Time Travel: The Survival of Li Zhi

Chapter 288 Mountain Temple

Originally, Sanyang City and Yanling City were not far apart. According to common sense, if one rode at full speed, they could arrive there in less than a day.

However, the itinerary had to be changed in order to take care of Mingyue, who was learning horse riding for the first time.

Mingyue was staggering on the horse's back, his movements were unfamiliar and a little clumsy. In order to prevent him from getting into an accident, even Hongfan had no choice but to slow down, patiently accompanying him and giving him guidance and advice from time to time.

In this way, the group walked and stopped, and the originally short journey became extremely long.

Before they knew it, they had walked for a whole day. The sky gradually darkened and the night fell like ink, but the three of them still could not reach Yanling City.

At this time, there was no village in front and no shop behind, and it was quiet all around, with only the sound of the wind whistling in my ears.

So, Li Zhi and his friends found a mountain temple nearby and planned to stay there for the night.

This mountain temple was completely different from the dilapidated, overgrown, and crumbling temples Li Zhi had encountered before.

Although this mountain temple is not very popular, the entire temple has been carefully maintained, the courtyard is clean and tidy, and the ground is spotless.

Hong Fan took the lead and strode into the temple. His eyes were sharp as torches as he scanned the surroundings vigilantly.

There was a tall and majestic statue of a mountain god enshrined in the temple, and the statue looked solemn and dignified.

In front of the mountain god statue, a thin man was kneeling with his back to the crowd, facing the mountain god statue, and worshiping very devoutly. His body was trembling slightly, and he was mumbling something, as if he was expressing his wishes to the mountain god.

The moment Hong Fan stepped into the temple, the sound of his light footsteps and fluttering clothes broke the silence in the temple.

The man seemed to be disturbed and turned around slowly, with a hint of doubt and vigilance in his eyes.

I saw that this person was obviously old. Time had left deep marks on his face. Wrinkles crisscrossed like ravines, and his silver hair was sparsely scattered on his shoulders.

His eyes were slightly narrowed, and there was a cloudy look in them, as if covered by a layer of gauze, revealing the fatigue and indifference after experiencing many vicissitudes of life.

He looked at Hong Fan and the others with some doubt, and asked in a hoarse and slightly trembling voice: "Who... are you?"

Hong Fan glanced around the temple casually, and after confirming that there was nothing unusual, he politely said, "Old man, we are in a hurry and have been on the road until now. It is getting dark and there is no other place to stay. I would like to stay in this temple for one night. Is it possible?"

The old man was silent for a moment after hearing this. He looked Hong Fan and the others up and down. Seeing that they had no ill intentions and were sincere, he nodded slightly and said, "That's fine. Just don't disturb the mountain god."

Hong Fan quickly replied respectfully: "Don't worry, old man, we won't do anything rash."

After that, he turned to look at Li Zhi and Mingyue, signaling them to come in and rest. Li Zhi led the horse and walked into the temple carefully, while Mingyue followed closely behind, looking around curiously, her eyes full of novelty and awe.

The three men tied their horses under a big tree behind the temple, packed their bags simply, and found a relatively spacious place in a corner of the temple to sit down.

Li Zhi and the other two had just sat down slowly, stretching their exhausted bodies from all the traveling, when they saw the old man from before slowly walking towards them, staggering but steadily, carrying three bowls of steaming hot tea.

The old man had a kind smile on his face and said in a gentle voice, "I am the temple priest of this mountain temple. Everyone who comes is a guest. We don't have much food in this small temple. We only have these three bowls of hot tea. I hope you don't mind."

Li Zhi, Hong Fan, Ming Yue and the others stood up quickly, respectfully took the hot tea from the old man with both hands, and said gratefully: "Thank you for your kindness, old man. I am really grateful."

The temple keeper quickly waved his hands and said with a simple smile on his face, "You're welcome."

After some polite greetings, the tense nerves between the two sides gradually relaxed, and the initial vigilance and alertness between them also dissipated a lot.

Li Zhi's curiosity was quietly aroused. He looked around the temple slowly, then looked at the old man and asked with a hint of inquiry in his tone: "Old man, this mountain temple seems to be quite old."

When the temple keeper heard Li Zhi's question, a proud look immediately appeared on his face. He raised his chin slightly, with a hint of pride in his eyes, and said, "Of course, among the many temples within a hundred miles, our mountain god's temple was the first to be built. It has a history of more than a hundred years."

Mingyue, who was standing by, heard this and her eyes sparkled with curiosity. She couldn't help but ask, "How long have you been a temple priest here, old man?"

The temple keeper sighed softly, his eyes revealing a trace of reminiscence of the past years, and he slowly said: "My family has been the temple keeper of this mountain temple for generations. Since I was in my thirties, I took over the responsibility of temple keeper from my father. In a blink of an eye, many years have passed."

After the two sides chatted for a few more sentences, the old man, after all, was old and frail. After all the work, a hint of fatigue appeared on his face. He said goodbye to everyone and went back to rest.

Mingyue then leaned closer to Li Zhi, lowered her voice, and whispered to Li Zhi: "Brother, I have heard from Master that all gods with statues and temples will change with the popularity of incense. When the incense is at its peak, the power of the gods will become stronger, but if the incense is too scarce, their cultivation will not only not improve, but will decline. In serious cases, it will even cause the realm to regress, to the point that they cannot maintain their divine body, and eventually their divine position will collapse..."

As Mingyue spoke, she carefully looked up at the majestic mountain god statue, with a hint of doubt and thought in her eyes, and continued: "This temple has been built for a hundred years, but I see that the incense in this mountain god temple is only intermittent, sometimes there is no incense. Logically speaking, under such circumstances, this god should be difficult to maintain, but why... this god can still maintain his position safely? What is the reason for this?"

Li Zhi understood what Mingyue said. In this world, gods are not the immortal and transcendent beings as people imagine. Incense is not just a harmless tonic for gods. In some cases, it can even become a deadly poison.

This is because those gods who have absorbed the power of incense will most likely lose their divine position if the power of incense is insufficient.

Once the throne of a god collapses, the statue representing him will instantly shatter and collapse like a building that has lost its support.

Not only that, the entire temple will seem to have been drained of its vitality and soul, and will quickly become dilapidated and withered.

The dilapidated, deserted and overgrown temples that Li Zhi encountered during his previous journey were caused by the collapse of the gods and tablets in the temples.

However, Li Zhi didn’t know much about this god, and just as Li Zhi shook his head.

Hong Fan came over and interrupted, "I know the reason for this."

Li Zhi and Mingyue hurriedly urged him to speak quickly.

Seeing this, Hong Fan chuckled and stopped teasing Li Zhi and the others. He slowly said, "Look next to the mountain god statue!"