To the west of Lotus Moon Town, there was a small mountain. The mountain was not big, and it was low. It looked like a mountain, but it was not a mountain. It looked like a slope, but it was not a slope. Since ancient times, it had been a nameless mountain.
However, the temple on the mountain had a name — Liuhe Temple.
Today, there was no way to verify the exact date the temple was built. However, the "thousand years" theory was quite reliable. Whether it was the records from the outside world or the scriptures and ancient scrolls in the temple, they could all prove the long history of this temple.
As a building that had existed for more than a thousand years and was still being used by people, Liuhe Temple had undoubtedly been renovated many times. Normally, the monks would spontaneously make small repairs. In terms of major repairs … there were records of nineteen such repairs. The most recent one … was forty years ago.
At that time, Lotus Moon Town was at its most stable and prosperous period. After a few decades of development and accumulation, the third generation of the refugees had a good time. Although it was not that there was not a single poor person in the town, it was indeed impossible to find someone who lived on the streets and suffered from hunger and cold.
As the saying goes, one knows etiquette when one has enough food and clothing, and one knows honor and disgrace when one has enough food and clothing. Since the townspeople of Lotus Moon Town already had a decent level of material civilization, they naturally had the leisure to build a spiritual civilization.
At that time (the world of the scenario was basically similar to the feudal society of ancient China), it was impossible for the people to come up with a list of the eight honors and eight disgraces. Other than the traditional etiquette, the only thing they could talk about was religious superstition.
Considering that the monks of Liuhe Temple had been kind to the ancestors of the townspeople, and the good weather in the town over the years … the townspeople decided to do something for the temple. First, it was to repay the kindness of the monks in the temple. Second, it was to thank the gods for their blessings over the years.
Therefore, forty years ago, under the negotiation of the mayor of Lotus Moon Town and the abbot of Liuhe Temple, the townspeople raised a sum of money and prepared to use the money to completely renovate the temple and reconstruct the golden bodies of the many Buddha statues in the temple.
This was supposed to be a good thing, but the ending was out of everyone's expectations.
…
Renovating a temple as big as Liuhe Temple was a very time-consuming project. It required a lot of craftsmen and labor. The manpower of He Yue Town was obviously not enough. Fortunately, there was still some money left over for the project. Therefore, the foreman in charge of the project recruited many people from the surrounding villages and towns of Lotus Moon Town.
That year, among the workers who came to repair the temple, there was a middle-aged stonemason who came from another village. This person's surname was Zhang, and his given name was Ke. Although his parents had given him a steady name, Zhang Ke's personality seemed to be the opposite of his name. Not only was he not very careful, he was also particularly irritable, frivolous, and meddlesome.
One night forty years ago, Zhang Ke drank a little too much at the tavern in town. With the help of alcohol, he suddenly had the idea of exploring the Stone Pagoda in the Liuhe Temple …
Speaking of the pagoda, it was indeed a rather mysterious place. Since ancient times, there had been an iron law in Liuhe Temple — except for the Abbot himself, no one was allowed to enter the stone courtyard in the temple, let alone step into the pagoda in the stone courtyard.
Before the renovation of the temple, the abbot had repeatedly warned the mayor not to let anyone near the stone courtyard. And the mayor … actually conveyed the abbot's words to all the workers who participated in the renovation.
To be honest … in the eyes of the workers, this matter was actually not a big deal. If it was a nunnery … if you said there was a forbidden area or something, people might be a little interested in prying. But if it was a forbidden area in a monk's temple … it was fine if they did not enter. Did you expect to find a cultivation magic weapon or a peerless secret book?
But there was one person who was particularly curious … and that was Zhang Ke.
This guy was a typical patient who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness for a long time. Moreover, he was the type of person who would lose his IQ and courage after drinking two bowls of yellow soup. The more you did not want him to go, the more he would want to go … After going there, he would come back and brag about it. It was also very good for him to be a hero in front of his peers.
But we all know that true heroes … more or less, have some outstanding qualities, and have 'strength'.
Some people, after drinking a few pounds of old wine, could still walk on the mountain road in the dark and kill a vicious national first-class protected animal with their bare hands. Some people, after drinking a few pounds of old wine, could also walk on the mountain road in the dark. But in the end, they slipped and fell to their death in the ravine.
Judging from Zhang Ke's performance in the past decades … he definitely belonged to the latter.
Therefore, when he left this time … no one could find him if he was alive, and his corpse if he was dead.
…
Only a few people knew what had happened that night. Outsiders only knew that … after that night, no one had seen Zhang Ke's shadow again.
A few days later, the mayor gave an explanation … Zhang Ke accidentally walked into the forest after being drunk and was eaten by wild animals.
And this explanation … of course, did not satisfy Zhang Ke's family. They soon complained to the government.
The first official official of Lotus Moon Town was appointed by a messenger sent by the imperial court in the fifteenth year after the town was founded. The person who was appointed was the mayor at that time. Obviously, the imperial court did not pay much attention to the management of such a remote town. It was nothing more than a formality. The main purpose was to make the town officially belong to the government, so that it would be easier to collect taxes.
After that, the town had a more formal government office. The law was also replaced by the original "village law" with the legal code issued by the imperial court. But in general, the town was still in a state of "autonomy". Most of the officials were locals.
After Zhang Ke's case, his family members were not stupid enough to come to Lotus Moon Town to complain … Therefore, they went directly to the higher-level yamen.
And the government … did send someone to investigate.
The investigation process of this case could be said to be confusing to outsiders. Although there were many rumors in the streets, the content was different, and it was hard to tell whether it was true or false.
The only thing that was certain was that the attitude of the officer who handled the case had been changing. At the beginning, he was "determined to uphold justice and would not tolerate anyone". Then, his attitude became cold and he was full of doubts. Finally, when he talked about the case, he was in a state of "evasiveness and reticence".
At the same time, the constables who were handling the case also intentionally or unintentionally said some strange and creepy words to the outside world … They roughly said, "There are some 'unclean things' suppressed in the pagoda of the stone courtyard. Zhang Ke, this fellow, is courting death. I'm afraid his soul has already dissipated."
In short, after a month, the case was finally closed. And the final result was … The government came forward to mediate and asked the temple to give Zhang Ke's family a sum of money. Whether it was compensation or hush money, it was the end of the matter. Zhang Ke's family either chose to take the money and accept the statement that he was eaten by wild animals, or … they did not have the money or the explanation.
In that case, the family had no choice but to keep the peace, and the case came to an end.
But … at the time, no one would have thought that this case would set the stage for a disaster forty years later.
…
When he came to the door of Liu He Temple, Wang Tanzhi lifted his head to look at the tall bronze door and mumbled softly, "Hmm … It is indeed eerie …"
He spoke very softly, not because he was worried about being discovered by someone in the distance, but because he felt guilty, he instinctively lowered his voice.
"I thought there was enough blood in town, but compared to this place … it is nothing." Xiao Ling, who stood next to Xiao Tan, covered her nose and grumbled.
By then, it had been half an hour since the start of the scenario. Xiao Tan and Xiao Ling had met on their way to Liu He Temple. Until they arrived, neither of them had noticed any signs of other players.
With their sleuthing mastery, the possibility of them being followed was very low. If someone had arrived before them, there was an eighty percent chance that they would have been tracked down. Therefore, it could be concluded that they were the first two players to arrive at Liu He Temple.
Of course, they could not rule out the possibility that someone had been placed inside the temple once they entered the scenario.
"How … are we going to get in?" Xiao Tan stood before the door and thought for a few seconds before turning to ask, "Should we knock on the door or break in? Or … jump over the wall? "
Xiao Ling heard that and thought for a few seconds before silently taking two steps forward to grab the bronze door handle.
Creak!
She exerted a little force and the huge door was pushed open.
"Huh?" Xiao Tan was startled and asked, "How do you know it'll open with a push?"
"I don't know." Xiao Ling shrugged. "I'm just giving it a try …"
Before she could finish her sentence, a cloud of blood mist rolled out from the door before she could finish her sentence. It quickly wrapped around Xiao Ling's entire body and dragged her into the door …
One second later, Xiao Tan rushed forward instinctively to grab Xiao Ling's hand, but … the cloud of blood fog had already dragged the latter into the door.
Bang!
When shock appeared on Xiao Tan's face, the door before his eyes … slammed shut.
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