I changed the world.

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"City God, return to your throne!!!"

"City God, return to your throne!!!"

Only then did the Taoist priest react, stumbling out of the City God Temple's gate, looking up at the sky, and then shouting with a face almost contorted with excitement, "The City God has appeared!!!"

"The City God has appeared!!!"

After that, a large group of Taoist priests and temple workers, more than ten in total, poured out of the temple. Leading them was Yang Weiming, the abbot of the City God Temple. This abbot, who was over seventy years old, stared wide-eyed at the blue clouds gathering from all directions in the sky. After a few breaths, he suddenly took a deep breath, raised his voice, and shouted, "The City God has appeared!!! He has really appeared!!!"

Immediately afterward, he turned around and shouted to his disciples behind him, "Quickly!!! Go and fetch incense!!!"

"Burning incense to offer sacrifices!!!"

"Homage to the divine!!"

Before long, several disciples had already set up a long altar and placed it under the flagpole at the entrance of the City God Temple. Then, Abbot Yang Weiming took the three incense sticks offered by the disciples, covered them with his robe sleeve, lit them, and respectfully placed them in the incense burner on the altar.

Then he shouted loudly: "Today, the City God has manifested his power, benefiting all beings, both living and dead. Everyone kneel—"

As he spoke, he deftly smoothed his sleeves and knelt down on the prayer mat his disciple had prepared for him.

Behind him, his disciples, though without prayer mats, followed suit and knelt down hastily on the ground...

Further out, an elderly woman carrying a yellow cloth bag knelt down first, her body trembling. Then, a middle-aged man beside her knelt as well. Following her, one after another, people around her knelt. Some who hadn't initially intended to kneel looked around and, seeing so many others kneeling, simply followed suit…

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 726 City God Shi Qing

A couple standing on the outskirts, the young woman had already knelt down, while the man next to her clearly didn't want to kneel, still holding his phone and filming, but his girlfriend kept pulling him down to kneel: "Hurry up...hurry up...everyone else is kneeling, if you don't kneel, the City God will blame you!"

Hearing his girlfriend say this, the man became somewhat uneasy and eventually knelt down reluctantly.

"bye!!!"

"Second bow!!!"

"Three bows!!!"

Under the guidance of the resident priest, the atmosphere was solemn and respectful. After the three bows, the resident priest suddenly raised his voice and began to chant the "City God Sutra" in a high-pitched manner.

"I bow and take refuge in the City God."

Its majestic power and awe-inspiring presence govern the universe.

Protecting the country, securing the nation, and supporting the state.

"Sending forth sweet grace to save the people..."

..............................

As the City God Temple held its sacrificial rites, a large number of threads of faith gathered on the City God statue, gradually becoming solid. At this moment, in the main hall of the City God Temple, Zhang Jing stared at these threads, the fire in his eyes gradually fading. He reached out and made a grasping motion in the air, and a strange talisman, seemingly both real and unreal, appeared in his hand, flickering uncertainly.

This talisman is written in divination script and is somewhat similar to the previous "Earth God" talisman. At the top of the talisman is a powerful "敕" (chì) character, and below, on the left is the "府" (fǔ) character, and on the right are two vertical "城隍" (chéng huáng) characters.

With a thought, the talisman disappeared into the Heavenly Punishment Sword behind him.

Just then, a middle-aged man dressed in a classical official robe, wearing a black veil, with a broad face and a long beard, emerged from the clay sculpture. In just a few steps, he stood before Zhang Jing. The man had a solemn and dignified expression. Although he was smiling, it seemed as if he was forcing it on, making him look rather unnatural. He cupped his hands and said, "This humble official greets the Immortal!"

"Greetings, City God of Linzhou." Zhang Jing smiled and performed a Taoist ritual with one hand in front of his chest.

The middle-aged man dressed as an official was the City God of Linzhou. He bowed and said, "By the decree of the Immortal, my underworld has been made real, and I have been able to achieve enlightenment. This is all thanks to the Immortal. May I ask the name of the Immortal?"

“I am Zhang Mengjing, the City God of Yilin Prefecture. My surname is Zhang Lin, my Buddhist name is Si Zongxuan, and I am a disciple of the Kunlun School.” Zhang Mengjing said with a faint smile.

"So it is the Venerable Lord Zhang who has graced us with his presence." The City God seemed relieved to see that Zhang Jing was not putting on airs, but his expression remained somewhat cold and hard, as if he were truly unskilled at welcoming guests: "The Venerable Lord's arrival should have been a grand welcome, but today the Underworld has just been established and everything is in need of rebuilding, so we are not well prepared. Please forgive us, Venerable Lord..."

“What are you saying, City God…” Zhang Jing knew that what he said was true, so he was not surprised and laughed: “To be honest, I usually live in Linzhou. The City God is the master of this place, and I usually have to rely on him a lot.”

Upon hearing this, the city lord hurriedly lingered and said, "I dare not." Then he added, "Your name is Shishi Temple, Qingba, courtesy name Shousiting. You may call me by my courtesy name, True Lord."

Before Zhang Jing came here, he had already learned about the City God of Linzhou. Now, hearing the City God introduce himself, he thought to himself that it was indeed this person.

Shi Qing, also known as Shi Shouting, was an official at the end of the Qi Dynasty. He was known for his integrity, uprightness, and outspokenness. During his tenure as a Hanlin Academician, he submitted a memorial to the throne to report on the embezzlement of disaster relief funds. As a result, he offended powerful figures and was demoted to the position of Prefect of Yuezhou, which is today's Linzhou.

During his tenure as the prefect of Yuezhou, he cleared up wrongful convictions, reduced taxes, and provided disaster relief. Over the course of ten years, Yuezhou was well-governed and no one picked up lost items on the road.

In the third year of the Xiangyou era, the Qian army marched south, attacking cities and seizing territories. Shi Shouting organized local militias to actively resist. However, Yuezhou had become an isolated city by then. After resisting for more than eighty days, the city finally fell. Shi Shouting bowed to the south and committed suicide.

The people were grateful for his virtue and built a temple to worship him, which gradually became the Linzhou City God Temple as it is today.

Zhang Jing's expression turned solemn, and he cupped his hands, saying, "I have heard of Lord Shouting's deeds, his loyalty and integrity, but I regret that I could not meet him. Today, my wish has finally come true."

Zhang Jing knew that the Shi Qing before him was not the real Shi Qing in history, but a Shi Qing based on the memories and beliefs of the people, condensed from generations of people's perceptions. However, from another perspective, he was actually more like "Shi Qing" than the real historical figure.

Therefore, Zhang Jing still showed respect because the City God in front of him actually represented the most sincere hopes of generations of people on this land for an official who was fair, honest, upright, fearless of the powerful, loyal and resolute.

"Your Excellency flatters me; I am unworthy of such praise."

“Shouting Gong is right.” After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhang Jing turned the conversation to some matters that needed to be explained. The two strolled slowly through the main hall of the City God Temple while continuing to discuss the matters that needed attention. At this moment, the sacrificial ceremony outside the City God Temple was still in progress, and the abbot’s melodious chanting drifted into the City God Temple on the wind.

As they talked, the two unknowingly walked to the back of the main hall. There, separated by a wall, was the clay sculpture of the City God sitting in the hall, and on that wall, a piece of calligraphy was written.

Zhang Jing turned his head to look, and saw that the calligraphy read:

"Officials do not fear my severity, but my integrity."

The people do not admire my abilities, but they admire my impartiality.

If officials are honest, they will not dare to be negligent.

If you are fair, the people will not dare to deceive you.

Gong begets enlightenment, integrity begets prestige. "

“Fairness breeds clarity, integrity breeds authority.” Zhang Jing read the last sentence aloud and turned to Shi Qing: “I present this sentence to Lord Shouting.”

"This is my duty, and I will never forget it," said the City God, Shi Qing, respectfully bowing.

"What a fine duty!" Zhang Jing clapped his hands in praise: "If Lord Shouting can keep this duty in mind, then the city god of this place will be a competent one."

At this point, Zhang Jing had said almost everything that needed to be said, so he flipped his palm over, revealing an object—a golden scale: "I have a treasure, which I give to Lord Shouting."

This scale is naturally not the original scale above the divine kingdom, but a projection of it. However, in Zhang Jing's opinion, it is sufficient to hand it over to the City God of Linzhou.

Shi Qingchu was initially puzzled, but after listening to Zhang Jing's explanation, he immediately understood and bowed to express his gratitude.

"In that case, I won't bother Lord Shouting any longer. Now, I'll go..." After handing over the treasure, Zhang Jing didn't say much more. He cupped his hands in greeting to the City God of Linzhou and headed out of the City God Temple.

"Respectfully seeing off the True Lord." Shi Qing hurriedly followed, escorting him all the way out...

....................................

Back at his residence in Yunshanfang, Zhang Jing summoned the Wish Book to review his previous wishes. He wasn't short of wishing points, so as usual, he wanted to play it safe before officially appointing the City God.

"I made a vow that I would confer the title of City God at the City God Temple in Linzhou, and everything went smoothly and was successfully accomplished. I did not encounter any overly dangerous crises, and there were no hidden dangers afterward."

That wish has been fulfilled.

85000 Wishing Points deducted.

PS: There was a typo in the previous text. Zhang Jing's Dharma name is Zongxuan. I saw a comment pointing this out, and I thank that friend. It has been corrected.

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History Books: Chapter 727 Sun Zhonghe in Action

This result was not unexpected. After thinking for a moment, Zhang Jing made a new wish:

"I wish that I will have good luck in the coming week."

That wish has been fulfilled.

55000 Wishing Points deducted.

The previous week-long luck buff had expired, and based on past experience, it was quite reliable. Since he had plenty of wishing points, he decided to stack another one. He noticed that this time, the number of wishing points used was significantly higher than before. The previous week's good luck buff cost 35000 points, while this time it had increased to 55000.

According to Zhang Jing's guess, this should be due to the significant improvement in his strength during this week. This kind of lucky buff, the improvement in personal strength, should have a huge impact on his fate. Just like bringing good luck to an ant is a very simple thing, just let it encounter a grain of rice and it will be satisfied. However, if the object is changed to an elephant, the resources required are undoubtedly incomparable.

After retracting his wish, Zhang Jing prepared to go to the grotto to continue his cultivation. Just then, his phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw that it was a call from Sun Zhonghe, so he answered.

"Hello, is this Germany-China?"

"Hmm...hmm, oh, not bad, you guys are quick..."

"Hmm...hmm...okay, send me the analysis report in a bit, I'll take a look."

"I understand... I understand... It's definitely a good opportunity. In that case, I won't say any more. Your thinking is sound..."

"Okay...no rush, just follow your instructions..."

..............................

"Okay... send me the address, I'll come over for a visit when I have time."

"Um... um... okay... goodbye."

........................

After chatting for about fifteen minutes, Zhang Jing hung up the phone. During the call, he could sense that Sun Zhonghe on the other end was extremely excited. All the formalities for the investment fund had been completed, the venue had been rented, and the staff had all arrived. Zhang Jing's funds were also largely in place, and the financial staff from Guanghe Accounting Firm had also moved in.

In other words, the fund has entered the operational phase.

It must be said that this speed is indeed much faster than he expected. Clearly, Sun Zhonghe is currently fully committed to this project and wants to achieve something.

What excites him is that the stock market trends in recent days and their preliminary research indicate that Zhang Jing's previous information was correct, and in fact, the actual situation is even more "optimistic" than Zhang Jing's initial assessment.

In recent days, stocks related to deep space exploration and related industries in stock markets around the world have shown signs of stagnation or even continuous decline.