strictlysupreme Chapter 6: The Revival of Ritual!
Chapter 6: The Revival of Ritual!
In the center of Shixi Village.
Lin Shi walked into the ancestral home in the afterglow of the setting sun and met Sun Ming.
"Chieftain!"
"After much thought, I believe the tiger head incident is not just luck. King Stone Toad's gaze has never left our Stone Creek Village."
Lin Shi's voice was steady.
"The rules of our ancestors are not without reason. We, their descendants, have been negligent and neglected our duty to the gods."
Sun Ming remained silent for a long time, the firelight in his pipe flickering in the night. Only after the pipe had burned out and he tapped the ash off his shoes did he let out a long sigh.
"Scattered offerings, though sincere, ultimately appear scattered and cannot adequately reflect the reverence of the entire Shixi Village. Since the efficacy has been demonstrated, shouldn't we resume the incense offerings formally and properly? Let's establish rules so that the descendants of Shixi Village know that their hearts are united and their thoughts are sincere! With proper and complete offerings, our prayers for protection will surely be more effective in the future when we encounter obstacles."
Lin Shi got straight to the point and stated his purpose directly.
"Sacrificial rites are no small matter. There are many rules, and if even one is wrong, it could backfire."
A flicker of interest flashed in Sun Ming's cloudy eyes.
"Tiger Head was rescued that very night."
"I had a dream."
"I dreamt of a sacrificial scene, where someone was reciting various rituals."
"I didn't pay attention at first, but then I discovered the Stone Toad King!"
Lin Shi leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice, as if afraid of disturbing something.
"Oh?"
"Do you remember?"
Sun Ming suddenly raised his head, his dim old eyes instantly becoming sharp.
"Before the sacrifice, one must wash one's hands with fresh water drawn from the East Well at the beginning of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), and then fumigate the body with smoke from three-year-old mugwort to cleanse oneself of worldly impurities before one can see the gods."
"The offerings should prioritize freshly harvested wheat from the earth's veins, dew-kissed fruits, and spring water from the source; the next best choice is clean, scaleless fish."
"It is strictly forbidden to eat blood or meat. The Stone Toad King is a 'pure and cultivated spirit, untainted by dust and impurity, and does not consume blood.'"
……
Lin Shi spoke slowly but clearly, reciting each item as if it were his own treasure.
"Yes! Yes, yes!"
"These are the rules! That's right! Child! You were chosen by King Stone Toad! You are truly a lucky star for our Stone Creek Village!"
Sun Ming was so excited that his beard trembled slightly, his breathing became rapid, and he grabbed Lin Shi's arm.
"Chieftain!"
"Could what happened in this dream be real?"
Lin Shi was stunned for a moment.
Dream?
does not exist!
These claims are even more impossible!
This was fabricated to persuade Sun Ming to resume the sacrificial rites!
This reaction is far too strong and has exceeded expectations!
Was it just a lucky accident?
Did I guess right?
"According to the family genealogy."
"Shixi was established 351 years ago."
"The village worships the Stone Toad King, and incense is burned continuously throughout the year."
"May the Stone Toad King bless the village with favorable weather and abundant harvests."
"Until one day eighty years ago."
"The old clan chief left the village to do business in a big city in search of wealth, but was robbed and killed on the way."
"From that time onwards."
"The Stone Toad King no longer protects Stone Creek Village."
Sun Ming let out a long sigh.
Why is that?
Lin Shi frowned.
Why not just replace the old clan chief when he dies?
"The Stone Toad King has a set of sacrificial rituals."
"The old clan chief met with an accident, and this tradition was not passed down."
"In the first few years, the incense in the village never stopped burning. But it didn't help much; the fields in the village got less and less water and became increasingly dry. Gradually, no one was willing to offer incense anymore!"
Sun Ming looked dejected.
Lin Shi immediately understood what was going on. In short, eighty years ago, the old clan chief left the village and lost the "protection" of the Stone Toad King, dying an unnatural death. The ritual of worshipping the Stone Toad King was lost, and the villagers, being very pragmatic, realized it was no longer useful and stopped offering incense.
No wonder we found that the Stone Toad King was almost devoid of incense and covered in ash when we cleaned it a few days ago; no wonder Li Tie and Song Ying were at a loss for how to perform the ritual last night.
The root of all this is the break in the inheritance.
"Chieftain!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"How did I become the one chosen by the Stone Toad King?"
Lin Shi recalled what Sun Ming had just said.
"It has been passed down from generation to generation in the village."
"The sacrificial ritual began with a dream from the Stone Toad King!"
Sun Ming loosened his grip on Lin Shi's hand and wiped his eyes.
I had witnessed the village's ritual to worship the Stone Toad King, but I was too young to remember much. I only vaguely remembered the words "wash your hands" and "avoid meat." The crucial details had long been lost to time. But as soon as Lin Shi mentioned it, all those blurry images from my memory came flooding back, and I couldn't suppress my excitement.
"Lin Shi!"
"How much do you remember?"
Sun Ming stared at Lin Shi, his hands trembling with nervousness, barely daring to breathe.
"Chieftain!"
"I'd rather forget it."
"After waking up, I thought about it carefully several times. It was as if it was engraved in my mind. I remember every detail clearly."
Lin Shi pointed to his head, secretly delighted. Before coming here, he thought it would take a lot of effort to persuade Sun Ming, but unexpectedly, he had stumbled upon the perfect ritual. The sacrificial ritual he had created coincided with some of the remaining memories in Sun Ming's mind. Moreover, the ritual for worshipping the Stone Toad King in the village was not formed and perfected over many years of worship, but came from a dream. He had become the person chosen by the Stone Toad King. With this identity, achieving his goal would not be difficult.
"snort!"
"Didn't I just say that?"
"You were chosen by the Stone Toad King!"
"The Stone Toad King wants to use your mouth to continue this sacrificial ritual!"
"The dream that landed on you is something you can't forget, even if you wanted to. This is merely the tip of the iceberg among the myriad abilities of the Stone Toad King!"
"I'm going to go and call a few of those old fogies in the village!"
"Think about it!"
"I'll explain the sacrificial ritual in the dream in detail later."
After Sun Ming finished speaking, he didn't care that it was dark and hurriedly walked out of the courtyard. In a short while, he disappeared into the thick darkness and could not be seen.
The night was cool and still.
Lin Shi sat in the chair, and with a thought, he followed Sun Ming like a shadow.
"What?"
"The Stone Toad King has appeared in my dream again!?"
……
"The day Li Hutou was found, I had a feeling it was possible!"
……
"Very good!"
"The sacrificial rituals may be able to see the light of day again!"
……
Lin Shi saw Sun Ming knock on the gates of four courtyards, and each one called out to an old man with white hair and beard, or a face full of wrinkles, or a hunchback. He heard what they said until Sun Ming led his men back to the gate of the ancestral house and withdrew his thoughts.
Lin Shi looked up and saw Sun Ming and his men rushing in. He immediately stood up. The four old men were named Xu Zheng, Bai Siqi, Lü Xing, and Zhuang Shifeng. Sun Ming, the clan head, and the other two clan elders were in charge of village affairs such as bridge and road construction, water canal digging decisions, mediation of clan disputes, and external communication and coordination. They had supreme "power" in Shixi Village.
"Wash your hands and burn mugwort."
"To wash your hands, you must use the first bucket of water drawn from the old well in the east of the village at dawn, before sunrise. This is called the living water from the East Well."
"The mugwort should be dried and stored for more than three years, as the smoke will be purer and more mellow. When fumigating, you should silently recite the purification mantra."
……
"Offerings".
"The Stone Toad King is a spirit of pure cultivation."
"It must be a clean, scaleless fish."
"Being near water makes one clean."
"Blood offerings are strictly prohibited."
……
"Prayer Ritual Procedures"
"Establish a chief priest."
"Participants must bathe and change clothes, kneel in neat rows, and pray with sincere hearts. The song must be recited three times in unison."
……
"Blessing Stone"
"They need to be picked up by hand from the stream; they should be the size of goose eggs, smooth and without sharp edges, and placed on the bluestone slab in front of the niche."
"It symbolizes that one's wishes are as firm and enduring as a rock."
……
"Taboo".
"When a woman is menstruating, she must stay away from shrines and altars, and must not peep at or touch them. She can only do so after she has cleansed herself."
"For three days before and after the sacrificial ceremony, the village must refrain from gossip, fights, and lawsuits."
……
Lin Shi calmly recited the ritual procedures he had already conceived and perfected in his mind. As the person who appeared to him in a dream by the Stone Toad King, he became the sole interpreter of the sacrificial ceremony. While he could not be said to be of high moral standing, in such matters, he was absolutely the only one who could speak and others could only listen.
Sun Ming, Xu Zheng, Bai Siqi, Lü Xing, and Zhuang Shifeng nodded repeatedly. The ritual was rigorous, mysterious, and full of ancient charm, which was very convincing.
"Lin Shi".
When is it appropriate to hold a sacrificial ceremony?
Sun Ming couldn't wait to ask more questions. He was now completely convinced and looked at Lin Shi as if he were looking at the spokesperson of an ancient soul.
Lin Shi didn't speak immediately. He lowered his head, his left hand hanging naturally in front of him, his five fingers slightly spread, his index, middle, ring, and little fingers slightly joined together, leaving only his thumb slightly raised. He paused for a moment, then his thumb tip fell, precisely hooking the first horizontal crease at the base of his index finger. He then slid it up along the knuckle of his index finger, pausing briefly as he passed the second joint. After a moment's consideration, he lifted his fingertip and instead touched the second joint of his middle finger.
Lin Shi frowned slightly, and quickly tapped his thumb between the knuckles of his middle and ring fingers, sometimes pressing against the indentation at the base of his ring finger, sometimes hooking the first joint of his little finger. In a few breaths, his thumb suddenly stopped on the top joint of his middle finger, and he gently rubbed it twice with his fingertip.
"Seven days later!"
"Before sunrise!"
Lin Shi's suspended wrist dropped slightly, his five fingers loosened, leaving only his thumb unconsciously twisting the side of his index finger. He blurted out, and when he looked up, Sun Ming, Xu Zheng, Bai Siqi, Lü Xing, and Zhuang Shifeng were all staring at him in disbelief.
"What's wrong?"
"What's the problem?"
Lin Shi's heart tightened; he didn't know what was happening.
"What were you doing just now?"
Lin Shi pointed.
Lin Shi raised his left hand and breathed a sigh of relief. Just a moment ago, the thought that he hadn't gone too far had popped into his mind, but now that he saw it, it was not the case at all.
Lin Shi was about to say that it was incredibly simple and that he could learn it without any problem, but he swallowed his words. Calculating dates was just basic knowledge for a professional who studies folklore, but now, in the eyes of Sun Ming and the others, it seemed incredibly advanced.
"The method taught to me in a dream by the Stone Toad King."
"Used to calculate the time of the sacrificial ceremony."
"How do we calculate it?"
"I can't explain it clearly; it was just a thought in my head that I naturally forgot about."
Lin Shi immediately changed his story.
Sun Ming, Xu Zheng, Bai Siqi, Lü Xing, and Zhuang Shifeng looked on with awe and shut their mouths, not daring to mention or ask any more questions.