Sufferable Truth

Chapter 12: Arrogance 4

JingYi was excited to see himself once again. So was the others.

On the other hand, Lan SiZhui and the other disciples did not find anything in the area of the ancient tombs, and had moved on to search for clues in Goddess Temple.

In Dafan Mountain, aside from the tombs of the Buddha's Feet ancestors, there was also the Goddess Temple. The being of worship was neither Buddha nor GuanYin, but the statue of a "dancing goddess."

A few hundred years ago, a hunter from Buddha's Feet ventured into the mountains, and found an extraordinary stone in a cave. It was around three meters in height, formed naturally, and appeared strangely like a human, with four limbs making a dancing pose. The more peculiar thing was that human features could vaguely be seen on the statue, appearing to be that of a smiling lady.

The townspeople of Buddha's Feet were all astonished, and thought that it was a magical stone formed by gathering the energy of Heaven and Earth, making up a series of legends about it. Some told the story of an immortal falling in love with the Goddess of the Nine Heavens, and carved a stone statue from the goddess's appearance to convey the hardships of being lovesick. After discovering this, the goddess was furious, so the unfinished statue had to be left alone. Others told the story of the Jade Emperor and his beloved daughter who died young. The emperor's longing for his daughter had, supposedly, turned into this statue.

Anyhow, there were all sorts of myths, able to make anyone gawk. In the end, the townspeople themselves also started to believe in these legends which came out of their own mouths. Hence, someone turned the stone cave into a temple, and the stone platform into a holy seat. The statue was named "Dancing Goddess," and there were worshippers all year round.

The inside of the cave was spacious, similar to the size of an erjin temple, with the statue of the goddess set in the center. At first sight, it did indeed look like a human—the maiden's waist could even be considered lithe and graceful. However, after taking a closer look at it, it would seem rougher. Then again, a naturally-formed statue being so similar to an actual human was enough to make most people gasp in awe.

Lan JingYi lifted and lowered the compass of evil, but its pointer still didn't move. A thick layer of incense ashes covered the table for offerings, and disordered candles lay on there as well. A sickly sweet scent came from the plates for holding fruits. Most of the people from the GusuLan Sect had some degree of minor mysophobia. He fanned at the air in front of his nose and spoke, "The locals said that it is quite effective to pray at Goddess Temple, but how can it be this ruined? They should at least come and clean once in awhile."

Lan SiZhui spoke, "There has already been seven people who lost their souls. Everyone is saying that lightning has let out a fierce creature from the ancient graves of Buddha's Feet, so would anybody dare to come up the mountain? There is no attendance at the temple and so, naturally, there is nobody to clean the place."

"Didn't the Statue move?"

A few Juniors nodded.

A disdainful voice came from outside of the cave, "It's only a stupid rock, given the title of a goddess by who-knows who, and people dare to put it here, accepting incense and worship!"

Jiang Yanli being herself, scolded her son once again. "it. is. not. a. stupid. rock." Her eyebrows twitch, her hands itch to pinch his ears. Jin Ling gulped and hid hisself onto SuZhui's chest.
"No! You won't pinch my ears ever again!"
SuZhui chuckled.

Jiang Yanli eyed him. "Oh, i will." She smirked darkly, Jin Ling trembled. "No, I won't let you!"

Wei Wuxian cheered, with his mouth full of foods. "Yesh' Gwo Sh'jie!" Lan Wangji pinched his waist again. Wei Wuxian flinched. "Lan Zha', Wha Wmas 'dat?!" He rubbed the pain to sooth it. Lan Wangji sighed. "Sorry, Wei Ying is talking with his mouth full of food. Not good."