Chapter 49

The statue held a colorful stone in its left hand, clearly depicting Nüwa, the goddess. The colorful stone referred to Nüwa's feat of mending the sky, distinguishing it from her creation of humanity. This statue could also be called the "Sky-Mender Nüwa," similar to the distinctions between the Child-Giving Guanyin, the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, and the Fish-Basket Guanyin.

Above the statue's head hung an old plaque inscribed with the four characters "Sky-Mender Goddess." On either side of the columns was a couplet praising Nüwa's feat of mending the sky. The characters were somewhat blurred, and Xu Mo did not examine them closely.

Luo Ci whispered in Xu Mo's ear, "Big Brother Xu, this deity is Nüwa."

Xu Mo responded with a "hmm," but in his heart, he thought, "Could the beautiful face in the Book of Enlightenment refer to this statue? What's wrong with this statue?"

Unable to resist, he stepped forward to inspect the statue, tapping it with his hand. The statue emitted a "ding ding" sound, indicating it was made of metal. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a corner of the statue's base where the paint had chipped off, revealing the raw material.

Xu Mo leaned in for a closer look and found that the statue was made of pure brass, which surprised him even more. Brass was not cheap, and for a brass statue to remain intact in this remote mountain area was indeed a remarkable thing.

He stepped back and looked around again. The hall was spacious, with only the statue of the Sky-Mender Nüwa on the central stone platform and a stone incense burner in front of it. The incense burner contained some ash, remnants from incense burned by pilgrims long ago.

Apart from these, there was nothing else, not even the curtains that once adorned the statue. Thus, the entire hall was clearly visible at a glance.

On the left side was a small side door leading to the courtyard.

Zhou Huaiyong waved his hand, and the Guang brothers placed their travel bag on the ground, unzipped it, and pulled out a long travel bag. Inside were four melon knives, each about half a meter long. Zhou Huaiyong and the three students each took one.

He then glanced at Xu Mo and Luo Ci and instructed, "We'll go inside to check. You two stay outside and guard the things."

Xu Mo, who had finally made it here, was unwilling to stay outside. Just as he was about to speak, Luo Ci interjected, "Uncle, we want to go in too."

Zhou Huaiyong glared at her, displeased, and said, "If we encounter bad people, we can't afford to protect you."

Luo Ci countered, "We could encounter bad people here too."

Guang Liang interjected, "If you see anyone, just shout loudly. We'll come to your rescue as soon as we hear you."

Guang Jing added, "If bad people sneak up, they might not have time to call out." He demonstrated a chopping gesture with his left hand, explaining, "Like this, if they have training, a strong chop on their neck will knock them out instantly."

"Fine, fine," Zhou Huaiyong, being short-tempered, agreed reluctantly, "You can come in. There are daggers in the bag; each of you take one for self-defense. If we encounter enemies, you won't need to fight; just protect yourselves and don't cause us any trouble." He paused and added, "Carry the bag and follow us. There's food and supplies inside; don't get lost or lose the bag."

Xu Mo didn't speak, but Luo Ci nodded in agreement.

Guang Liang took out two daggers from the long travel bag and gave one to each of them. Xu Mo took the opportunity to glance inside the bag, which contained not only melon knives and daggers but also nunchucks, hammers, long-handled axes, and brass knuckles.

After distributing the weapons, Guang Liang put the long travel bag back into the larger travel bag and handed it to Xu Mo and Luo Ci to carry. Zhou Huaiyong called out, "Let's go," and the group proceeded through the side door into the courtyard.

Beyond the side door was another wall, creating a corridor about five to six meters wide. Along the inner courtyard wall were rows of old mulberry trees.

There were paths to the left and right. Zhou Huaiyong looked both ways and then waved his hand to the right, leading the way.

Xu Mo looked down at the ground, which was covered with a thick layer of mulberry leaves. The walls on both sides were overgrown with weeds, and the leaves obscured the ground, making it impossible to see any footprints. However, he had a vague feeling that something was amiss, though he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

He wanted to warn Zhou Huaiyong and the others but hesitated, thinking they were so confident that they wouldn't listen, and might even mock him. So he decided not to say anything.

They walked for several dozen meters before reaching a door. The door, located between two mulberry trees, was a heavy black-painted wooden door, about two meters wide.

Upon reaching the door, Zhou Huaiyong became more cautious. He peered through the door crack into the courtyard and, finding nothing suspicious, pushed the door open.

The door was slightly ajar and creaked open with a "squeak." Zhou Huaiyong waved his hand, leading the three students into the courtyard.

Xu Mo and Luo Ci followed, carrying the travel bag. They looked into the courtyard, which was filled with weeds taller than a person. In the depths of the weeds, they could see a more magnificent hall, with buildings on both sides. The left side was mostly collapsed, with clear signs of fire damage.

Looking to the left, they saw another gate on the opposite side of the courtyard, about a hundred meters away, symmetrical to the gate they had just passed.

A stone path ran through the weeds, connecting the hall and the gate. However, the path was overgrown with weeds, and the ground, which had been washed clean by rain two days ago, showed no footprints.

Zhou Huaiyong and his three students had already walked toward the hall, and Xu Mo and Luo Ci followed closely behind.

Xu Mo looked around the weeds, which swayed in the wind, but saw no abnormalities. However, his feeling of unease grew stronger, and he became increasingly uneasy.

"Little Sakura, don't be afraid! Don't be afraid!" Luo Ci's voice came, comforting the parrot.

Xu Mo looked at Luo Ci's shoulder and saw the parrot moving restlessly, flapping its wings several times but stopping, clearly feeling uneasy.

Could there be some terrifying wild animal in the courtyard?

Xu Mo thought, but then saw that Zhou Huaiyong and the three students had already walked far ahead. Guang Liang turned back and gestured for them to hurry up.

Xu Mo and Luo Ci stopped thinking and quickly caught up.

When they reached the hall, it was about seven to eight meters high, supported by several large red pillars. The main door had a plaque inscribed with "Creator Goddess." The statue inside was completely different from the one in the outer hall.

To be precise, the body was similar, but the face was entirely different. It was no longer the beautiful face Xu Mo had seen in the Book of Enlightenment, but an ordinary face, even without the snake-like braids on the head, almost indistinguishable from a normal person's face.

The statue's right hand held a small figure, symbolizing Nüwa's feat of creating humanity. The statue was clearly made of stone, with only a layer of white plaster on the surface.

None of the others noticed the statue's problem, or perhaps they did but didn't pay attention.

Zhou Huaiyong led the group into the hall. The windows were covered, making the hall dark and cold. Luo Ci shivered as soon as she entered.

On both sides of the hall hung curtains, covered in dust. Zhou Huaiyong used a melon knife to lift the curtains, and dust fell on him.

"Ugh!" Zhou Huaiyong spat a few times, retreating. Clearly, some dust had fallen into his mouth.

An Jing walked up and helped him brush off the dust.

Zhou Huaiyong then signaled to Guang Liang to check the curtains on the other side. Guang Liang, though reluctant, went over and found nothing behind the curtains.

The group left the hall and checked the buildings on both sides. The doors were open, but the rooms contained only miscellaneous items.

They didn't give up and circled around the buildings to the back of the hall. There was another stone path leading to a back door, which was made of iron and locked with