Chapter 49 Tempt the Sky
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After Ban Qin left, Cheng Jiao-niang stood on the corridor.
Allowing a weak girl to enter the courtyard of the abbess, especially when she knew there was the man inside, was such a bold act.
According to common sense, with the deterrence of Cheng’s identity, the man wouldn’t dare to act rashly. However, unexpected things often happen in this world.
If time weren’t so pressing and she didn’t want to risk missing this opportunity, she wouldn’t have taken such a chance.
The night grew darker, and even the night wind seemed to have quieted down.
The maid trembled as she took the wine cup, tilted her head back, and drank in one gulp.
Laughter filled the room.
“My good sister, my good sister,” the abbess said with a wide smile.
The man beside her bowed deeply.
“Thank you for forgiving me,” he chuckled.
The maid set down the wine cup.
“I’m leaving,” she said with a trembling voice, turning to walk away.
The man’s face showed a hint of anxiety as he desperately signaled to the abbess.
Encountering this young lady at this moment, and having softened a bit with just a few words, how could he let her go so easily?
“Ban Qin,” the abbess reached out and grabbed the maid.
The maid trembled in fear.
“Oh my, are you… cold?” The abbess was startled by her reaction, asking, then glancing outside. “It’s quite hot today.”
“It’s getting chilly tonight,” the man quickly interjected, “perhaps you feel cold in your thin clothes.”
With that, he hurriedly fetched a cushion and poured another cup of wine.
“Please sit down quickly, warm yourself with another drink,” he urged warmly.
Looking at the hungry look in the man’s eyes, the abbess gritted her teeth inwardly, wishing she could kick the maid out with one swift motion. Yet, knowing she couldn’t, she only held onto her arm tightly.
The maid’s face turned pale.
“I… I have to go back,” she said.
“Go back? It’s still early,” the abbess chuckled.
The maid couldn’t help but bite her lip. Should she say it now, that sentence?
She glanced involuntarily towards the door.
“It’s going to rain soon. I need to go check on Miss,” she said in a trembling voice.
At these words, both the woman and the man paused momentarily, then burst into laughter.
“Rain? It’s perfectly fine weather…” the man laughed, but before his laughter could fade, a sudden thunderclap boomed, and the night sky tore open with a flash of lightning.
The two ladies inside the house screamed in fright, and the man was stunned, his ears ringing. It took him a while to recover as he heard the rolling thunder rumble away into the distance.
“My mistress is terrified of thunder. I have to go check on her,” the maid shouted, pulling away from the abbess and rushing out.
The abbess couldn’t stop her and hurriedly called for the young novices to gather the items drying outside.
The heavy raindrops had already begun to fall.
The maid ran back into the courtyard in one breath, feeling like her heart was about to jump out of her throat. She saw Cheng Jiao-niang standing under the corridor.
“Miss,” she couldn’t help but cry as she rushed over, unsure whether she felt joy or sadness in her heart.
It really was raining! It really was raining! Could it be that Miss could summon rain and wind?
Cheng Jiao-niang reached out and stopped her.
“It’s not over yet,” she said.
The maid stopped crying, lifted her head to look at her, and Cheng Jiao-niang handed her something.
A paper kite.
“Miss?” the maid asked, puzzled.
Outside, the rolling thunder continued one after another, and the raindrops grew heavier.
“Help me over there now,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
The maid gasped, her eyes widening.
“Miss, no,” she grabbed Cheng Jiao-niang’s hand and exclaimed.
If something were to happen, at least she could move freely and struggle, but Miss had no ability to resist at all.
“You’ll escort me there, then find an excuse to come out,” Cheng Jiao-niang continued.
The maid was utterly stunned.
“Don’t speak. There’s no time. The wind is about to pick up. Now, listen to me. Don’t think, don’t ask questions. Just remember what I’m about to say. Follow my instructions exactly, word by word, step by step, without any mistakes,” Cheng Jiao-niang didn’t give her a chance to cry again. She held the maid’s arm firmly and said slowly, “If we make even the slightest mistake, we’ll die.”
The maid trembled all over, tightly biting her lips, staring at her.
As the maid helped Cheng Jiao-niang into this courtyard, a strong wind suddenly rose, and the thunder grew more frequent.
“Abbess, my mistress is afraid of thunder, and this thunder is too fierce,” the maid said with a trembling voice.
Inside the house, the abbess and the man were both stunned, watching the maid who had gone and returned in disbelief. What was even more unexpected was that the fool had also come over.
In the flickering light of the thunder and lightning outside, Cheng Jiao-niang standing in the room seemed increasingly alluring, her presence elusive yet captivating.
“It’s always like this on here in this season. Don’t be afraid, it will be over soon,” the abbess hurriedly reassured, while busily inviting them to sit down.
The maid acknowledged and helped Cheng Jiao-niang sit on the cushion, but just as she was about to sit herself, she remembered something.
“Oh no, I forgot to close the windows and doors,” she said, turning around and rushing out.
Before the abbess could even instruct the young novices to do it, the maid had already disappeared from sight.
She started to get up but was stopped by the man.
“Tonight, keep an eye on that maid,” he said in a low voice, not bothering to hide it despite speaking quietly.
There was no need to hide something from a fool.
The abbess paused, noticing the man’s gaze, which had been lasciviously fixed on the fool sitting quietly on the side the whole time.
“You!” she couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows. “Didn’t I say it’s not possible now?”
“She’s practically delivered herself to us, and it’s still not possible? Am I still considered a man?” the man said impatiently, grabbing the woman. “In this thunderstorm, it’s practically a gift from heaven. If you keep saying no, you’re going to be struck by lightning.”
He stood up, moving towards Cheng Jiao-niang.
Cheng Jiao-niang suddenly stood up, startling the man into freezing in his tracks. The Chief Priestess also stopped, staring blankly as the fool walked to the window and with a slap, pushed it open. The wind, accompanied by rain, rushed in, causing the curtains to flutter wildly.
“Hey hey, don’t open the window!” the abbess hurriedly shouted.
“Fun,” Cheng Jiao-niang turned around, looking at her and said with a faint smile.
Under the oil lamp, this smile nearly caused the man to collapse. He reached out and stopped the abbess who was about to walk over.
“Okay, okay, let’s play,” he said tremblingly, shaking off the abbess’s hand and swallowing hard. He moved next to Cheng Jiao-niang and with a slap, pushed open the adjacent window.
Cheng Jiao-niang smiled again.
“Fun,” she said.
The man was overjoyed.
“Shall I take you to play?” he said with a trembling voice.
Cheng Jiao-niang looked at him and nodded.
The man was ecstatic. He looked around frantically, took a few steps to the door, and pushed it open with a rush.
The rain was pouring heavily now, and within moments, water had begun to pool on the ground.
The abbess gritted her teeth in frustration.
“Can’t you stop fooling around? It’s pouring outside,” she shouted, “Is this place still habitable?”
By now, the man was tentatively trying to hold Cheng Jiao-niang’s hand, his entire body tense.
“I didn’t ask you to stay, get out quickly and placate that maid,” he said hoarsely and irritably, swallowing hard. His gaze fell on Cheng Jiao-niang’s chest.
The woman was furious and wanted to kick the man to death, but rushed off so quickly that she nearly slipped on the wet ground.
With a couple of claps, accompanied by strong winds, two thick ropes hit the windows and the door, startling the two of them.
“The wind is so strong, it’s blown down the ropes they were using to repair the house over there,” the woman said.
The man looked outside and saw the ropes swaying in the wind, one of them swinging through the window into the room.
Cheng Jiao-niang stepped out.
“Hey, hey,” the man snapped out of his daze and hurriedly shouted, “don’t go out, it’s raining heavily and thundering.”
Cheng Jiao-niang had already taken several steps into the courtyard.
The rain poured down heavily, soaking Cheng Jiao-niang instantly, the water almost making it hard for her to breathe.
“Miss!” The maid’s voice could faintly be heard in the rain.
“Come in quickly,” the abbess heard it too, and squinted at the maid running towards the courtyard gate, calling urgently, “Quickly come inside, it’s dangerous outside with this heavy rain and thunder.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a thunderous explosion in the sky shook the house and the ground, trembling along with her body.
Her body was trembling?
Immediately after, a crackling sound spread through the house, and the woman instinctively turned around, seeing a fireball rising from the ground by the window.
“What’s happening?” the abbess screamed.
The man, who was about to rush into the rain to pull Cheng Jiao-niang back, also instinctively looked over.
At same time, from the foothills, cries also rang out from the Grand Xuan-miao Temple.
“Abbess, look! The Small Xuan-miao Temple has been struck by lightning!” Two nuns on night duty in the main hall looked outside, alarmed by the screams.
In the rainy night, halfway up the mountain, a flash of lightning seemed to descend straight from the sky, striking directly on the roof of the Small Xuan-miao Temple.
With a deafening roar, the lightning ball exploded. With a plop, plop, the two inside were already lying on the ground, completely charred.
One thunderclap after another followed in the sky, bursts of fire erupted on the roof of the temple, flames billowing up. The paper kite that had been fluttering and rustling on the iron rod of the roof was instantly set ablaze, falling down and merging with the burning building.
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