Dumb Granny carried me in, placed me on a futon on the ground, and then turned and left.
I looked up and saw a statue of a female deity standing before me, sculpted with remarkable lifelikeness and graceful poise; even a red mole at the corner of her left eyebrow was meticulously carved.
Three incense sticks were burning in the censer, their smoke spiraling upwards.
As I was lost in thought, I heard a rustle of footsteps. Dumb Granny entered from outside, carrying a steaming bowl of rice porridge, which she placed before me.
I was both hungry and thirsty, and without minding the heat, I brought my mouth to the bowl and gulped it down ravenously.
After finishing the bowl of porridge, I finally caught my breath and said gratefully, “Thank you, Granny, for saving my life.”
Dumb Granny didn't speak. She grabbed a handful of incense ash and wrote a few words on the ground: “For you to be able to crawl into the temple means you have a connection with us.”
I was stunned, thinking, *Is this granny mute?*
Then I thought, *No wonder she was standing at the temple entrance watching me earlier. If I hadn't managed to crawl here, even if I had died right there, she probably wouldn't have cared.*
“Why did those people bury you alive?” Dumb Granny wrote on the ground again.
I was greatly startled. “Granny, you saw it?”
Dumb Granny nodded and wrote, “I saw someone bury a coffin in the mountain, then dig it up seven days later. You actually didn't die.”
I was extremely surprised, not expecting that all of this had been witnessed by Dumb Granny. After a slight hesitation, I recounted my experiences at the Cao family's, though I omitted the part about the “King of Hell's fate.”
“Your hands and feet are indeed crippled,” Dumb Granny wrote on the ground.
A pang of sorrow went through me.
Just then, another rumble of thunder rolled overhead, and lightning flashed across the sky.
Dumb Granny glanced outside and wrote, “Tonight's thunder will be very strong. The temple might not hold up.”
I was taken aback, noticing that the walls and ceiling of the temple were covered with yellow paper talismans, which looked very strange.
“Someone needs to go out there to attract the heavenly lightning and relieve some of the pressure. Are you willing to go?” Dumb Granny pointed to an open space in front of the temple.
“Go attract heavenly lightning?” I was greatly shocked.
*Isn't that just going to die?*
“If you are willing to go and can survive, I can help you reattach your tendons,” Dumb Granny wrote on the ground again.
“They can still be reattached?” I found it hard to believe.
Dumb Granny nodded expressionlessly and wrote, “It's up to you.”
I looked outside; the sky was overcast, and lightning flashed, making my heart pound.
“Granny, can you find me thirty-six copper coins?” I asked, taking a deep breath.
Dumb Granny got up and went out.
A moment later, she came back carrying a black cloth bag. She opened it, and inside was a bag of ancient copper coins.
“Please, Granny, help me out.”
Dumb Granny picked me up, walked outside the temple, placed me in the open space directly in front of the temple entrance, and then turned and went back inside.
I tried to move my hands, but they felt soft and weak; I couldn't even grasp the copper coins. I had to hold one in my mouth and place it on the ground.
I intended to set up a Lock Yang Formation, arranging thirty-six copper coins in a large circle around myself.
Coins pass through countless hands, so copper coins possess strong yang energy.
This Lock Yang Formation can be used to suppress yin energy and confine malevolent spirits, but it also has another name: “Thunder Pool.”
Meaning, no evil ghosts or spirits can cross the Thunder Pool by half a step.
After much thought, among the things I knew, only this Thunder Pool might offer some slight help in resisting heavenly lightning.
When Grandpa taught me, he always required me to grab a handful of copper coins with one hand, throw them out, and have them stand upright, forming a circle around me.
Over the years, I had perfected this technique, but unfortunately, I couldn't use it now.
Holding them in my mouth, I painstakingly set each copper coin upright, one by one.
Thunder rumbled overhead.
With a loud *crack*, a flash of lightning struck a pine tree not far away.
I tried not to think of anything else. After finally setting up the Lock Yang Formation, I collapsed, exhausted, into the circle of copper coins.
A few large raindrops fell, hitting my nose, and then the heavy rain poured down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions erupted overhead. In an instant, countless bolts of heavenly lightning struck all around the Small Temples, creating dazzling flashes!
I had no idea if the Thunder Pool would work, and even if it did, with the heavy rain pouring down, I was soaked. Even if I were only grazed by the heavenly lightning, I'd likely be reduced to ashes by the thunderfire.
In a flash of lightning, I suddenly remembered the conversation between Hao Ge and the other man. They said Fentou Ridge was very eerie, with thunder always striking on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.
But now, it seemed that what was eerie was not Fentou Ridge, but this Niangniang Temple!
Rumble! Crack!
Suddenly, a deafening explosion, like the earth splitting open, as a bolt of heavenly lightning struck directly down.
The thirty-six copper coins standing around me suddenly began to spin rapidly, then *bang*—they exploded into powder. I felt a jolt throughout my body, then plunged into darkness.
When I woke up again, I found myself lying on a futon inside the temple. The thunderstorm outside had stopped, and it was already bright daylight.
I moved slightly, feeling a stinging pain all over. My wrist and ankle wounds were covered with a thick, black ointment that emitted a pungent smell.
Dumb Granny walked in from outside, picked up my hands and feet to examine them, then grabbed some incense ash and wrote on the ground, “You were unconscious for three days and three nights. I cut open your wounds and reattached your meridians.”
I was greatly startled, not realizing I had been unconscious for so long. I nervously asked, “Then… are they reattached?”
Dumb Granny brought out a bowl of porridge and told me to drink it first.
While I was drinking the porridge, I saw her carry in a large earthenware jar, taller than a person.
“Live in here for three days.”
Dumb Granny picked me up in one swift motion.
“What's inside?” I quickly asked.
“Five little ghosts I'm raising.”
Dumb Granny loosened her grip, dropped me in, and then pressed a bluestone slab on top, sealing the jar's opening.