Chapter 55: Tragic Wen Chou

  The sun sets in the west, and the riverbank has a broken temple.

  The great river surged forward, with the sunset as if falling into the river, casting a brilliant evening glow on the water's surface.

  It's unclear if it was a coincidence, but the warm light stopped at the entrance of the broken temple, while the dilapidated temple itself was shrouded in darkness.

  Just as he was approaching, Shu Bailin shivered slightly, as if feeling a chill.

  "It's eerie and ominous, not a good place."

  He muttered to himself, and began to truly believe in Ning Feng's judgment.

  "How could I have forgotten?"

  Shu Bailin followed closely behind Ning Feng, stepping over the high threshold of the broken temple, and knocked on his own head, thinking regretfully: "I was so moved by that foolishness, but I didn't think about whether there were other reasons inside, almost letting the real demon slip away."

  After his regret, his eyes started to turn, not for the scenery in the broken temple, but for thinking deeply. If it weren't for Ning Feng being there, he would rather not think about it at all.

  "What kind of existence is the demon in the broken temple?"

  Inside the ruined temple, there's nothing good to see, it's all dark and gloomy, with broken tiles and crumbling walls, cobwebs hanging high, the originally vermilion pillars are peeling off their paint, filled with a sense of desolation and vicissitudes.

  "Hiss~"

  Ning Feng took out a lighter and lit the remaining candles on the incense table.

  Heaven knows which year the remaining candles were left behind and could still be lit. In the blink of an eye, the ruined temple was brightly lit.

  On the ground, straw was scattered all over, and there were also traces of campfires, messy and chaotic. It seemed that this abandoned temple had often been a place for beggars and other vagrants to gather.

  The surroundings were calm and peaceful, but the two of them exchanged a glance before immediately looking away. The next moment, they both involuntarily looked towards the incense table.

  In the ruined temple, the only thing that remains intact is a statue.

  Again a beggarly rogue, after all has some respect for the gods, even so it can't be considered as a proper god's wild shrine.

  "What kind of god is this?"

  Shu Bailin scratched his head, "How does it look a bit like..."

  "Clown!"

  Ning Feng calmly filled in the rest of his unfinished words.

  The statue on the altar looks just like a clown.

  Ordinary gods, whether they are wooden carvings or mud sculptures, are all solemn and majestic. What about this one? It has a lame leg, a humpback, slumped shoulders, deformed arms, and only one eye... Its face is painted with oil colors, and there's a small red square on its nose, looking just like a clown on stage.

  Shu Bailin didn't know what a "clown" was, but he knew what a jester was. He slapped his thigh and said, "Ah, that's it, a jester."

  "Hmm..." He continued to analyze, "Judging from this appearance, it should be a literary jester among the ugly characters."

  The clown on the stage is divided into two types: Wen Chou and Wu Chou. Ning Feng was not very familiar with them, but Shu Bailin said it was Wen Chou, so it must be Wen Chou.

  Before the statue of Wen Chou, Ning Feng had one hand behind his back and the other holding a candle stub, which he raised to illuminate the statue. "Old Shu," he said, "I don't know if you've noticed something?"

  Shu Bailin felt more and more uneasy as he looked at the ugly statue, knowing that Ning Feng's words were probably not meant for him to hear. He asked awkwardly: "What thing?"

  Wound.

  Ning Feng held the broken candle in his hand without a single tremble, but his face was clouded with anger.

  "We saw for the first time and last time, Mrs. Mu's wounds on her body were obviously getting deeper and longer."

  "Ah~"

  This time it wasn't cooperation, Shu Bailin thought for a moment and found that it was indeed the case, and vaguely guessed what Ning Feng wanted to say.

  This guess was too terrifying, and he didn't want to think about it carefully. The idea had just emerged and was immediately nipped in the bud, leaving only the five words "it shouldn't be, right" floating around.

  "I couldn't help but think, on that rainy day eight months ago, in the broken temple, under the intense pain and confusion of being stabbed by a wooden sword, just how badly was Mrs. Mu injured?"

  Ning Feng shook his head and put the remaining candle back on the incense table.

  Flickering flames cast eerie shadows on the ugly god's face, making it seem as if its expression was changing, sending shivers down one's spine.

  Ning Feng stood there with his hands behind his back, first saying something to Shu Bailing, then raising his head and looking at the statue of Wen Chou.

  Shu Bailin looked at Ning Feng in disbelief after hearing this, her lips trembling as if she wanted to ask why.

  Ning Feng ignored him and said in a calm tone: "Not long ago, Mrs. Mu died."

  "But she died very peacefully, and the child was born safely, a little princess, very lovely, will grow up to be as beautiful as her mother."

  "Finally, don't be surprised, it was me who did it."

  When Ning Feng said this, it seemed to stir up something. A loud rumble of thunder shook the sky, dark clouds rolled in like a furious wave, and a mighty storm surged forth from above the broken temple and the banks of the great river.

  Shu Bailin bit her teeth and turned around to run out of the broken temple as Ning Feng's voice fell.

  He turned around and looked at Ning Feng's straight back in front of the Wen Chou statue, seeming to hesitate, but still made up his mind, following Ning Feng's orders, he sprinted away and disappeared in an instant.

  "It was me who did it... It was me who did it... It was me who did it..."

  The last four words of Ning Feng's drink were accompanied by the rumbling thunder, echoing in the broken temple, causing the smoke and dust to swirl and fall.

  He stood there, letting the dust fall on his hair and clothes, staring intently at the statue of Wenchu.

  Ning Feng's expression was more serious than ever before, enunciating each word carefully, as if every word was squeezed out from between his teeth, with an inexplicable chill.

  "She didn't have to die."

  "Right?"

  Ning Feng let out a loud cry, one hand pointing out, directly at the statue of Wen Chou, as if severely questioning him.

  Who dares to question the gods?

  No matter how exquisite the craftsmanship is and no matter how bright the colors are, wood carvings and clay sculptures will always be just that - they can't speak.

  Is it not an act of great disrespect to point at a deity?

  These rural children who don't know how to behave properly, Ning Feng actually did it.

  Then, Wen Chou's statue was really answered.

  "Right!"

  A word, like a wooden door that has not been opened for many years, suddenly creaks open with an ear-piercing sound.

  Ning Feng's face sank like water in an instant, and he got the confirmation of the answer he least wanted to see.

  He slightly closed his eyes and then opened them again.

  It was just a blink of an eye, and Ning Feng's mind replayed what had happened in this very place eight months ago.

  The ground thudded with pain, in a flurry of panic, the knife chopped wildly, Mrs. Mu was stabbed several times on her back, the pain made her half-faint, and a large pool of blood flowed out.

  The temple's atmosphere was gloomy and terrifying, with thunder and lightning flashing at the time. The rumbling thunder made the ground tremble, and the evil spirits were suspicious of murder, so they fled in a hurry.

  Such an injury, I'm afraid it's bleeding, but it may not be fatal, right?

  Mrs. Mu doesn't know!

  She woke up, her back still in severe pain, and perhaps she had moved the fetus, her belly was also in pain. With a single heart to keep the child safe, the wooden Mrs. who gave birth to her, facing the Wen Cuo god image, made some kind of wish...

  Hahaha~

  Ning Feng looked up at the sky and let out a loud laugh, but somehow it didn't seem to carry any joy with it.

  "Although her injuries were not fatal, you, this evil spirit, took advantage of the situation and manipulated her into burning with life, burning with maternal love, ultimately taking her life."

  "You destroyed a family, made a man lose his wife, made an infant lose its mother, and made a great mother pay with her life."

  "Do you know what you've done?"

  The sound of the wind was like a sharp inquiry, with piercing eyes, and all that was revealed from within was anger. If the flames had substance, they would have ignited that broken wooden statue long ago, turning it into a raging inferno.

  "Do you know what you've done?"

  The same content comes from the high and mighty god of literature.

  "Creak... creak..."

  The ugly god statue was moving little by little, like a person who had been asleep for a long time, exercising his hands and feet.

  "You ruined one of my masterpieces."

  "Masterpiece?"

  Ning Feng repeated himself, his anger growing, and shouted: "To you, it's just a play, isn't it?"

  "Is destroying something beautiful for people to see your masterpiece?"

  The ugly god statue nodded, and the mottled oil paint on its face kept peeling off, making it look even more ominous and terrifying.

  "My name is Wen Chou Chou."

  "You're my confidant, I'll tell you the name."

  "But you will still die!"

  Rumble...

  A loud crash, the statue of Wenchu suddenly rose to its full height, its arms shaking violently. The temple's roof flew off first, shattering into countless tiles and splintered beams that rained down from the sky.

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble..."

  Again there were several loud crashes, and the walls on all sides collapsed as if they had been struck by an elephant.

  In the midst of swirling smoke and dust, a deity and a scholar stood facing each other.

  "Look quickly, everyone look!"

  "Come and see the monster."

  “……”

  Four sides of noise, four sides of flickering flames, torches lit up a dragon in the dark night.

  Hundreds of villagers from nearby villages gathered around the ruined temple, with even more arriving in succession.

  The ugly god statue froze, he seemed to have not expected such a situation and was stunned for a moment.

  The temple was destroyed except for the ground, and Ning Feng and Wen Chou could see the outside situation inside. The villagers outside could also see it clearly.

  "Hiss~"

  Everyone gasped in unison and held their breath, staring blankly at this scene.

  The villager in front is Shu Bailin.

  Having finished Ning Feng's task, he struggled between the two options of shrinking into the crowd and charging forward, but in the end, he gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and charged forward.

  "I'm Lao Shu, I've arrived!"

  Shu Bailin charged forward with a stuffy head, while digging out talismans from his bosom with both hands, left hand one handful, right hand one handful. Although his hands were full, he stumbled underfoot and let out a cry of surprise, causing the talismans in his hands to scatter like flowers scattered by heavenly maidens.

  "This...that..."

  Shu Bailin was stunned and wanted to squat down to pick up the talisman, but the wind blew, and one by one, they were all blown into the big river next to him, drifting away.

  He wanted to cry but had no tears, unable to move forward or backward, standing between the Wen Chou god statue and Ning Feng, villagers, truly neither advancing nor retreating.

  Actually, he is no longer needed.

  "Dead?"

  Ning Feng shook his head and smiled wryly, one hand extending from his sleeve with a golden talisman held between two fingers.

  "I'm telling you all this just to make sure, I don't want to waste a Sun God Symbol."

  "Very expensive."

  Ning Feng faintly uttered the last three words, suddenly raised his head, lifted his arm, and whether it was his gaze or his hand, they were all aimed squarely at the statue of Wen Chou.

  "Boom!"

  His mind was suddenly shaken, the Sun God Temple burst out of the dark clouds, and the Sun God's light surged and moved in his body. In a daze, he seemed to see a magnificent temple floating behind his head.

  More dazzling is the Sun God Symbol.

  "The Temple of the Sun God!"

  "Ugly Ugly shouted out loud, 'It's you again!!'"

  His voice was filled with endless panic and uncontrollable anger, as if some wound had been ripped open.

  "Why say again?"

  Ning Feng's mind flashed with this thought, and he smiled suddenly, without any intention of inquiring further, his hand holding the Taiyang Shenfu symbol waving lightly.

  "Hah!"

  A thick and thin white light burst out from the thigh, instantly illuminating an area of hundreds of feet around.

  In the time it took to have a thought, Ning Feng's entire body was drained of its yang energy, and he suddenly seemed duller. The light pillar that had been dodging the Wen Cuo divine image crashed down on it, shining brightly like a red sun in the dark night.

  "Ahhh~~~~"

  The ugly god statue let out a miserable cry, and countless tiny light columns burst forth from within the statue. Each small light column brought down blocks of wood or stone.

  In a few breaths, under the light of the funeral pyre, the statue of Wenchu shattered.

  There was only one voice full of resentment and poison echoing in the night sky that had darkened once again.

  "We will meet again."

  "As long as there is still a tragic and ugly world, we will definitely meet again."

  "Next time we meet, I'll make you fall at your most glorious moment, and it will definitely be another masterpiece!"

  The sound spread, hundreds of villagers were silent and watched the scene in horror.

  There, the statue of Wenchu collapsed with a loud crash. Ning Feng's scholar robe transformed into a sun-patterned robe in the intense light. He shrugged his shoulders casually, spread out his hands and said calmly:

  "I'm waiting for you."