Yin Shou Shu

Chapter 239 Cat Temple

Guided by the life master's tablet, the three crawled through the mountains and forests.

The forest here is sparsely populated and has no roads. The terrain is rugged, and they can only climb and crawl through the bushes.

The dense canopy of trees blocked out the sky, with only a small amount of sunlight filtering through.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dead leaves, including slender pine needles and dense, withered leaves.

The occasional noise of the three passing by would startle the snakes and insects lurking in the leaves.

But we also passed through flat meadows covered with grass and wild fruits, and crossed several mountain streams.

After parting ways with the corpse-driving Taoist priest, the three never encountered any other living people.

They trudged through the forest with great difficulty, the rugged paths and the primitive, treacherous woodlands severely limiting their speed.

Fortunately, the guidance from the ruling tarot cards remained accurate.

After another difficult journey of more than an hour, all three of them were exhausted, covered in sweat, and their hands and feet were weak. Finally, they arrived at a pine forest with relatively flat terrain.

It wasn't the kind of straight, towering pine forest; the pine trees in this mountain were short, with crooked trunks and long, thin needle-like leaves.

The loess soil in the pine forest is barren, and no other plants can be seen.

The pine trees, crooked and twisted, are scattered across the flat yellow earth. Without the obstruction of shrubs, the view is extremely open.

They could see a building in the middle of the pine forest in the distance; it was clearly man-made.

The direction indicated by the Life Master card points to this low-rise building.

The three of them carefully walked forward and finally saw the entire building in the pine forest.

This is a stone house with a low roof from which many winding vines hang.

There was no door; the side facing Ran Qing and his group was completely open, without any walls, and the view inside was completely visible.

A huge stone-carved shrine stands deep inside the house.

The shrine houses a broken stone statue that looks like some kind of mountain beast.

"...The mountain god temple?" Mo Li asked, somewhat surprised.

However, in Zangke, mountain god worship is extremely rare, and there are very few mountain god temples in the mountains.

But this stone building is indeed some kind of temple, inside which a mountain beast is enshrined as a deity.

On the ground in front of the shrine, there is the ashes of a fire, which must have been left by someone who lit a fire here a long time ago.

The three walked to the front of the stone temple and saw that there were obvious square characters carved on the base of the shrine.

Although the characters were in traditional Chinese, all three of them recognized them, indicating that the stone temple was not very old.

Mo Li murmured, "In the eighth year of the Yongle reign, Long Tian'ao built a temple here..."

Mo Li looked at Zong Shu in surprise and laughed, "Zong Shu, your ancestors built it!"

The surname Long is very distinctive, and the Long clan in Zangke is of the same lineage.

Long Zongshu curiously took two steps forward and entered the stone temple, where he began to read carefully.

Ran Qing also read the inscription on the stone base and said, "Is this actually a cat being worshipped...?"

He looked at the broken stone statue of the mountain beast on the shrine with some surprise.

I thought it was a worship of some strange and evil lord, or perhaps some powerful mountain beast.

However, the inscription on the shrine indicates that a cat is enshrined here.

A tabby cat that can bring good fortune, ward off evil, and suppress malevolent spirits.

Ran Qing finished reading the inscription on the stone base, then looked at the empty stone temple, her expression somewhat puzzled.

"...Is that big tree here?"

The guidance of the Destiny Card pointed to this stone temple.

The terrifying giant tree I saw in my dream is located at the site of this stone temple.

But neither inside nor outside the temple can you see any towering trees.

The pine forest outside the stone temple was all extremely low. Ran Qing walked out of the stone temple, climbed up a pine tree to the top, and leaned half his body out of the sea of ​​trees. His view suddenly opened up.

The afternoon sun shone on his face, and a refreshing breeze swept across the sea of ​​trees, rustling the pine needles.

The distant mountains, the remote Zangke River, the towering peaks, and the streams cascading down the cliffs... all these magnificent scenes came into view, and Ran Qing felt refreshed and invigorated.

The scenery here is absolutely stunning.

But... there are no giant trees!

Not to mention this vast, flat pine forest, looking beyond the pine forest into the distance, between two mountain ranges that meander like creeping dragons, the dense forest is of varying heights, yet not a single towering tree can be seen.

Ran Qing carefully climbed down from the pine tree and said, "I can't see the giant tree..."

This result is disheartening.

But he wasn't very surprised.

As discussed before, if there were such a towering tree near Laowang Mountain, it would be impossible for him, as a local, not to know about it.

If this towering tree truly exists, it must possess some extraordinary or unique characteristics.

Mo Li looked at the stone temple in front of him and said, "Perhaps we'll have to wait until dark to see that giant tree? Or perhaps we'll have to use some other method to see it, just like how the human eye can't see ghosts..."

Mo Li guessed this way.

The three rested for a while, drank some water, and had a brief discussion.

They ultimately decided to return to the village first.

Anyway, they only came to scout ahead this time, and didn't intend to catch the ghost immediately after finding it.

At this point, Ran Qing no longer needed to worry about the human-faced demon, and catching the ghost was no longer so urgent.

They didn't even bring the paper figures with them this time.

The four paper figures stayed in the old house to guard it. The original plan was to scout the way, go back and rest well, and then bring the paper figures back in the middle of the night to catch the ghost.

But after encountering the corpse-driving Taoist priest on the road, Ran Qing suddenly changed her plans.

"Let's go back to the village and rest for two days to observe the situation."

The corpse-driving Taoist priest came to the mountains to find the tomb of the ancient Miao king, and Ran Jianfei was also searching for something, and was very likely also looking for the tomb of the ancient Miao king.

So, besides these two, will there be other people from unorthodox sects or esoteric practices coming to Lao Wang Mountain?
Ran Qing's intuition told him that the huge, towering tree might be related to the ancient Miao king's tomb in Lao Wang Mountain.

Perhaps we should wait and see.

The three of them returned the way they came, and the journey back was much easier.

When we arrived, we didn't know our destination, and the journey always felt long and hopeless.

When we returned, we were confident and knew the distance.

The three of them talked and walked around, appearing relaxed and carefree, as if they were on a picnic.

By the time they left the woods and returned to the village at the foot of Laowang Mountain, the sun had already set.

There's still a big grass carp in the old house, and Ran Qing plans to make braised fish again tonight.

But as soon as the three of them returned to the door of the old house, they saw that the four paper figures had left the door and were scattered in the yard, looking rather disheveled.

Ran Qing frowned slightly upon seeing this scene.

Before he left, he ordered the four paper figures not to move around, as theoretically these paper figures wouldn't run away randomly.

Could it be that Ran Jianfei has returned?

Ran Qing walked to the door of the old house with a gloomy expression, ready to face her father.

But when Ran Qing reached the door, she didn't see that annoying man.

What he saw was a blood-red wooden door...

—The two wooden doors of the tiled house, the one on the right has turned blood red, and the style of the door has also changed.

The eerie red door that had appeared on Longchang Street before had actually appeared on Ran Qing's old house, replacing his original door!

(End of this chapter)