Chapter 2

Qingfeng Town is located in the southwestern part of China, at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain. It is nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with beautiful scenery. Since ancient times, feng shui masters have highly praised this place.

Today, Qingfeng Town is sunny and cloudless, with a clear blue sky that seems like a piece of exquisite aquamarine, radiating a silent beauty.

The back mountain of Qingcheng is picturesque, with clear water and lush mountains. However, in such a beautiful environment, something unpleasant is happening by the river, even spoiling the scenery.

"Kid, keep being stubborn."

"Beat you, you little bastard."

Several young men surrounded a boy who was curled up on the ground, protecting his head with his hands, and fiercely attacked him.

After a long time, the boy on the ground stopped moving, and the men who were beating him stopped swinging their legs.

"Brother Hu, is this kid dead?"

A man in a floral shirt trembled as he spoke to the man who seemed to be the leader.

"Don't worry, this kid is tough, he won't die."

The burly man called Brother Hu said in a gruff voice.

"Lin Tian, you're lucky today. We have something to do. Next time, if you don't pay the protection fee, it won't just be a few punches and kicks."

Brother Hu spat at Lin Tian and said fiercely.

"Let's go." With that, he waved his hand and led his gang away.

A moment later, Lin Tian, who was lying on the ground, pushed himself up with his hands, looked at the group that had already gone far, and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Scumbags, when I make it big, I'll be the first to get rid of you."

He patted the dust off his clothes and limped toward the water.

"Getting beaten up like this again, how am I going to explain it to my mom when I get home?"

Lin Tian looked at his bruised and swollen face in the water and said bitterly.

His name is Lin Tian, and he is from the back village of Qingfeng Town. Since he was admitted to the first high school in Qingfeng Town with excellent grades, his family has been proud of him. The first two years of school were fine, but in the third year, he somehow caught the attention of a group led by Huang Mao.

They would intercept him every day to collect protection fees. As a child from a mountain village, he only had a few dozen yuan for food each month, and he had no extra money to pay.

He had to go home every weekend near the end of the month to get his food allowance. Today was the day he was supposed to go home, but he didn't expect to be caught by Hu Zi and his gang halfway, and was beaten and threatened again.

Lin Tian washed his face and looked at the bruises on his face, muttering.

"Should I wait until next month to go home? But if I don't go home today, I'll run out of food."

"Whatever, if Mom asks, I'll just say it rained and the mountain path was too slippery, and I fell."

Lin Tian splashed water on his face and got up, heading toward the back village.

The aftereffects of the beating hadn't fully set in, but now, as he climbed the winding mountain path, he could feel the bone-deep pain. Clenching his teeth, he slowly made his way toward the back village.

A thunderclap split the sky, appearing at the horizon with a deafening sound, showcasing its grandeur to the world.

"Lord, are you joking with me?"

"You make it rain as soon as I say it will, that's too much."

Lin Tian looked at the darkening sky and said bitterly. It had been sunny and cloudless just a moment ago.

In an instant, dark clouds covered the sky, and thunder and lightning filled the air.

Looking at a dilapidated ancient temple not far away, Lin Tian muttered to himself.

"Should I go in to take shelter, or brave the rain and keep going?"

But the strange stories about the ancient temple that the village elders told him when he was a child made his face pale.

No one knew how long the ancient temple had existed. The old man Zhang, who told him the story, claimed to have seen it with his own eyes.

When the Japanese invaded, the entire country was engulfed in war, but the back village remained untouched, largely due to this ancient temple.

When the Japanese swept through Qingfeng Town, they discovered the village in the back mountain of Qingcheng. However, to enter the village, they had to pass through the narrow mountain path.

One day, about a hundred Japanese soldiers with rifles and artillery tried to raid the back village. They were spotted by Old Zhang, who was on his way to resupply the town. At the time, Old Zhang thought about going back to warn the villagers to hide.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew, and the sky turned dark. The wind howled, and a faint, piercing sound, like bones hitting the ground, could be heard.

The Japanese soldiers seemed to hear this sound and looked around nervously, as if they were facing a great enemy.

Old Zhang, hiding on the mountain slope, witnessed a terrifying scene that he would never forget.

Severely decayed corpses, some reduced to skeletons, slowly emerged from the dilapidated ancient temple and lurched toward the nearest Japanese soldiers.

This scene frightened Old Zhang so much that he told everyone about it.

Many brave villagers even came to see for themselves, but there was nothing unusual. There were no ghosts or even Japanese corpses, just as usual.

From then on, whenever Old Zhang mentioned this, the villagers thought he was making it up.

Now, Lin Tian looked at the lightning and thunder in the sky and the eerie ancient temple, and said softly, "I, Lin Tian, was born in the new China and grew up under the red flag. I won't believe in these made-up superstitions."

With that, he touched his bruised eye, swallowed hard, and slowly approached the ancient temple.

The ancient temple was in ruins, but the sign above the entrance still clearly read "Nothing is Overlooked."

Lin Tian stared at it for a long time, not understanding its meaning. He thought about the temples he had seen in stories like "Journey to the West," which usually had names like "Taiqing Palace."

He couldn't figure it out, but the heavy rain outside forced him to take shelter.

Inside the ancient temple, covered in thick layers of dust, large spider webs were everywhere, and rats scurried around when they saw someone enter.

Lin Tian looked at everything and felt a chill run down his spine, his skin breaking out in goosebumps.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning illuminated the statue at the top of the temple.

The statue, with a bun on its head, its left hand stroking its beard, and its right hand holding a round object, looked at Lin Tian with a peculiar expression.

After the lightning, the temple returned to darkness, but the sound of teeth chattering could be heard.

Lin Tian deeply regretted coming here to take shelter. Even getting drenched in the rain would have been better. The strange look the statue gave him made his scalp tingle, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he saw the statue's lips move slightly.

After a while, his trembling body slowly calmed down.

Lin Tian, driven by his atheism, mustered the courage to approach the statue to confirm whether what he saw was an illusion.

The temple was not large, and it was only a few steps from the entrance to the statue. Normally, it would have taken just a few steps, but Lin Tian took several minutes, showing how nervous he was.

In the darkness, Lin Tian could vaguely see the outline of the statue's face.

Just as he reached the base of the statue, a stronger bolt of lightning illuminated the entire temple.

Lin Tian clearly saw the statue, which had been looking at him with a strange expression when he entered, now staring at him with a slight smile.

Yes, a slight smile.

This smile was too much for Lin Tian, who, driven by his atheism, fainted.

His head hit the statue's right hand, and a drop of blood splattered onto the mysterious round object in the statue's hand.

Unconscious, Lin Tian didn't notice a golden light rising from the statue's crown, floating toward him, and then disappearing into his body.

The ancient temple returned to its usual tranquility, with only the occasional thunder and the sound of heavy rain outside.