Spirits and demons

A busy and pleasant atmosphere is permeating the entire village, and the faces of the villagers are overflowing with expressions that seem to surface only at the time of New Year's Eve. Everyone is methodically carrying out the work at hand, setting up tables, putting incense burners, slaughtering cows and goats, in preparation for a grand ritual.

Such an atmosphere also made Ming Cun, who had just stepped into the village, become excited as well.

"It's so lucky that it's not in the middle of the event or near the end of the event, but before it starts!" The event had not even started yet!" said the chief, shaking his head with both hands, as if to convey his feelings in this way.

In retaliation for being shaken and almost throwing up, Khung threw out a pot of cold water: "Don't be too happy too soon. If it is the kind of event that is not suitable for outsiders to participate, either you will be imprisoned until the end of the event, or you will be imprisoned until the end of the event and then kicked out of the village."

"What? You'll be imprisoned no matter what?" The stunned look of Ming Chuan looked as if he had already been sentenced to imprisonment.

The villagers who were busy at the side heard their conversation and explained with a smile, "Don't worry, outsiders are very welcome in our village and will not be restricted from participating in the village rituals."

Ming Diao let out an awkward but polite smile, "Ahahaha, I let you hear the rude words." At the same time, he also raised his fist and punched Khung's head as a punishment.

Since receiving guests was also part of the job, and even considered the most important job, the villagers handed over the work at hand to their companions for the time being and acted as Akira's tour guide, showing her around the village and explaining the history of the village in the process.

Long ago, the village was very poor, and the villagers relied on farming in the fields, gathering in the mountains, and fishing in the rivers to make ends meet, and even in a year of good weather, life did not become rich.

Until one day, a merchant happened to pass by the village and stayed in the village for one night. The next morning, he did not even put on his shoes, he panicked and found the village chief, hoping to be able to the village to worship a deity in charge of business.

The merchant described his strange encounter with a raised eyebrow and dancing hands.

"Last night, I had not slept because I was calculating tomorrow's business. At that moment, the door of the room suddenly opened, and a man came in from outside with valuable jewelry all over his body, and taking any piece to the market would definitely cause a war-level sensation.

"So I immediately judged that this visitor was definitely not a human being, but a deity, and more importantly, he was the deity that we merchants worship most. The fact that the gods have approached me means that my business will be smooth sailing, and the time that belongs to me is finally coming, ahahahaha!

"Ahem, far from it, back to the topic. The gods gave me an oracle, saying that this place is a collection of business veins, the future is bound to soar. Since the gods have said so, I am convinced, so I decided not to leave, temporarily live here, to examine the value of the commercial development of this village."

The businessman has always been promise, said not to leave, even the business opportunities previously seen were transferred. In the next few days, he followed the village people, a while to the fields, a while to the mountains, and a while to appear at the river. At first, people still feel very new, talking about this city businessman really interesting, planting a land are watching with great interest. But over time, they feel bored, and sometimes feel very distracted, they no longer bother him, and even when he left the village are not clear.

When the merchant visited again, it was already a few days later. This time, he also brought some other people, saying that they came to discuss business. First they saw the timber on the mountain and paid a large deposit, saying that they would wait for the logging work and then deliver the final payment. After that, they spent a lot of money and ordered a large batch of river fish, saying that people in the city would be good discounts and that they could make a lot of money by shipping these fish to the city to buy. Finally, they provided the village with tea seedlings, telling the villagers that this piece of land is very suitable for growing tea, and when the will be heavily purchased.

The villagers have never seen such a gesture, by the businessmen's real money, as well as the vision of a better future, to dizzy, has long treated them as the gods of wealth. As the merchants were preparing to leave, they carelessly mentioned that they wished to make offerings to the gods of commerce in the village, and the villagers immediately agreed without saying a word.

"And so, with the blessing of the gods, our village was able to grow more and more prosperous, and to hold such a grand festival as we have today." The proud expression of the villagers appeared on their faces without any concealment, "The reason you are able to participate in this event for free is also thanks to the blessing of the gods oh."

Ming Diao could not wait to become a believer of the god of commerce: "Then I have to thank the gods!"

"Haha, just enjoy the event, that's the greatest reverence to the gods. Feel free to stroll around, I have to get back to work."

After bidding farewell to the villagers, Mingentian wandered around the village with peace of mind. I don't know if it was because of the cultural influence she had received after hearing the history of the village, but now she felt that whatever she saw was full of commerce. Khung concluded that she had "fallen into the eyes of money".

At that moment, Akira noticed a little girl hiding in a corner where she could not be easily found, looking around nervously, like a mouse watching out for a cat ready to come out of its hole to feed.

"Oh, is that a game of hide-and-seek? I want to join in!" Mingentian, who was somewhat tired of strolling around, saw something fun and immediately ran over cheerfully.

Xiao Kong followed while sighing helplessly, "Really, are you still a child, you girl? When will you grow up?"

Ming Diao immediately turned around and made a face and retorted, "I am a child!"

The little girl stared intently at the busy adults in front of her. In fact, her whereabouts had already been noticed by the adults, but they all thought she was playing and just thought she was naughty, so they left her alone.

Ming Duan quietly appeared beside the little girl and said playfully, "Hey, let me join you, too, okay?"

The little girl jumped up with a startled "wow" and then immediately hid herself, pretending that she hadn't revealed her whereabouts at all. Then she said in a low voice, "Who are you, why haven't I seen you before?"

Ming Diao introduced herself with great care: "My name is Ming Diao, and this is Xiaokong. We are new to this village."

"Oh oh, I'm Shin, welcome to the village... no!" Realizing that she was being led by the other girl's nose, the little girl named Xiao Xin said loudly, "Why do I need to chat with you here, I'm very busy, leave me alone!"

"Mmmmmm, I know. So next, where are we going to hide?"

"Hide? Hide from what?" Xiao Xin was a bit baffled, "Did you steal the tribute? That one doesn't count for anything actually."

"I haven't stolen any food!" Ming Xuan quickly denied it, "I'm talking about hiding from the ghosts, don't get caught by them!"

Xiao Xin seemed to have gone through a brainstorming session before she understood what Ming Duan was talking about. She said in the tone of a crying baby, "I'm not playing hide-and-seek, I'm not a child. If you want to play, go find the little kid over there."

Looking in the direction Xiao Xin was pointing, he saw a group of small children, about 5 years old, playing with a ball.

XiaoKong said leisurely from the side, "It really suits you, little MingDiao."

At once, MingDiun stood up and straightened his back: "Who said anything about playing hide-and-seek? Let's play some age-appropriate games!"

Probably thinking that there was no way to get rid of this burden easily, Xiao Xin gave up and said, "Well, since you are so free, you can come and help me."

A few wildflowers were growing sparsely away from the mountain road, and if they were connected together, they would form a sea of bright flowers. But in the barren mountainous area, the occasional bush of flowers was no less poignant and beautiful, causing Mingguang to exclaim, "It's so beautiful.

Hearing the compliment from Ming Duan, Xiao Xin looked as if he had been praised, and proudly pushed up his small body and said, "It seems that you also know a lot."

It seems that the words that MingDi said inadvertently poked at XiaoXin's heart, because MingDi could clearly feel that XiaoXin's attitude toward herself was completely different from before, and she became like a good sister.

Afterwards, Mingdian picked specific flowers under the guidance of Oshin's teacher. After all, for the delicate work of picking flowers, its sharp teeth and claws would only help more and more.

After collecting enough flowers, Akira asked curiously, "What are these flowers going to be used for, to decorate the ritual site?"

"No. This is a tribute to the gods." Xiao Xin gestured for Ming Duan to follow him and said as he walked, "Let's send the flowers to the idol while they are still wilted."

It seems that the god of commerce in the village is really a good deity, thought Mingdian, for he can make the village rich and be loved by the children, he must have something to learn.

But as they walked, Khung suddenly came up to Ming's side and asked in a quiet voice, "Are you sure it's in this direction?"

Only then did Ming Diao notice that they were getting farther and farther away from the village. The village was busy preparing for the ritual, so shouldn't the idol be inside the village, so why did they have to go far away from the village? At that moment, many thoughts popped up in her head: who was Shin, what kind of deity did she believe in, and what should she do if Shin was an enemy?

"Huh? What's the matter, sister Mingdian?" When she saw that she had fallen some distance away, she asked curiously.

"Follow me, otherwise you're too obviously shaken in this way." Xiao Kong walked in front of Ming Duan and whispered in a tone that saw through her mind, "At least that girl herself, there is nothing wrong with her."

"Yes, it seems that I am still very immature." Ming Xuan sighed deeply, then regained her mood and said loudly to Xiao Xin in front of her, "Yes, I'll be right there!"

With a hint of caution, Ming Chan followed Xiao Xin and arrived at the other side of the mountain, where the flowers and trees were much more lush compared to the section of the road just now. However, compared to the large expanse of bare rocks on the mountain, this little bit of green was like a bit of green onion sprinkled on a bowl of vegetarian noodles.

"This is it."

Xiao Xin stopped in front of a pile of rocks. At a closer look, Ming Duan found that on the stones, there were traces of artificial carvings, and realized that this was the idol. It was only due to the weathering and the lack of maintenance that it had become no different from ordinary stones.

If a person passed by here, he would probably think that this was a forgotten wild grave.

"I don't think this is the shrine of the god of commerce, right?" Ming Zhuan asked cautiously.

Xiao Xin placed the flowers in front of the idol while explaining blandly, "Of course not, I hate the God of Commerce, so I won't go there to make a sacrifice. This is the shrine of the mountain god, the deity who really guards the village."

It turns out that once Xiao Xin's mother was suffering from a disease that could have been cured by just a common medicine, but the village didn't sell it because everyone said that kind was too cheap to make money. Xiao Xin had no choice but to go to the mountains to try her luck and see if she could pick the herb. She met the god of the mountain, and with the help of the god of the mountain, she successfully found the herbs and cured her mother's illness.

From then on, Xiao Xin stopped believing in the god of commerce and became a believer in the mountain god, only that under the current atmosphere of the village, this small faith of hers could only be kept as a secret in her heart.

At this time, along with a ghostly light, a figure appeared in front of the shrine. It was a plum deer, but it looked more majestic than the usual plum deer. Xiao Kong could tell at a glance that this was the incarnation of the Mountain God.

The mountain god told his story to Xiao Xin and Ming Duan. Long, long ago, before the village was established, it was the mountain god who took in the displaced people who had fallen here due to famine, and guided them to cultivate the fields, gather from the mountains, and fish from the rivers, eventually forming the village that continues to this day.

However, nowadays, the villagers have long forgotten the favor of the mountain gods, and under the compulsion of the god of commerce, they destroy the farmland, cut down the woods, and fish with all their might, and although they earn a lot of money, they also destroy their hometown without realizing it.

The mountain gods, who have lost the faith and reverence of the people, have long been degraded from the identity of the gods, and are no different from those who know a little magic. Even so, the mountain gods are doing their best to repair the destroyed mountain.

"It's just that nowadays when I face the mountain with long-standing grievances, any effort I make is just a drop in the bucket." The mountain god raised his head, looked up at the top of the mountain, and said helplessly, "Once the mountain starts to unleash its anger, it is difficult to appease it, especially when the god of commerce is being worshipped-"

As if to cash in on the mountain god's prophecy, a loud bang suddenly erupted, followed by a shaking of the earth and the sky, as if the end of the world had come.

"Is it coming ......"

After leaving an intriguing sentence, the mountain god ran in the direction of the village. She wanted to go after him and ask him what had happened here, but she couldn't leave Xiao Xin here alone, so she took Xiao Xin with her and rode on Xiao Kong, returning to the village first.

In mid-air, the mountain behind her rumbled, and the mudslide poured down from the mountain like a vengeful rage toward the village.

The village had long since lost its festive atmosphere, and fear had descended even before the catastrophe began. Those with good legs had already run as far as they could, while the rest were either complaining or crying.

The rest of the people were either complaining or crying to the heavens. Mingwen sent Xiao Xin to her mother, and when she was about to leave, Xiao Xin stopped her.

While calming her frightened mother, Xiao Xin inquired, "Sister Mingdian, count me as begging you, go help the mountain god."

"I was planning to do that, but where should I go?"

"That's right, the flowers! That's where we picked the flowers!"

Immediately aware of this, MingDiao rode off on his small air, and behind him, XiaoXin told the adults around him, "Don't be afraid, the mountain god will protect us".

MingDun soon found the mountain god, who was standing in the middle of a formation of flowers, activating a jutsu.

"Do you need my help?" MingDiou asked.

The mountain god looked at Mingdian and said with a slight smile, "If I become an evil god, please purify me."

When MingDi said this, he was stunned, and XiaoKong quickly said to the mountain god, "This is not the right tone of voice to use in a joke."

"Sorry, I was rude." The mountain god smiled and seemed to have let go of some of his hard feelings, perhaps taking this as his last words, and continued, "In the past, I had once disappeared into darkness and relented to others. Fortunately, I met Xiao Xin, and I only helped her on a whim that day, but I didn't expect her to believe in me so much that I was ashamed of myself."

Meindou said comfortingly, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"But it's too late." The mountain god's tone gradually became desperate, "Today's calamity is not an accident, but a manifestation of my past accumulated anger. But I will take responsibility, even if only for that child alone