That night was July 15th again, the annual Ghost Festival.
Outside, a light rain was falling.
A heavenly lightning strike had just dissipated, and the trees around Niangniang Temple that had been struck by lightning were still burning in the rain, crackling and popping.
"Before going down the mountain, go offer the Goddess a cup of tea," Dumb Granny said, handing over a cup of hot tea.
I knelt down and kowtowed three times, then took the tea, holding it respectfully, and said, "Master, please have some tea."
Dumb Granny took the teacup and placed it on the incense table.
I looked up, secretly glancing at the Goddess Statue.
Over the years, although Dumb Granny had been teaching me, I knew very well that Dumb Granny was only teaching on behalf of someone else; the one truly teaching me was the Master I had never met.
"Our Ling Sect disciples are uninhibited and have no rules," Dumb Granny wrote in the incense ash.
"No rules? What if I take on a disciple later, and this disciple is ungrateful and does all sorts of unsavory things?" I asked curiously.
"I already said, uninhibited. The disciple is yours. If you find them acceptable, keep them; if not, just kill them. What's there to be troubled about?" Dumb Granny asked.
"So that's what 'uninhibited' means?" I suddenly understood.
"When you go out this time, remember to do two things," Dumb Granny wrote. "The first is to find a book called 'Ling Wang Twenty-Four Chapters Secret Scripture.'"
"What is that?" I searched my mind but had no impression of that book title.
"It's something we lost."
I nodded, "Then I'll remember it."
"The second thing is, in the twelfth lunar month of this year, go to Changbai Mountain and find a sixteen-year-old girl with three moles on the sole of her left foot. Her surname is very likely Kong, but it might have been changed."
"Who is this?" I was a bit confused.
"Go ask Master yourself."
I fell silent then, coughed, and said, "Senior Sister, please continue. What should I do after I find her? Should I bring her back?"
"No need. You turn her into a Red-Clothed Vicious Ghoul."
I was stunned for a long time, a little disbelieving. "Senior Sister, are you saying you want me to turn that little girl into a Red-Clothed Vicious Ghoul?"
"It's a Red-Clothed Vicious Ghoul," Dumb Granny glanced at me and wrote on the ground.
I looked at her in surprise, both of us staring wide-eyed at each other.
Folklore has always had it that women who die unjustly while wearing red, if their resentment is sky-high and combined with a stroke of luck, might transform into Red-Clothed Vicious Ghouls to seek revenge.
Wherever these Red-Clothed Vicious Ghouls go, not even chickens or dogs are left alive; they are absolutely extremely malevolent beings!
But compared to a Red-Clothed Vicious Ghoul, that's like comparing a small witch to a great one; the difference is more than a hundred thousand eight thousand miles.
Of course, the difficulty of becoming a Vicious Ghoul is also incomparable.
Although our Ling Sect has methods for raising and refining ghosts, we don't usually use them lightly, let alone use living people to refine into ghosts and then cultivate them into Vicious Ghouls.
"Just keep it in mind. When you see her, tell her Dumb Granny is looking for her. Go, your things are packed," Dumb Granny said.
Dumb Granny handed me a backpack and an umbrella, then shooed me out the door.
"Master, I'm leaving."
For all these years, I had been looking forward to going down the mountain early to find Grandpa, but now that I was actually leaving, I found it hard to let go. I ran back into the temple, kowtowed three more times to the Goddess Statue, and then got up and left the temple gate.
Dumb Granny saw me off for a while.
"Senior Sister, you and Master take good care of yourselves."
Looking at her white hair, my nose tingled with emotion.
Dumb Granny nodded, pointing to the path down the mountain.
I knew it was time to leave. I braced myself, pulled Dumb Granny close, and asked with a low laugh, "Senior Sister, I've always had a question for you. Is the Goddess in our temple sculpted to look like Master when she was young?"
Dumb Granny gave me a strange look, neither nodding nor shaking her head.
"Then I understand! Master was so beautiful when she was young!" I gave a thumbs up.
With that, I laughed and ran out, then turned back to wave at Dumb Granny, opened my umbrella, and walked all the way down the mountain.
By the time I reached the foot of the mountain, I noticed that the light drizzle had suddenly stopped. The grass and trees were still, and there wasn't even a breath of wind.
Looking up, I saw dark clouds covering the sky, black as ink. A silent flash of lightning streaked through the clouds, like golden snakes dancing wildly!
My heart suddenly pounded. I threw my umbrella and bag to the ground, turned around, and ran back up the mountain at my fastest speed.
Rumble! Crack!
Streaks of heavenly lightning suddenly struck, purple electricity tearing through the night sky, seemingly splitting the entire Fentou Ridge in two!
By the time I arrived, the heavenly lightning had already dissipated. Niangniang Temple no longer existed, only charred ruins remained, with half of the Goddess Statue still burning in the fire, crackling.
Then, the rain poured down.
"Master! Senior Sister!"
I rushed over, searching everywhere, but found nothing.
I never thought that ten years later, I would once again experience the same fear I felt when I heard about Grandpa's accident at the Cao family!
The icy rain drenched me completely, but it also cleared my head a little.
"They'll be fine!" After calming down, I could think normally again.
It was just that Niangniang Temple was struck by heavenly lightning; it didn't mean anything. Besides, with Master's and Senior Sister's abilities, I didn't believe they were just gone like that.
I sat in the heavy rain all night.
It wasn't until the wind stopped and the rain ceased, and the east began to lighten, that I finally stood up and walked down the mountain.
I picked up my umbrella and backpack and left Fentou Ridge, where I had lived for ten years.