"So, Brother Liangliang, does this mean that the deity statue unearthed at the river works and the coffin pried open at the farm have at least three hundred years of history?"
"That’s correct, it can be understood that way, but what’s strange is, three hundred years is indeed a long time, but it shouldn’t be long enough that your local customs of worshiping the ’Bai Family’s Lady’ have completely disappeared, even the elderly seem to have no memory of her.
But the local chronicles clearly record her, and we’ve even excavated her temple. There are both written records and physical remains, so it’s impossible that there were absolutely no traces left in folklore—that’s too odd."
Li Zhiyuan shook his head and said, "Brother Liangliang, a retired professor once told me, existence does not necessarily imply rationality, but there is always a reason for existence."
"Xiao Yuan, are you saying that there’s also a reason for their nonexistence?"
"Yes, I think that maybe the Bai Family’s Lady wasn’t suitable for worship, nor for evolving into a custom. Her image, or shall we say the image of the Bai family, the Bai family town, might be very different from what we imagined.
I just looked at the local chronicle records you brought back, Brother Liangliang. They do indeed contain quite a few accounts of the Bai Family’s Lady, and they did a lot during the Ming and Qing Dynasty, similar in style to some Jianghu Chronicles, but there’s generally something missing...
The ending of those strange records usually adds a description like ’the local villagers were grateful for her kindness, built temples and statues, and kept offering incense continuously.’
But in these local chronicles about the Bai Family’s Lady, they really just recorded the facts, it would be fine if it was omitted once or twice, but it’s missing from all related records.
Yet, there are many other related temples locally, heroic figures in reality, Taoists and monks from the strange records, even the Dragon King’s prince from the East Sea, all have the kind of ending I just mentioned.
Even if the popularity of their worship differs now, at least you can find a temple to worship.
Therefore, I think there’s a definite reason for the separation between the Bai Family’s Lady and local folk customs.
Their deeds involved ’Demon Slaying’, but their motives might not have been ’to protect the locality.’"
Xue Liangliang looked at Li Zhiyuan in astonishment again, having forgotten how many times today he had looked at this elementary school student with such eyes.
"Brother Liangliang, do you remember the appearance of the temple they dug up at the river works?"
"I do, it was very small and cramped, if it weren’t for the height of the deity statue placed there, I would even doubt that the builder would have built it following the specifications of the land temples beside the village road."
"Right, the chains, that deity statue was bound with chains, with the other end connected around the temple, it would be very difficult to push the temple over without breaking the chains."
"That doesn’t seem like it was for worship, but more like it was for suppression."
"Suppression?" Xue Liangliang suddenly looked enlightened, "Exactly, who would accept offerings with such an image!"
He then paced back and forth somewhat excitedly:
"The layout in the coffin at the farm and the text on the wooden carvings also indicated suppression. Doesn’t this align with the Bai Family’s Lady’s logic of behavior?
But why wouldn’t the villagers appreciate this act of sacrificing oneself for righteousness?"
"What if the people of Bai family town pursued only the process and not the results?"
"Xiao Yuan, you mean to say, the Bai Family’s Ladies simply wanted to suppress evil spirits by themselves, and whether the suppressed were truly evil spirits, and how these spirits came about in the first place – that’s something worth pondering?
Ah... if these spirits were originally released by them, reared by them, and then suppressed by them, then the villagers certainly wouldn’t remember their goodness; instead, they would avoid them at all costs.
That makes everything perfectly clear."
Li Zhiyuan nodded, "There are quite a few accounts of Evil Cultivator corpses in ’Jianghu Chronicles’. Those who pursue corpse rearing and ascending are extreme.
They have a large common belief within their community, which is:
Lakes nurture corpses, rivers are the ladder to heaven, rivers flow into the sea, and that is ascension through heaven’s gate.
Nantong is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River entering the sea, and Chongming Island is even more so the gateway of the Yangtze River. Seeing this from their odd perspective, isn’t that equivalent to the entrance to heaven?
Evil practitioners from Xuanmen in the upstream Mountain City, either put in the effort to nourish their own corpse or occupy someone else’s coffin; once the time is ripe, they descend the river, aiming straight for the sea, truly expending great time and effort planning.
The Bai Family, on the other hand, simply and directly oppressed ’evil spirits’ at the entrance to heaven, stamping on the right foot with the left, aiming for ascension.
Thinking this way, Li Zhiyuan unconsciously rubbed his temples; their ideas were astonishing, yet they indeed had a worldview to which one could relate; he had even related to it himself.
"Xiao Yuan, this is also why your sister’s grandparents were murdered so horribly, and although the owner of the farm hasn’t been found yet, he might have already been killed.
Logically, it shouldn’t be .
If the Bai Family’s Lady was on the side of righteousness, and the evil spirit was sealed in that porcelain vase, why would the spirit, eager to be released, so ruthlessly and decisively strike the benefactors who freed it, not leaving any room for mercy?
Thus, the one who was really angered into a rampage and started killing, was that seemingly righteous figure – the Bai Family’s Lady!"
Li Zhiyuan looked back at Xue Liangliang with an equally skeptical gaze.