The Nightmare Experience of a Useless Person

The Guanyin Hall is really big. In addition to the main hall where people offer incense and pray for blessings, there is also a unique courtyard behind it.

This must be Man Niang's herb garden, where some common medicinal herbs are planted. However, Jiang Zhiyang had never seen these herbs when they were fresh, so he found them particularly novel. While Yu Qingjun was chanting sutras and praying for blessings, he couldn't stand the idleness and often wandered around.

Having spent a long time among people, one can naturally discern who holds the power of discourse. Among the disciples who follow Man Niang, there are about six who are older and possess exceptional medical skills. They manage all kinds of medicinal herbs and accompany Man Niang down the mountain to provide free medical consultations every fifteenth of the month. Presumably, they are Man Niang's confidants.

Jiang Zhiyang could tell that compared to Man Niang, they were all gentler and kinder, especially Aunt Jing. She often played with the other maids, and most of the pilgrims who frequently visited the temple were familiar with her, so she must be easy to talk to.

These past few days, Jiang Zhiyang has been following Aunt Jing around all the time. He'd look for Aunt Jing when his stomach was bloated, when he felt dizzy from sleeping too much, and even when he hadn't gone to the toilet all day. Aunt Jing didn't find it annoying at all; she just saw his childlike nature and let him chatter around her.

There was one thing that gave Jiang Zhiyang the creeps: Aunt Jing kept staring at his body, saying that he was so tall and strong for his age compared to other girls, and that she had to take his pulse, feel his bones, and study him carefully. Jiang Zhiyang was so frightened that he put on a few more layers of clothes.

After following her for a while, Jiang Zhiyang discovered that Aunt Jing would occasionally go to the Guanyin Hall, the Goddess's main hall, and her sleeping quarters to light incense. According to her seniority, it was not her place to do these menial tasks.

Jiang Zhiyang felt something was off, so he pretended to be naive and innocent, deliberately running up to Aunt Jing and sniffing the fragrance. He didn't know much about fragrances, but he felt that this fragrance was different from the usual ones. The smell made him feel dizzy, and when he took a deep breath, he started coughing incessantly.

"Don't be like this, you're acting like an idiot." Aunt Jing looked disgusted. "This is Man Niang's specially made soul-soothing incense. Don't be like this, go, go, go away."

"Soul-suppressing incense? Why would Guanyin Temple burn soul-suppressing incense?" Jiang Zhiyang's thinking was surprisingly sharp, and he immediately grasped the key point.

"Hey, I told you to go away! Is that something you can ask? Shut your mouth. If you get kicked out one day, I won't care about you. Go, go, go."

Jiang Zhiyang walked away dejectedly.

Whether it was psychological or there was really something wrong with the incense, Jiang Zhiyang felt that in the nights before and after the incense was burned, there seemed to be the crying of an infant. The sound was far away and only lasted for a short while. When Jiang Zhiyang held his breath and concentrated to catch that faint sound, everything disappeared.

Jiang Zhiyang was scared and clung to Yu Qingjun, refusing to go back to his own room to sleep. Seeing her brother like this, Yu Qingjun only thought he was cute, like a little baby even younger than herself, who could be spoiled and unreasonable. In the end, she had no choice but to allow him to make a makeshift bed on the floor next to the bed.

But Jiang Zhiyang didn't sleep at all. He lay by the bed, quietly staring at Yu Qingjun, as if he was always on guard so that she wouldn't miss out.

But the crying didn't come, only that one time.

"I've explained it to you many times. Occasionally, babies cry in the temple at night. I asked Manniang about it a long time ago, and she said it was a newly adopted abandoned baby."

"An abandoned baby? Doesn't that baby cry all the time? How could it only cry once?"

"It's normal for a child to cry when they first enter a temple, but after receiving the goddess's teachings and feeling the protection of the gods, they will naturally no longer be afraid or cry." Yu Qingjun repeated Man Niang's explanation to Jiang Zhiyang word by word.

Jiang Zhiyang was speechless, because he simply didn't believe it. How could a baby's crying be controlled? Besides, he hadn't seen any children at all during his time in the temple.

Who would believe such a mysterious explanation?

He didn't believe it. Yu Qingjun understood that expression. Although she felt a little helpless, looking at her brother who was as alert as a frightened cat, she still genuinely thought he was very cute.

She couldn't help but reach out and stroke his fluffy hair like she was soothing a cat. The owner of that head tilted slightly like a kitten, resting in Yu Qingjun's palm, letting her play with it.

I'm charmed by how cute she is.

Jiang Zhiyang thoroughly enjoyed the tender moment as his head was patted, forgetting all his terrifying wild thoughts. He leaned against Qingjun's bedside and fell asleep sitting there.

In the early morning, the warm sunlight streamed through the window, driving away the chill of the night.

After his brain rebooted, Jiang Zhiyang felt his thoughts became much clearer. He thought he had a rough idea of ​​what was going on: the baby's cries, the incense for calming the soul, the missing burdens on the worshippers, and the wealth of the Guanyin Temple. But the most important thing now was to find concrete evidence, or to catch them in the act.

Was the baby girl abandoned? Where was she abandoned? Suddenly, a person popped into Jiang Zhiyang's mind: the strange old storyteller. He had mentioned a well, but Jiang Zhiyang had never paid attention to where the well was.

A well where a child has died is probably a dry well, and to avoid being discovered, it must be a well in some secluded corner, rarely visited by people.

Oh, and there's also the Soul-Suppressing Incense. They even burn incense in the main hall, so the smell near that well must be even stronger.

Ideas kept coming one after another, and this feeling of unraveling the mystery made Jiang Zhiyang feel a little excited, as if he were playing some kind of immersive murder mystery game, completely forgetting the danger.

He walked and pondered, and when his consciousness returned, he found himself back in the herb garden. Beyond the herb garden was the herb storehouse, and next to it was the pharmacy, from which emanated a strong, nauseating smell of herbs.

The smell? The smell is indeed strong. This place is probably the strongest smell in the entire temple. Jiang Zhiyang squatted by the window and peeked inside. This time, he didn't encounter the easy-going Aunt Jing, but Man Niang.

He was discovered. When he met those icy eyes, Jiang Zhiyang felt a chill run down his spine. He had never faced Man Niang alone before, and out of fear, he even lowered his head when they passed each other.

Now, those eyes seemed to see right through him; his fear, his doubts, his purpose, his thoughts—all were exposed and laid bare before Man Niang.

"You're not a woman, are you?" Man Niang withdrew her gaze and calmly waved the palm-leaf fan in her hand.

Jiang Zhiyang was so frightened that he dared not speak, and his legs were so weak that he could not walk.

"I turned a blind eye, but you took advantage of my kindness."

"Taking an inch and wanting a mile!" When these four words came out of Man Niang's mouth, Jiang Zhiyang's vision went black. He forgot whose territory this was, whose people were here, Aunt Jing, Qin'er, even Yu Qingjun, everyone, everyone regarded Man Niang as the leader. He thought he was smart, but in reality he was always surrounded. His every move could not escape Man Niang's eyes.

"Whatever you want to do, you better stay put. If it weren't for Nannan, I wouldn't have let you off the hook. You know how many ways I can shut someone up."