Who are you calling a stable boy?!

Fortunately, Deng Ai clearly saw through their thoughts and handed over her remaining portion to the two of them.

They shared the food, and after a few bites, the two, who had regained their energy just like Liu Wen, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Tang Mou, however, stared at the monkey wine in the pot, remained silent for a moment, and then closed the lid.

"Let's continue! Let's go all the way to the Golden Summit!"

Liu Wen waved excitedly.

"Old Zheng, wanna come along?"

Tang Mou looked at Zheng Jing and asked.

Zheng Jing nodded.

"Okay."

The group of six continued their climb under the cover of night. Along the way, Zhang Congcong, a talkative person, would frequently ask Zheng Jing questions, such as his age, hometown, and where he bought his gold contact lenses. She was both beautiful and lively.

Zheng Jing was happy to chime in, but he would occasionally glance at Deng Ai, who remained silent.

In this lively and bustling atmosphere, before sunrise, everyone passed the golden plaque of Huazang World and arrived at the Golden Summit.

Beneath the slightly pale sky stands a golden statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

By this time, there were already quite a few tourists coming up from Leidongping. In order to find a good spot to take pictures at sunrise, Zhang Congcong cheered and pulled Deng Ai to run towards the stone railing, with Chen Tao and Liu Wen following closely behind.

While interacting with everyone in the live stream, watching the barrage of "6"s and occasional "awesome" comments, Tang Mou seemed a little distracted.

He glanced furtively at Zheng Jing, who was walking toward the statue of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

Gazing at Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Zheng Jing's golden eyes flickered with firelight.

After staring at him silently for a few seconds, Zheng Jing blinked.

An outstanding sculpture.

That's it.

It's a bit of a shame, but it was also expected.

Zheng Jing didn't go to the stone railing area to get involved; he simply sat down cross-legged on the spot.

It drizzled a little last night, and the stone path on the Golden Summit is unusually cold at this time.

But Zheng Jing was completely unaware. He simply sat on the prayer mat in the main hall of his old temple as usual, closed his eyes, and adopted a somewhat languid posture.

It resembled an old ape covered in frost and snow, squatting down.

Looking at that figure from afar, Tang Mou, who had already squeezed to the stone railing, hesitated for a long time before making a decision.

He was about to shut down the live stream when, taking advantage of the moment when everyone's attention was not on the Bodhisattva statue, he went over to talk to Zheng Jing. Suddenly, the already considerable commotion on the stone railing side grew louder.

The sun has risen.

As the first rays of sunlight broke through the clouds, the sea of ​​clouds seemed to be stirred up by countless awakening golden scales. Suddenly, a crimson and purple crack appeared on the horizon, and from within it, the sun, like a precious wheel forged from pure gold, leaped out.

In an instant, brilliant golden light, like a shower of jewels, enveloped the majestic image of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva.

Golden body radiating auspicious light, jade elephant wrapped in glass.

At that moment, the radiance between the Bodhisattva's brows seemed to merge with the rising sun, transforming into an invisible rainbow that enveloped the only seated figure at the Bodhisattva's feet—

Zheng Jing suddenly opened his eyes.

—At the same time, Deng Ai nimbly leaped over the stone railing, ran over the slightly steep mountain wall outside the railing, and jumped down into the forest below that connected with the sea of ​​clouds.

In that instant, faster than the screams of terror, Zheng Jing caught up with Deng Ai and jumped over the stone railing at some unknown time!

With one hand grabbing Deng Ai and hoisting her onto his shoulder, Zheng Jing turned around and, with his feet almost perpendicular to the mountain wall, leaped forward, the clouds seeming to gather and disperse into lotus flowers beneath his feet.

For Deng Ai, after a brief jolt, she was suddenly thrown onto the cold, hard road at the Golden Summit.

With a dazed expression, she looked up at the man standing in front of her.

As the rosy light descended from the golden body of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, she vaguely saw what appeared to be a head on Zheng Jing's right shoulder—

"Boom!"

The ancient bell on the golden roof rang once again.

The sound of the bell seemed to completely awaken Deng Ai.

In her eyes, the man bathed in the glow of the rising sun became real again.

"girl."

Squatting down, Zheng Jing looked at Deng Ai, who still had her usual playful smile.

Why bother?

Zheng Jing was met with a commotion among the crowd atop the Golden Summit and the girl's wailing, like a burst dam.

268: Nightmare's Curse

Seeing that many tourists were starting to come over from the stone railing, and some were even pointing their phone cameras at them to take pictures, Zheng Jing reached out and pulled up the hood of Deng Ai's down jacket to cover the girl's face.

"Miss, please forgive me."

Zheng Jing picked up the still-crying Deng Ai and quickly walked down from the Golden Summit.

Just then, the staff, who had been drawn by the commotion, stopped the passengers and began to maintain order in the crowd, saving Zheng Jing some trouble, as he didn't have to run all the way out of the Huazang World to find peace and quiet.

Zheng Jing found a stone bench and put Deng Ai down.

"Young lady, judging from your clothes and appearance, you come from a well-off family. You must have suffered a great injustice."

Squatting down next to Deng Ai, Zheng Jing said, "Come on, tell me what's going on."

Sobbing, Deng Ai opened her mouth, about to speak, but then, as if remembering something, she closed her eyes and turned her face away: "Thank you for saving me, but telling you my story... is useless..."

"Oh, good girl, tell me!"

Seeing Deng Ai turn her face away, Zheng Jing also took two steps in that direction: "Maybe I can help you? Hmm?"

"...Are you...are you the monk from the temple on this mountain?"

After recovering a bit, Deng Ai seemed to realize that Zheng Jing must have something extraordinary about him to have been able to pull her back from the air.

Zheng Jing waved his hand, meeting Deng Ai's eyes which were faintly filled with hope.

"It's not from this mountain."

Upon hearing this, Deng Ai lowered her eyelids, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke again.

It turns out that she was also from Liquan City, and she went to university in Yuzhou City.

Her parents moved from Taiwan to Liquan City to do business before she was born, and after she was born, they simply settled down in Liquan City.

Although she was born and raised in Liquan, Deng Ai still often goes to visit her grandparents in her hometown in Taiwan during holidays.

My maternal grandparents' side is fine, but my paternal grandparents live in a village in the mountains, a place that can't even be considered a small county town.

So when Deng Ai was little, she was always afraid to go with her parents to see her grandparents, because the place was too remote, and they might not even be able to watch the Spring Festival Gala live during the Chinese New Year.

Now that she's older, and with her father and uncles having spent a lot of money on repairs to the village over the years, going back to her hometown isn't as troublesome for her as it was when she was a child.

...But Deng Ai never expected that something truly terrifying was waiting for her back in her hometown.

Five days ago, Deng Ai, who had already finished all her final exams for the semester, received a call from her parents saying that her grandmother was seriously ill and might not make it, and asked her to go back to her hometown.

It is indeed possible for a person in their nineties to pass away suddenly.

Deng Ai didn't think much of it at the time, and took a leave slip from her counselor and went back.

Because her parents said they had already gone to their hometown, Deng Ai traveled there by herself.

When she arrived at her hometown by mountain bus, she was greeted by her parents.

"At that time, I actually sensed that something was wrong with my parents, but I just assumed it was because my grandmother was seriously ill and they were in a bad mood. I never expected..."

Deng Ai curled up completely.

"Don't be afraid."

As Zheng Jing gently patted the back of her hand, Deng Ai felt a sudden warm current coursing through her body, as if she had suddenly drunk a cup of warm, fragrant tea on the Golden Summit, which is more than 3,000 meters above sea level.

"...What's really wrong is the whole village."

It's quite common for people to preach in mountainous villages and towns. Deng Ai remembers that in her hometown village, most of the elderly people were Buddhists.

But that day, when her parents led her to her grandmother's bedside, she saw the village chief and her grandfather with a pastor who had brown hair and blue eyes and did not look Chinese, praying for her grandmother.

Even the uncles and elders who knew that Grandma was a Buddhist didn't find it strange at all.

Before she could think further, Deng Ai saw the villager whisper something to her grandfather, and then her grandfather whispered something to the pastor.

Finally, the pastor called her to her grandmother.

Although she felt a little uncomfortable under the pastor's gaze, Deng Ai hurried over, thinking that this might be the last time she saw her grandmother.

Upon seeing her, the frail grandmother reached out her hand.

Deng Ai reached out to hold her hand, but found that her grandmother's hand was trembling, as if she was trying hard but could not hold her palm.

"Later, I realized that Grandma was probably pushing my hand away..."

Deng Ai murmured listlessly, her eyes vacant, "Grandma wants me to run away quickly..."

Yes, run!

She needed to escape the village quickly, a village that had become unfamiliar, dangerous, and terrifying.

At that time, Deng Ai did not understand this at all; she simply watched helplessly as her grandmother breathed her last in front of her.

According to custom, the coffin should be placed in the mourning hall first, and relatives should keep vigil before the burial is scheduled for a chosen day.

That night, when Deng Ai followed her parents into the mourning hall, the scene she saw became a nightmare that she still can't shake off to this day.

"They...they replaced Grandma's head...with a sheep's head...a sheep's head..."

The old man's body was hung up, and the kind face in Deng Ai's memory had turned into a goat's head stained with blood.

Beneath the ram-headed, human-bodied corpse, kneeling in worship were the old man's lovers, relatives, and friends—

Everyone wore a look of piety, as if everything was perfectly natural.

—Except for Deng Ai.

She still remembers the look in the eyes of the priest who called himself Hepari when he looked at her.

Deng Ai couldn't remember how she escaped.

Her body, which had been stiff with fear, seemed to move on its own.

She ran along the mountain road all the way to the small county town. Luckily, she had been running consistently since junior high school, which is why she only fainted after seeing the police officers patrolling the county town at night.

After that, when she woke up in the hospital and saw her parents by her bedside, she almost fainted again.

She saw her parents talking to the police officers and listened to them speak...

Then, watching them come over with smiles and say, "Let's go home, daughter."

This was the first time in her life that she felt a chill run down her spine because of those words.

She pushed past her parents and grabbed the police officers, wanting to tell them everything she had seen.

But she was so scared that she became incoherent, which, in the eyes of the police officers, confirmed her parents' claim that she had mental problems.

Fortunately, because of her actions, the hospital suggested that she stay for further observation, and with the police also persuading her, her parents, who did not know what had happened, could not refuse.

After calming down, Deng Ai got her phone back from the nurse.

I am grateful to modern society, grateful for technological advancements, and grateful that I have become an adult.

Having retrieved the phone, Deng Ai successfully ran back to Liquan and immediately bought a plane ticket to fly back to Yuzhou City.

She was fortunate that, unlike in high school, her parents did not have the contact information for her university professors, class advisors, or counselors.

But soon after, Deng Ai realized that things were far more complicated than she had thought.

Nightmares began to haunt her.

Chapter 269: The Golden Cudgel Shines Forever

This is not a rhetorical device, but a statement of fact.

Every time she closes her eyes, she returns to that night, and there she is, surrounded by her parents, uncles, and everyone in the village, urging her to come home, urging her to come home—