Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Lehe was a big city, and it was raining heavily at the moment.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a heavy rain here, just a light drizzle, so it wasn’t likely to cause a destructive flood.
A white-collar worker who had just finished his night shift walked out of the office building in the city center and stepped into the damp street. He glanced at the dark sky, opened his umbrella and covered his head, cursing, “This is so annoying. It’s been raining for more than half a month straight. I have to carry an umbrella every day. I don’t know when this rain will stop.”
His companion, a pretty young woman, chimed in with a few words of agreement. Their eyes swept over the clearly displayed “Resist Cults” banners posted by the city government on both sides of the road, and they began chatting about recent news. While talking, they hurried towards the subway entrance, where the last train hadn’t yet arrived.
Although the cult sacrifice that occurred a few days ago was horrifying, it did not seem to cause much trouble for ordinary people’s lives, and everyone continued to live their lives as usual.
Wei Xi’s gaze followed their retreating figures, and he vaguely sensed from them the order of human society and humanity itself.
Mr. Gu, who was standing nearby, sighed: “You know, it’s really a case of drought killing some and flood killing others. Lehe doesn’t lack water at all, and the citizens have to carry umbrellas every day just to go out. Wuhua is so dry that people are almost unable to survive, and yet we haven’t seen a single drop of rain for months.”
As he spoke, a gust of cold wind blew across his face, making him wet and causing him to sneeze several times.
Wei Xi stood beside his second apprentice, wrapped tightly in his coat, completely unaffected. The black umbrella his second apprentice held was wide and large, made of an unknown material. Rain fell on it without making a sound, and the space inside the umbrella was so magical that not a drop of wind or rain could get in.
Xia Shouren, holding an umbrella behind him, complained to Bi Fang: “Damn, this guy gets more and more pretentious as he gets older. He didn’t say anything when we got soaked in Ruhai City. Now it’s just a drizzle, why does he have to bring out a magical artifact like the Five Elements Barrier Umbrella? This thing used to be used to block heavenly lightning and pass through tribulations, okay?”
Bi Fang had only one thought in his mind— using the Five Elements Barrier Umbrella, a treasure that would be coveted by everyone in the cultivation world in the past, to shield himself from the rain, Mr. Shuo Zong was indeed rich as was known…
Shuo Zong paid no attention to their opinions; all he noticed was an advertising billboard with a television set installed in front of the subway station.
The television was broadcasting local news from Lehe City. The news anchor spoke quickly and clearly: “The city’s efforts in promoting economic and social development have yielded significant results. In order to protect the ecological environment, various municipal departments have worked together to register more than ten dilapidated buildings around the city. These buildings are old, with their doors and windows tightly closed, and have been vacant for at least several decades…”
The scene shifts to the dilapidated houses mentioned by the host. They are scattered among the mountains and forests. From their style and size, one could vaguely see some of their former glory. However, the exterior walls and eaves, exposed to wind and rain for a long time and left unrepaired, now revealed a deep sense of desolation, as if forgotten by time.
His apprentice’s thin black coat seemed particularly warm. Although it wasn’t too cold inside the umbrella, Wei Xi still instinctively slipped his hand into his apprentice’s pocket. The apprentice seemed to be thinking about something, but his action brought him back to his senses. He glanced down at him, silently switched the umbrella to his other arm, and pulled his other hand back into his pocket, enveloping Wei Xi’s hand in the unseen space.
Wei Xi grabbed his fingers, then slipped his own fingers between them, and glanced at the television still playing a program: “What’s on it?”
The apprentice answered irrelevantly, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding cityscape: “Six thousand years ago, this city, along with the surrounding area of several thousand square kilometers, was called Kitahara River. Do you know why it was called that?”
Wei Xi felt that the name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had heard it before. At this moment, Xia Shouren’s voice came from behind: “Because this place is arid and desolate, with no grass growing, it is similar to the desert today.”
Mr. Gu exclaimed in surprise, “Is that so? Lehe is now one of the cities with the most even rainfall in the country, and Lehe Lake is also the largest freshwater lake in the country.”
Xia Shouren chuckled: “After six thousand years, with crustal movements and several global climate shifts, of course everything has changed. Back then, the Kitahara River was the only small oasis with clean water that humans could drink. So, the people living in the Kitahara River oasis became the world’s first group of believers to collectively worship the Wind God and the Water God in order to pray for rain. The Rain God Temple originated here.”
Mr. Gu nodded: “I see. Mr. Xia, you are really knowledgeable. You even know this. I have been to Lehe on business many times and I have never heard of a rain god temple here.”
The smile on Xia Shouren’s face slowly disappeared after he finished speaking, and it took him a while to regain his voice: “Yes, because Lehe no longer needs them.”
The reason why the rain god was recognized by the Heavenly Way and became a deity was because of the devout worship of the believers. But when they were no longer needed, all that awaited them was the fate of being forgotten.
Under the laws of Heaven, the rules that caused gods to oscillate between power and weakness were just that cruel.
….
Unlike mountainous areas, the cult activities in Lehe City were concentrated in a relatively large urban village within the city.
The local street director and community officials received them and expressed their distress over the existence of this cult: “What can we do? They’re all a bunch of old men and women, completely obsessed. No matter how the community tries to educate them, it’s no use. They just believe that the deity they worship exists. Their leader organizes classes for them every now and then, and these old people have complete faith in this leader. When the police come to deal with them, they all throw tantrums, claiming they are having heart attacks, and some even try to commit suicide on the spot. What can the police do? They’re afraid something might happen to them.”
Fortunately, this sacrificial ceremony, which caused a huge uproar, was the first time they had interfered with the lives of living people. In the end, the police stopped it, and no major trouble ensued. However, precisely because no one was killed, the local police in Lehe could not deal with them severely. Most of these elderly people were locals, and they were old and unreasonable. If a strong approach was taken, it would inevitably cause considerable disputes.
Because of several municipal inspections, the long-time residents of the urban village were extremely wary of the street director’s arrival. Their expressions immediately turned sour upon seeing him. The street director felt utterly helpless about the superstitious nature of his residents. Facing the visiting leaders, he couldn’t help but show a look of shame: “You must have rarely seen people like this, right? They refuse to believe in anyone but their so-called gods. To put it bluntly, they’re simply insane.”
Tuan Tuanyi looked around and nodded: “They are really sick. They don’t even know what kind of nonsensical gods they believe in. With that energy, they might as well worship the Daoist Celestial Venerable of our Taicang Sect. Isn’t the Daoist Celestial Venerable much more effective than these lousy gods?”
Street Director: “…”
Is there something wrong with these leaders?
But as soon as Tuan Tuanyi finished speaking, the air around them suddenly tightened, drawing his attention away from Taicang Sect: “Strange, why has the wind and rain suddenly gotten stronger again?”
Shuo Zong looked up, feeling the waves of anger surging from ahead through the umbrella, and glanced at Tuan Tuanyi with a complicated expression—
This guy is truly a talent. On his way here, he was still thinking about how to force out the gods. After all, the gods are different from the other opponents they have dealt with before. They are favored by the Heavenly Dao, and even though they have fallen, they still possess great abilities. If they are determined to hide, even he would have to go to great lengths to find their traces.
But before he could even make a move, the other party was provoked by Tuan Tuanyi’s two insincere words.
Xia Shouren awkwardly opened his umbrella and said to the bewildered street director, “It’s nothing, this is enough. Everyone, please go back. We can go in ourselves.”
After the wind and rain intensified and it became unbearably cold outside, coupled with the rather eerie atmosphere, the street director hesitated for a moment before leaving without further ado, leading the community cadres in a hurried departure.
Almost the instant they disappeared, the storm intensified, especially in the urban village area, where the wind even carried a faint aura of fierce energy, leaving even someone like Xia Shouren disheveled and in a sorry state.
Shuo Zong, who was holding the Five Elements Barrier Umbrella, and Wei Xi under the umbrella were the only exceptions. Shuo Zong looked at the dark alley and said coldly, “Come out.”
A chanting sound, seemingly drifting from the heavens, was followed by a clattering of chaotic footsteps. Suddenly, lights came on in a house ahead, the garage door opened, and a group of elderly people draped in black robes emerged. Their black cloaks and fixed gazes on the approaching strangers, combined with their large numbers, grim expressions, and the distant chanting in the background, created a truly eerie scene.
The atmosphere immediately became tense after they appeared, and both sides fell into a brief silence. In this serious stalemate, the admiring exclamation from Tuan Tuanyi was rather abrupt: “Wow, what a powerful presence! Uniforms and music playing, pressing play and stepping to the beat to meet the challenge. Master, do you think these uncles and aunties came here with a tape recorder for square dancing?”
Everyone: “…”
Whispers began to circulate within the group—
“What do we do? We’ve been discovered.”
“I told you it was unnecessary, but that old Liu insisted on doing all these things. I think he just did too many things before he retired.”
“But how did they know it was a tape recorder? Shouldn’t a normal person think it was a Bodhisattva singing?”
Tuan Tuanyi: “…”
Auntie, the sound quality of the tape recorder is so bad, and you’re all the main force of square dancing, it’s not surprising that someone could tell.
The old man leading the group turned pale, turned around and gestured to his square dance partners to turn off the recording. Then he said coldly, “Young man, hurry up and leave. The gods are angry. Don’t come here and tell us any more nonsense about believing in science. Don’t we know ourselves whether there is a god or not?”
Tuan Tuanyi quickly said, “Don’t misunderstand, don’t misunderstand. We’re not here to give you a lesson. Of course, there are gods. I don’t know about yours, but the Daoist deity we worship in Taicang Sect is very efficacious.”
Upon hearing this unexpected answer, the old men became even more agitated, with even the leader showing a surprised expression: “Taicang Sect? Are you the Taicang Sect from the recent TV commercials?”
Tuan Tuanyi: “You’ve seen our advertisements too?”
It turns out they were half in the same boat, both superstitious people. So an old woman next to the old man, who had just been full of hostility, immediately smiled: “That’s right! Oh, your advertisement is really well made. I’ve only seen it once, but it’s like it’s been planted in my brain. I can’t forget it no matter what.”
Tuan Tuanyi: “You’re too kind, you’re too kind.”
The old ladies said, “You young people are really something! You can even advertise, that’s amazing. Unlike us, with our old arms and legs, we’re always being chased by the city management officers of Lehe City. Sigh! What’s that ‘Heavenly Venerable’ of yours again?”
Tuan Tuanyi leaned closer and said, “The Celestial Venerable of the Dao is very powerful. Are you interested in learning more about him?”
The old man at the head of the group stood there dumbfounded when he saw them chatting so enthusiastically. He kept glancing into the house, while the wind and rain outside grew even more terrifying, the wind howling so sharply it sounded like a roar.
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