Chapter 59: Mountain God Temple, Red Lotus Tragedy

Hearing Jiang Chi's urgent cry for help, Lang Jiuchuan's expression turned cold and stern. She said in her spiritual consciousness, "Fight if you can, but do not meet force with force. Preserving yourself is the most important thing. If you cannot hold on, come back."

Jiang Chi: "..."

It understood completely. That meant it had to endure for now. Besides, what did "cannot hold on" mean? It was doing just fine, thank you very much!

"Whose lightness skill is the best? Take me up to the Mountain God Temple immediately." Lang Jiuchuan looked toward the guards.

Luo Tian stepped forward instantly. "Miss, me. I can hold off ten men by myself."

Lang Jiuchuan pressed her hand downward, causing Luo Tian to squat instinctively. He felt a slight weight settle onto his back, and as he stood up with her, he thought to himself: Goodness gracious, how is this any different from carrying his little baby back home? It was as light as a feather, weighing next to nothing.

"Walk forward." Lang Jiuchuan patted his shoulder.

Seeing that she showed no hesitation or regard for the strict taboos between men and women, Shen Qinghe thought to himself that he would need to have a word with these guards later to prevent them from wagging their tongues and spreading gossip outside, which might ruin the young lady's reputation.

Seeing that Lang Jiuchuan and her party were walking away, Shen Qinghe did not delay either. He motioned to his personal guard and quickly followed after them.

The sun was gradually sinking westward, and as soon as the hour of Shen arrived, the Daughter's Village, which had previously resembled a mortal paradise, turned cold and bleak. The sun seemed to have abandoned this mountain valley entirely, and its light could no longer reach within. In its place was a thick, foul, and evil aura, as if intending to shroud the entire mountain valley.

The wind wailed mournfully, sounding like countless grieving souls crying out, piercing and ear-splitting.

The Mountain God Temple of the Daughter's Village was located halfway up the mountain slope on a large, uniquely scenic lawn. In the center of the lawn stood a child-height stone trough incense burner, with many burnt incense sticks poked into it.

As for the Mountain God Temple itself, it was built into the rock face behind the lawn, taking the form of a cave over two zhang high. The stone wall in front of the cave entrance had the characters "Mountain God Temple" carved into it with red paint. Furthermore, fresh red silk ribbons and a pair of red lanterns bearing the character for double happiness were hung on both sides of the cave entrance, looking chaotic and ghost-like.

Lang Jiuchuan looked at the cave entrance, from which only a faint, dim candlelight flickered, her expression cold and resolute.

A biting wind rushed out from inside the cave, carrying roars and a chilling oppressive force that made people want to turn back.

"Is this the Mountain God Temple?" Luo Tian shivered all over and muttered, "It doesn't look very sacred at all; instead, it's quite eerie."

It wasn't as if he had never seen temples before. No matter how dilapidated a Taoist or Buddhist temple in the mountains was, none of them would ever be set up in such a bizarre and incongruous manner. It didn't look like a temple at all—it looked much more like a devil's cave.

Was the aesthetic sense of this Daughter's Village really this unorthodox?

Lang Jiuchuan sneered. Of course it was eerie! What was churning inside the cave was entirely malevolent yin energy; how could it not make one's heart tremble?

A gust of fierce wind swept over. Luo Tian raised his sleeve to shield his face, yet he did not forget to step directly in front of Lang Jiuchuan to block the wind for her.

Lang Jiuchuan stood unmoving, allowing that fierce wind to enter her spiritual consciousness.

It was Jiang Chi.

"That damn tiger is exhausted. Hurry up and let me absorb some fortune; my spiritual consciousness is about to scatter."

Feeling its complex aura, Lang Jiuchuan frowned and asked, "What did you swallow this time?"

Sucking in her fortune and smoothing itself out from head to toe, Jiang Chi replied, "There is a precipitous cliff at the back, and the bottom is piled with white bones. It has already become a place of grievances and malevolence. If some swords or blades were thrown down there, they could definitely be forged into powerful evil weapons."

Hearing this, Lang Jiuchuan looked toward the mountain in front of her and said, "You mean there is a sheer cliff right behind this Mountain God Temple?"

"Mhm. I suppose the young men married off to this mountain god all end up at the bottom of that cliff."

"What about living people? Have you seen any missing living people?"

"In a place like that, even if there were living people, they would only have a single breath left. They wouldn't survive," Jiang Chi said. "In the dead of winter like this, forget about living people, I didn't even see a single bird. Also, this Mountain God Temple is extremely evil inside. That power is both wicked and somewhat sacred—anyway, it gives off a feeling of being neither entirely righteous nor entirely evil. You need to be careful when you go in."

"Didn't you fight it?"

Jiang Chi stiffened and retorted, "I was preserving my strength and saving my energy for a joint strike, understand?"

"If even you couldn't beat it, then it really does have some skill." A trace of excitement ignited in Lang Jiuchuan's eyes. She actually wanted to find out what kind of thing could be both righteous and evil at the same time.

Observing her expression, Jiang Chi rolled its eyes. It had forgotten that this was a madwoman who knew no fear at all; its worrying had been completely in vain.

Shen Qinghe had already caught up. Steadying his slightly ragged breathing, he said, "This is the Mountain God Temple. You must be careful when you go in. Because it's a mountain cave, it is exceptionally cold."

He hesitated for a moment and made to untie the heavy cloak he was wearing, saying, "You should put on another cloak..."

"No need. It's cold inside not just because it's a mountain cave; a cloak won't solve it." Lang Jiuchuan stopped his kind gesture.

She took the lead and walked into the temple, and the few people behind her quickly followed. As soon as all of them entered the mountain cave, Elder Ke appeared from nowhere. The corner of his mouth curved into a sinister smirk as he took out a bone flute from his arms and began to play.

A thin, thread-like small black snake emerged from the bone flute, dropped to the ground, and slithered in a winding path toward the temple.

As Lang Jiuchuan and the others entered the temple, the scene suddenly shifted. The gloomy temple transformed into a picturesque mountain valley filled with mountains covered in red maple trees and wild flowers of countless colors blooming everywhere. Wooden houses dotted the valley with thin wisps of cooking smoke rising into the air, and children were running about within the village—what a peaceful and beautiful picture scroll.

Yet this tranquil picture scroll was suddenly disrupted because of a woman. She was the most beautiful woman in the village, and also the one envied and hated by all the other women, simply because she was a widow—and a strikingly beautiful widow at that.

Trouble follows a widow's doorstep; the saying fit everywhere, let alone when she was a woman of such beauty. How could she fail to attract the strong men of the mountains?

Finally, in a season when the maple leaves were at their reddest, that widow—whose name was as lovely as she was—was pinned down deep within this mountain valley, on a patch of land covered in wild, blooming flowers. Her jade-white body was strewn with falling red maple leaves, yet they could not conceal the bruises that covered her all over.

Where there is a first, there will be a second. The widow became a disaster, an existence loved by men and hated by women. She grew increasingly haggard day by day, yet she dared not die, because her son had not yet grown up.

Yet she had to die.

Her presence turned the once-peaceful village foul and turbid, caused once-harmonious couples to quarrel day and night, led to the unexplained deaths of healthy poultry, and ruined bountiful harvests so that not a single grain was reaped. Everyone hated her, blaming her for disturbing the peace of the village and blighting its geomancy.

A witch-priestess declared that she was naturally dissolute and had angered the mountain god, which was why divine punishment had descended, leaving the village devoid of peace. They must offer a sacrifice to the gods and beg for forgiveness.

The widow's son knelt and begged in every possible way, but the public fury was too great to be appeased. When the mother and son even attempted to flee, they were caught and dragged back, and that very day the widow was bound to the sacrificial altar and offered to the god.

Her son witnessed all of this without uttering a single word. The villagers all said that it was his biological mother's fault, and now that she had gone to become the bride of the god, it could be considered atoning for her own sins—it was a good thing.

He did not refute them.

From then on, the Red Maple Village lost its most beautiful widow, seemingly returning to its former tranquility. And her name was...

Red Lotus.

The sorrow of the red lotus brings forth a progeny of blood and retribution.

Everyone ought to shed bloody tears for her, atone for their sins on her behalf, and beg for her mercy.

Hisss.

Lang Jiuchuan snapped her eyes open, her gaze piercingly cold. The judge's brush in her hand flew out in a flash, striking the small black snake that had already climbed up onto the instep of her foot.