In the dark mountain night, aside from the fiery temple, everything else was pitch black. Occasional lightning bolts zigzagged across the sky, providing Shi Rongguang and his n a glimpse of their surroundings.
Although a torrential downpour had comnced, the temple fire was already blazing fiercely, and this amount of rain was far from enough to put out such a large fire.
Shi Rongguang stood not far from the dilapidated temple, drenched in rainwater, but his face was still glowing with excitent.
"Humph, you want to challenge ? You're still too green," Shi Rongguang said coldly, wiping the rain off his face.
In Shi Rongguang's plan, as long as Lin Chuan was lured up the mountain and a raging fire set ablaze, Lin Chuan would be disfigured, and Huang ngqi probably wouldn't like him anymore, giving Shi Rongguang a chance to take advantage of the situation.
But as ti ticked away, the temple fire grew larger and larger, reaching the roof inside, yet strangely, all of them standing outside the temple hadn't heard any noise from within.
"Sothing's off, boss. Could it be that the kid has already been burned to death? Why isn't there a sound? Normally, when people see a house on fire, they'd definitely be yelling!" the skinny guy tilted his head and said beside Shi Rongguang.
Not only was the skinny guy puzzled, but everyone else was equally baffled. The ones stationed at the temple door and windows had also retreated, as they kept a watchful eye on the blaze, but aside from the flas intensifying, there was no sign of activity inside.
"Could it be that the kid indeed got burned to death!" the skinny guy suddenly widened his eyes, shouting in shock.
They certainly didn't want to commit murder. If soone died, they'd be in real trouble.
"Nonsense, that guy wouldn't die so easily." Shi Rongguang glared and scolded, yet he too had doubts. Now that the fire was so large, even a blind person could sense the flas; how could there be no movent?
"Could he have been suffocated by smoke? That's impossible. This dilapidated temple is ventilated on all sides, not easy to suffocate, and even if he was, he should have made so noise before realizing the fire!" The more Shi Rongguang thought, the more it felt off.
With thunder rumbling in the sky and rain pouring heavily, Shi Rongguang felt increasingly uneasy, thus loudly shouted: "Quick, bring the water we've prepared and extinguish the fire quickly."
Everyone was already annoyed by the rain, but upon hearing the command to extinguish the fire, they all quickly dragged out the two hidden water carts.
The water carts were once created by farrs for convenient field irrigation, though not large; they could still hold quite a bit of water. Nowadays, such carts were rarely used, but Shi Rongguang had specifically brought two along for this event.
More than twenty people kept running back and forth with washbasins and water scoops; anything that could hold water was put to use. Even Shi Rongguang was rushing with a large bucket, becoming exhausted like grandchildren, yet nobody complained.
anwhile, Lin Chuan had already escaped from the temple roof using his skills, standing afar on a mound. What left him frustrated was that these people weren't trying to burn him alive but just to disfigure him, which Lin Chuan found utterly unacceptable.
"Cough cough cough…" Shi Rongguang dropped his water bucket, coughing violently, having inhaled smoke too close to the fire, nearly choking; now he continued to cough and wiped away his tears, feeling a sudden wave of grievance due to hunger and cold, exacerbated by the rain.
"Isn't this punishing oneself instead of teaching a lesson?" Shi Rongguang thought sympathetically, sneezed next, unsure whether he cried because of grievance or smoke, shedding even more tears.
The skinny guy, exhausted like a dog, ran over without caring about Shi Rongguang's condition, saying directly: "Boss, I... I don't think it's feasible; this bit of water is not sufficient. The fire keeps growing. If it weren't raining, this temple might've already burned down."
Shi Rongguang glanced at the temple now engulfed in flas, his eyes reflecting a mix of emotions, breathing heavily, unable to utter a word.
His brothers had all paused their actions; the two water carts were emptied, but the fire persisted, and even the rain couldn't douse it. They could only watch helplessly as the temple burned.
"Boss, what should we do now?" Everyone had focused their gaze on Shi Rongguang, their backbone, expected to resolve the situation.
Shi Rongguang rubbed his head, frowned, and said: "Who cares, it's not like we started the fire. We're here to put it out."
"Yeah, yeah, we're just doing good deeds, putting out a fire here, logically, we should be praised!" a chubby guy chid in.
"Praise your head." The skinny guy slapped him on the head, leaving the chubby guy feeling aggrieved, shutting his mouth.
"So what should we do next?" the skinny guy asked Shi Rongguang cautiously after reprimanding the fat guy.
Shi Rongguang ignored the skinny guy's scolding and spoke to everyone, "Brothers, we did this together today. We're all in this together, so tonight we must have a unified story. No matter who asks, we can't tell, not even your parents."
"But can we tell our wives?"
Soone suddenly shouted, causing everyone to burst into laughter.
"Liu San, I know you're a lecherous guy. Just a few days ago, I saw you flirting with Widow Liu. I'm warning you, don't spill anything while fooling around with your wife. If this gets out, I'll be the first to take your life."
The skinny guy pointed at the speaker and scolded him, looking fierce and completely serious. Everyone could see the gravity of the situation; this was a matter of life and death, and no one dared to joke around.
Shi Rongguang then got everyone to agree on a story and sent two of his n down to the village. They were to make a loud commotion and invite all the village officials up, saying that the rundown temple on the mountain had caught fire and that soone might have died inside.
This way, people would know the mountain was on fire and these people ca to rescue first. It would also completely dissociate them from the incident, as so many witnesses could vouch for one another, and the law wouldn't be able to pin it on them.
After the two n left, the remaining people stood in the rain, watching the flas in the decrepit temple grow smaller.
The rain fell harder, and the fire at the temple gradually subsided. Once the last bit of fla was extinguished by the downpour, Shi Rongguang led his n to search the temple.
They needed to find Lin Chuan's body; only seeing a burnt corpse would put their minds at ease.
The temple was almost entirely burnt down, with the roof nearly gone. Only a few beams were still smoldering, not likely to cause more flas. The doors and windows, long made of flammable material, were reduced to ashes, and the already dilapidated walls were entirely charred.
However, the two statues in the center, though covered in ashes, remained sitting there, exuding an invisible sense of majesty.
The group searched for a long ti, turning the small temple upside down, but they found no sign of a body.
"It can't be. All the exits were watched. No one saw him co out. Did he set the fire himself in the temple and anger the gods...?" Shi Rongguang muttered to himself, tonight had too many strange happenings, making him extrely paranoid.
The over twenty people, now with soot-stained faces, looked at each other without any explanation. A gust of cold wind swept through, causing a shiver and an inexplicable panic began to envelop them.
"Crack!"
A flash of light darted to a nearby grove about a hundred ters away, followed by a deafening thunderclap echoing like the dawn of creation, then the sound of trees toppling.
The sudden thunder scared Lin Chuan, who was sipping wine, into a cold sweat. He shuddered, nearly dropping his wine jug.
"Damn, why is it every ti I see gods, there's always thunder? Do gods greet visitors like this?" he muttered under his breath and ran out from under the tree to avoid the risk of being struck by lightning.
The thunder's noise chilled Shi Rongguang's group's ears, especially on a night like this on a mountain...
"Big... Big brother, I think... we should go first. We can co back when the villagers arrive." The skinny guy stamred in fright. If it weren't for so many people around, he would've been too scared to stand.
Shi Rongguang had long wanted to leave this haunted place. Hearing the skinny guy's suggestion, he quickly said, "Alright, let's do as you said. Let's head down the mountain first, then co back with the others."
Hearing that the group was heading down, Lin Chuan quickly ran behind them and lightly tapped Shi Rongguang on the shoulder, smiling, "Leaving so soon? Not waiting for your old man to co?"
"Ah... Ghost!"
The group, seeing Lin Chuan, scread as if they had seen a ghost, jumping back and cowering, trembling uncontrollably.
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