8mi Chapter 43 Joint Worship of Two Villages! Dispute!
Chapter 43 Joint Worship of Two Villages! Dispute!
In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
As autumn deepens, yellow leaves begin to twirl and fall.
Shixi Village.
The surface of Bibo Pool is as calm as a mirror.
The incense smoke on the eaves of the Jiaoshen Temple grew stronger day by day.
The news of the construction of the ancestral hall in Shanghe Village had already spread throughout the village.
"Have you heard? That ancestral hall in Shanghe Village was erected in just a few days, incredibly fast!"
Tang An stood by the well, drawing water as he spoke to He Chong.
"How could it not be fast? I heard the whole village, young and old, joined in, and they're incredibly enthusiastic!"
"That's true, we should repay the great kindness of saving our lives."
He Chong shook his head, his tone complicated.
Under a large tree not far away, several women were washing clothes and chatting in more detail.
"The clan chief, Sun Ming, went to see it in person and said that the bricks reached the top and the tiles were brand new, making it look brighter than our old ancestral hall."
The younger wife spoke quickly.
"What's the use of being bright and shiny?"
"An ancestral hall is all about its heritage and the incense offerings it has. Every brick and tile of our ancestral hall was painstakingly collected by our ancestors, and that stone toad statue is especially old! How can their new wooden lumps compare?"
The older Aunt Zhou pounded the clothes hard and snorted.
"That's not how it works,"
"That's the place where the true form of the Dragon God manifested. Although we didn't see the light on the riverbank that night with our own eyes, the stories about it are incredibly detailed. That statue of the Dragon God was sculpted by a highly skilled craftsman!"
Another woman spoke up, lowering her voice.
"Having good craftsmanship is one thing, being spiritually connected to the supernatural is another."
"A statue of a deity isn't something that can be made just by craftsmanship. It takes years of incense burning and people's prayers for it to slowly come to life. Those rushed ones always seem to lack something."
Aunt Zhou remained unconvinced.
"I'm curious."
"From now on, we'll be offering sacrifices to both sides. Will the Dragon God listen to us or them? How will the incense offerings be calculated?"
The young wife who spoke first blinked.
The women fell silent for a moment, a subtle, previously unthought-out worry quietly rising in their hearts. Their feelings were very complicated. It was as if their unique business had suddenly been copied by their neighbors, but it was also as if they were watching the saplings they had planted sprout new branches elsewhere. They didn't know how to describe it.
Shanghe Village.
Wasteland on the north bank of the Qinghe River.
In the spot once bathed in blue light, stands a small shrine made of blue bricks.
The walls were freshly plastered, untouched by smoke or fire, and the tiles were brand-new black pottery, gleaming in the autumn sun. The three characters "Jiaoshen Temple" on the lintel had just dried.
The shrine is not large. The wooden dragon statue enshrined in the central shrine has smooth lines and a majestic appearance, but the wood is fresh and has not yet been moistened by incense to develop a warm patina.
The rooster crows three times.
The whole village suddenly became lively.
Today is the first day of the new ancestral hall's opening ceremony, and also the first time that the two villages have jointly worshipped the Dragon God.
The women would take out their half-new clothes, which had been stored at the bottom of their trunks and were only worn during festivals, and pat them down repeatedly.
The men meticulously wiped away imaginary dust from their faces, far more carefully than when they were getting married.
The children were repeatedly told to be quiet and well-behaved, their little faces tense, but their eyes gleamed with excitement.
More and more people gathered on the riverbank, the air filled with restlessness, but even more so with solemnity.
The sky gradually brightened.
Liu Laosi and a dozen men waited at the village entrance for the people from Shixi Village.
The number of people from Shixi Village was small, but their group was well-organized.
Sun Ming walked at the front, his beard and hair meticulously combed, his face composed. Behind him followed several clan elders, including Xu Zheng and Bai Siqi, their steps measured. Behind them were a dozen or so young men carrying a lavish sacrificial offering: neatly bound pig's head, sheep's head, and chicken—three sacrificial animals in total. There were also baskets covered with red cloth, filled with newly harvested rice and wheat, bundles of incense and candles, and even a small band of musicians, exuding an invisible sense of order and confidence.
The group from Shixi Village was not entirely calm; a few young men couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
"See? It's really built, and it looks quite decent."
A young man stood on tiptoe and peered into the distance at the riverbank, where he could vaguely see the newly built shrine.
"It looks decent, but it's too new, like a freshly steamed bun, all smooth."
The other one pursed his lips, his tone carrying a hint of awkwardness at having his own ideas copied.
"I heard that it houses a statue of a real dragon, not a stone toad. I wonder how well it's carved? Does it capture the spirit of our stone toad statue?"
There's another opening.
"I heard they found a veteran craftsman, whose skills are beyond question. But making a statue isn't just about skill."
"Our stone toad is imbued with spiritual power through years of incense offerings and the sincere worship of generations. Their hasty attempt is questionable."
An older man chimed in.
"It may be a bit rushed, but it's sincere."
"Have you forgotten the plague that struck their village a few days ago? It was the Dragon God himself who saved them. His compassion is probably even stronger than ours, which only asks for good weather and a bountiful harvest."
Some people disagreed.
These words caused the people around to fall silent for a moment.
At the front of the group, Sun Ming heard the whispers behind him, turned around and glanced back indifferently, and the discussion immediately stopped.
Looking at the confident demeanor and seemingly innate orthodox aura of the people from Shixi Village, the people from Shanghe Village subconsciously shrank their shoulders and dusted off the corners of their already clean clothes. The pride they felt in building their own ancestral hall was suddenly mixed with an indescribable sense of shame and a competitive spirit of defiance.
When the villagers of Shixi Village looked at the brand-new ancestral hall and the people opposite with eager yet slightly hesitant eyes, their gazes inevitably revealed a hint of scrutiny, curiosity, and perhaps a deeper, unacknowledged, subtle wariness, like an eldest son who has built up a large family business looking at a younger brother who has suddenly appeared and may be dividing the family property.
The atmosphere gradually became more and more subtle.
"Dear fellow villagers of Shixi Village, you've had a long and arduous journey!"
Liu Laosi took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and was the first to stride forward, clasping his hands in a salute, his voice loud and somewhat deliberately clear. Yang Qianchui, Lu Cheng, and the others followed closely behind.
"We worship the same God, so why should we distinguish between ourselves? I'm fortunate to be part of this grand occasion!"
Sun Ming returned the greeting with a smile, his words were impeccable, but the calm demeanor of someone from the "place of origin" silently permeated the air.
A simple greeting, polite yet distant.
The two groups joined together and headed towards the new ancestral hall. Soon, friction began to arise.
"Isn't this incense table too close to the shrine? Our ancestral hall has always left at least three steps of space, as a sign of reverence."
Shi Baisiqi squinted at the approaching new ancestral hall, glanced inside through the open door, and couldn't help but whisper to Zhuang Shifeng beside him. His voice wasn't loud, but it was just loud enough for a few people from Shanghe Village nearby to hear.
"Wouldn't those wind and percussion instruments disrupt the peaceful atmosphere inside the shrine? We didn't make any of that noise when we were worshipping on the riverbank that day!"
On the Shanghe Village side, a middle-aged man who had participated in the night watch on the riverbank muttered under his breath, his tone showing his disdain for the showman.
When the two groups reached the open space in front of the ancestral hall, even greater disagreements arose.
The procedures of the sacrificial ceremony, the words of the prayers, the order of kneeling and bowing, and even the posture of offering incense were completely different between the two villages!
The rituals in Shixi Village originated from the old custom of worshipping the stone toad in earlier times. They are complex and rigorous, with a clear distinction between elders and juniors.
The cries from Shanghe Village originated entirely from the spontaneous outcry made in dire straits on the riverbank that day; they were simple and direct.
Both sides stuck to their own versions of events, and the arguments gradually became heated.
Although they didn't get to the point of arguing, they both insisted on not giving in.
In front of the new ancestral hall, hundreds of people stood in a dark mass, yet they subtly drew two invisible boundaries, and the air began to stagnate.
Lin Shi parted the crowd and walked up to Sun Ming and Liu Laosi, and the noise gradually subsided.
Liu Laosi and Sun Ming stepped forward almost simultaneously, their postures respectful.
Lin Shi nodded slightly, said nothing, stepped onto the three newly carved stone steps in front of the shrine, turned around, and faced the crowd.