Myths and Dharma, starting from Erlang Shen

"We were originally called Miqiu Country, an ordinary small country, and it was quite peaceful. But ten years ago, an army of the Shang Dynasty came from nowhere, broke through the city, occupied our country, and we became merchants from then on. Then came the Exorcism Cult.

"Initially, we thought that the Qushen Cult was a messenger sent by the heavens to save us. At that time, the Shang army attacked the city, and the Miqiu Kingdom fought hard, suffering heavy casualties. Every household hung up mourning clothes, and many soldiers who were lucky enough to survive were unfortunately disabled. The entire Miqiu Kingdom was in decline, and the Qushen Cult was the first to save us.

"They told us that the Great Sage had boundless magical powers and was omnipotent. He could drive away the gods and ghosts of heaven and earth, and call the wind and rain. As long as we believed in them, they would protect the peace of the area. At that time, we didn't really believe in the so-called Great Sage who drove away the gods, but the Michu royal family was gone, and we were too scared to be afraid of the new army. Even if the Great Sage who drove away the gods had a thousand faults at that time, at least he really gave us food, so we soon believed them.

"Later, the Shang Dynasty completely ruled us, and the Exorcist Religion replaced the original Taoist temple. Our entire country believed in the Exorcist Religion. The leader of the Exorcist Religion was almost omnipotent, and under him were the twelve divine messengers, who were high above us. The whole country felt honored to be valued by them. My children and grandchildren were all valued by the divine messengers of the Exorcist Religion and became believers. This was originally a very happy thing, until one day, they asked my grandson to go to the Exorcist Religion, and when he came back, my grandson was already dead."

The old man slowly recounted the past, his eyes filled with sorrow.

"Why do they want to harm your grandson?" Qiao Qingyin asked puzzledly. From the description, this Exorcist Cult sounded pretty good.

"Because they want my grandson to be the scapegoat for the father of the cult's divine messenger." The old man gritted his teeth and said, "I was confused at first, but fortunately my son learned some magic and explored for a while, and finally learned the truth. My grandson and the divine messenger's father have the same name, and the divine messenger's father was mediocre in talent and had no chance of becoming an immortal. His life span is about to end, and the god of death will come to take his soul, so they let my grandson be the scapegoat and add my grandson's original life span to that of the divine messenger's father."

"What?" Qiao Qingyin exclaimed.

"Can matters of yin and yang be handled in this way?" Qiao Qingyu frowned slightly, revealing an expression of disbelief. The underworld is presided over by the Queen Mother Hou Tu.

"I can't believe it, but these evil people used such evil magic to take away my grandson's soul and make him a scapegoat," the old man cried.

"Even though the Exorcist Cult is the only one in power, there must be a City God in every place. Have you reported it to the priest?" Ji Ren asked.

He was not surprised by this.

Although there is Hou Tu Niangniang in the underworld, she cannot control everything. If she controlled everything, then what would the gods like Dongyue Emperor, the Five Ghost Emperors, the Ten Kings of Hell, and the Ten Yin Marshals do?
Hou Tu Niangniang is responsible for the safety of the six realms of reincarnation and the decision-making of the underworld.

Management and execution are all done by the people below.

A lot of power was even outsourced to Buddhism and Taoism, namely Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Eastern Blue Emperor.

Therefore, the underworld pantheon is actually a relatively mature bureaucratic system, and as long as it is a bureaucratic system, there will definitely be all kinds of corruption.

As for lazy governance and inaction, there are even more.

It is common for things to be dragged on and left unattended.

If mortal officials do nothing, things will be left alone for several years, while officials in the immortal world will leave things alone for decades or even hundreds of years.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange if there was no chaos.

In the early years, when the underworld was short of staff and could not control the three realms, there was even an absurd rule that if one fell into the water, one would become a water ghost and could not enter the cycle of reincarnation. One had to find a scapegoat before one could enter the cycle of reincarnation.

It's not impossible to smooth over the relationship here and ask Black and White Impermanence to catch someone else.

After all, it's the same name, and there are so many people in the underworld that they can't check it all.

"To be honest, my son has also practiced some magic and knows some tricks. He went to the City God Temple to report those people for disrupting the order of yin and yang, in order to save my grandson's life. As a result, that night, the people from the God-Driving Cult came to my house and burned it down, and beat my son to death. That person said arrogantly that we were overestimating our own abilities. The Great Sage God-Driving Cult is the sacred master. The City God often drinks with him, the Dragon King of the Sea is related to him, Dongyue Tianqi is his old friend, and the Tenth Generation Yama Luo is his brother. Therefore, these immortals and gods dare not interfere in the affairs of the God-Driving Cult." The old man said sadly.

"What's with the City God drinking together and the Dragon King having a relative? Isn't that just harboring filth and colluding with each other?" Qiao Qingyin became even more angry after hearing this. What kind of things are these? They are uglier than those in the mortal world.

This is truly a case of someone dying for you.

"This matter is very sad. There is no way to pray to God. Have you ever thought of a solution in the human world?" Ji Ren asked again.

"My son was heartbroken over the loss of his son, so he naturally refused to give up. He tried many ways, tried many ways, and tried to get to know many dignitaries, hoping to avenge my poor grandson. But in front of the Exorcist, his connections were not worth mentioning. In the end, he was told that he could not speak nonsense without evidence, believe in ghosts and gods, and turn the world upside down. Then he was beaten out with sticks." The old man was even more sad when he said this. "You can't believe in ghosts and gods, and turn the world upside down." Hearing this, Ji Ren couldn't help but laugh in anger.

In a normal world, you would say this is reasonable, but in this mythological world, you are telling me that I am not allowed to be superstitious about ghosts and gods?

It is unknown whether the universe is upside down, but black and white are reversed.

"How is your son now?" Qiao Qingyin asked cautiously.

"Five years ago, they also left. Because another family member of the messenger of God died, and their family members' birth dates were exactly the same as my son's, so my son's soul was possessed again! Only then did I realize that they let us go not because I knelt down to them, but because they still wanted to take my son's life." When he said this, tears rolled down his eyes.

"You deserve to die!" Qiao Qingyin's eyes were filled with coldness.

Although Qiao Qingyu didn't say a word, there was a hint of murderous intent in her eyes.

"Don't worry, old man. This cult has reversed the order of yin and yang and has lost all conscience. I will not let it last long." Ji Ren said.

"Thank you so much, my benefactor."

Upon hearing this, the old couple knelt down excitedly.

Ji Ren and the other two quickly helped the old couple up again. After a quick meal, the three of them went to the guest room to sleep.

"Although what this couple said sounds pitiful, it may not be true. I will go ask some people to confirm the situation and learn more about this so-called cult of exorcism." Ji Ren said.

If what the couple said was true, then this cult of driving away gods would definitely be destroyed.

From top to bottom, everyone is dead.

The egg yolk was shaken apart and the earthworm was split upright in half.

If you want to destroy it, you must know yourself and the enemy. This old couple doesn't know much, so we need to investigate further.

And if what the couple said is false, the problem may be even bigger.

No matter what, you should always know more news.

"How do you know? Ask the mountain gods and the local gods? They must be in the same group, right?" Qiao Qingyin said.

"We change our identities and pretend to be ordinary disciples of the Human Cult and come to inquire. These mountain gods and land gods dare not tell the truth, but at least they will tell us the apparent situation of the Exorcist Cult." Qiao Qingyu said.

In terms of experience in dealing with these things, she has much more experience than Qiao Qingyin.

"In addition to the mountain gods and the land gods, there are also water monsters. What the God-Exorcist Cult said is not wrong. The Great God-Exorcist King Yu Monkey is the brother of the Bull Demon King. He practices the Jiejiao method and is already a Golden Immortal. The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas have to give him face, and these water spirits must know about his sect's affairs. You go ask the mountain gods and the land gods, and I'll go find some water spirits to ask." Ji Ren said.

"Which elf are you asking? Do you know anyone familiar with him in the Yellow River?" Qiao Qingyin asked curiously.

"Yes, didn't you catch a carp before? This is fate. I'm going to visit their house tonight. By the way, there should be thousand-year-old clams in the Yellow River that absorb the light of the sun and the moon and give birth to night-shining pearls. Do you want some?" Ji Ren said.

"Yes!" Qiao Qingyin's eyes lit up immediately after hearing this, and she said without hesitation. (End of this chapter)