Cypress Boat Floating

The shrine that was originally hidden now shows its existence without concealing it. Anyone can easily find it and enter to explore. As time goes by, this shrine in the capital has already attracted many believers to worship.

The situation of the God House is special, and Lu Zhixing has always wanted to investigate it clearly. However, according to the information currently available, it seems that nothing substantial has been found. More importantly, the court cannot directly arrest or cancel the development of the God House. According to Lu Zhixing, not long after the God House appeared, he tried to let the government directly investigate the God House in the name of the official and tried to arrest them.

However, this move triggered a strong resistance from the people, and many people even united to protest at the government office. This caused great trouble to Lu Zhixing, and in the end, he had no choice but to release the current so-called manager of the shrine because the investigation was fruitless.

Therefore, after the Shadow Team was established, Ye Jianqing specifically informed them of this matter and asked Wan Zhibo and Hu Liusi (that is, Twenty-two and Twenty) to disguise themselves carefully and sneak into the shrine to find out their background.

Wan Zhibo dressed up as a countryman who had just arrived according to his own body characteristics, while Hu Liusi made up to look like an old and ugly woman. With such disguises, they successfully sneaked into the shrine, but as soon as they stepped into the door, they were shocked by the dense crowd in front of them.

The room was not too big, but the vestibule occupied nearly two-thirds of the entire space. People who came to pray were almost filling up the vestibule. These people knelt on the ground devoutly and prayed to a fairy statue facing them in the center of the hall.

In the center of the empty hall stands a hazy and ethereal statue of a fairy. In front of the statue is an offering table filled with sumptuous food. The incense boxes on both sides of the table are already filled with incense money offered by pilgrims.

The entire hall was filled with guards inside and outside. Wan Zhibo took a quick look and found two people standing next to the incense box. From their expressions and movements, they seemed to be guarding the incense. Around them, there were about five or six people, staring at them with a fierce look, obviously supervising them.

In addition, there was a screen placed on the side of the statue, with a guard standing on each side of the screen, and a figure could be vaguely seen behind the screen. Because of the screen, Wan Zhibo could not see the specific appearance of the person, but he could vaguely see that it was a girl. Wan Zhibo and Hu Liusi exchanged glances tacitly, then quickly blended into the crowd, stood aside, pretending not to know each other, and tried to communicate with the people next to them in the hope of getting some useful information.

However, their plan failed before it was implemented. The whole room was unusually quiet. Apart from the chanting coming from behind the screen, no other sound could be heard. All the believers remained silent, and their eyes revealed a creepy piety. Seeing this scene, Wan Zhibo and Hu Liusi couldn't help but feel a chill and goose bumps all over their bodies.

Wan Zhibo and Hu Liusi could only blend in with the crowd, kneeling on the ground together, bowing their heads and pretending to pray to the goddess. Time passed by minute by minute, and they didn't know how long they had been kneeling, but the chanting echoing in their ears never stopped. Finally, when the last chant ended, the person behind the screen slowly stood up and left. The originally silent vestibule gradually regained its vitality at this moment.

"I hope the goddess will bless my son to get well soon..." An elderly woman's eyes were full of tears. Her thin and wrinkled hands were shaking as she took out two copper coins from her worn-out purse with difficulty. She walked to the altar with staggering steps and carefully dropped the two precious copper coins into the incense box. Every step was filled with hope and desire for her son's recovery.

"Goddess, please bless my daughter-in-law to give birth to a big fat boy for our family this time!" On the other side, a wealthy woman was muttering. She was dressed in gorgeous clothes, and it was obvious that her family was well-off. She walked towards the incense box step by step, holding a heavy ingot of silver in her hand. When she arrived next to the box, she first bowed respectfully to the statue of the god, and then gently put the silver into the box. With the crisp sound of the silver falling into the box, the woman seemed to be relieved, and after a long sigh, a satisfied smile appeared on her face. She turned back to her original position, knelt down again and worshiped devoutly, as if this would make her wish more firm.

Everyone in the vestibule was doing the same thing: they prayed devoutly to the goddess and donated some money, hoping that the goddess would fulfill their wishes. One after another, they completed the ritual under the supervision of the guards nearby. Wan Zhibo and Hu Liusi understood that if they really wanted to continue to mingle among the crowd and get useful information, they had to follow everyone's practice.

Wan Zhibo was the first to step forward. He was playing the role of a farmer who had just come to the city and did not have much money. He only took out two copper coins, walked to the statue, moved his lips slightly but made no sound, then bowed casually and was about to put the money into the box. However, at this moment, an old man at the side reached out his hand to stop him.

"Young man, is this your first time here?" The old man looked at Wan Zhibo with a puzzled look on his face. Wan Zhibo looked at him in surprise, then nodded, indicating that this was indeed his first time here.

"This is my first time in the city." Wan Zhibo deliberately answered with a thick accent, and at the same time showed an honest smile. His skin was tanned and looked rough and thick, and his simple appearance made the old man next to him laugh.

The old man grinned, revealing a row of yellow teeth, and taught Wan Zhibo earnestly: "Young man, you can't be so casual when you come to worship the goddess! You must tell her your wish so that she can hear it! And you must be sincere. Worshiping the gods is not something you can do casually! The goddess can hear and see, so she will naturally know whether you are sincere or not."

After hearing this, Wan Zhibo showed the uneasy look typical of a country farmer and stammered, "I... of course I am sincere! These two copper coins... are all my belongings." As he spoke, he deliberately emphasized the four words "all my belongings" so that the old man would understand his predicament.

When the old man heard this, he was a little flustered and quickly explained: "No, no, no, young man, I'm not saying that the money you donated is too little!" As expected, when Wan Zhibo saw the old man so flustered, he was secretly happy, but his face became more and more embarrassed and angry, as if he had been greatly wronged. He didn't even bother to look at the old man again, and turned around and pretended to leave.

The people around him were probably acquainted with this old man. Seeing that Wan Zhibo was angry, they quickly stood up to explain for him, "Young man, don't be angry! Lao Li didn't mean anything else. We come here to worship the goddess, just hoping to realize our wishes. The goddess is kind-hearted and cares for us very much. Regardless of whether we are rich or poor, she will gladly accept us, tolerate us, and be willing to lend a hand to help us. That's why Lao Li just said that we must worship the goddess sincerely. If you have any requests, you must speak out boldly. As long as the goddess hears, she will naturally do her best to help you solve the problem."

At this moment, Wan Zhibo stood there awkwardly, rubbing his hands constantly, looking somewhat at a loss. He lowered his voice and muttered to himself: "I... I really don't know what to do... I'm also worried that you city people will look down on us country people."

The old lady who came to the rescue couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Haha, we are all the same, there is no difference between urban and rural areas!" After that, the old lady pointed and motioned Wan Zhibo to return to the altar: "Okay, now you reveal your innermost wish to the goddess, and then offer some incense money, so that it will work."

The old man scratched his head in embarrassment and confusion, and said to Wan Zhibo apologetically: "Young man, I really didn't mean that just now, please don't misunderstand me!"

After hearing this, Wan Zhibo quickly waved his hand and responded, "Uncle, this is all my own problem. I am so sorry for what happened just now."

After saying these words, Wan Zhibo walked to the statue, took a deep breath, and then with his simple and honest smile, he loudly expressed his wish in his heart: "I hope I can find a good wife as soon as possible and spend my life with her." As soon as he finished speaking, a layer of blush appeared on his face, as if this wish made him feel a little shy. Then, he gently put the two copper coins in his hand into the incense box, as if he was offering a pious heart to the god.