Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 30: Don't Go Into That Temple!

Night fell like an ink stick slowly saturating water, silently staining through the last trace of rosy glow at the horizon.

The mountain path became rugged and indistinct, and the friendly chirping of insects from the daytime now carried a somewhat mournful tone.

"Su Ming... how... how much further?" Zhao Rui's voice was clearly breathless, the box of hibiscus cakes in his hand almost crushed out of shape by his grip.

His legs felt like they were filled with lead, each step lifting sending protests of soreness and numbness from his thighs.

Su Ming's condition was slightly better, but the heavy cloth bundle also weighed down on his shoulders, making them ache.

He glanced back at Zhao Rui's pale face and slowed his pace. "Almost there. Once we cross that mountain ahead, we should be about halfway. We'll find a place to rest soon."

"Disciple, letting your little friend suffer a bit more is beneficial." Lin Yu's voice sounded in Su Ming's mind, carrying a hint of laziness. "Jade must be carved to become a vessel. The shocks this kid has received these past few days are more than he's had in the past year. His temperament is being reshaped. Let him walk more at night, temper his character. He might even become a useful helper in the future."

Su Ming acknowledged in his heart but said nothing aloud.

He knew his master was right. The experiences of these past few days were a vivid lesson for both Zhao Rui and himself.

Suddenly, Zhao Rui seemed to have discovered something. He stopped, pointing at a dark silhouette in the mountain hollow ahead, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement."Su Ming! Look! Over there! Is that a temple? And there's firelight!"

Su Ming followed his pointing finger. Indeed, under the deep night sky, the outline of a dilapidated temple was faintly visible. More noticeable was a faint, warm, orange-yellow flicker of firelight escaping from a broken window of the temple, gently swaying in the night breeze.

"Great! It must be traveling merchants or pilgrims resting inside! Let's hurry over. At least we can find shelter from the wind, maybe even beg for some hot water!" Zhao Rui's fatigue vanished instantly, as if he had come back to life, grabbing Su Ming's arm to pull him that way.

Just as Su Ming was about to step forward, alarm bells blared in his mind.

"Halt!"

Lin Yu's voice, for the first time, was so serious, carrying an unquestionable chill.

"Master?" Su Ming's foot froze mid-step, rooted to the spot.

"Disciple, what is the first principle of my 'Way of Survival True Scripture'? Recite it."

"Safety first, think thrice before acting, anything unusual must harbor evil." Su Ming answered swiftly in his mind.

"Good!" Lin Yu's voice softened slightly but remained grave. "Now, use this principle to analyze the current situation."

Lin Yu's inner thoughts were a raging storm.

"Oh my god! This is deadly! Desolate mountains, ancient temple, midnight, ghostly fire! Isn't this the standard plot of 'exit the newbie village, turn right, straight to the mass graves'? Is this Zhao kid afraid he's lived too long? Beg for hot water? More like water from the Yellow Springs! My pension plan can't have just paid the down payment and then get cut off!"

Su Ming took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and begin the analysis.

"This place is remote, not an official road. Ordinary merchants wouldn't come here. The temple is dilapidated, clearly long abandoned, making the presence of pilgrims even less likely. So, that firelight..."

problem!" Lin Yu took over, his voice exuding the steadiness of an old hand. "Disciple, think. If they were decent folk, lighting a fire in this wilderness, would they make it big and bright, both for warmth and to scare off beasts? But look at that firelight. Small, weak, hidden inside the temple,

people inside don't want to be discovered! They

authorities, or at worst, highway robbers who kill for money! Two half-grown kids like us,

this analysis, a cold sweat broke

of orange-yellow firelight no longer seemed warm in his eyes. Instead, it looked like the single eye of a beast opening in the darkness, full

grabbed Zhao Rui, who had already taken

now? If we don't hurry, they'll be

cannot go." Su Ming's tone was calm but carried

Rui's volume jumped an octave, his face full of disbelief. "Su Ming, have you gone stupid from walking at night? There's a

temple is so broken, clearly no one lives there. Why would someone light a fire inside for no reason? And

had only been happy earlier and hadn't considered

an indescribable eeriness emanating from

if... what if they are bad people?" Su Ming lowered his voice. "We just came back from town today, carrying things with

face instantly turned pale

of Clerk Qian's vicious face at the County School office, of the possible traps his uncle-in-law Zhou Kang might have set. If the town was that dangerous, this remote wilderness was even more hopeless, where cries to heaven and

wind blew past, rolling up a few fallen leaves, making a rustling sound as if

moving closer

what do we do?" His voice

"We'll keep our distance, cut through that grove

object this time, nodding like

it." Lin Yu said approvingly in Su Ming's mind. "Problems that can be solved with words, never use force. Crises that can be solved with feet, never get close. This

hesitation, Su Ming led Zhao Rui, turning away from the mountain path and plunging into

woods was even harder. Underfoot was a thick layer of rotting leaves, soft and spongy, making each step uncertain. Tree shadows loomed, the

heavily, sticking close behind Su Ming, glancing back now and then, afraid something was

with their heads down for the time it takes an incense stick to

by now?" Zhao Rui leaned against a tree, gasping for

to catch his breath, looking up to get

a bush in front

dark silhouette

through the swaying branches, was aimed right at them, like a

possible?" Zhao Rui's voice cracked. "Weren't

panic. It's too dark, maybe we circled in the woods." Su Ming forced himself to sound calm, but his own heart

faint energy fluctuation, very similar

Ming's heart skipped a

But its very existence means there is definitely something strange in that broken temple!" Lin Yu's inner monologue was scrolling rapidly. "We're done for! I knew it! Horror movie laws don't lie! Great, we've switched from 'active

Ming gritted his teeth, pulling up the nearly paralyzed Zhao Rui, choosing

deliberately used a stone to mark the

hour later, when they stopped, utterly exhausted, the trunk

clung to their line of sight like a persistent

"Ah—!"

the ground, his face devoid of color, lips trembling as

a ghost! Su Ming! We're haunted! By the ghost in