The next day, everyone left the prefect's mansion according to the plan they made yesterday.
Xu Mochen took Tang Derun with him and they went to check around.
After leaving the city, the two discovered that the suburbs were much more desolate than they imagined.
There is a lot of cultivated land outside the city. If you look closely, you will find that these lands are somewhat saline-alkaline.
It is caused by seawater intrusion.
Therefore, there are not many crops growing in the ground. They are sparse and the yield is not expected to be very high.
Moving further to the heart of Danzhou in the south, the scene changes again.
The largest river, Wanquan River, has many branches. Wherever there is a water source, there is indeed lush vegetation, including many fruits.
But these should all grow naturally, not artificially planted.
There are quite a few people picking there.
Looking at those fruit trees, they stretch continuously into the mountains, and the products are still very rich.
Xu Mochen and Tang Derun took away their magical powers and just moved forward a little faster than ordinary people, climbing over the mountain and walking inside.
When we reached the top of the mountain, we saw a temple built on a large platform.
There are also many good men and women coming in and out.
"The Mountain God of Taozhi Mountain," Tang Derun looked at the name of the temple and frowned slightly, "It is rare for this mountain god to have a title."
Xu Mochen didn't answer. When he entered the temple, he clearly felt a spiritual consciousness sweeping over him.
He remained calm and allowed the other party to observe him while hiding his cultivation.
This spiritual consciousness is not strong, and it is estimated to be equivalent to the level at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
After a while, the consciousness turned away from Xu Mochen.
After passing through the courtyard and entering the main hall, I saw a statue of a god standing above, still in a very weird style.
Completely different from the gods Daqian has always worshiped.
"Could it be religious infiltration from a foreign country," Xu Mochen murmured to himself, "If that's the case, it would be troublesome."
Tang Derun followed him and looked at him like: "Your Majesty, it's probably not that. I'm afraid it's a god developed by the local people."
But that's all it is. This is the world of immortal cultivators. Who knows if there will be immortal cultivators behind it to control it.
The two of them stood aside, and the men, women, old and young who came to worship each and every one of them respectfully burned incense, knelt down and kowtowed, all praying for a good harvest.
This temple is not big, but it is very popular.
The two of them retreated. Tang Derun saw an old man coming and stopped him with a smile.
"Old man," he had a very good attitude and handed over a piece of silver. "The two of us are from other places. I don't know what the Taozhi Mountain God has to say."
The old man didn't want any money. He waved his hand and said, "It's normal for you two to find it strange.
This mountain is called Taozhi Mountain, and there are several mountains in a row, all the way to the Wanquan River. We are all villagers living nearby.
Coming here to offer sacrifices is to pray for the protection of the mountain god and for good weather and good harvest.
The people in the surrounding area all count on the fruits and birds and beasts of Taozhishan for their livelihood."
Tang Derun smiled and nodded: "I see, it's because we are ignorant.
I just don’t know why you don’t farm and grow food?”
"Growing food?" The old man shook his head, "I heard about it when my ancestors were young, but from generation to generation, with the blessing of the mountain gods, the fruits grown in the mountains and the birds and animals raised are enough for daily life. Plant again if necessary."
Well, this question turns out to be a structure of primitive society.
This is not very reasonable. Logically speaking, human society gradually progresses with the times.
Even if the immortal cultivators are locked in, Daqian is already a feudal society, mainly farming.
It's a good thing here, the Tu people have become the backers of the mountains.
Ask clearly, Xu Mochen and Tang Derun move on.
"Your Majesty," Tang Derun frowned, "the aroma of incense in this temple is very strong, I'm afraid there's something fishy about it."
Xu Mochen also felt it: "The people here can satisfy their own needs by hunting and picking fruits, so there is no need for farming."
"But they need the protection of the mountain god," Tang Derun shook his head, "In my humble opinion, this mountain god is most likely a cultivator of immortality. He uses his magical powers to control the mountains here, obtain the people's incense gas, and refine the gas."
Xu Mochen pondered: "Do you know which realm of immortal cultivators you are?"
"Anything is fine," Tang Derun looked back at the smoky temple, "In all directions, the belief in incense is universal.
Of course, it is more useful for immortal cultivators who are not from the human race, especially those from the Netherworld."
However, when they entered the temple, they did not sense the breath of the Netherworld.
With questions in mind, I came to the edge of Taozhi Mountain, and there was another mountain range in front of me.
At the junction of the two places, there is a large stone monument with rules such as no crossing of the border written on it.
Xu Mochen smiled: "No wonder there are so many gods and goddesses in Danzhou in the south. There is only one god on this mountaintop, taking care of his own palm-sized land.
In addition, the climate is suitable and the species are rich. Immortal cultivators do not need much spiritual energy to produce abundant food."
"It's just a trick to fool the people," Tang Derun didn't agree with it. "It deceives the people into respecting them as immortals, steals the incense and faith, and provides them with their own cultivation.
But the place is not big, so these immortal cultivators may not be strong despite their large numbers."
"What I'm worried about is not the immortal cultivators," Xu Mochen shook his head, "but these brainwashed common people."
Xu Mochen can kill immortal cultivators, but common people cannot.
He can't just kill all the disobedient people.
Tang Derun thought for a while: "The only way is to slowly guide and enlighten people."
It is a way, but if you do this, it will take until the Year of the Monkey to solve the problem.
He is in charge of a country as big as Daqian, so he cannot stay here.
"Let's wait and see." With that said, Xu Mochen stepped into the new place.
A wave of spiritual consciousness swept over, and this time it locked onto the two of them, obviously with murderous intent.
Xu Mochen frowned. There was indeed a temple in front of him. He didn't know which mountain god was worshiped, but he saw a group of people pouring out of the temple.
Several of the burly men rushed over menacingly with sticks in their hands.
"You are from Taozhishan, right? How dare you enter our territory with the incense from there." A big man waved his stick, "If you don't go back, don't blame us for taking action."
Tang Derun smiled: "Sorry, we are outsiders. We are just visiting this area. We don't mean to offend."
"For outsiders," the big man looked at the two of them, "they look similar. If they are outsiders, we can be accommodating, but we still have to ask the gods for details."
As he said this, he waved and several people around him ran towards the temple.
"Why," Tang Derun pretended to be surprised, "can you still listen to the instructions of the gods?"
It's impossible. According to the regulations of Shifang World, immortal cultivators cannot communicate directly with humans.
The big man waved his hand: "What can we do? It's the temple blessing in the temple. He can perform divination and get instructions from the gods."
So that's the case. Tang Derun was speechless after hearing this. This method is very slippery.