So, after coming out of Wen Sanmei's house, Xiao Yuan and I went straight to the Tudigong Shrine at the end of the village...
In China's vast rural areas, it is very common to worship the "Lord of the Land". In ancient times, almost every village had its own land and temple.
It is said to be a temple, but it is very small in scale and simple in shape. Most of them are located under trees or beside the main road in the village. They are shaped like a "Lei" shrine with two stones on the left and right as the wall and one as the top.
After all, in Chinese folk myths and legends, the "Earth God" has a very low status and belongs to a small god. Even little monsters and goblins in the mountains can do it as long as they are dedicated to good deeds and connect with the village's earth. It can indeed protect a small village from the harassment of the lowest evil spirits such as ordinary wandering spirits and walking corpses.
But as long as the evil ghosts, zombies, monsters, etc. are slightly stronger in cultivation, they can "bully" the little earth god.
However, the two dog monsters inside the bodies of the Xiao family and his son just now should not have the strength to "bully" the landlord of Wenjia Village, let alone "behead" him directly?
Wenjia Village is not big, so I took a leisurely walk and soon reached the end of the village.
It was almost dusk and there was no one around.
Ahead, under a big tree on the roadside out of the village, a small stone earth temple, only half a man tall, stood there alone.
Madoka sniffed and spread her wings.
"It's hopeless. This poor little land is completely dead. Even the incense accumulated over the years is gone. It's really pitiful."
This silly bird is right.
At this moment, I can also feel that within a hundred meters of this earth temple, there is some disorderly spread of incense and wish power...
The power of incense and incense comes from people's hearts and the offerings of believers. It is a very mysterious power. It is powerful and pure, but also dangerous and can easily make practitioners get lost.
Buddhist monks are the best at absorbing and using this stuff, while Taoist monks have taken less of it - so far I have only seen the two bronze lions at the entrance of Wong Tai Sin Temple in Hong Kong absorbing the power of incense, or the naughty child of the Liang family. Made by the same "Holy Monument Ancestor".
But folk village temple gods like "Tuigong" are similar to Buddhism and require more incense and vows to strengthen themselves. After all, these "little gods" are essentially local good demons and good ghosts. Without the [initiation] or [immortal guidance] of practitioners, it would be very difficult to go further.
The Tudigong in the small Tutu Temple in Wenjia Village is probably quite respected by the villagers on weekdays, so the incense is relatively strong among the "village temples".
It's a pity that before it was fully absorbed, it was harmed by evil spirits, and the body died and the Tao disappeared.
I couldn't help but feel a little sad.
Walking slowly to the shrine of the Earth Temple, I saw that the poor clay statue had been broken at the neck and had no head. There were also many claw marks of varying depths on the small body.
I focused my true energy on my eyes and used my "spiritual vision" to see out, and I could see that the scars on my neck and body still had strands of jet-black demonic energy floating out!
The ferocity of this demonic energy far exceeds that of the dog demon possessed by the Xiao family and his son - at least it is at the [big demon] level. No wonder the earthly master of this village temple is no match for him.
I snorted coldly.
"Sure enough, I guessed right. The mastermind behind the destruction of this earth temple was not the two dog monsters possessing the Xiao family and his son. The strength and ferocity of these monsters are completely different."
Madoka flapped her wings, looking arrogant.
"It's just a mid-level [Great Demon]. To us, we are just like ants."
I sighed and said worriedly.
"To us, ordinary monsters are really like chickens and dogs. To ordinary villagers, they are completely irresistible evil spirits. If they really go crazy, the entire village of Wenjia Village will be in danger. It's like a bullet It’s a time bomb! We can’t keep our eyes on this place forever. But let’s see if we can find a way to catch this evil monster first.”
Madoka and I got closer and stood three feet apart in front of the shrine of the Earth Temple.
It suddenly flew up into the air for a distance, and then flapped its wings violently downward.
Keng!
A transparent arc-shaped wind blade fell from the sky, "clicking" the small Earth Temple shrine in half from directly above, splitting into two, and collapsing towards both sides. The dust flew up, revealing a small open space in the middle.
I asked it with a confused look on my face.
"What are you doing, fat bird? This little earthlord is so pitiful, why do you want to destroy his temple? Although it is of no use in the first place. But this is not good."
Madoka hummed twice.
"I do this just because I feel pity for this little earth lord! Mr. Wu, if you don't understand, just stop making trouble and just stay aside."
After saying that, it stretched out its sharp claws, made a flying movement, and grabbed it. Amid the surging demonic energy, a phantom with eagle claws as big as a millstone flew out.
Puff puff...
Amidst the scattered gravel and flying dust, a deep pit appeared where the shrine of the Earth Temple in Wenjia Village originally stood. It's about two or three meters deep.
I admired it.
"Damn Fat Bird, the power of your eagle claws has increased again. It can penetrate two to three meters of soil and stone in one stroke."
Madoka was elated.
"That's it. It's just a layer of dirt. If I could regain the strength of my heyday, I could crush an armored vehicle with one claw."
I thought that would be too difficult!
[King of Snow and Wind] Cang Xuan, who has reached the peak of Demon King perfection... With Madoka's current remnant soul state, it is really difficult to return to the peak.
But on the surface, I still give it a thumbs up and say it’s awesome. Silly boy, you will definitely be able to fully recover soon!
While speaking, Madoka once again stretched out her claws and scratched the ground twice.
Whizzing!
Two more eagle-clawed shadows as big as millstones flew out one after another, making the pit at the Earth Temple even deeper. It was about five meters deep and close to about six meters deep.
The pit is only about two meters in diameter but six meters deep!
I couldn't figure out what kind of medicine Xiao Yuan was selling in this stupid gourd, so I took two steps forward, stood on the edge of the pit and looked down.
When I saw this, I was immediately surprised.
I saw the body of a big rat in the underground soil five or six meters deep!
This mouse is large in size, somewhere between an adult tabby cat and a rural pastoral dog. Its gray hair is as shiny as satin.
I don’t know why, but even the corpse of a rat doesn’t give people a feeling of discomfort or fear.
It dawned on me.
"This...is this the landowner of Wenjia Village?"
Madoka folded her wings, landed on my shoulder, looked at the corpse of the big mouse and nodded.
"That's right! That's it. I smelled it just now. It's a big rat. It's relatively average and is less than a hundred years old. It probably has been living deep underground in the temple built for it by the villagers. Place. Villagers come to worship and absorb some incense and vows."
I have mixed emotions and deep emotions.
"The rat crossing the street that everyone yelled about turned out to be the guardian of the village. It connected with the earth and protected a village. The dog that was supposed to be a friend of mankind turned into a terrifying monster that wreaked havoc. Sometimes, the changes in this world can It’s really unpredictable.”
After a pause, I looked at Madoka.
"So dig it out?"
"Since he was a good demon who hooked up to the ground to protect a village, he died for the villagers, and his soul was scattered. It is really pitiful for his body to be left like this. It will also be corroded by snakes, insects, rats, and ants. After it is burned with talisman fire, it will turn into ashes and return to the world. "
Maybe Madoka is a "thing that hurts its own kind", a guy who has always been carefree and mean-spirited, but now he has sympathy for this good monster.
