Chapter 129: Chapter 117: Taiyin Mountain God Temple

"Mountain God, have mercy! Come and serve porridge to everyone! Mountain God, have mercy! Days of prosperity are coming!"

As soon as Du Chengfeng arrived in Yiyang County, he saw those energetic youths shouting slogans. Unlike the dusty refugees, these tall and robust youths wore clean, bright clothes, suggesting they were well-fed and having a good life. Their loud and persuasive manner was quite convincing.

In the past, the living standards of Yanzhou’s people weren’t bad, and they wouldn’t think much of these people. But now, they were escaping from hardship, leaving their homes behind, filled with anxiety. Seeing such a scene, how could they not yearn for it?

Even Du Chengfeng himself began to take an interest in the Mountain God Temple.

"What kind of Mountain God is this? I’ve never heard of it before."

"Of course, you haven’t heard of it; after all, we in the Northern Mountain Dao don’t believe in this."

Yang Xuan, the old man who had been silent for a while, finally spoke.

And Du Chengfeng began to gradually understand the reason behind it all.

During their journey a few days ago, he heard Yang Xuan talking about the administrative planning of the Great Chen, and he learned that both Jibei and Yanzhou used to belong to the Northern Mountain Dao. They were now in the Southern Mountain Dao, and the mountain dividing the north and south, which housed the Mountain God, was Taiyin Mountain.

"Why does it have the word ’yin’ in it?"

Du Chengfeng began to scratch his head.

"Isn’t it a bit ominous?"

"Wait, let me finish,"

Yang Xuan gestured for Du Chengfeng to be patient and continued.

Originally, Taiyin Mountain was called Taiyin Mountain, said to harbor a hundred thousand evil spirits, heavily laden with yin energy, wrecking havoc upon the land below, causing the locals to suffer. Then, much like in many stories, an Immortal happened by, and upon learning about the issue of Taiyin Mountain, decisively drew his magic sword and battled for days, pinning those hundred thousand evil spirits within the mountain.

After that, according to the instructions of this Immortal, the people around Taiyin Mountain built a temple in the mountain, enshrining the Immortal’s magic sword to quickly redeem the hundred thousand evil spirits. Naturally, out of gratitude to the Immortal, people erected a statue of the Immortal in the temple, naming it the Taiyin Mountain God, to bless the region with peace.

And indeed, for many years after, the Taiyin Mountain saw no more disturbances, and some were even visited in dreams by the former evil spirits, who no longer appeared in their previous terrifying forms but had transformed into Golden Armor Divine Generals. They claimed to be the protective Divine Soldiers under the Taiyin Mountain God, specifically coming to apologize for past actions and stated that henceforth these hundred thousand Protective Divine Soldiers would guard the mountain as Ghost Generals, guiding wandering ghosts and protecting the mortal world.

"Big... talk, isn’t it?"

Du Chengfeng was momentarily stunned by what he heard.

"And then what? Did they really protect the people?"

"Then they renamed Taiyin Mountain to Taiyin Mountain, and the Taiyin Mountain God became the Taiyin Mountain God, keeping the character representing the Ghost Generals but also implying peace and prosperity."

Seeing Du Chengfeng still with an expression of doubt, Yang Xuan began to feel a bit exasperated.

"As I said, only the people of the Southern Mountain Dao believe this. In the Northern Mountain Dao, who believes in such things?"

Contrary to what Du Chengfeng thought, although the Taiyin Mountain God seemed mighty, its faith was not widespread—at least in Jibei, no one believed in it. The people on the northern frontier were used to facing life and death. Even if they encountered ghosts, they would chop them down with their own blades; they only believed in their weapons, not some Mountain God.

As for Yanzhou, it’s partly because it’s near Jibei, and partly because Ruan Shantao lived in Yanzhou.

To the people of Yanzhou, Old Man Ruan’s words were more convincing than any Mountain God. In an emergency, they would head to Ziyang Mountain; who would care about Taiyin Mountain?

"But Old Man Ruan is gone now."

Thinking of this, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but sigh.

Old Man Ruan, who was more effective than the Mountain God, was gone, Yanzhou City was broken, and the once thriving and peaceful people were now left displaced.

No wonder the remaining people of Yanzhou longed for the Mountain God Temple. After all, those who had somewhere to go had already left. The thousands that remained, apart from those genuinely heading further south, were mostly like the folks from Jibei, not knowing where to go themselves.

"So what about the county office? Isn’t it their responsibility to settle the displaced?"

"The county office can’t manage it all."

Liu Bolun, lounging with a drink, joined the conversation.

"Although technically the county office is responsible, in practice... Little brother, having worked in the public office, you should know how it is, right?"

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Du Chengfeng suddenly understood.

He had experienced working in the Yanzhou public office. Apart from him and Liu Bolun, whose exceptional skills allowed them to complete their duties with ease, most minor clerks, and even the Military Governor Qi Jinshan himself had to diligently handle various matters to maintain the normal operation of the administrative body. In other words, managing their own tasks was already the result of their efforts; asking them to suddenly handle unexpected occurrences like wars or displaced persons...

People have limits.

The capabilities of officials are finite, especially when considering that Yiyang County, barely as developed as Yanzhou, could take in some displaced people, but asking them to accommodate however many came... was asking too much of these officials.

Regardless of whether the officials of Yiyang County could manage or not, more displaced people kept arriving, and someone had to address their resettlement.

"So, if the government can’t handle it, someone else will step in to fill the gap."

Liu Bolun spread his hands.

"The Monk Temple, Mountain God Temple, local aristocrats, local clans... They are willing, and also capable, of sharing the worries of the local county office, so the county office below simply turns a blind eye."

After saying so much, Du Chengfeng realized that although the situation in Yinyang County was rather absurd, the ones stepping in to resettle the refugees were not the county office but the Mountain God Temple. However, this Mountain God Temple was relatively trustworthy—worst comes to worst, this big group could at least get a few hot meals at the porridge stall run by the temple.

When the number of people increases, it highlights the difficulty of obtaining food. Currently, this group of tens of thousands is consuming resources rapidly, so naturally, any saving helps.

But just as Du Chengfeng brought up this issue, the elderly Yang Xuan started to pound his wheelchair.

"No way! Absolutely not!"

"Hmm?"

Du Chengfeng’s brows furrowed.

It was just going to get a few meals, why was that not okay?

"This... really not okay."

The elderly man scratched his head awkwardly but continued speaking.

In matters like these, the elderly Yang Xuan still held some authority, seeing as the Yang Clan from Ji Bei, although reduced to just a single Yang Family Fort, was nominally considered a local aristocrat—this meant they had gone through what Liu Bolun just described as "sharing worries."

Simply put, the Yang family had done the same.

However, the Yang family was relatively decent, only taking in able-bodied men to bolster their manpower. This was something everyone did. After having stable jobs and incomes, the refugees gradually settled in, becoming part of the local community, sharing in its fortunes and tribulations.

"But this time, it’s different."

After talking about his own experience, the elderly man began to speak of the Mountain God Temple.

Unlike local aristocrats who merely had people over to work, these temples had more complicated intentions when gathering people.

"The scholars at these temples are good at putting on supernatural shows and manipulating the common folk. Rather than saying they’re settling refugees, it might be more accurate to say they’re recruiting believers... The most troublesome part is that it involves nearly ten thousand refugees, but looking at the scale of the Taiyin Mountain Temple, it seems they want to take them all in. What are they planning?"

"Hiss..."

Du Chengfeng began to suck in his breath.

From what the elderly man said, Du Chengfeng had the feeling, as a newly risen rebel, that he might be sensing a kindred spirit.

Just like the old man said, how could a small Mountain God Temple gather over ten thousand people so easily? From the way the able-bodied of Yinyang County were organizing to bring in refugees, the organizational ability of the Taiyin Mountain Temple seemed even more formidable than the official army of Yanzhou City.

What’s happening here? What do they intend to do?

"Let’s go, we need to leave quickly."

The elderly Yang Xuan made the final decision.

"We must leave quickly. I’m afraid Yinyang County has become a place of trouble. I have a feeling the person in charge at the Taiyin Mountain Temple won’t be easy to deal with."

"Your intuition is right."

Du Chengfeng nodded.

"Moreover, even if we want to leave now, the locals probably won’t let us go."

Saying this, Du Chengfeng pointed to the able-bodied men of Yinyang County not far away.

Amongst the crowd, a young scholar with a magical sword on his back stepped out and walked forward.

"Esteemed guests from Yanzhou, you have traveled a long way, it must have been hard."

The young scholar raised his hand in greeting, appearing polite and courteous.

"If you don’t mind, come rest at our Taiyin Mountain Temple. The Mountain God’s mercy has already prepared shelter for you... Rest assured, with the Taiyin Ghost General accompanying you, you’ll be safe and secure."

"Didn’t I say? This lad is just putting on an act of magic and deception."

In the crowd, the elderly Yang Xuan sneered, knowing full well this was going to happen, that it would be full of mystical nonsense.

This trick might fool others, but to deceive someone sharp and experienced like him...

"...Ah?"

For a moment, Yang Xuan opened his mouth wide, unable to laugh.

They saw in front of the young scholar, a golden-armored divine general gradually appeared, raising his hand in greeting towards the refugees.