Chapter 127 - 125: How to Use the Land God Temple

Chapter 127: Chapter 125: How to Use the Land God Temple

Among the crowd queuing to worship the Earth God, some people’s faces had turned grim. They, too, had seen the news that had just started circulating online.

"Should we still worship this Earth God?"

"Of course! Why wouldn’t we? They already said only bad people will be punished."

"Then what’s a bad person? And what’s a good person?"

"I should count as a good person, right? I mean, I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve always apologized and made amends. Plus, I’ve done a lot of good deeds."

"You all don’t really need to worry. Based on the information online, it seems only people who are morally corrupt or have broken the law are the ones getting punished."

At that moment, a few streamers standing not far from the Lin Xian Village Land God Temple were incredibly excited. They hadn’t expected another huge story to break.

"Haha, hey everyone, I wasn’t punished! That proves I’m not a bad person."

A comment appeared in the live chat.

"Hey streamer, wasn’t there a guy next to you who got hit by bird droppings the second he walked out of the temple?"

"I think you’re right. The guy was cursing up a storm as he left. He even grabbed a security guard and demanded compensation from Lin Xian Village."

"Streamer, based on all the info gathered online so far, people who get hit with bad luck right on the spot are either criminals or just really morally bankrupt."

The streamer raised his phone, pointing the camera into the distance.

"Look, everyone! Some people are secretly slipping out of the line."

It wasn’t just the streamer who noticed. Others in the queue saw it too. Those with a clear conscience paid it no mind.

Some people with guilty consciences had been banking on getting lucky, but now that the owner of Lin Xian Village himself had confirmed it, they didn’t dare continue with their worship.

Knowing how embarrassing it was, these people covered their faces with their sleeves as they left. Some even pretended to go to the Toilet, only to disappear for good.

"Brother Lin! Brother Lin! Quick, look! Some people from the Wuyuan County direction don’t dare to come anymore."

"Isn’t that perfectly normal? Once they know that worshipping the Earth God won’t protect bad people and will even bring them misfortune, of course they wouldn’t dare to come."

Lin Feng had been browsing the web, amused by everyone’s creative ideas on how to make use of the Land God Temple.

Some people were suggesting they should organize all those unpatriotic online influencers and have them come to Lin Xian Village to worship the Earth God, just to see how many of them would be struck by misfortune.

In fact, netizens were already discussing getting various online celebrities and major influencers to come worship the Earth God. The ones who didn’t suffer any misfortune would be deemed "good people."

This discussion was even spreading further, starting to include movie stars and famous entrepreneurs.

"Here, look at this. I have a feeling some people are about to be in for a rough time."

Watching the online discussions, Hu Zhiming could only marvel at how creative the netizens were.

’From now on, any influencer who doesn’t dare come to Lin Xian Village to worship the Earth God is probably going to be labeled as morally questionable.’

’And those celebrities won’t dare to promote their "good person" personas so easily anymore. It would be hilarious if they came to Lin Xian Village to worship the Earth God and were immediately hit with bad luck.’

"Brother Lin, with the way things are going, a bunch of celebrities trying to prove they’re clean are probably going to come rushing over to worship the Earth God, right?"

"It’s not just a feeling. Given the current climate of public opinion online, any celebrity who is genuinely clean will definitely want to come and prove it."

These people weren’t idiots. As long as they had nothing to hide, coming to worship was a chance to gain publicity while simultaneously proving their moral integrity.

Just as the two had predicted, some influencers and celebrities who believed themselves to be in the clear were already starting to plan trips to Lin Xian Village.

Such a golden opportunity for vindication was more effective than anything they could say.

Then there were others who were now in a bind. If they didn’t come to worship, they would face the wrath of the netizens.

So, this group of people began asking around privately, trying to find a way to avoid the backlash.

Inside the Restaurant, Geng Changxin was prepping ingredients when he heard Huang Yi’s story and found it incredible.

"Huang Yi, is that Land God Temple really that effective?"

Huang Yi placed the sliced meat into a bowl. "It’s not just about being effective. From what I’ve heard, if you’re a good person, you’ll receive a blessing for your family’s peace and safety after you worship.

It’s only the morally corrupt people who are guaranteed to have bad luck after they worship."

"In that case, once we’re done cooking, can you take me over there to pay my respects?"

"No problem. After hearing the news, all of us employees here in Lin Xian Village are planning to go."

No one was a fool. Anyone who didn’t dare to go would surely be ostracized.

Of course, Lin Xian Village already vetted for character when hiring, so the quality of its staff was quite good.

At noon, Geng Changxin prepared more than ten classic dishes from the Huaiyang culinary tradition, including Stir-fried Eel, Braised Shredded Dried Tofu, Braised "Lion’s Head" Meatballs with Crab Meat, Wensi Tofu, and Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish.

The light, refined flavors of Huaiyang cuisine earned endless praise from everyone, especially the ladies.

As for Lin Feng, his palate was more accustomed to the robust flavors of Lu and Sichuan cuisine, but he found the combination of these dishes quite enjoyable.

"The two of you should discuss this. The Restaurant needs to establish eighteen signature dishes. You’ll each be responsible for creating a few."

"Understood, boss."

Huang Yi and Geng Changxin had actually already come up with some ideas for the signature dishes while they were cooking.

Moreover, they were both somewhat surprised to discover the exceptional quality of the ingredients in Lin Xian Village.

They’d heard the ingredients were sourced from surrounding villages and then raised on the village’s own farm, making them marvel at how capable their boss was.

They had also gone to see the greenhouse, and the vegetables there were also of premium quality—the kind you simply couldn’t buy on the open market.

Better yet, the vegetables were grown without any pesticides, using only natural farm manure. They were completely organic.

Once Chen Yuyuan arrived, if he was willing to stay on as a chef, then it would work out perfectly to six dishes per person.

Wan Qianqian said, "Boss, the Restaurant opens tomorrow."

If they didn’t open soon, their salaries for next month would definitely be at rock bottom.

Besides, with this much tourist traffic, it was a huge waste not to have the Restaurant open.

"No problem. Let’s get the word out."

Hu Xia said, "Right. I’ll have someone promote it among the tourists, post the information online, and set up a reservation service at the same time."

While the staff in Lin Xian Village were discussing the Restaurant’s grand opening, a group of major influencers were agonizing over the situation online, gathered in a private WeChat group to strategize.

"What the hell is going on with Lin Xian Village? If you ask me, that Earth God is an Evil God."

"Why don’t we all report them for promoting feudal superstition? See if we can get them shut down."

"They haven’t promoted a single thing. In fact, they’re even limiting the number of visitors who can go worship.

Reporting is useless. If you could get shut down just for that, then Shaolin Temple and Wudang Mountain wouldn’t even be able to open their gates."

"Then what are we supposed to do? Those damn netizens are tearing me apart.

They’re saying if I don’t dare go worship, I’m a traitor and a lapdog."

"Serves you right. I told you to lay low after the news broke, but you just had to keep spouting nonsense online."

For the moment, the group couldn’t find a solution. All they could do was try to stall and see if something came up later.

Meanwhile, another group of even more influential figures was also trying to figure out how to handle the online fallout.

The public personas they had carefully crafted couldn’t be destroyed just because of the appearance of the Lin Xian Village Land God Temple.

Unlike those influencers, these people had powerful financial backers. They decided to seek a solution directly from the owner of Lin Xian Village.

Everyone understood that if they couldn’t find a solution, they would lose a massive amount of engagement, and it could even jeopardize their future careers.

For example, brands looking for spokespeople would certainly prioritize those who had successfully worshipped the Earth God, as it would at least guarantee their chosen celebrity was free of moral and legal issues.

The appearance of the Land God Temple had completely upended the landscape of online public opinion, something nobody had seen coming.