09 – Chapter 1

The autumn air was crisp with descending frost, the moon pale white, and the wind cold.

Turning past a dense grove of trees, a point of light appeared ahead in the mountain hollow. By the frost-white moonlight, one could vaguely make out a small mountain village with a dozen or so households scattered about. At the village entrance, beneath a massive tree, the shadowy outline of a small temple could be seen, and it was from this temple that the light was emanating.

Lin Butou quickened his pace and reached the small temple first. He went inside to take a look around, then emerged and bowed obsequiously with a smile: “Meng Xiaowei, it’s just two charcoal merchants passing through. I’ve already had them move aside, and the space has been cleared.”

Meng Jianqing surveyed the surroundings and made a gesture. The five guards accompanying him immediately spread out and thoroughly searched every inch of the small temple, inside and out. Afterward, two remained outside on guard while the other three busied themselves unpacking bedrolls and preparing dry provisions and fresh water.

The small temple instantly became cramped and crowded.

Meng Jianqing examined the red-faced divine statue that bore no divine title and belonged to neither Buddhist nor Taoist tradition. The statue appeared to have been recently gilded. Though the temple was small and the altar, incense burner, and hanging cloth were old, everything had been wiped spotlessly clean. Whoever tended to it took great care.

Meng Jianqing turned his head and said, “Lin Butou, bring the village headman here. I need to question him.”

Lin Butou was startled and replied awkwardly: “Meng Xiaowei, this village has only been settled in the past two years. I’m afraid there may not even be a headman.”

Meng Jianqing frowned slightly, then said: “Then bring two elderly villagers for questioning.”

Lin Butou received the order and left with two constables.

Meng Jianqing turned back to continue examining the statue. After a long while, his gaze suddenly shifted to the two charcoal merchants who were craning their necks to peek at him. This startled the overly curious merchants, who trembled all over and put on awkward smiles, not knowing what to say—they could hardly admit they had never seen Imperial Guards up close before, could they?

Meng Jianqing stared at them until the two men could no longer bear his scrutiny and their smiles nearly turned to grimaces. Only then did he look away, immediately hearing their sighs of relief.

Were they just two ordinary charcoal merchants?

Lin Butou soon returned with two old men. Meng Jianqing instructed that one be taken outside to wait while only one remained, standing trembling before him with hands hanging at his sides.

Meng Jianqing smiled gently at him and said, “Old fellow, I only want to ask which deity this statue represents.”

Seeing the official being so courteous, the old man’s nerves settled somewhat, though he still trembled for quite a while before making himself clear. It turned out this was Chen Lao Xianggong, worshipped by the charcoal burners from the nearby mountains. According to those charcoal burners, this Chen Lao Xianggong had originally been a charcoal burner himself who was later burned to death in a kiln, which is why he became a red-faced god after his deification. Before opening a kiln, both kiln masters and charcoal burners had to worship Chen Lao Xianggong first to ensure the safety of that kiln’s operation. As for when this somewhat aged-looking small temple was built and when Chen Lao Xianggong began to be worshipped here, he didn’t know—his family had only moved here two years ago.

The other old man was a longtime resident and more articulate, relating everything he knew from beginning to end. It turned out this area had rich soil and abundant water, and decades ago, there had been quite a few households. Because there was an unusually large old camphor tree at the village entrance, the nearby families called this village Big Camphor Tree Village. This small temple had originally been the village’s mountain god shrine. He had even served as a temple keeper for several years in his youth. During the Hongwu Emperor’s pacification of Fujian, troops had passed through here and fought a battle that nearly emptied the entire village, leaving only two or three households who were so frightened they fled to live even deeper in the mountains for several years. The statue of Chen Lao Xianggong was probably erected during those years, as for exactly when, he truly couldn’t say, only that the statue was already there when he moved back. The charcoal burners were all ruthless men without families or ties who would grab their tools and fight at the slightest disagreement. The villagers really couldn’t afford to offend them, so they had to let the charcoal burners take over this mountain god temple and even had each household take turns cleaning it. In exchange, the charcoal burners graciously agreed not to disturb their village when they had no business there.

After dismissing the two old men, Meng Jianqing sat down against the earthen wall.

This was the seventeenth Chen Lao Xianggong temple they had encountered since entering Fujian. All had been erected within the past ten to twenty years.

Who exactly were those charcoal burners worshipping?

He didn’t believe that nonsense for a moment—a charcoal burner dying and becoming a god, still to be respectfully addressed as “Chen Lao Xianggong”?