Dawn of a New Era

Chapter 674 648: Temple Suppression (Part 1)

Chen Shouyi can hear the whispering of a couple ten kilometers away, see pedestrians on the road a hundred kilometers away like a reconnaissance satellite, and feel the touch of the finest dust against his skin.

His sensitive perception even reaches more than ten meters underground.

These complex pieces of information rarely attract his attention unless they come with shocking news or pique his interest, and he has long been accustomed to them.

He turned around and saw an elderly woman dressed in black cloth shoes, her body trembling slightly. She held a broom in her hands, her yellowish eyes carrying a hint of caution.

Clearly, she was just an ordinary woman.

"Grandma, I heard this place is very effective, so I came here specifically to pray," Chen Shouyi said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the old woman immediately relaxed her guard and said warmly:

"It's very effective here, many people from neighboring villages have built Guanyin temples to pray for children. Let me tell you, there is a couple in our village who were married for ten years without children. They visited all kinds of hospitals and tried every medicine but still couldn't conceive. After praying to Bodhisattva, they immediately got pregnant and even had twins, a boy and a girl."

This truly seems like the work of Bodhisattva, rather than... someone else.

Chen Shouyi mocked in his heart, looking at the divine statue, which was already a standard divine statue, exuding a faint majestic aura. In the ethereal space above the statue, he could see a female deity holding a baby, half-naked and radiantly beautiful, gazing down at all living things.

His eyes narrowed slightly: This is definitely a Barbarian God masquerading as another.

He asked back, "Is it really that effective?"

"Pray and you'll see, but you must be sincere and come to pray every day. Soon enough, your wife will get pregnant," the old woman vowed confidently.

But first, he needed a wife.

"I came in a hurry today and didn't buy incense, I'll come back tomorrow," Chen Shouyi made an excuse.

The old woman showed a shrewd smile on her face: "I have incense at home, do you want some? Small incense is two yuan for three sticks, big incense is ten yuan for three sticks."

Haha!

"I didn't bring money," Chen Shouyi pulled out his big weapon directly.

...

Chen Shouyi did nothing, left the village, and didn't rush home, wandering around the surroundings instead.

He discovered many villages around here were covered by similar Domains of Faith.

Three years of war, the population of Great Xia Country decreased by at least two hundred million, most of them being young men, resulting in society now encouraging childbirth, banning the production of contraceptives and contraceptive devices, lowering the age limit for marriage, and offering various government subsidies for having children.

Speaking of which, although technology has regressed, most people's lives are just about getting by, but the pressure of having children has decreased, there are no high housing prices, nor fervent tutoring classes, and coupled with wartime restrictions on commerce, society feels as if it has returned to the seventies and eighties.

And this one is apparently a Barbarian God with a divine position related to fertility.

Chen Shouyi frowned slightly.

He had seen quite a few Barbarian Gods, like the God of Hunting, the God of Conspiracy, and the God of Light, who first conquered violently, demonstrated their power, and then spread their faith. But this kind of covert replacement spreading like a plague is unheard-of.

One directly conquers, the other indirectly infiltrates.

The latter is more concealed, quietly influencing things.

Who would suspect that behind a temple dedicated to Guanyin lies a Barbarian God? The key is that even if you destroy the temple and abolish the rituals, it might be hard to completely eradicate it.

As the sky darkened, Chen Shouyi stopped wandering and quickly headed home.

Walking on the street, he passed by a shop selling incense.

Chen Shouyi noticed a statue of Guanyin holding a baby inside the shop, and this depiction was quite different from before. It lacked the plump and rounded form traditional to Buddha statues, appearing charming and beautiful, like a youthful eighteen-year-old maiden.

He walked into the shop and asked the shop owner inside: "What kind of Buddha statue is this?"

"Guanyin, the One Who Brings Children!" the shop owner glanced up and replied.

"Why does it look different from the past?" Chen Shouyi asked.

"It's a new model, some people just like this kind, I've heard it's quite effective, not many people buy the old style," the shop owner said with a smile: "Do you want to buy one? Only fifty yuan."

...

Chen Shouyi took a statue out of the shop, mounted his bicycle, saw a trash bin ahead, casually tossed the statue inside, and quickly returned home.

...

After more than half a month of repairs, electricity and communication in Zhonghai City have been restored.

After dinner, Chen Shouyi called a high-ranking city official's office to report the matter.

When it involves Barbarian Gods, there are no small matters, and the city government takes it very seriously, especially since President Chen called personally.

They immediately dispatched personnel overnight to investigate and found the situation quite severe; three towns were affected, involving as many as ten to twenty thousand people.

The most terrifying part was that this was happening right under the government's nose without them realizing.

Early the next morning, Chen Shouyi was asked to be present at the scene.

...

Town Government Courtyard.

In the chilly November morning air.

Changqiao Town's Party Secretary Zhou Weiming stood at the back of the welcoming crowd, sweating on his forehead. Among the affected towns, his town had the worst cult activity.

He felt that his presence here wasn't because he was given leniency, nor because he had been transferred recently, it was just that the time was too short, and his handling hadn't been decided yet.

Cracking down on cults has always been the government's top priority, to have such a major occurrence in his jurisdiction without knowing it makes it impossible for him to absolve himself of responsibility.

But who could have thought this was a cult, it came as an unforeseen disaster.

He still felt he could salvage the situation.

"Here they come, here they come!" someone whispered.

A small sedan approached from afar, Zhou Weiming perked up, instinctively bowed slightly, and his face lit up like a chrysanthemum.

"Zzz!"

The car smoothly stopped.

Bai Xiaoling hopped out of the car, jogged to open the rear door.

The car swayed slightly, soon an attractive young man emerged from the car, and the crowd immediately rushed toward him.

"I am Zhao Song of the 107th Division of the 15th Group Army, welcome President Chen to oversee the scene. With you here, we feel reassured." a Major General saluted.

"Division Commander Zhao, you're too kind."

...

"President Chen, I'm Zhou Weiming, the Party Secretary here," after the introductions in the front, Zhou Weiming eased his face into the crowd: "The meeting room has been arranged, we can start the meeting anytime."

Such distinguished figures standing atop the clouds are rarely seen, normally there's no opportunity to curry favor.

However, even currying favor has its art, one can't just dive in blindly, you must hit them where they're itchy.

Typically, arranging a meeting for the leader is never a mistake.

Chen Shouyi froze for a moment upon hearing this, glanced at him, what meeting?

"You guys have the meeting, I won't be joining."