Ning Wei and Li Ye successfully climbed over the wall and out. Tang Tang and the others acted as if nothing had happened, returning to their room to continue playing mahjong.
They had already agreed that if the two of them didn't return after midnight, they wouldn't wait any longer and would just go to sleep.
There was a very old-fashioned alarm clock in the room, allowing Tang Tang and the others to check the time.
It was now ten o'clock at night, and Zhu Yulian and the others were very worried about the mysterious mountain god.
"Do you think that mountain god really exists?" Zhu Yulian whispered to everyone.
"It's hard to say," Song Zhi replied.
"If there really is a god, can we still successfully wait for the bus this time?" Wang Jing was more worried about this issue.
"Since ancient times, gods have always been good. If there really is a mountain god, he definitely won't make things difficult for us, right?" Tang Tang said, lacking confidence herself.
"Don't forget that Yu Baohua. If he was truly punished by the mountain god, then we are in grave danger!" Mei Nan reminded everyone, having just witnessed a funeral upon arrival. They shouldn't have too many illusions about the mysterious god.
"If the mountain god really exists, is he good or bad? Could it be that Yu Jiansheng did something bad, so the mountain god came out to punish him?" Yuan Yuan had lived with her grandmother for a while when she was young, so she had been to temples a few times.
In her impression, these bodhisattvas or deities were very just beings.
Everyone had their own opinions, and they all made sense, but the truth of the matter could only be known through further investigation.
For now, everyone only knew that this mountain god was very responsive to prayers and extremely effective. As for other aspects, they really didn't know enough.
Moreover, although they had heard many people talking about the mountain god today, none of them had actually visited the mountain god temple.
If Ning Wei and the other didn't find anything tonight, they planned to buy incense and candles tomorrow and also investigate the mountain god temple.
On Ning Wei's side, the two of them were going to investigate, so they didn't take the main streets but chose the less-traveled paths.
Occasionally, they could hear the sounds of people talking and coughing from the surrounding houses. The two of them moved silently, ensuring they wouldn't be discovered by anyone else.
Coming out at night was normal, but going to the mountain god temple at night was definitely not normal.
Under the moonlight, with Li Ye leading the way, the two of them walked side by side in silence.
Suddenly, a cat's meow was heard!
"Meow!"
Ning Wei looked up and saw that familiar black cat standing on the roof of a house, its pair of green eyes looking at her coldly.
Ning Wei wasn't afraid of it. She casually picked up a stone and threw it directly.
The stone hit the tile with a crisp sound.
Immediately after, they heard someone inside cursing, "Who's there!"
Li Ye pulled Ning Wei to hide in a corner and saw a man walking out while pulling up his pants, looking left and right.
"All right, it must have been the cat that made the noise. Come in quickly," a beautiful female voice rang out from inside the house.
The man wiped his lips, looked around twice, and then went back inside.
Soon, the woman's soft moans could be heard. Ning Wei's face darkened. The black cat, the culprit, had long since disappeared.
"This cat and I must be destined to clash. If I ever catch it, I'll pluck all its fur!" Li Ye said hatefully while following Ning Wei's footsteps.
Although the black cat had caused trouble, the two of them still successfully reached the vicinity of the mountain god temple.
As Li Ye had said, the mountain god temple was located at the foot of the mountain, backed by a dense forest, where occasional insect chirps and bird songs could be heard.
Before the two of them could get close, they saw a light suddenly appear in the mountain god temple.
"Follow me." Li Ye had already scouted the environment during the day, so he led Ning Wei along a small path to the back of the mountain god temple.
Behind the mountain god temple was a small slope with a drainage ditch in the middle. The two of them lightly stepped over the ditch.
There was a protruding large rock here. Li Ye pulled Ning Wei, and they squeezed together, then observed the situation inside through the ventilation opening of the temple.
The mountain god temple became brighter and brighter, and other sounds gradually emerged from within.
The smell of burning incense and candles wafted out from the ventilation opening.
Someone inside the temple was speaking in a low voice: "I pray that the mountain god temple will bless my wife with a son this time. If my wish is granted, I will offer a sheep as a tribute to the mountain god."
Ning Wei had heard from everyone that the mountain god was very effective, so she expected it to agree immediately. However, she didn't hear a second voice besides this man's.
After stating his wish, the man took out many fresh fruits from his basket and placed them on the offering table, along with a roasted chicken and a roast duck.
After offering the gifts, the man knelt on the ground and began to kowtow.
To express his sincerity, his forehead hit the ground with a series of "thump, thump, thump" sounds.
This was not the end. After doing all this, the man looked up to observe the burning incense.
If ash fell, it meant the offerings were too meager and the mountain god was not satisfied.
As soon as he looked up, a small piece of incense ash fell onto the table.
The man took a deep breath and continued, "If my wish is granted, I am willing to offer three sheep as tribute!"
Three sheep were already worth a lot of money. If it weren't for his son, this man wouldn't have been willing to spend so much.
After saying it again, the man kowtowed three more times.
After three times, he looked up and quietly observed the incense ash. This time, after the entire incense stick burned out, no ash fell, indicating that the mountain god was satisfied.
The man quickly packed up his things and said respectfully, "Thank you, mountain god."
After doing all this, he blew out all the candles and quickly left the mountain god temple.
To prevent anyone else from coming to the mountain god temple at night, Ning Wei and Li Ye waited for a while on the large rock.
"Coming to the mountain god temple at night has something fishy about it," Ning Wei whispered to Li Ye.
Li Ye didn't quite understand. "Can't you come at night? Maybe he's too busy during the day and only has time to come at night."
There was one thing Li Ye didn't say: the fact that people came to the mountain god temple to pray at night showed that it was indeed very effective.
However, Ning Wei had a different opinion. "You might not know this, but no one prays to gods or deities at night. There's also a saying that during the day you worship gods and deities, but at night you worship ghosts!"
Most people didn't know about such things. Ning Wei knew about them because of her profession.
Li Ye heard this for the first time, but based on his observations just now, this mountain god really didn't seem like a god.
It was understandable for people to seek the mountain god's blessings, but for the mountain god to demand all sorts of offerings was a bit too much.
"This mountain god has a big appetite. One sheep wasn't enough," Li Ye said with a hint of mockery in his voice.
Seeing that no one was coming their way, Ning Wei decided to go into the temple herself to take a look.
Li Ye stopped her and reminded her, "The statue of this mountain god is very unusual. You should be mentally prepared!"