Every family blessed by the clan god has its own unique rituals of worshiping the god. The Zhong family takes Zhong as their surname, and worshiping the god always starts with Zhong. After the bell is rung in the Zhong family mansion, various musical instruments will play together.
In the past, not everyone in Xicheng could play a musical instrument, but there were always one or two people in every household who could. The elderly often brought their own musical instruments with them when they chatted at the doorstep. If they were in the mood, they would play a tune, plucking the strings, beating the drums, or blowing the wind, and they would gather together to play.
In the streets and alleys, one can often hear people playing the piano here and the flute there, enjoying the music together and being content.
Even children, who grew up in Xicheng, a city full of music, would naturally start to learn various musical instruments when watching their elders and neighbors playing and singing.
Many Zhong clan members here especially like to spend their leisure time with music.
Going back hundreds of years, Xicheng was at its busiest. There were many shops selling all kinds of musical instruments on the street. You could find an octogenarian basking in the sun or a child playing games on the street and they would play a song or sing a verse. By the streams and in the lotus ponds, the women washing clothes and picking lotus flowers sang clear and melodious voices.
In the past, almost the entire city participated in the sacrificial ceremonies, and every household played sacrificial music. When everyone walked out of their homes, it was a team of laughter and music that lasted from morning to night. People kept joining in and had a great time.
It is said that the clan god of the Zhong clan liked the music and the endless bustle. Since he was born, he has become the clan god and started to protect the clan members and this land, allowing people to live and work in peace and contentment. People then played musical instruments to please the clan god out of gratitude, and this tradition has been passed down from generation to generation until today.
The once endless music slowly disappeared with the disappearance of the Zhong god.
It was not a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, but a change in the earth's atmosphere. The gods of various clans were slowly losing their power. The Zhong clan had been multiplying until now, but the number of people was decreasing. There were also people who kept leaving for more prosperous places. The Xicheng that once was was no longer what it used to be. The weakening of the Zhong clan god and the dispersion of the Zhong clan influenced each other.
The changes of prosperity and decline are the natural cycle. However, how can the Zhong family members who have lived here and served the clan god from generation to generation be willing to accept the disappearance of the clan god, and how can they be willing to watch the family decline
Even if people know they cannot grasp something that is about to disappear, they will still try in vain to grasp it.
People were terrified and saddened by the fact that the clan god had disappeared and no longer responded to them, so the current patriarch of the Zhong family made a decision - to hold a sacrifice.
Long ago, when there was only one dynasty in Dongzhou, the ancestor of this branch of the Zhong family was the master of ceremonies in the dynasty responsible for offering sacrifices to heaven and ringing bells. At that time, sacrifices were made with human sacrifices, that is, killing living people as sacrifices.
The head of the Zhong clan and many other clan members felt that if they learned from their ancestors and offered human sacrifices, they might be able to call back their clan god and have him return to the world.
At first, they used the most vicious prisoners in the prison to offer sacrifices to the gods. It turned out that this desperate attempt was really useful. The god who was about to disappear and would no longer be able to respond to them suddenly performed a miracle - his divine light enveloped the bell tower, and the faint light inspired everyone. People sang and danced to celebrate the return of the god.
However, the good times did not last long, the aura left by Shi Shen continued to weaken, and slowly, people discovered that in Xicheng, which had never been plagued by evil plagues or evil spirits, some harmful ghosts appeared. Children were kidnapped by monsters, some people lost their minds and turned mad to eat people... Shi Shen really could not protect them anymore!
The Zhong clan members began to think that the sacrifice was not enough. After all the prisoners were thrown into the bell tower for sacrifice, it still failed to slow down the speed at which the clan god's aura dissipated. They then turned their attention to their clan members.
"Perhaps only a blood-related clan member can serve as a sacrifice to awaken the clan god once again." They decided to try again.
The Zhong clan members who could not accept this fled, but those who stayed could not resist the decision of the majority, and every household had to offer someone to sacrifice to the clan god.
In front of the Zhong family mansion, many people were playing music, but apart from the seemingly cheerful music, there was no laughter at all.
Luo Yujing could only see how grand the sacrificial fruits and incense sticks were, and the mansion under the gray sky made people feel depressed. In Kusheng's eyes, countless resentments that were about to be suppressed emanated from the mansion, but were blocked by a weak force.
The auras of many evil spirits were mixed together, and they could break through the precarious barrier at any time. However, the many people in front of them were constantly increasing their resentment, and were completely unaware of the butcher's knife hanging over their heads.
Luo Yujing held the trembling Zhuxie Sword in her arms and watched Kusheng put down his belongings and lead her to the entrance of the Zhong family mansion where a crowd of people had gathered.
As the sedan chair was carried over, an old man at the head of the crowd at the gate of the mansion struck a small bell. The music stopped instantly, and dozens of people got out of the sedan chairs in front and behind. They stood there in a state of fear and in awe.
The old man who is the head of the Zhong clan said: "This year's sacrifice is a little special. Everyone knows that in order to let our clan god come back, we have to sacrifice our clan members. This is also a helpless act. Your sacrifice is worth it. All of your names will be recorded in the family tree."
"The auspicious time has arrived, please come in."
The door slowly opened.
Sudden-
"Bang-boom-boom!"
The loud noise startled everyone.
There was a small bell originally placed at the gate of the Zhong family mansion, half a person's height and very heavy. Now it was kicked out by someone and rolled over. While breaking the heavy door of the mansion, the bell also cracked.
The Zhong family members were in an uproar and suddenly there was a commotion. Some felt sorry for the bell, while others were furious and wanted to catch the troublemaker.
After the "troublemaker" kicked the bell out, he stood openly where the bell was placed, even carrying a person on his back. Facing so many excited people, he was not afraid and did not even have the slightest intention of running away.
Patriarch Zhong looked at the broken bell and the gate, shaking with anger, and shouted, "Where did this impudent Taoist come from? Catch him!"
There were so many of them, but no one noticed when this strange man came here and how he got close to the clock, causing such a big trouble.
Those people who had been playing music woodenly before rushed over angrily. With their hard-earned hands, they plucked and picked, and the iron knuckles on their fingers hit the weapons, clanging and knocking the weapons out of those people's hands.
The incident happened suddenly. The weapons these people used were musical instruments. They were all ordinary people, so how could they deal with Kusheng, an invulnerable zombie? Even if someone rushed to the front and hit Kusheng's arm, he was picked up by Kusheng and thrown into the crowd, causing a lot of commotion.
He was quite irritated and depressed, and swept all those people who rushed towards him desperately to the ground, knocking everyone away along the way, and came to the Zhong clan leader, picked him up and pushed him, turned around and shouted angrily: "Be quiet!"
"How foolish! Your clan god has only the last breath left. If you sacrifice these people again, I'm afraid it will immediately dissipate completely." Kusheng said, "Then disaster will come. Everyone here will be harmed by the evil spirit. Why don't you stop it quickly!"
The Zhong clan leader was frightened by him at first, and when he heard what he said, he immediately said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about! The Zhong clan's god is still here, how can there be any evil spirits! This is my Zhong clan's business, a crazy Taoist like you, don't mess with it!"
Kusheng pointed to the Zhong family mansion and said, "There are many evil spirits there. They haven't come out yet because they are suppressed by the remaining aura of your clan god. But they will soon be unable to suppress it. I advise you to disperse them immediately."
Patriarch Zhong: "Nonsense! This man must be some kind of monster trying to confuse people. Someone come and take him... Ugh!"
Disliked for his noise and disobedience, Kusheng smeared a yellow talisman on his face, causing his eyes to roll back and he fell to the ground. Some people came up to catch him, but Kusheng kicked them away and rolled into the crowd.
"I'm here to kill evil spirits. If you don't want to listen to me, just wait here and don't bother me!"
He left the chaotic crowd behind, jumped over the bell embedded in the gate, kicked down the doorpost to block the way, and entered the Zhong mansion.
At this time, everyone was outside, and the mansion was empty, like a maze. Kusheng rushed in, walked through the door as soon as he saw it, and those who wanted to chase them were still stuck at the door.
"You just barged in like that. Aren't you a little too arrogant?" Luo Yujing said, hugging his neck from behind.
"I never thought of this." Kusheng said depressedly, "These people are really messing around!"
"You said there are many evil spirits in here?" Luo Yujing asked again.
Noticing that she was a little excited, Kusheng held her hand and warned her: "There may be nearly a hundred evil spirits here, and I can't guarantee that everything will be safe. You must not be careless and stay by my side."
"You always complain that you can't find any evil spirits, but now there are a hundred of them!" Luo Yujing exclaimed.
Kusheng: "Killing evil spirits is my mission, how can you be more excited than me... Take the sword to kill evil spirits."
Luo Yujing said, "I still don't know what's going on here, what these people are going to do, and what's wrong with the clan gods here?"
Kusheng went to the place where the evil spirit smell was the strongest, and explained casually: "It's simple to say. The local god disappeared. Maybe the tribe members didn't want him to disappear, so they used some inappropriate methods, trying to keep him by sacrificing people. But they made things worse and accelerated the speed of the local god's disappearance. I don't know how they created so many evil spirits."
Luo Yujing: "How did you know? Did you guess it? Or did you have some feeling?"
Kusheng: "I have seen similar things elsewhere."
As they were talking, they had already reached the bell tower. This was the shrine of the Zhong family god. Standing outside, one could see a huge bell inside the exquisite bell tower.
Standing close, the evil spirit's murderous aura mixed with a hint of turbid and unclear breath emanated from the dim bell tower door.
Kusheng hesitated for a moment, which was rare, and put Luo Yujing down, saying, "Why don't you wait for me here."
Luo Yujing jumped onto his back again and strangled his neck, "I'd better go with you. What if those people come after me and take their anger out on me when they see me alone outside? I can't beat so many people."
That's right.
Kusheng had no choice but to carry her on his back and take her into the bell tower.
There is nothing in the bell tower except a big bell on the top. Below the bell is an octagonal wellhead, with visible black smoke floating out of the wellhead.
Kusheng: “…”
Luo Yujing: "… Why are you holding me so tightly? I won't jump down alone."
Seeing that he didn't move, Luo Yujing whispered in his ear: "Are you still afraid?"
Kusheng held her tighter again, walked to the wellhead, and jumped in.