EFB Chapter 9 God's Punishment!
Chapter 9 God's Punishment!
sunset.
The sky was ablaze with the colors of sunset.
Lin Shi carried his hoe and strode into the village. He occasionally encountered villagers returning home after finishing their work. When he passed the village entrance, he turned his head to look at the stone niche.
Since its first appearance, the villagers' top priority every morning has been to gather in front of the stone niche, filled with anticipation and awe, to see if the Stone Toad King has bestowed the toad pearl again.
It doesn't happen every day, but every few days, new toad beads will quietly shine in the morning light. Each appearance of a toad bead is a powerful reinforcement of faith.
The toad pearl dissolved into the well water, easing the patients' ailments. The villagers' complexions became increasingly rosy, and even the rice seedlings in the fields seemed to straighten their spines, reaping tangible benefits.
Faith is no longer a phantom solace suspended in the sky, but is integrated into daily life, like spring rain nourishing the land, giving Shixi Village an almost devout vitality.
Lin Shi was very pleased with himself. The image of the Stone Toad King was no longer just an idol carved on stone, but had been deeply embedded in the pulse and breath of this land.
night!
The moonlight was as clear as water!
After filling his stomach, Lin Shi crawled into the thatched hut and lay down on the haystack. He didn't fall asleep immediately. With a slight thought, his consciousness connected with the dragon at the bottom of the pool. His perception spread along the invisible network of faith and reached the stone toad, causing his mind to tremble violently.
The faith that now converges on the stone toad statue is no longer a trickle, but a warm and steady stream, flowing endlessly, carrying the piety and expectations accumulated by hundreds of villagers throughout the day.
What surprised him even more was that not only could his senses encompass the entire village, but this time he could not only "see" but also vaguely "hear" many sounds and feel many emotions.
The daughter-in-law of the Li family in the east whispered under the lamp, expressing her gratitude to the Stone Toad King for easing her mother-in-law's old leg pain, and they discussed offering an extra handful of new wheat the next day.
A few men on the west side were drinking in the courtyard, marveling that since they had sincerely made offerings, it had become much easier to go into the mountains to chop firewood, and wild animals seemed to avoid them.
In the south, a woman teaches children that those who are not sincere will find it difficult to gain the king's favor, no matter how much they are offered.
……
Lin Shi was overjoyed. The villagers' words all pointed to the fact that Shi Chan's "sincerity" was the key to his "efficacy," which was the direction he had been carefully trying to guide people towards.
If this continues, one can continuously obtain the confidence one desires.
Lin Shi was satisfied and was about to withdraw his senses when a thought filled with resentment and greed suddenly entered his field of vision. He frowned and locked onto it in an instant.
Wang Hu!
He's a notorious scoundrel in the village!
"Pah! What utter rubbish, what kind of toad pearl is this!"
"The consumptive son from next door's family was able to get out of bed after drinking holy water!"
"I've already paid my respects! Why don't you conjure up some money for me?"
"That stone toad must be biased!"
"Either Zhang Lao Er gave him some benefits in private! He's putting on airs over a piece of trash!"
"Tomorrow I'm going to teach it a lesson and show it who's boss!"
"Damn it!"
"You've messed with me! Demolish that stone niche!"
Wang Hu squatted on the threshold of his dilapidated house, chugging cheap liquor. His eyes were blurry with drunkenness, and he muttered incoherently, spewing vulgarities. He wanted to make a scene in front of the stone shrine, even to defile the statue, in order to force the stone toad to "manifest" itself and give him more benefits.
Wang Hu is a piece of trash in Shixi Village. His parents died early, and he grew up on the charity of others, but he has never learned to be grateful. The older he gets, the more reckless and irresponsible he becomes.
In the past, they were petty thieves and bullies who preyed on the weak.
Most of the villagers were angry but dared not speak out.
When the stone toad was first formally worshipped by the whole village, he didn't participate. Instead, he spat disdainfully at the worship procession and cursed them as "playing tricks." When the toad pearl truly appeared and dissolved into the water, bringing health and well-being to the villagers, an inappropriate thought popped into his head—he wanted to get money for nothing!
He couldn't bear to part with the meager offerings, and he loathed the restrictive rules. But he envied the villagers who had once been as poor as him, now whose eyes shone with a light, as if they had obtained some treasure he could never touch. A burning, resentful fire of exclusion, mingled with jealousy and resentment, smoldered in his chest.
Lin Shi sneered, neither taking immediate action nor attempting to stop it.
If you stop it once, there's no guarantee it won't happen again.
If the boil is not ruptured, it will eventually recur.
Lin Shi was very clear that the toad pearl was a blessing, enough to win people's hearts and nourish their faith.
But if faith is to be pure, firm, and inviolable, authority must be established.
The key to winning people's hearts lies in a combination of kindness and severity.
Wang Hu jumped out himself, so it was a good opportunity to borrow his head.
Lin Shi withdrew his thoughts, closed his eyes, and fell asleep in a moment.
Bibo Pool.
deep.
The water in the pool was dark and murky.
The dragon shook its head, the chains rattled softly, and an invisible force began to quietly gather, waiting for the blasphemer.
This day.
sunset.
The clouds burned into a bleak crimson.
Village entrance.
The stone niche stood silent in the twilight.
The stone toad raises its head toward the sky.
Its posture is timeless.
Lin Shi carried his hoe and slowly walked into the village. Nourished by the power of faith, not only were his perception abilities getting stronger, but his body was also getting stronger. He didn't feel tired at all after a day of farming.
Wang Hu hiccuped, his eyes red-rimmed.
"Hmph! Pah!"
Wang Hu grinned, revealing his yellow and black teeth, and a thick spit mixed with the stench of alcohol flew towards the base of the stone niche.
"What kind of king are you! You're just a lump of rock! Others treat you well, but I'll add my own flavor to it!"
Wang Hu cursed under his breath as he reached for his belt.
Bibo Pool.
The calm, dark green water suddenly cracked open, as if a slumbering beast had been enraged and let out a muffled roar without warning. A column of water, as thick as a large bowl and mixed with mud, sand, and seaweed, shot up from the center of the pool like a giant hammer, soaring through the air like a dragon. The icy, bone-chilling water, carrying the force of a thousand pounds, slammed against Wang Hu like a wall.
"boom!!!"
Wang Hu felt an irresistible force surge through him. His chest tightened, and he was violently thrown out like a kite with a broken string, rolling to the ground. He choked on the bitter, cold water, feeling dizzy and disoriented. The effects of the alcohol instantly turned into cold sweat, and he felt terrified. He scrambled away, uttering incoherent whimpers, and fled the village entrance on all fours.
"Good heavens! Did you see that? That water column!"
A middle-aged man's voice trembled.
"It came from the pool! That murderous Wang Hu must have angered King Stone Toad!"
The other man, pale-faced, stared in the direction Wang Hu had fled, then looked with awe at the now calm and deep pool.
"Serves him right! He's so foul-mouthed! How dare he insult the gods?"
An old farmer spat, but he didn't dare to speak loudly, just kept his voice down.
"Get out of here! Get out of here! Don't cause any collisions!"
Several villagers who witnessed the whole thing were stunned, almost dropping their hoes. They dared not stay any longer, hurriedly packed up their things, and left with lingering fear, convinced that this must be the Stone Toad King manifesting his power to punish evil.
Lin Shi watched Wang Hu run into the village from afar, curled his lip, and gave a cold laugh.
Once God's punishment descends, it will not end so easily.
That was just the beginning!
night.
The moon is hidden and the stars are few.
All sounds are silent.
The mud house was drafty and filled with a musty and sour smell.
Wang Hu wrapped himself tightly in a tattered quilt, curled up in a ball, and still couldn't stop trembling.
A damp, cold air seemed to seep into the walls, and a faint, strange smell, like a mixture of watery odor and rotting seaweed, filled the air.
Wang Hu had no choice but to get up, trembling, and tried to light the fire several times before finally succeeding.
The dim, yellowish light barely dispelled the darkness.
It illuminated the mottled earthen wall.
Wang Hu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to crawl back into bed when he suddenly saw three huge, wet, and clearly defined toad claw prints, deeply embedded in the earthen wall. Water was slowly meandering downwards, carrying the fresh scent of silt from the bottom of the pool, as if a huge, invisible toad, leaving only footprints, had silently sneaked into his home and stopped there.
Wang Hu's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints, and a terrified hiss, as if he were being choked, escaped his throat.
"Ah! A ghost! There's a ghost!"
Wang Hu frantically scratched at the marks with his fingernails and desperately wiped them with his sleeves, but the claw marks seemed to have grown into the wall, remaining motionless and still firmly imprinted there with a cold dampness.
West end of the village.
Lin Shi withdrew his thoughts.
I saw clearly what happened at Wang Hu's house. It was all done by the clone dragon, controlling the water vapor. It was a small trick, not a killing move, but fear was everywhere in the familiar home, like a shadow. This was the most capable of crushing the will of mortals.
Lin Shi sneered, closed his eyes, and fell asleep in a moment.