stjorthotic Chapter 29 Divine Punishment!
Chapter 29 Divine Punishment!
"Well?!"
Wang Laoshuan's sinister smile froze on his face, and his hand holding the iron needle froze in mid-air.
A chill, a thousand times colder than the night wind outside the temple, instantly crept up his tailbone and spread throughout his body.
Wang Laoshuan looked down in fear at the spot where he was kneeling.
The once dry and solid blue brick ground beneath our feet, covered in dust, was now strangely seeping out countless clear, cold water droplets!
The water droplets didn't flow in from the cracks in the door; they seeped out directly from every pore and crack in the brickwork, quickly gathering and forming a small, spreading, wet puddle around his knees in the blink of an eye!
The earthy smell, carrying the aquatic tang, suddenly intensified in the air, mixed with a faint, chilling pressure that seemed to freeze the very soul—exactly the same vast aura belonging to the Dragon God that I had felt by the river that day!
"No! Impossible!"
Wang Laoshuan's throat was gurgling, and his eyes bulged out of extreme fear. He tried to move, but found that his legs were as if nailed to the cold, slippery floor tiles, and he could not move at all.
However, something even more terrifying happened next.
"Crunch! Squeak! Crack!"
A slow, dull, teeth-grinding grinding sound, accompanied by a subtle crackling sound like wood fibers snapping, came from directly in front.
Like a rusty puppet, Wang Laoshuan slowly and laboriously raised his stiff neck to look at the statue of the local earth god.
Under the flickering light of the oil lamp, the clay statue that had been served for decades, which, though never manifesting any power, represented the entire meaning of his existence and his spiritual sustenance, was slowly and irreversibly tilting to the left!
Dust and debris fell from the base of the statue, and the blurred face, tilted, exuded an eerie aura.
The angle of tilt is not large, but it completely overturned its stable posture of decades, as if a silent giant had finally succumbed to the burden and showed signs of decay.
"The Earth God?"
Wang Laoshuan lost his voice, his voice so faint it was like a mosquito's buzz. His last line of defense crumbled completely under the double blow of the inexplicable water seepage in the floor tiles and the unexplained tilting of the statue.
This is no coincidence!
This could not possibly be a coincidence!
It's it!
It's that dragon god on the other side of the river!
It noticed! It knew everything!
The water seepage of the floor tiles is its supreme ability to control the water flow!
The statue's slight tilt is its most direct and contemptuous warning and mockery of itself and the orthodox clay sculpture tradition.
I am just a laughable and lowly insect, relying on the local earth god. In front of the dragon god, I don't even have the right to stand up straight!
Wang Laoshuan found himself instantly engulfed by an endless, icy sea of fear.
In the darkness, a pair of enormous, cold, and merciless golden vertical pupils slowly opened, crossing the Qinghe River and piercing through the temple walls, staring emotionlessly at this trembling ant.
The immense pressure, like a tangible tide, surged up from the cold puddles beneath my feet, seeping into my bones and freezing my soul.
"ah!!!"
"Spare me! Lord Dragon God, spare me!!!"
Wang Laoshuan let out a heart-wrenching, inhuman scream, the rusty needle in his hand and the filthy straw figure in front of him long since lost.
Wang Laoshuan suddenly curled back, his back slamming against the cold wall with a thud, but he felt no pain. He just desperately tried to shrink himself into the shadows, as if that would allow him to escape the invisible gaze.
Wang Laoshuan collapsed onto the cold, damp floor tiles, his body convulsing violently, tears and snot streaming down his face, smearing the front of his Taoist robe with saliva and uncontrollable incontinence.
Wang Laoshuan kowtowed desperately to the air, to the tilted earth god statue, and even to the terrifying presence he sensed on the other side of the river. His forehead slammed against the cold, damp ground with a dull thud, and soon became bruised and swollen.
"I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"
"I was blind and ignorant, and offended your divine power! I beg the Dragon God for mercy!"
"Spare my life! I'll be your slave!"
"I'll never do it again! I'll never do it again! Ahhh!"
Wang Laoshuan's mournful pleas echoed through the empty, dilapidated temple, mingling with the sobbing night wind and rustling bamboo leaves outside the window, creating a chilling atmosphere.
For Wang Laoshuan, that night was an inescapable hell.
The water stains on the floor tiles receded quietly before dawn, leaving only dark, damp marks and a lingering, fishy smell.
The tilted statue did not fall; it remained standing silently at an eerie angle.
The first pale rays of dawn shone into the temple gate. Early-rising villagers found the gate ajar and went inside to check. They saw Wang Laoshuan slumped like a rag doll under the statue, his Taoist robe filthy, his eyes vacant and lifeless, his cheeks burning red, his body as hot as a burning coal, and all that could be heard from his mouth were unconscious, broken groans and muttered pleas for mercy.
The first rays of dawn break.
The sky was just before dawn.
The first to notice something amiss was Li Ergou, who lived not far from the local earth god temple. He was an early riser and was carrying a wooden bucket to fetch water from the old well at the village entrance when he noticed something was wrong as he passed the earth god temple.
Normally, the temple gates are always tightly closed at this time, and the temple keeper usually doesn't open them until the sun is high in the sky to sweep and clean. But today, the two dilapidated wooden doors are ajar, revealing a dark, gaping crack inside.
Li Ergou's heart skipped a beat. He slowed his pace and approached suspiciously.
An indescribable stench, a mixture of musty, fishy, and the rancid smell of excrement, wafted out from under the door.
Li Ergou hesitated for a moment, but still mustered his courage and gently pushed open the door.
"Temple Keeper Wang? Are you there? Why is the door open?"
The moment Li Ergou saw the scene inside the temple, an invisible hand gripped his throat, and his voice abruptly stopped.
Sunlight streamed in through the open temple doors and broken windows, revealing a chilling scene clearly:
The temple keeper, Wang Laoshuan, collapsed like a completely melted lump of mud onto the cold floor tiles in front of the offering table.
The Taoist robe, which was usually washed and kept fairly clean, was now filthy and covered with dark red stains.
Yellowish-white filth and blackish-gray dust clung tightly to the emaciated body, curled up like a shrimp.
His eyes were wide open, cloudy, and empty, staring blankly at the tilted earth god statue. His cheeks were flushed an abnormally, and his lips were dry, cracked, and slightly parted, emitting incomprehensible, broken "hoarse" sounds and occasional murmurs of "have mercy."
Most notably, there was a dark purple bruise in the center of his forehead, which was swollen and even broken and bleeding, indicating that he had experienced a severe impact.
The ground around where he collapsed, though the water stains had receded, still bore a large patch of water marks that were noticeably darker than the surrounding area and had irregular edges. The damp, earthy smell and faint fishy odor in the air were still noticeable.
Is the temple keeper Wang possessed by an evil spirit?
Or did he/she suddenly fall ill?
Where did these strange watermarks come from?
Why is the statue of the Earth God tilted?
Li Ergou gasped, took two steps back, almost tripped over the threshold, his heart pounded, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
"Help! Help! Something's happened! The temple keeper is in trouble!"
Li Ergou shouted at the top of his lungs in terror.