Chapter 1435 - 1429: Retribution Has Arrived
"Tch, making a fuss over nothing." Lin Chuan rolled his eyes at the group of people, all young men in their late teens or early twenties. How could they be so timid? Not to mention there are no ghosts in the world, even if there were, if someone were to encounter such a handsome ghost like him, they'd surely scream loudly.
"What? The group has already screamed loudly? No, I meant screams of admiration, not screams out of fear."
At this moment, Lin Chuan started to somewhat appreciate Shi Rongguang. The first impression this guy gave him was disgusting, the second was idiotic, and after that, a combination of disgusting and idiotic. But now everyone else was scared and avoiding him, while this guy didn't even bother to move, not even turning to look at him.
"Hmm, the young man's got guts." Lin Chuan praised sincerely.
In his heart, Shi Rongguang had cursed Lin Chuan's ancestors up to eighteen generations. His shoulder was held down by Lin Chuan's hand, scaring Shi Rongguang to the point he didn't even dare to look back, his legs trembling continuously, his face turning pale, unable to even speak.
The only consolation for Shi Rongguang was that fortunately, his group of lackeys hadn't run away. As long as they stayed watching from afar, it somehow bolstered his courage.
The reason the lanky guys hadn't run was that they'd watched many Hong Kong and Taiwanese ghost films, where whoever runs first when a ghost appears ends up dying the quickest. So, to avoid being the first scapegoat, they all stood still; if anyone dared to run first, the rest would inevitably scatter and flee.
If Shi Rongguang knew what these guys were truly thinking, he'd definitely curse them loudly. He fed and sheltered these useless dudes, totally wasting food.
Lin Chuan released his grip on Shi Rongguang's shoulder, ran in front of Shi Rongguang, and smilingly asked, "Don't rush to leave, wait for your dad and the villagers, and we'll go down the mountain together. If you all leave, I'll be very scared alone here, it's so dark on the mountain."
"You're... you're not a ghost?" Seeing Lin Chuan's appearance, Shi Rongguang found it wasn't as terrifying as he imagined, still as he was before, so he cautiously asked.
"You're the ghost, your whole family's ghosts. Have you ever seen such a handsome ghost? I'm a man who is loved by all, flowers bloom upon seeing me, women willingly open their legs at the sight of me waiting for me to approach—a proper gentleman." Lin Chuan unleashed all his anger, feeling slightly better afterward.
The twenty-something people were all stunned, looking at Lin Chuan up and down, seeing not a single burn mark on him, he even had a wine flask in hand. Then glancing back at the already burned-out shrine, they all couldn't fathom how this guy survived, could there really be a deity secretly aiding him?
"Achoo..."
Not knowing who first sneezed, soon everyone started sneezing one after another.
After this tumultuous night, first getting soaked by rain, then frightened, followed by a bout of busying around, ending with a massive scare, all these actions combined had thoroughly exhausted the group, leaving their bodies cold and likely causing most to catch a cold.
Shi Rongguang was so furious he couldn't speak, seeing Lin Chuan smilingly looking at him, occasionally sipping on his little wine, appearing to intentionally flaunt before him.
Suddenly, he felt like he'd been tricked by Lin Chuan. Though they both looked pathetic now, drenched in rain, Lin Chuan clearly was much more relaxed, especially after silently sneaking up behind and scaring him.
Looking around, he noticed a shovel on the ground not far away, which they specifically used as a firefighting tool, and without a word, he rushed over to it. Then, bending down to pick up the shovel, he raised it high, shouting, "You, named Jiang, dare to trick me; I must take your life today."
"Be careful, you shouldn't hold metal objects high during the rain; it's easy to get..." Lin Chuan saw Shi Rongguang holding the shovel head over his head and kindly reminded him, but before he could finish speaking, it was too late.
"Boom... crackle, thud... boom..."
Before Shi Rongguang could run over to Lin Chuan, a lightning bolt struck down directly on the shovel head Shi Rongguang held up, which was initially made of wood. Due to the rain soaking it, the electricity passed directly to Shi Rongguang's body.
The lightning came swiftly and left swiftly, everyone could only watch Shi Rongguang turn into a roast pig.
Lin Chuan regrettably shook his head, looking at the charred Shi Rongguang, sighed, "I warned you, you didn't listen, now look, go report to the Earth God. Ah, not listening to my words, you're paying the price right before your eyes."
The rest looked at each other, watching quietly from a distance. Among them, someone secretly exclaimed, "A moment ago he was a living man, and in the blink of an eye, he's turned into a roast piglet. If the heavens want something to eat, one thunderbolt and it's done. No wonder so many people want to be the deity!"
As the sound faded, the thunder grew farther away, and the pouring rain slowly subsided, until finally, the sky cleared up completely, even a few stars faintly appeared.
The two who went to the village to report soon returned, accompanied by village head Shi Houcai and several village officials, along with a dozen villagers.
The group trudged through the mountains, deep in thought, as they made their way to the dilapidated temple midway up the hillside. Along the way, people couldn't stop cursing the person who set the fire.
Even though they were reluctant to get out of bed so late, some had just crawled into bed and were feeling affectionate with their wives, before being pulled out of bed by the village chief and running up into the mountain where they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces.
But the messenger said someone had been burned to death on the mountain. Though unsure of the truth, they couldn't afford to delay when it came to matters of life and death.
When Shi Houcai stumbled awkwardly to the top, he caught sight of a charred corpse lying on the ground from afar; it must have been the unlucky person burned to death!
The two messengers saw the corpse on the ground; initially, they were stunned, then they were pleased. They were surprised that someone really had been burned to death, but happy that their evening's efforts were not in vain, as long as they kept it a secret among themselves.
However, when they saw Lin Chuan standing calmly nearby, drinking with squinted eyes while watching them, all the hairs on their bodies stood on end.
Lin Chuan saw the two men and knew what they were thinking; he simply smiled lightly.
To say the least, when others were drenched and caught cold, Lin Chuan remained unaffected, merrily drinking. Lin Chuan had been drenched for most of the night yet hadn't caught a cold, perhaps due to his cultivation.
"Oh my God, it's like seeing a ghost. Is this guy human or ghost? He's not dead, so who is this lying on the ground?" The two screamed internally.
Looking around at everyone, they suddenly realized their leader Shi Rongguang was missing. Lowering their heads to closely inspect the person lying there, their knees gave way, and they collapsed onto the ground.
The mountain temple indeed caught fire, and someone indeed died there, not by burning, though, but struck by lightning.
With the skinny fellow's group taking turns, they reported the evening's general situation to Shi Houcai and the accompanying villagers.
Of course, their report was very simple, just saying they saw fire on the mountain, went up to put it out, and someone vaguely saw someone in the temple; they even heard someone yelling "Help," but then couldn't hear anything anymore.
Exhausted, watching the fire grow bigger, afraid someone might have been burned inside, they sent for the village chief. Unexpectedly, a lightning bolt struck down upon Shi Rongguang, who was holding a shovel, leading to the tragedy.
"Is what they said... true?" Shi Houcai looked at the unrecognizable Shi Rongguang, painfully asking Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan blinked, promptly replying, "Absolutely true, I saw them putting out the fire and followed them up here. I witnessed it myself, Shi Rongguang brother was truly a good person."
"What a pity... what a pity..." Lin Chuan sighed outwardly, while internally thinking repeatedly, "Too bad this retribution came too late."
Shi Rongguang was carried back by his father Shi Houcai and other villagers, and the others slowly returned home as well; by tomorrow morning, it's likely this story will spread throughout the village.
When Lin Chuan returned to Huang Mengqi's house, it was already two or three in the morning the next day. He originally thought Huang Mengqi had long gone to bed, but was surprised to find she had left the door open for Lin Chuan, and the main room was lit.
"What happened? Why did you take so long to come back? Why is it so noisy outside?"
Hearing noise at the courtyard gate, Huang Mengqi walked out from inside, approached Lin Chuan, and inquired with concern.
Since Lin Chuan was called away, Huang Mengqi felt an inexplicable unease, yet didn't understand why. Before long, the sky began to thunderstorm, further exacerbating her unease.
After her mother and brother had gone to sleep, she heard voices outside; a while later, the rain stopped, the thunder ceased, but the village streets grew lively.
Initially, Huang Mengqi wanted to rush out and see what was going on, given Lin Chuan was still out there, and venturing out late at night was always worrisome. But recalling the villagers confronting her about debts a few days prior, knowing she couldn't pay them, she suppressed her curiosity, waiting quietly for Lin Chuan's return.
Lin Chuan reached the stone table in the center of the courtyard, drew some water from the nearby well, poured it into a basin, washed his face, took off his soaked shirt, and breathed a long sigh of relief.