ENG
Ancient temple trees reach high,
In dungeon shadows, life's threads lie.
In darkness, light appears,
Most vivid at the abyss near.
The ancient temple on the mountain peak, weathered by the passage of time, had gradually fallen into disrepair. When the abbot returned after many years and saw the temple in such a state of ruin, he was filled with sorrow. Determined to restore the temple to its former glory, he spent a large amount of gold and silver to fund it reconstruction, hoping to showcase his path to the ultimate bliss.
The abbot selected a towering forest in the mountains, intending to use the ancient trees there as beams for the new temple. The craftsmen responsible for the timber set up their shelters at the edge of the forest and began felling trees according to the abbot's instructions.
Everything proceeded smoothly, and within half a year, all the necessary timber was prepared. The craftsmen received their wages and packed up, ready to descend the mountain the next day.
That night, a craftsman on night watch was patrolling the area, carrying a lantern. Suddenly, rustling sounds from the forest set his nerves on edge. Terrified, he woke everyone up. With their lanterns lit, and axes in hand, all the craftsmen treaded into the forest to locate the source of the sound.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, someone let out a scream and was abruptly dragged into the darkness along with his lantern by an unknown force. Then, one by one, despite their attempts to hide and flee, all craftsmen were all dragged away. Only one clever craftsman quickly extinguished his lantern. Trembling with fear, he groped his way through the forest. Fortunately, a faint light appeared in the distance—the sun was about to rise.
With this faint light, he found his way back and hurried towards the shelters. As he reached the edge of the forest, the sunlight suddenly became blindingly bright, filling his eyes with a white glare. Enduring the pain, he looked closer and realized the light was not from the rising sun but from his companions' lanterns. These lanterns were held up by vines that had replaced his companions' heads, propping up their corpses.
A chubby boy with a pale face, dressed in a yellow robe, rode a tall four-legged beast whose head emitted strange sounds. Just as the craftsman was about to plead for mercy, he felt a chill on his back. Then, he felt himself being lifted higher and higher until he was level with the lanterns. The chubby child patted the beast's head, the sounds ceased, the lanterns went out, and the night returned to its eerie stillness.
The chubby boy laughed and said, "Good materials should be used to their fullest."
An old mountain temple had fallen into ruin. Its abbot returned after many years, felt deep sorrow, and paid a large sum of money to rebuild it so he could display his path to ultimate bliss. He chose a nearby tall forest and ordered craftsmen to cut ancient trees to use as the temple's beams. The workers camped at the forest edge and spent months felling the trees.
After about half a year the timber was ready. The craftsmen were paid, packed their tools, and planned to descend the mountain the next morning. That night a craftsman on guard walked a patrol carrying a lantern. He heard rustling in the trees, woke the others, and the group went into the forest with lit lanterns and axes to find the source.
As they moved deeper, one worker screamed and was suddenly dragged into the dark, lantern and all. One by one the other craftsmen were likewise seized and pulled away despite attempts to hide or run. One quick thinker put out his lantern and groped through the trees until he saw a faint light and made his way back toward the camp as the sun was about to rise.
When he reached the forest’s edge the light became painfully bright, but it was not sunrise. The light came from his companions’ lanterns, which were being held up by vines that had replaced each victim’s head and propped up their corpses. A pale, chubby boy in a yellow robe rode a tall four-legged beast whose head made strange sounds. The boy patted the beast, the noises stopped, the lanterns went out, and the forest fell silent again. The survivor felt himself lifted up until he was level with the lanterns.
The boy laughed and said, “Good materials should be used to their fullest.” That line and the scene make clear the boy was responsible for killing the craftsmen and using their bodies and lanterns as part of something in the forest. The abbot’s reconstruction plan directly led to these deaths and to the timber and workers becoming entangled in a supernatural, and possibly hostile, use of the forest’s resources. The lone survivor’s fate is left unresolved, and the temple project is now connected to this grim, inexplicable event.