Chapter 445: This Was Not a Major Issue

Liang Shixian stood muttering before the Deity’s enormous golden statue. “Deity, your humble servant isn’t badmouthing the Saint Lady; I just felt this matter should be reported to you.”

“The Saint Lady forged a divine edict and ordered me to sneak two people into Wang Chengen’s army. They seemed like wealthy young lords from Gaojia Village, probably very close to the Saint Lady. She used my hand to get them undeserved military honors, clearly aiming to climb to an official title later…”

Hearing this, Li Daoxuan nearly laughed aloud but held back forcefully. With such a colossal stone statue, laughing might shatter it.

Liang Shixian continued, “Though it’s no major issue—such things abound in the imperial court—I still felt compelled to inform you. If you didn’t hear it now, don’t blame me for failing to report.”

Li Daoxuan remained still, thinking inwardly: Liang Shixian was commendable. His integrity alone made him fit for high responsibility in the new nation they’d build.

After Liang Shixian’s rambling, the Clerk ran over. “County Lord, workers found a massive iron deposit in Yaotou Town. What should we do?”

Liang Shixian answered, “Dig, of course! Remember the Deity adores digging and building… Though Gaojia Village has iron ore aplenty, it’s heaven-sent by the Deity. Our own output is pitiful. So, dig! Transfer all idle workers and mine relentlessly.”

The Clerk countered, “We lack manpower these days. After the Deity’s rain, many farmers returned to their fields. Refugees in the county halved overnight.”

Liang Shixian rolled his eyes. “Head west to Bai Shui County and south to Dali County. The Deity’s blessings haven’t reached them; drought persists there. Shout an invitation, and I’ll register the farmers we lure.”

Liang Shixian scoffed. “People they can’t feed will inevitably rebel. By taking them in, I’m preventing chaos using our resources. Any problem? Even the Provincial Governor would see my justice.”

The Clerk chuckled. “County Lord, your reasoning rings true.”

He rushed off.

Liang Shixian turned and bowed deeply again. “Thank you, Deity. With you backing me, I dared shelter refugees generously, saving countless lives. This honors my years studying virtue.”

Li Daoxuan sighed inwardly. Cut the synchronized sense!

Instantly, light and shadows swirled. He returned outside the shrine.

Grabbing flour, he spread it before Liang Shixian.

Without words, Liang Shixian understood. The Deity encouraged his plan and supplied another vast grain shipment to freely “steal” nearby peasants.

“Your servant won’t disgrace the mission.”

Simultaneously, at an ancient ferry dock in Shanxi,

Gao Chuwu, Xing Honglang, Zao Ying, Old Nan Feng, Zhao Sheng, and a baffled Master Zhan Sheng clustered around the holy Deity statue, its face half crumbled. They exchanged puzzled looks.

Xing Honglang wiped sweat. “Which sculptor made this? Punish him with fifty lashes! The Deity’s face fell off halfway!”

Gao Chuwu declared, “I’ll whip him!”

“Stop!” Zao Ying cut in. “Fifty strokes from you would kill him! And it mightn’t be his fault. Maybe the statue was too small for the Deity’s colossal power—too fragile, it shattered.”

Hearing this, everyone grasped the logic. “Ah, that makes sense.”

Old Nan Feng slapped his forehead. “Argh! Disaster! When the Deity appeared earlier, I was too stunned to ask the fairy’s name from the fairy mirror song!”

Zhao Sheng sneered. “That’s your only ambition?”

Old Nan Feng retorted, “Guard borders amid only men, eating stale bread in icy wastes for ten years—you’d return even less refined!”

Zhao Sheng fell silent.

Master Zhan Sheng intervened. “Amitabha! Pardon the interruption—what exactly occurred earlier?”

Xing Honglang answered, “Dao Xuan Deity descended just now.”

Master Zhan Sheng asked, “Dao Xuan Deity is?”

“As you see—a deity. Ah, a Taoist deity. Not odd for a Buddhist monk to not know.”

Master Zhan Sheng nodded sagely. “Kindly manage the situation! I know Taoism’s Compassionate Travel True Being—she’s Guanyin Bodhisattva from Buddhism, spying on Taoism. She suffers in silence to someday ambush the Primordial Deity!”

Everyone gasped sharply. What monk was this? Blaspheming Guanyin? Then they recalled—he was once a salt smuggler. His poor Buddhist grasp was expected.

Gao Chuwu grinned. “Everyone, no time for tangents! We must find a sculptor to restore the Deity’s statue! Doesn’t a half-faced Deity unsettle you?”

Awoken by the simpleton’s words, they rushed to remedy it.

“Quick, find any citizen skilled in sculpting!”

“There are merchants here—must be craftsmen!”

“Yes, yes, scour the area!”

“Pay artisan wages! More coin speeds carving!”

“Who has ‘Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale?’ Fetch it! Else Shanxi sculptors won’t know the Deity’s likeness!”

Chaos unfolded as they fumbled busily.

Master Zhan Sheng peered at the ruined statue, confirming no clay-clad impostor. Sighing, he sat cross-legged before the fractured Dao Xuan Deity Statue, palms pressed together. “Wandering half my life, yet I meet a true deity here… and a Taoist one. Deity, is it right for a poor monk like me to speak with you?”

“In youth, I killed endlessly, my hands steeped in blood. Only by middle age did I repent and lay down the blade. Could Heaven grant me redemption?”

The cracked statue, naturally, stayed silent.

Master Zhan Sheng murmured, “I’ll take silence as consent. Surely I can cleanse my sins, reform, and die peaceably?”

Still, the statue uttered nothing.

Tears spilled abruptly. “Self-deception fails… A sinner like me deserves eternal darkness in death.”