Chapter 39: Discussing Gods in a Ruined Temple, the Islets

"Ah, right. Old Sun, come take a look."

"You're the walking encyclopedia of our yamen, so this shouldn't stump you."

Er Gouzi's eyes lit up as he pulled Old Sun over, pointing at the divine statue before them.

He was curious himself.

Water and Land Divine Monarch—the title sounded quite impressive, yet he had certainly never heard of it, nor were there any temples dedicated to such a deity anywhere near their Wuyou County.

"Listen here, Er Gouzi, do you really take me for an immortal?"

"I just happen to know a little more than the average person, but I'm not omniscient."

Old Sun was hauled up, looking rather helpless.

What was there to be curious about in a run-down temple like this?

Within the borders of the Great Yong Dynasty, illegal and unorthodox shrines like this were countless. Who could possibly know the origins of every single one of them?

"Just take a look! With a title as resounding as Water and Land Divine Monarch, doesn't it ring any bells at all?"

Er Gouzi refused to give up.

"Water and Land Divine Monarch?"

"It sounds somewhat familiar, but to my recollection, there's more than one or two entities bearing that title."

"Unorthodox shrines within Great Yong are often built privately without the sanction of imperial law, and their names are given haphazardly, so overlapping names happen all the time."

"I have no idea whether the Water and Land Divine Monarch you're talking about is the one I know."

"Move aside, let me see."

Old Sun climbed up onto the offering table, moving a bit closer. After a long moment, he jumped back down.

"As it happens, I do know this one."

"This Water and Land Divine Monarch has a human head and a snake's tail, dragon scales upon its throat, three vertical pupils, holding a trident in one hand and a seal in the other."

"It must be the Water and Land Divine Monarch worshipped by the Dragon Tanka people."

"Have you ever heard of the Tanka people?"

"The Tanka people, speaking plainly, are those who live upon the waters."

"Their origins are complex; not only are they descendants of the Baiyue, but they also include Han people, Qin people, and others who lost their land and were forced to dwell on the water."

"Among these Tanka groups, there are the Dragon Tanka, who have lived by the waters of Lingnan for generations."

"Legend has it that their ancestors were the grandchildren of Fuxi—though precisely which descendant, I do not know, as the books do not record it."

"The Dragon Tanka worship many deities, and the Water and Land Divine Monarch is one of them."

"According to the myths passed down orally among the Dragon Tanka, the Water and Land Divine Monarch is a descendant of Fuxi, named Zhu. Born at the riverbank where land and water meet, he possessed a human head and a snake body from birth. He could summon wind and rain, recede waters to create land, and was a deity capable of mastering both water and earth."

"Hold on. If he's the god of the Dragon Tanka, why is his temple on dry land?"

Er Gouzi was baffled.

If he's a deity of the Tanka people, why isn't his temple built on a boat?

"Because the Dragon Tanka went ashore long ago."

"The ancestors of the Dragon Tanka once followed the Grand Progenitor to conquer the realm, rendering great service, and were rewarded with land. Naturally, they moved ashore."

"If not for a lack of land, who would choose to spend their entire life on the water?"

Constable Sun said, feeling somewhat speechless.

This Er Gouzi's brain was truly just there to make up the head count.

He didn't have a single thought process in that head of his.

"Such a fine temple, left to ruin like this. What a waste."

A constable nearby glanced around and shook his head.

"Ruined, but not entirely abandoned."

Lu Yuan walked up to the offering table and rubbed the fallen incense ash with his fingertips. On the censer upon the altar, there were still a few sticks of bamboo-handled incense that looked relatively fresh.

Though the temple was dilapidated, someone was still offering sacrifices here.

It was likely the Dragon Tanka people living in the surrounding area.

"Since it's not abandoned, why don't they renovate it?"

Er Gouzi dropped a startling remark.

"Could you stop uttering such mentally deficient remarks?"

"Why not renovate it? Brother, renovation costs silver."

"Does your silver fall from the wind?"

"Were it not for our Chief Constable, you'd still be scraping by on your meager two taels of silver a month."

The others burst into laughter.

Er Gouzi was acting entirely oblivious to the hardships of the world.

"Doesn't the imperial court handle renovations? The Earth Temple and City God Temple in our county receive government funding every year."

Er Gouzi retorted.

"You also know that those are the Earth Temple and City God Temple—those are official temples recognized by the court."

"This Water and Land Divine Monarch belongs to a temple built privately by the Dragon Tanka on their own accord. It's an unorthodox shrine."

"It's already merciful of the court not to tear it down; you're actually expecting the court to issue funds for it? Keep dreaming."

Constable Sun looked at Er Gouzi as if gazing at an idiot.

"Actually, I've always had a puzzle."

"Is the imperial court perhaps a bit too lenient regarding folk beliefs?"

"Out of all the temples we've encountered along this road, very few are officially registered; the majority are folk shrines."

"Just how much wealth must ordinary common people spend to construct temples like this?"

"Allowing unorthodox and illicit shrines to grow wildly poses hidden dangers."

"Shouldn't the imperial court confront this issue directly?"

Lu Yuan was deeply puzzled.

In the ancient dynasties of his past life, the attitude toward such illicit shrines was generally a crackdown, with government troops constantly dispatched to demolish them.

Because the hidden dangers they posed were immense.

Yet, the imperial court in this world adopted a laissez-faire attitude, letting them proliferate unchecked.

At most, there were verbal advisories, without a shred of coercive measures.

Could Great Yong possibly be this careless?

"Hahahaha."

"That is because three feet above our heads, there are deities keeping watch."

Master Liu, locked inside the prison cart, suddenly opened his eyes and spoke up.

Lu Yuan turned to look at Master Liu.

Constable Sun made no move to intercept, finding a spot to sit down.

"This is an unwritten rule spanning dynasties. Whether it is the Great Yong Dynasty, the previous dynasty, or any other, those in power have always ignored such things."

"The origin of this unwritten rule can be traced back to the pre-Qin era."

"Oh? And then?"

Lu Yuan pressed on.

Master Liu raised his head to look at Lu Yuan and retorted with a question.

"Chief Constable, do you believe there are immortals in this world?"

"No."

Lu Yuan instinctively shook his head. Without a second thought, he directly denied the existence of gods.

He was a staunch atheist.

So-called atheism, founded upon reason and evidence, rejected the existence of deities in the absence of conclusive proof or reasonable cause, nor would he accept the worship of any divine entity.

Because.

In Lu Yuan's eyes, a god was merely a living being possessed of greater power.

In a sense, he was also a living being possessed of greater power.

To those weaker than him, he was likewise a god.

"The Chief Constable does not believe in the existence of gods. To be honest, I once did not believe either."

"Yet, above all things in this world, there is indeed a force that influences all living beings."

"During the pre-Qin era, there was a small state whose monarch was named Han. Han did not believe in the existence of the gods and issued a decree to demolish all temples within his borders."

"On the first day the temples were demolished, all rivers within the small state dried up. On the second day, a plague of locusts ravaged the land. Han refused to admit his wrongdoing, and on the third day, heavenly fire struck, killing Han's eldest son. Enraged, Han raised an army to wage war against the gods. On the fourth day, a great earthquake shook the earth, swallowing Han and his entire army. On the fifth day, a thousand miles of territory were reduced to scorched earth, and the nation perished, its people wiped out."

"Examples of this kind are not few."

"Nor does anyone know when it began, but turning a blind eye to unorthodox shrines, ignoring them, and refusing to wage war against them became an unwritten rule passed down through the dynasties."

Master Liu spoke in a calm tone, telling a story that made everyone present break out in a chill.

For a moment, several constables felt goosebumps rise on their skin, and the looks they cast toward the divine statue were far less bold.

"Just that?"

"That story sounds somewhat familiar."

"And you? How did your stance change?"

"Have you ever seen an immortal?"