Chapter 17: The Truth
After the girl's voice came out, the people at the entrance of the village all looked at each other.
The strange silence lasted for several seconds. Gong-Shu Jie on the clay stage also did not say a word, just observed the reaction of the villagers.
It was only after several seconds that someone in the crowd shouted in anger.
"You are the minion of that wolf demon, of course you speak for it!"
"Master Wuzhu, this demon girl and the wolf demon are in cahoots, you can see that!"
The villagers shouted bitterly. And with the black-robed Wuzhu at their side, they had some sort of strength.
However, Gong-Shu Jie just watched all this happen and waited until the villagers were quiet before he asked the village chief.
"I ask you, village chief, after that white wolf opened incense in the mountain, besides forcing you to offer incense and sacrifice animals, has there been any other evil deeds? For example, hurting or eating people for no reason?"
"Uh... There are no such acts. " said the old village chief in a small voice, "We also do not dare to offend it. According to its requirements, we should worship its statue in our home, offer incense monthly, and offer three animals on New Year's Day. And even the village hunters did not dare to go near the location of the Mountain God Temple when they go into the forest, so indeed no villagers were eaten by it."
Gong-Shu Jie asked again, "Then when did the rumor about the white wolf eating people appear? It seems to me that everyone is certain that the white wolf will definitely come down and eat people...... Did this rumor come about after he asked for the girl?"
"Uh...... this......" the old village chief hesitated for a few seconds and seemed to be thinking about how to answer.
Xiao Ai then spoke directly to answer, "The village adults have been saying this for a long time!"
The girl glared at the old village chief on the stage and said loudly, "When I was very young, I already heard the village adults say so. They all said that if children disobeyed, they would be carried away and eaten by the wolf demon in the mountains! They said it a long time ago!"
Gong-Shu Jie looked at the old village chief, "Is that true?"
The old village chief was sweating, but he could only admit it, "Yes, but that is only to coax children. It cannot be taken seriously. Besides, although the wolf demon doesn’t eat people, it has forced us to offer incense and satisfy its unreasonable demands. There is no Fire God statue in the whole village, all of them have been forced by the white wolf to be replaced by his own statues!"
One of the most important duties of a Wuzhu was to take charge of incense and offerings of the Fire God.
Now a mountain demon forced the villagers to abolish the worship of the Fire God, which was an intolerable crime for a Wuzhu.
When Gong-Shu Jie heard such a thing, his expression couldn't help but be serious.
However, he did not immediately become furious and then went into the mountain to get rid of the demon as the village chief thought. Instead, a look of inward illumination came into his eyes.
"So that's it?......"
Gong-Shu Jie thought about it and looked at the little girl who was cursed and ostracized by the whole village, and asked, "Little girl, let me ask you, is it true that there is no more statues of the Fire God in this village?"
Xiao Ai hesitated for a moment, and finally could only nod her head stiffly, "Yes, there is indeed no statues of the Lord Fire God in the village."
Only then did Gong-Shu Jie look at the old village chief and asked, "After that white wolf forced you to make offerings, in the past eighty years, has this Shuisheng village ever had a disaster, like a bad famine? Have the beasts in the mountains ever come down to eat the villagers? Is there other demons wreaking havoc and killing people?"
"Uh......" the old village chief thought about it and hesitantly shook his head, "No, since I can remember, the village has indeed not had a disaster. The beasts in the mountains have not come down to eat people, and no demons other than the white wolf have been seen ......"
When he continued saying, the old village chief's voice couldn't help but be lowered.
Gong-Shu Jie nodded, some kind of guess in his heart was verified, "In that case, then the truth is obvious."
"The fact that a small remote mountain village has not had any calamity for eighty years proves that although the white wolf has been taking your incense, it has also performed the duties of the Mountain God and given you shelter."
"As for the rumors of eating people, it was just your speculations, and no one has ever been really eaten by the white wolf. Even the girl it asked you to sacrifice was returned intact."
"If what I expect is correct, this is probably a warning."
Gong-Shu Jie said, "I have actually seen the white wolf in the Cold Feather Mountain. I can tell you all clearly that it is definitely not the mountain demon you perceive, but an incomparably noble beast."
"The wish power you offer is not even a piece of cake for him. And in my contact with him, I can see that he does not want to be the Mountain god, and does not care about the Mountain God position and your wish power."
"With His noble status, He has been guarding this mountain and has been bestowing blessings upon you for eighty years. Is this not noble enough for you? No! You just don't know how to be grateful! You have been slandering him for years and years, damaging his reputation! If he had a bad temper, I'm afraid this Shuisheng village would have been destroyed."
Gong-Shu Jie shook his head and said, "And looking at your attitude, I'm afraid that even your offerings were not heartfelt. Though these offerings can provide wish power for him, there's not enough for it to be useful for him. So with all this, I suspect that the Mountain God asked you to offer the girl for nothing but a warning."
"Otherwise, He has been in the mountain for eighty years and has not eaten anyone every year, why did He suddenly ask you to offer the girl this year? And after you offer the girl, he just let her go back to the village. How can you not see such a simple warning?"
"After the girl returned, not only did you not stop slandering the Mountain God, but intensified it and even tried to ask me to 'subdue the demon'? Do you know what will happen to you if this is known by the Mountain God?"
The more Gong-Shu Jie spoke, the harsher his tone became, making the old village chief to sweat and shiver.
And not only the old village chief was frightened, all the villagers who heard these words were all frightened.
They looked in the direction of Cold Feather Mountain in fear, watching the huge vortex clouds hovering in the sky. The words of Gong-Shu Jie was echoing.
"The white wolf in the Cold Feather Mountain is an incomparably noble beast......."
"If he had a bad temperament, the Shuisheng village would have been destroyed......."
The old village chief with a full head of white hair knelt down directly, and pleaded loudly, "Please Master Wuzhu save our Shuisheng Village!"
As the old village chief knelt down, the villagers responded.
In an instant, all the villagers near the entire clay platform all fell to their knees, loudly begging.
"Please Master Wuzhu save our Shuisheng Village!"
When everyone fell to their knees, the only one who did not kneel down was Xiao Ai standing in front of the clay platform.
Gong-Shu Jie looked at her and asked, "Why aren't you kneeling down and begging me?"
The little girl said in calm, "As you said, if Lord Mountain God really got angry with us, Shuisheng Village would have been destroyed long ago. What's more, if begging was useful, I wouldn't have been sent to the Mountain God Temple in the first place."
Gong-Shu Jie took a deep look and nodded, "No wonder the Mountain God regard you with special views...... You are different from these villagers."
