Chapter 1 "Dad, Are You Really on the Mountain?"

A trace of bewilderment flashed across Wang Laosan's face when Wang Wenfei called out to him.

"Ah, it's Xiao Fei. What are you doing here?"

Wang Laosan snapped back to reality, surprised, and glanced at the people beside Wang Wenfei.

He scanned the greedy looks in their eyes until he saw Mingmei standing on the edge, and then he restrained himself.

"You—you're here to worship the Mountain God, right? Come in quickly."

Suddenly, Wang Laosan and another middle-aged man, who had been standing behind the door, spoke at the same time, attracting more attention.

This person looked very sleazy, not just because of his pointy, monkey-like face, but because his entire aura was unpleasant.

The man saw everyone looking at him, but he wasn't shy. He half-covered the temple door and chuckled, making him even more sleazy and unpleasant. At the same time, he and Wang Laosan opened the temple door wider.

"Dad, you ran away without a word yesterday. Mom is very worried. You should come down the mountain with me later."

Wang Wenfei ignored the man's greeting and entered the temple directly. Her tone was firm as she spoke to Wang Laosan at the door.

In her character's memories, her father, Wang Laosan, was the least devout member of the family.

"What do you mean, come down the mountain? Your dad and I are both temple custodians on the mountain now, serving the Mountain God. We can't go down the mountain easily!"

Before Wang Laosan could speak, the other temple custodian interrupted. Wang Wenfei turned to him, looking displeased, and asked, "Temple custodian? Who are you? Why haven't I seen you in the village?"

Xin Yue Village wasn't too big or too small, but she knew every household well enough after living there for more than ten years.

She had no memory of this man.

"I'm not from your village, so of course you don't know me."

"Impossible. How could the Mountain God allow someone from outside Xin Yue Village to serve?"

"That's because you're young and ignorant. I, Huang Er, have been a temple custodian here for a long time. But you, young one, you've never been to the temple before, have you?"

Faced with Wang Wenfei's questioning, Huang Er turned the tables on her, implying that as an unfaithful believer, she had no right to doubt him.

She hadn't seen him because she hadn't been up the mountain. Naturally, she hadn't seen him.

"This temple custodian thing… is there something special about it?"

Lu Xiaoyao watched Wang Wenfei argue with the NPC and whispered to Mingmei, "Are there any rules?"

Mingmei shook her head, indicating she wasn't sure either, and said simply, "The Mountain God always chooses the temple custodians himself."

"Huh?" Lu Xiaoyao glanced at the man, then turned back, her expression complex. "Isn't the Mountain God too unselective? These temple custodians look… pretty rough."

Saying they looked rough was an understatement. Lu Xiaoyao wanted to say, "What a bunch of misfits!"

Although Wang Laosan's features were regular, his face was fierce, making him look like a bad person.

Huang Er was even worse. Even if you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, his "气质" (qìzhì, aura) was outstanding!

Mingmei's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Don't stand chatting at the door. Come in quickly. There was fog this morning, and it might rain later."

At this moment, Wang Laosan interrupted Wang Wenfei and Huang Er. He stepped past Huang Er and gestured for them to enter.

Huang Er honestly opened the temple door wide. Everyone immediately saw the huge bronze incense burner inside, burning high-quality sandalwood, which calmed their minds.

Further inside was the main hall of the Mountain God Temple.

The Mountain God Temple's structure wasn't complicated; it could be seen at a glance.

Suddenly, a soybean-sized raindrop fell on everyone's head without warning. The group had no choice but to enter the temple without questioning anything.

Because it was raining, everyone followed the corridor along the wall to the Mountain God Temple's main hall. As they walked along the corridor, they realized that the Mountain God Temple was actually quite large, bigger than they thought.

"Where does this road lead?"

Lu Xiaoyao pointed curiously in the opposite direction from the main hall. Wang Laosan said, "It leads to the backyard, where there's a kitchen and bedrooms. We temple custodians rest there at night. Besides that, if there are any visitors, they can stay overnight."

Huang Er added, "Looking at the rain today, you might have to stay tonight."

After saying that, Huang Er raised his hand, hid his mouth with his sleeve, and wiped away drool with a sly smile.

Mingmei, who was at the very back, frowned when she saw this. She forced herself to focus her attention on Mu Chen, who was also at the back.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Mingmei looking at him with a less-than-happy expression, he asked.

"Nothing." Mingmei shook her head repeatedly. She didn't want to think about what she had finally managed to forget.

"This round… do you need services?"

Mu Chen suddenly whispered this in her ear in an extremely ambiguous tone, winking at her at the end.

But this didn't stop Mingmei from immediately realizing that Mu Chen had discovered her identity.

"You…"

Seeing Mingmei suddenly bristling, Mu Chen couldn't help but chuckle.

Although she hadn't said anything, how could Mu Chen not have noticed after all this time? So he laughed even more heartily.

"Don't laugh! You'll attract attention!" Mingmei glared at Mu Chen, reaching out to pinch the soft flesh of his waist, but Mu Chen grabbed her hand tightly.

Mingmei: "...!!"

"Let go!"

"I won't."

"Let go…" Mingmei got a little angry and whispered harshly at him.

But then she saw Mingmei anxiously looking at the group in front, who didn't seem to notice her and Mu Chen at all.

"Little liar!" Seeing Mingmei's eyes turning red, Mu Chen couldn't bear it. He stepped in front of Mingmei and whispered in her ear, "If you really don't need it, then I've won this round. Don't cry."

…

"Wow! This…"

"No noise in the main hall!"

As soon as they entered the main hall, everyone was stunned by the nearly three-meter-high golden statue that was enshrined in this dilapidated temple. Lu Xiaoyao exclaimed instinctively, and Huang Er scolded her.

"Is this… made of gold?"

Wang Wenfei asked in disbelief, staring at the statue.

"Yes, it's all made of gold." Huang Er immediately looked proud. "The more believers the Mountain God has, the more they offer wishes and fulfill vows, so of course we have to rebuild his golden body!"

The statue on the platform had a compassionate face, and its whole body seemed solemn and gentle in the smoke of incense. Its half-closed eyes made it look like a god or Buddha looking down on the world. The statue was very well made.

"The murals here are also very beautiful."

The temple was dilapidated and old on the outside, and although the buildings inside also looked old, they weren't damaged. The murals on the walls were like miniature versions of the human world.

There were mountains, rivers, and homes. A few simple strokes made the smoke on the murals seem to move without wind. Combined with the people working in the fields on the murals, it looked like they were about to get up and go home following the smell of food.

"Yes, the murals here are also beautiful." Not only Merita, but Julian was also attracted. The group stared at the walls in a daze.

It was a very magical feeling.

"Dad, you still haven't answered why you suddenly wanted to become a temple custodian."

Wang Wenfei was the only sober person, still concerned about her father's change of heart.

In her character's memories, when she performed exceptionally well and was admitted to a good university in another city, her mother happily said something. Although Wang Wenfei couldn't remember exactly what she said, she remembered that her father scolded her mother, and she could infer a thing or two from his words.

Wang Laosan scolded Cuihua at the time, telling her not to attribute her daughter's hard work to the Mountain God.

Her father's face was always extremely unpleasant whenever the Mountain God was mentioned, which was a stark contrast to his current peaceful face and his devout gaze at the statue.

"I suddenly felt the call of the Mountain God, so I came."

"Huh?"

Everyone almost laughed out loud when they heard this.

What was this supposed to mean?

He suddenly had an epiphany?

"I feel like this makes the Mountain God sound like he came from some shady background." Lu Xiaoyao's words really struck a chord with the others, but of course, that didn't include the NPCs present.

"What about my mom?"

Wang Wenfei stared into his eyes and mentioned Madam Cuihua.

"She can come up the mountain to serve the Mountain God if she wants." Mingmei rolled her eyes secretly when Wang Laosan said this in a gloomy tone…