Torrential rain poured down as thunder rumbled across the sky. Next door, a child playing under the corridor was yanked back inside by his mother, who scolded loudly, “It’s thundering outside—don’t stand under trees, and don’t stand in open spaces. Don’t you know that?”
Of course Qiu Chuying knew—but he no longer had the chance to act on that knowledge.
Bolt after bolt of lightning struck down on him. All he had time to see was the pair of cold, indifferent eyes of Qi Yuan inside the small room.
Then he completely lost consciousness.
Thunder still rolled endlessly across the heavens. Qi Yuan watched as broken roof tiles clattered and tumbled down. She cast one last glance at Qiu Chuying’s stiffened body, slowly pulled the corners of her lips into a faint smirk, and turned to descend the stairs without a trace of reluctance.
When the rain finally stopped, a shop assistant from the bookstore next door stepped out to retrieve some items left in the corridor. In a single glance, he saw a charred body lying atop the roof of the Huang Daxin Temple and let out a scream, “Someone’s dead! Someone was struck dead by lightning!”
The entire alley was instantly thrown into an uproar.
Everyone began to speculate aloud:
“How could he get struck just like that?”
“He must’ve done something terrible. Otherwise, why would Heaven strike him and no one else?”
People loved a spectacle—especially one like this.
A Taoist priest, who claimed to be on the path to immortality, struck dead by a bolt of heavenly thunder.
What did that say?
It said he must’ve done something to enrage the heavens. This was divine punishment!
Officials from Shuntian Prefecture soon arrived. Even the government officers found this kind of death unsettling.
When the coroner examined the body, the yamen runners all stood far away, covering their noses and mouths.
After the examination, the coroner stood up and reported, “There’s bleeding from the mouth and nose, a blackened face, and scorched hair… This man was indeed struck to death by lightning.”
With a boom, the crowd erupted in shock.
“He was really struck by lightning?! What did that Taoist priest do?”
“Well, definitely nothing good. Even Heaven couldn’t bear to watch—what kind of decent person could he be?”
Just then, someone looked up and suddenly screamed in terror, “Oh no! Huang Daxin! The statue of Huang Daxin is crying blood!”
Everyone finally reacted and instinctively looked up.
There they saw the statue of Huang Daxin on the altar slowly shedding two lines of blood tears.
It was real!
Heavenly thunder striking a man dead, a divine statue crying blood—what horrendous thing had Qiu Chuying done to incur such divine wrath?
A chill ran through the crowd. Maybe there was something unclean about this temple to cause such a disaster.
Even the Shuntian Prefecture officials were stunned by the scene.
Only later, when people felt something was off, did they move the statue of Huang Daxin. Underneath it, they discovered a hidden passage.
This revelation shocked everyone present.
The crowd surged forward, pushing and shoving to get a closer look.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the yamen officers brought out numerous human remains from the secret passage.
Everyone was struck dumb by the sight.
No wonder Heaven struck Daoist Qiu and no one else!
This place wasn’t a temple—it was a den of vengeful spirits!
News of what had happened spread quickly, and more and more onlookers arrived, surrounding the Huang Daxin Temple so densely it was impenetrable.
Hidden in the crowd, Baizhi hurled a stone she had prepared with a loud smack and spat, “Demonic priest! Heaven’s wrath upon you!”
The people, always quick to rise against injustice, followed suit. Some still didn’t understand what had happened, but many more joined in the shouting and cursing: “Demonic priest! May you die without peace!”
The Shuntian officials were drenched in cold sweat.
Once all the remains had been cleared out, they even carried out a whole chest of gold.
The crowd grew even more enraged.
Qi Yuan glanced at Baizhi, who was cursing with visible fury beside her. She gave a small smirk, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Alright, let’s go.”
Even after leaving the alley, Baizhi was still fuming. She couldn’t help but say, “Miss, that man was vile! A Daoist priest who killed so many!”
Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow. “Exactly. That’s why he got struck by lightning. Heaven’s justice never misses. There are gods three feet above your head—he got what he deserved.”
Didn’t Li Changqing call her a monster?
Then what about Qiu Chuying, who killed so many, seized the temple for himself, and impersonated the disciple of the original Daoist priest of the Huang Daxin Temple?
Soon, word of someone being struck dead by lightning spread throughout the city.
By the time Qi Yuan got home, even the Old Marquis Qi and Old Madam Qi had heard about it.
After all, lightning striking a man—a priest no less—and a bleeding divine statue, was as dramatic as any opera or novel. How could anyone resist talking about it?
But what concerned them wasn’t the miraculous details.
What they cared about was that Qi Yuan had returned—and specifically brought Baizhi with her.
Did that incident have something to do with Qi Yuan?
It wasn’t that they suspected Qi Yuan of murder just because someone died.
But she had just said she was going to “collect some interest,” and then a priest died—one who was being called a demonic priest.
Considering that Li Changqing had called Qi Yuan a reincarnated harbinger of disaster, they couldn’t help but suspect some connection. Otherwise, how could the timing be that coincidental?
But if she had killed him, how did he end up struck by lightning?
Could Qi Yuan… really control lightning?
Qi Zhen was so anxious he was nearly pacing in circles. He wished he could go out and get the details himself.
Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long—Qi Yuan returned.
He couldn’t hold back and immediately asked, “Ah Yuan, about what happened at the Huang Daxin Temple…”
Qi Yuan raised her brow and answered bluntly, “I killed him.”
…
Qi Zhen let out a breath of relief.
Somehow, it made sense if it was Qi Yuan. That felt… normal.
After all, she was Qi Yuan—her methods of killing were always wildly unpredictable.
But using lightning? That was unheard of.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Yuan, how did you get lightning to strike him?”
The entire city was in an uproar—clearly, it had to do with the thunder.
Any other method of killing wouldn’t have been so dramatic, so famous.
He was sure Qi Yuan had planned it.
Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow and said bluntly, “Took a gamble. The lightning was that strong, I just put him on the roof and waited to see if he’d get hit.”
…
Qi Zhen didn’t quite know how to react.
The old Marquis coughed. “Ah Yuan, the ‘interest’ you said you were going to collect—was that the interest?”
