Chapter 554: Jiang King Temple |
Release Date: 2026-06-02 05:26:02
A+A-Light Off<!--
«Chapter 553: Making the Trip to Jiangzhou
None »
Shi Jian slipped into Jiangzhou City. As he walked, he began looking around. The Cotton Thread Deity embroidered on his chest was also glancing left and right, searching for anything that might be used to quickly settle the common people’s faith.
Not looking, he wouldn’t have known, but one look revealed something truly fascinating.
The eyes of both the Cotton Thread Deity and Shi Jian were simultaneously drawn to a massive temple.
Shi Jian: “Magistrate Qin, what temple is that?”
Qin Changqing: “That’s the Jiang King Temple. Built during the Yuan Dynasty, it enshrines Jiang King. Most of the local common people are devout believers of Jiang King. They often go there to burn incense when they have nothing else to do.”
The two of them seemed quite familiar with Jiang King. However, Li Daoxuan felt utterly confused: Which immortal is Jiang King? Am I that uneducated now?
Alright, being uneducated wasn’t terrifying. As long as he had a computer, he could instantly master encyclopedic knowledge.
Li Daoxuan quickly switched back to his main body outside the box. He typed “Jiang King” into the computer and searched…
Information appeared instantly!
It turned out Jiang King referred to Houji, the ancestor of agriculture, the God of Grains.
Li Daoxuan deeply berated himself for his lack of ancient knowledge. He hurriedly returned to the box. The moment he rejoined, he heard Qin Changqing snort arrogantly: “What’s the bloody use worshipping this Jiang King? Ancestor of Agriculture, my foot! When drought strikes the land, this Jiang King is just an ornament. Those lowly peasants kowtow until their heads split open before his statue, yet they still couldn’t grow a single grain? Last year they clung fiercely to their damn tax silver, refusing to pay. It wasn’t until I had the leaders of the troublemakers beaten to death that I finally collected the taxes. It almost ruined my official evaluation.”
As soon as these words left his mouth, the eyes of the Cotton Thread Deity narrowed. It rarely felt murderous intent, yet Qin Changqing had triggered it with just one sentence.
Shi Jian was also privately annoyed, but he faced Qin Changqing directly and didn’t want his thoughts revealed. So he merely snorted, keeping his expression neutral.
While Qin Changqing was still ranting, Shi Jian lowered his voice: “Deity, it seems this fellow is a corrupt official, just like Zhang Yaocai.”
The Cotton Thread Deity responded with a quiet hum.
The group soon reached the main entrance of the Jiang King Temple. Looking inside, they saw a broad courtyard beyond the main gate. Several halls surrounded the courtyard. A majestic statue of Jiang King sat in the central hall. A huge crowd of common people crammed into the hall, kowtowing towards the Jiang King statue, crying, “Thank you, Jiang King, for bestowing rain!”
Those who couldn’t fit inside knelt crowded together outdoors in the courtyard, all paying homage towards the statue: “Thank you, Jiang King, for bestowing rain!”
Li Daoxuan himself was an atheist; he didn’t put much faith in gods or buddhas. But Jiang King wasn’t purely a deity; he was the manifestation of Houji. And Houji was an ancestor universally acknowledged by our Chinese nation—worthy of respect.
The Cotton Thread Deity also paid Jiang King a silent gesture of homage with its gaze.
Then they heard Qin Changqing snort loudly at the peasants kneeling in the courtyard: “You lowlifes! The rain has been falling for days now. Next year will surely be a bountiful year. But if you still hem and haw and delay paying your taxes next year, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
The common people turned at his voice. Seeing Qin Changqing standing at the temple entrance, fear washed over their faces. Many trembled, unable to utter a word.
Qin Changqing turned back to Shi Jian, smiling: “Captain Shi, pay no mind to these low folk. Please come rest at my official residence.”
Shi Jian: “Ah!”
He followed Qin Changqing into the residence. They drank a couple of cups of tea and exchanged some meaningless small talk. After omitting a hundred million words of pointless chatter, Qin Changqing temporarily excused himself to attend to his duties. Left alone, Shi Jian lowered his head and whispered to the Cotton Thread Deity: “Deity, I want to chop this scoundrel down.”
The Cotton Thread Deity coldly snorted: “This man indeed deserves retribution. But you’ve infiltrated the imperial court. Killing a court-appointed official so rashly would ruin your mission.”
Shi Jian clenched his fist: “But someone like him…”
The Cotton Thread Deity: “Our primary mission this time is to calm the common people, to let them see the giant shovel digging the river without panic. Dealing with Qin Changqing can wait…”
As he spoke, two unrelated thoughts suddenly collided snap in Li Daoxuan’s mind. It was like two disconnected wires reconnecting. A light bulb lit up above his head, illuminating an idea.
The Cotton Thread Deity spoke: “Shi Jian, pretend to get along with Qin Changqing for now. I’m returning Up Above to handle something.”
Shi Jian: “As you command!”
Li Daoxuan ended the shared perception, snapping instantly back to his main body outside the box. He pointed the camera at the Jiang King statue inside the box, snapping a few photos from every angle – a full 360 degrees. He then brought out the 3D printer he’d bought just days earlier and fed it the images he’d taken…
The printer whirred to life.
Soon, a Jiang King statue, four centimeters tall, was successfully printed. He switched the view inside the box to an uninhabited valley, placed the statue there, and attempted: “Shared Perception.”
Failure…
Li Daoxuan could not share perception into a “statue that wasn’t his own.”
He thought again: I have a solution!
Starting over, he printed only the face of the Jiang King statue as a shell.
This printed easily—just a thin, single-layer face, like a small mask.
Then, Li Daoxuan took out a four-centimeter tall Silicone Deity figure. It was one he’d commissioned from Cai Xinzi when he first discovered the “Shared Perception” function, complete with a metallic skeleton (Readers who’ve forgotten can check Chapter 446). He’d never had a chance to use it before.
Now seemed like the perfect opportunity.
He fitted the Jiang King facial shell, this mask-like face, onto the Silicone Deity figure.
The effect was jarringly incongruous!
The Silicone Deity’s body was silicone, remarkably lifelike in texture. But Jiang King’s printed face was that of a typical Chinese religious statue—abstractly carved, its features stylized and ancient, or rather, primitive.
A high-detail body topped by a crude, primitive face.
The dissonance was undeniable.
But…
That wasn’t important right now!
Li Daoxuan placed this new hybrid statue into the uninhabited zone within the box once more and initiated: “Shared Perception.”
Snap! This time, he succeeded.
His field of vision shifted. He saw a low, stunted dead tree that seemed to reach only up to his waist.
No, the tree wasn’t small. It was actually a decent-sized tree, four meters tall. But Li Daoxuan’s current statue body stood a mighty eight meters tall, so the tree indeed only reached his waist level.
A four-centimeter statue equaled eight meters inside the box.
“Heh!”
Li Daoxuan chuckled to himself: “Excellent! Old Ancestor Jiang King, please don’t blame a descendant for impersonating you once. For the sake of saving the common people, if I do a little good under your name… you surely won’t hold that against me, right?”
«Chapter 553: Making the Trip to Jiangzhou
Index
None »