Chapter 15: Chapter 15: The Ancestor’s Golden Body is Gone
Jiangli, accompanied by Xia Xin, entered the main hall.
In the center of the hall stood the Patriarch’s statue, directly facing the entrance, with an incense altar before it that bore some fresh fruit, which looked quite decent.
However, after a glance, Jiangli suddenly felt something was amiss.
Xia Xin was just about to speak.
She suddenly grabbed Xia Xin, her tone grave, “No, this isn’t right. The statue I made for the Patriarch was pure gold, but this one looks like it’s gold-plated?”
When she crafted the Patriarch’s statue, it was surely made of solid gold!
Xia Xin’s eyes bulged, “Solid gold?” He took a deep breath, “Ancestor, you must be mistaken? A statue this big, how much would that cost in solid gold? It’s definitely gold-plated!”
Jiangli frowned, “No, that’s not right. When I cast the divination, it was at least a million taels of gold. Of course, I could afford it! But this one is actually gold-plated!!!!”
He almost choked on his own saliva.
“Holy shit… Ancestor, are, are you serious?”
Jiangli glared at him, “Otherwise?”
Swallowing his saliva, he chuckled nervously, “Well then… Ancestor, I, I didn’t know about this. When I arrived at Jiaoyang Temple, it was already , and it hasn’t been changed for many years…”
Jiangli clenched her teeth, realizing it must have been that wasteful old Taoist!!!
He swapped out the Patriarch’s solid gold statue!
“Things haven’t been easy for Jiaoyang Temple in recent years, have they?” Jiangli suddenly asked.
Xia Xin paused, then replied somewhat dispiritedly, “True… In recent years, there have hardly been any pilgrims to Jiaoyang Temple, and usually, there’s no one coming through the doors…”
“No wonder,” Jiangli grated her teeth.
Xia Xin cluelessly said, “No wonder… what?”
Jiangli closed her eyes and waved it off, “Never mind, I’ll offer incense to the Patriarch first.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Xin hurriedly took some incense sticks from the nearby altar and handed them to Jiangli, “Ancestor, please.”
Jiangli took them, and the corner of her mouth twitched incredulously as she looked at Xia Xin, “Is this the kind of incense you usually offer to the Patriarch?”
Xia Xin scratched his head, “Is there something wrong with this incense? I, I don’t understand. My master always used this type of incense…”
Jiangli smiled faintly, whispering softly, “Don’t get angry, don’t get angry…”
She pressed the aching temple on her forehead, glanced at Xia Xin and asked, “Do you have a flint and steel?”
“A flint and steel?” Xia Xin paused, understanding what that was, and said awkwardly, “Ancestor, we don’t use flint and steel anymore, we use this now.”
He took a lighter out of a nearby drawer, “This is called a lighter, and this is how you use it!”
Xia Xin promptly demonstrated how to use it for Jiangli.
Jiangli’s eyes brightened, and she couldn’t help but mutter, “You do seem to like using these mess of things, but you’ve thrown away the stuff that’s actually useful.”
Xia Xin didn’t catch what she said, “Huh?”
Jiangli didn’t explain further; after lighting the incense, she lifted it above her head, about to bow in respect, when suddenly, with a snap, the incense in her hand broke.
“It broke, it broke!!! Ancestor, the incense broke, could it… could it mean a great disaster?!” Xia Xin cried out in horror, recalling his master had said that during worship, breaking the incense was the most taboo, suggesting imminent death or disaster.
“What great disaster? It’s just old nonsense to scare people,” Jiangli said, looking at the broken incense with an emotionless face. She drew a few more sticks and lit them again. Before paying homage, she glanced at the statue of the Patriarch and said coldly, “You old fart, this is all the moldy Sandalwood Incense we have now, so don’t be picky. Now that I’m back, you’ll be offered the best in the future, but if you make me angry, not even the moldy Sandalwood Incense will be left for you.”