"Wailing, wailing, wailing!"
Amidst the Changxi Town villagers' lifting, Ansheng's sedan chair was raised high. The little fox stood upright and raised its arms, jumping playfully on the sedan chair.
Amid the sound of firecrackers and the clamor of gongs and drums, one of the festival activities before the tea competition began, the god invitation ceremony reached the stage of inviting the deities to their seats and offering sacrifices.
Master Fox of Changxi Town, as the first-place deity, was placed high up on the shrine's list.
Above the shrine, several traditional icons of main deities were placed on the highest level.
"You guys... really haven't lost your touch at all!" Old Chen approached with a big smile, patting Yu Zhenghong and several other older sedan-bearers on the shoulders:
"You didn't embarrass our village. Quickly, quickly, tea has been prepared for you over there. Go take a break, and later, you can be the first to offer incense!"
Usually, the ranking of the god procession wasn't a big deal to Old Chen, but since this year's tea competition was hosted by Changxi Town, it felt odd to be offering to deities from other villages in their own village.
Fortunately, first place didn't go to other villages, so there was no plot twist requiring them to ask for forgiveness.
However, when the god procession teams from other villages returned to their villages, they probably would have to kneel at the ancestral hall.
The energetic youngsters lost on the three to four kilometers of flat ground to a group of older gents.
And also!
Whoever almost tipped the deity over should kneel too!
"Village... Village Chief... there's a snake! A King Cobra!"
Yu Zhenghong was so exhausted he was almost lying on the ground, but he still gasped for air as he informed Old Chen about the King Cobra in the grass outside the farmers' market.
As Yu Zhenghong explained the cause and effect, Old Chen showed a peculiar expression, casting a glance at Master Fox while muttering to himself:
"Our village's Master Fox..."
"It's no surprise, given his experience, as the big boss managing a wildlife crime network under his command."
"As soon as he opens his mouth, he can summon professional hitmen."
Old Chen grumbled, his face covered in black lines.
......
With the end of the god procession, the deities from each village returned to their positions on the shrine according to their competition ranking. A massive rectangular bronze incense burner was jointly moved into the temporary shrine by the young men.
The shrine was set up at the entrance of the venue, overlooking the tea competition grounds, where the deities seated above could enjoy the incense offerings and admire the tea competition.
As the runner-up, Ansheng's position was excellent, sitting in the central spot with the incense burner right in front of him.
Yu Zhenghong's team led the way, carrying almost half a meter long offering incense in hand. They first reached the incense burner to respectfully offer incense and pray to the deities inside the shrine.
The other participants in the god procession followed behind Yu Zhenghong to offer incense, followed by esteemed elders from other villages and then the general villagers.
"... Is it really necessary to offer this incense?" Mo Yiqing appeared wooden as he looked toward Ah Qing in front of the incense burner, now resembling a spiky hedgehog with burning incense sticks.
Once the incense sticks were lit, they generally weren't moved unless they burned out or it was time for cleaning.
When it was the younger folks' turn to offer incense, the incense burner before them had already transformed into an armed hedgehog emitting flickering flames, reaching out could burn one's hand.
"... From my experience, when facing a flaming hedgehog, we have two choices. The first is to bite the bullet and scrape our arms against the burning incense ashes to insert our offering incense into the burner. This might be somewhat singeing, but we won't be burned by the incense."
"The second is to clear the incense ashes, making it less likely to get scratched, but if you get burned, then you really get burned."
"To prevent getting burned while offering incense, every household has developed special techniques for incense offering..."
Yu Xueqing smiled mysteriously, her gaze carrying a bit of helpless teasing.
In the Xia Dong Region, offering incense was considered a skill.
There were even specialized techniques for incense offering. However, the special techniques here didn't involve being particularly respectful or striking unique poses while offering incense, but instead, focused on how to avoid getting burned by the incense in the burner...
Mo Yiqing: "......"
So is it really necessary to offer this incense?
With the mindset of having come all this way, Yu Xueqing invited her father, Yu Zhenghong, over to teach them the incense offering technique.
Yu Zhenghong sized up the incense burner, calculating geometric equations in his mind, directing Yu Xueqing and Mo Yiqing to employ the parabolic incense offering technique, nailing the incense sticks directly into the burner like darts.
After all the villagers completed their worship,
Yu Xueqing brought a red paper to Master Fox's runner-up position, picking up the little fox from there.
In Ansheng's original spot was a red paper reflecting Ansheng's style, inscribed with:
"The Master has taken leave for a carefree outing. Please contact at the tea competition venue if needed."
After Ansheng departed,
villagers from other villages, tea merchants, and tourists arriving later all looked perplexed at the shrine's runner-up.
The shrine positioned at the venue's entrance was, naturally, meant to make it convenient for visitors to offer incense.
But!
The runner-up deity has taken leave...
The Master has taken leave for a carefree outing.
"Grandpa, grandpa, can deities really take leave? Can we carry the great grandma for a trip too?"
A child from another village, full of excitement, asked his grandpa leaning on a crutch.
The crutch-bearing elder looked up at the River God statue, who the child referred to as great grandma, and after swallowing, said, "...Grandson, this might not hold up."
"Huh? Why not, Grandpa?"
"Because... the great grandma statue weighs over two hundred jin, it wouldn't hold up in every sense," the old man quipped.
Let alone the mystical theory of whether a person can carry a deity, the sheer two hundred jin statue wouldn't be easy for anyone to lift, not to mention carrying it to the tea competition venue.
Ansheng, without the hide and hair, weighed fourteen jin.
Ah Qing could lift him single-handedly to take flight.
The other visitors were unaware of these details, only witnessing the runner-up deity taking leave, carried off for some fun.
As the visitors continued to offer incense, they secretly pondered how Xia Dong people were turning worship into increasingly creative playfulness.
First, Mazu getting her ID, traveling the globe, driving a Ferrari down the street, and others capturing Mazu at a private cinema with family-sized popcorn wearing 3D glasses watching Western films.
Now... a deity taking leave for a carefree outing seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing.
......
"It's red! The wish list has turned red and warm again..."
"Life is truly getting more prosperous."
The little fox that Ah Qing carried back was sitting at his home's tea stall, brimming with joy as he reviewed the wish list flashing in his mind.
Villagers praying and offering incense while making wishes to the deities was a common practice.
Ansheng's wish list had all the wishes copied onto his own interface.
Ansheng casually tapped on one, just to see what was going on across the way.
"What's going on! First, they want me to pay federal taxes, then make up state taxes, and then hit me with a local tax. Not to mention why there's a farmland planting tax, and why I'm fined for raising five chickens, just say that damned farm wasn't even mine! I was just helping water, why do I also have to make up taxes for the past three years? ——Chen Nian, imprisoned, wearing a puzzled expression, yet seemingly coming to some realization as a ferocious glint began to show in his eyes."
"Wish fulfilled: Send me 50 million dollars."