Chapter 152

Wang Daya suddenly shouted loudly, startling the people who were demolishing the temple.

The workers had no patience left for him; before he could finish speaking, they interrupted, "Uncle, the government has already decided on this matter—it's not something you can change, so don't cause trouble here."

Wang Daya grabbed the worker's hand, somewhat anxiously saying, "Look, these flowers have bloomed—neither early nor late, but precisely at this time. This is the goddess revealing her spirit!"

The workers had naturally noticed this from the start; at first they were quite surprised, but they did not think it had anything to do with ghosts or gods.

"This proves it's a good thing—what a fine omen. There's nothing mystical about what you're saying."

Wang Daya still wanted to say something, but several workers escorted him outside.

"Uncle, don't make things difficult for us—we're just following orders from above. Making a living isn't easy for us either. If you have any complaints, take them up with the government; telling us won't help."

Wang Daya's expression was helpless; he kept shaking his head and sighing in place, "It cannot be demolished! It truly cannot be demolished!"

Unfortunately, passersby paid no attention to his words. Wang Daya eventually felt powerless, realizing there was nothing more he could do, and left sighing every three steps and looking back every five, as if unwilling to see the goddess's temple torn down.

……

Ye Qin was completely unaware of how much commotion his actions had caused in Yangzhou City, nor did he know that the real world had also been subtly affected.

The aura of time grew hazy, beginning to undulate continuously; the long river of history once again rippled with countless waves, stirring the tides of time that lapped against the shore.

The waves of past and present converged at this moment, invisibly tugging at Ye Qin's soul and spirit, while he was still in deep conversation with Zhang Bodu about ancient and modern matters, his thoughts not yet exhausted.

Seeing him seem to lose focus, Zhang Bodu asked curiously, "Why do you look so troubled, sir?"

Sensing the undulation of time once more, Ye Qin spoke softly, "I must go now."

Zhang Bodu sighed, "We have met again as before, yet now we must face parting. I do not know if we shall ever meet again in the days to come."

Ye Qin had no answer to this question in his heart.

Perhaps when we meet again, Zhang Bodu will no longer be among the living, after all, we are not from the same time and space.

As the saying goes, no feast lasts forever. After Ye Qin bade farewell to Zhang Bodu, he returned once more to the Shangqing Observatory.

Ripples stirred faintly in the water channel, as if two invisible hands were stirring it. The breath of time flowed and turned; in the clear, bottom-visible channel, one could see a string of ancient prayer beads and the outline of a bronze ancient sword.

Recalling his discussion with Zhang Bodu, although he had never stepped onto the path of cultivation, in terms of mental realm, he possessed a quite profound foundation.

Moreover, he practiced the art of inner elixir, which shares a remarkable similarity with Ye Qin's golden core. Combined with his experience of spiritual wandering in Yangzhou, this gave Ye Qin deep insights.

"Take the human body as the cauldron, the essence and spirit within the body as the medicine, and the spirit as the fire. Through inner refinement, let the essence and spirit condense without scattering, forming the great elixir of golden core."

This is the reason Ye Qin's golden core was formed. Zhang Bodu's words gave him guidance, and at the same time, opened up a new line of thought.

The earlier path of cultivation focused on the body—that is, physical cultivation. Changes in outward appearance could explain all of this.

From the beginning until now, Ye Qin's transformation has been so great that it cannot be compared to what it was before.

Whether it be scales or length, bodily hardness and strength, or even the horns growing on his head—all these fall within the changes of the physical body.

It is through constant cultivation that he has reached his present state.

But after reaching this point in cultivation, Ye Qin seems to have entered a bottleneck. No matter how he cultivates, his cultivation level no longer improves; instead, it stagnates.

At first, Ye Qin thought it was because the timing was not right, or because his cultivation was insufficient. But now he finally understands.

By cultivating qi to form qi pellets, and finally entering the golden core stage, this realm he has achieved is extremely solid.

That is to say, from now on, he need not cultivate the physical body anymore, but should instead cultivate the spirit—and this is the correct path.

"The physical body and the spirit should complement each other!"

Previously, Ye Qin's cultivation direction was wrong, so naturally he could not improve. Upon realizing this, he only felt a sudden enlightenment, as if bathed in sweet dew.

Inner elixir cultivation places special emphasis on the primordial spirit; one could say that everything before was merely laying the groundwork for what comes after.

The strength of the physical body is not the way to eternal endurance. Only by cultivating the primordial spirit can one achieve eternity, enduring as long as heaven and earth. Even if the physical body is destroyed later, as long as the primordial spirit remains, there is still a chance to begin anew.

In Daoism, the soul and spirit can be cultivated to form the primordial spirit. The soul and spirit undergo generational changes, but the primordial spirit is eternal and truly enduring.

The spirit is one of the "Three Treasures" of the human body. In Daoist alchemical texts, it is divided into innate and acquired. The innate spirit is again called the "primordial spirit," where "yuan" means original, fundamental, and beginning.

The primordial spirit is without thought or worry, naturally empty and lucid; the conscious spirit has thought and worry, lucid but not empty.

The *Ling Shu·Ben Shen* also records: "When blood and qi harmonize, and nutritive and defensive qi flow freely, the five organs are fully formed. The spirit departs from the heart, and the soul and spirit are complete—thus a person comes into being."

This means that after the parents' essence unites and the fetus takes form, the spirit leaving the heart gives rise to life. This spirit is the one untainted by the acquired world before birth; therefore, when referred to, it points to the primordial spirit.

The reason the primordial spirit is discussed in detail in Daoist alchemical texts is because ancient inner alchemy practitioners, through their cultivation practice, experienced and summarized it.

Therefore, according to this, Ye Qin can be classified as having entered the first realm of the Primordial Spirit Stage (Third Cultivation Stage), which is Inner Observation—meaning to observe things as they truly are, that is, to observe one's inner self.

The *Martial Arts Compendium* says: "This spirit is also called the original nature, also called the true intention. The heart must be clear and bright, vast and tranquil, without a single thought or trace of awareness. Then, in the emptiness, one seems faintly to see the primordial spirit shining within."

From this, it can be known that the second realm is 'Conscious Spirit.'

As Laozi said: "Can one hold the embracing soul and spirit and never let go? Can one concentrate the qi and become soft like an infant? Can one cleanse the profound inspection and be without blemish? Can one love the people and govern the state without action? Can the heavenly gate open and close without gender? Can one understand the four directions without knowledge?"

This is precisely describing the state of life activities governed by the primordial spirit.

Ordinary people have their innate primordial spirit obscured by the acquired conscious spirit; thinking by day and dreaming by night, like clouds covering the moon. Thus, the primordial spirit retreats, and the conscious spirit rules daily affairs.

If one can attain stillness and unity, free of thought and contemplation, the true nature of the primordial spirit appears. This is what both Buddhism and Daoism refer to as seeing one's nature.

If the first two minor realms can be perfected, then one can arrive at the third realm—the 'Primordial Spirit'!

To obtain a complete primordial spirit, in a certain sense, also counts as an immortal and indestructible existence.

Thus, the cultivation of the third stage is now complete. (The first stage is contemplating the source qi, divided into: free contemplation, forging the body through transformation, and refining qi with heaven and earth; the second stage is the elixir-forming stage, divided into: gathering qi, qi pellet, and demon pellet.)

With a clear cultivation direction, Ye Qin is no longer like a blind man crossing a river. The shackles in his heart were completely loosened at this moment, as if something had burst through a dam.

The power within Ye Qin's body had long reached saturation, yet it seemed as if an invisible wall restrained these powers—and also restrained him himself.

The sudden enlightenment was like tearing a small opening in that wall. Ye Qin concentrated all his mental strength into one point, directing all of it to strike there. Soon, the opening grew larger and larger.

Feeling his soul and spirit suddenly become light and at ease, the power previously accumulated and contained in his golden core, now having an outlet, continuously wandered through the meridians.

Ye Qin's golden core turned slowly, emitting a faint humming sound. At the same time, a hazy mist slowly rose, enveloping Ye Qin, signifying that he had finally entered the next realm—Inner Observation!

That is, the Primordial Spirit Stage.

Everything came naturally, as water finds its channel.

"I never expected there would still be such a great surprise."

While creating the next Realm, I also finally succeeded in breaking through to Golden Core, which can also be considered an unexpected gain.

Actually, according to Ye Qin's Cultivation Level, he should have broken through long ago, but his state of mind had not kept up.

However, after this mottled time fragment, plus the Divine Tour of Yangzhou trip, Ye Qin discovered the catalyst for refining the divine soul, and finally could proceed to the next step as a matter of course.

Ye Qin was immersed in the joy of breakthrough, but the next second, the trembling sound of Shangqing Temple came, as if something new had happened.

He came to the courtyard to take a look, but the sky suddenly turned dark and gloomy, different from ordinary weather changes, and above the firmament there seemed to be a special energy constantly being nurtured.

Ye Qin examined the dark sky, catching a whiff of an aura that was both familiar to him and quite dreaded.

"Looking at this sky, how does it feel like a calamity is approaching?"

That pressure grew heavier and heavier; only when a calamity approaches would Ye Qin have such a feeling.

"By rights, I should only be considered complete after contemplation, and then the calamity would appear."

"Moreover, in the mottled time fragment, would one also sense the calamity?"

Ye Qin has only just broken through now; the calamity should not come at this time.

It is really strange, and moreover, during the previous breakthroughs of Qi Pellet and Golden Core, the calamity never descended. Ye Qin guessed it was because of the special nature of the Golden Core, so the calamity was delayed, as if brewing a big one.

Now, has it finally come?

Ye Qin pondered for a moment, but could not think of a result, so he simply put it aside temporarily.

"I don't know what this calamity will be."

Compared to the previous calamities, this feeling is completely different; this power is obviously greater, probably because he has already entered the Divine Soul Realm.

Even the divine soul was affected; the seven cun felt as if countless nails had been driven in, and the pressure transmitted almost made his mind and spirit tremble.

……

In the real world, naturally also affected by the multiple impacts of the calamity!

The originally clear sky suddenly changed with wind and clouds.

At first it was still sunny and cloudless for thousands of miles, but in a moment's time, the sky suddenly darkened.

The black clouds on the horizon gathered more and more, and soon pressed down on the sky, yellow dust hazy, chaos everywhere, making it hard to distinguish where is sky and where is earth.

Wind and sand howled, blowing the leaves to sway and rustle, gathering with the force of thunder too fast to cover one's ears.

The people at the construction site not far away were completely unaware of the impending danger.

"Get a few people to lend a hand, first tear down this temple gate."

Just as the construction crew began demolition, a huge black curtain shrouded the sky, inexplicably giving people a feeling of oppression and heaviness, and even their vision was affected.

"This weather is really strange, saying it would change and it changed."

"Could it be that it's going to rain? The weather forecast didn't say it would rain."

"If it rains, who knows if it will affect the project again."

The workers discussed endlessly, but didn't think much, after all, the superiors urged them tightly, they had to hurry to complete the task, and the whole construction crew proceeded in an orderly manner.

After tearing down just one temple gate, they heard a crackling sound from not far away.

"Did you hear any movement over there?"

Originally thought it was the creaking sound of the temple gate, but the more they listened, the more it felt wrong.

Everyone unconsciously stopped what they were doing, looked up toward the distance, and saw a black 'giant beast' rushing toward them with the force of thunder too fast to cover one's ears.

"Dragon, tornado!"

The workers stared in disbelief, unable to believe what they saw before them, still thinking they were having a hallucination.

How could a tornado possibly appear out of nowhere in the urban area?!

How was this formed?

The howling wind came from far to near, like a monster's roar, shaking their eardrums painfully, and even the ground trembled with it.

That wind column was almost seven or eight meters high, three or four meters thick, looking very frightening, wantonly devouring everything around it, and not a few steel rebars and concrete were sucked into it.

The newly built construction site was closest to the tornado, so they were the first to bear the brunt and also the most unfortunate, unable to react in time.

The whirlwind mixed with yellow sand rolled up the iron sheets of the construction site fence to over ten meters high, the newly built temporary structures were almost completely destroyed, and under the tornado's ravages, they had basically no ability to resist.

Seeing the tornado about to sweep toward them, who still had time to care about tearing down the Niangniang Temple? The remaining workers instantly scattered like birds.

"Run fast, the tornado is coming!"

Even before construction began, they had already started clearing the site, so this place only had these migrant workers.

The sky was gloomily terrifying, plus the tornado's roar, actually giving a feeling of impending collapse, as if the whole sky were about to fall down.

The storm raged and roared with tremendous momentum, and the workers hid in dark places with uneasy hearts.

Strangely, except for the northern city area, other regions were sunny and cloudless, unaffected, and the sky was clear for thousands of miles, which could be said to be a scene of harmony.

At this time, many people also noticed the abnormality in the northern city area, a black pressure, not knowing exactly what was happening.

That area is not prosperous or lively, and usually few people go there.

This storm raged for over ten minutes, and after the tornado dissipated, the other workers finally dared to peek out, feeling like survivors of a catastrophe.

At this moment, the sky was still overcast, just like everyone's mood.

The contractor took a clear look at the scene before him, and almost fainted.

The construction site was destroyed to a mess, which can be said to be in utter disarray, the whole site almost leveled to the ground, and the scene fell into a paralyzed state.

Broken steel rebars and concrete were everywhere, and there were not a few workers who were hit or swept into the storm, lying in pools of blood, which can be said to be too horrible to behold.

"Call an ambulance quickly! Hurry and send the people to the hospital."

The people were busy and flustered, and after a good while of hustle, in this tornado, over forty workers were injured.

Originally the schedule was tight, and then workers were injured, and the construction site was destroyed like this; for a while, the contractor's face was full of worry.

"Now what to do, the schedule will definitely be delayed."

A worker stared wide-eyed toward the southeast, stammering: "Boss, boss, look over there."

The foreman's gaze shifted, and he was instantly stunned, seeing that amidst the wreckage, a building remained intact, seemingly unaffected by the tornado, standing out conspicuously.

That was precisely the location of the Empress Temple!

You must know the Empress Temple was also within the tornado's strike zone; our side suffered heavy losses, and the Empress Temple was not far away—how could it possibly remain unscathed?

Yet the fact lay before our eyes: compared to our dire situation, the Empress Temple didn't even lose a single tile to the wind.

The workers fell silent for a moment, utterly bewildered.

"Could it be that the tornado vanished when it reached the Empress Temple?"

When the tornado struck, everyone fled for their lives, with no time to notice the surroundings; now, looking around, amidst the chaos, only the Empress Temple remained unharmed.

"The tornado didn't come early or late—it showed up just as we were demolishing the temple. At this close distance, the Empress Temple is fine, while our construction site suffers heavy losses—could it be—"

Someone muttered something, and the foreman's face grew increasingly grim.

"Don't talk nonsense—this might just be a coincidence."

But as he spoke those words, even he lacked conviction.

A worker couldn't help but retort, "How could it be such a coincidence? Moreover, tornadoes are inherently abnormal, and the weather forecast gave no warning."

"Yeah, we've been in Kyoto for so many years, never heard of a tornado in the urban area—this is really eerie."

"When the tornado struck, there were no signs at all—the sky darkened instantly, the wind came as it said it would, and it happened precisely during the demolition of the Empress Temple."

"And before we even prepared to demolish the temple, the flowers inside were blooming. The temple keeper uncle said this was the gods giving us a warning, telling us not to demolish the temple."

Result: no one listened, and then the tornado struck, injuring many. The workers exchanged glances, and several already had thoughts of withdrawing.

"I don't want to work anymore—this time I was lucky, not hit by anything, but next time who knows?"

One worker suddenly spoke up, followed by several others agreeing.

The foreman's face darkened further: "Think it through—if you quit now, you won't get a single penny."

Unexpectedly, these few had made up their minds, setting down their hard hats: "Even if we get paid, we need to be alive to spend it—this offense against the gods is too dangerous."

Watching their retreating backs, the foreman jumped in anger, his eyes sweeping over the remaining workers: "You guys work hard! Don't listen to this nonsense—when the time comes, I'll raise your wages!"

Many workers need to support their families, bearing heavy burdens, so some stayed despite fear, while others simply didn't believe these stories.

After such a major incident, the foreman had no mood to continue; he still needed to report upward, request additional manpower, handle hospital treatment and compensation for the injured, and arrange resettlement—also a problem.

Thinking of the series of issues ahead, the foreman's temples throbbed violently.

Fortunately, this is a government project with official backing; otherwise, with so many injured today, I'd probably be finished.

"Everyone rest well today—we'll resume work tomorrow!"

This incident quickly attracted attention from the outside and the government, after all, over 40 workers were injured at the construction site, still lying in the hospital—hard to go unnoticed.

"According to this station's report, in the afternoon, a rare tornado struck the northern district; meteorological experts, after scientific research, called it a natural disaster weather phenomenon, scientifically named a dust whirlwind, with the most severe damage occurring at a construction site—reportedly, 44 workers were injured."

After the report came out, many netizens discussed it heatedly.

"What? Kyoto actually has a dust whirlwind—must be joking."

"No wonder I saw the northern district pitch black this afternoon, thought it was just local rain—turned out to be a dust whirlwind; good thing I wasn't there, otherwise I'd have been in trouble."

"So many injured, disastrous weather—why didn't the meteorological bureau give advance warning? Shouldn't they have been able to detect it?"

"Dust whirlwinds are actually quite common in deserts and gravel plains, just rare in Kyoto."

"I've lived here for decades and never seen Kyoto with a dust whirlwind—don't you find this strange?"

"Speaking of which, there does seem to be something odd: there's a fairly large construction site in the northern district, apparently the government plans to build something there, and the losses are quite heavy."

Although netizens knew the government had a large project there, they didn't know the Empress Temple was among those slated for demolition.

After all, many buildings were being demolished, and the Empress Temple isn't famous, so for a while, no one connected the two.

The next day, the sky cleared again, blue sky and white clouds, no trace of yesterday's oppressive darkness.

Aside from the wreckage on the ground, it seemed as if the dust whirlwind had never occurred, slightly easing yesterday's devastation-induced unease and panic.

Due to the destruction of the construction site and insufficient manpower, the demolition of the Empress Temple was temporarily set aside; all available hands were focused on cleaning up the site before proceeding with relocation.

The workers began early; Li Song was clearing debris at the foundation when he heard a strange sound from not far away.

Li Song followed the sound—unknown when, a large hole had appeared in the foundation pit; likely, during yesterday's dust whirlwind, surrounding soil was blown away, exposing this hole.

The hole was pitch black, looking unfathomably deep.

"Could there be treasure inside?"

Kyoto has many historical relics; before, people often unearthed treasures while digging foundations.

Li Song glanced around—only saw other coworkers busy with their own tasks nearby, no one noticing the commotion here.

He cautiously approached the black hole; the strange sound grew louder, hissing continuously, arousing the workers' serious curiosity: "What on earth is this?"

Li Song turned on his flashlight and shone it in—finally he saw clearly what was inside the hole.

With a clatter, the flashlight fell, accompanied by Li Song's scream, quickly drawing others' attention.

"What happened?"

Hearing the news, people rushed over—only to see Li Song sitting on the ground, face deathly pale, eyes wide open, one hand pointing forward, his body trembling like a Parkinson's patient.

"Snakes, so many snakes!"

The crowd picked up their flashlights; a beam of pallid light illuminated the black hole.

Countless snakes coiled together—black, white, patterned, various colors and stripes—making one's blood run cold.

So many snakes tangled endlessly, no head or tail in sight, like a giant snake ball, impossible to count, continuously rolling in the black hole, making scalps tingle.

As if sensing the outside gaze, snake heads turned in unison toward the hole's mouth; countless green-bean-sized eyes locked onto the workers outside.

The entire scene fell silent, save for the incessant hissing, striking at everyone's spirits.

When the foreman arrived, expecting to see a restored construction site, he still found the ground littered with debris, workers huddled together, doing nothing, looking idle.

"What time is it now—why haven't you started work yet?"

Seeing this scene, the foreman exploded with anger.

The workers glanced at him, their expressions somewhat complex, and stammered: "Something happened again at the construction site."

Hearing those words, the foreman's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked: "What happened?"

The workers led him to the black hole near where the snake nest was discovered; the area had already been cordoned off with iron railings, and beside it lay a sign forbidding approach.

Gazing at the dense, patterned snakes, the foreman instinctively covered his mouth, his face pale with fear.

After all, snakes in folklore have always been surrounded by many legends and taboos, and their duration is often linked to "evil nature"; thus, ordinary people seeing snakes, especially numerous ones, tend to avoid them at all costs, dare not provoke them, for this signifies ill omen.

"Where did all these snakes come from?"

No one could answer the foreman's question.

Nor did anyone know whether these snakes were poisonous or harmless; the crowd dared not act rashly, and besides, having just experienced the dust whirlwind incident yesterday, today the construction site revealed a massive snake nest.

However one looked at it, it seemed strange; originally not believing in those superstitious matters, at this moment several workers felt their hearts waver.

"Foreman, these strange occurrences all began after demolishing the goddess temple; such a large snake nest, previously there was no movement at all, yet now it has appeared—don't you find this too coincidental?"

"Yeah, this place is really too evil; I'm afraid something else might still happen."

"Earlier, the temple keeper said not to demolish the temple; perhaps there really is some mystery in all this."

"Money can be earned again, but life is only one."

The impact of so many snakes on the crowd was truly immense, and not a few workers declared they could no longer continue, submitting their resignations to the foreman.

Originally bustling, the construction site now had over forty lying in hospitals, dozens expressing unwillingness to work, and the remaining numbers were pitifully few.

The foreman's face turned ashen; he instinctively glanced toward the direction of the snake nest; the urgent task was to stabilize morale, so he forced himself to speak:

"Everyone, don't panic; when the time comes, I'll contact the fire department to clear out this snake nest—there will be no problem; those who persevere to the end, I'll pay them triple wages!"

Hearing this, the remaining people exchanged glances, yet no one said they wanted to leave; the foreman also reluctantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Because of the snake nest's appearance, construction had to be temporarily halted, lest during construction, disturbing the swarm of snakes lead to them scattering wildly and biting people—then things would not be good.

Moreover, having everyone personally handle it, no one possessed such courage, so they could only wait for the relevant departments to finish handling it before resuming work.

When the relevant personnel arrived, they too were startled; after all, this was the largest snake nest they had ever cleared in their lifetimes, and it could be said to be rare in the history of the capital.

Moreover, those snakes varied in size, and clearing them out still required considerable effort.

By afternoon, the snake nest was finally cleaned out; those snakes were all taken away by designated personnel and then uniformly released to where they belonged, not daring to commit the slightest act of killing.

"We've wasted considerable time during the day; since the schedule is tight, we need to work overtime tonight—trouble everyone."

When the foreman announced this news, the people were initially somewhat dissatisfied, but seeing the high wages, they said nothing more.

The setting sun gradually sank, the afterglow of the evening clouds fell upon the construction site, evoking a sense of beauty after battle; although the site did not say it was fully restored, at least some functions had returned, barely able to maintain basic operation.

Workers came and went, conducting work in an orderly manner; afterward, things proceeded smoothly, with no further mischief.

Seeing this, the foreman's hanging heart finally settled completely.

As night fell completely, a black curtain draped over the city's sky; lights also rose above the construction site, incandescent lamps dispelling the darkness, stretching the workers' shadows to extreme lengths.

Countless tiny flying insects were also drawn over, swarming around the light bulb like moths to a flame.

Night vision certainly isn't as good as daytime; it will be somewhat affected, but fortunately the workers are veterans, and with the bright construction site lighting, the problem isn't too serious.

Originally assuming everything was progressing toward the better, yet never imagining the construction site would suddenly plunge into darkness.

All lights went out simultaneously; darkness surged like a tide, instantly engulfing the entire construction site, and the workers transmitted considerable commotion.

The familiar environment at this moment became extremely strange, as if some unknown creature lay hidden in the dark night, waiting to stir, inexplicably making people's hearts panic and fear.

"What's going on? Could it be a tripped breaker?"

"Is the light bulb broken? Why did it suddenly go out?"

The crowd shone flashlights and inspected; whether it was a tripped breaker or the light bulb, there was no problem.

Could it be that the construction site has encountered strange events again?!

Thinking of the snake nest from daytime, everyone's heart skipped a beat; originally believing the strange events could end here, they found themselves waiting for something here!

The workers exchanged glances, the air falling into a deathly silence.

The flashlight beam shone on people; whether due to the lighting or other reasons, every face revealed a deathly pallor; upon closer inspection, there was also an indescribable dread and fear.

Had they known this, they would have been better off resigning outright like those people during the day; they had only just experienced the snake nest by day, and now by night came a sudden power outage.

Even the originally steadfast atheist foreman couldn't help but feel somewhat shaken.

After all, successive events have been truly too many; he has overseen many construction sites, yet truly none have been like this now, with accidents occurring frequently without cease.

Starting with so many things, who knows what will happen later?

"Ding ling ling!"

The piercing mobile phone ring shattered the silence, startling everyone; the foreman hurriedly answered the call, his expression somewhat relaxed.

"Everyone, don't let your imaginations run wild; not only here, but this vicinity has also lost power, possibly because yesterday's dust whirlwind affected the lines; the power grid personnel are repairing it; we'll go rest first, and likely power will return by tomorrow morning."

Hearing this news, others also breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it wasn't just their area that lost power.

The people packed up and prepared to leave the construction site; just as they walked out, they saw not far away a building brightly lit, yet plunged into an eerie silence.

That was precisely the direction where the goddess temple stood.

While all areas were pitch black, the goddess temple resembled a bright lamp in the darkness, emitting warm light.

Yet the crowd felt no warmth, only an endless chill rising in their hearts; as the night wind blew, goosebumps erupted densely across their skin.

Silent fear enveloped everyone, even the previously steadfast foreman.

Everyone's expression resembled having seen a ghost; who knows who broke the silence: "I recall the goddess temple had no electricity..."

The speaker swallowed, only feeling their throat dry and painful.

Because the goddess temple has a long history, and furthermore its popularity is low, the temple closes early each day, so initially no power lines were connected.

With no power lines, how could there possibly be electric lights?

Then where does the light they now see come from?

The foreman had just received the call; the lines in this vicinity all had problems, everywhere pitch black, yet only the goddess temple was so exceptional—truly making one ponder deeply with dread.

The workers didn't dare speak, not even daring to take a breath, as if an invisible pair of giant hands had seized their throats in the air.

The goddess's temple was not far away, yet no one had the courage to go and investigate.

"I'm leaving, I really am leaving."

"We can't stay here any longer; surely the goddess has shown her power and won't let us demolish it."

"It's over, over—hurry back to the hometown to offer sacrifices at the ancestral graves for peace and safety."

The workers left in a hurry, their retreating backs bearing the look of fleeing in defeat.

One strange incident after another occurred, and by the second day, not a single person remained at the construction site.

The newly arrived workers and foremen had no recourse; upon hearing that construction was to take place near the goddess's temple, they all shook their heads in refusal, unwilling to go even for the highest wages.

Rumors of the strange events at the goddess's temple spread throughout the construction crew, and the once-bustling site had become utterly deserted, appearing cold and desolate, evoking profound sorrow.

The government's chief engineer convened relevant personnel for an emergency meeting, even summoning the earlier Professor Zhang and the gatekeeper elder.

The foreman reported the situation at the site: "In short, everything was fine during the initial construction; all the strange occurrences began only when we started demolishing the goddess's temple."

"Now, as soon as anyone hears the work is near the goddess's temple, almost no one is willing to come."

Upon hearing the foreman's words, everyone's faces grew solemn.

Even Professor Zhang appeared somewhat surprised; he had previously passed by, judged the feng shui here to be particular, and anticipated something might happen later, but he never imagined things would escalate to this extent—truly beyond expectation, already far exceeding the limits of the local feng shui configuration.

Though it sounds incredible, all clues point to the goddess's temple as the source.

Whether it was the earlier dust whirlwind or the later snake den, or the sudden power outage—each incident alone is rare enough, let alone these several converging together.

It is truly strange to the extreme!

Who in the world would have such a coincidence, yet it happened to them—truly enough to spark endless speculation.

The chief engineer asked for others' opinions: "What do you all think about this matter?"

"Regarding the dust whirlwind, although the meteorological bureau gave an explanation, according to Kyoto's history over the past several decades, such a situation has never occurred, and the specific cause remains unknown for now."

This point could still be explained, but the construction site and the goddess's temple are not far apart, yet the temple remains undisturbed—this is hard to account for; could the wind have grown eyes?

"That area is remote, so it might attract snakes to gather, but according to investigations, nearby residents have rarely seen serpent kind."

"As for the power outage yesterday, the cause is still unclear; as for why the lights inside the goddess's temple remain on—"

Saying this, the chief engineer himself stumbled, unable to justify it further.

If only one or two people had seen it, we could attribute it to hallucination, but so many workers witnessed it, and indeed there is no electricity in the goddess's temple.

All these strange phenomena cannot be explained by science.

Could the goddess's temple truly possess something extraordinary?

After lengthy discussion, no one reached a concrete conclusion.

Even if the foreman believes this is due to the goddess's temple, he cannot voice it before so many people, or else it would become feudal superstition.

But in fact, everyone knows deep down: neither early nor late did anything happen—only during the temple's demolition. In this world, where could there be so many coincidences, especially such strange ones?

Someone suggested: "For such matters, it's better to believe they exist than not; with so many strange incidents occurring one after another, why not just preserve this temple?"

Professor Zhang sighed, finally speaking: "I said earlier we should preserve it; demolishing the goddess's temple disrupted this place's feng shui, thus inviting so many misfortunes. Feng shui is a natural science integrating multiple disciplines, with certain principles that must still be observed."

At this moment, no one objected to Professor Zhang's words; if they had taken it seriously earlier, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Although the goddess's temple is too old and doesn't match the new buildings, it doesn't matter—later they can allocate funds for restoration.

This project has already been firmly decided by the government, unchangeable; if the schedule is extended, the government's losses will be greater, and it will cause significant delays.

If construction continues, no one can guarantee similar incidents won't happen in the future; better to preserve the goddess's temple now to avoid further trouble later.

"I think this approach is feasible, after all the schedule is truly tight—if higher-ups come to assign blame, none of us can bear it."

"But the area has already been divided, the blueprints are finalized; if we preserve the goddess's temple, won't it look too abrupt?"

"We can revise the blueprints, and we can also announce externally that this is for the protection of cultural relics."

After lengthy discussion, everyone unanimously agreed to adopt Professor Zhang's suggestion: shift the original plan northward by 100 meters, thus bypassing the goddess's temple without needing to demolish it.

If it still doesn't work then, we'll discuss again.

"That's the matter—I need to think about how to report it to the leadership..."

The senior official of the chief engineer's office has a headache; now that the blueprints are changed, we must inform Kyoto's leadership, but how to explain this to them?

Will Kyoto's leadership believe it?

…

The construction site bypassed the goddess's temple and prepared to resume work; the foreman, full of ceremonial feeling, had Professor Zhang help select an auspicious day, leading all the workers to the goddess's temple to offer incense.

"May the gods and buddhas bear witness: we mean no offense, we have realized our mistake, and will henceforth preserve the temple, carry out repairs and offerings; we hope you will show mercy and bless the construction site to operate normally."

The foreman bowed devoutly, then announced the resumption of work.

At first, the workers were still apprehensive, but strangely, after this incense offering and apology, everything at the site proceeded smoothly, with no recurrence of previous strange events.

The workers daily passed by the goddess's temple, their expressions filled with reverence; sometimes, with nothing to do, they would go into the temple to pay respects.

As for this outcome, the gatekeeper Elder Wang can say he is delighted beyond words, hearing that the goddess's temple will not only be preserved but also receive government funds for repairs—truly overjoyed to the point of being unable to contain his smile.

And this project, facing international attention, even completed years later and renowned worldwide, listed among the world's top ten buildings as the 'Eagle's Nest,' also left behind a mysterious legend because of this incident.

Yet no one ever imagined that all these strange events were due to the great snake coiled in the corner of the temple...

(End of Chapter)