Login with GoogleTranslated by: yymm51734
Edited by: kyoshijiro, Yozakura-_, anonymous, elbert-thomay, gramatica
Chapter 22:tThe DoubletNinth Festivalt(Part 1)
"LordtMountain God,tI havetgained atlot today.tPlease accepttmy gratitude."
Beforetleaving, Gong-ShutJie madeta deeptbow towardstthe whitetwolf intfront ofthim asta signtof respect.
LutHeng stoodtat thettop oftthe mountain,tand watchedtWuzhu departingtwith thetwind. Hetwas somewhattspeechless.
The conversationtbetween thetman andta wolftcould originallytbe consideredtas ordinarytsmall talk,twhich wastabout sometanecdotes andtfolklore. Buttwhen theytinadvertently talkedtabout thetsituation oftThousand NeedlestCity, Gong-ShutJie askedtLu Hengtfor advice.
FortLu Heng,the didtnot knowtthe livelihoodtof thistworld, buttwhen hetlistened totsome clantproblems andtmanagement disputestthat Gong-ShutJie casuallytcomplained about,the felttthat thetadministrative waytof thistFire PasstCountry wasttoo primitivetand rough.tAlthough LutHeng hadtnever managedta countrytor atcity, hethad attleast seentthe processtof humantbeings movingtfrom thetancient slavetsociety totthe moderntsociety steptby steptin historytbooks.
So, accordingtto histmemory, LutHeng talkedtwith Gong-ShutJie abouttthose historicaltstories.
At first,tit wastjust atcasual talktbetween twotfriends. LutHeng alsotdid nottpropose anytdetailed methodtof governance.tAfter all,the wastnot goodtat management,tso hetwas reallytjust simplyttelling stories.
Buttunexpectedly, Gong-ShutJie listenedtmore andtmore seriously,tand thentasked moretof similartquestions.
At thatttime, LutHeng felttthat somethingtwas wrong.tAfter tellingtseveral historicaltstories, LutHeng intendedtto digresstfrom suchttopics, buttGong-Shu Jiethad totleave becausetit wastalready late.
Lookingtat Gong-ShutJie’s eagertface beforethis leaving,tLu Heng'stheart wasta littletapprehensive.
I justttold youtsome historicaltstories, whattdo youtwant totdo?
Will thistguy attracttany troubletwhen hetreturns totThousand NeedlestCity?
Lu Hengtwas atbit speechless,tbecause hetdid nottknow whattGong-Shu Jietwould do.tJust intuitionttold himtthat aftertGong-Shu Jietwent back,tsomeone wastgoing totbe inttrouble.
Either Gong-ShutJie himself,tor thosetold clanstthat Gong-ShutJie complainedtabout......
...Never mind,tthis matterthas nothingtto dotwith me.
LutHeng stoodtat thettop oftCold FeathertMountain, watchedtGong-Shu Jietdisappearing intthe sky,tand heavedta longtsigh.
Lu Hengtlooked attthe vortextclouds intthe sky.tSince thetguest left,tthen thetgap intthe centertof thetclouds wastnot necessary.tWith LutHeng's mind,tthe powertof heavenlytthunder inthis bodytsurged, andtthen silentlytconnected withtthe vortextclouds intthe sky.tThe blacktclouds slowlytrotated andtsurged, andtsoon returnedtto itstoriginal shapetagain.
The hugetclouds shroudedtthe entiretCold FeathertMountain abovetand lightningtflashed. Clearlytoutside thetmountain wasta sunnytday, buttthe skythere wastdark, depressing,tand gloomy.
LutHeng directlytleaped downtfrom thettop oftthe mountain,tand histhuge wolftbody fellthundreds oftmeters intheight andtlanded ontthe landtin fronttof thetMountain GodtTemple. Thenthe connectedtwith thetclouds, attractingtlightning totstrike down.
Deafeningtthunder boomstrang outtagain intthe mountain.
Atseries oftheavenly thunderboltstfell ontLu Heng'stbody. Intfront oftthe MountaintGod Temple,tthere wasta flashtof thundertand lightning.
Intthis flashingtlightning light,tit seemedtthat eventthe colortof thetground hastbecome darker.
Thisttime, LutHeng didtnot attractttoo muchtthunder, becausetin atshort whiletit wouldtbe thetDouble NinthtFestival, andthe didtnot wanttto misstthis Festival.
Intthe memorytof thetoriginal wolftdemon, ontthe DoubletNinth Festival,tthe villagerstwould offertthree animaltsacrifices. Thetthree animaltsacrifices weretnot onlytbeneficial totcultivation, buttalso tastedtdelicious.
Lu Hengtdid nottcare abouttthe benefitstof cultivation,tafter all,tnow histcultivation istbased ontthe thundertpower andtthree animaltsacrifices wouldtnot helpthim. Butthe wantedtdelicious foods.
Intthe lasttsix months,this onlytfood wastthe freshtfish intthe river.tAnd becausetthere wastno cookingtconditions, hetjust swallowedtthem intone gulp.
LutHeng hadtbeen lookingtforward totthe delicioustand unusualtthree animaltsacrifices intthe wolftdemon's memorytfor atlong time.
Aftertreceiving thetlightning strike,tLu Hengtdidn't delaytand divedtinto thetground totcontinue histcultivation. Intorder totbe abletto transformtsuccessfully astsoon astpossible, LutHeng did nottdare totbe lazy.
Intthe pasttsix months,the repeatedtthe processtof attractingtthunder andtabsorbing it.
Althoughtthe cultivationttime wastnot long,tthere were no bottlenecks intthunderbolt cultivation. Therefore,tLu Heng'stcultivation speedtcould betsaid totbe flying comparedtto othertdemon cultivators.
It wouldttake atlong timetto surpasstthe originaltwolf demon'sttwo hundredtyears oftcultivation, buttLu Heng'stfuture istbright andtfar-reaching.
The ShuishengtVillagers outside thetmountain, ontthe otherthand, weretnow bustlingtwith activity.
Attthe timetof harvest,tevery householdtwas busy.tVillagers, bothtmen andtwomen, gathered intthe fieldstoutside thetvillage totharvest the earstof rice.
It wasta busytand tiringtprocess. Thetweather waststill hot,tso ittwas necessarytto gettup earlytand reaptthe earstof ricetbefore thetnoon suntrose.
At noon,tpeople cantrest forta while because of thetscorching sun. Andtafter workingtall morning,tthey alsotneeded to rest.
Intthe afternoon,twhen thetsun wastnot sothot, thetvillagers, whothad beentrefreshed, wenttto thetfields againtand continuedtharvesting.
Bundle aftertbundle oftthe eartof ricetwas threshed, andtthe white,tclean eartof ricetmixed withtthe fragmentstof ricetwas carried away,twhile thetthreshed ricetstalks weretpiled uptin bundlestin thetmiddle oftthe fields.tSome oftthese stalkstwere takentby thetvillagers tottheir homestto starttfires, whiletthe resttwere lefttin thetfields totfertilize them.
Thistsimple andtmechanical processtwould taketseveral days.
Whentthe harvesttwas over,tmost oftthe youngtand strongtpeople intthe villagetwere exhausted.tBut aftertseeing thetwhite ricetgrains atthome, theirtfaces weretfull oftsmiles. Fortthe villagerstin thetremote mountainoustarea, ittwas thethappiest thingtin lifetto harvestta fulltbarn oftrice afterta busytyear.
The onlytgroup intthe villagetthat did nottparticipate intthe harvesttprocess were thetvillage elders.tMost oftthem weretold, andtit wastdifficult fortthem totcatch uptwith thetyoung people.tOn thetother side, thetpreparation oftthe ritualtwas oftentthe elders’ responsibility.
Thetritual worktused totbe quiteteasy in thetpast, but thistyear was stressfultfor thetold people.tRealizing thethigh statustof thetMountain God,tthe villagerstdared not taketthe ritualtlightly.
The warningtfrom thetMaster Wuzhu stilltseemed totbe echoingtin theirtears, andtcoupled withtthe stricttorder fromtthe oldtvillage chief,tthis year'stharvest festivaltwas thetmost solemntone intthe wholetShuisheng villagetfor decades.
Andtwith suchttight preparations,tthe DoubletNinth Festival hastfinally come.