his unique method of worship: taking three steps forward, bowing down, kneeling on the ground, lying flat before standing up again—repeating each step meticulously.
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