Chapter 46: Rainstorm Wild Temple 8 Part 1
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It was evident that the middle-aged Taoist was correct in his words. The Mountain God Temple indeed had a thriving incense offering and continuous worship. It was more spacious and richly constructed than any other Mountain God Temple Yan Shixun had seen before. This reflected the abundance of resources here.
As Yan Shixun entered the main hall, he could smell the strong scent of incense. The incense burner in front of the deity was filled with ashes as if it still retained the lively atmosphere from earlier in the day.
Even from the brightly colored silk flower ribbons that had not yet faded inside the hall, one could tell that a temple fair had taken place here not long ago.
The guests were all in the rooms in the courtyard, and the middle-aged Taoist and two villagers were engrossed in their conversation in their own room. The rain curtain blocked out all external sounds, making the light inside also become hazy.
In the spacious main hall, only Yan Shixun’s faint breathing could be heard in the air.
Taking advantage of the faint light coming in from outside, he carefully inspected the main hall, moving with footsteps so light they were almost inaudible.
The sudden downpour had disrupted the schedule of the production team and scattered the convoy. Forced to seek shelter in this unfamiliar countryside, Yan Shixun appeared even more vigilant than usual. He had been quietly observing since encountering the two villagers on the road.
Moreover, when no one else was aware, Yan Shixun also performed divination, informing the Mountain God in a ritualistic manner of their group’s arrival, just like an ordinary person seeking the host’s assistance and protection when visiting a foreign place.
He also wanted to inquire about the stopping time of this heavy rain from the Mountain God here.
——The fact that Zhang Wubing had not appeared before him made him vaguely feel that something was amiss. He had intended to wait for the rain to stop and dawn to come, and then immediately go and meet up with the other two cars
However, the Mountain God did not give any response to Yan Shixun.
“Look to the mountains and rivers, spread among the myriad of gods.”
For the local residents, the local Mountain God was a more important presence than other deities. Unlike the distant and unattainable immortals, Mountain Gods were born in the mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes, protecting their territory, making the land fertile, ensuring good weather, and warding off evil spirits.
In return, the local residents believed in and worshiped the Mountain God, celebrating the god’s birth. They either built Mountain God temples in the mountains or considered the tall trees in their villages as incarnations of the Mountain God. These trees would be adorned with red decorations and red strings, expressing their good wishes and gratitude to the Mountain God.
Many places still preserve these traditions to this day.
Although in many areas, Mountain Gods have disappeared due to overdevelopment or a loss of faith.
Yan Shixun could clearly sense the strong presence of the Mountain God here from the moment he set foot in this place. It was as if everyone here were the descendants of the Mountain God, allowing the Mountain God’s power and control to reach its peak, just like in the ancient times when gods ruled the earth.
But even with such a powerful Mountain God, there was no response to Yan Shixun’s visit and inquiries.
It was as if the deity had never existed in the first place.
This contradiction was the starting point for Yan Shixun’s initial suspicions. He even thought that the local Mountain God had already departed, leaving behind only the remnants of the deity’s divine position, which had led him to mistakenly believe that there was a Mountain God residing here.
However, the existence of the Mountain God Temple shattered Yan Shixun’s doubts.
Whether it was the flourishing incense, the well-maintained mountain temple, the middle-aged Taoist who managed the temple, or the lively temple fair that the two villagers mentioned, all of it attested to the fact that this was a living and efficacious temple in the village.
Moreover, the efficacy of a temple is another piece of evidence that a deity resides within its premises.
So why was there no response from the deity…….. Was it a matter of personality? Did the Mountain God here have a reserved disposition, not showing warmth to outsiders?
Yan Shixun furrowed his brow, feeling that many pieces of the puzzle were missing from his thoughts, making it difficult for him to piece together all the information.
Mountain God Temples were usually funded and maintained by the villagers themselves, and their reputation was generally limited to the local area. Therefore, compared to Taoist and other temples, Mountain God Temples typically had modest facilities and decorations, reflecting the local folk characteristics and the simple, enthusiastic aesthetics of the villagers.
However, what Yan Shixun was seeing now was a beautifully decorated main hall. Its walls and ceilings were covered with murals depicting the villagers’ daily lives in vivid detail. Each person in the paintings had a unique posture and attire, with distinct facial features. It was as if these were different individuals, and it seemed they could step out of the paintings at any moment.
In addition to the figures, the murals also depicted farmland, houses, poultry, livestock, and even the rising smoke from the rooftops and the surrounding mountains in great detail.
The precision and level of detail in these murals made anyone who saw them marvel at the wealth of the village and the completeness with which they preserved their Mountain God culture.
Yan Shixun, relying on his excellent vision, also noticed the images painted on the ceiling. There were depictions of animals in various scenes: some were depicted running swiftly through the trees, while others were shown bowing and paying respects.
Although it was uncommon to find such scenes in a Mountain God’s temple, Yan Shixun could understand the intention behind them. These paintings aimed to convey that not only the village residents but also the animals were under the protection of the Mountain God and expressed their gratitude.
However, as his gaze moved to the side, his vision froze, and he felt a sense of puzzlement.
In the very center of the ceiling was a painting positioned directly above the head of the deity. It depicted an animal perched on a rocky outcrop at the mountaintop, while other animals seemed to be making reverential gestures toward it.
Considering the entire temple, it appeared as though all the villagers and animals were paying homage to this specific painting, surrounding it protectively.
Could it be that the builders of the Mountain God Temple had employed a skilled artist for the paintings but someone who wasn’t well-versed in local customs?
Yan Shixun couldn’t help but feel perplexed.
He circled around the temple but didn’t find anything amiss. He had no choice but to temporarily set aside his doubts and prepare to leave.
On the dimly lit walls covered in faded murals, all the painted figures turned their eyes, their necks twisting as they followed Yan Shixun’s every step, their gazes fixated on him.
Farmers rushing to the market with their children, mischievous kids hiding behind doors, villagers tending to their fields, and even chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, cows, and sheep—all living creatures depicted in the mural on the main hall’s walls—all turned their unified gaze toward Yan Shixun.
Their clothing was brightly colored, and their faces had rosy red blush painted on them. In the dim and hazy light, they appeared particularly eerie and unsettling.
It was as if the coldness of the pouring rain had silently seeped into the hall, spreading along the red and black tiled floor……
“Clatter…”
Just as Yan Shixun was about to step out of the hall’s threshold, a faint noise suddenly echoed through the quiet hall.
In the serene surroundings, it sounded exceptionally clear.
Yan Shixun instantly turned around, his sharp gaze piercing towards the source of the sound.
Everything in the hall remained calm and unchanged, just like the murals on the walls that he had been studying. He stared at the location where the sound had come from, his sharp eyebrows furrowing.
Could it have been caused by a rat?
However, Yan Shixun didn’t dismiss his doubts because of this guess. Instead, he strode toward the statue directly, not letting his doubts hold him back.
The grand statue in the Mountain God Temple’s main hall was magnificent, with a gilded body draped in red cloth, no different from the common villagers’ understanding of a deity.
The towering deity, with an enraged and fierce countenance, didn’t resemble a gentle Mountain God. Instead, it seemed like a deity who would protect the villagers through force.
From the moment he entered the hall, Yan Shixun had been carefully observing this Mountain God statue.
Although wrathful deity statues were not very common, they were not unheard of either. It might be that the villagers near the Wild Wolf Peak often faced threats from wild wolves, so they hoped for a powerful and fierce deity to protect their mountain.
Thinking this, Yan Shixun didn’t notice anything amiss with the deity statue.
Not until now when he approached the statue due to the sudden sound did he suddenly realize—
Behind the towering golden deity statue that almost touched the ceiling, there was actually a small hidden space!
Yan Shixun quickly circled around the deity statue to its back, and his footsteps slightly halted as his sharp and narrow eyes widened in surprise.
On the back of the gold-plated deity statue, there was a small wooden deity statue.
Unlike the gold-plated deity statue that faced the main hall, receiving the worship and offerings of the villagers, this wooden deity statue had its back turned to the main hall and was hidden from view. It was worn, covered in thick layers of dust and cobwebs.
Compared to the main deity statue, it looked more like a forgotten relic.
Time and weather had eroded the wooden deity statue’s once graceful hands and compassionate eyes. However, you could still discern from the remaining smooth lines that when the craftsman carved this deity statue a hundred years ago, they did so with profound reverence, careful carving, and polishing. In the end, they sculpted the image of the deity as they envisioned it in their heart and mind.
And now, the head of the deity was severely damaged, resembling jagged marks as if it had been gnawed by rats. Only half of one eye remained intact. A crack extended from the top of the deity down to the base, where the porous wood still stubbornly maintained the statue’s integrity. However, due to this crack, it remained fragile, and it was uncertain when it might completely shatter.
Yan Shixun lowered his gaze and stared at the deity for a long while. Then, he bent down and gently brushed away the spiderwebs entangling the statue, barely restoring a clear appearance to the deity.
In that moment, a small woodchip fell from the crack beside the deity’s eye, landing in Yan Shixun’s palm.
It was as if the deity was shedding tears.
Yan Shixun couldn’t help but freeze.
“Is this the old deity?” Yan Shixun murmured softly, addressing the wooden deity in front of him as if it could answer his question, “They had the money to renovate the Mountain God Temple and gild a new deity. Did they just leave the old one here, neglected? I’m sorry for your plight.”
With that, Yan Shixun formed a gesture of prayer with one hand, while the other hand supported the base of the deity. He carefully lifted it from the dusty shrine. Then, he maneuvered through the narrow and dirty space, placing the small wooden deity on the altar of the larger deity temporarily, away from its original location.
Afterward, he returned to the space behind the larger deity and took out a handkerchief he carried with him. He quickly cleaned the dust from this confined area.
However, as Yan Shixun had been focused on cleaning, he didn’t notice that in the split second he turned around, all the figures on the walls of the main hall suddenly displayed fearful expressions. They all retreated several steps within the paintings, with many even hiding within the depicted buildings, afraid to expose themselves.
Meanwhile, the murals on the walls and the animals on the ceiling instantly took on fierce and enraged expressions. Some extended sharp claws as if they were trying to reach out from the murals, directly targeting the damaged little deity statue.
“Yan, Shixun?”
Outside the main hall, a deep, magnetic male voice suddenly called out Yan Shixun’s name.
Everything on the murals immediately returned to normal.
Yan Shixun paused for a moment, making a “tsk” sound as he continued cleaning the altar.
From the tone and pause in the name, he recognized who was calling him.
It was the assistant director, the one who had rubbed him the wrong way.
Every time that assistant director pronounced his name, they enunciated the last syllable of “Yan” with a distinct pause before continuing with “Shixun.” This pause and hesitation gave their interactions an oddly intimate tone as if they were on very friendly terms. It almost sounded like they were longing call for him—
Shixun.
This sent shivers down Yan Shixun’s spine, giving him goosebumps on one arm.
Instead of directly responding to the assistant director, he turned around and carefully placed the damaged deity statue back on the cleaned altar. His slender fingers deftly wiped away the dust and cobwebs from the statue, gradually revealing its hidden features.
As he looked at the deity statue more closely, Yan Shixun was taken aback.
This was a rather gentle deity statue.
With lowered brows and eyes, a smiling expression on her lips, her rounded shoulders, and gestures all revealed gentle and loving features, portraying the image of a benevolent female deity.
In contrast, the tall gilded deity outside the shrine had a fierce and menacing appearance, a world apart from this deity’s gentle image.
It didn’t seem like they had replaced the old deity with the new one.
It was more like they had obtained a new deity and abandoned the old one.
“Yan Shixun, aren’t you inside?” Outside the shrine, the assistant director, seeing that Yan Shixun hadn’t responded, called out again.
“I’m here.”
Yan Shixun furrowed his brow as he stepped out from behind the deity. As he looked up, he saw the tall figure of the man standing just outside the shrine’s entrance, not taking a single step into the temple hall.
Upon seeing Yan Shixun, the man, who had kept the brim of his cap low, finally lifted his head to look at him.
The sounds of laughter and merriment from the rooms where they were staying could faintly be heard from the direction of the accommodation area. However, the man stood outside the temple hall’s high threshold without even a corner of his clothing touching the air inside. It was as if he was avoiding it, or perhaps repulsed by it.
He seemed like a silent barrier, standing soundlessly in the darkness, with only hints of light obscuring his facial features. There was only a distinct silhouette of his profile, faintly visible in the light.
“What’s the matter?” Yan Shixun asked, his voice cold. “If it’s urgent, you can come into the main hall to see if I’m inside, instead of repeatedly calling my name like a ghost.”
“Calling someone’s name randomly in the middle of the night in the outskirts, do you think I would respond?”
The man found it somewhat strange. “Why wouldn’t you respond?”
Yan Shixun, while holding the now-dirty handkerchief tightly in his hand, walked toward the entrance of the main hall where the man was standing. “When you were young, didn’t your parents ever tell you folk legends? Or did you not receive nine years of compulsory education? Haven’t you heard of the wolf that tricks people by calling their names, or the beautiful snake demon on the wall? Don’t you know?”
“You didn’t even introduce yourself, and you’re calling my name. How am I supposed to know if the person standing behind me is human or a ghost?”
Yan Shixun snorted and took a step out of the main hall.
Instantly, the cool and refreshing post-rain air outside enveloped him, making Yan Shixun feel like his breathing had improved. He could also hear the lively chatter of the guests and sense a bit of warmth.
It was cooler outside in the pouring rain than inside the main hall?
Yan Shixun turned around to glance at the main hall, thinking of stepping back inside to feel the difference.
“Nine years of compulsory education…” The man’s voice carried a rare note of confusion. “What is that? And as for the beautiful snake demon, I’ve never seen such a creature.”
Yan Shixun: “…?”
He suddenly forgot about going back to the main hall and looked at the man with a bewildered expression. It seemed like the man wasn’t intentionally teasing him but genuinely waiting for an answer.
However, what did he mean by not knowing “nine years of compulsory education”?
“You’ve never been to school? Illiterate? You don’t seem like someone who doesn’t know how to read. Did you not even attend elementary school, or was it because you used to live in a remote mountainous area?” Yan Shixun scanned the man from head to toe, and estimated the strength in that body, and his expression grew even more perplexed.
With all that muscle, he didn’t seem like someone who couldn’t afford to eat, so how could he have never attended school?
Yan Shixun suddenly remembered his own childhood.
After his master had taken him in, his master had initially planned to travel the world with him. However, they would often encounter government officials who would persuade them that every child should go to school and receive nine years of compulsory education. So, when Yan Shixun had grown a bit older, his master had regretfully sent him to school.
——Even though he attended school, his master would frequently help him take leave and take him out of school to exorcist ghosts and ward off evil spirits together.
Even someone like him, who had been a wanderer during his childhood, had been encouraged to go to school. So, what was the deal with this assistant director?
“Elementary school… Is it similar to the Imperial College of Supreme Learning (ancient term)?” The man blinked in confusion and finally realized, “I can read and write. It’s just that I started school a few years earlier, so it’s different from now.”
Yan Shixun: “…It’s okay, I won’t say anything about you not having attended school. You don’t need to hide it.”
With a face like his, he definitely looked like he was in his twenties. How early could he have started school? The education policies were more or less the same.
However, from the perspective of preserving the man’s feelings, Yan Shixun didn’t bring up the matter again and changed the topic, “Why did you come looking for me?”
The man: He constantly felt misunderstood, but this was a difficult question to answer. If he explained that he had attended school over a thousand years ago, he might end up frightening this exorcist from the mortal world…
“They prepared some food over there, intending to have it as dinner. When I realized you weren’t there, I came out to find you,” the man smoothly changed the subject. “You probably haven’t had dinner yet. The living needs food, right?”
Yan Shixun gave the man a sidelong glance. “I’ve been wanting to ask you this from before. Why do you always refer to me as the ‘living’? Are you dead?”
The man paused briefly, then calmly replied, “In my dialect, that’s how we address people. If you find it uncomfortable, I can use your preferred terms.”
“I’ve been to many provinces, and this is the first time I’ve heard of a dialect that calls people the ‘living’. Where is your hometown?”
Let me see which province you’re from that doesn’t respond to nine years of compulsory education?
“My hometown is a small place, you probably wouldn’t know it.”
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