A Mountain Temple

The sun rose bright and high.

Amid the lush mountain forest, a camping tent near the riverbank trembled gently, rustling softly.

The campfire outside had burned down to ashes, with the occasional wisp of smoke rising from it.

"The morning air in the mountains is wonderful."

Qi Tian emerged from the tent, straightened his clothes, stretched, and loosened up. Looking at the greenery and the flowing stream, he couldn't help feeling cheerful.

After washing up briefly by the river, Qi Tian threw together some instant food and ate a quick meal before starting to pack up the tent.

It took him over half an hour to put everything away. Then Qi Tian went back to the river for some water and doused the fire. To be safe, he also dug up some damp soil by the riverbank and buried the embers.

Once everything was in order, Qi Tian shouldered his hiking pack and glanced back at the campsite. He nodded with satisfaction, then took a pendant from around his neck.

As the saying went, men wore Guanyin and women wore Buddha. Yet the pendant Qi Tian wore was a jade Buddha.

"Going by the Buddha Pendant's response and the fragmented memories from my dreams, that temple should be somewhere nearby. But why couldn't I find it yesterday?"

Qi Tian held the Buddha Pendant in his hand, his thumb lightly tracing its raised carvings. He couldn't help wondering.

On his eighteenth birthday, five years ago, Qi Tian had received this pendant from his grandfather. Ever since then, he had often dreamed of a golden Buddha and a small temple in the mountains.

After graduating from college, he finally had some time off from his busy job. Qi Tian decided to look for the temple from his dreams.

As soon as the idea occurred to him, a voice in his subconscious had urged him to come to the mountain where he now stood.

This was a remote area of Yangcheng in Guangdong Province. Few people lived nearby; the closest village was more than ten kilometers away, and the bustling town was even farther.

Qi Tian had arrived yesterday afternoon. Guided by the Buddha Pendant's inexplicable response, he had come to believe that the temple from his dreams stood somewhere on this mountain.

But after searching all afternoon, he hadn't found a single building. With night approaching, he had no choice but to camp where he was and continue searching today.

"Huh? There's smoke over there."

Qi Tian spotted smoke rising from behind the trees in the forest across the stream, not far away. He was puzzled, because he had already walked through that area yesterday.

"I didn't see any buildings yesterday. Could someone be there?"

Qi Tian thought it over, then followed the river upstream for a while. A massive boulder jutted across the stream there, offering a way to cross to the other bank.

Once across, Qi Tian headed toward the smoke and entered the forest.

Just then, the morning sun, which had risen in the east, disappeared behind dark clouds, plunging the forest into shadow. The sudden change in the light, especially beneath the trees, made Qi Tian's heart race.

"What's going on? The sun was shining just now, and the sky was clear. How did these clouds come out of nowhere?"

As the clouds covered the sun, the Buddha Pendant around Qi Tian's neck flashed with a faint light. An inexplicable unease stirred in him, and his heartbeat quickened.

Without thinking, he picked up his pace toward the spot where he had seen the smoke.

After about ten minutes, he saw a walled building in the distance.

As he drew closer, he found a vegetable garden behind the courtyard. A bamboo fence enclosed rows of fresh vegetables, and he even saw signs that they had just been watered.

The familiar feeling from his dreams washed over him as he looked at the wall. He knew this was the place he had been searching for.

Qi Tian walked around the garden, followed the wall, and made his way to the front entrance.

"Golden Buddha Temple." Qi Tian stared at the tightly shut wooden doors and the plaque above them, murmuring the name. The feeling stirring in his heart grew stronger.

He hurried up the stone steps, raised his hand, and knocked on the door.

"Is anyone there?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he heard a faint noise from inside, followed by footsteps drawing closer.

Through the crack between the two wooden doors, Qi Tian saw a figure approaching. It looked like an old man, though the view was blurry.

A few seconds later, the door bolt scraped. One of the wooden doors opened, and an old monk leaned out, his back hunched. His cloudy eyes studied Qi Tian.

"May I ask who you are, benefactor?"

Qi Tian looked at the old monk and quickly spoke up.

"Hello, Master. My name is Qi Tian. I was passing through and saw the temple. I'd like to come in and offer incense, and perhaps rest for a bit."

Suppressing his doubts, Qi Tian smiled at the old monk and explained why he had come.

Hearing that he wanted to offer incense, the old monk opened both doors. He straightened up before the entrance, pressed his palms together at his chest, and bowed slightly.

"Amitabha. Please come in, benefactor."

When the old monk bowed to him, Qi Tian hurriedly copied the gesture, pressing his palms together in return. Then he followed the old monk into the temple.

The small temple covered no more than an acre. Aside from the main hall and a small courtyard, it had only two rooms on each side, east and west.

As soon as Qi Tian entered the temple, the sky cleared. Sunlight slipped beneath the surrounding eaves and fell straight into the courtyard's open center.

The sudden change in the weather and the sunlight shining directly onto the courtyard stones startled Qi Tian again.

It was perfectly normal for clouds blown by the wind to block the sun. But the clouds that had covered the sky moments ago had clearly been dark, dimming the whole forest. Now the sky had changed in an instant, without even a moment of transition. It was strange.

Strangest of all was the Buddha Pendant around his neck. After he entered, its familiar coolness against his skin faded, replaced by a slight warmth. At the same time, he felt an urge to dig up the stone slabs covering the sunlit courtyard.

Qi Tian followed the old monk around the courtyard, fighting the urge, and entered the main hall.

A stone altar stood before them, with a Buddha statue whose gold paint had begun to peel. The three-meter-tall figure sat cross-legged on a stone lotus pedestal painted gold as well. It seemed this was where the Golden Buddha Temple got its name.

A wooden table stood in front of the altar. Three prayer cushions lay in a row beneath it, and an iron incense burner sat on the tabletop, holding three half-burned incense sticks and two red candles.

The old monk stood before the Buddha, bowed devoutly, then took three incense sticks from the bag on the table. He lit them with one of the candles, turned, and handed them to Qi Tian, who stood behind him.

Qi Tian thanked the old monk and took the incense. He didn't know the proper ritual, so he simply pinched the sticks between his fingertips, bowed to the Buddha three times, and placed them in the burner.

After he finished offering incense, he realized that the old monk who had been standing beside him had suddenly vanished. He scanned the hall, but he was the only one there.

The whole offering had taken less than ten seconds. All he'd done was place the incense in the burner, and the old monk had disappeared.

"Rumble..."

Just as Qi Tian wondered if he had encountered a ghost, sunlight shining beneath the eaves flooded the courtyard outside the hall. The bluestone slabs covering it suddenly collapsed with a crash.

A deep, shadowy glow plunged the entire temple into darkness, as if night had fallen.

Then a "crack, crack" sounded behind him. When Qi Tian turned around, he saw cracks spreading across the Buddha statue on the altar. At the same time, a Sanskrit chant that seemed to reach straight into his soul rang out.

The next instant, a golden beam shot from the cracked statue and plunged into the Buddha Pendant around Qi Tian's neck.

The sudden turn of events made Qi Tian stumble back two steps. Then a tremendous force of suction surged from the depths of the collapsed courtyard, where the deep darkness emanated.

"Whoosh!"

The Buddha Pendant shone with golden light, drawing Qi Tian's soul from his body. In an instant, it turned into a beam of light and plunged into the collapsed courtyard, vanishing without a trace.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Once the strange vision had completely disappeared, Qi Tian's body, still standing in the main hall, crumpled to the ground as if all strength had left it. At the same time, the entire temple vanished from the mountain forest.