Yang Ji sighed in his heart, feeling that this underground temple was becoming more and more mysterious.
An incense burner as tall as a man fell to the ground, torn apart, and ashes scattered all over the floor. Yang Ji stepped over the incense burner, crossed two broken walls, and arrived at a side hall.
An old sandalwood shrine fell to the ground, and the four broken legs and feet were weathered and seemed to turn into powder if touched. Around the shrine, pieces of gold-plated mud tires the size of fingernails were scattered on the ground.
"There is actually a God of Service!"
Yang Ji leaned over and picked up a piece of mud tire. He looked at it and became more and more confused.
The clay body on the ground should be a fragment of a "servant god" statue. This kind of "servant god" is a guard, worshiper of the god, and a servant of the god.
In the temples of the Han Dynasty, one deity enjoys one incense, and very few temples have "service gods". On the one hand, it is naturally because of one's belief that the incense is limited, and on the other hand, because "service gods" will share the incense.
The only incense.
A "god" who can have a "servant god" and not mind letting him enjoy the incense in the side hall is absolutely powerful.
"It's a pity that no matter how powerful it is, it is already a thing of the past."
Yang Ji murmured, sighing in his heart.
In the long river of time, countless heroes and giants have been buried. No matter how powerful this god was in the past, it has now been reduced to smoke and smoke.
The dilapidated temple and collapsed shrine in front of them are the best reflection of their fate.
"Sizzle!"
A low wind-like whine came from the side, and Yang Ji followed the sound and looked over. He saw the white "ancient armadillo" in the corner of the side hall.
It was curled up and lying in the corner of the side hall, motionless, blending into the entire underground temple. When Yang Ji looked over, it was also looking up at Yang Ji.
There was calmness in those slightly golden eyes. They didn't run away, nor were they afraid. They looked at Yang Ji as if they were looking at other things in the temple, without the slightest hint of confusion.
"This should be the place where it was born."
Yang Ji secretly thought in his heart.
He originally came here for this ancient armadillo, and traveled hundreds of miles along the way. But at this time, when he saw that calm look, he didn't know why, but he couldn't think of catching it at all.
.
"clatter!"
Yang Ji raised his head and ignored the ancient armadillo on his head. He held up the flames and Tao Erzhu and continued to move forward. Behind the side hall is the main hall.
Yang Ji crossed a doorless threshold and arrived at the main hall at the back. Most of the main hall had collapsed, with only half of the broken walls remaining, but the former grandeur and atmosphere could still be seen.
In the center of the main hall hangs a one-foot-wide and six-foot-long plaque with vermilion paint on a black background. Yang Ji raised his head and found that the vermilion paint on it had been peeled off. He could only vaguely recognize the last few characters.
"...Empress Temple!"
Yang Ji read it out softly.
The characters are in ancient seal script, and the first two characters have fallen off. Due to the passage of time, they have been so damaged that Yang Ji cannot recognize them.
“It turns out it’s still a goddess temple.”
Yang Ji was secretly surprised.
Female temples are rare. Just as most of the clans worshiped male ancestors, there were also relatively few female gods in the Han Dynasty.
On the left side of the plaque, there is a pillar with a black lacquer background as thick as an ocean bowl. There is a row of words written on the pillar. The font is also very mottled. Yang Ji walked over and looked at it carefully, and vaguely made out the words on it:
"Ze is admired by all the people in the area."
The font is still ancient seal script, which is different from the popular Chinese characters now.
Next to the pillar, the shrine has collapsed. There are some dark red silk cloth several feet long and wide scattered around, some are rolled up and scattered on the ground.
The silk fabric has weathered and will break if touched.
Yang Ji didn't dare to move, so he walked over. He squatted down next to him and took a closer look. He found that there were specks of chicken blood sprinkled on it, which were all prayers written to the gods. The contents were basically "good weather and good weather".
"," a bumper harvest," "a blessing," "rescue," "protect the common people," and other words to express gratitude to the gods.
"This god is so popular!!!"
Yang Ji was secretly surprised.
The Tieguan Sect also has its Patriarch Hall.
All the disciples of the Iron Crown Sect will go to the Patriarch's Hall to offer incense. But absolutely no one will go to the Patriarch's Hall to write "prayer" or offer "prayer".
The statue of the Patriarch of the Iron Crown Sect is as majestic as a prison. When you look up, it seems as if the Patriarch is looking at you and is about to shout angrily.
For the ancestors, they don't need any love at all. All they need is incense and awe.
It is incredible that this temple can win the love and devotion of so many people in the local area and offer "prayer"!
Yang Ji knew that this temple might be a little different from what he thought.
This dynasty is based on martial arts, and martial arts is respected. As long as you are canonized by the court, you can enjoy incense and worship openly and gather the power of faith.
This also means that most gods only need reverence and the resulting belief, and do not need the love of the people at all.
For the gods of this temple to be so loved by the people, they must have done a lot of practical things, which is extremely difficult.
Yang Ji thought again of the "rafters" he saw when he came over. Those golden nanmu rafters were probably donated by the people nearby.
Using golden nanmu to make rafters is a huge waste, and the remaining wood is basically useless.
The people were willing to use the nearby golden nanmu to make rafters, which fully shows how much this temple was loved and welcomed by the people at that time.
Yang Ji thought of this and looked up at the temple again, feeling awe in his heart.
A god who can bring peace to one party and protect all people is definitely worthy of respect.
After walking around the Yang Ji Hall, there were not many things left in the entire hall. In addition to prayers, there were also "inscriptions" scattered all over the floor.
This is a kind of word written on yellow paper. It is written by some believers personally to the gods. It is also an expression of gratitude, but it is not as solemn as a "prayer".
Apart from these, there is not much in the whole temple.
After Yang Ji looked at the entire temple inside and out, he sat on the ground and thought secretly. He was silent.
Red prayers...inscriptions all over the floor...collapsed shrines...strange glazed tiles...servants enjoying incense...and the white armadillos who call this place their home...
All these things passed through his mind one by one, and they reminded Yang Ji of something. When he was studying in the past, Yang Ji once read a book called "The Gods and Mysteries". It mentioned that there was a certain person in the book.
The goddess went to visit a wealthy family in the East China Sea.
This gorgeously dressed and radiant goddess fell from the sky when she saw the East China Sea. Thinking back to the past, she was filled with emotion and said, "I haven't been to the East China Sea for a long time. This time I found that the water in the East China Sea has become less. Could it be?"
Is it going to become land again?
Looking back, I have seen the East China Sea turn into land three times. This time is probably the fourth time.
Yang Ji didn't believe this legend at first, but now he had a different idea.
"It is impossible for an underground temple to enjoy the people's incense and worship. It seems that this legend is not completely false. Moreover...isn't the East China Sea right here?"
Yang Ji's mind was racing with thoughts and he remembered some things.
In fact, there is not only one sect in Tieguan Mountain, the "Tieguan Sect". In fact, every disciple of the Tieguan Sect knows that the Tieguan Sect was founded only a few hundred years ago.
Before the Iron Crown Sect, there were actually other sects in this area. And looking at the entire Langya County, it was not completely unchanged.
Before that, many sects had been established and many sects had perished.
Yang Ji's thoughts were flying, and he thought of faraway places. When this dynasty was founded, there was actually no established system of "martial arts conferring gods".
It was hundreds of years later that this system was truly established.
Before that, the land of Shenzhou was enshrined with many gods, gods, and idols. It was different from the current "warriors conferring gods". At that time, the gods and spirits came in all kinds of shapes, and many of them were born naturally and had no form.
There are even mountain spirits and tree spirits who are worshiped by mountain people and become gods.
Various cults and clans worship gods that are extraordinary. There is even a saying of "one temple within five miles and one temple within ten miles".
It is precisely because of all kinds of chaos that the imperial court's system of "martial arts conferring gods" came into being.
"Is this temple one of the temples that disappeared during that period?"
Yang Ji secretly guessed.
Today's temple is sunk hundreds of miles underground, but it may not have been like this thousands of years ago. The stars were turning, the sun and the moon were changing. The underground thousands of years ago might be the top of the mountain today!
Yang Ji thought about this and was filled with emotion. The change of time can actually change the world like this.
Yang Ji patted his sleeves and prepared to stand up and leave here. If there were no accidents, this place should be a ruins from thousands of years ago. The gods in it have died and become an empty temple, occupied by white ancient armadillos.
Made a nest.
However, just as Yang Ji was about to leave, his eyes suddenly glanced under the collapsed shrine, and there was movement.
"Huh? There seems to be something?"
Yang Ji's eyelids twitched.
Because the surface was covered with a layer of black ash and the angle was wrong, Yang Ji didn't notice the fallen couch under the shrine at first.
But when I was sitting on the ground, my sight was much lower, and through the gap between the table legs, I could see something buried under the shrine.
Yang Ji walked over, leaned down, gently moved the shrine above, brushed off the dust, and immediately saw the true face of that thing.
This is a statue of a goddess lying in ruins and dust.
This goddess statue has a beautiful appearance, auspicious colors, and natural beauty. Although it has gone through thousands of years, the look of the statue remains the same, and its eyes are still like a living person.
But the only problem is that this statue is not very tall, only about one foot.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Yang Ji raised his eyebrows and his heart jumped violently. Just now, he actually felt an extremely weak special wave on this pocket statue.
This kind of fluctuation is not unfamiliar to Yang Ji. When he first broke into Tianyin Sect's Langya branch, Yang Ji saw this kind of fluctuation on the "dark statue" worshiped by Tianyin Sect in the middle of the valley.
However, this goddess statue is far from that powerful. Compared with the "Dark God Statue" of Tianyin Sect, the aura of this goddess statue is probably not even one ten thousandth.
And like a candle in the wind, it may be extinguished at any time.
"Does it mean that the gods of this temple have not been destroyed yet?"
A flash of lightning flashed through his mind, and Yang Jideng opened his eyes wide. (To be continued...)