Chapter 251
Chapter 251
According to the file, Li Tushan advised the local people to build a Thunder Ancestor Temple.
And it had to be built on the original site of Luo Mansion.
In other words, they would have to demolish Luo Mansion first, then build the temple.
Li Tushan was an expert, so of course the locals believed him. But to build the temple, they first had to tear down Luo Mansion. Who would dare do that?
Li Tushan told them that the wronged spirits did not dare emerge during the day, so construction could proceed then. Work had to stop at sunset, however, and they had to remember one more thing: no work could be done during Wu Hour, and everyone had to leave the grounds of Luo Mansion.
Wu Hour ran from eleven in the morning to one in the afternoon. It was a time when Yin and Yang converged, when extreme Yang could easily turn into extreme Yin. Working during that period was an invitation for trouble.
He would also remain in the area for six months to keep the wronged spirits from coming out and harming anyone during that time.
After discussing it at length, the locals finally reached an agreement. Every household donated money toward the construction of the Thunder Ancestor Temple.
Under Li Tushan’s supervision, Luo Mansion ceased to exist. Construction of the temple proceeded in an orderly fashion, and nothing else happened during that time.
But the absence of trouble then did not mean there would never be trouble.
Building a temple was a major undertaking. There were not enough local laborers, so more had to be hired from out of town. Those outsiders knew nothing about what had happened there and naturally lacked the locals’ reverence for the place.
They did not take Li Tushan’s warning seriously at all.
Li Tushan had said from the very beginning that no one could remain at the construction site during Wu Hour. Anyone who did was bound to meet with disaster.
But Wu Hour happened to be when the workers rested after lunch. Leaving and coming back would cut into their break, so the group of workers from out of town refused to believe anything supernatural would happen. One day, after lunch, they returned to the construction site and rested there.
Wu Hour was when Yin and Yang converged. At times, it could be even more dangerous than night.
And so, disaster struck that day. Part of the structure that had already been completed collapsed for no apparent reason, crushing five workers to death on the spot.
At this point, Seventh Master and I paused and each took another sip of tea.
Those five workers who had been crushed to death sounded eerily similar to the two men who had died at Boss Lin’s construction site.
Especially the one who had been killed while sneaking around with his lover.
The file said that after those five workers died, Li Tushan was helpless as well. He had warned them, but they had refused to listen. There was nothing he could have done.
Fortunately, after those five deaths, none of the other workers dared disobey Li Tushan again. No one remained at the construction site during Wu Hour.
No further accidents occurred after that incident. Six months later, the Thunder Ancestor Temple was complete. All the local people came to worship Thunder Ancestor, offering incense with utmost sincerity and praying for his protection.
Afterward, just as Li Tushan had said, the locals prayed at the Thunder Ancestor Temple every day, and nothing else ever happened. The wronged spirits seemed to have vanished and never came out to harm anyone again.
Even after Li Tushan left, incense continued to burn at the Thunder Ancestor Temple. So many worshippers came that the threshold was worn through. It was not only nearby residents who came every day to offer incense and pray for blessings. People from out of town heard how efficacious the temple was and came to worship as well.
There was another curious tale from after the Thunder Ancestor Temple was built. It was said that during a time of war, a group of enemy soldiers was conducting a sweep through the area when they became lost in the nearby hills.
The woods were fairly open, so there was no reason anyone should have gotten lost. Yet somehow, the enemy troops lost their way and remained trapped there for half a day.
That half day was enough time for the local people to flee and escape the fate of being slaughtered.
Afterward, the Thunder Ancestor Temple’s reputation became even more miraculous. Many people said the locals’ sincerity had moved Thunder Ancestor and earned his protection. Unable to bear the sight of his worshippers being slaughtered, Thunder Ancestor had cast a divine spell that trapped the enemy soldiers and gave the people time to escape.
For some reason, reading that made me strangely excited. It was incredible!
“Is this story true?” I raised my head, not even sure whether I was asking Boss Lin or Seventh Master. I just hoped one of them would give me a definite answer.
“There’s really no way to verify whether it was true. Maybe it happened, or maybe people exaggerated it.”
Seventh Master said, “But it isn’t impossible for Thunder Ancestor to manifest his power. Something similar once happened in Yuzhou, also during a time of war. Enemy troops fired thirteen shells in an attempt to destroy Laojun Terrace, but every last one of them turned out to be a dud.”
“The locals didn’t know what to do with the thirteen unexploded shells, so they could only bury them somewhere. It wasn’t until many years later that the shells were dug up and detonated.”
“The man who had ordered Laojun Terrace bombarded later visited our country often. He went back to Laojun Terrace to repent for what he had done, believing that the Supreme Lord Lao had manifested his power that day.”
I clicked my tongue in amazement. “Incredible! That’s absolutely incredible!”
Boss Lin sighed with feeling too. “There are many profound and mysterious things in this world. I believe the gods exist, so the story about the Thunder Ancestor Temple was probably true as well.”
Seventh Master said, “I can’t say whether the story of the Thunder Ancestor Temple was true, but Li Tushan was a real person.”
My curiosity was piqued. “How can you be so sure?”
Seventh Master said, “In his day, Li Tushan was considered one of the great experts of his generation. Even my Master knew of him and was fortunate enough to meet him. My Master even received guidance from Li Tushan. By then, though, Li Tushan was already an old man.”
At that, even Boss Lin looked shocked.
Seventh Master was already this capable, so his Master must have been even more formidable. Yet even that man had needed Li Tushan’s guidance. Just how powerful had Li Tushan been?
Both of us grew curious about the expert. “If someone like that passed away, wouldn’t he have ascended as an immortal?”
Seventh Master shook his head. “How could the living know what becomes of the dead? But Li Tushan’s later years were desolate. He had no wife or children, and in the end, he died in a great fire. No one knew whether someone else set it or whether he started it himself. By the time people found him, there was nothing left to see. He and his house had been reduced to a pile of ashes.”
Boss Lin and I both sighed.
A great expert of his generation had spent his final years in such loneliness and died such a horrific death.
The file said that after the Thunder Ancestor Temple was built, the wronged spirits of Luo Mansion never managed to harm anyone again. As long as the temple remained standing, the spirits would naturally return to the Underworld after a hundred years.
But if the Thunder Ancestor Temple had truly remained standing, Boss Lin could never have built a resort there, and no strange incidents would be occurring on that land now.
When I saw the next line in the file, I felt an inexplicable sadness.
It read: Several decades after the Thunder Ancestor Temple was built, the local people demolished it in an effort to eradicate feudal superstition. They even smashed the statue of Thunder Ancestor into pieces.