They were sitting right next to three villagers, but no one could see them.
Among the three, one was a middle-aged man with decent features but an intense, fierce demeanor. He was lean and wiry—the same one who had clashed with Shen Ming earlier. The others called him Wu Da. Another was shorter, with thinning hair and a shabby, sleazy look, but his lower body was steady and he had considerable strength. They called him Baldy.
The tallest of the three was addressed by the others as big brother.
They had chosen this resting spot beneath a natural skylight, which finally let in a bit of light.
Baldy sat on the ground, hunched over and panting. “This old bastard’s got barely any meat on his bones—how can he be this heavy?” They’d had to take the body down and carry it for a stretch just after squeezing through a low cave passage, and it had worn him out.
Wu Da scoffed. “I say we should’ve just dragged him in.”
Baldy shot him a glare. “You’re gonna buy a new body bag if this one tears? This thing cost me over a hundred!”
The tall, middle-aged man called out impatiently, “Stop bickering.”
“These are small matters. Let me ask you—heard there are two outsiders in the village?”
Baldy immediately softened his expression, his tone turning a bit fawning. “Yes, big brother. From what that fellow Feng said, they’re from some research institute, here to investigate some marine animals. I didn’t quite follow, but they’re definitely not here for us.”
The big brother rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Would the Dragon God count as a marine animal?”
Wu Da was taken aback. “You mean they’re after us? That can’t be. Didn’t the cops drop it already?”
Baldy agreed. “Yeah, if they were really after us, they wouldn’t send two guys who look like bookish weaklings. The younger one’s all delicate—you wouldn’t even have to lift a finger to scare him.”
The big brother thought for a moment. “Tell everyone to stay sharp. We’re just one last job away from getting out of here. Don’t screw it up now.”
Seeing the other two nod, he patted his pants and stood up. “Alright, let’s keep moving. Another day of this wretched weather. Any later and we won’t make it back.”
Shen Ming continued to follow. Ye Yang asked through spiritual sense, “They mentioned the Dragon God, but aside from the death aura, I don’t feel anything else strange here. What about you?”
Shen Ming gave a slight shake of his head. “There’s no trace of a dragon here.”
Ye Yang felt somewhat relieved. If Shen Ming said there was none, then there was none. The most dangerous possibility could be ruled out.
Carrying and dragging the body, the three spent quite some time trudging through the oppressive, dark tunnels. They must have walked these passages often, as they didn’t even need light.
Finally, a patch of yellow candlelight appeared before them. They had arrived.
The damp path was flanked by jagged reefs and still water. At the end of the path lay a flat, open space.
“This… there’s actually a temple in here?!” Ye Yang stared in shock at the sight before him. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he never would have imagined a temple could be built inside such a deep seaside cave.
The temple wasn’t very large. Above the main entrance hung a plaque bearing the words “Dragon God Temple.” Faint candlelight from stone lamps on either side illuminated the mottled gold leaf on the characters, revealing a red base beneath.
This was the Dragon God Temple that Village Chief Feng had mentioned. Not only did it actually exist, but it was built in such a bizarre place.
The red lacquer on the large pillars had corroded from the cave’s humidity, their original color almost completely gone. The temple doors were damaged and slightly ajar, obscuring the interior. The window frames were nearly falling apart, and the low eaves were tiled with gray shingles that blended into the cave wall, as if they had grown out of the rock.
Though so worn that its original appearance was hardly recognizable, one could still sense the great care and effort the original builders had put in.
“Alright, alright, hurry up and put it on the altar. Light the fire and get out fast, or the tide will rise.”
The tall middle-aged man’s voice rang out. Ye Yang’s heart jolted as all sorts of gruesome guesses flooded his mind. Based on his experience, this was probably another cult!
An altar—that sounded ominous. Ye Yang’s antennae twitched rapidly as he nervously waited for them to open the temple doors.
But to his surprise, the three didn’t spare the Dragon God Temple a single glance. They walked straight toward the water.
Following their movements, Ye Yang noticed a shoddily built ring of bricks to the left of the temple—a crude “earthen stove.” Was this supposed to be the so-called altar??
The altar sat right next to the water. They shoved the body into the water, and it drifted with the current toward the back of the Dragon God Temple. Then Wu Da lit the candles on the altar, Baldy carefully put away the body bag, and they quickly left.
Ye Yang was full of questions. What were they even doing? What kind of ritual was this? He had braced himself to witness some kind of sinister ceremony!
He felt a subtle sense of being had…
Shen Ming caught Ye Yang’s inner thoughts and almost laughed, but he remembered to stay focused.
Tapping the pocket on his chest, he said, “Let’s go check the back.”
The water surface disappeared behind the Dragon God Temple, blocked by stone walls. The body must have been carried further down by an underground current.
“Do we go down from here?” Ye Yang hesitated. The water was absolutely foul—especially close to the surface, his keen senses nearly made him retch. But the water was thick with death aura; there could be bodies piled up below. They had to take a look.
“Maybe find another way around?”
Shen Ming: “No need. Wait for me.” With that, he pulled Ye Yang out of his pocket and gave him a gentle push with his divine power. Ye Yang involuntarily reverted to human form. As soon as he steadied himself, Shen Ming stepped forward and walked straight into the water. The moment he entered, a barrier automatically rose around him, and he soon disappeared beneath the dark water without so much as a ripple.
Ye Yang stood there for a moment, wondering whether he should take a look inside the Dragon God Temple first, but Shen Ming was already back.
His tone was calm, but his words made Ye Yang’s expression change: “The structure below is shaped like a horn. The current carries all the bodies to the narrow end, where the opening is only the size of a fist. The bodies can’t get through, so they’re all clogged there. Twenty-four of them. The earliest one died about a year ago.”
“All the bodies show the same cause of death, consistent with drowning. There are many scratch marks on them—likely signs of being forcibly drowned by someone.”
Ye Yang: “So they were probably all killed by those men earlier? Why would they do that?”
Shen Ming shook his head. “I don’t know. But here’s another thing: the resentment here is very strong, yet it’s being suppressed by some other force. The source of that force isn’t clear.”
Ye Yang immediately thought of something: “The only place we haven’t checked is inside the Dragon God Temple. Could it be connected to the temple?”
Shen Ming focused his senses. There was indeed no trace of any dragon or deity here.
Ye Yang had already pushed open the door of the Dragon God Temple.
In the center stood a statue. Ye Yang couldn’t bring himself to call it a divine icon. He had no idea what this thing was supposed to be. It looked fairly new but was crudely made—its facial features grotesquely large, its body wrapped into a shapeless lump. It gave off a very sinister and eerie feeling. But it was only strange in appearance; it held no intimidating power over Ye Yang or Shen Ming.
The altar table in front of the statue, however, was spotlessly clean, with fresh offerings of fruit placed on it—clearly tended to regularly. But it was almost too clean. There was no incense in the burner, not even ash.
“How strange. This place is so remote and hard to find, inconvenient to get in and out of, and there’s no temple keeper. So how are there fresh offerings?” Ye Yang picked up an apple casually. His antennae twitched—there was a familiar aura on it. Ah! He remembered—it belonged to that Wu Da from earlier!
“These offerings were placed by those men. They’re worshipping… whatever this thing is? And the altar—was that for worshipping it too?” Ye Yang was even more confused. “Offering bodies? But they didn’t even put the bodies on the altar.” They were all rotting below, feeding the fish.
Inside the temple, too, only the altar table and the statue were clean. Everywhere else—the floor, the walls, the ceiling—were covered in dust.
He really would never understand the logic of cults.
Shen Ming suddenly called him over: “Come look at this.”
Ye Yang walked over and saw that Shen Ming had wiped away a thick layer of dust from the wall, revealing a stele embedded in the stone.
The inscription was in traditional Chinese characters, very small, and roughly said—
This is the Dragon God Temple of Chen Bao, the Dragon God of Yuluo Cave, the Holy Mother of Nine Dragons.
One day, a sixteen-year-old girl named Chen Bao found a peach by the river. After eating it, she became pregnant. Her parents couldn’t believe such a strange thing and accused her of bringing shame to the family, so they confined her to the remote Yuluo Cave.
One stormy night, Chen Bao gave birth to nine dragons. The dragons ascended to the heavens, leaving Chen Bao unattended. She died after childbirth, yet her body also rose to the heavens.
Only then did everyone realize that Chen Bao was originally the Holy Mother of Nine Dragons in heaven, a goddaughter of the Heavenly Emperor, who had come to this place to give birth to dragon sons. After birthing the dragon sons, she returned to heaven.
Thus, people built this Dragon God Temple here to worship her and her nine dragon sons, praying for favorable weather and good harvests.
Ye Yang stared, dumbfounded. “Is that true? Why would she give birth to dragon sons here? Is the feng shui that good?”
Shen Ming shook his head. “You actually believe that? The story is completely illogical. And I’ve never heard of this figure before.”
Setting aside why the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter would have the surname Chen—if Chen Bao truly was the Heavenly Emperor’s daughter, how could Shen Ming, one of the Emperor’s four great guardian deities, have never heard of her?
Moreover, he also knew exactly who had given birth to the nine sons of the dragon.
He was certain: “This story is clearly fabricated. There is no such thing as the Holy Mother of Nine Dragons.”
Below the inscription, several major sacrificial ceremonies were listed. They all seemed quite normal—nothing like the vile, illegal, and extremely sloppy ritual they had just witnessed.
Ye Yang was thoroughly confused. He could only keep looking for more clues.
Circling around to the back of the statue, he suddenly noticed something off: “Professor Shen, come quick!”
Behind the sinister statue, something had been wrapped up. He pulled away the dust-covered red cloth, revealing another divine statue entirely.
With just one look, Ye Yang was certain—this statue, adorned with a phoenix crown, soft features, and full cheeks, was the true Holy Mother of Nine Dragons, Chen Bao.
He walked back around to the front. The more he looked at the sinister statue, the more nauseated he felt. “So this thing has taken over her temple!”
Leave a Reply