[Rain-Praying Village] Binding-Evil Shrine

The Binding-Evil Shrine.

It was a rather unusual shrine.

It stood in the forest about two kilometers outside the village.

The sprawling forest was itself one of Rain-Praying Village's scenic attractions. The villagers had spent years of time and effort building an extensive network of forest trails and detailed signposts, giving visitors the thrill of exploring the woods without the danger of getting lost.

They followed a forest trail east.

Two kilometers was not far; it would take about twenty minutes to get there.

Along the way, Liu Chengfeng kept glancing around, seemingly afraid that the headless shadow would appear again. He was like a bird startled by the twang of a bow.

Fortunately, they were lucky.

The journey went smoothly. By the time they reached the Binding-Evil Shrine, the sun was shining even more brightly, dispelling a little of the gloom in their hearts.

The shrine was exquisitely built, and they could sense its solemn grandeur even from a distance.

A drainage channel ran nearby.

It was not the rainy season, so the water in the channel was shallow. Jagged rocks littered it, along with wooden stakes washed loose during the rains and left embedded here and there in the mud.

The three entered the shrine. In the outer courtyard, there was only a stooped old man sweeping the ground.

A small house stood beside it.

It appeared to be where the old man lived.

The shrine was quiet. Apart from the old man, they saw no one else.

"Sir!"

Liu Chengfeng called out loudly.

But the old man paid him no attention.

The three found this strange. Only after approaching him did they discover that his hearing was poor. He could barely hear through one ear, and they had to stand very close for him to make out their words.

"No wonder they dumped him in a place like this..."

Liu Chengfeng sighed.

They told the old man they had come to look around the shrine. He was delighted and said they could explore freely, as long as they did not move anything inside.

Then Bai Xiaoxiao asked whether anyone had visited the shrine yesterday. After thinking back, the old man said two people had come at night, around eight or nine, but they had left after only a short stay.

After chatting for a while, Bai Xiaoxiao suddenly changed the subject and asked:

"Sir, do you know Guangchuan?"

The old man frowned and leaned his better ear toward Bai Xiaoxiao.

"What boat?"

Bai Xiaoxiao spoke loudly into his ear:

"Guangchuan!"

"Guang as in 'vast,' and chuan as in 'mountains and rivers'!"

The old man's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly shook his head.

"No... I don't!"

"I don't know him... never heard of him... I don't know him!"

He rambled, repeating himself over and over, as though desperately trying to convince them that he truly did not know Guangchuan.

Just then, Ning Qiushui felt inside his clothes, pulled out Guangchuan's memorial tablet, and held it out before the old man.

"Sir, take a good look. Are you sure you don't know him...?"

At the sight of the tablet, an indescribable terror flooded the old man's clouded eyes. He cried out as though something had shocked him, dropped his broom, turned, and limped away as fast as he could!

As he ran, he kept crying:

"It wasn't me... I didn't do it... I don't know anything... don't come after me!"

The old man fled blindly toward the drainage channel. His foot caught in the weeds, and he tumbled into it, immediately falling silent.

Their hearts sank, a terrible foreboding coming over them.

They rushed to the channel to check.

But when they reached it, the sight inside froze them in place-

The old man had fallen faceup onto a wooden stake. Huge splinters protruding from it had pierced his chest and the back of his head. Crimson blood welled out, flowing downstream with the shallow water...

Terror lingered in the old man's vacant eyes as they stared unblinkingly at the three standing on the bank...

Frightened by those dead eyes, Liu Chengfeng took half a step back and said:

"Holy shit... he's d-dead?"

The other two looked grim.

"He clearly knew something, but for some reason, he didn't dare talk."

As Bai Xiaoxiao spoke, she turned toward Ning Qiushui.

"Little Qiushui, any thoughts?"

Seeing Ning Qiushui staring thoughtfully at the old man's body, she asked him, but he shook his head.

"I'm still thinking about the cafeteria..."

Bai Xiaoxiao frowned slightly.

"The cafeteria? What about it?"

Ning Qiushui said softly:

"Don't you think... its layout was a little strange?"

The other two nodded.

Beside them, Liu Chengfeng scratched his head and said:

"It was pretty strange, but maybe that's just how they set up cafeterias in this village?"

Ning Qiushui looked into their eyes and asked a question that made their scalps prickle:

"Do you think it's possible... that the village's current cafeteria was originally the guesthouse for outside visitors?"

At Ning Qiushui's words, Liu Chengfeng froze for a moment, then sharply sucked in a breath.

"Shit... now that you mention it, buddy, it actually... does look like one!"

Bai Xiaoxiao's eyes flashed.

"It doesn't just look like one. It probably was."

"The cafeteria had three floors. Apart from the central serving area, everything else was divided into little compartments, each just the right size for a room..."

"I thought it was strange before, too, but I didn't consider that possibility. Now, though... a few of the clues seem to fit together."

With that, she reached out and patted Ning Qiushui on the shoulder, raising an eyebrow in praise.

"Not bad, little Qiushui!"

"It's been ages since I met a man as meticulous as you!"

Bai Xiaoxiao's half-teasing tone left Ning Qiushui speechless.

Oh, come on.

Was that a compliment or an insult?

"So what we're saying is... the guesthouse that was supposed to accommodate outside visitors was converted into a cafeteria, while the villagers turned another large house, one that hadn't been lived in for ages, into the guesthouse?"

Liu Chengfeng seemed to have caught on.

Ning Qiushui nodded.

"Yes."

"But... why would they do that?"

"I don't know, but that house is haunted, so they definitely don't mean us well."

As they talked, the three passed through several doorways and entered the shrine's interior. In the main hall, they found a painting, along with a statue and an explanatory inscription beside it.

The statue was made of solid gold. Though only palm-sized, it was undoubtedly valuable. For a remote settlement like Rain-Praying Village, it must have represented a considerable expense.

Bai Xiaoxiao handled the gold statue for a moment, then put it back.

Then the three turned their attention to the painting.

The location depicted in it appeared to be Rain-Praying Village as well.

But it had an aged look, seemingly depicting events from decades or even a century ago.

It showed a person holding a grass-cutting sickle, with one foot planted on someone else's back.

Three people were bound and kneeling prostrate on the ground.

They were a middle-aged man, a woman, and a child.

Behind the middle-aged man holding the sickle stood a dense crowd. They looked like villagers, their faces filled with outrage, their arms raised as they shouted, as though responding to something...

"Wait, what are they doing here? Staging an uprising?"

The painting baffled Liu Chengfeng.

Bai Xiaoxiao, however, leaned closer and gently brushed it with her slender fingertips, a flicker of suspicion crossing her beautiful eyes.

"Something's not right. Take a closer look at the background..."

At her words, the two men also noticed that the background of the painting was... far too desolate.

"The blazing sun overhead, dead vegetation, a dried-up stream..."

"This was... a severe drought?!"

Liu Chengfeng exclaimed.

Something seemed to occur to Ning Qiushui, and he murmured:

"The kindhearted bled dry and became life-giving rain..."