Chapter 121 - 119: Busy Mountain Road at 4 AM

Chapter 121: Chapter 119: Busy Mountain Road at 4 AM

It was a little after four in the morning and pitch black outside. In the villages surrounding Lin Xian Village, lights were beginning to turn on as people woke up.

Ma Dehua had been busy with matters concerning the Land God Temple until after midnight, and now his wife was shaking him awake.

"What are you doing?"

"Hurry and get up. We’re going up the mountain to pray to the god."

"What? I’m a Party member; I can’t get involved in something like this. You go on your own."

’Even if it was real, as a Party member, he couldn’t go and worship.’

Ma Dehua’s wife didn’t press the issue. She got dressed, grabbed the items she’d prepared, and rode her electric scooter toward the mountain.

Only when she got outside did she realize that many people had the same idea. It seemed like the entire town was rushing over.

The once pitch-black mountain path was now illuminated by the headlights of one electric scooter and three-wheeler after another, and the formerly silent road became lively.

"Aunt Wang, you’re going to worship, too!"

"The Earth God has manifested! I tried to go yesterday, but the mountain road was blocked. I have to get an early start today."

"Is it really as miraculous as they say?"

"Of course. I heard they caught a lot of wicked people yesterday. Hmph, and those villains still dared to go and pray to the Earth God."

"I heard that too. When wicked people worship the Earth God, they receive no protection. The police arrested quite a few of them yesterday."

"I heard the Earth God even inflicted punishment on the wicked ones."

Sometimes, the more a rumor spreads, the more outlandish it becomes.

The employee at the gate heard the noise, and the sight of the electric scooters massed outside made him instantly wide awake.

"Young man, can you open the gate for us, please? We’re going up the mountain to worship the Earth God."

"Hurry and open the gate! More people are going to show up any minute."

"Please wait a moment. I have to notify my boss."

Looking at the line of headlights that stretched as far as he could see, he knew this was something he couldn’t handle by himself.

After being woken up, Lin Feng rushed to the main gate to find it already surrounded by people, the air filled with a constant clamor.

"Quick, quick! Get the people who were on duty last night and haven’t gone home yet. Have them hold the line for a bit and maintain order."

He realized these weren’t tourists but villagers from the area around Lin Xian Village. He hadn’t expected them to come so early.

’If we don’t handle this first, it’s going to be even more chaotic when the tourists arrive later.’

Hu Zhiming had just finished getting dressed when he ran over. "Brother Lin, there are way too many people."

"Of course there are. Every villager in the area who heard the news rushed over."

Just then, a few of the patrol officers from last night’s shift ran over.

"Boss, here’s the megaphone."

"Good. All of you get ready. I’m about to open the gate. Maintain order and don’t let the crowd get out of hand."

Lin Feng switched on the megaphone and shouted, "Folks, please park your vehicles on the left side of the road, leaving a lane open on the right. Form an orderly line and don’t push or shove."

"I’m having the gate opened now. Don’t rush, and don’t get disorderly. The Earth God won’t protect troublemakers."

Apparently, invoking the Earth God’s name was very effective right now. After hearing his announcement, some people immediately stopped what they were doing.

"Everyone, please line up, get off your vehicles, and proceed to the Land God Temple on foot."

"Those of you farther back, please wait. Once the people ahead of you have moved on, you can ride forward."

Lin Feng turned off the megaphone and said to Hu Zhiming, "Find two people with megaphones and send them down the road to make these announcements."

"Got it."

’It’s a good thing they installed streetlights on the mountain road, or this would be a real pain.’

The crowd watched the gate swing open and began to follow the instructions, forming a line and walking toward the Land God Temple.

Daoist Qi was at the Land God Temple, and Feng Ziling had rushed over as well, so there shouldn’t be any trouble on that end.

The procedure was the same as yesterday’s. Although the aunties and uncles wanted to linger and pray longer, the awe of the Earth God’s manifestation kept them in line. After catching a whiff of the extraordinary fragrance, they were even less inclined to cause trouble.

Moreover, the story of the police arresting a criminal yesterday had already been blown completely out of proportion by rumors.

Those who sincerely sought the Earth God’s protection were now even more afraid to do anything wrong.

When tourists began arriving from the county seat a little after six, they were stunned by the situation on the mountain road.

"Lin Xian Village is currently under traffic control. Please exit your vehicles, form an orderly queue, and take the sightseeing bus into the mountains."

As the tourists stepped out of their vehicles and saw the line of villagers stretching as far as the eye could see, they finally understood the impact of the Earth God’s manifestation.

"Once we get up there, are we even going to be able to pray to the Earth God?"

"I heard the Earth God is very powerful, but it’s no use praying to him if you’re a bad person."

Some streamers who had come to broadcast live saw the situation and immediately got out their equipment and started their streams.

"Everyone, look! This is the mountain access road in Lin Xian Village. As you can see, the road is already packed with a line of local villagers. Let’s go interview one of them."

"Sir, would you be willing to show your face on a livestream? I can pay you a hundred yuan."

"Sure, I can do that."

The streamer handed the hundred yuan directly to the old man and asked, "Are you all here to worship the Earth God? Are these all villagers from the surrounding area?"

"Of course. Everyone’s saying the Earth God has manifested. I rushed over here myself a little after four this morning."

"Unfortunately, my home is over six miles away, so by the time I got here, it was already a little late."

"Sir, has the Earth God really manifested? Is there any chance it’s just a publicity stunt?"

"You young punk, doubting the Earth God? Take your money back, and don’t talk to me again."

The streamer was completely stunned. He looked at the money the old man had thrown back at him and saw the surrounding villagers glaring, which gave him a fright.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I misspoke."

Sun Guiyou, standing in the crowd, was thrilled. ’The more intense this gets,’ he thought, ’the more views I’ll get when I debunk it.’

After recording the scene, he began filming the villagers and tourists, preparing footage for his upcoming video.

Among the tourists, some had come specifically for a trip to Lin Xian Village, while others had seen the news last night and had rushed over on impulse.

Regardless of their reason for coming, they were all incredibly curious about the Earth God’s manifestation in Lin Xian Village.

Seeing the villagers coming down the mountain on their electric scooters, their faces wreathed in smiles, the waiting crowd grew more expectant.

Inside the Land God Temple, Feng Ziling looked at the offerings. There was no more space to put them; the villagers had simply brought too much.

"Master, what should we do with all this?"

"Move it all to the side for now. In a little while, ask Lin Xiaoyou and have him deal with it."

"Why are people leaving money, too?"

He looked at the base of the Incense Burner, where a number of scattered bills and coins had been placed.

"Have Lin Xiaoyou deal with that later, too."

By the time Lin Feng got the news and rushed over, the offerings had already formed a huge pile.

He quickly sent people to spread the word that bringing offerings was unnecessary; the Earth God would grant his blessing regardless.

And if they had brought offerings, they could take them home to eat after praying, as the Earth God had already partaken of them during the act of worship.

’Honestly, there was no good way to deal with all this food. It couldn’t just be thrown out, but giving it to other people to eat raised concerns about liability.’

"Hello everyone, Guiyou’s Superstition Smackdown is back! Today, we’re here to debunk the claims coming out of Lin Xian Village, which was trending last night over rumors that the Earth God has manifested."

"As you all know, I, Guiyou, don’t believe in any of this superstitious nonsense. I’ve slept on top of graves, barged into mass burial sites, and lived in haunted houses."

"All these experiences prove one thing: ghosts and monsters don’t exist. The only demons out there are the ones in our own hearts, making us paranoid and suspicious of everything."

Hearing this, the people around him glared at him angrily.

Sun Guiyou couldn’t care less. Seeing the popularity of his livestream continuously rising, he was in a fantastic mood.

"Look, everyone. A ton of people have shown up today. Some of the local villagers rushed over here as early as four in the morning."

"These aunties and uncles are getting on in years. They should be resting properly, but instead, they’re braving the cold to run up a mountain. It pains me to see."

A nearby staff member maintaining order couldn’t take it anymore.

"Captain, should we kick him out?"

Yu Hua said, "Ignore them. Just focus on maintaining order."

’The strange phenomena that appear when one worships the Earth God will make him shut his mouth on his own.’