The group of people up ahead were still laughing and joking when, all of a sudden, a massive crimson flame shot down from the sky and exploded with a “boom” right in their midst.

“Ah…”

Several screams rang out. Three or four of them fell to the ground—some injured by the blast, others with their clothes catching fire.

Edward Foster, who was farther away, narrowly escaped but was so frightened his face turned pale. He stared blankly at his injured companions, not knowing what to do.

The two who had caught fire instinctively rolled on the ground, smothering the flames.

One of the injured had wounds on his face, another on his hand—both wounds were deep, and they whimpered in pain.

Brian Carter stared in horror at the distant sky, then suddenly snapped out of it and shouted at them, “Run, quick!”

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”

Streaks of crimson fire shot rapidly across the sky, crashing down. Some were only the size of a fist, others as big as a human head.

Those people were scared out of their wits, screaming as they tried to shield their heads with books and scattered in all directions.

In the clear sky, three enormous golden-red fireballs were slowly descending, and it was obvious they were headed straight for Lotus Platform Village!

Countless other fireballs accompanied the three largest ones, bombarding the ground ahead of them.

“Meteorites! Run!”

The whole village was thrown into chaos. Faced with such a disaster, no one in this small mountain village could remain calm. Chickens and dogs scattered, children cried, women screamed, men shouted—it was utter pandemonium.

Brian Carter stared in shock at the three gigantic flaming meteors. Each meteor trailed a long tail of fire, with a dazzling fiery aura at the front. They were unimaginably huge, several times larger than the biggest meteor recorded in the history of the Great Sui Dynasty.

Every fireball that landed with the meteors made the ground tremble, and some houses in the village began to shake.

Everyone panicked. They knew that such massive meteor impacts would surely trigger a chain of disasters, and with the meteors so close to the village, there was no way to escape.

After the initial panic came resignation. Everyone watched as the three giant flaming meteors crashed down, closing their eyes in despair.

But after a while, the expected earthquake didn’t come, and the deafening roar of the meteors in the sky faded away. People slowly opened their eyes, only to see thick smoke billowing from the mountain behind the village…

The three enormous flaming meteors had landed silently, without even shaking the ground. The villagers, still in a panic, looked at each other in disbelief, unable to comprehend how they had escaped disaster so easily, or why the King of Hell had spared them.

A raging fire burned in the mountains. Forget about putting it out—the villagers didn’t even dare to go near. They were like startled birds. Suddenly, someone pointed at the thick smoke and cried out in alarm, “There’s something in there!”

Everyone rushed to look. Smoke billowed thickly, making it hard to see, but it did seem like something was hidden inside—something enormous and terrifying!

What was it?! The villagers were petrified.

……

On the seventh day, the fire was finally extinguished by a sudden downpour.

From the moment the rain began, all the villagers gathered together, nervously watching the direction where the meteors had fallen, as if awaiting a judgment that would decide their fate. As the smoke gradually cleared, the thing inside was revealed.

Three colossal stone statues stood firmly in the mountains.

Although this was only the outer edge of Luomei Mountain, the average peak was still several hundred zhang high. Yet these peaks only reached the ankles of the three giant statues.

The statues’ faces were fierce and terrifying, looming high above as if they looked down on the whole world with utter disdain!

The statue on the left had a hundred eyes, the one on the right a hundred arms. The central statue seemed to be the most important, yet it had no special features—just looked even taller and more imposing.

“Ah!”

Faced with such enormous and menacing statues, the villagers felt a sense of doom, their faces ashen. Mayor Foster wanted to report the disaster, but since Lotus Platform Village hadn’t suffered much damage, he hesitated and could only shake his head and wait.

Strangely, these three giant statues could only be seen from within Lotus Platform Village. Once you left the village, all you could see from afar was a patch of clouds and mist.

This strange phenomenon led many villagers to secretly speculate that Heaven was sending a calamity upon Lotus Platform Village!

So, within a few days, the villagers spontaneously set up incense tables outside the mountain, lighting incense and burning paper offerings to worship the three fierce deities. Some even bowed and prayed to them every day.

……

“Little Brian, come here and pay your respects too. Ask the stone gods to forgive our family’s sins and bless us with prosperity.”

Brian Carter was dragged by his mother to kneel reluctantly before the incense table. But as for these three stone statues, Brian Carter always felt something he couldn’t quite explain.

A thick layer of wax had already built up on the incense table, and the smoke from the burning paper and incense curled upward. Through the haze, Brian Carter suddenly felt as if the central statue among the three in the distant mountains glanced at him!

Brian Carter smiled to himself, thinking he must be seeing things.