Master of Strange Dao

The old man upon hearing this, immediately revealed a slight smile, took out a chipped bowl, fetched some water from a nearby water jar, cleaned it thoroughly, and filled it with a bowl of wheat porridge for Yu Ziqing.

Yu Ziqing squatted by the bonfire, cradling the chipped bowl with one hand, and slowly slurped around the edge.

The old man just sat there, watching Yu Ziqing devour the bowl of porridge huffing and puffing, then he allowed himself a smile, picked up his own bowl, and shovel it in with a pair of chopsticks.

Yu Ziqing didn't speak, just waited like that.

This bowl of porridge was the key to establishing trust between them.

Yu Ziqing eating the porridge proved he wasn't the type to live off incense fire, and the old man finishing his porridge also proved he wasn't either.

Once the old man had finished his porridge, Yu Ziqing took the initiative to wash the bowls and add some firewood; only then did he sit back down in front of the bonfire.

"Young man, you're from the outside, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"When you crossed the river, did you offer incense to the boatman?"

"No."

"No wonder then. If you didn't offer him incense, he would've sent you to the River God Temple or Land God Temple. Then, when you died, as an offering to the River God or Earth Spirit, he would also benefit. If you had offered incense, it would've been difficult if you wanted to leave. It's best to leave early now. When you do, give the boatman one incense stick. Seeing that you're not dead and not easy to mess with, plus greedy for that one incense stick, he will ferry you across the river."

"What on earth happened here?"

"Ah..." the old man sighed, silent for a long while: "In this inhuman, ghostly world..."

"I only know that sixty years ago, even though the Shao family was domineering and the rent was high, at least there was still food to eat. Back then, the Earth Spirit, although a Shao family man, was a good person in life, blessing this place with favorable weather and sparing it from major disasters. However, sixty years ago, the court appointed a City God. The Earth Deities, Mountain Gods, River Gods, were all under his jurisdiction, and this territory became the domain of that City God. Later, one day, the Shao Family Head was close to death, and the City God granted him a boon, allowing him to feed on incense. That old Shao patriarch then lived on to this day without dying. The City God's temple thrived with incense offerings, and more and more people came seeking help. Initially, it was just the seriously ill and the elderly, but then it slowly turned into the current ghostly appearance. Neither human nor ghost, they lived on incense and stopped farming the land. When I was young, I had enough to eat one day but might starve the next. Gradually, there was more food than we could eat, because no one ate grain anymore. I didn't want to become like that, and as decades passed, I became the oddity. I ran here, thinking I was surely going to die, only to discover that they don't come near this place at all, not even the Shao family dares to approach this Shao family shrine."

The old man's smile was tinged with irony and helplessness.

Yu Ziqing remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"Which city does this place belong to?"

"Wuzi City."

Yu Ziqing felt somewhat dazed. If he remembered correctly, Wuzi City should be under the jurisdiction of Dinghai City.

Wuzi City was approximately equivalent to a prefecture-level city, and Dinghai City was the capital of a region. And Yu Ziqing happened to have the Wuzi City County Magistrate Seal in his possession.

"Doesn't the magistrate of Wuzi City care about what's happening here?"

"City God or Earth Spirit, they are all appointed by the Emperor, beyond the magistrate's control. I've heard that Wuzi City has been without a magistrate for decades, with no one taking up the post. In earlier years, I heard rumors that the previous magistrate was killed by the City God's subordinates. Afterward, everyone started living off incense fire, and no news of that sort has been mentioned since."

"So, is the City God actually in charge here now?"

"I'm not sure..."

Yu Ziqing had more or less already understood.

From the City God down to the Earth Deities, Mountain Gods, River Gods, and perhaps some functionaries, it was a whole system. Moreover, the populace had turned into beings without a shred of human vitality. Plus, entering into this place required following specific routes. Saying this area was completely out of Dadui's control wasn't far-fetched.

Seeing part of the picture gave Yu Ziqing a rough understanding of the main issue here. He almost understood why, even in the later parts of the Dingmao Era in An History Book's Sealing, no disaster involved the sealing of Earth Deities. Initially, Earth Deities were indeed useful. When they were appointed, it was done with great caution, just like in present-day Dali. There were no tales of an Earth Deity appointed by the court turning into an Evil God. Such a situation would naturally never require sealing. But as time went on, it evolved into what we see now. Even then, the position of Earth Deity was still one decreed by Emperor Dui; by the time they realized the problem, it was probably too late to turn things around. The issue might be more complex, but the root surely related to Earth Deities. Additionally, the Earth Deities here seemed excessively powerful. A mere Earth Spirit had the aura of a sixth-seventh tier. In Dali or Daqian, once an Earth Deity left its domain, it was worthless, and even a one or two-tier cultivator might be able to kill the Earth Deity. Yet in their own territory, within their temples, forming their Golden Body, their strongest state, they were probably just Fourth-tier at most. Their Divine Power and Divine Skills were mostly derived from the people's incense fire, and then it was used on the local area. It seemed like they possessed immense powers, but in actuality, it mostly involved managing the weather and maintaining balance within the sealed domain. At the end of the day, they were just officials with a special position, meant to prevent problems before they occurred and maintain local stability. The upside, however, was that Earth Deities could live very long, bestowing blessings upon their descendants.