1069: Chapter 654_2 1069: Chapter 654_2 The Taoist Nun endured the pain, changing her undergarments within the blanket.
She had now realized that the Disciple had seen through her disguise – she was a woman!
There was nothing she could do about it now, with her cultivation gone, she wondered if she could take the initiative and win over the Disciple.
Currently gravely injured, if the Disciple by her side harbored ill intentions, she could be killed at any moment!
Surviving the thunderstorm only to die at the hands of one’s own people would be a truly sorrowful punishment!
The two disciples standing by the door observing the outside scene did not dare to walk around in the rain-lashed areas, listening as the sound of thunder and lightning echoed around them and throughout the city!
This situation utterly terrified them!
They saw that all other courtyards but the one opposite were damaged; residential courtyards had houses hit by lightning with huge holes leaking rain!
In the Taoist Temple, cries of anguish, screams, and sounds of panic could still be heard resonating everywhere!
All the people in the Taoist Temple had met with disaster!
Neither those who had come here to make Wishes nor those who lived here were spared!
The disciples were very curious whether there were any guests staying in that intact courtyard.
Why was it that only that courtyard remained unscathed?
They pondered and went back to report to the Taoist Nun!
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, lift me to the door so that I may see what’s happening outside!” the Taoist Nun ordered the three Disciples!
The three disciples glanced at their grievously injured master.
Considering her current severe injuries and the leaking room, they couldn’t move her far.
They thought of dismantling a door panel, so they took down a door panel from the room and placed their master on it, carrying her together.
The Taoist Nun, not having the luxury to think much under these circumstances, was wholeheartedly eager to see the Young Master!
The three disciples, who always saw their master secretly visiting that courtyard, speculated that the person there might possess profound mana, perhaps having an even more mysterious and advanced status!
It’s why their master, the most respected person in the Taoist Temple, held such respect for that individual!
The Taoist Nun, barely keeping herself from fainting, endured the pain in her body as she lay on the hard door panel – this was already the best treatment available!
Drip-drip, the leaking room had water up to the shins; shoes were no longer suitable, yet the disciples were still in their rain boots!
The three Disciples worked together to lift their master, ensuring she could see outside from the doorway without falling off!
From her vantage point, the Taoist Nun looked across and saw that the roof on the opposite side was not struck by lightning!
That courtyard was completely untouched!
Then she looked towards another courtyard and saw, like her own, some houses were smashed to pieces, and in some courtyards where multiple rooms housed people, every roof was shattered!
Here, in this inner courtyard, one could only imagine the condition of the outer courtyard, let alone the main hall which, with its vast size, might have sustained explosive damage – perhaps even the deity effigies were destroyed!
The Taoist Nun’s face was ashen.
The devastation in the Taoist Temple was severe; it represented years of their dedication!
As the thunder gradually subsided, the three Disciples could finally carry their master outside!
It was still thunderstorming, and should a lightning bolt suddenly strike down, they might vanish between heaven and earth!
No one dared to take the risk!
The three Disciples carried their master back to the bed and laid her down from the door panel onto the bed.
Then they began their laborious tasks.
With the roof still leaking, they had to place buckets under the holes to catch the rainwater and figure out how to bail out the water flooding the room!
In the midst of the Disciples’ busy efforts, perhaps at the outset of the sudden thunderstrike, many were too shocked to react!
They only thought it was a punishment from the Heavenly God!
Latterly, they felt it was a formidable foe; many Taoists were wounded or severely injured and initially thought they might just die like that!
However, the worst fate was not death but the loss of their abilities and grave injuries.
No one perished!
In their frightened state, not wanting to die, they were treating their wounds, not stepping a foot outside the courtyard or their rooms!
Seeing that harrowing scene outside the large shop, some people were frightened to the point of fainting!
Aside from some of the fainting guests, there were also the youngsters attending to customers, fortune-telling, selling talismans, the Taoists who interpreted omens!
Beyond collapsing from faintness, some had even lost their cultivation!
Those ordinary people.
They simply couldn’t withstand such a shock, having just made wishes and not yet received even the slightest bit of recompense, they lost their precious souls.
They gazed dumbfounded at the once thriving Taoist Temple, never imagining that one day Heavenly Gods would mete out punishment, reducing it to ruins!
What grave sins must have been committed for even the statues of deities to be shattered!
Could it be that immortals were battling?
And these lesser spirits became cannon fodder!
No one could understand, suddenly, just like this, so many were injured!
Many have already begun to think, with the wishing wooden tokens destroyed and the temple deities ruined, could it be that these gods were too weak?
Annihilated by other Heavenly Gods, could their past faith still hold?
Many people were frightened into fainting when they saw the deity statues smashed to smithereens!
Fainting right at the scene!
Those who were queued outside and hadn’t yet gotten the chance to make a wish, when the thunder roared, they took shelter from the rain inside buildings!
It seems only these people were unharmed, making them doubt whether the claims of this Taoist Temple’s divine efficacy were but an illusion?
The common belief is that only evil people would be struck by the Thunder God!
Those who were not yet misled by the Guandi Cult, brought over by middlemen, started to hesitate!
If this Taoist Temple were so divine, why then was it shattered by thunder?
It appears the rumors might be flawed; perhaps the people here committed too many sinful acts and incurred the wrath of the Heavenly Gods!
Some people scurried away; they had seen many in the temple injured by thunder!
They couldn’t help but ponder, if they continued to stay inside the temple, would they too be implicated?
When they fled from the temple, they found that only this Taoist Temple was struck by thunderous rain, while the surrounding areas and elsewhere experienced mere drizzles without any thunderstruck!
The sudden disaster that befell this Taoist Temple, when viewed by distant residents or those living on certain mountains, struck them as odd!
As this Taoist Temple suffered disaster, the Monk Temple located ten miles away, upon seeing such fierce thunder in the sky, was also taken aback.
Witnessing streaks of thunder striking down upon the temple, the monks within the Monk Temple watched from afar, and if they weren’t embodiments of compassion, they might well have burst into laughter!
Heavenly Masters, dominating the country with their high-handed ways, and it’s said that merchants from other countries also mentioned that some Taoist Temples appeared in the countries they had traveled through!
The monks live through harsh times, further oppressed by these Heavenly Masters; in these moments, their schadenfreude can only be expressed through the chant “Amitabha, well done, well done.”
Aside from the abbot who can serenely beat the wooden fish, the other monks all wished to cheer, longing to say, “Retribution is certain; the hour has just not yet come.” In the past, the people from the Taoist Temple, along with other Heavenly Masters, united various powers and even set some regulations.
No hiring of monks for tasks; if anyone employed a monk and paid them, people would ensure they faced punishment!
Monasteries, in many countries as well as in this one, the monks’ temples bear the greatest hardships!
Sustaining themselves by clearing and cultivating the land, self-sufficiently making incense, and begging for alms, they seldom acquire any money!
Even when someone falls ill, they can only search for medicinal herbs in the mountains!
The monks lead a tough life but also acquired many skills!
For those unable to raise children, they think selling them to the Taoist Temples to become young attendants, of course, is better than becoming little monks in the Monk Temple!
Families of the young attendants in the Taoist Temples, their children bring home some money every year!
They all hope their children will learn skills and elevate their whole family!
Eryao has cleaned up; in this Taoist Temple, all who practiced evil spells were punished!