Chapter 172

Qin Su stroked the cat in her arms and said with a smile, "They say you should burn incense when you see a temple and worship Buddha when you meet him. Since we're here, why don't we go and take a look?"

Qin Lide looked at his granddaughter and felt something was off.

Based on a cultivator's intuition, he felt that Qin Su's words seemed to have a hidden meaning.

But since they hadn't found any clues here and had made an unexpected discovery, they felt they should go and take a look, so they said, "Let's go and see."

Since Qin Lide said so, Fang Jianye and the others naturally followed suit.

After walking for five or six minutes, the group arrived at the temple and took a closer look. It was no exaggeration to say that the temple was dilapidated.

Half of the temple has collapsed, and the other half is also on the verge of collapse. The statues enshrined in the temple are missing arms and legs, but you can barely make out their original features.

People were afraid of being hit by bricks and tiles, so they didn't dare to get close to look and only observed from a distance.

As he looked at the statue, Qin Lide suddenly glanced at it, then at Fang Jianye, and exclaimed "Eh!"

Fang Jianye asked in surprise, "Old Qin, what's wrong?"

Qin Lide said uncertainly, "Let me take another look."

He stepped into the ruins, his fingers flying across the floor in calculations.

Ignoring the danger, Fang Jianye quickly followed behind him.

Seeing the boss walk inside, Fang Jianye's assistant and secretary wanted to follow, but Qin Su stopped them with her arm and whispered, "The temple is dilapidated and it's easy for it to collapse if there are too many people. You can wait here."

"Besides, this is ultimately Mr. Fang's family matter," she added. "It's best for Mr. Fang to handle it himself."

The assistant and secretary were both stunned.

Family matters? Isn't this a paranormal event? How did it turn into a family matter?

Before they could even voice their doubts, Qin Lide in the temple said with certainty, "I know now, this temple is indeed related to you."

Fang Jianye was confused and surprised: "What does this have to do with me? Did I accidentally offend a deity? But I don't even know what kind of deity this is, or what taboos it has."

He had suspected this before, but because he couldn't think of anything disrespectful he had done, he put the idea aside. Now, hearing Qin Lide say this, his first thought was, "Sure enough, he has unintentionally offended God."

Qin Lide was even more surprised than him: "You're saying you don't recognize this god?"

"?" Fang Jianye asked, puzzled. "Should I know him?"

Qin Lide said, "Of course, because she's your mother."

Fang Jianye: "..."

Fang Jianye: "???"

He heard what Qin Lide said, but he didn't understand it.

He looked up at the damaged statue, his eyes filled with questions.

"Mr. Qin, what... what did you just say she was to me?"

Qin Lide: "Your mother."

—It sounds like he's swearing, but everyone there knows he isn't.

Fang Jianye was stunned, and after a long while, he asked, "The literal meaning?"

Qin Lide: "The literal meaning."

Fang Jianye almost thought Qin Lide was playing a prank on him. He took two steps back, carefully examined Qin Lide's expression, and confirmed that he was not joking.

Seeing that he was too shocked to speak, Qin Lide asked curiously, "The divination indicates that the adopted child has offspring. This statue is related to you as a mother and child. Don't you know anything about it?"

Fang Jianye first shook his head subconsciously and said, "I have indeed never seen this statue before."

Only after he finished speaking did he realize that Qin Lide had said "adopted child".

bollworm?

This refers to godchildren.

He blurted out, "Not her biological mother?"

Qin Lide: "..."

He finally understood why Fang Jianye had reacted that way. He looked at Fang Jianye with a strange expression, almost as if to say: Are you stupid? Can a statue give birth to a living person like you?

Qin Su chuckled upon hearing this.

She called two people out, brushed the dust off Qin Lide, and said to Fang Jianye, "President Fang, I've heard that in some places, if a child in a family is unwell, they will recognize some old trees, strange rocks, or statues as godparents, hoping to rely on their energy to protect the child and help them grow up safely and healthily."

Fang Jianye suddenly realized: "That's possible. I was indeed often sick when I was a child."

Thinking about the misunderstanding, he said awkwardly, "I was so shocked at first. When I heard 'my mom,' I thought it was my biological mom... I'll call my parents to ask if that's true."

He immediately made a video call to his mother.

"Hello, Jianye." Fang Jianye's mother answered the video call, the clatter of mahjong tiles filling the air. "Where are you?"

Fang Jianye switched the camera to show his mother: "Mom, I'm on Xiaohuangshan right now. I see a temple and a statue here. Did I have any godmothers when I was little?"

Fang Jianye's mother paused for a moment, then put down the mahjong tiles in her hand: "The Goddess of Flowers?"

She leaned closer to the camera and felt a pang of heartache when she saw the ruins: "How did this temple end up like this?"

Fang Jianye pressed on, "Mom, so I really did have this Flower Goddess as my godmother when I was little?"

Fang Jianye's mother said, "We did the ceremony. When you were little, you weren't very healthy. Your father and I heard that this method was effective, so we brought some fruit and steamed buns to the temple and became godparents. And you know what? Ever since we did the ceremony, your health has gradually improved. It's quite miraculous. Why are you asking about this?"

Fang Jianye: I'll tell you the details later.

He hurriedly hung up the phone and said to Qin Lide, "Old Qin, what's going on? Is it because our family hasn't made offerings for so many years that this deity, this godmother, is angry?"

He now feels a great sense of awe towards Qin Lide.

If he was only half-believing and half-doubting at first, he is now truly convinced.

Qin Lide actually figured out something that even he himself didn't remember.

Absolutely incredible!

Qin Lide consulted the oracle twice more, then shook his head and said, "I don't think so."

If it were truly because of the offerings that it was angry, it wouldn't have taken so long to manifest; warnings would have been given years ago.

Fang Jianye asked with a troubled expression, "What's the reason for that?"

Qin Lide was also pondering this.

Qin Su asked slowly, "President Fang, how does your tourism plan address this mountain?"

Fang Jianye said, "Isn't it a good thing to replace all the vegetation to make it more attractive for tourists to enjoy?"

Even gods would appreciate a beautiful environment.

Qin Su smiled and said, "Changing the vegetation is a good thing, but what about the temple?"

Fang Jianye suddenly understood.

He turned to look at his assistant, who was still dazed by the collapse of the materialistic world: "The temple... the temple is going to be torn down..."

Fang Jianye: "!"

Now he understood what was going on without anyone having to tell him.

This godson who recognized the idol as his godmother was so unfilial that he dared to betray his master and ancestors. How could he not be warned?

Making him eat dirt would be a lenient punishment.

Fang Jianye quickly said, "Change it! Change the plan! This temple not only cannot be demolished, but it must be rebuilt and the statues must be reshaped! It must be made a key landmark in this development zone!"

The secretary and assistant agreed and immediately called the design team to communicate.

Fang Jianye breathed a sigh of relief.

Before descending the mountain, he ran to the ruins and sincerely kowtowed three times to the statue, saying that he had never known before, but now that he did, he would definitely repay his godmother's blessing.

He escorted Qin Lide and Qin Su home, adding a generous red envelope to the originally agreed-upon reward.

After handing it to Qin Lide, Fang Jianye didn't rush to get in the car; instead, he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Qin Lide didn't understand, but Qin Su saw through his inner turmoil.

"Is Mr. Fang asking about matters concerning the gods?"

Fang Jianye mumbled, "I just have a little..."

Human beings revere the gods with both respect and awe.

No one is immune to the fear of the existence of higher beings, especially when they possess power that you cannot resist.

Fang Jianye had been unaware of this before, but now that he knew there really were gods, a chill ran down his spine, and he couldn't help but think about more things.

Are humans being watched and supervised by gods while they are living their normal lives?

He recognized the idol as his godmother; should he be careful about everything he does for the rest of his life?

He certainly wasn't planning to do anything bad, but being watched was never pleasant.

Qin Su explained to him, "Gods rely on human spirits. In today's society, there are actually not many gods left in the world. Even those that are still around have greatly diminished their power. The temple and statues of the Flower Goddess have all been destroyed, so she probably only has a trace of her divine consciousness left. It is only because you have some unique connection with her that she can give you a warning through your dream, so you don't need to worry."

“However…” she curled her lips into a half-smile, “we still need to do good deeds, otherwise there will be other consequences after we die.”

Fang Jianye finally felt relieved.

He smiled and said, "I do things with integrity and would never do anything evil. Mr. Qin and Miss Qin can rest assured about that."

Fang Jianye thanked the two men repeatedly before leaving with his assistant and secretary.