Divine & Bizarre: Increasing Points to Invincibility-Chapter 48: The Fortuna Lord, The Tragic Annihilation of Li Family Village!_1
As dusk approached.
Fan Wu held a sheepskin scroll in his hands, which bore a rudimentary map of the Great Zhou’s Nanjun.
There weren’t many annotations on the map.
Only the names of counties and a few simple routes.
He had navigated by this very thing, traveling from Qiulong County all the way to Bai He County, and then to where he currently paused to rest.
"If I continue to head east for about a day, I should reach Yinghe Prefecture."
Fan Wu carefully put away the sheepskin scroll; once he reached Yinghe Prefecture, he would only need to travel north for some time...
Then he could arrive at the prefecture of Nanjun and find his sworn sister.
Fan Wu slowly stood up.
He patted his trousers.
Just as he was about to continue on his journey, he heard the sounds of gongs and drums. He even heard a piercingly powerful sound, similar to that of a suona being played.
Fan Wu walked towards that direction.
It wasn’t that he enjoyed lively scenes, but that direction was on his essential path to Yinghe Prefecture.
After all, his map showed only one route.
And Fan Wu could only follow that single route.
After walking for some time.
Fan Wu saw that there was actually a village ahead, and it appeared to be quite a sizable one. A series of densely packed houses and pieces of cultivated farmland came into his view.
He also saw people.
Lots of people.
These were likely the local mountain villagers.
Fan Wu could distinctly smell the scent of incense burning in the air.
Amidst the sound of gongs and drums...
He could faintly hear people chanting prayers and scriptures.
Were they...
Conducting a ritual?
...
At the front of the village, there gathered easily hundreds of people, most of whom were ordinary villagers - men and women, old and young alike.
They all shared a certain concern on their faces, as well as a touch of bewilderment.
A six-foot tall statue of a deity was placed upon an incense stand.
The villagers all directed their gazes toward that statue.
In their eyes, there was, more or less, a sense of expectation and hope, as if seeking blessings from the deity.
In front of the statue, there wasn’t only a variety of butchered and cooked cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks, but also an abundance of fruits and sweets.
In an incense burner large as a cauldron, it was filled with plenty of incense sticks.
Each incense stick slowly burned.
Blue smoke curled upwards.
It wafted on the wind.
There was an elderly man, his steps shaky and unsteady as he walked, holding a clay bowl in his left hand, and in his right, a willow branch.
With somewhat clumsy, special steps, he dipped the willow branch into the water of the clay bowl, sprinkling water around him.
All the while, he chanted in a strange tone, repeating a single phrase: "Pray for the grace of the Fortune Deity..."
"Pray for the grace of the Fortune Deity..."
"Pray for the grace of the Fortune Deity..."
After emptying all the water from the clay bowl, the old man very carefully placed both the willow branch and the bowl on the incense stand.
Then he took a large handful of incense sticks and lit them all.
Enduring the billowing smoke that stung his eyes and choked his breath, the old man, trembling, respectfully bowed in each of the four cardinal directions: east, south, west, and north.
However.
The next moment!
A strange wind blew out of nowhere; the old man suddenly lost his balance and fell to the ground.
The large bunch of incense sticks he was holding scattered across the ground, with most of them extinguished.
"Village Chief!"
"Village Chief, are you alright?"
The surrounding villagers, startled by the scene, hurried to help the elder back to his feet.
But the old man suddenly waved them off.
Signaling there was no need.
On his face, creased with wrinkles and age spots, was written a story of sorrow and sighs.
Sitting on the ground, he hesitated for quite a while before finally speaking under the watchful eyes of all, "The wind just now didn’t come from nowhere; I was beseeching the protection of Fortune Lord."
"And then, coincidentally, a gust of wind blew me to the ground at this very moment. This can only mean... Fortune Lord can’t help us."
"It might also be possible... Fortune Lord thinks our hearts are not pious enough. It’s impossible to stay here any longer. In a few days, we should move away from this place..."
"Ah..."
As the old man spoke, he repeatedly sighed. The wrinkles on his face deepened as if he had aged several years all at once.
His posture became even more stooped.
"Village Chief, didn’t the officials from the... whatever Bureau of the Imperial Court say they would handle this matter?" whispered one of the villagers, "Perhaps we could wait for them to resolve the issue, then we wouldn’t need to move away?"
"Right!" someone else chimed in, "We’re just poor mountain folk with barely a grain to spare, and not even a few copper coins to our names—where could we possibly move to?"
"But... the strange incidents that happened in Li Family Village just a few months ago are known to us all. And our Nie Family Village has shown signs of being affected in recent days! People in the village fall critically ill every other day; who can withstand this?"
"That something Heavenly Mandate Bureau hasn’t come around for quite some time now—they probably have no idea what to do!"
"Alas, it’s better to heed the Village Chief’s advice... The village is no longer safe. Everyone in Li Family Village next door perished!"
"..."
In the midst of the villagers’ sighs, the discussion became slightly noisy.
The deity they worshipped, the one known as "Fortune Lord," must be the Immortal God the old man referred to.
Fan Wu led an Old Blue Ox, walking unhurriedly towards Nie Family Village.
The clop of the ox’s hooves sounded clear.
A few sharp-eared villagers from Nie Family Village, puzzled, turned back to look.
Instantly.
They were stunned!
Fan Wu’s imposing figure, in the eyes of the generally thin and pale villagers, undoubtedly appeared like a moving pagoda.
Shocking each and every one of them!
The aura of someone who had slaughtered a large number of mysterious creatures in just a few days caused several villagers who turned to look at Fan Wu to nearly catch their breath.
"Vill... Village Chief, a stranger has come!" One of them swallowed nervously, unable to help exclaiming in shock.
At once, everyone turned their heads to look.
A series of astonished gazes fell upon Fan Wu.
And then...
A chorus of sharp inhales could be heard.
The sound of drums and suona playing abruptly ceased at that moment.
The scene became deathly quiet.
So quiet that one could faintly hear the breathing of those nearby.
The Village Chief of Nie Family Village also managed to stand up with difficulty.
He pushed through the crowd, looking out towards the village entrance.
He saw Fan Wu.
"Hiss!" Even though the Village Chief, with seventy to eighty years of life experience, had seen much, this was his first encounter with someone of such towering height.
However, compared to the other villagers and common folk, the Village Chief was much calmer.
Perhaps it was because he knew his remaining years were few.
In such circumstances...
There was no need to fear anything.
"Esteemed Taoist Priest..."
The Village Chief spoke politely, with a kind intention of cautioning, "Nie Family Village does not welcome strangers in recent months. For the past few months, the village has been... somewhat disturbed."
"Please, Taoist Priest, take a detour around our village."
"..."
...
...
