Chapter 9: The Temple of the Five Manifestations (3)

“Oh, Dog Shao, don’t bring trouble to yourself or others! Put the apple back! The elders in the village all say the Five Manifest Spirits are extremely effective, answering every prayer!” Tian Guoqiang scolded. As he spoke, he rummaged through the incense tray beneath the statue and pulled out three remaining sandalwood sticks, pretending to bow three times before inserting them into the ash of the copper incense burner.

Who would have thought that as soon as those three sticks were inserted into the burner, they all snapped in half. The upper halves softly rolled onto the table, scattering in different directions and startling Tian Guoqiang, who hadn’t yet reacted.

“What’s going on here?” Tian Guoqiang frowned.

“Hehe, looks like you’re trying to flatter the old goddess but ended up kicking a real horse! She clearly doesn’t buy into your nonsense!” Liu Dashao laughed heartily, delighted at the misfortune.

“Get lost!” Tian Guoqiang shot him a glare, muttered a curse under his breath, and instinctively thought it was just poorly made incense that wasn’t sturdy enough, collapsing easily under pressure. Immediately afterward, he rummaged through the tray again and again, finally selecting three carefully chosen sandalwood sticks. After inspecting them several times, he cautiously and slowly inserted them into the incense burner.

This time, the three sticks finally began burning safely, and within about ten seconds, thin, swirling wisps of smoke spiraled upward, obscuring the face of the statue in a hazy, surreal manner.

“Alright, let’s play mahjong! We finally snuck out, so don’t waste any more time,” Liu Dashao impatiently rolled up his sleeves, revealing two pale arms.

Tian Guoqiang nodded, fetched several cushions from the temple attendants, patted off the dust, and tossed one to each person. They sat down in a square formation, and two kerosene lamps were lit, one on each side, perfectly illuminating the central area.

“Dog Shao, the door’s open again—go shut it and find something to block it! Otherwise, we won’t have any peace!” Tian Guoqiang plopped himself onto a cushion, setting down two sets of mahjong tiles.

“You’re always so fussy!” Liu Dashao didn’t want to get up again after just sitting down, but the cold draft from behind was indeed sending chills down his spine, making him shiver repeatedly. Thinking about it, Liu Dashao finally stood up reluctantly, quickly rushing to the temple door in two big steps, closing the wooden doors that had been blown open again. His small eyes darted left and right for a moment before he used his toe to hook over a large stone, wedging it into the closed door. Instantly, the room became much warmer. However, since the three people sitting on the floor were all focused on shuffling the tiles, no one noticed that at the moment the door clicked shut, a cold gust of air slipped through the gap, blowing out all three burning incense sticks in one swift sweep!

“Dog Shao, hurry up! We’re waiting on you for the last seat!” Tian Guoqiang, who had already finished shuffling, couldn’t contain his impatience and shouted.

“Man, you’re the one who made me close the door, and now you’re complaining I’m too slow! If you’re so capable, why don’t you do it yourself!” Liu Dashao grumbled as he sat back down and grabbed his tiles first.

“What the hell? How come I got the three of spades? Who the hell shuffled these tiles? Are you trying to mess with me?” Expecting a lucky start, Liu Dashao was completely taken aback, holding the tiles in his hand, unsure whether to keep them or throw them away.

“We’re playing fair here, don’t go blaming others!” Tian Guoqiang grinned slyly, gripping the big joker tightly in his hand. “It’s just your bad luck—you shouldn’t have gone out today without checking the almanac.”

No way! Looking at Tian Guoqiang’s sly smile and the knowing glances exchanged by the other two boys, even if Liu Dashao were a bit slow, he would have caught on by now. And in fact, he was actually quite clever.

“Tian Guoqiang, let me see your tiles—what did you draw!”

“No way!” Tian Guoqiang shook his head repeatedly. “Why should I show you my tiles?”

“Show or I’ll take them!” Now Liu Dashao was certain Tian Guoqiang had pulled some trickery—he’d always been a bit of a troublemaker.

“No!” Tian Guoqiang stuck out his lower lip, pulling the tile closer to his chest and speaking firmly.

“Alright then, I’m taking them myself!” With that, Liu Dashao lunged forward like a hungry tiger…

“Damn you! You’ve got the big joker, and you gave me the three of spades? Did I dig up your ancestors’ graves or something!”

“No, no, it’s a misunderstanding…!” Tian Guoqiang, caught red-handed, tried to explain with a bitter face.

“Misunderstanding? You think I don’t know your character? They say a good brother would take a knife for you, but you, you little punk, not only won’t you take a knife for me, you’ve gone and stabbed me in the ribs!”

The two boys started fighting again.

After a while, with the joint efforts of Goudan and Xiao Mazi, the two finally cooled down. This time, the tiles were shuffled by Goudan under everyone’s watchful eyes, so Tian Guoqiang couldn’t cheat anymore. He just sat there, alternately showing his teeth and frowning, unsure whether he had good tiles or if that cursed three of spades had gone back to him.

Time always flew when playing mahjong, much faster than the endless days at school. Einstein with his big mustache really did have something with his theory of relativity. After several rounds, Tian Guoqiang’s mouth was so pouted it could almost hold an oil bottle, while Liu Dashao had completely turned his luck around. Even when he occasionally got small hands like three-of-a-kind, he could somehow manage to make a bomb.

As for Goudan and Xiao Mazi, they had lost all their pocket money for the past few months and were almost in tears. Tian Guoqiang had won a few dimes, but everything else went straight into Liu Dashao’s pockets.

“Haha, later on, come with me to Big Head’s convenience store. This young master is going to buy some sunflower seeds and candies to treat everyone!” Liu Dashao said cheerfully as he counted his money.

“Small man getting carried away!” Tian Guoqiang muttered darkly as he collected the tiles. But a moment later, he suddenly shouted, “Wait a minute—why are there so many extra tiles all of a sudden!”

“Extra? Are you seeing things?” Liu Dashao laughed nervously, his voice weaker now.

“Oh, I get it—you’re cheating!” Tian Guoqiang suddenly realized, grabbing Liu Dashao’s arm and shouting.

“Give the money back to me!”

“Back to my sister! Which eye of yours saw me cheating? Would I, such a pure person, ever do such a despicable thing?” Liu Dashao said calmly, without batting an eyelash.

“No way! This isn’t over today!” Tian Guoqiang shook Liu Dashao’s shoulders furiously, getting angrier and angrier. However, perhaps because of his violent movements, a playing card fell out of his pants pocket, fluttering down in front of everyone.

“Oh, hiding tiles! You’re the one cheating, you bastard!” Liu Dashao seized the opportunity, his eyes wide open like he was on a rampage.

“It fell out—it just fell out when I was tidying up…” Tian Guoqiang tried to explain with a bitter smile, though he knew his excuses were only making things worse.

“Do you guys believe him?” Liu Dashao turned to Goudan and Xiao Mazi.

The two clueless boys looked at each other for a while, then glanced at Tian Guoqiang. After a moment’s hesitation, they nodded and said, “We believe him. Tian Ge’s heart is really black.”

“I’m not treating anyone anymore—make him pay instead!” Liu Dashao pointed at Tian Guoqiang with a cold laugh. Just then, however, they suddenly heard a “patta” sound, like a stone hitting a wall from outside the door.

Such a sound in the dead of night was truly spine-chilling. Goudan, who was closest to the door, couldn’t help but scream, “Ahh!” nearly collapsing to the ground, while Liu Dashao’s sarcastic remark died on his lips.

“What… what was that sound?” His nervous, trembling voice came out weak and hesitant.

Unfortunately, the only answer was the occasional mournful chirping of a cricket.

In the dark night, everything was quiet and still, not a sound to be heard.

“Huh…” Seeing no response, Liu Dashao finally relaxed the tension in his throat, letting out a sigh of relief as he turned to Goudan and asked, “What just happened? Are you okay, you fat kid?”

Goudan, seeing everyone gather around, felt a bit braver and pointed at the door, saying, “Just now… it seemed like someone was over there!”

“Someone? In this remote mountain area, in the middle of the night? It’s probably a ghost!” Liu Dashao didn’t believe him at all, grabbing the nearby kerosene lamp and bravely speaking up with a bold attitude. However, as he happened to mention the word “ghost,” the most taboo word in the dark of night, he couldn’t help but shiver involuntarily, his handsome face paling slightly, looking quite uncomfortable.

Turning to look at Tian Guoqiang and Xiao Mazi, their expressions weren’t much better.

“Don’t panic, let me go check it out!” At this point, Liu Dashao had no choice but to grit his teeth, kick aside the stone, and forcefully pull open the door. He stared cautiously into the vast darkness outside and shouted angrily, “Who’s there! Come out!”

Nothing but the wind…

Only the echoing words “come out… come out…” reverberated back and forth, lingering endlessly.

All around, it was desolate and silent, like the morgue in a town hospital.

Just as Liu Dashao was about to close the door, a sudden gust of wind blew, making the old locust tree in front of the temple sway violently. All around, something unknown was making a rustling sound in the wind. This gust came out of nowhere, and Liu Dashao’s eyes were immediately filled with sand and dust. Just as he was about to move to avoid the wind, the strange gust of wind suddenly stopped.

Liu Dashao rubbed his eyes, spat out the sand that had blown into his mouth, and cursed the strange wind from just now. As he turned his head, he saw Goudan beside him, his face pale enough to show the veins, staring at the temple gate with wide, terrified eyes, not blinking at all.

“Goudan, you’re too scared. It’s just a gust of wind, and it’s already got you this frightened,” Liu Dashao chuckled.

But at this moment, Goudan was too frightened to speak. He simply extended his trembling hand and pointed forward. Following the direction Goudan pointed, suddenly, on the half-hidden hillside, it seemed as if a market had appeared out of nowhere, filled with countless flickering lights. These lights moved around, not flickering like will-o’-the-wisps. By now, the moon had already risen halfway, casting an eerie glow over the sea of lights.

A rush of blood surged straight to Liu Dashao’s head, leaving him momentarily dazed. Oh my God, the old folks in the village were right after all! Why did this thought suddenly pop into his mind? It turned out that since the beginning of the year, their village had been plagued by unsettling events. Strange occurrences had frequently happened, and the most widely spread ghost story was closely related to the small temple they were now in.