Strange Stories

Chapter 502 Reminder
"What about Zhenjian Palace?"

"Please rest assured, fellow Taoist. As long as the Emperor retreats and obeys Emperor Zixu as the Lord of the Nine Heavens, Emperor Zixu will not kill all the southern gods. In the future, in the Grand View Temple, my Emperor will most likely stand in the same row with him and share the incense of the world. In the human world, Lord Luo is a man who cherishes the past. Zhenjian Palace has made many contributions to the people of Qinzhou and has not directly helped the King of Yue. In addition, Lord Luo has learned the lessons of Guanxing Palace and understands the way of checks and balances. He will not let Yanxia Temple, which has entered the capital, dominate and will keep Zhenjian Palace." Taoist Jiang said, holding the teacup, "The April Snow in Zhenjian Palace will probably be able to bloom for many more years. But Xuantian Temple in Qiyun Mountain may have to go through a period of hard times."

That’s right——

The ancestral temple of the northern pantheon is located in the Yanxia Temple on Mingzhao Mountain.

This was the first and last time that Lin Jue attended the grand ceremony, so he went there with his third senior brother and his youngest sister. It was also there that he saw the statue of Fu Chi God for the first time.

Now that the North has won and Emperor Zixu has taken over the Nine Heavens, Yanxia Temple will move to the capital.

At most, just change the name.

"The world changes so fast. I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, Lord Luo would become the emperor." Lin Jue sighed.

"Lord Luo would be a good emperor." Daoist Jiang spoke calmly, as if Lord Luo's victory and King Yue's defeat did not stir up any ripples in her heart. "If you want to become a god, Lord Luo will definitely invite you to the major palaces, temples and monasteries in the world. With your abilities, it may be difficult for you to become a celestial being, but it is still easy to become an emperor. Maybe you can take over the position vacated by Emperor Zixu."

"Not what I want."

As Lin Jue was talking, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard that the emperor of the human world cannot be a god?"

"It's just an unwritten rule." said Master Jiang.

"How to say?"

"There are many reasons, and they are complicated and multifaceted. In fact, in ancient times, there were emperors who were gods, and there were quite a few of them. However, except for a few ancient emperors who made great contributions to the human world, such as the emperor who made elixirs in your Yishan Mountain, most of the others were not great gods." Taoist Jiang said, "Later, as time went on, this rule gradually came into being."

"For example?"

Lin Jue picked up the fairness cup and poured tea for her.

When they were in Zhenjian Palace, she was the one who poured tea for Lin Jue, but now here it was the other way around.

"In terms of merit, do you think that the good side of saints and sages is more common, or that people are more stupid and evil?"

Master Jiang finished speaking, but did not listen to his answer:
“When ordinary people have evil thoughts, most of them don’t have the ability or courage to realize them, and it is difficult for them to cause any bad consequences. However, emperors are also human beings, and they are not saints. In a moment of thought, they can destroy everything. Therefore, looking at the emperors in history, there are few whose merits outweigh their faults. If you count them carefully, those mediocre emperors who have neither merits nor faults can actually surpass most emperors.

"If an emperor wants to become a god, how will his merits and demerits be judged?

“Even a wise ruler throughout history has his share of grievances and sins. There have been times when he has killed people indiscriminately, wrongly, or caused millions of people to suffer because of a mistake. If he were to become a god, many souls in the underworld would have written to him to complain about their grievances.

“Even if your merits outweigh your faults, you have already enjoyed all the offerings from the world during your reign, and you want to become a god after your death. How can such a good thing happen in this world?

"From the perspective of Shinto, offering incense should be something that the common people do spontaneously. All the gods are virtuous and work diligently to fulfill their duties, so they deserve a little incense offering. However, the emperors hold great power in the world. If they want to use their power to gain incense from the world, they have too many ways to do it, and even the Nine Heavens cannot restrict them. Is this fair?

"From a human perspective, the change of dynasties is like the changing of seasons, it is the law of heaven and earth. If the emperor were a god, how many emperors would want the world to still worship the emperor of the previous dynasty?
"Besides, people in the world also have hearts. Although they worship gods, most of them are not willing to worship an emperor who once ruled them. They would rather worship someone who was not so high in status during his lifetime, but spent his entire life seeking their welfare, or someone who did good deeds but did not receive the due rewards during his lifetime, or those who made them feel 'sorry'. Emperors are not such people.

“So even though there were emperors who were gods in ancient times, nowadays, even those famous ancient emperors are not popular anymore.

“That’s only a small part of the reason.

"For a variety of reasons, everyone gradually came to accept this rule. Human emperors cannot become gods. If they are forced to become gods, they can only be small gods, and their worship will soon fade. How many emperors are willing to fall to this level?"

Taoist Jiang took the teacup and said.

Now, when facing Lin Jue, she talks a lot more.

He took a sip of the fragrant tea, took a sip of its clear flavor, and glanced sideways. He saw the painting he had given him hanging in the middle of the attic, and he felt a little better. Every time he looked at it, he felt more comfortable.

"I see."

"Fellow Daoist, you are thinking that with Mr. Luo's abilities, merits, and prestige among the people, if he doesn't become an emperor, he should at least be a true lord, right?" Lin Jue didn't say much, but Taoist Jiang guessed what he was thinking.

"It's not a pity." Lin Jue said, "Although the emperors who founded dynasties in the human world are short-lived, their power, influence on worldly affairs, and even influence on the nine heavenly gods are no less than that of the Heavenly Weng. There are many things that the True Lords cannot do that the emperors of the human world can do. Lord Luo has his own pursuits."

"That's right."

"What about Brother Qingxuan?"

"Now, he is the abbot of Zhenjian Palace. Who knows, when he gets older, he might even become a 'real person'."

"Is he all right?"

"Everything is fine. He just lost some weight due to hunger in prison." Daoist Jiang said, "Especially during the days when the capital fell, the management of the palace, government offices, and prisons was in disarray. He almost starved to death. Fortunately, he was popular among the people, and some people came to bring him food, so he managed to survive."

"It's finally over."

"almost."

Lin Jue could hear something vaguely - both Emperor Yujian and Emperor Zixu were quite particular, and the confrontation did not seem fierce. It was more like Emperor Yujian found that he could not win, so he bowed his head and admitted defeat, and respected Emperor Zixu as the co-lord of the Nine Heavens. After that, it was probably like the previous dynasty, obeying the orders of Tianweng, spreading Tianweng's ideas, and secretly fighting back and forth.

To put it bluntly, gods are ultimately based on virtue and have a relatively high moral standard. In addition, they are bound by etiquette and laws, and have heavenly rules and heavenly masters. Even if it is an ordinary minor god, as long as he does not harm the human world, or seriously neglects his duties and violates the death penalty in heavenly rules, it is difficult for even the heavenly celestial being to directly disperse him. Not to mention a powerful emperor like the Jade Mirror Emperor.

Since we cannot fight openly, we have to suppress them secretly.

But in Lin Jue's opinion, it might not be easy to suppress it.

In recent years, the places with the most devout faith in the world are the North and the South.

There were too many demons and monsters in the north, so Emperor Zixu actually sent troops to the lower world to eliminate the demons. Under such circumstances, how could people not believe in him?
The south is related to trade.

In recent years, commerce, water transport and maritime transport have prospered in the south. These industries are unstable. The more unstable they are, the more likely people are to pin their hopes on the protection of gods.

The beliefs of Emperor Yujian are almost deeply bound to these industries.

Merchants would think that their fortunes were brought by the Jade Emperor. Before sailors set out on their ships, they would burn incense to the Jade Emperor and ask for his advice on good and bad luck. The Southern Gods were also good at business and managed the South very well. When the world was in chaos, there were always the fewest demons and ghosts in the South. When merchants came back from business, they would feel this and become more pious to the Jade Emperor when comparing their experiences in other places.

No matter how much of it was due to the work of Emperor Yujian, many people believed that it was the emperor's blessing that enabled them to do business smoothly, become rich, and live a good life.

Lin Jue himself was from Huizhou and knew the devoutness of the southerners' beliefs.

Not to mention that there are explicit constraints on the gods, preventing them from directly interfering with human beliefs or extorting offerings. Even if an emperor like Luo Gong wanted to force the people in the south to change their beliefs after conquering the world, it would probably be more difficult than when he conquered the world. The unrest caused by religious beliefs might cause this dynasty, which has not yet been formally established, to once again fall into division and unrest.

Didn't the previous Tianweng know that the two emperors of the north and south posed the greatest threat to him? It's just that there is nothing he can do.

Moreover, the southern gods made a very clever move, which was to separate the Zhenjian Palace from the Xuantian Temple in Qiyun Mountain.

In the past struggles, the existence of Zhenjian Palace in Qinzhou provided Emperor Yujian with the capital to fight against the previous Tianweng. Even if he did not win in the end, it still played a big role.

As for the future...

The Zhenjian Palace has a relatively neutral stance and strong connections. It has a friendship with Lord Luo who is about to ascend the throne and become emperor, and they even risked their lives together to eliminate monsters. It can be said that the friendship is deep and the palace is very popular among the people. Now, many people in Qinzhou, from ordinary people to clans, are frequent visitors of the Zhenjian Palace. Even if the emperors in heaven and on earth change, there is a certain possibility that the Zhenjian Palace will continue to take root in Qinzhou.

As long as the Zhenjian Palace is there and Emperor Yujian is in Qinzhou, there will be incense.

Not only that, when people from other places come to the capital and see how popular this Taoist temple is, they will at least have a better impression of this emperor. If they think it is effective, they may even bring back a statue and spread the incense of Emperor Yujian from the capital to other places.

"Let's not talk about that anymore!" Lin Jue said, pointing down, "Look, these are my two new disciples!"

"Just those two?"

Taoist Priest Jiang has been keeping an eye on them for a long time.

"Exactly!"

"Fellow Daoist, have you officially accepted a disciple?"

"Not yet. But they are destined to be with me and follow my heart, so it's only a matter of time." Lin Jue said, "I just asked them to plant trees and exorcise monsters for me on the pretext that 'it's not easy to become my disciple', and I also taught them some things first."

"Has Daoyou ever been 'plotted' like this by Master before?"

"That's not true."

"They will slowly come to terms with it over the years."

"Haha! I've thought about this, too. At that time, I told them that their master had treated me the same way before..."

"Master Yunhe will never rest in peace."

"Wrong! He will smile and flick his beard!"

Then Lin Jue told her about his feelings and joys of being a master and teaching a disciple. During the whole process, she mostly raised her glass to drink tea, listened quietly, and nodded in response from time to time.

The two people below were busy planting trees and reciting the Yin-Yang Sutra, and had no idea what their unapprenticed master was talking about in the pavilion above their heads.

After drinking so much tea and enjoying the conversation, he stood up and stretched himself.

It was spring, with flowers blooming and trees growing leaves. Lin Jue invited her to stay and took her to stroll around Fengshan, to see the design of the attic and the scenery in the mountains. He also picked some fairy leaves himself and made some fairy tofu to treat her.

The scattered peach blossoms danced into a river with the mountain wind, and in a trance, it looked very much like the beautiful Yishan in the past.

Before leaving, Master Jiang reminded him:
"You are naturally free and easy by nature. You can get along well with others and make friends with demons and ghosts. You have a deep affection for Fuyao in particular. I have told you before that gods are pure. You also know that Emperor Zixu started out by exorcising demons. He is tough and upright, and hates evil. If there is any weakness or tolerance in his character, he will not be able to defeat our emperor in this fight. Now that he has inherited Tianweng, it may not be a good thing for you. In particular, you are now famous in the world. Just in case, please teach and restrain Fuyao more in the future to avoid him finding a handle to attack."

Lin Jue naturally nodded and agreed.

(End of this chapter)