Chapter 1365 The Returnee's Notes 439
"It's been transported here, look, this is it."
"This place? Why is it so dilapidated?"
"It's a bit dilapidated, but look, it's clean here. We can't even afford thick porridge anymore, so who would have the money to repair this run-down Taoist temple?"
People who come here to make wishes always clean up properly; look how spotless it is everywhere!
"Indeed..."
As they spoke, the two entered the hall, where there was only one statue, a goddess statue made of black wood, with her eyes half-open and half-closed. In such a dilapidated Taoist temple, this statue was remarkably well-preserved, without a trace of decay.
The two men who entered apologized and then bowed three times.
Rainwater dripped from the broken roof and landed on the broken bowl on the ground. Aunt Li, who had finished worshipping the statue, glanced at it but didn't find it strange. Usually, people who went up the mountain would take shelter from the rain in this dilapidated Taoist temple.
Occasionally, people come here to burn incense and clean up.
In this life, one always needs something to rely on, and this dilapidated Taoist temple on the mountain is the place where wishes are fulfilled.
Because the statues here don't cost them money, and they can listen to their innermost thoughts. Whether or not their wishes are fulfilled is ultimately unimportant.
Of course, they came here because of their faith. They heard from the village elders that a wildfire many years ago burned everything except for this statue. Later, a wealthy family funded the construction of a Taoist temple here.
But after so long, the wealthy family disappeared, leaving only this Taoist temple to weather the storms in the mountains, eventually becoming a dilapidated temple.
Aunt Li looked the place up and down, thinking that she would ask her husband when she got home if he could get some planks to fix it up, so that it wouldn't look too shabby.
She was extremely devoted to this Taoist temple and the goddess there. Last year, her daughter Sanya had a high fever and was on the verge of not making it. Her mother-in-law told her to get rid of her, since she could still have another child anyway.
But she couldn't bear to part with her, after all, it was her own flesh and blood. However, her family didn't have the money to find a doctor, so she took Sanya up the mountain to pray to the gods. Unexpectedly, Sanya's illness was cured the next day.
Therefore, she is the one who trusts the most.
Therefore, Juanniang, the daughter-in-law of Yunlai's family who came with Aunt Li, also came here with hope.
She wanted a child.
Juanniang followed Aunt Li's example and bowed three times. Then, seemingly feeling that this was not sincere enough, she knelt down and kowtowed three times earnestly.
With his hands clasped together, he murmured, "Goddess, please grant me a child, Goddess, please grant me a child..."
Xie Ning sat on the pedestal of the statue, the string of beads in his hand trembling. One of the beads shattered and turned into a white ball of soul that squeezed out.
Xie Ning held the white ball in her hands, her eyes widening in surprise, not only at the sudden shattering of the white porcelain bead, but also at the purity of its soul.
The souls of mortals after death are all imbued with a ghostly aura, a blackish-red hue. But this soul is pure white and somewhat soft.
The little dumpling seemed reluctant to part with Xie Ning, and even rubbed against Xie Ning's palm, but in the end it still crawled into the woman's belly.
Xie Ning flew down and circled Juan Niang a few times. Although she was in a spirit form and could not touch her, with her medical skills, she could estimate that the woman was pregnant.
As for how long it will take, that's impossible to measure.
The human body and soul are separate, and the soul enters later.
It's unclear whether the soul in her possession is special.
Xie Ning tried to leave the Taoist temple, but ultimately failed, as a transparent barrier blocked his way.
After the rain subsided, Aunt Li and her husband went down the mountain. At that moment, a rustling sound came from behind the statue. A dirty little beggar crawled out, saw the wild fruits on the ground, grabbed them, and started crunching them.
Looking at the sour fruit, she didn't seem to mind, she just wrinkled her face and muttered something.
"If worshipping gods were effective, so many people wouldn't be dying in this world. If a god could give me a big meat bun, I'd worship him too! Humph, where are the gods in this world?"
While rambling on, Xie Ning pulled off the blindfold from her face. She thought the little beggar had covered her eyes because they were injured, but she was surprised to find herself staring into a pair of silver eyes.
"Thud—"
The little beggar dropped the fruit from her hand, her eyes rolled back, and she almost fainted. At that moment, she wished she could really faint. Then she saw Xie Ning looking at her with her head down.
Although the ghost was quite beautiful, she was scared and tried to play dead with her eyes tightly closed. But she couldn't keep up the act for more than three seconds before realizing that she couldn't fool the ghost by pretending to be dead. So she closed her eyes again, got up, and kowtowed.
"It wasn't me who caused this, please spare me, grandma! I just stole some fruit!"
As she spoke of the little beggar, she came to her senses. She had been to this dilapidated Taoist temple before, but she had never seen a ghost. So even though she had just been saying that praying to the gods was useless, she still felt that this place was somewhat spiritual.
At least there are no ghosts, so she can sleep peacefully.
Not a ghost? Could it be a god?
Oh my god, I've met a true god!
The little beggar opened one eye to look at Xie Ning and saw that she was not as terrifying as ordinary ghosts, but rather had a righteous air about her. He felt even more strongly that he had encountered a god.
He quickly dismissed the idea that there were no gods in the world and that gods were useless. He scrambled to Xie Ning's feet, his eyes filled with utmost piety, and shouted loudly, "Goddess!"
The little beggar's actions completely stunned Xie Ning.
"I don't......"
Xie Ning was about to deny it, but then she thought that it was better to be treated as a god than a ghost.
After all, in the eyes of most people, ghosts can harm people, while gods cannot.
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