Messages began to spread throughout the city, and fewer and fewer people went to the River God Temple to offer incense.
Some high officials and wealthy individuals wisely chose to wait and see, not immediately revealing their stance, but quietly waiting at home for the situation to resolve.
Those with a keen sense of smell had already detected something unusual, whether it was the Xiaoyuan Mountain Water God Temple plotting something, or the government truly possessing evidence of the River God Temple's harm to the local populace.
As long as they did not get involved, it would be of no consequence to them no matter who achieved their objective in the end.
At least, that was what everyone initially thought. However, when the city guards received their orders and assembled at the west city gate, an unexpected change suddenly occurred.
Elderly couples gathered near the west city gate, calling out for their children and forbidding them from going to the River God Temple, which was more than ten miles away.
Faced with their parents' reprimands, most of the soldiers were at a loss. In the end, they could only put down their weapons, shed the armor they had just put on, and return to their parents' sides, disregarding their superiors' obstruction.
The way of man is governed by heaven, earth, ruler, parents, and teacher. However, for the soldiers who had not attended school much, nothing was greater than their parents; to disobey their parents was the greatest filial impiety. Loyalty to the court, on the other hand, was ranked last.
"I didn't expect the River God's influence to be so immense."
Li Buwei stood on the city wall, silently watching the farce unfolding below.
Beside him, Mo Yiyan and Liu Qi couldn't help but tut in amazement. The latter even let out a cold laugh, calling them a bunch of ignorant fools.
The government had already issued a public notice stating that the River God Temple was suspected of harming the local populace and had killed an unknown number of people. Regardless of whether there was solid evidence, investigating thoroughly was the most correct course of action.
If they did not investigate to the end, and if this were indeed the truth, it would be these very common folk who would continue to suffer.
As a result, their faith prevented them from allowing anyone to disrespect a deity. It was hard to understand if they were parents at this moment, or fanatical believers.
Seeing that more than half of the hundreds of soldiers gathered below had dispersed, Li Buwei turned and looked back, his gaze falling on the young county magistrate with a grim expression.
This Confucian scholar, named Zhang Qingyang, was the magistrate of Linfu County. He had been full of spirit when he left the yamen, but now, before even leaving the county town, he had suffered a heavy blow.
If these were subtracted, there would be at least martial artists with initial stage cultivation, along with their well-trained battle formations. With just the people in the yamen, they might not even be able to enter the River God Temple.
Not to mention that the same scene might soon occur with the bailiffs and constables.
Just as Li Buwei's thoughts arose, he saw on the other side of the city wall, more and more commoners gathering. Seeing that they could not ascend the city wall, they shouted their children's names loudly from below.
As the shouts grew stronger, the yamen runners and constables gathered around County Magistrate Zhang Qingyang had expressions that became increasingly strange and complex. More than a dozen of them even began to waver.
Seeing this, Zhang Qingyang's face undoubtedly became even more unsightly, his fists clenched tighter within his sleeves.
His previous grand ambitions now felt like a joke. Without enough manpower, what could he possibly do?
A magistrate with no one to rely on, even if he represented the imperial court, could achieve nothing.
Fortunately, at this moment, the head constable of the county yamen hurried over and bowed respectfully to Zhang Qingyang.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, the five martial arts sects in the city, totaling fifty-eight people, are ready and await your command!"
This equally young constable loudly reported the completion of the task.
Upon hearing this, Li Buwei first lowered his head and looked, then saw that indeed, a considerable number of people from the martial arts world had gathered near the city gate. Not only were there martial arts sects from within the city, but also some unaffiliated martial artists.
Then, to his surprise, he looked at the constable beside the county magistrate, not expecting that someone so young could have such means to gather a group of unruly martial artists.
After all, ordinary martial artists would never get involved in such matters. This had nothing to do with whether they upheld justice or drew their swords; it was simply an instinctive reluctance to get too close to the authorities.
Li Buwei suddenly remembered that this young constable was said to have been brought from the prefectural city by County Magistrate Zhang Qingyang, and the two had been very good friends before.
After hearing about this matter, Zhang Qingyang's expression finally eased somewhat, but he still looked somewhat grim. Dozens of people from the martial arts world were still far from enough.
"Never mind, have the remaining soldiers form up and depart immediately!"
Glancing at the sky, the young county magistrate said.
The defending general on the side received the order and, with a few personal guards, descended the city wall to gather the available troops.
However, after the previous commotion, the original force of five hundred men was now less than one hundred and fifty.
Yet, this was their limit. They still needed to leave enough personnel to ensure the safety of the county town's four city walls, and even the county magistrate only had the authority to dispatch five hundred men during special times.
After about an hour, Zhang Qingyang mounted his horse and led the way, followed by the constable of the county yamen and a defending general.
Behind them were twenty constables, more than thirty yamen runners, and dozens of martial artists.
The defending soldiers, less than one hundred and fifty in number, carrying various weapons and supplies, followed at the rear of the procession.
"Do we not need to follow?"
Mo Yiyan asked from the city wall.
The number of people in the procession seemed acceptable, but the strongest among them were only martial artists in the early stage of the Bone and Tendon realm, and their actual combat effectiveness was still unknown.
If they did not follow, these people alone would never be able to successfully take down the River God Temple.
The plan they had devised was to ensure that County Magistrate Zhang Qingyang could successfully enter the divine temple and seal the idol with his official seal, thereby severing the River God's divine authority over the Linfu River.
"Ultimately, this is the affair of the local populace. There is no need for us to be so concerned,"
Liu Qi said with a cold laugh, not agreeing to follow them.
If conflicts arose later, they would be the first to bear the brunt, and it was inevitable that some would perish here.
"If we are working for the Master, how can we be so careless?"
Mo Yiyan glanced at him, and since meeting him in the underground arena, he had taken a dislike to the man.
After a pause, he suddenly sighed, "Moreover, how can we stand by and watch so many innocent mortals be harmed by such an evil god?"
It was not that Mo Yiyan was benevolent; it was just that the thought of the white bones accumulated in the Linfu River for over three hundred years, the countless innocent lives lost and tortured to death by mountain spirits and monsters, made him feel somewhat uneasy.
In the end, even though they had embarked on the path of cultivation, they were still of the same kin as these people.