Chapter 70 Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

As noon approached, the two of them found a small noodle shop nearby.

The shop was located right beside a bus stop at Gamcheon Culture Village, making it rather hard to miss.

The moment Xia Jiuwei saw the dishes listed on the menu, she was immediately drawn to the cold buckwheat noodles, so the two of them each ordered a bowl.

The large bowls were filled almost entirely with chewy buckwheat noodles immersed in a chilled broth, with a small dish of prepared sweet-and-spicy sauce served on the side.

Xia Jiuwei lifted the noodles with her chopsticks, dipped them into the tangy, spicy sauce, and brought them to her mouth. The refreshing chill of the noodles combined with the faint sourness and heat made it almost impossible to stop after just one bite.

The two quickly finished lunch before taking a taxi to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple.

The taxi stopped by the roadside.

Since the entrance to Haedong Yonggungsa could only be reached on foot from the main road, the two got out and slowly followed the walking path toward the temple.

The distance was not particularly short, and it took them roughly five minutes to reach the staircase leading to the temple entrance.

Various small stalls lined both sides of the road, and the farther they went, the more clearly they could see the temple walls, along with twelve neatly arranged stone statues standing beside the path.

The road suddenly opened up ahead of them.

At the center was a roundabout, and standing in the middle was a white stone pagoda roughly four stories high. Its intricate carvings stood out particularly brightly beneath the sunlight.

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian’an followed the circular road and soon arrived at the main entrance of Haedong Yonggungsa.

There was no heavy gate blocking the entrance. Instead, a magnificent ceremonial archway stretched across the top of the stone staircase.

Two intricately carved dragon pillars supported the enormous, ornate roof, while a plaque hung prominently in the center, bearing the Chinese characters for “Haedong Yonggungsa.”

Since the main temple complex was built beside the coastal cliffs on lower ground, the staircase leading toward it descended all the way downward.

Compared with the gently undulating path they had walked along earlier, the change in elevation was now unmistakable as they made their way down one stone step after another.

There were one hundred and eight steps in total, said to represent the one hundred and eight worldly troubles of human life. The idea was that descending the stairs symbolized letting go of all the attachments weighing on one's heart.

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian’an, however, clearly weren't convinced.

“If walking down these stairs means letting go of all your troubles... then what does climbing back up mean?”

Xia Jiuwei tilted her head in confusion.

Lu Nian’an couldn't help but laugh.

At first, tall green bamboo grew densely along both sides of the stairs, but as they gradually approached the coast, the vegetation became increasingly sparse, leaving more and more of the bare terrain exposed.

Finally, the view opened up before them.

When Xia Jiuwei looked up, the entire Haedong Yonggungsa Temple came into view.

The two continued downward until they finally reached the actual entrance to the temple.

Beside the entrance stood a stone monument bearing a sentence written in Korean:

“One wish per visit.”

Xia Jiuwei glanced at the monument and said indifferently, “If this temple weren't built right beside the sea, making it somewhat special, I probably wouldn't have bothered coming all the way here.”

After a brief pause, she added quietly, “Besides... I don't see any gods around here anyway.”

With that, she took Lu Nian’an's hand and walked into the temple.

Behind the stone monument, a mass of condensed resentment slowly emerged from its surface.

A mass of existence formed from condensed resentment slowly emerged from the surface of the stone.

Filled with indignation, it stared at the backs of the two girls.

How dare they show such disrespect to me?

I'll have to teach them a lesson.

What it didn't know was that the two girls had already sensed its presence long before it revealed itself.

The afternoon sun was shining brightly, but because it was winter, the heat lacked the intensity of midsummer and instead carried a pleasantly warm touch.

The sound of waves rose and fell beside them, constantly crashing against the rocks beneath the temple.

A few pine trees grew crookedly from the barren sandstone. Although it was obvious they had been planted by hand, they still added a touch of elegance to the otherwise rugged coastline.

A long stone bridge stretched across the path ahead, with rocks below it being constantly battered by the waves.

Xia Jiuwei stood beside the bridge railing and leaned forward to look down at the layers of white spray erupting whenever the waves slammed into the rocks.

Just then, an invisible force suddenly wrapped itself around her wrist while simultaneously tugging at both of her feet, attempting to throw her off balance and send her falling into the sea—or perhaps straight onto the rocks below.

The seawater beneath the bridge seemed to be pressed down by an invisible giant hand, causing the waves to explode violently against the rocks.

Yet that force had never imagined that the girl it had just regarded as an insolent mortal could not even be shaken a single step.

It immediately panicked and fled as fast as it could.

Xia Jiuwei merely watched it retreat in embarrassment before calmly continuing to wander around the temple with Lu Nian’an.

Statues of Buddhas and various deities stood throughout the temple grounds, while incense burned thickly in the air and streams of worshippers came and went, offering prayers and burning incense.

Xia Jiuwei and Lu Nian’an, however, behaved like ordinary tourists, simply looking around without bowing before or paying respects to a single statue from beginning to end.

Before long, they had walked through the entire temple.

Xia Jiuwei leaned lazily against Lu Nian’an's shoulder.

“I've realized that Haedong Yonggungsa is actually pretty ordinary.”

She let out a small yawn.

“Let's just go take the Songdo Marine Cable Car.”

“Let's take a few pictures first.”

“Okay.”

The two walked up to a platform overlooking the temple.

Xia Jiuwei naturally leaned her face against Lu Nian’an's and struck a pose.

“Hmm?”

After waiting for several seconds, she still didn't hear the sound of the camera shutter.

Xia Jiuwei thought for a moment before silently taking out her own phone and holding it out toward Lu Nian’an.

“Here, take my phone.”

Only then did Lu Nian’an give her a satisfied smile.

After taking their pictures, the two followed the same route back. When they reached the stone bridge, however, Xia Jiuwei suddenly stopped.

“Wait.”

She looked toward the depths of the temple.

“There’s still one more guy whose debt we haven't settled.”

The two turned around and headed back into the temple.

Xia Jiuwei swept her gaze across the surroundings and quickly locked onto her target.

The mass of condensed resentment was hiding inside the largest and most resplendent golden Buddha statue in the temple, calmly enjoying the endless stream of incense and wishes offered by worshippers.

Seeing this, Lu Nian’an simply made a gentle pinching motion with her fingers from a distance.

In the next instant, the mass of resentment was forcibly yanked out of the Buddha statue.

It had still been completely immersed in the power of the incense and wishes when it suddenly came back to its senses. The moment it looked up and saw the two girls holding it, it was nearly scared out of its wits.

“Um... I'm sure two great ladies can be generous enough to forgive a little mistake, right? I just... happened to lose control for a moment. Surely you won't hold it against me...”

It rubbed its hands together, gazing ingratiatingly at the white-haired girl before it.

Yet deep down, it couldn't help muttering to itself.

Strange. I'm practically a god myself. How could I possibly be powerless against these two ants?

“I can hear you, you know.”

Xia Jiuwei smiled sweetly at it, her smile growing brighter and brighter.

The black mass of condensed resentment immediately shuddered.

“I-I was merely something that gradually condensed from the offerings of incense. Please, great masters, spare my life.”

This time, its mind went completely blank, and it didn't dare let another thought cross its mind.

“You were created from offerings?”

Xia Jiuwei suddenly became interested.

“Tell me about it.”

She had originally intended to erase it outright, but now it seemed that there might be a reason to keep it around for the time being.

The mass of resentment immediately nodded.

“I originally had no consciousness and no power.”

“But I don't know why people are so fond of worshipping all these stone and wooden statues. They kept coming back to worship them, and the incense offerings gradually became more and more abundant. Little by little, I gained consciousness, and then I gained power.”

“Later, in order to attract even more people to offer their wishes and make myself more substantial, I would occasionally help worshippers fulfill some of their wishes.”

“I never expected that doing so would actually bring more and more people here.”

At this point, it gave an embarrassed little smile.

“Eventually, I got tired of having so much work to do, so I simply appeared in the monks' dreams and told them that people could only make one wish at a time and shouldn't be too greedy.”

“And somehow, after putting it that way, they actually believed it.”

“Ha! I nearly laughed myself apart when I saw how seriously they took it.”

It became more and more pleased with itself as it spoke, but halfway through its laughter, it suddenly remembered that Lu Nian’an was still holding it by the tail and immediately swallowed the rest of the sound.

“Of course!”

“Compared with the two of you great masters, I'm nothing. Normally, I'm actually quite a good... good god who helps people fulfill their wishes.”

“Please, I'm begging you, show some mercy and let me go.”

“Sure.”

After hearing the whole story, Xia Jiuwei found the creature rather amusing instead and smiled as she nodded toward Lu Nian’an.

Lu Nian’an released her grip.

The mass of resentment, as if granted an imperial pardon, immediately split into dozens of tiny black shadows, each one darting back into a different divine statue throughout the temple.

Xia Jiuwei watched the shadows disappear back into the statues and couldn't help smiling.

“Heh.”

“You keep telling everyone else not to be greedy, yet you're clearly the greediest one of all.”

The mass of resentment inside the statues silently shut down its senses.

It decided not to listen to anything for the rest of the day, lest it somehow invite another disaster upon itself.