yasinovel Chapter 20 Fighting for Water
Chapter 20 Fighting for Water
Years are like a shuttle.
A month flew by in the blink of an eye.
early morning.
Lin Shi pushed open the ancestral hall door and became the chief priest of the Jiaoshen Temple, and his life got back on track.
Every morning, as soon as the sky begins to lighten, Lin Shi gets up, washes himself with clean well water brought by the villagers, and changes into a plain-colored priest's robe made of slightly better material.
As the first rays of sunlight shine into the ancestral hall, the doors are opened for the daily morning worship ceremony.
Light incense sticks and recite a short morning prayer to sense whether the flow of faith is smooth. The same applies to the evening sacrifice.
He was meticulous throughout the entire process, not only out of reverence for the divine, but also because he knew that every devout action he took contributed to the efficient energy field, and that he benefited greatly from being in it.
The daily maintenance of the ancestral temple, such as changing offerings, pruning flowers and plants in front of the hall, and checking incense and candles, was initially done by enthusiastic villagers who spontaneously helped. However, they found that taking care of this core place of faith by themselves could bring them greater peace of mind and a closer connection with the dragon god statue and even their avatar at the bottom of the pool. So they simply took over the entire task themselves.
They are responsible for answering villagers' questions and handling their prayers.
An elderly person who is sick wants to ask for a bowl of "holy water from the toad pearl," an anxious farmer wants to ask if it is appropriate to cultivate the land according to the season, and even a woman who has lost a chicken wants to ask for guidance.
For truly urgent and reasonable requests, offer gentle reassurance based on the circumstances, either through ritualistic guidance of faith, or by providing advice based on enhanced perception and common sense.
To those unfounded claims or greedy demands, we are warned that "God's grace is boundless, but we must also exercise self-restraint."
After Lin Shi finished offering incense and cleaning, he turned around, walked out of the gate, and stood in front of the ancestral hall.
Could it be that one can really become a god?
Lin Shi discovered that his physical enhancement had not stopped.
Especially during each sacrificial ceremony, when he was at the core of the faith energy field, a warm current would arise, continuously strengthening his physique and senses. His strength far surpassed that of ordinary villagers, his movements became more agile, and his energy was exceptionally abundant.
Even more astonishing is that their perception abilities are becoming increasingly stronger.
Every inch of Shixi Village is under our control; no change can escape our notice. If we want something, we can see and hear it immediately.
As Lin Shi gazed into the distance at the mountains, his increasingly heightened senses revealed more and more diverse beings within them.
Good?
Evil?
"Damn it!"
"This world is crazy!"
"Demons, monsters, and gods are all here!"
Lin Shi muttered a curse in a low voice, shook his head, turned around and walked into the side hall, which had been set up as a quiet room for rest, and sat down cross-legged on the mat.
Having become the chief priest and freed himself from farm work, he had plenty of time to systematically reorganize the genealogy of Yanshixi Village and some remaining books, including some secrets he learned from Sun Ming or other elders. His attention was not only focused on finding records about stone toads and dragons, but he also began to pay attention to all possible descriptions of "faith," "incense," "divine ways," and "cultivation" in this world, trying to piece together the outline of this world's extraordinary power system.
However, due to the fragmented nature of the work and the lack of clarity in explanation, little progress was made in the short term.
However, he became increasingly proficient in the other two things.
One is to use the dragon clone to continuously and meticulously perceive and adjust the operation of the new information channel to ensure its high efficiency and stability, and to observe the subtle changes of the cold chains under the surging information force. The thinnest chain is "on the verge of breaking" and is just one step away from breaking.
Another is studying changes in the body. The world we live in is shrouded in mystery, and we don't know when danger will strike. We must do everything we can to increase our strength.
Lin Shi closed his eyes lightly, and with a thought, his senses spread like mercury across the entire Stone Creek Village in an instant, "inspecting" every inch of it. Finding nothing amiss, he didn't stop, but continued to extend outwards:
Since becoming the high priest, unless he's at the Jiao Shen Temple or doing anything else, he'll sit in the quiet room of the side hall doing this. All sorts of "beings" are watching him like hawks, so he can't let his guard down; everything has to be "monitored."
This is my territory, and I have to keep an eye on it all the time.
Huh?
What's going on?
Why did you all gather together?
Lin Shi frowned.
As soon as they arrived at the village entrance, they immediately discovered two groups of people gathered in the fields at the village entrance. One group was from their own village, and the other was from Shanghe Village. They were both furious and on the verge of exploding.
Without hesitation, Lin Shi sensed the surroundings and focused his perception on one spot. Although the person was not present, he could not only see clearly but also hear clearly.
"Listen up, you poor wretches of Shixi Village! The water of this Qinghe River has always been drunk upstream first, and leftovers downstream! This is a rule set by our ancestors! Your village has a small population and barren land, how much water do you need? Don't waste this good thing!"
Among the crowd in Shanghe Village, a burly man with a fierce face brandished a hoe, spitting as he spoke.
"Bullshit! What upstream and downstream? Rain from heaven belongs to everyone! Are you trying to drive us to our deaths by blocking the water? Are the lives of the people of Shanghe Village precious, but the lives of the people of Shixi Village are not?"
On the Shixi Village side, the hot-blooded young Xu Zhong immediately retorted with a sharp retort.
"Fate? You call that fate?"
"Look at your dilapidated village, and look at that weird stone toad you worship! You're so poor you can't even afford a decent god, and you think you can get rich by worshipping a toad? Dream on! It's all because of your bad luck that you've ruined the feng shui, causing this river to almost dry up! If you know what's good for you, hurry up and smash that broken stone, maybe we can even give you a few sips of dirty water!"
A tall, thin man from Shanghe Village sneered, his tone sarcastic.
"How dare you insult the God!"
"You ignorant fools, what do you know! When the Stone Toad Dragon God manifested, you were still rolling around in the mud!"
The villagers of Shixi Village were immediately in an uproar. Sun Ming, Xu Zheng, and the others were trembling with anger.
"A divine manifestation? I think it's more like an ugly display!"
"Toads and snakes! A bizarre and outlandish thing, clearly an evil god! No wonder your village is getting poorer and poorer, and the girls can't get married!"
The villagers of Shanghe Village burst into laughter, their foul language like spilled dirty water.
"You robbers! You scoundrels!"
"You steal our water and curse our gods! You deserve a terrible death! You'll be boiled in oil after you die!"
The women of Shixi Village couldn't hold back any longer and started pointing and cursing.
Qinghe is a small river that flows through five villages. The fields in each village need water. Some people use more water than others. In years when there is no shortage, there is no problem. But in years of drought, disputes are bound to arise.
Shanghe Village and Shixi Village are adjacent, but Shanghe Village, which has a larger population, is located upstream, while Shixi Village, which has less than half the population, is located downstream.
This year's weather is abnormal, with a drought that occurs only once every ten years.
Unsurprisingly, numerous disputes had already occurred in the villages along the river.
Last month, under my own guidance, I successfully prayed to the Dragon God for rain, and the seedlings recovered. However, the river level is still nearly half lower than in previous years, and the riverbed is exposed with sun-baked white pebbles, like cracks in the parched earth.
Relying on its large population, Shanghe Village brazenly mobilized dozens of able-bodied men a few days ago, driving oxcarts to transport sandbags and boulders. At a crucial choke point in the river, they arbitrarily built a waist-high dam, effectively choking off the already weak stream and leaving only a shallow beach downstream where the flow was almost completely cut off.
Seeing the newly sprouted rice seedlings wither again and the fields crack again, how could Shixi Village tolerate it?
Sun Ming personally led a group to reason with them, but Shanghe Village, relying on its superior numbers, pushed and insulted them.
"Poor and desolate places breed unruly people! Your Shixi Village is so poor and unlucky, you don't even deserve to drink water! If you dare to utter another word, I'll break your legs!"
Lu Pangkun stood on the dam, hands on his hips, pointing at Sun Ming and shouting.
Both sides of the stream.
His anger escalated.
Like cooking oil over a raging fire.
Lin Shi sneered, withdrew his senses, stood up, walked out of the side hall, and strode towards the village entrance.