“I wasn’t at the temple ten years ago,” the young monk said, stacking sutras on a small loft as he spoke. “Not just me—even the abbot came later. Over the years, no one from our temple has ever gone missing.”
Hong Ning frowned. “So you’re saying… no one from ten years ago is still here?”
The young monk set down the sutra scroll and explained, “Back then, this place was very remote and rundown. Only Master Hai Ming stayed to maintain it. It was nothing like what you see today. Later, Master Hai Ming left on a pilgrimage, entrusting the temple’s affairs to Patron Zheng. Patron Zheng was quite reliable—he funded the renovation, and that’s how Tian He Temple became what it is now.”
Hong Ning’s heart skipped a beat, though she kept a smile on her face. “So that’s why Young Master Zheng was so willing to fund the temple—it was because of his friendship with Master Hai Ming.”
The young monk nodded. “The two of them were close friends.”
Hong Ning asked, “Did Master Hai Ming ever return?”
The young monk shook his head.
That confirms it!
Hong Ning pressed further, “Has anything unusual happened at the temple over the years? Especially regarding the pond?”
The young monk thought for a moment. “I’m not sure if this counts as strange, but the lotus flowers in that pond always bloom later than in other places but wither earlier. I found it interesting, so I kept track. No matter how well they bloom, they always shed all their petals on the sixteenth of June.”
Hong Ning was startled. Her mind started piecing things together.
The young monk continued, “Last summer, one of the senior monks said he saw a demon near the pond—one with red eyes and long ears. He was so frightened that he fell ill for several days.”
That must have been the rabbit demon coming out to enjoy the cool air—scaring the monk in the process.
Hong Ning chuckled to herself but, not wanting to raise suspicion, deliberately changed the topic.
“These past few days, has the temple allowed any visitors to offer incense?”
The young monk lowered his head, looking utterly dejected. “Incense offerings? We’d be lucky just to escape with our lives.”
Hong Ning immediately asked, “What happened?”
The young monk whispered, “To be honest, Patron Zheng’s death in our temple, and the fact that the murderer still hasn’t been caught, means that even if Prefect Hai lets us off, Magistrate Tao certainly won’t. Now, they have people stationed outside—not to protect us, but to prevent us from escaping.”
Corrupt officials! Hong Ning cursed silently. She comforted him with a few kind words, asked a few more questions, then quickly left.
As she stepped into the corridor, she overheard a group of bailiffs gathered in hushed conversation.
“The room where Zheng Ke died is haunted. Stay as far away as you can these next few nights!”
“Seriously?”
“Why would I make this up to scare you? Last night, Zhao San and I passed by and heard a woman’s voice coming from inside. We mustered our courage, pushed open the door… but there was nothing inside!”
The men all sucked in a sharp breath.
“No one knows when that Lord Hai will finally leave. Until then, we’re all walking on a knife’s edge—damn unlucky!”
* * *
A woman?
Hong Ning was stunned. How had a woman suddenly gotten involved?
She hurried back to her room and told Bai Ling what she had overheard.
Bai Ling said, “It’s not Hai Ming. There’s no lingering resentment in the temple.”
Ghosts and demons are different. When people die, if their spirits have no place to attach to, they cannot hide and can only wander near their bodies. That’s why ghosts are quickly captured by Black and White Impermanence [deities responsible for escorting souls to the underworld]—unless their resentment is so overwhelming that they cannot enter the Ghost Gate.
For this reason, it is easy for Daoist practitioners to locate them.
Since there was no resentment in the pond, that left only one possibility—Hai Ming had already entered the underworld.
0 Comments